Beneath

26 WHAT WE INHERIT

NOAH

Streaks of orange float as the sun sets. Our backyard offers the perfect few, especially here. Mabel's perched on my shoulders, plucking another crab apple from the tree. Maman opens her apron pocket so she can toss them in for collection. This batch is going into jars for pickling.

"We should start our own store." Mabel's voice is full of wonder at the prospect. I keep a steady hold on her ankles as she shifts to reach another apple.

"Mabel's Marvellous Market," Fox shouts, earning a delighted squeal from Mabel. I glance over to where he's sitting with Azi, busy with bright Legos scattered across the grass.

Fox wasn't supposed to be here, but when I caved and asked if he wanted to tag along, he jumped on it.

A sudden shriek of laughter from Az cuts through the air. Fox's got him by the ankles, holding him upside down. A shower of Legos spills from Az's pockets, scattering across the grass.

"Arrête, Fox!" Maman snaps her dish towel in their direction. "Non! Non non non!"

Fox sheepishly lowers Azi to the ground. "Désolé, Jacky, je suis...how do you say you look as radiant as the setting sun, will you forgive me?"

Maman just shakes her head, her grin wide as she turns back to me with a flush on her pale cheeks. Fox winks at me when I glare at him for flirting with my mother—again.

Mable smacks my cheeks. "Walk."

I step forward so she can snap an apple from a low hanging branch.

Maman's gaze finds me, her light eyes always searching. "Et toi? How's school, la vie?"

I shift Mabel a little, trying to hide the smile that's threatening to break free. "There's a girl," I confess.

"A girl?!" Mabel screams. I wince.

Maman's faces lights up. "I must meet her. Bring her here," she says, clapping her hands together.

I nod. Her eyes glisten with unshed tears, and she takes my cheeks, her kiss landing with a smack on my chin.

The evening unwinds in a rhythm that feels as old as me. We all sit for dinner, Dayo coming down eventually only to take his up to his room. When I got here, I tried to talk to my brother but he shoved me aside and left out the front door for a run.

Without me.

After we finish eating, Fox and I clean so my mother can work on a budget plan for her school. After, Azi and Mabel agree on watching The Nightmare Before Christmas. They crash on the couch in the first ten minutes.

I take Mabel and Fox takes Azi up to their bunk beds. We force them awake to brush their teeth. Once they're in bed, Fox and I head to my room.

He's on a blow-up mattress on the floor beside my bed, falling into it with a groan. "Wish I was a Bello," are his last words before he's snoring, star-fished on his stomach.

With a sigh, I pad across the hall to Day's room, knocking on the open door. He's on his black bed, headphones in, book in his lap, reading with lamplight.

"What."

Lovely start.

"You didn't eat dinner with us," I say.

"How perceptive," he says, going back to his book.

"Maman wanted you too. You hurt her feelings."

He slams the book shut. "Well, that's not my fault, and I don't care. I'm 15, not 5. I can eat by myself."