“Neither will you.”
Then I slammed the door behind him.
Our father watched this, wide-eyed and pale. But Will comforted him. “He can’t do anything. Otherwise he wouldn’t have come here.”
“I hope you’re right,”
“Kai, Will, and Vera are heroes,” said Ulysses reassuringly. “The politicians will think twice before making them enemies.”
I told our father then about facing down Torq in the gaming center, and how Ulysses and Sula had saved our lives. Cheetah jumped up and licked our father’s face, nearly knocking him over. He was startled at first, but then his face softened. A real dog slobbering before him, protecting his two lost children, brought tears to his eyes. He never imagined he would see such things. Yet here we were. Alive, safe, home.
“You must tell your mother.”
He invited everyone inside, but Ulysses and Sula, observing old customs, insisted they would remain outside with the dog. Something flickered between them, ancient and familiar, and it made my heart ache.
“We’ll be right back,” I promised.
“Don’t hurry,” said Ulysses. “We’re not going anywhere.”
Our father led us deeper into the house. It was dark and hushed. Even the wireless was silent. “Rose! Rose!” he called. “You have visitors.”
We walked down the hallway and into our mother’s room. The shades were drawn, but behind them glowed the suffused light from outdoors—red and gold, the colors of autumn. Will stopped as if he might fling them open. But I pushed him along, and he let it go.
We went to the bedside where our mother slept fitfully. The pillows were scattered behind her like whitecaps on waves. Her face was freckled and pale, and her red hair was pulled back tightly in a bun. A few stray wisps danced at the edges of her mouth.
I touched her arm, and her eyes flickered, then opened. She looked up and smiled as if we had never been gone. “Will. Vera,” she said. “I’m so thirsty.”
“We brought you some water,” I said.
Then I filled a glass and helped her drink.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Cameron Stracher is the author of Dinner with Dad and Double Billing and a novel, The Laws of Return. He has written for the New York Times, the New York Times Magazine, and the Wall Street Journal, among other publications. When he is not writing, he is a media lawyer who represents newspapers, magazines, and television producers in defamation, privacy, intellectual property, and related matters. A graduate of Amherst College, Harvard Law School, and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, he lives with his wife, two children, and two dogs in Connecticut. Email him at:thewaterwars@gmail.com.
