As You Wish

by Chelsea Sedoti

  Well, almost everyone is here. I don’t see the mayor.

  Sheriff Crawford runs the meeting. He mumbles a bit in the beginning—this is the first time he’s running the show, and he’s obviously nervous. But as he speaks, his confidence grows. He tells the town exactly what happened. People murmur and turn to each other, as if to offer condolences or shoulders to cry on.

  The sheriff says there’s no telling how to proceed, not yet. They have to find out if my wish was successful, and that won’t happen for a few days yet, not until Archie Kildare’s birthday. Until then, we all have to wait.

  After that, Mr. Wakefield goes to the front of the room.

  “This is a curious time in the history of our little town,” he says. “There are a lot of strong emotions right now, and sorting them out may prove challenging. I’ll be offering around-the-clock counseling for anyone who desires it. In addition, I’ve put together packets on dealing with grief.”

  As he drones on, Penelope gets up and passes out the packets. She’s the only person in Madison who’s still smiling. She’s probably in her glory, surrounded by so many people who need help at once.

  Afterward, folks mill around and talk in hushed voices, but my parents want to go home right away. We walk quickly to the minivan. Barnabas Fairley is waiting there for us.

  Tears streak his grimy face. He moves toward me, and my dad tenses, ready for trouble. Not that he could do much. He’s having an especially bad day—even with his crutches, he seems unstable.

  But Barnabas doesn’t try to hurt me. He wraps me in a hug. I don’t pull away from him—in fact, I hug him back. When he lets go, my family solemnly watches him climb on his bike and pedal down the deserted Madison street.

  • • •

  I have to sneak out to meet Merrill and Norie at the skeleton house. We have more planning to do.

  “The whole town’s in chaos,” Merrill says. “No one knows what to do with themselves.”

  “There seems to be a split,” Norie says. “About half the town is enraged and wants to, I don’t know, throw you in jail or kill you or something. The rest of them are wandering around like zombies.”

  “No one’s, like, secretly celebrating?” I ask.

  Merrill gives me a pointed look. “What do you think?”

  I brush off his question. “What will it be like around here without wishing? What will everyone do?”

  Merrill shrugs. “Probably start wishing on stars.”

  Maybe he’s right. Maybe wishing is a way of life, wish cave or not.

  “The really interesting news is about the mayor,” Norie says.

  “I noticed he was absent today.”

  “Yep. In hiding,” Merrill replies. “Lots of speculation going on about that. Sheriff Crawford telling everyone Fontaine pointed his gun at you, combined with the rumors about him killing those kids…well, it doesn’t look good for him.”

  Again, I feel almost sorry for the mayor. He didn’t kill the legend trippers. And though he pulled a gun on me, I’m not sure he actually would have shot. Fontaine spent his entire life trying to look tough, but the second his authority was challenged, he crumbled.

  But still, the dude pulled a gun on me. So I’m not exactly jumping to defend him.

  “The whole town disliked him and his power trip anyway,” Norie continues. “This gives them a concrete reason to get him out of office. I don’t think he’ll be mayor for much longer.”

  I never thought I’d see an uprising against Mayor Fontaine. In a few months, I wonder if I’ll recognize Madison. It won’t be my town anymore, the place where I grew up. The old way of life will be a memory. One day, people will look back and talk about the time when there had been wishing.

  “So what’s our plan?” I ask.

  “Not much to it,” Norie says. “Graduation is Saturday. I say we take off that night. Sunday morning at the latest.”

  “No,” I say.

  They look at me.

  “I want to wait until after Archie’s wish. It’s only a couple more days.”

  “Do you really think that’s a good idea, Eldo? We can guess the outcome.”

  “I need to know for sure.”

  Merrill and Norie agree to wait.

  “Where will we go?” I ask.

  “Anywhere,” Norie says. “It doesn’t matter. If we go somewhere and don’t like it, we’ll go somewhere new. It’s not like wishing. You can change your mind. There’s more than one chance.”

  “What about money?” I ask.

  Because that’s really the biggest concern. I have enough from the gas station to get by for a little while, but not long. Not long at all.

  Merrill and Norie glance at each other.

  “Actually, Eldo,” Merrill says. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that…”

  Chapter 34

  The Wish History: Merrill Delacruz

  Maybe you’re thinking you’ve heard this story before.

  Think again.

  Skip past the beginning—after all, you know how it starts.

  It’s not like Merrill Delacruz hasn’t questioned his decision. He’s had people left and right telling him he’s a dumbass.

  Saying, “Wish for money, and you can pay to have your eyes fixed.”

  But Merrill knows surgery can go wrong. Knowing his luck, he’d probably end up blind.

  Merrill Delacruz, all he’s ever wanted is to be a pilot. To be up in the air, soaring, free. And with his eyesight, it’ll never happen.

  There’s no question about it—when Merrill’s wish day rolls around, he’s going to walk out of that cave with perfect vision.

  But you already know all this.

  Flip to the next page. Take a peek at a scene in Merrill’s life you haven’t come across yet.

  It’s a few months before his wish day, and his dad is laying into him again.

