Читать книгу Are We There Yet? - Дэвид Левитан, David Levithan, Рэйчел Кон - Страница 27

ELIJAH CAN’T HELP IT. HE SCANS THE CROWD AT THE GATE OUTSIDE of customs, looking to see if someone is waiting for him. As if Cal could truly drive the bitchin’ Camaro across the Atlantic Ocean and wait with a lei, just to be inappropriate.

“Let’s go,” Danny says, hiking his bag higher on his shoulder. “And tie your shoelaces.”

Elijah doesn’t care about his shoelaces, but he ties them anyway. He nearly loses Danny in the airport rush. He doesn’t care much about that, either, except for the fact that Danny has the money and the name of the hotel. (Typical.) Elijah nurtures a half-fantasy of disappearing into the crowd, making his own way to Venice, living by his wits for a week and then returning at the end of it all to share the flight home with his brother. He can’t imagine that Danny would mind.

But Danny has stopped. Danny is waiting and watching – watching his watch, tapping his foot, prodding Elijah forward. International crowds huddle-walk between them. Families with suitcases. A girl who drops her Little Mermaid doll.

Elijah returns the doll and makes his way to his waiting brother, who asks, “What took you so long?”

Elijah doesn’t know what to say. Shrugs were invented to answer such questions, so that’s just what Elijah does.