Chapter 22

I woke up when Tami elbowed me in the stomach. I opened my eyes. She was still asleep in my arms but had shifted position. Her head shared my pillow with mine. Right now she was facing away from me, so that all I could see was hair and an ear, but that was enough. Besides, it was a beautiful ear. I could stay like this forever, just watching that ear and feeling Tami's gentle breathing.

Forever or until five o'clock when Mom and Dad were supposed to get home. I glanced at my clock on the night stand. It was just after ten. Forever or seven hours, whichever came first.

I heard Traci moving around the trailer and smiled. The party Friday night had been great, though I felt like a hypocrite considering the number of couples that I shooed away from the bedrooms. And the one couple I didn't, Kelly and Charlie Rossiter. But the party had done what it was supposed to, it got Traci almost back to herself. She spent most of it laughing and dancing.

And when people kept asking her to sing with the band, it was almost like, "Peter who?"

Robbie's dad hadn't come home until the party was breaking up. He looked around, clicked his tongue a couple times, shook his head, but didn't say anything. Yesterday, I was up at the crack of dawn, even though it was a Saturday, and over at Robbie's house cleaning the mess. It was amazing the amount of trash that forty middle schoolers could make. Then I disassembled the stage and stored it in the utility building out behind the chicken coop.

Robbie came downstairs just as I was getting ready to leave. She looked around with half-closed eyes, mumbled something, and headed for the kitchen. I grinned and took off. I spent the rest of the day at the gym. We were hosting a big meet, and besides helping Gary with the team, I was a general go-fer.

The meet had three sessions, and our team was in the second one at two. The meet went great. Our level eights took first and our level sevens took second, though Kelly and Cheyenne tied for first all-around, something that neither of them was happy about. We had nines and tens too. They did good, but we didn't have enough to make a team score.

It was fun, but I didn't get out of the gym until after ten. I collected Tami, and we took a short walk, short because I was beat, then we came home. Tami's mom had, accommodatingly, gone to a concert in Seattle with friends, so I had my Little Mustang all to myself.

And I could stare at her ear forever.

My doorknob turned. "Tony, are you awa... ?" Traci asked quietly before realizing I wasn't alone. "Oh, I'm..."

"It's okay," I said. Traci had turned red. You'd think the number of times she'd caught me with Tami, it wouldn't get to her anymore. "I'll be out in a second."

Traci nodded and quietly closed my door.

I wondered if I installed a lock on my door, if Mom would consider it a violation of her discreet rule.

Tami was between me and the floor, so I started to crawl over her, pausing to kiss that beautiful ear. As my feet hit the floor Tami moaned and rolled, over so I took the opportunity to kiss her other ear.

I dressed quickly, made a quick pit stop, then went to find Traci. She was in the kitchen creating havoc. Trace was turning into a pretty good cook, but she could dirty six bowls, three forks, a whisk, and four plates just making scrambled eggs.

I watched her for a second and didn't have a clue what her finished product was going to be. My stomach growled, reminding me that I hadn't eaten since five o'clock yesterday and then only some nachos. I didn't want to get into Traci's production line, so I snagged a bowl, some milk, and a box of Cocoa Krispies.

I was half done when Trace came out to the table, her plate loaded with eggs benedict, hash browns, and sausage. She sat down and started eating, her eyes wandering between her plate and me. "Can I talk to you?" she asked finally.

"You're my favorite sister. Anytime," I said, setting down my spoon and lifting my bowl to drink the last of my milk.

"I'm your only sister."

"That we know about." I set my bowl down. "It occurs to me that maybe Mom was more adventurous than we gave her credit for."

Traci made a face, and I knew she was entertaining the thought I did my best to avoid: that my parents may have actually had sex and maybe not just with each other.

"I wanted ... uh ... that is ... I..."

It was always fun when Traci couldn't get the words out. I considered letting her plod on but only had a few more hours with my sleeping beauty. "Trace, you know, and I know, that you've decided to ask me something that you think is awkward or embarrassing or a combination of both. We also both know that eventually you'll spit it out, so why not save the stammering and just ask."

Traci glared. I grinned.

Traci looked down at her half-eaten breakfast. "Why'd you make me vault?" she asked so quietly that I almost didn't catch it.

It was a hell of a question.

I ignored her for a minute while I got up and took my bowl to the kitchen. I rinsed it out and put it into the dishwasher. I tried not to look at the rest of the kitchen. I came back and laid my hands on Traci's shoulders. I could see her in the reflection of the picture window. "You want an answer that'll make you feel better or the truth?"

Traci took a bite of her eggs, then said "Both."

"I made you vault because I'm you're big brother and I could."

Traci turned her head and looked up at me. "That's supposed to make me feel better?"

I gave her shoulders a squeeze then moved around the table to my seat. "It's simple. It's expected. It's the stereotype."

Traci cocked her head as she stared at me. "And what's the truth?"

"Do you remember when Tami was mad at me?"