Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World (Aristotle and Dante #2)(30)

He took my hand. And he looked at me.

I knew what he was saying. He was saying, I love your hand.

Yeah, words could be super overrated.



* * *



When we got back to camp, it was still early afternoon. And it seemed like maybe there would be an afternoon thunderstorm. After we ate, Dante asked me what I was thinking. “I was thinking maybe we should take a nap.”

“I was thinking the same thing.”

As I was lying there holding Dante, I found myself whispering, “I miss Legs.”

“Me too. I wish she could have come. You think she’ll be all right?”

“Yeah. She’s a tough dog. Maybe she’ll learn to make her peace with cats.”

“That’s a hard one.”

“You know, sometimes I think that dog saved my life.”

“Like you saved mine.”

“Really?”

“Sorry.”

“I mean, I felt so alone. I mean, more alone than I’d ever felt. And I was running in front of your house. And there she was, Legs, and she followed me home. And I needed that dog. I really needed her. And she’s an amazing dog. Loyal and smart and friendly. I mean, even my mom loves her.”

“Your mom doesn’t like dogs?”

“Oh, she likes dogs. She just doesn’t like them in the house. But somehow, she just let it all happen. Sometimes I think my mom loves that dog more than I do. But she doesn’t let on.”

“Moms can be like that.” He was mumbling. I knew he was falling asleep. And then I nodded off too.



* * *



I don’t know how long I’d been sleeping. I was having a dream, and I must have been screaming, because Dante was shaking me awake. “It’s only a dream, Ari. It’s only a dream.” I leaned into him. “It was about my brother. I’ve had that dream before. It’s like it doesn’t want to leave me alone.”

“You want to talk about it?”

“No. I don’t—I can’t—I can’t talk about it.”

I let him hold me. Even though I didn’t want to be held.

“It’s getting dark,” I said.

“I already started the fire.”

I looked at him.

“I’m a quick study.”

“Look at you. Dante, the Boy Scout.”

“Shut up.”



* * *



We roasted hot dogs over the fire. We didn’t talk about anything important—which meant we were talking about school, about what schools we might want to go to. Dante wanted to go to Columbia or to that college in Ohio, Oberlin. And then we got quiet. Maybe we didn’t want to think that probably we weren’t going to be living in the same town for the rest of our lives and we wouldn’t be together and that whatever Ari and Dante meant, Ari and Dante didn’t mean forever. And then we got real quiet. Dante got two plastic cups and he poured us each a drink, bourbon and Coke. The drinks were a little strong, and I think I was feeling a little bit, well, a little drunk.

“I think I’ll go to UT.” He smiled at me when he said it.

I smiled back and we toasted. “Here’s to us and UT,” he said.

“I’ll drink to that.”

I don’t think either of us believed that that Ari and Dante and UT would ever happen. Yeah, whistling in the dark. People loved to whistle in the dark.

We weren’t paying attention to the weather. And all of a sudden there was a crack of thunder and the lightning lit up the dark. Then the downpour. We ran for the tent and laughed. I lit a candle and the soft light made everything soft, but there seemed to be shadows all around us.

Dante reached for me. He kissed me. “Do you mind if I undress you?”

It reminded me too much of the time he’d washed me with a sponge when I couldn’t move my arms or legs. But I didn’t want to live in that time or in that moment, so I found myself saying, “No, I don’t mind.”

I felt him unbuttoning my shirt.

I felt his fingers on my skin.

I felt his kisses. And I let go. I just let go.





Five


FOR SOME REASON, WE BOTH woke up in a playful mood. Maybe we woke to the sound of a singing heart. The thought of a singing heart had never entered my head before this moment. Dante was trying to tickle me—which I hated, but it was somehow fun, and when I got the upper hand and was tickling him, he was laughing and yelling, “Stop! Stop!” and then we were sort of making out and I didn’t think it was such a bad way to start the day.

We broke up camp, wiping as much of the rain off the tent as we could and folding it back. We packed everything into the back of the pickup. I drove slowly through all the mud, hoping we wouldn’t get stuck, and I kept shifting the truck down and then up. Slowly, slowly, we got back onto a wider road that wasn’t muddy, and then we got to the main road.

“Wanna stop in Cloudcroft for breakfast?”

“Yeah, and then we can see Emma on our way out.”



* * *



Dante ordered strawberry pancakes. I ordered bacon and eggs and wheat toast. Salsa on the side. He drank a glass of orange juice, and I had two cups of coffee.

“I don’t really like coffee.”