Red Rain: A Novel (27 page)

“Everyone get to class.” Mrs. Maloney waved them all away with both hands. “You too, Derek. Everyone but the Blue Arrow Gang.”

Derek flashed Daniel a nod, as if to say thank you. He thought he’d escaped punishment this time. But Samuel knew he was mistaken.

Mrs. Maloney herded the four boys to her office. She brought in folding chairs and motioned for them to sit. Then she sat down heavily behind her desk and thumbed through a few pink phone-message slips.

She wasn’t really reading them, Samuel thought. She was getting herself together, preparing what to say.

When she glanced up, her expression was stern. “Please explain these face tattoos to me.”

“We want to rule the school,” Daniel replied without hesitating.

She blinked. “I don’t understand.”

Daniel wore his most innocent face and spoke in his high, little-boy voice. “The arrows point
up,
see? It means we want to go
up
.”

“Up with Sag Harbor Middle School,” Samuel added, always ready to help his twin. “Up with our school.”

Mrs. Maloney rested her head in her hands. “So you lads are telling me you want to be cheerleaders?”

“Not really,” Samuel answered. “We want to show that we are together, see.”

“No, I don’t see.” She turned to Ira. “I know your father believes that kids should do whatever they want. But did he really approve of you painting arrows on your faces?”

“Not exactly,” Ira replied in a whisper.

Mrs. Maloney sat up straight. She tapped one hand on the desktop. “Well, I’m glad you lads want to do well and show some pride in your school. But I think you’ve gone about it the wrong way. I’m afraid I can’t allow it.”

“Yes, you can,” Daniel said in his little voice.

She blinked at him. “I want all four of you to go wash those arrows off right now.”

“No, we won’t be doing that, mum.” Daniel’s matter-of-fact reply.

She used the desktop to push herself to her feet. “Go to the boys’ room now. Stay in there till the arrows are gone. Go!”

No one moved.

“We won’t be doing that,” Daniel said. He stood up and nodded to Samuel.

Okay. Heaven give me strength. Here we go.

Samuel concentrated. It took so much energy to heat up his eyes.

Mrs. Maloney crossed her arms over the front of her sweater. “Daniel, I don’t understand. At your old school, did you talk back to your principal and disobey him or her?”

“We want to rule the school,” Daniel said.

“Answer my question. Why are you acting like this? I know you are new here and things may be different for you. . . .”

Daniel turned to his twin.

Samuel saw only red now. A billowing sheet of red in front of him. His eyes made a sizzling sound, like bacon frying.

Burn time, Mrs. Maloney.

“Daniel, if you don’t obey me, I have no choice—”

“You have no choice,” Daniel said.

M
rs. Maloney uttered an alarmed cry. “Samuel? Your eyes! What’s wrong with your eyes?”

“Are you going to burn her?” Samuel heard Ethan’s voice behind him.

“Are you going to
kill
her?” From Ira, alarmed.

Samuel saw only shimmering sheets of red. But he could feel the excitement in the room.

“Ouch! Stop it! Are you
crazy
? What are you
doing
?”

I hate it when they scream like that.

Did we remember to close the office door?

Samuel felt his brother’s hand on his arm. “Careful. Careful. Not too much,” Daniel whispered. “Just enough to let me get inside her brain.”

Mrs. Maloney was silent now. Samuel kept the fiery beam trained on her head.

Burn. Feel the burn.

Silence, except for the pop and sizzle of the red heat.

“Almost done,” Daniel said calmly. “Ease up, boyo. I’m almost there. Ease up. Ease up. We don’t want to leave burns. We don’t want her to remember, do we?”

Samuel pulled the heat back. It was easier to harness it than to fire
it up. He could feel his eyes cooling. His headache was gone. He gazed around the room and saw the principal slumped in her leather chair, a dazed smile on her face, arms dangling down the sides of the chair.

Ira and Ethan sat expressionless watching with silent awe.

Daniel still leaned over Mrs. Maloney, staring into her eyes. He patted her broad shoulder gently. He brushed a hand over her head, straightening her short hair. He lifted her hands and placed them in her lap.

“Did it work?” Samuel asked.

He grinned. “No doubt. No worries. Be happy.”

He dropped back into the chair between Ira and Ethan.

