Paul, though his concept of order appeared to be leaving everything out and stacking his belongings in thematic piles. Clothes, books, CDs, tennis balls, sunscreen and shaving lotion-all of it in organized piles-covered the tops of his desk, bureau, and chair. Glancing down at a stack of books, I noticed a satiny edge of paper protruding from the pages of one. A photograph. Curious, I pulled it out.
It caught me completely by surprise. Liza and I, our arms around each other's shoulders, wearing T-shirts made in honor of our father, laughed into the camera's eye. It was a favorite photo of my sister's because, as she used to say, 'We look just like us!'
Mike knew who I was. He had known from the start. But if he knew my identity, why had he lied to me about his and Liza's relationship? Did he fear I would pepper him with questions until he revealed something he didn't want me to know?
I slipped the photo back in the book. I had seen what Brian wanted me to see, and then some, but the more I knew, the less I understood.
Walker ended rehearsal early that day, reminding us that it was Movie Night. Kids left the theater quickly, and Walker followed Maggie down to the offices. Both had been edgy that afternoon; according to Shawna, they had argued fiercely while I was gone on my errand. Brian followed them downstairs, hoping, he said, to get them to cool it.
I had already returned the master key to him, choosing a time when there were too many people around for us to confer. I didn't want to discuss what I had discovered.
Tomas and I were about to leave the set when Arthur and another guy from maintenance arrived, carrying the extension ladder that Tomas had been calling about all day. The two men made a hasty exit, perhaps afraid of being asked to do something else. After several clumsy efforts Tomas and I managed to rest the ladder against the catwalk thirty feet up.
'Shall I give it a try?' I asked.
Tomas shook his head. 'I'd rather have a couple people here holding it.'
'Don't worry. I'm not going far.'
Tomas held the ladder and I started up the aluminum rungs. On the sixth one I stopped. I didn't like the give of the ladder, the way it vibrated in my hands and the metallic noise it made.
'Everything okay?' Tomas asked, pulling his head back to look at me.
'You're going to have to find someone else for the job,' I said, climbing back down.
'I've already got them lined up.'
'Shall we store this on its side?' I asked.
'No.' He gestured toward a table full of tools and the bolt of blue fabric. 'I'd like to get the sky hung right away tomorrow.'
'Walker might get irritable if he starts the day with a ladder in the middle of his stage.'
'If he does, I'll say I'm sorry,' Tomas replied.
'I see. Better to say you're sorry later, than ask for permission before? '
He smiled. 'Sometimes, with some people, yes.'
'Tomas, you continually surprise me.'
We gathered our belongings and walked back to the dorms together, passing Mike, who was carrying a tennis racket and a can of balls. He said hello, more to Tomas than me, and continued on. After Tomas and I parted, I headed in the direction Mike had taken, figuring there were courts somewhere beyond the Stoddard parking area and athletic fields.
I found him playing alone, hitting a tennis ball against a wall in a practice court, driving it hard. Thump! Thump! A day's worth of heat radiated from the pavement, and the humidity wrung every last degree from the lowering sun. Mike's shirt was soaked through and his forearms shone with sweat, still he played on as if some demon were goading him. Sometimes he slammed the ball hard, too hard to get the rebound-that seemed to give him the most satisfaction.
He didn't notice when I sat on a bench outside the court's wire fence. I brushed the gnats away from my face and waited. At last he stopped to drink from a water bottle.
'May I talk to you?'
He spun around, surprised, then glanced about to see if anyone else was there. 'All right,' he said, but he stayed where he was, midcourt on the other side of the tall wire fence. 'About what?'
'My sister.'
He didn't move.
'My sister Liza.'
He wiped his face on his shirt and walked toward me, but only as far as the fence, keeping it between us.
'When did you know who I was?' I asked.
'As soon as I saw you.'
'Why didn't you say something?'
'Why didn't you?'
'I have reasons,' I replied.
'So do I.'
I kicked at the grass, frustrated. He turned the face of his racket horizontal and bounced the ball against the court.
'Why did Liza give you the picture of her and me?'
'I guess she told you I liked it,' he said, continuing to dribble the ball. Then his hand swooped down and snatched it. 'No, she couldn't have, or you would have realized that I recognized you. How do you know about the photo?'
'I saw it in your room this afternoon.'
'In my room?' His eyes narrowed, turning the color of blue slate. 'What were you doing there?' Snooping.
He looked at me, amazed. 'I can't believe it,' he said. 'I can't believe you'd do something like that.'
'At least I'm honest in admitting it. You lied to me about Liza.'
He turned his back on me and drove the ball hard against the wall. 'You lied the day you introduced yourself as Jenny Baird.'
'If you knew who I was, why did you He to me about her?' I persisted.
He faced me again, frowning.
'Why didn't you admit you were dating, in love, whatever?'
'Whatever,' he echoed.
'You had to realize she'd tell me about the two of you. Sisters share almost everything.'
'I don't know what Liza told you, but we were just friends.'
I shook my head and turned to walk away.
'Jenny, listen. I may have. . misled Liza,' he said haltingly.
I glanced back.
'When we first got to camp we became friends almost instantly. We spent a lot of time together and told each other stuff about our families. We had a lot in common-l mean, our dream of being actors and all.
I realized too late that Liza was misinterpreting things, that she thought I was interested in her romantically when really I was-' He broke off.
I stepped toward the fence and finished his statement: 'Interested in my father, interested in his connections. Maybe he could get you a scholarship, like Walker did,' I said and started to laugh, though I didn't think the situation funny. 'You know, I've been used by guys who wanted to date my sister. I've been used by theater groupies who wanted access to Dad, but I didn't think something like that would ever happen to Liza.'
Mike said nothing.
'Do you have any idea how much it hurts to be used that way-how much it makes you feel like a nothing?'
'I tried to let her down easy. I tried to back out, but she wouldn't let go.'
