Page 69 of EverGreene
With Vinny firmly in view, a thought occurred to me. Reaching into the pocket of my robe, I pulled out my phone, opening up an internet browser and finding a search engine.
How to tell the difference between a male and a female painted turtle.
A video popped up on my feed, extolling the differences between the two sexes, including claw and tail length in relation to the turtle’s cloaca, which was a part of the turtle anatomy I never knew existed. After the video concluded, I looked down in the tank, reaching for Vinny and holding him in the palm of my hand.
What if Loche was right when he said Vinny was a girl? What could that possibly prove? It could have been a slip of the tongue. But he seemed so sure, almost as though he’d seen Vinny before.
A part of me wanted to put the squirming turtle back in my hand, to not discover the truth and live blissfully unaware, forever denying the obvious. But I didn’t.
“No matter what, I’m not changing your name.”
Vinny stared at me, blinking his eyes as though to sayI’m a turtle, lady. I couldn’t give two shits less what my name is.
More nervous than I should be at a gender reveal, I turned Vinny over so that the bottom part of his body was facing me. “I’m sorry to be invading your personal space. I swear I’m only doing this because I have to. Consider it for science.” Exhaling, my eyes wandered down to Vinny’s tail, and I recalled the video I’d just watched in detail, letting out a sharp gasp when I realized Vincent was more of a Victoria.
Chapter 18
Loche
Ilooked over to see Ever in the passenger seat, staring out the window of my SUV, watching the occasional billboard or road sign go by. She’d been quiet all day when we’d loaded the car at the office with the trial boxes and other gear we were taking to the hotel with us to set up in the courtroom. Was she missing V? Had the progress she’d made with me as myself faded away? Or had I done something to upset her? The silence was deafening.
“There are snacks in that canvas bag in the back seat if you want any of them. Granola bars, pretzels. I think I may even have some animal crackers in there?”
“You know you’re a grown ass man, right?” Just hearing her voice eased some of the tension I’d been feeling since we pulled out of the parking structure and got on the road.
“So I’ve been told. The last time I checked, there wasn’t an age limit listed on the bag. I even sprung for the frosted ones.”
“Those are the best ones,” Ever whispered, involuntarily.
“Right? Only serial killers eat the plain ones.” I cringed,looking over at Ever at the same time she looked over at me, both of us breaking out into a grin.
“That’s dark, Greene.”
“Like my cold, dead heart, Nevermore.”
From the corner of my eye, I could see her watching me. She wanted to say something but was holding back.
“Funny story. I recently discovered that my pet turtle is a girl.”
“How did you figure that out?”
“I did a quick search on my phone.”
I was a deer in the headlights, unsure of where this was heading. One thing was certain: I was no good at living a double life, having to keep track of all the information Loche knew that V wouldn’t, and vice versa. How men had secret families they were able to keep secret from their wives for years, I would never know. This was fucking torture.
“Are you going to keep the name Vinny?”
“Yeah. I mean, Vinny knows that name, and to change it now would probably just confuse her. Besides, I patted myself on the back for a week after I came up with that name. I don’t think I could come up with another, let alone make it a feminine-sounding one.”
“What about Patti LaShell?”
“Fuck, that was fast. Were you keeping that one under your hat, waiting for the perfect moment?”
“No, it just came to me. My brain is useful sometimes.”
Ever paused without taking her eyes off of me as though she wanted to gauge my reaction to what she was going to ask me next. “How did you know Vinny was a female turtle?”
And there it was. A slip of the tongue, and Ever had a piece of the puzzle.
