Red Rain

Elaine swept her coppery hair behind one shoulder. She motioned toward the boys. “Do you have nephews visiting?”

“No. They’re mine. I mean-”

“Yours?”

“I’m adopting them. They grew up on that island off the Carolinas. Cape Le Chat Noir? They lost their families in the hurricane. And I-”

“That’s so wonderful of you, Lea. You just brought them here? You’re adopting both of them? Do you know anything about them?”

“Not really. But look. They’re sharing their candy bars with your son. Look how sweet they are.”

Samuel thought the boy was funny-looking. He looks like a big mean dog. Is he really only twelve?

The boy’s head was enormous, his black hair uncombed, falling wildly over his square forehead. He had such a mean scowl on his face. And those little bulldog eyes.

It didn’t take long to see that Ira was afraid of him.

“This is Derek,” Ira whispered as the boy lumbered up to them. “Be careful. He’s really mean. Be nice to him.”

Daniel chuckled. Samuel gave him a look, a warning, to be cool. Don’t be yourself, Daniel, he thought.

“Hey,” the big kid said. He had his eyes on Samuel’s candy bar. “What’s up?”

“These are my new brothers,” Ira told him. His voice was suddenly trembly. Like a warbling bird, Samuel thought.

Derek sneered. It made him look more like a pig than a bulldog. “Brothers? Since when?”

“My parents are adopting them,” Ira said. “They live with us now.”

Derek eyed the twins up and down, sizing them up. “How old are you?”

“Twelve,” Daniel answered.

“You don’t look twelve. You look six.”

Samuel felt a tremor of fear. Please don’t be yourself, Daniel.

Derek leaned over them, trying to be intimidating. “What are your names? Babyface One and Babyface Two?”

“I’m Daniel and he’s Samuel. Or maybe I’m Samuel and he’s Daniel. Sometimes I forget.”

Derek sneered again. “You’re a funny guy.” He eyed them slowly. “No. I got a better name for you. You’re Shrimp One and you’re Shrimp Two.”

“I want to be Shrimp Two,” Daniel said. “Can I be Shrimp Two?” He had the sweetest smile on his face. Samuel had seen that crazy smile before. It meant he wasn’t thinking sweet thoughts.

Derek stretched out a porky hand to Daniel. “I’ll finish your candy bar for you.”

Samuel saw a hard jolt freeze Daniel’s face. And then he caught the warning glance from Ira. Ira took a step back. He had his eyes on Daniel. “Just give it to him,” Ira whispered.

“Give it,” Derek ordered. He waved his hand in Daniel’s face. “I’ll finish it.” He turned to Samuel. “I’ll finish yours, too. You’ve had enough, right?”

“Right.” Samuel had his eyes on poor, frightened Ira. He handed his chocolate bar to Derek. Then he waited to see what Daniel would do.

Daniel kept that sweet smile on his face, but his cheeks were kind of red. Samuel knew that look, too. He knew everything about Daniel. After all, he was almost him. Almost, but a little different.

To Samuel’s relief, Daniel stuffed his candy bar into the big porker’s hand. “Enjoy it, Derek,” he said. “It’s all yours.”

Derek snickered. “I will enjoy it, dude.” He took a big bite and chewed with his mouth open so they could see the chocolate chunks smearing over his teeth.

“Aren’t you going to say thank you?” Daniel sounded hurt.

Derek chewed noisily. Some chocolate juice ran down his chin. He swallowed. “Funny,” he told Daniel. “You’re fucking funny. Next time, I’ll want a whole bar.”

Daniel’s smile grew tighter. Like a mask.

Samuel felt his heart skip a beat. Uh-oh.

He saw the new mum by the front windows waving two big shopping bags at them. He tugged Daniel’s arm. “We have to go. The new mum wants to leave.”

Daniel nodded. He turned slowly and followed Samuel and Ira. Derek stood in place, a candy bar in each hand, stuffing his face.

Ira pushed between them, his face all sweaty. “You have to be nice to Derek. He’s a bad dude. He likes to hurt people. Really. He beat up my friend Ethan behind the playground at school and almost broke his arm.”

“Doesn’t he ever get caught?” Daniel asked.

“I think the teachers are afraid of him, too,” Ira said.

They caught up with Lea. The twins thanked her again. All the way home, they kept thanking her and discussing which shirts and jeans to wear on their first day of school.

“That was so nice of you to share your candy with Derek,” Lea said.

“We like to share things, don’t you know,” Daniel told her.

“On the island, people have to share,” Samuel added. “Because there isn’t enough to go around.”

He saw a sad smile form on Lea’s face as she made the turn onto their block.

As soon as they were home, the twins carried the shopping bags to their room in the guesthouse. Daniel closed the door behind them, making sure it clicked. Then he pushed the lock on the handle.

He tossed the shopping bags onto the floor and turned to his twin. “What did you get?”

Samuel pulled the red leather wallet from his back pocket. He handed it to Daniel.

He could see the surprise on Daniel’s face. “You got a woman’s wallet? What’s in it?”

“Didn’t have time to look. Someone dropped it on the dressing room floor.”

Eyes flashing with excitement, Daniel poked through the wallet and pulled out a bunch of bills. “Yes. Yes. These are fifties, Sammy. Three hundred dollars. You did good.” He gave his brother a congratulatory face slap.

Samuel giggled. He liked it when Daniel was pleased with him. “What did you get, Daniel?”

Daniel reached deep into both of his pockets and began to pull out shiny things. Chains. Chains with sparkly things attached.

“Necklaces,” Samuel said. “Good boyo. So many sparkly necklaces. How did you get them?”

“Easy as salt clam pie, Sammy. The display case wasn’t locked.”

He swung the necklaces over his head, round and around, and did his funny Daniel dance. “I like sparkly things,” he said. “I’ll put these with the necklace we found in Sister’s room.”

24

Lea stirred the soup in the pot with a long wooden spoon. Behind her, the twins were already seated at the table, eager for their lunch. She smiled. So far they had devoured everything she gave them. They seemed to like any food you put in front of them. Ira was such a picky eater. These boys were a pleasure.

“Is it soup yet?” Mark entered the kitchen, scratching his stubbly face. “What a morning. The guy from the grant committee is coming here.”

Lea turned from the stove. “Really? Did he tell you how much they’re giving you?”

Mark snickered. He stepped up behind Lea and kissed the back of her neck. “You’re such an optimist.”

She frowned. “Well, they have to give you at least part of the grant, right? They wouldn’t turn you down flat.”

Mark shrugged. “Who knows? It’s hard times. I know you don’t read the newspaper-”