“Oh, you know. The usual. Stuck in a freezing classroom while I watch everyone outside having a great time in the summer sunshine.”
I laugh.
“Speaking of school,” she says, “have you been giving college any more thought? I know you think you can’t afford it, but I was thinking, have you thought about trying for a running scholarship?”
“Maria … Not this again.”
“Just hear me out. I did some research.”
“And what do I need to go to college for?”
“You’re always telling me cool stuff about space. Like that time you went on and on about that Rosetta spacecraft that had to do all those crazy maneuvers, using the gravitational pull of different planets, to reach a comet and put a probe on it.”
“You mean Philae?” I correct her.
“Yeah! See. You know your stuff.”
“Being a fan of the work is one thing, but being an actual astrophysicist is a very hard, different thing.”
“Why not? You seem passionate about it. Everyone has to start somewhere.”
“But those guys —“
“— And girls …” she corrects me.
“Well, they need to be super smart to do that.”
“And you’re not?”
“I don’t know if I’m astrophysicist smart …” I pause, hearing a toilet flush upstairs followed by one of the boys’ bedroom doors closing.
“And I don’t know if I could leave Olivia alone with Mom either. Olivia would be completely brainwashed by Christmas.” Or much worse — But I dare not tell Maria about that part.
“Well aren’t you lucky, there are two schools, only four hours drive from us, so you could visit her on the weekend.”
“Are those schools in California?” I ask.
“Yup.”
There’s no way I could go to California without Olivia. I’ve always promised her we’d go together. But I’m thankful for Maria’s thoroughness and concern about me, so I pause, rolling the idea around in my head for a moment. “Maybe I could just go to the University of Reno … even though it would mean four more years in this horrible brown expanse.” I make a gagging sound over the phone.
“Reno doesn’t have an astrophysics program.”
“I’ll think about it,” I say, though I don’t want to tempt myself. If it weren’t for Olivia, I’d be out of this hellhole the second I hit eighteen.
“Okay … well I’m here when you want to start prepping for the SATs and get some official racing times on record.”
Maria and I keep the conversation going for another hour before she forces herself off to bed.
I hang up and wrap the blanket on the couch around me, covering my head like a nun. I turn on the TV. The blue light casts shadows from the furniture, which makes me constantly check the eerie movement it creates in my peripheral view. The sound of summer crickets creeps through an open window that I missed — I fix that really fast. I turn up the volume of the show I’m watching, a nature documentary, and try to repeat every word from the narrator in my head in order to keep my own thoughts from shooting off.
Another hour or so crawls by. At 11 p.m. I have to fight the gnawing in my gut. Mrs. Davis was supposed to be home an hour ago.
The phone rings.
“Hello, Davis residence,” I say.
“Harper, dear, it’s me,” Mrs. Davis says. “I’m so sorry I didn’t call earlier. There are some officials here saying … never mind. Can I ask you a super huge favor? Can you stay the night to watch the boys? We’re swamped at the hospital. If you need to go get your things, they’ll be fine for a few minutes. I’ll pay you double!”
“I’m … not sure if —”
“Thank you so much, dear. I’m hoping to be home around nine o’clock tomorrow morning. You know where the blankets are. I’m being paged. Gotta go! Bye!”
Ugh. I just want to go home and curl up in my own bed. Still carrying the phone, I walk upstairs and check on the boys, who are sleeping soundly.
The phone rings again. I rush into another room so I don’t wake them, hoping it’s Mrs. Davis saying she’s coming home … “Davis residence,” I answer hopefully.
“Hey, Harper.” It’s Olivia. “Mom said you were staying the night and needed me to bring stuff over?”
“You’re still awake?”
“Yeah. Mom made me dust the entire house – if she finds one fleck of dust, I’m grounded.”
My grip around the phone tightens. “How far are you from being done?”
“I think I’m almost there. But I’m not a hundred percent sure if it’s dust I’m seeing. I’m exhausted and my eyes are blurry.” She gives a timid laugh.
“Are you okay?” I whisper.
Her side of the line goes quiet. “Yes …”
“Well, why don’t you come and stay the night with me? There’s also leftover pizza. I can help you double check the dust in the morning.” And get you away from Mom.
“I don’t know if that will make Mom mad.”
“Why? You finished your job.”
“Yeah.”
“Sweet! If Mom doesn’t agree, call and tell me. And make sure Brett walks you over, too. I don’t want you walking alone!”
Olivia and I sink into the couch after demolishing the pizza.
She picks a kids’ movie on Netflix and curls in close to me. She starts drifting off to sleep the moment her head rests on my shoulder.
“Hey Olivia?” I ask.
“Yeah,” she says wearily.
“If I were to go away for a bit, how do you think you’d be with Mom?”
Olivia’s head pops up, as if she’s heard a startling noise. “How long is a bit?”
“Maybe—” My voice catches in my throat, “a year or so? But I’d visit you every weekend. I’d also call every night and check that things are okay.”
“I thought we were supposed to go to California together?” She entangles her arm with mine.
“Yeah, but if I go to college, maybe I could eventually afford to put you through college too.”
“I’m not the college type,” Olivia says.
“Why do you think that?”
“Mom told me.”
“That’s not true,” I say.
Olivia shrugs, laying back on my shoulder. “Don’t go,” she says softly as she starts dozing off. She shifts a little and her long, dark hair slides down the back of her neck, revealing dark purple finger marks blotted into her skin there.
I take a few steadying breaths, making sure I don’t sound accusing in any way. “Are these from tonight?” I gently brush more hair away from the bruises.
I feel her go rigid, pulling the blanket up closer to cover the marks. There’s a long pause before she responds, “Yeah. But she’s been better. I shouldn’t have snapped at her, I know that sets her off.”
If only I could take Olivia away. “You have to stand up for yourself,” I say. “Or you have to leave when she gets like that. She stopped hitting me when I stood up for myself.”