All the Water I've Seen Is Running by Elias Rodriques

Author:Elias Rodriques
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 2021-06-02T00:00:00+00:00

I don’t think Mom ever told Grandma that Junior came to her that night. The pain of grieving and the fear that Grandma would blame her silenced Mom. When they do talk about him, they mostly catalogue what they don’t know about his passing: what the police found out in their investigation, who was there when he died, and why he didn’t reach out before things got bad.

Since Aubrey passed, I’ve thought a lot about all the things I can’t know about her because she was so secretive, in part because she broke laws and skipped school and in part because people talked about her too much. Rumors circulated about her temper, her home life, who she slept with. The lies I told about us made that worse. Now that she’s gone, I don’t know how to atone.

My brow tenses and my lips purse. The road curves and we slide with it. Around the bend, a large F-150 approaches, a rebel flag on its front plate. A brown cloud hangs behind it. Its headlights aren’t on, but they point at us. As we near, I see brown streaks scattered across its body. They’ve just been mudding.

Des pulls over, reaches under the seat, and places the gun on his lap. Then he rests his chin on the other hand and perches a finger on his upper lip. I consider reaching for the Magnum under my seat. Anxiety floods my stomach. I don’t know that I’ll be able to hold the gun still.

Des looks ahead, and I stare out the window. In my peripherals, I keep track of the slowly moving truck. There’s barely enough room to pass. Its mirrors near the car. They’re less than a foot away. I resist the urge to look at them. They drive by. I lean forward, place my elbows on my knees, and run my hands over my face. Des eases us forward. I turn on the radio. Static. I turn it off.

After an exhale, I say, You hear she moved up north?

Who’d you hear that from?

Jess.

Blond girl with the glasses? The one who sat with you and Aubrey at lunch?

Yeah. Called her after Aubrey died. Jess said Aubrey was getting her life together. Moved in with her grandma. Became a bartender or a waitress or something like that. Met a dude who worked construction. Got engaged. Quit drinking. Was trying to quit smoking. Wanted to buy a house.

Who’d have thought? Des says.

Not me. Definitely don’t sound like the Aubrey I know.

A dull pain begins throbbing in my right hip. I stretch my leg out, pull my knee back to me, and then repeat. An old track injury acting up, as it always does whenever I sit for too long. My leg bobs. I try to calm down, but I’m riled up. I picture myself throwing the door open and running out when Des slides to a stop at a paved, T-shaped intersection. Ahead lies the Espanola Fire Department. A single, shirtless man washes a fire truck.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.