Part 11 (1/2)

Taylor stares at her impa.s.sively. ”Why don't you go watch TV or something.”

”Hey, you're right!” Saya hollers at Rei. ”Anna doesn't even remember the TV rule.”

”You have TV rules? You poor, unfortunate children,” Taylor sucks orange juice off her fingers. ”Where's your bathroom? I need to freshen up.”

”Down the hall, first door on the left.”

Rei has three carrots peeled before Taylor wanders back.

”You're out of bathroom tissue.” She smiles as if this is a very cla.s.sy thing to say.

”What's bathroom tissue?” Saya asks.

”Toilet paper,” he tells her impatiently. ”Hold on. I'll get you some.”

But Taylor is already halfway up the stairs. ”I'll just use your upstairs bathroom. No problemo.”

The towel in Rei's hand falls onto the floor as he charges after her. ”Wait!”

”Can't I have a little privacy?” she asks from the top step. ”Or are you one of those guys who like to listen outside the bathroom door?” She grins wickedly at him.

”Okay, fine,” he says as he pivots on the step he's on and heads back down.

Rei is definitely not one of those guys, but it's my body, so ... oh, ew! I just realized she's seen me naked. I barge right in on her. Well, she's not here to pee, that's for sure! She opens every cabinet door, every drawer, even peeks behind the shower curtain, and besides finding the orange glycerin soap Rei faithfully showers with, she learns that Rei and Saya use cinnamon-flavored toothpaste and Rei is almost out of razor blades.

Rei paces at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for Taylor, trying hard not to appear as though he's listening....

Somehow, he doesn't hear her as she slips out of the bathroom noiselessly and walks the few steps to Rei's bedroom door. The k.n.o.b turns easily and the door pushes open with no complaint.

Rei's room is, as always, neat and clean. Rei is a minimalist. There are no piles of papers cluttering his desk, no dirty clothes strewn around his floor, no empty cups stacking up. His bed is made, his bureau is bare except for several trophies he's earned in karate, even his hardwood floor is free of dust. The look on her face says it all. Boring!

I don't want to risk scaring Saya by materializing in front of her, but Rei needs to get up here fast. I try to knock over one of the trophies on his bureau to get his attention, but they are heavy suckers, and I can't budge them.

She opens the first door she sees. Rei's closet.

c.r.a.p! I weigh the lesser of two evils and waste no time getting downstairs. Saya is busy searching through her backpack, thankfully, so I surge into view and point up. Rei understands immediately and takes the stairs three at a time. He opens the bedroom door just in time to see Taylor close his closet door and turn toward the door leading into the weight room.

”Anna!”

Taylor smiles at Rei, ignoring the fury in his voice. ”Hi! I like your room. Cool swing chair! What's in here?” She reaches for the k.n.o.b to the weight room as he steps on and over his bed and lands beside her.

”That,” he pries her hand off the doork.n.o.b, ”is off-limits.”

He puts his arm around her shoulder, which seems to make her happy, and herds her away from the door and out of the room. ”And you know it's off-limits. At least you knew. That's my weight room, and you were banned from going in there after you gave me grief when I first started lifting weights. You've been really good about staying out of there for the past year, so do me a favor and stay good.”

”Where's the fun in that?” Taylor pouts.

When they reach the foot of the stairs, Rei puts both hands on Taylor's shoulders and leans down to look her in the eyes. ”I need to finish making dinner. If you're bored...”

”Who, me? I never get tired of watching men work.” She winks at him and takes a seat at the counter beside Saya, who is whizzing through a math worksheet.

Rei glances at the clock and gets a package wrapped in white paper out of the freezer.

”What are you making?”

”Smoked fish.”

Smoked fish? The Ellis family never eats smoked fish. They always poach it or broil it or sometimes they don't even bother to cook it and Yumi makes sus.h.i.+. And Yumi always brings home fresh fish from the store, so why is Rei tapping into their emergency stash of frozen fish? That's there in case of a blizzard or other natural disaster.

Rei unwraps the fish and sticks it in the microwave to defrost.

”Saya, why don't you go watch the Disney Channel in Mom and Dad's room.”

Saya is dumbstruck. ”But I'm not done with my homework.”

”That's okay, I'll help you with it later,” Rei promises.

”But won't Mommy be mad?” she asks.

”Not at you,” Rei replies. This is good enough for Saya. She skips off down the hall, and I hear the door to her parents' room click shut just before the microwave dings.

Rei opens the cupboard door and roots around until he finds an old saucepan we use occasionally to melt suet for the birds. ”Be right back,” he tells Taylor. ”Stay put.”

I materialize in front of his bedroom door and draw a question mark in the air with my finger.

”Shhh,” he warns me. Like I'm making any noise. I follow him into his bedroom where he retrieves the sage bundle from his bottom desk drawer.

”What is that?” Taylor asks when Rei returns with the peculiar bundle.

”This is what we use to smoke the fish.” He reaches up onto the top shelf and pulls down an old metal tea canister where Yumi keeps the birthday candles and packs of matches. It takes him three strikes to light the match, but when it ignites, there's a subtle s.h.i.+ft of energy in the room.

”That's how you smoke fish?” Taylor asks skeptically.

”There are a lot of ways to smoke a fish,” Rei replies without looking at her. I'm not sure if he's trying to be mysterious about this or if he's concentrating on not burning the house down. He holds the match to the end of the tied bundle, then blows the flame out gently. The smoke wastes no time filling the room.

Wow! It really does smell like marijuana. Not that I've ever smoked, but I've been to dozens of concerts, astrally of course.

”What is that stuff? Oh, my G.o.d! It smells like a doobie!” Taylor looks pleased with Rei's choice of ingredients and she leans in to inhale the smoke. I wait for the sage smoke to work its magic and for Taylor to come tumbling out of me so I can move back in and get on with my life. ”Rei, you rock! I've eaten magic brownies before, but smoked fish? Brilliant! And all this time I thought you were so straight.” She giggles in a way that clues me in that this is not working exactly as we had planned.

Rei coughs and waves the smoldering bundle, surrounding her in a cloud of heavy smoke, and she sucks in the smoke and holds her breath. ”Although,” she exhales after a long while and laughs, ”isn't the fish the one who's supposed to be smoking this?”

She amuses herself much more than she amuses me, but while she's busy with her fit of giggles, I try to work myself back into her. I feel my way around her stealthily, because if she knows I'm here, she might know Rei is on to her, and that would be bad. Rei tries stamping the sage bundle out in the saucepan, but the smoke is persistent.

The television is suddenly louder and I hear little feet running down the hall. ”Rei?” Saya sounds scared. ”Something's on fire!” I try to picture how this would look to a seven-year-old. Taylor is laughing so hard she's crying; Rei is at the sink, rendering our eight-dollar miracle into a bundle of wet twigs; smoke pirouettes gracefully around the room, and everything stinks.