The Loose Ends List(36)

“You look beautiful with wet hair,” he says, staring right into me.

“Really?”

“You’re a mermaid.”

He kisses me. We’re moving in sync with the waves, and I feel his whole body tense. I’m a mermaid suspended in the sea, wrapped around Enzo Ivanhoe.

“Get a room.” Awesome. It’s Burt and Mark.

“Or better yet, keep going and we’ll watch.” Burt needs a life.

“Don’t you guys eat lunch?” Enzo says. I climb out behind him.

“Enzo, you want to come hang out and have some beers?” Mark says.

“What do you think?” Enzo raises his eyebrows and flashes the side smile as we walk away.

We spend the afternoon at Enzo’s, getting as close to the edge as we can without jumping in.



My bee is going crazy. I read Janie’s text in the elevator. Come to Gram’s. Uncle Billy thinks we’re picking up a Nazi.

The whole family is abuzz on Gram’s balcony. The Wishwell is sailing down the coast of Brazil to some random town to pick up another patient.

“Why do you think it’s going to be a Nazi?” I ask Uncle Billy. Uncle Babysitter Wes is holding baby Grace by her fingers and helping her tiptoe around.

“We’re picking up an elderly guy named Heinz from a German town in Brazil.”

“Stop it. There are no German towns in Brazil,” Janie says.

Uncle Billy shakes his head at her. “Haven’t you heard of the German enclaves in South America? They’re full of escaped Nazis and their neo-Nazi offspring. I heard the guy we’re picking up is ancient. It makes sense that he’d be a Nazi.”

“I think you’re the only one binge-watching the History Channel, Bill,” Wes says.

“I watch the History Channel,” Jeb says. He’s sketching the birds that trail the ship. “I’m going with Nazi.”

“Is this a replacement for the alcoholic guy?” Janie says. “I don’t think they should have let him come.”

“His name was Dave, and he was sick, Janie. What’s wrong with you?” Wes snaps.

“Sorry. Sensitive much?”

“Enough, people. You’d do damn well to respect these patients, whoever they are. It’s not your place to judge the dying.” Gram’s pissed.

“Come on, I can’t imagine Francesca would allow a Nazi on the ship,” Dad says. “That’s all a little far-fetched, Billy. Aren’t most of them dead by now anyway?”

“We shall see,” Mom says in her singsongy I-don’t-have-anything-to-add-about-this-topic way.

“They won’t send Karl, will they? Oh, I couldn’t bear that. He’s not a good soldier.” And now Aunt Rose thinks it’s World War II.

I text Enzo: Ask your mom if we’re picking up a Nazi.

He texts back: ????? to which I reply, Just humor me.

We’ve been hugging the coast for a while, watching the landforms of never-ending Brazil rise up from the Atlantic.

“How about we talk about the feast we’re going to have in Brazil? My taste buds are damn near dead. I need some flavor,” Gram says.

“This is creeping me out,” I say. “What if the Nazi gassed our long-lost relatives?”

“Oh, come on, Maddie. You didn’t even have family in the Holocaust,” Gram says.

“As a matter of fact, my grandfather’s sister’s husband and his family were killed in Bergen-Belsen,” Dad says. “She had come to New York to try to get them visas. Talk about guilt.”

“What? How have you never told me that?” I say. Did Dad have his head in his ass during my whole Holocaust obsession phase?

“He didn’t want you to get even more mentally disturbed, maybe?” Jeb says, not even looking up from his sketchpad.

“Oh, okay, Jeb. Why don’t you sketch more birds so you don’t have to learn how to talk to people?” I’m getting annoyed.

People used to make a big deal about me being half Jewish, even though we didn’t do anything Jewish, other than latkes and the menorah once a year at Dad’s mother’s house. When I was nine, I went in search of Judaism and stumbled upon the Holocaust section of the public library. Everybody made fun of Maddie’s Holocaust obsession. Nobody knew how terrified I was of being taken away at night by scary soldiers and pushed inside an oven or that I lived it all again when they burned Grandpa Martin.

It didn’t matter that he was already dead.

“Can we just have a nice cocktail on my balcony for once without drama? I should have brought Ruth’s family on this trip, too. They were angels.” Gram has scrunch face.

“Anybody want to head down to the theater?” Bob is the best tension diffuser for this family. “They’re showing The Shawshank Redemption.”

“I’ll go,” Dad says. “Great flick.”

Enzo texts.

“Oh my God, Enzo says Francesca refuses to answer him about whether the patient is a Nazi. She told him to mind his business.”

“Definitely a Nazi,” Wes says.

“Definitely,” Billy says.

“That does it. Everybody out.” Gram ushers us out of her cabin as the ship creeps to port.



The sun has nearly set, casting dim shadows over the approaching landforms. Janie and I get out the binoculars we borrowed from Eddie’s bird-watching kit. When we get close enough to the port, we notice a group of people standing near the dock area.