Invisible (39 page)

“Here’s the new guy,” Mr. G said.

The black-striped clownfish swam within the water-filled plastic bag floating in the corner of the big tank. Sure enough, he was an onyx percula, which was pretty rare. That’s why it had taken Mr. G so long to find him. He was about half the size of Charlie, Mr. G’s other clownfish, which was good. No fights over turf between them. She leaned in. The new fish flicked his eyes toward her. “He looks happy,” she said, knowing that was what Mr. G was waiting to hear. But she didn’t think he looked happy; she thought he looked wary, like he knew his world was going to be turned upside down, again.

“He’s already had his first meal.”

That was a good sign. Sometimes new fish went on hunger strikes.

“He and the Desjardini tang have been eyeing one another. I can’t decide if that means they like each other or not.”

The large brown-striped fish drifted to the far corner, as if she’d already forgotten all about the newcomer. She could be faking it, though. Tang were crafty that way. “She doesn’t like him.”

“Don’t worry, Peyton. I’ll stay on top of it.”

But he wasn’t here all the time. He went home at night, and he took business trips. There would be plenty of opportunities for the tang to take a vicious nip. Yes, Peyton decided, the new fish looked uncertain. Like he knew this wasn’t going to be the best setup.

“Here we go.” Mr. G undid the top of the plastic bag and upended it, letting the new clownfish slide into the tank.

Nothing at first. The new fish sat still, as though he wasn’t sure where he was or what he was supposed to do. The purple tang swam over and past, then cycled back. The Desjardini zipped around the top layers. Charlie had his back to the new fish, playing hard to get, or genuinely not picking up on the changed dynamics of the tank. Then he swam to the top and down again, and came to an abrupt halt, like,
Whoa
.

“That was fast,” Mr. G said.

Charlie swam closer. The new fish treaded water, his little gills opening and closing. Charlie circled and circled, drawing nearer and nearer.

“Little does he know he’s going to be a Charlotte soon.”

Clownfish were born male. Over time, the more dominant ones became female. The new fish flipped around to face him. They wavered in the tank, inches from each other. Would they fight or would they decide to get along? As a rule, clownfish were a docile species, but it could still take them a while to settle down. Charlie puffed up his fins, letting the newbie know he was in charge.

Mr. G’s face was reflected in the glass. “Did Fern tell you I spilled powder the other day?” she asked him.

He watched the fish. “She had to fill out a report.”

“If the EPA finds anything, is it because of me?”

Now he looked at her, appraising.

A knock. The secretary stood there. “Sorry to interrupt, but Martin called. It’s LT.”

Mr. G straightened. “I told him. He has to wear his uniform.”

“It’s not that. He’s not even supposed to be working today. He got in somehow and he’s going around looking for cameras.”

“Like security cameras?”

She grimaced. “Like the miniature cameras that aliens put into people to monitor the human race.”

“Martin can’t handle this?”

Martin was half the size of LT and old.

“LT’s trying to get into the daycare.”

“For crying out loud.”

No one said not to, so Peyton followed Mr. G and his secretary down the hall to the lobby. Voices grew louder as they got closer.

“There’s no such thing, LT.”

“That’s what you say! But I saw them!”

Martin stood, arms crossed, between LT and the daycare door. Inside, Sheri Cavanaugh watched through the glass, a baby balanced on her hip. “Those weren’t aliens,” Martin said. “Those were people from the EPA.”

LT rocked his enormous self from side to side. “EPA’s the
government
, isn’t it?”

“I can’t let you in there, LT. You know that.”

“LT!” Mr. G called.

LT whirled around, and his blubbery face crumpled with relief. “You’ll let me in, won’t you? I got to make sure the kids are okay!”

“Give it a rest, LT,” Mr. G said. “Only parents are allowed in the daycare.”

“But they won’t look. You know they won’t!”

Ronni trotted toward them, snapping off her gloves as she moved. “Stop it, LT. Look, you’re scaring the kids.”

“You’re not the boss of me,” LT said.

“I’ll tell Mom. I’ll tell your home supervisor.”

“I don’t care.”

“Sure you do, LT,” Martin soothed. “Come on. We can look for cameras outside.”

“The cameras aren’t
outside
. They’re
inside
. Why can’t you see that?” LT shoved Martin, and the old guy fell back against the wall.

“That’s enough!” Mr. G grabbed LT’s elbow.

Peyton hadn’t known Mr. G could yell so loud.

Mr. G marched LT away, LT struggling and trying desperately
to shake him off, but Mr. G held tight, even though LT was so much bigger than he was.

“You okay, Martin?” Peyton asked, and he nodded at her, rolling his arm around as though checking his shoulder. She could tell he was embarrassed.

“I better go check the back doors,” he mumbled, and walked away.

Sheri pushed open the door to the daycare. She’d set the baby down and she came over to Ronni. “Has LT been taking his meds?” she said in a low voice.

“I guess not.”

“You better get on it. You know what’ll happen.”

Ronni pushed her hair back with both hands, turned and saw Peyton. “Don’t look at me like that. This is all
your
fault. You and your stupid aunt.”

If Peyton’s mom were still alive, LT would be behaving. “Don’t you mean it’s my mom’s fault?” Peyton shot back.

Ronni set her mouth in a hard line. “How long do you think people are going to be sad for you, Peyton? Trust me. It won’t be forever.”

She pushed past Peyton and stalked down the hall after her brother.

