Wider than the Sky by Katherine Rothschild

Author:Katherine Rothschild
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
Publisher: Soho Press
Published: 2020-10-31T18:53:35+00:00

18

THEY SAY THAT “TIME ASSUAGES”—BUT

Kai snatched his sweatshirt off the beanbag chair and gestured for me to sit. I shook my head. This dress did not allow for . . . beanbag chairs. Instead, I perched on the edge of his desk in front of a world map covered in red tacks and a Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) trifold hanging.

“Okay,” he said and sank into the beanbag chair. “Emma would kill me for telling you this, but . . .” He rubbed the back of his neck. When he looked up, I made the mistake of looking right back. His eyes were hooks, and I was the dumb fish. “You know the messages I got yesterday? I had to pick Emma up from the police station.”

The police station? “What happened?”

Kai covered his mouth with one hand. “Her dad was arrested,” he said. Then he started at the beginning. “Emma’s mom died in sixth grade, and her dad moved them in downstairs. That was the first secret I ever kept for her—where she lived. I guess they weren’t welcome in the McMichaels estate anymore, but Emma didn’t want anyone to know where she lived.” He looked up at me. “And I swear I’ve never told anyone until today.”

I didn’t even know about her mom. I dug my nails into the raw wood edge of the bunk, ashamed of my jealousy.

“And her dad started drinking.” Kai ran a hand through his hair, turning it punk. “We never heard any . . . disturbances. And Emma never complained. But this past summer, they moved out, and she didn’t tell me where. I should have asked. I should have found out.” He shook his head and sank lower in the beanbag. I shifted closer to him, listening. “Yesterday afternoon, Emma’s dad was pulled over and he was found to be over the legal limit. It wasn’t his first DUI, and they arrested him and took their minivan to impound. Now he’s in a court-mandated rehab center, and all Emma’s stuff is gone and she has nowhere to go.”

I frowned. Her stuff? “What do you mean?”

He cleared his throat. “I guess they were living in the van.” I pressed a hand to my stomach. I’d been complaining about living in a run-down mansion while she’d been living in a minivan.

“I have to talk to her.” I stood up, already thinking how I had to find Blythe so she could get Red Vines and fancy soda with straws. We needed to get home to our construction site so she could safely talk/cry/scream it out. Then we’d just keep her with us for as long as we could.

“Whoa.” Kai shot up. “This is a secret. Especially from Emma.”

“Wait. Why?” I dropped back down, thinking of her racks of clothes in the costume closet. Is it possible that the costume room wasn’t just for costumes—but that it was her closet? “She needs friends right now.”

Kai held up his hands in supplication. “I know. And I’m here for her.

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