“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“You two get in your own little world with each other,” Travis said with a wave of his hand. “Sometimes you stop responding to everyone around you and just focus on her. I don’t want Mayra to be unprepared. It’s not the same as when he’s having an attack, but it kind of looks like it in a way. It’s hard to explain. I used to think they were both telepathic and talking through each other’s heads or something.”
“We’re not.” I scowled. I did remember various conversations throughout the years about Megan and me together, but I didn’t really think much of it. I just liked to give her my attention when I was there, like we did when we were kids.
Travis continued to talk, but I wasn’t paying close attention to what he was saying. I had just noticed that Mayra’s tank top had shifted again, and I could almost see the birthmark next to the strap of her bra. Almost.
“So, no need for me to be worried about him?” Mayra inquired. “Is that what you mean?”
“Pretty much,” Travis answered. He scratched the back of his head and glanced around the room nervously. “I just wanted you to know since…well, since you’re with Matthew and…and, well…part of the family, I guess.”
“Travis Rohan!” Mayra placed her hand over her heart and used the other one to fan her face. “I do declare! You are warming up to me!”
They both laughed, but the humor was lost on me. I was glad they were getting along better, but I was mostly wondering if I could see the fish-mark on Mayra’s skin if I just shifted my position. I leaned in close to Mayra and tilted my head a little in an attempt to see under her shirt a little better. Mayra suddenly shoved me with her shoulder, snapping me out of it.
Travis’s laughter turned to howls, and he quickly excused himself to go to the bathroom. Mayra covered her mouth, and I knew I had been caught. I shrugged and wrapped my arm around Mayra’s shoulders. I pulled her a little closer, which made the tank top sleeve and her bra strap bunch up, revealing the birthmark.
I couldn’t resist the opportunity, so I reached over and poked the fish.
~oOo~
Mayra and I sat in the back seat of Bethany’s car while she and Travis rode in the front. Beth drove slowly even though she liked going faster. She knew it made me nervous. Travis played with the controls for the radio as we went in and out of the reach of various stations’ signals between Oxford and Cincinnati.
Mayra had come over early to try to help me get myself together for the trip, but I wasn’t having the best of days. Nothing I tried to say came out right, and she was starting to give me strange looks. At this point, she was leaning her head against my shoulder and staying pretty quiet. I had the feeling she figured out I didn’t feel much like talking.
My head was filled with memories of Megan.
I remembered the day I realized she was different from me. I had received a pile of Mighty Beanz for my birthday, and Megan and I were sitting on the kitchen floor and spinning them around in circles. While we were playing, Megan suddenly stood up and started spinning around in circles herself. That wasn’t so odd, but she wouldn’t stop even after she hit the refrigerator door with her head, and her head started to bleed.
I had asked Mom why she did that, and that’s when she told me Megan was different from other people, and that was why she liked clocks so much. I knew about that, of course—Megan would take any kind of clock or watch and hide it under her bed. Sometimes she would even crawl under there with them and listen to them tick. I went under there with her once, and we both stayed there listening to the ticking until Mom made us stop.
“Oh yeah,” I muttered, startling Mayra. “Here.”
I handed Mayra a small wristwatch.
“What’s this?”
“It was…um…it was my mom’s,” I told her. “Megan likes clocks and watches. If she sees you wearing one…well, she might like you, too.”
I held up my own arm and showed her I was also wearing one. Mayra slipped the watch around her wrist, and I helped her get the tiny little pin through the hole in the strap so it would stay on.
“Thank you,” Mayra said quietly. She kissed the edge of my jaw, which made me shiver a little.
The building where Megan lived was tall, white, and surrounded by gardens. It was a warm and clear day, and after I got all the paperwork signed, one of the a
ides helped us find Megan. She was sitting in the grass outside, and a group of young kids was nearby. A woman was blowing bubbles for them. Some of the kids watched and tried to touch the bubbles, but others just stared into space or played with their fingers.
Megan was sitting behind a wooden bench and away from the rest of the group. Her dark hair was hanging in her eyes as she looked down at a line of ants carrying little crumbs through the grass. Dr. Harris was sitting on the bench and writing in a notebook.
“Hello, Matthew,” she said. She reached out to shake my hand, and after a few seconds, I remembered I was supposed to do the same. Our hands touched briefly before she moved to Travis and Bethany. “And who is this?”
Taking my eyes off Megan for a moment, I looked in the direction of the doctor’s gaze.
“That’s Mayra,” I told her.
“It’s good to meet you, Mayra,” Dr. Harris said with a smile.
“Good to meet you, too,” Mayra replied. “I’m Matthew’s girlfriend.”