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fully. Brady'watched the fish swish around in the bowl and

I thought of 'sad, qJiet things~like the smell of peaches and
I cinnamon crust, and the glitter of stars in the black glass
rippling beneath an old pier. ~
! He 'fo,undBethany at the kitchen table. Jackie had run

into fhe' playroom, zooming around with his arms spread out

like 'ti'n'gss,o Brady ha"d figured it was as good a time as'

any to make his exit. She was perched on the knee of some

Johnn~ Depp wannabe who had one hand slid beneath the back

of her tank top. Anti-Depp looked up as Brady came in, and

Beth stared in the same direction, a fajnt smile twitching

the corners of her lips. They Looked oddly resolute, as if

nobody re~lly had a clai~~to life but them. '

"Think I'll be going now," Brady said.

Anti-Depp's other hand disturbed Beth's pink and black

hair; 'arranging it on one side. Her bra 'straps were hanging

off her shoulders completely, hugging the sides of her arms,

and ~he guy looked at Brady and gave a little nod, a slight

twitch of his lips, the vaguest suggestion of triumph in his

eyes.

"YoG saw the fish?" Beth asked quietly.

Brady nodded. "Patrick," he said.

"So lon~ as 'you saw the fish," she said, and in one

motion she sw~pt.her 'hair onto her back and,tucked the

straps beneath her tank. Brady 'didn't wait for her to

introduce him to Anti-Depp. He didn't even stop to say

goodbye to Jackie. It wa.s enough, he thought, to let the boy

,be himself. Of course, nothing was different. Beth's house

was still her house. His car was still his car. There was

stlll the stepladder and the rope and the window, and he

shi vereii to think about ita's he flipped on his shades and

pulled out of the driveway, maneuvering around the fresh

blue Jaguar parked at an angle just in front of the garage.

He ~urned on the ~adio, thinking sUddenly how niceit'would

:be -t o spend his Las tt mi nut-es absorbed in something as

trivial as 'music; though, at the beginning of every, song he

~ondered if it would be the, last he heard in ,hiS-lifetime.

His'''mother had often said not to rush into things" but he

'didn't ',cons'ider'this rushipg .It had been a good, long time

since anybody had cared enough to notice his 'existence, to

,quali,fy him as an individual" and if nobody had noticed. he

. was living, then surely it wouldn't be too deep a wound

, when' he was dead. He had regrets, of course, and since he

wotifdn't have to live to adrIiitit, he let the'tears splotch

the lenses of his sunglasses. He didn't love Beth, and the

truth was, he, never had. ,He didn't love Jackie, either,

no matter how hard he'd tried. A guy couldn't force love

because he was sorry, or because his 'parents were furious.

He sniffed, wiped at his nose, saw the wet streak on