  Look at how drunk Benny Delacruz is. See how he can barely stand. Yet despite that, he’s still able to cut deep.

  “You and your flying. Think that’s a noble cause? No. Noble is taking care of your family.”

  “Like you do?” Merrill asks.

  His father slaps him across the face, openhanded, but it stings.

  “I’m glad your mother didn’t live to see how you turned out,” Benny Delacruz spits.

  That stings even worse.

  It’s also bullshit. Merrill knows as well as we do that his mother supported his dream. Always buying him toy planes, bringing home movies about flying, talking to him about all the places he’d go.

  But knowing this isn’t enough to erase his father’s words.

  “Say whatever you want.” Notice how sure Merrill sounds, even though he’s shaking inside. “It doesn’t change my wish.”

  “You’ll regret this.”

  “It’s mine to regret. You already got the chance to screw up your life.”

  Merrill’s certain his father’s going to hit him again and that this time, it’ll be a fist. He doesn’t though. Instead, Merrill’s father laughs. This is when Benny Delacruz drops the bomb. He says the very thing Merrill knows but has always managed to put out of his mind.

  “How the hell you gonna be a pilot in Madison? Huh? You see any fucking planes around here? Go on, boy. Go fix your eyes. Then spend the rest of your life sitting here with your dreams.”

  Merrill’s father is cruel. He’s a drunk. He’s not the smartest man in Madison. But on this one point, Benny Delacruz is one hundred percent correct.

  Merrill needs to escape Madison.

  He can’t let this town suck him in.

  And getting out of town while you’re broke, well, Merrill understands that’s easier said than done.

  It’s possible that in this moment, on this page of history, Merrill Delacruz understands the true value of mon
ey for the first time. Money doesn’t only make life comfortable. Wishing for money doesn’t only let you buy nice things and live in luxury. Money helps you get the hell out.

  Watch as Merrill continues to tell people he’s wishing for perfect eyesight. As he acts like there’s no internal struggle, like his plan is A-OK.

  Take a look at Merrill, hanging out in his brother’s bedroom. The two siblings—one who’s already given up on life and the other struggling to make a future for himself—pass a joint back and forth. One of them is about to realize not everyone buys his charade.

  Royce Delacruz, in a rare moment of clarity, blows out a plume of smoke and starts laughing.

  “What?” Merrill asks.

  “You’re gonna do it. You’re gonna wish for money.”

  “No, I’m not,” Merrill insists.

  Merrill lies.

  Royce shakes his head. “Man, he broke you. I didn’t think the old man had it in him.”

  “My wish has nothing to do with him.”

  Royce sobers up a bit. He looks at Merrill sadly. “You do what you have to do, baby brother.”

  Flip ahead a few pages, and there it is.

  Merrill Delacruz wishing for money.

  Wishing for money, but keeping it secret. Repeating his ridiculous lie about wearing his glasses even though he doesn’t need them.

  Merrill knows no one in town believes that story. Except, of course, for the person who matters most. Benny Delacruz is too inebriated to see through his son’s little fiction.

  Which is the whole point of the lie.

  Merrill isn’t going to let his dad touch a penny of his money.

  Except, if you skim through this wish history, you’ll notice there is one other person who Merrill’s fooled.

  And you’ve gotta wonder, what kind of person has his head stuck so far up his ass that he can’t see what’s going on with his best friend?

  Maybe, hopefully, Merrill’s oblivious friend would’ve caught on if he’d been in his right mind. But Merrill’s wish day was only a few weeks after that terrible accident. So maybe we should cut this oblivious friend some slack. The kid’s hardly functioning. Maybe he misses the clues about Merrill’s wish because his head is screwed up and not because he’s a self-absorbed asshole. Maybe.

  Why doesn’t Merrill tell his friend the truth?

  Why is he still acting like his glasses aren’t prescription, discreetly withdrawing money from the ATM, secretly making plans for after graduation?

  It’s simple, really.

  All those plans Merrill’s making, they involve his friend. Oblivious or not, self-absorbed or not, Merrill has no intention of leaving his friend behind when he books it out of Madison. He’s bringing his buddy with him.

  And yeah, Merrill plans to share this with his friend. Eventually. When the moment is right. When he can be sure his pathetic, screwed-up pal can handle having another bomb dropped on him. When he’s sure his friend has figured out his life enough to nod and say, “Let’s do it. I’m ready to go.”

  So Merrill’s stockpiling money. He’s planning his escape. Graduation is approaching, and he’s ready to get the hell out of Madison.

  This doesn’t mean he’s given up on his dream though. He’s still going to be a pilot. He can figure out the logistics later, once he’s free. Once he’s out of town, Merrill will have all the time in the world. He can do anything, be anything.

  His whole life, Merrill’s told people he didn’t want cash. He wanted the fucking sky.

  At eighteen years old, he’s discovered there’s more than one way to get there.

  Chapter 35

  2 Days Postwish

  At school, I’m greeted by Archie, who slams me into a locker roughly thirty seconds after I walk in the door.

  “You stupid motherfucker.”

  “Morning, Archie.” I turn my face from his foul breath.

