“Isn’t this the time of year when old people die off? Isn’t heat the great culling for people with heart conditions and undiagnosed clots and all that?”
“Old people die all year round,” says Pez. “What did you say was the reason why Henley came back? He wants a job from you? Something to do with being in trouble in China?”
“Yeah, he didn’t give any specifics,” I say.
“I will find out the specifics,” he says sadly.
“What are you saying? Are you saying that Henley had something to do with our father’s death?”
“I am just asking questions,” says Pez. “Now, you also said that Alistair was the one responsible for developing the technology that makes the game work?”
“Yeah, although so far I’m fairly underwhelmed,” I say. “Maybe there’s more to it than I’m seeing.”
“Does this give him an unfair advantage with respect to this game?”
“Maybe, but there’s not much we can do about it. I’m sure Bernard will find a way to cheat to even things out. And Gabriella has one of those faces you just want to help, like a little lost teacup pig.”
“And here you are, talking to me.”
“We all have our angles,” I say. “And liabilities. I do intend to win, however.”
Pez stands up.
“What a thing to do when you should be mourning your father,” he says. “I’ll get back to you if I find anything out. No promises, though. Your father was very good at keeping secrets.”
I press some macarons on him for the road. He is just about to leave when Peter runs into the room, his face white and his eyes wide.
“There’s been an accident,” he blurts. “Olivia’s been hurt. Coming home from school. Ben’s with her now.”
“What are you talking about?” I say, taking my phone out. I have a bunch of missed messages. I frantically scroll down to find the earliest one. MOM, ARE YOU THERE???? it says, from Jane.
“She’s alive,” says Peter. “She ran into a car door while riding her bike home from school. It flipped her over the handlebars and she landed on her shoulder.”
“And?”
“She’s not dead or in a coma or anything. But they’re all at the hospital still waiting for results about her arm.”
I am already up and headed for the door.
“I’ll push the Playqueen meeting back to tomorrow,” Peter says as I reach the door.
“Yes, do that,” I call back as I walk out.
Behind me, I almost don’t hear Pez mutter thoughtfully, “Another tragedy. So sudden. So unexpected.”
13
By the time I get to the hospital, Olivia has already been seen by the doctor and she and Jane and their father are sitting around waiting to sign the discharge papers. None of them seem particularly freaked out, but my heart is jackhammering and I’m sweating like a bottle of champagne on a hot summer day.
“Oh, my baby,” I say. “Are you okay?”
Olivia’s forehead is all scratched up and she has a bandage over the bridge of her nose. Her arm is in a sling but not in a cast. She has cuts across her collarbone and big scrapes on both her palms that are covered in iodine.
“She’s going to be fine,” says Ben, coldly. “She wasn’t wearing her helmet and she wasn’t looking where she was going and she was going too fast, but she didn’t break anything, thank god. It’s just a sprain.”
Olivia smiles at me painfully.
“Are they giving you the good drugs? Dilaudid? Oxy?”
“Tylenol,” says Ben.
“I’m not even going to miss any school,” complains Olivia.
“Nope,” says Ben. “Though you won’t be riding your bike again for a while.”
“When does summer vacation start, anyway?” I ask Ben, perplexed.
“Not until the end of June,” he says.
“Jeez,” I say. “When I was a kid, we got out in May. So, is somebody going to tell me what happened?”
“It wasn’t actually my fault,” says Olivia.
“Oh yeah?” I say, sensing an opportunity to get on her good side and to sow division against Ben by being the cooler one here. This seems like a moment of trauma. A moment that will be remembered forever.
“Yeah, I was, like… obeying the law. It’s true I wasn’t wearing a helmet, but did you know that people who wear helmets actually get hit more often? They don’t have good balance and they can’t see as well. Also, drivers are way more likely to be careful around people not wearing helmets. They seem more human. If they can see your face, they, like… they don’t want to hurt you and they will swerve around you.”
“You have to wear your helmet,” says Ben. “If I catch you riding your bike without your helmet again, I’m taking your bike away.”
He looks at me meaningfully. United front.
“Totally,” I say weakly. “But okay, what actually happened?”
“I was on one of those side streets that run perpendicular to the Eastern Parkway,” she says. “I don’t even remember which one. Anyway, it’s the same route I always take coming home from school. Nothing has ever happened there before. Mom, it is, like, a really quiet street.”
“That is exactly what makes it dangerous,” says Ben.
“Okay, but like, it was so weird,” says Olivia. “Honestly, I wasn’t even going that fast! I was in the middle of the street, in the bike lane, when this person, like, opens their door just a crack, looks over their shoulder, and then opens the door all the way. I braked, right, and that’s when I flew over my bars. I caught myself, but then the person shut their door and drove away. Like, why were they even opening their door if they weren’t getting out? And I was hurt and stuff! But that wasn’t even the weirdest part.”
“What was the weirdest part?” I ask.
“The weirdest part is that they were wearing a mask, like a full-on Halloween mask. So I’m saying that I think they did it on purpose.”
“That is just so
