Chapter 17: Among Adults
Dan chases the children back to the house, suddenly a child again himself. He holds tight to my hand and pulls me along after him, both of us laughing as we race into the safe circle of light. The tables are empty now, the game of horseshoes over, most of the kids inside at this hour. Only a few adults linger on the deck, smokers and some of the older teenagers, Caitlin among them. I don’t see my parents or Ray, but as we follow the kids up to the house, Aunt Billy catches my arm to stop us. “We’re moving into the living room,” she says, snubbing out her slim cigarette on the deck railing. “Give everyone a few minutes to get the children settled before we get started, what do you say?”
The living room is the gathering place in Evie’s house. For as far back as I c
