Page 84 of Angel of Thursdays

Anna picked up her wine glass, hesitated, then set it down again. She looked at Cassiel with a humorless smile.

“Louis gets like this,” she said.

“Yes.” It was a stupid thing to say, but it came out of his mouth all the same. He didn’t know what the right word was. That was now an ongoing problem.

“Well, I guess they both do. May is—” She frowned and took a sip of wine while Cassiel waited. “—What did happen? Could you tell me?”

He circled his wrist with his hand again, gripping.

“He didn’t tell you?”

“No,” Anna said with a small roll of her eyes. Her gaze settled to the side, not quite looking at him. Cassiel glanced at the door, then back to her. “He loves to talk but only when he thinks he can make it funny. So whatever happened wasn’t funny. Mom and Dad were freaked out.”

She paused, sorting her words.

“He’s always been like this. Well—kind of. Our mom used to think he was the easy one. When he was a kid we never had to worry about him.” She grinned in a lopsided way that reminded Cassiel of May, though their demeanors could not have been more different. “I think maybe we just didn’t know when to worry about him.”

Cassiel kept still. He could not imagine a May who would want to be worried about.

“May disappears if you let him,” Anna continued, looking up to meet Cassiel’s eyes. “I’m not saying that’s your responsibility, it’s just… what he’s like. He’ll find the best hiding place during hide-and-go-seek and nobody can find him, so he’ll just stay there. Everybody gives up, moves on to another game, and he’s still there, because nobody came to get him. By the time someone’s like, ‘Where is he?’—”

He would still be there, hiding, saying nothing, because the rules said don’t come out unless you’re found, and he was not found. To call back would be breaking the rules. Worse, it would be cheating. Cassiel knew because he had been the same child.

“I’m sorry,” Anna laughed, interrupting herself. “That makes no sense. I just mean, like⁠—”

“I understand,” he said.

Anna exhaled through her mouth and finished what was in her glass. Cassiel opened his mouth, flexing his fingers. He could tell her some version of the night. He had just settled on the words when the restaurant’s front door opened again. May came back through first, heading back to the table. Louis followed behind, his hands jammed into his hoodie pockets, scowling.

Anna touched May’s arm. May glanced at her, then at Cassiel, smiled sheepishly.

“Sorry,” May said.

“You’re done?” Anna asked, though it was hardly a question, looking between the brothers.

“So done.” May winked at Louis, who did not return the gesture in kind. May exhaled and reached for his ginger ale. “Right?”

“Shut up,” Louis said, and May laughed. So that was that.

The pappardelle had cooled. Cassiel ate two more bites because waste bothered him and the texture was mostly unchanged.

“I’m glad you came tonight,” Anna said.

Cassiel looked up. “Thank you for inviting me.”

May had stopped eating. His plate was half-finished, the sauce congealing under the light.

Cassiel said, “I’m going to head out.” To the table, not to May. “Early morning.” He flagged the server. “I’ll cover ours. Separately.”

“You don’t have to—” Anna started, and Cassiel was already handing over his card.

“It was good to meet you,” Cassiel said to Anna. “Louis.”

Louis met his eyes. Whatever was happening behind them wasn’t something Cassiel could name confidently. “Yeah,” he said. “You too.”

May stood. He picked up the jacket from the chair and held it out to Louis. “Give this back to Dad.”

“Don’t be stupid, it’s freezing.” Louis didn’t take it. “He’s not gonna miss it.”