Her father continued, “If you’d like, we could make an appointment to get you some birth control-“
“Nope,” Maggie said. She shifted position so she could cover her ears with both hands. “Nope, nope, nope. Done with this topic.”
In the rear view mirror, she could see her father’s smile.
“You jerk. You’re totally messing with me.”
“If you want to almost give me a heart attack, making me believe you’ve been up to something, I can pay you back three times over.”
“Shouldn’t be allowed.”
“Oh, believe me, I’m not done. Maybe I will call the other parents to arrange groups for safety.”
“You’re evil.”
“And we can see how badly we can embarrass you.”
“Oh god.”
“Pyjama pants with hearts on them, and dorky old-person music…”
“Mercy.”
“We have the power, baby girl. Whatever you do to us, we can repay three times over.”
“That’ll change. One day, I’ll be all-powerful.”
“You will be, when Chris, your mom and I are pushing seventy and rotting away in some old folks home. By then, you’ll pity us too much to do anything too bad, and you’ll have kids of your own to lord over.”
“Mebbe,” Maggie said. “You guys and mom in the same old folks home, huh?”
“Why not? I can’t think of anything better, being with loved ones and friends, making peace with a life well lived…”
“Unlearning the last of the not-so-fun lessons life taught you,” Maggie said, closing her eyes.
“That’s a nice thought. What sort of lessons are those?”
“I dunno. Maybe some of the first lessons we learned are the last ones we unlearn?” Maggie asked, half asleep. “Bashfulness, caring about what others think? Being angry at people? Worrying about what comes tomorrow? Holding on to yesterdays?”
“Keep that up, and I’m going to second guess your angry teenager facade. That sounds dangerously like faith in the inherent goodness of people.”
“Oops,” Maggie mumbled.
A piercing scream stirred her from the twilight of near sleep. Sirens.
As her father pulled over, fire trucks and ambulances raced past them, the pitch and tone of the sirens shifting as they started moving away instead of coming closer.
Chris had been stirred awake. The three of them didn’t make a noise as they pulled back onto the road and made their way down the main street.
Rubberneckers had slowed traffic to a crawl by the time they approached the scene. Several homes were ablaze in a single fire, but in the chaos, she could only make out one of the families, standing on the other side of the street, huddled together in a group.
Three houses ablaze, one family of survivors.
■
Tuesday
“This sucks, this sucks, this sucks,” Ben said.
“Chill out,” Jeremy responded.
“It sucks,” Ben said, for emphasis.
“We know it sucks,” Maggie said. “Doesn’t need to be said out loud.”
“At least we’re going to your house,” Jeremy said. “I’ve got a game I’m itching to finish, and now I won’t get home for another hour or two.”
“If you think you’re going to play my games, you need to get real,” Ben said. “My save files are sacrosanct.”
“I can tell this is going to be fun,” Maggie said.
“Your dad’s idea,” Heather said.
Maggie whipped her head around, glaring at her ‘friend’.
“What?” Heather asked, confused and wounded.
“Utter lies,” Maggie said. “Complete and utter lies.”
“We know it was your dad,” Lor said. “We don’t blame you.”
“Speak for yourself, Holy Lor,” Ben said. “I blame her.”
“Yeah, just a bit,” Jeremy said.
“I like you, but this is kind of annoying, and your dad suggested it,” Heather said.
“You guys suck,” Maggie retorted.
“Yeah,” Ben said, “But we suck in private. We don’t let our suckage leak out and mess up other people’s plans. Like poor Jeremy, and his games, and my house being my house and not some random meeting place for a bunch of kids, like we’re six years old and on a stupid little field trip.”
“Yeah?” Maggie asked. “I gotta ask, do you make sucking in private a regular thing, Ben?”
There were a few chuckles from the group. ‘Holy Lor’ included. Maggie allowed herself a smile, while Ben gave her the finger.
“I’ll take your silence for a yes.”
“Take my silence for a fuck you, Maggie. Any time I’m not talking, you can pretend I’m saying ‘fuck you’ every few seconds.”
“I’ll give that a try. Ought to lighten things up. I can’t help but notice you’re dodging the question about the sucking-in-private thing.”
“Fuck you,” Ben said.
“Now you’re being repetitive.”
“Fuck you and we’re turning right up ahead,” Ben said. “Into the cul-de-sac. My house is at the end.”
“Fancy words,” Maggie said. “Is Ben Meredith getting uppity?”
“It’s a fucking cul-de-sac. Do you know a better term for it?”
“A street?” Maggie asked. “A dead end street, if you want to be extra specific?”
“Or,” Ben said, “You can go fuck yourself, and I’ll call it what I want in the meantime. Jesus Christ. This whole ‘go everywhere in groups’ bullshit is annoying enough.”
Maggie only grinned. The group turned right.
And Maggie found herself looking at the same car as before. A blue beater she might have completely missed if it weren’t for the recognizable dent on the door.