Chapter 18: Ten Minutes on the Step

Eli was on the brownstone steps at ten to four, with his collar turned up and his hands between his knees.

He had walked again.

I watched him from the front window, behind the curtain, where Alessia had put me.

"You can watch," she had said. "You can't come out."

"And if he says something cruel?"

"Then I'll hear it, Mom. That's the point."

Dario's car was parked across the street with the engine off.

He sat at the wheel with both hands on it, looking at the step.

Alessia came out at four exactly and sat down on the top stair, a full arm's length from her brother.

The radiator beside me clanked, and I opened the window one inch.

"Hi," Eli said.

"You have ten minutes."

"I know."

He touched his collar and then put his hand back between his knees.

"I was at the door," he said. "I put my hand on the handle."

"I know. I said your name."

"I heard you."

"And?"

"And Jared took my arm." His voice was steady, which I had not expected.

"He said if I opened it, I would be the one who set it up. I believed him."

"Do you believe him now?"

"No."

"What changed?"

"I saw you in that hospital bed." He swallowed. "I've thought about nothing else since."

"Since Thursday," Alessia said. "Say it."

"Since Thursday."

She looked at the street.

A bus went by.

"You taught me to ride a bike," she said.

"You ran behind me with your hand on the seat, and you let go and didn't tell me."

"I remember."

"I thought you would always be the one who didn't let go of the seat."

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