Play at Soul's Edge
Page 33
Elisa reached for his hand and shaded her eyes with the other. She imagined a young, dark-haired woman in a bright red dress dancing over the long slope of the lawn, laughing, flinging her hair up to the sun. “She’s happy here.”
Then Elisa hesitated, inhaled, and pointed to the other side of the small stream. “My brother’s over there.”
He followed her gaze. “Carlos?”
The words she had never said aloud before tumbled out. “He was shot by the police during a robbery seven years ago. He was seventeen.”
Adrian took her in his arms. Hot tears stung her eyes, but she swiped them away.
“My dad left and my mom kept saying that Carlos had just moved out and would be back at any time.”
Adrian squeezed her more tightly.
“He always wanted me to be good,” she said.
“You are good.” Adrian kissed her softly on the forehead. “No one better.”
Elisa fished a tissue out of her pocket and wiped her nose, then tipped her head back, meeting his eyes. “You know what? You are too.”
He raised his eyebrows skeptically. “Good?”
“What matters is what you do from now on. The past is over.”
He stared out over the city, at the street pattern extending into the haze below, and became still. One finger flicked at his slacks. “Does anyone really know?”
“We’re going to be together, and you’re going to do work that makes the world a better place,” she predicted. “I know you’ll be a good person.”
The diamond-like glitter on the myriad windows below softened and merged into the amber glow of morning. Adrian shifted, and sunlight flashed across his features. He took her in his arms, and his breath stroked her cheek. His voice, deep and low, resonated in her ears like a benediction. “Then it’s decided. What you believe is all that matters.”
The morning sun warmed her bare shoulders; the sky glowed with honeyed light. A small breeze rippled the clusters of lavender blooms dangling from the pergola. The fragrance of wisteria mingled with Adrian’s clean scent. She lifted her face to his, and their lips met with the sweet familiarity of coming home.
Epilogue
ADRIAN TOOK A GAP YEAR to clean up some of the mess around Rockton before going to Harvard. Elisa worked at the bakery full-time, and they both volunteered in drug treatment and anti-gang programs. They moved into an apartment together.
On the one-year anniversary of their first date, Adrian proposed.
They were married soon after, and when Elisa resubmitted her application to MIT, she was considered an independent adult and received full financial aid.
Ben won a pre-med scholarship, and Kim, inspired by her experience at the clinic, became a medical technician and eventually a nurse. Cesar gave up his gang life and went into private security. He continued to secretly enjoy poetry.
Keisha and Vince both received promotions and never again had to work undercover in a high school. After a few more years of bickering on the job, they got married so they could argue 24/7. They’ve never owned more than six cats.
As the fortuneteller had predicted, Elisa and Adrian eventually had four children and lived a long, loving, and happy life together.
The only shadow in their bright life occurred about ten years after the events in this story when Alfred Schwartz unexpectedly returned with the journal that belonged to Adrian’s mother.
But that’s a story for another time.
Acknowledgments
So much is owed to the many people who helped with this book at various points in its creation that I can’t possibly begin to thank you enough:
Bonny Becker, Karen Finneyfrock, Allison Augustyn, Toni Littlestone, Jason Strayer, Kim Ross, Rita, Ara, Ken, Diana, Flarie, AC, MS, LWW, TFM, and many others all read earlier drafts of this novel and provided valuable feedback. Forgive me for not mentioning every single one of you by name, but please know that you all have my deepest thanks.
Special thanks to Kimberly Ito for her amazing editing skills, to Fran Walsh, kick-ass beta extraordinaire, and to Christian Fuenfhausen for the fantastic cover.
Sophia Amador
October 2016
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