Page 14 of The Strawberry Field
“Yeah,” I said, hoping I didn’t sound too eager.
He opened a drawer, pulled out two knives, and handed me one. “Make yourself at home,” he said. “I’m having turkey and cheese. There’s some other stuff here, so just make what you like.”
“Thanks,” I said, appreciating again Tommy’s easygoing generosity. I felt awkward and clumsy with Sawyer watching. But I was too hungry to concede to vanity, so I continued on following Tommy’s lead until I’d built myself a towering sandwich that had to be cut into quarters so I could eat it. Tommy dug into his, and I followed suit. Neither of us said anything until we had finished half.
“Whose party?” Sawyer asked.
“Bethany’s.”
“Bethany’s,” she repeated.
“What?” Tommy said. “You don’t even know her.”
“I don’t have to,” Sawyer said, taking another bite of her pie. “How many Bethanys have you known?”
“A few,” Tommy conceded with a smile.
“That’s an understatement,” she said. And then looking at me directly, “Do you like girls like Bethany, Jake?”
Any response I could think of stuck in my throat. I was older and supposedly more mature and should be able to navigate my way through a conversation with Tommy’s younger sister. But there was something about her that made me tongue-tied to say the least, and I shrugged.
“No?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” I answered, wiping my mouth with a paper napkin Tommy pulled from a drawer. “I guess I wonder what do you mean by girls like Bethany?”
“Girls who don’t exactly play hard to get,” she said without hesitating.
Tommy laughed. “Sawyer, what do you know about it? Haveyou been reading Mom’s romance novels again?”
“Shut up, Tommy,” she said, half smiling.
“Well, believe me,” Tommy said. “It doesn’t happen in real life like it happens in those books.”
Sawyer rolled her eyes. “So how does it happen?”
I sat there and watched the exchange between the two, admittedly envious. They teased each other, but the love between them was clear, even to me when I’d barely been around them long enough to know. I knew how it was between me and my brother and the fact that I had been a nuisance to him. What would it be like to have a sibling who had your back, who cared if you messed up or made mistakes? Who tried to set a good example for you.
“There are plenty of girls who like you, Tommy, that aren’t like Bethany.”
“Oh, yeah? Well, sis, right now, I’m perfectly fine with the Bethanys of the world.”
“You better not get her pregnant. Daddy will kill you.”
“Sawyer!” Tommy said, looking up and shooting her a look of disapproval. “Where the heck did that come from?”
“I saw the condoms in your nightstand drawer,” she said, back to eating her pie with deliberation.
“What were you doing in my nightstand drawer?”
“I was looking for a pen, but found something other than that, obviously.”
“Well then,” he said, “at least you know I have no intention of getting anyone pregnant.”
“If you’re old enough to be having sex,” she said, “then I guess you’re old enough to know they’re not foolproof.”
“Yes, Mom,” he said. “I am aware they’re not foolproof.”
Tommy looked at me then. “Do you have brothers and sisters, Jake, that give you grief like this?”
