No one is home when we arrive. I give Oliver a quick tour. Then lead him up to my room. I want to shower with him. To scrub him clean. But I don’t dare move too fast. We’re still a fragile pair. A push or a pull in the wrong direction could break us again. I offer him some of my clothes when he’s dry. He runs his hand through the rich fabrics in my closet. “These are all so beautiful.”
“Lily makes it all. She’s a genius. She’d be the next Coco Chanel if there were any justice in the world.” There’s pride in my voice when I speak of her. My mother who baptized me.
“I met Maud.” He quickly puts on a T-shirt and a pair of baggy wool pants with a drawstring waistband. I love the way his body elongates as he stretches himself to get the clothes on. “At the bookshop where she works. I didn’t know she was your... sister?”
“I told you we’re a family.”
“She said she’s only lived here a few weeks. Already family?”
I meet his skeptical gaze. “How long should it take a mother or father to love their child? More than a few weeks? I’m sure your mother loved you the minute you were born.”
He sits on my bed. “Please don’t bring up Mother again. It’s too painful.”
“I’m sorry.” I sit on the floor. I want to be beneath him. To worship him. I rest my head on his lap. He caresses my face. “I didn’tmean to hurt you. I want to be all future and no past, but that’s not how it works, is it?”
“It’s all present anyway.” He places a palm on my cheek. It feels warm. He runs his other hand through my hair. “Your haircut is ridiculous.”
“That’s exactly what I was going for.” We laugh. Our breaths synchronize until they sound like one inhale and one exhale. His stomach rumbles into my ear. I raise my head from his lap. “You’re starving. Come.”
I lead him to the kitchen. Open the fridge. There are some leftovers of Poppy’s beef stew in the fridge. I empty what’s left onto a pot on the stove. Throw some leftover rice in. “Poppy’s the best cook. You’ll see.”
“Who’s Poppy?”
The sound of a door closing. Lily and Archie are home. Lily’s voice fills the room. “Poppy is one of my best friends. And who are you?”
“This is Oliver.” I pull Oliver close to Lily.
She doesn’t look amused. “We were worried. You disappeared. I asked everyone where you went. No one knew. No goodbye. Archie even walked away from a swarthy man without getting his number.”
“Every word she says is true.” Archie fills a glass with tap water. Drinks it fast. “He was quite gorgeous. Greek accent. Thighs as thick as the pillars of the Parthenon.”
“I’m sorry you were worried, but Lily, this isOliver. FromBoston.”
Lily’s eyes open wide. “Well, why didn’t you say so, child?” Lily’s entire body language changes quickly. She wraps Oliver in her arms. Presents him to Archie. “Archiekins, this isOliver. FromBoston.”
Archie squints in confusion. “Is that meant to mean something?”
Lily kicks Archie in the shin. “I told you Bram had a friend in Boston.”
“Oh.” Archie stands a little straighter. “You’re thefriend. I thought perhaps you were merely a figment of Bram’s imagination.”
Lily grabs a wooden spoon and stirs the stew. “Bram, you need to stir the food so it heats evenly.”
“Yes, Mommie Dearest.”
Oliver laughs at that.
Lily turns to Oliver again. “You’re a little late. We were expecting you days ago.”
Oliver nods. “Yes.”
Archie stands up. Puts a hand on Oliver’s shoulder. “Better late than never. You’re here now.” Archie backs away in shock. “Your eyes. They glow just like Bram’s.”
This is our time to try out our story. See if anyone believes it. I start the lie. “It’s part of how we met, actually. We were in a library.”
Oliver steps in. “We both reached for the same book.”
We tell our elaborate fake tale. Lily and Archie don’t question it. They seem charmed. Two teenage boys meeting in a library while reaching for Oscar Wilde. What could be more romantic? Of course it’s a lie. But Wilde himself said secrecy is the one thing that can make modern life mysterious or marvelous.The commonest thing is delightful if one only hides it.And I do feel delighted as I watch my beloved mother and her best friend welcoming my love into our life.