Mrs. Maloney shook her head, as if waking up from a short nap. She squinted at the four boys for a long moment. Then she smiled.

“I’d better make that announcement now,” she said.

She stepped around them to a table with a microphone and a stack of electronic equipment. She threw a switch. Cleared her throat. Leaned over till her mouth was a few inches from the microphone.

“Attention, everyone,” she said.

Samuel could hear her voice echoing from classroom to classroom all down the hall.

“Attention, everyone. This is Mrs. Maloney. I have a special announcement this morning.”

The speaker squealed. She jerked her head back. Then resumed:

“Our school has a new slogan I think you will all be proud of. It’s
Up with Sag Harbor Middle School
. And we have a new school symbol. It’s a wide blue arrow pointing up. Because we
all
want to move up, don’t we?”

A pause. She turned and flashed Daniel a grin.

“So I’d like every student to stop by the art room at some point before you leave today, and we will have the school arrow painted on your face. I want you to wear it proudly. Don’t forget. Everyone must stop in the art room and receive your school arrow
today.
Have a
special
day, everyone. Up with Sag Harbor Middle School.”

“L
ea, please come away from there. You’re not even writing. You’re just staring at the screen. Please—”

“I . . . can’t, Mark. There’s so much more to write. I’m sorry.”

“I’m going to pull you away. You don’t leave this room. We have to talk.”

“Maybe when it’s finished . . .” She turned on the desk chair to face him, her face pale, eyes tired.

“I’ll take you to lunch in town. Where shall we go? We need to talk about the kids. The boys. How we’re going to deal with this arrow thing.”

She uttered a sigh. “The arrow thing. It’s so silly, isn’t it?”

“Well, yes and no. We need to figure out how we’re going to handle the twins. I mean when there’s conflict. You and I have been at each other’s throats.”

“No. We haven’t. We—”

“Yes, we have. You’re always the good guy, Lea, and I’m forced to be the bad guy.”

“But you
are
the bad guy.”

He stared at her. “Was that a joke? Are you
serious
? You’re joking, right?”

She shrugged. “I can’t do lunch today. I’m so sorry. I have to work.”

“But you don’t have a deadline, do you? You’re not even writing it as an assignment for anyone.”

She spun her chair back to face the laptop monitor.

“The kids are worried about you, Lea. Elena asked why you never talk to her anymore. The twins—well, you see they need some guidance, some care. You have to admit you’ve been neglecting them. And poor Ira—”

“Do you think he’ll always be called Poor Ira?”

“That’s not funny, Lea.”

“I’m not neglecting the twins. The twins and I have a special bond. Even if we don’t spend time together . . .”

“You’re not making sense, sweetheart. Please get changed and come to lunch with me? It’s a beautiful day and . . . and . . . I love you. I want to spend time with you.”

She turned. Her eyes went wide. Her whole face constricted. He realized she was staring at the bed.

“Mark—why do we have black sheets? Black sheets mean
death
!”

“Huh? We’ve had those sheets for years. We—”

“No!” She jumped to her feet, face wide with alarm. “No! Black sheets are death!
Death!”

“Lea—what are you doing?” He made a grab for her. Missed.

She dove to the bed. Grasped the end of the top sheet. Tugged it up. She gritted her teeth. Uttered an animal growl. And
ripped
the black sheet between her hands.

“Lea—stop!”

She ripped the sheet. Pulled hard. Ripped it some more.

“Lea—please.” He ran over to her. Grabbed her arm. “Please stop.”

She tore frantically at the sheets, growling and grunting. “Black sheets are
death. Death. Death. Death.”

A
fter school, Samuel could see how surprised Derek was when he and Daniel showed up at his front door. The twins knew Derek’s house because it was one of the first school bus stops.

Derek had a stack of Oreos in one hand and a smear of chocolate on his front teeth. “Hey, you two weren’t on the bus,” he said, blocking the doorway.

“We walked,” Daniel said. He eyed the Oreos. “After-school snack?”

Derek nodded. “Sorry. These are the last ones.”

We didn’t come for cookies, stupid.

“Nice house,” Daniel said, peering into the front room.

It
is
a nice house, Samuel thought. Big, with lots of tall glass windows reflecting the afternoon sunlight, at the top of a gently sloping front lawn, surrounded by leafy old trees.