“She didn’t mean it,” Sheri assured Peyton. “You know she’s just worried about LT.”

“Whatever,” she said, but she knew things would never again be the same between her and Ronni.

 [DANA]

J
OE STOOD IN THE EMPTY CLASSROOM, STUFFING PAPERS
into a briefcase.

“Hey,” I said. It was odd to see him in front of the whiteboard, instead of at one of the desks.

He glanced up. “Hey.” His expression was perfectly neutral.

The way we’d parted the other night stood between us, making me feel awkward and shy. There was something else there, too, something strange and unwelcome, in the way he quickly turned away to retrieve something from the bookcase behind him. Maybe he wasn’t as glad to see me as I’d hoped.

I wandered over to him, but he didn’t look back up and flash his usual grin. What had happened? Was he just distracted with end-of-the-school-year stuff? Or was he worried about something else? “This town’s crazy,” I said.

“Yeah?” Now he was paging through the book.

It was a textbook. How fascinating could it possibly be? “Someone came by this morning and left an envelope addressed to Peyton filled with white powder.”

Now I had his attention. He set down the book and looked at me. “She didn’t mention that.”

“She doesn’t know. Frank and I got to it before she did. Turns out it was just baby powder.”

He frowned. “Good.”

“Frank said people have been talking. He checked my car for a bomb.”

“I’m sure no one would do that.” He pushed the book into his briefcase.

“That’s it?” I said. “That’s all you have to say?”

“What do you want me to say, Dana?”

“What is wrong with you?”

“Nothing’s wrong with me.”

“So there’s something wrong with
me
?”

“I hear you’ve been busy.”

So that’s what he was upset about. “Look, someone had to call the EPA, Joe. You knew what was going on. You were just as worried as I was.”

“Brian just got a huge government contract. He’ll lose that if he has to reformulate. He’s already put in the third line. He’s extended his credit to the limit.”

“Are you saying it’s okay for him to keep using dangerous materials?” I was shocked.

“Of course not. But you could have given him a little notice before jumping to conclusions. He could’ve gotten his finances in order, cut back on his supplies, tried to keep his business from going under.”

“I
did
give him notice.”

“Did you talk to him, or did you tell him how it was going to be?”

He was closer to the truth than I wanted to admit. Still, that wasn’t the point. “He wouldn’t even listen.”

“Dana, this isn’t about you and Brian and your power struggles. Other people are involved. Hundreds of people.”

Now I was mad, too. “I know other people are involved,” I retorted. “Like Peyton.”

“Like
my
niece.”

“Your brother’s kid? What does this have to do with her?” “My brother works at Gerkey’s. He’s afraid he’s going to lose his job.”

“Oh,” I said, abashed. “I didn’t think—”

“Exactly.” He snapped his briefcase closed. “That’s the thing, Dana. You never stop and think about anyone else.”

Where had
that
come from? “Just forget it. I don’t know why I came here, anyway.” I stalked toward the door.

“There you go, running away again.” He flipped off the lights and pushed past me.

There was nowhere to go but to follow him down the empty corridor. He punched through the heavy doors to the parking lot, the heat shimmering up from the asphalt in waves.

This wasn’t how I wanted it to be. This wasn’t the way I wanted to leave things. I took a deep breath, hurrying to keep up with his long strides. “Joe, we need to talk about this.”

“Talk about what?” He held up his remote and his car beeped. He reached inside and set his briefcase on the passenger seat. “About the note you stuck in my locker? About moving and never saying goodbye?”

“Joe—”

“I wish I could have been that person for you, Dana. The one you trusted. The one you loved. But I finally figured it out. I’m just the guy who once loved
you
.”

“Wait,” I said. I put my hand on his forearm.

He pulled away. “I waited for sixteen years. I’m done waiting.”

He climbed into the front seat, and I moved back to let him slam the door. This was so unlike him. “Come on, Joe,” I pleaded helplessly. “Don’t leave.”

“Funny.” He turned the key and the engine started up. “I once asked you the same thing.”

As those last few months went on, Julie tried to get me to tell her.
It’s his responsibility, too, Dana
.

•  •  •

No
, I said.
He can never find out. Never
.

But it’s not fair to him
.

Since when has anything been fair?
I shot back.

Your baby’s going to need to know his or her medical history
.

Will you leave me alone?
I opened my textbook.
I have to study
.

Why are you being so stubborn about this?

Why are you being so pushy?

I’m just trying to help
.

I don’t need your help
.

You don’t have to be alone
.

I looked at her.
I
am
alone
.

Julie’s face softened. She came over and stroked the hair back from my temple.
You’ll never be alone, Dana. You’ll always have me
.

 [PEYTON]

T
HERE ARE OVER FOUR HUNDRED DIFFERENT KINDS
of sharks, ranging in size from the puny eight-inch dwarf lantern shark to the fifty-foot whale shark. They’ve been around forever, since way back at the beginning of time, before landmasses even formed, and they haven’t evolved that much since. Guess they figured they’d nailed it to begin with
.

They have thousands of teeth, all specially shaped, each one backed by a row of baby teeth just like it. As a tooth falls out or is yanked out during a confrontation, the next tooth in line moves forward and takes its place. Their whole bodies are covered with flat, pointed teeth called denticles, each of which is anchored to the shark’s body to form a rough mesh. Not only does this skin protect them from injury, it’s also thought to help them speed through the water. Sharks are formidable hunters
.