“What’s the Bee?” Cal asked again, but neither of them was listening to him.
“Think about it, Frida,” Micah said. “I’d have to keep the little thing happy on the bus, wouldn’t I?” He paused. “The ride to Pines is long for an infant.”
Frida stepped back. “You would never take—”
“Not yours, I wouldn’t.”
Micah knelt down and blew out the candle, leaving them in darkness. “I’ve got to go,” he said, and in seconds he was gone.
21
Frida woke to the tree shaking. Someone was climbing the trunk.
She grabbed for Cal, who was curled against her like a cat. Even in his tight embrace, she was cold.
“Cal,” she whispered. “Someone’s coming.”
Frida could only make out the edges of the platform and the shape of Cal’s body against hers.
She was sitting up when Anika hefted herself onto the platform, a small flashlight between her front teeth like a dog carries its bone. When she saw Frida, she took the light out of her mouth and shined it into Frida’s eyes.
“Anika,” Frida said, pushing herself to sitting.
Anika didn’t speak. A shapeless Batik purse was slung across her body, bisecting her chest with its strap.
In one deft move Anika had replaced the flashlight with something else. The moonlight wasn’t much, but Frida recognized the size and shape of Cal’s gun. Frida had held it in her own hands in the dark many times.
Why had Micah left them unarmed?
“Hey,” Cal said, and untangled himself from Frida. When he saw Anika he said, “Be careful with that.”
“What’s happening?” Frida said.
“You don’t recognize your own gun?” Anika said to her. “Or let me guess, it’s your husband’s.” She cradled the weapon in two hands now, as if it were fragile. At least she wasn’t reckless enough to point it at them.
“Where’d you find that?” he asked.
“Hidden in your room.”
“You went into our room?” Frida said. “Micah said Dave would be guarding the door.”
Anika laughed. “He’s supposed to be, but Rachel helped us out with that problem. When he thinks with his dick, he’s an easy target, poor thing.”
“Rachel?” Cal asked.
Anika nodded and smiled at him, a dark space where her tooth should have been. “Don’t be shocked,” she said. “Rachel is quite alluring to the younger set.”
Cal stood up, and Anika took a step back.
“Stay where you are,” she said. With one hand she reached into her purse. “I found the gun under your bed. It was hidden with your book.”
“What book?” Frida said.
Anika held up a hardcover book, its spine duct-taped. Frida hadn’t seen one of those in years.
“What is that?” Frida asked. “Whose is it?”
“My question exactly,” Anika said. “Now at least I know you didn’t arrive with it.”
Cal shook his head. “Micah has a few books. He doesn’t share them with the rest of you, and I agree it’s wrong. I told him.”
Anika tossed the book at him. He held up his hands to block his face, and Frida couldn’t help but think he looked like a *.
The book fell to the floor, its covers splayed like a bird’s wings.
“I don’t give a shit about the book,” Anika said. “But I know others might. It’s just like Micah to hoard it.”
“My brother shouldn’t have kept it from all of you,” Frida said.
Anika groaned. “Oh, please, Frida. Like you’re some expert on ethics.”
“I wanted to tell you about the baby, I swear I was going to.”
Anika had the gun in one hand now, and it looked like she was going to cock it.
“Let’s put the gun down,” Cal said. He kept his voice low and gentle, his body still. It wasn’t working.
“I told you about Ogden,” Anika said, “about losing him. And all this time you were pregnant, expecting to have your own baby. Things must always work out for you, Frida. You’re always the exception to the rule.”
“That isn’t true,” Frida said.
“You betrayed me.”
“Put the gun down,” Cal said. “We can talk this through.”
Frida wanted Cal to just tackle Anika; he could do it easily.
“I’m sorry I kept this from you,” Frida said. Would Anika really fire the gun? “But think about it,” Frida said. “You could help me, help us.”
“What makes you think I want to help you?” Anika asked. “Why do you get to have whatever you want? Because he’s your brother?” She laughed. “You know what he did, right? He came back to the Church tonight, said he’d taken care of things.”
Frida nodded. For a long time, she’d lain in this tree house thinking of Micah and his threats. He claimed he wouldn’t send their child away, but was that enough? He’d let this place come between her and Cal. He’d willed it, even. Her brother was cruel, sometimes in such small ways it was barely recognizable. He loved like that, too.