“There was a woman named Ripper and a man named Regent,” said X. “When I was little and scared and had no one at all, they took me in.”
Gloria nodded, smiled, seemed to open again.
“Can we sit?” she asked X. “And will you tell us everything?”
While X was sharing his story, Zoe’s phone made its little bug-zapping sound. It was a text from her mom.
About to call u. Texting first so u will pick up. It’s important and involves u, X, everybody. Calling in 3 … 2 … 1 …
The phone trilled. Zoe slipped outside to answer. The night was clear and warm. Across the parking lot, a movie was letting out. It must have been good because everybody looked dazed, and nobody seemed to remember where they’d parked their cars.
“Hey, Mom,” said Zoe. “Why are you being weird?”
“Hey, beautiful girl,” said her mother. “I’ve got a question for you, and I want you to take all the time you need before you answer, okay? You like Rufus, right?”
“Yeah,” said Zoe. “A lot.”
“You didn’t take all the time you needed,” said her mother.
“I took twice as much as I needed,” said Zoe. “It wasn’t a hard question. You had to call to ask me that?”
Up in the sky, Zoe could see both Dippers, as well as a third constellation she’d forgotten the name of. She decided to call it Ripper’s Dress, because of the way it glowed.
“Wait a minute,” she said. “Did Rufus ask you to marry him?!”
“No, no, no,” said her mother. “Stop jumping ahead.”
“Did you ask him to marry you?”
“No! Stop jumping! I need you to take this seriously.”
“Take what seriously?”
Her mother took so long to answer that Zoe wondered if she was still there.
“Rufus doesn’t want us to move out,” her mom said finally. “I know I’ve always denied this, but he likes me. You were right about that. He likes all of us, obviously. He’s asking us to stay. He was really sweet about it. That secret project he was doing with X turned out to be a sign for the door that says, The Bissells Plus Rufus.”
“He put our name first?” said Zoe. “That’s kind of awesome.”
“It kind of is,” said her mom.
“Do you like him like he likes you?” said Zoe.
“Promise you won’t tease me?” said her mother.
“You know I can’t promise that,” said Zoe.
“Yes, I like him a lot,” said her mother.
“Then let’s stay,” said Zoe. “Done.”
“But you hate that little room,” said her mother.
“I don’t care about the room, Mom,” said Zoe. “I care about you. And Jonah will be bat-shit happy. Let’s go for it. Let’s see what happens. Let’s be the Bissells Plus Rufus.”
“Thank you, Zo,” said her mother. “You’re a good person. You always have been.”
Zoe peered into the restaurant. Dallas was ferrying plates to the table. X was telling his story to Val and Gloria. He was talking excitedly, waving his hands around, which she’d never seen him do before. Even Val had bent forward.
“But what about X?” said Zoe. “What happens to him? Are you still going to make him leave?”
“Yes, but—”
“You’re just gonna kick him out?”
“Yes, but—”
“He’s got nothing, Mom. He’s got nowhere to go.”
Zoe looked back into House of Huns. X had stood, and was walking toward the window with a steaming plate in hand. He was asking, with his eyes, if Zoe was okay. Zoe nodded, even though she wasn’t.
“Would you listen a second?” said her mother. “I had an idea. What if X lived at Bert and Betty’s place instead of us? It could be cute with some work, and it’s right there on the lake, and you could see him but also take some time to remember that you’re still seventeen. I think Bert and Betty would have really liked X. I mean, look, he avenged their deaths, for one thing.”
“Yes,” said Zoe. “I love that idea. Yes, yes, yes.”
X came up to the window. His plate was piled with Hun “delicacies”: pork, shrimp, beef, and something that was pretending to be crab, all of it swimming in brown sauce. He smiled, and pointed his fork at the plate enthusiastically. He liked it. Zoe laughed, and shook her head at him: You are a dork.
She said good-bye to her mom, and hung up.
She put a palm against the window, so X would do the same, but his hands were full. He leaned toward her. From the other side of the window, he rested his forehead against her palm. She’d have sworn she could feel the heat of his face through the glass.
Zoe felt something in her chest—it was like everything that had ever hurt was being swept with feathers. It took her a moment to realize that it was happiness.
She trusted it this time.
She put her hand on her heart to hold it in.