The Names We Take by Trace Kerr

Author:Trace Kerr
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: YAF003000 YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Science Fiction / Apocalyptic & Post-Apocalyptic

YAF001020 YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Action & Adventure / Survival Stories

YAF031000 YOUNG ADULT FICTION / LGBT

YAF018020 YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Family / Alternative
Family
Published: 2020-05-19T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

“Mutton yesterday, mutton today, and it looks like mutton again tomorrow,” Ben said with a meaty burp.

It had been funny the first time he’d said it days ago. Pip pushed around her breakfast of sheep cheeks and eggs, hoping to catch a glimpse of Fly. Pip was surprised by how much she missed her.

She pushed away from the table and waved to Iris as she hurried past. Sunburn mixed with tiny freckles on Iris’s cheeks. The frightened bags under her eyes had faded. Every evening they met at dinner, and Iris gushed about her day. Words poured in a torrent, filled with wonder and excitement for a life that, for the most part, Pip wasn’t a part of.

Hiding in plain sight was wearing on her soul. She couldn’t be who she was. Couldn’t love who she wanted to. Thistle Hill was turning into one giant compromise where she couldn’t win.

Every morning she wrapped bandages around her chest, clamping the material down tight on her breasts, tamping down her ambivalent feelings about her new home. She knew her deception wasn’t sustainable but couldn’t figure out what to do about it. What if she told Veronica the truth? What if Veronica found out about her yearning for Fly? Would it be another showdown like the one she’d had with her parents?

“Let’s go, loser,” Granville said on his way out of the barn. “Get Marcus, he’s in the crapper.”

“Charming.”

Pip realized pretty quickly that Marcus wasn’t Granville’s right-hand man just because they were brothers. It went deeper than that. Marcus was always where he was needed. Ready with a tool or a helping hand. He also turned a blind eye to the overly affectionate attentions Granville paid to all the teen girls on the farm.

What had taken her longer to understand was why Marcus wouldn’t talk to her. On that first day of scrounging, each time she’d asked Marcus for help, he acted like he hadn’t heard. It took Granville snorting with glee while signing directions to Marcus for her to figure out the puzzle.

Marcus was Deaf.

Pip spent the rest of that day feeling like a fool. While unloading the sheep from the truck to the barn kitchen, Marcus had explained—with toddler-speed signs for her benefit—that Granville loved watching people make idiots of themselves trying to communicate with him.

She found Marcus washing up by the outhouse and poured rinse water over his chapped hands. He signed his thanks while he mouthed, “Thank you.” He was teaching Pip ASL.

“You’re welcome,” she signed. “Time to go.”

Marcus nodded and waved his hands rapidly in the air with an ironic smile on his face. Pip laughed; he’d explained the hand-waving sign the day before. He was clapping. But with the smirk on his face, she knew he was being sarcastic. They were going to spend the day hooking up a pair of solar panels to a well pump on the far side of the orchard. It promised to be a tedious day of Granville telling them he didn’t need any help and swearing at them when they didn’t help.

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