On the Night She Died: A Quarry Street Story Read online

  "Answer my question, Allie."

  Allie settled back on the raft, though she hooked a foot against her sister's to keep them from floating away from each other and to keep Jenni from tipping her. "About Chester?"

  "Noooo. About Galina's new husband." Jenni rolled her eyes.

  "I dunno. He seemed okay at the wedding. He's been nice to us so far." Allie shrugged.

  Barry Malone had married Galina before any of them had barely known she had a serious boyfriend. It had kind of fucked up Ilya. Then again, Ilya was kind of fucked up in general. Jenni looked across the water to where he was laying on the outcropping of rock where they kept their towels. On his back, shades protecting his eyes from the sun, probably napping. Even at this distance, she could see the defined muscles of his biceps. Imagined his abs. She shuddered and hated herself for wanting him.

  "Theresa's okay, I guess,” Jenni said, forcing her attention from Ilya to the girl reading next to him. His new stepsister, Barry’s daughter, a bit younger than all of them. She’d fallen into their little group easily enough. "Can you imagine, though? Having to actually live with those guys?"

  "At least she doesn't have to share a room," Allie said.

  "No shit," Jenni agreed with another grin. "Sharing a room totally sucks."

  Allie laughed and shoved Jenni's tube with her toes, but Jenni was too fast and grabbed Allie’s ankle so she didn’t tip. Also so the force of Allie’s shove didn’t force them apart. Jenni dug her nails in a little too deep, though.

  "Ouch!"

  "Sorry,” Jenni said.

  They floated in silence for a few minutes. Chilly water lapped at Jenni’s toes. Her butt was getting numb, not just from the temperature of the water but also because of the way she had to contort herself to fit inside it. She had a fat ass, she thought lazily, but knew it wasn’t true. Even though she’d started eating pie after every shift at the diner, she wasn’t anything close to fat. Thinking of the diner now, she also thought of Barry.

  “You’re a natural at this,” Barry had told her.

  Barry had been selling his own shit for some time before she met him, but recruiting Jenni had been a smart move. Men would pay a pretty girl more than they would give another dude, even if they didn’t realize it. More money for him. More money for her. Jenni was all about more money, since the more she had, the sooner she could get out of this place. Get away. Far, far away.

  And then what?

  “I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up,” Jenni said suddenly, aloud. She wanted to bite the words back at once, but too late. There they were, out in the world.

  Allie didn’t open her eyes. “Who says you have to?”

  “Everyone has to decide at some point, Allie. You can’t just screw around forever. You have to decide.” Jenni shook her head and then let it fall back so her hair draped into the water. Weighting her. She imagined Chester the goldfish coming for a nibble, tugging her backward, out of the tube. Under the water.

  How long would it take for her to drown?

  “But not right now.” Allie sounded sleepy. If she wasn’t careful, she was going to get a sunburn. “It’s not like the world will end if you don’t.”

  “Easy for you to say. Nobody’s counting on you to make them proud.”

  The sudden splash swamped them both, nearly tipping them. Niko had swung out on the rope and dive-bombed them. Shrieking, both girls kicked at him as he tried to swim closer. Laughing, Niko shook his dark hair as he treaded water.

  "Nice going, jerk!" Allie said as he splashed at her.

  “Bitch,” Niko said around a long spurt of water.

  Jenni laughed, but Allie flipped him the bird. For a second he made as though he was going to swim closer and tip her off the raft; she squealed and kicked at him. He gave up too easily. That was suspicious and meant he’d get Allie back later. The two of them had a competition, kind of but not exactly like the one Jenni had with Ilya. For the briefest second, Jenni looked again at Ilya, then at her sister and finally at Niko, who was swimming back to the shore. Allie and Niko? Nah. That would be too weird.

  They floated again in silence, nothing but the wafting tickle of summer songs from the portable radio on the rock outcropping. Jenni didn’t know what time it was, but she probably ought to think about heading home to take a shower and get ready for work. She liked the night shifts at the diner because they gave her all day to fuck around, she could sleep in, and the night time was the right time, as the saying went. But not for love, she thought with a small, tight smile that hurt a little like she was twisting her mouth. Night shift at the diner meant truckers who were ready to take it easy for the rest of the night, parked up the road in the spot where they all slept overnight. Truckers who liked the pills Jenni passed them along with their receipts in exchange for the extra large “tips.”

  She was thinking about Barry again. He’d promised to get her a new supply of the drugs Galina lifted from her job in the surgery unit at the Quarrytown hospital. Good stuff, he’d said. Premium.

  "He must have a big dick," Jenni said suddenly.

  Allie choked a little. "What? Who? Nikolai? Ew, Jennilynn!"

  "No, not Niko. Gawd, Allie, don't be stupid." Jenni used her hands to paddle in the water, turning her in the tube so she could get her head closer to her sister's. She shouldn’t even talk about him. She shouldn’t mention his name. It was weird of her to do it, she was going to give herself away, but she couldn’t help it. "I meant Barry."

  "Gross, Jenni."

  "I bet they screw like rabbits," Jenni said in a tone of secret glee, trying hard to poke her little sis.

  Why? It was fun. Again, she knew she shouldn’t talk about stuff like that, but it was a compulsion she didn’t understand. Imagining Barry fucking Galina. It wasn’t like she wanted to fuck Barry herself…but she didn’t mind knowing that he might want to get in her pants. Married or not, Barry was a guy like they all were. She’d caught him looking at her ass, that fat-not-fat ass. All at once, Jenni’s throat closed tight, squeezing, like she was trying not to cry.

  Allie grimaced. "Yuck."

  Jenni spun, kicking gently. "I bet they do. I bet they do it every night. They're newlyweds, right? Isn't that what they do? I'm going to ask Ilya if he ever hears them. You know his room is right next to theirs."

  "Jenni, no. That's..." Allie made a gagging yuck sound.

  Teasing her sister always chased away the dark thoughts. Laughing, Jenni started to float away, out of Allie’s reach. That was when Niko jumped off the rope swing again, this time landing much closer to them. The water swelled, tossing Allie off the raft. Jenni’s tube flipped, sending her into the water too.

  She’d drawn in a huge breath on instinct as soon as she knew she was going under. Her lips pressed tight, but for a moment, Jenni almost opened her mouth and breathed in, not out. It would be so easy to let the water take her. Wouldn’t it?

  Something moved in the water between her and Allie. Something orange. Fins tipped with black. It was gone so fast that Jenni couldn’t even be sure it had ever been there, but the sight of it had her legs kicking, pushing her up and out of the water. Chester, the carnival goldfish, alive in the quarry? It couldn’t be. Jenni laughed, spitting out water.

  “Where’s Allie?”

  Niko had been treading water close to the overturned raft. Jenni’s tube had started making its way out toward the center of the water. Jenni spun by kicking and paddling.

  “Shit,” Niko barked out, “she’s still under.”

  He dove, for a moment his red bathing suit showing above the water’s surface. He splashed and resurfaced, hauling Allie with him. She was clearly panicked, almost fighting him, but Niko pulled her with strong, smooth strokes toward the small patch of ground that made up the shore. Out of the water, Allie heaved up a gush of water but didn’t puke. She swung and punched Nikolai just below the eye, making him fall back.

  "Where's Jenni?" Allie demanded.

  "I'm right here. Hey. I