  “You better pray my wish comes true. Because if it doesn’t, I will destroy you. Got it?”

  “Got it,” I say, wincing.

  He lets go of me. I rub my shoulder, which took the brunt of the blow.

  “I’m not joking, Wilkes,” he says, backing away slowly, his eyes locked on mine. “You screwed up big.”

  He stalks away. I’m slammed into the locker again, but this time, with the sheer force of Penelope.

  “I can’t believe you,” she rages.

  I’m surprised. I assumed Penelope would be disenchanted enough with wishing to cut me some slack.

  “Come on, Penny,” I say. “After what happened with your wish—”

  “This has nothing to do with wishing,” she snaps.

  “Uh. It doesn’t?”

  She gets in my face, eyes flashing. “There are people in the world, children, who survive appalling situations. For you to make a mockery of that, turn it into a joke—”

  “Penelope, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  She gapes at my ignorance. “Using child sex workers to trick Mr. Wakefield. How could you?”

  How has she even heard about that?

  I open my mouth to tell her I wasn’t thinking, that I didn’t know how awful I was being. But that’s a lie. I did know, and I did it anyway.

  “I’m sorry,” I say.

  “There are bigger problems in the world than wishing, Eldon. And it’s selfish and disgusting to use those problems to your benefit.”

  Penelope spins on her heel and storms away.

  And yeah, OK. I’ll admit it: I feel like a jerk.

  That’s hardly new though.

  I make my way to first period, still reeling from Penelope’s anger.

  Fletcher’s already in his seat. If nothing else, he’s punctual now. When I sit down next to him, he holds out his hand to me. I pause, then reach out, and we shake.

  “Well done,” he says.

  It’s the most we speak about my wish. But it’s enough.

  • • •

  The funny thing about school today is that I became popular again. Well, maybe not popular. But everyone wants to talk to me.

  Granted, most people only want to talk to me long enough to tell me what an asshole I am and how I ruined their lives. Others want to know how I did it, why I did it, and what I think will happen next.

  It’s exhausting. I’m almost grateful when I get called to Mr. Wakefield’s office.

  “Mr. Wilkes. What a week you’re having,” he says.

  “Look,” I say, “I never said I was sorry. It was messed up to trick you like that.”

  “I accept your apology.”

  Rather than launching into some psychobabble, Mr. Wakefield gazes out the window. He may have accepted my apology, but he certainly hasn’t forgiven me yet.

  “Is everything OK?” I ask after an awkward silence.

  “It’s just…when I told you to face your problems head-on, I didn’t expect this.”

  “It was better than doing nothing, right? Better than running?”

  “You tell me,” he says, looking me full in the face for the first time since we left the wish cave.

  I don’t have an answer for him.

  He sighs. “Either way, it’s done now. All you can do is live with the consequences, whatever they may be.”

  “That’s a pretty scary prospect,” I say.

  Mr. Wakefield smiles sadly. “Welcome to adulthood.”

  I hesitate before leaving his office. “Hey, Mr. Wakefield? Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “For helping me through all this. I know you really were trying.”

  This time, his smile seems more genuine.

  “That’s what I’m here for. My office is always open to you. I suspect you’ll need some therapy in the coming days.”

  In the coming days? Yeah, rig
ht. After all this, I’ll need therapy for the rest of my life.

  • • •

  I walk home from school alone. Merrill and Norie are going on a date, which I’m still not entirely used to. I’m lost in my thoughts when a car pulls up behind me.

  A truck, actually. A big, loud, rumbling truck.

  “Hop in,” Gil Badgley says.

  I climb into the passenger seat, scooting Tuco closer to Gil.

  “Home or somewhere else?” Gil asks.

  “Home.”

  “Smart boy. I wouldn’t be caught wandering the streets if I was you.”

  “Do you hate me too?” I ask.

  “You wouldn’t be in my truck if I did.”

  He drives through my neighborhood slowly, one hand on the wheel, the other hand holding his tin can in his lap. Tuco curls up on the bench seat in between us.

  “They’re getting rid of Fontaine, you know,” Gil says.

  “Who is?”

  “Everyone. The town.”

  “I thought he’d always win the election.”

  Gil laughs his deep, raspy laugh. “Nah. He messed up with that two-thirds wish. They’re phrasing the ballot to read Who wants to vote the mayor out of office? And as you know, majority will win.”

  “Won’t he just enter the next election?”

  “I don’t think he’ll run again.”

  Gil pulls up to my house and lets the truck idle for a moment.

  “Half this town is gonna hate you forever,” he says. “And the other half is gonna call you a hero. What you need to do is not let either side get to you. You just worry about figuring yourself out and ignore the rest. You understand me?”

  “I think so.”

  “Good. Now get on out of here. Tell your folks I say hello.”

  I don’t know if this means Gil is on my side or not. I don’t even know if there are sides. Maybe the world isn’t as black and white as I thought. Maybe my wish was both right and wrong. Or maybe it’s nothing at all. In the grand scheme of things, maybe none of this ever mattered.

  Chapter 36

  3 Days Postwish