Page 40 of Laying Low

Dean: He didn’t tellme?I’m the only one who can beat her.Why wouldn’t he tell ME?

Anthony got ready to deliver a dollop of truth, but Laure did instead.

Laure: Because you’re the only one who could beat her, Dean.Don’t you understand?

Dean: No.

Marcus: Because he’s as smart as you are, and he didn’t want the family to know.

And more frenzied silence.Anthony wondered how many side conversations were going on that he couldn’t be privy to.

Anthony: You guys, I can only do this for another minute.I was just wondering why you didn’t send Reg to school, and now I know.

Chance: He told me once.He didn’t want to leave Mom and Dad—and he knew everybody else was going to leave anyway.

Laure: AUUUUUUUUUGHHHHHHHHHHHH I HATE EVERYTHING

Anthony: And on that note, I’ve got to go.Val, tell my dad I love him, and so far so good.Oh!And you all should know he took lifeguarding and health and safety classes so that none of you could die on him.And today he pulled a kid out of the surf who got eaten by a sleeper wave, so that paid off.

Dean: My God, you are an asshole just like your father.

Anthony: I’m so mad at all of you right now I can’t even breathe.

Well, that had just slipped out, hadn’t it?It wasn’t fair—he knew it.But hewas.They were Reg’s support system.How had they notknownall this was happening inside their shyest, most fragile family member?

Val: Take a breath, kid.We all hate ourselves enough for you.You don’t need to put any more effort into it.

Anthony realized that Val had contacted him directly, and he found he did actually breathe.

Anthony: I’m sorry.I just… nobody noticed?But I know the answer to that is he didn’t want anybody to notice.

Val: YOU noticed.That’s important.Get some sleep—you guys got four more days of this.

Anthony: Thanks, Val

He was about to turn off the phone when another textnoton the group chain pinged.

Sal: Did he tell you about Jeremiah Miller?

Anthony: Yeah.

Sal: Good.Mom took him to a shrink after that, and all the guy got out of him was “He’s sad.”

Anthony: He was afraid all of you would die, because if Jeremiah could die, his siblings, who were also “good kids,” were fair game.

Sal: Oh my God, I’m such a loser.

Anthony: I’m not doing this to yell at you.I just want him to be seen.

Sal: Good.Just, when you get the chance, let him know we’d like to see him too.

Anthony: I get that.I will.

Sal: You’re a good kid.Welcome to the family.If you have any other huge gut-ripping announcements about my little brother, maybe wait a day or two to share.I’m going to need a lot of antidepressants after this.

Anthony: I can’t believe he hid how smart he was.I wonder what his test scores say.

Sal: Let me ask Dad.I’ll get back to you on that.