“You want to come in?” Derek couldn’t hide his surprise at seeing them. The uncertainty seemed to change his personality. As if he’d momentarily forgotten to act tough.

He led them into the front room, all chrome and white-leather furniture, big glass tables, and a zebra rug on the light wood floor. Tall paintings of beach scenes, crowds in bright bathing suits, people swimming. High cathedral ceiling with a wide skylight.

Derek swallowed the last of the Oreos. He wiped his face with the back of a pudgy hand. “Hey, thanks.” To Daniel.

The twins were gazing around the bright white sun-sparkling room. They’d never stood in such luxury.

Too bad. Too bad.

Along with the anticipation, Samuel actually felt a little trepidation.

We walk into this clean perfect sunlit house, and what do we do?

Daniel finally turned back to Derek, who stood awkwardly, leaning on the back of a low, white couch. “Thanks,” Derek said again. “You know. For what you did this morning?”

Daniel gave the big kid a blank stare. Like he didn’t remember what Derek was talking about.

“You saved my ass,” Derek said. “With Mrs. Maloney. That was totally cool.”

“Well, it was all a joke, right?” Daniel said, but he didn’t say it in a friendly way. There was no smile in his voice. “When you spit the cold, cold water on me. All a joke, right?”

“Yeah, sure.” Derek instantly saw the change in Daniel’s face.

“You just lost your head, right, boyo?” Daniel definitely menacing now.

“Huh? I lost my head? Well, yeah. I guess.”

Daniel gripped Derek’s face by the chin and turned his head from side to side. “Hey, lad, you didn’t get your school arrow.”

Derek’s cheeks turned pink. He pulled free from Daniel’s grasp.

“I . . . forgot. You know. I didn’t get to the art room. Maybe I’ll go tomorrow.”

“Probably not,” Daniel said. He nodded to Samuel.

Samuel took a deep breath. Then he gritted his teeth and started to warm up his eyes.

Daniel wrapped a hand over Derek’s beefy shoulder. “Can we see your room?”

P
avano wasn’t fucking Sari. He was making love to her.

He wondered if she felt the same strong feelings he did. As she moved on top of him, he smoothed his hands over her ass and thought about how different this was. Sex with real feeling and not just sex.

How long had it been?

The last year with Susannah had been all the wrong feelings. After sex, he felt guilty. Sex with Susannah had been an assault. So much anger mixed in, anger that caught him by surprise. It was all too many feelings at once.

I’m a simple guy.

Why was he thinking of Susannah?
Damn it, go away, bitch.

He wanted to be in the moment. But it seemed impossible to keep memories out of his mind. He remembered the birthmark on the back of Sari’s knee. And her salty scent. And the way she cooed—like a dove—with each move.

He had been surprised when she agreed to lunch at the New Paradise Café in town. And then amazed when she led him back to her little cottage of a house off Noyac Road.

And then it seemed natural to find themselves in her bedroom. And comfortable. Yes. Natural and thrilling and comfortable at the same time.

Pavano shut his eyes and thought how smart he was to come back. How smart . . . how smart . . . how smart . . . Ohhhh, yes . . . how smart. Oh God.

When it was over, he reached to throw an arm over her waist. But she sat up quickly, reached down to the floor, and pulled on her red underpants. Her long black hair fell over her face. In the slanting afternoon light from the tiny bedroom window, her skin had a sheen of silvery sweat.

“Sari, come back. What’s your hurry?”

She picked up her bra from the floor and slid it over her breasts, fastening it in back. Then she brushed back her hair with both hands. Her dark eyes locked on him for a moment, then turned away.

“Have to talk to you, Andy.”

He patted the bed. The sheets felt damp and still warm. “Come back here. We can talk.”

“No. I mean, we have to talk.” She pulled on her jeans. Then she dropped into the small red armchair across from the bed. “Remember the other night at that theater?”

Why is she looking at the floor? Is she avoiding my eyes?

“Sure. Of course I remember.”

“Remember I said it didn’t mean anything? When I kissed you? Remember?”

“Yeah. So?”

“Well, today . . . this meant something.” She finally raised her eyes. She spread her long fingers over the arms of the chair, then tightened her hands into fists.