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And when she invites us to stay the night in the home she and her husband have above the restaurant, I’ainstand twitching his leg (which only stops when I rest h), Elsa pulls up a chair to talk to me But while her words are for"Poor thing," she coos "He hardly looks twenty-five"

This is because Gabriel is eighteen, but I don’t say that In fact, that ht not even be true I have known him for nearly a year, and perhaps he let his birthday slip quietly by, the way Jenna did The way I did One year closer I tightenthe fabric of his pants init, that he’s holding on longer than I’d expected, but I stop er want to carry on this lie There is soover this lovely new fake generation that Gabriel and I were born a part of, that I don’t want to contribute

In fact, out of nowhere, I feel like crying

But I don’t I finish my soup and listen to Elsa talk about a boy named Charlie "My Charlie" As in, "My wonderful, sweet, poor Charlie" I guess he’s her son Or was her son, because now Elsa is saying how much Gabriel looks like him, and how hard it was in his final weeks, and how she can hear his ghost in the halls His words, she says, got trapped in the wallpaper, and they leap between the little blue flowers of it, echoing, playing with one another

Maddie is transfixed by this wo Elsa’s lips th If Maddie could speak, would she tell of laughter in clouds, or ghosts in her hair?

Elsa assu, says her son never irl for him, one day, who can reach hi

But she doesn’t ask about ot them or if I’m malfor is out of sorts

Greg, who heard Elsa speaking, co, "Come on, dear There are tables to bus" His presence breaks whatever ical spell Maddie was under, because she freezes when he approaches, and slinks under the table when he goes She won’t coive up I ainst the floor in the rhyth I re, I’ll tap Maddie’s leg instead

She likes this I can hear the bubbling breaths that, I co

"Ione for ht

"You’ll have to excusehis hands on a dishrag "She has a hard ti people from stray kittens" I suppose this is supposed to be a joke, because he laughs Maddie is clinging tocrouches down and waves at her, I can feel her nails digging throughblood

"We do have a spare room she likes to rent out," he says "We’ll expect pay"

He has a kind face Sad, dark eyes like his wife has Laugh lines Gray-brown hair and a close shave But when he s about it makes me want to climb under the table myself Not to hide with Maddie but to protect her

Chapter 14

AFTER the restaurant has closed, sometime after ten pm, I rouse Gabriel from where he’s been slu in a lake of drool I coax a little of so on a le tells lass would set her off and that she knows it

Elsa skips her way up the steps to their upstairs apartment, which consists of two bedroo hallway that sections off into a tiny seating area with couches and a television

The wallpaper in the hallway is patterned with tiny blue flowers, and Elsa taps them with affection as she shows us to our room Gabriel raises his eyes to me, and I shake my head

The bedrooest we let Maddie have it, when she takes her , yanks a pillow from the pristinely made-up covers, and cli that Madauess

I let Gabriel shower first, thinking the hot water ht help him come out of his torpor a little I leave the bedroo off his body Maddie scuttles around under the mattress, and then she pokes her head out atthe first aid kit from under the kitchen sink, Elsa re-dresses Maddie’s broken are of the pale blue counter that’s a shade darker than her eyes She holds her little ar, starry-eyed while Elsa huhter She washes Maddie’s smooth dark hair over the sink, and then she even takes a pair of scissors to it, fixing all the les Lilac ri in a language I’ve never heard Perhaps she oing to sing too, but of course she doesn’t