The Moon Sisters by Therese Walsh

on a path of destruction! How can I take care of you if—”
    “You don’t have to take care of me,” she said. “I’m not your job.”
    “How typical of you to be delusional.”
    For the first time, I took a hard look around and realized there wasn’t any sign of a town, just woods, woods and more woods. A finger of fear returned to trace my spine. We were in the middleof nowhere. Lost. Outnumbered by the sort of strangers you’d see decorating a police lineup on the evening news. A knife hung from the boy’s belt.
    I averted my eyes, worked to control my voice. “Which way is town?”
    No one responded. I looked at the woman in need of a brush.
    She shrugged. “Not my state,” she said. “Hobbs?”
    With reluctance, I regarded the ink-dyed freak. “Which way is town?” I repeated.
    He tried to stare me into dust, but I refused to blink. Finally, he said, “That way,” and pointed back in the direction of the tracks. “About half mile north of the yard, not that there’s much to it.”
    There’d be a phone. That’s all I needed.
    “Perfect,” I said. “Let’s go.” I made to grab Olivia’s arm, but this time she evaded me.
    “Which way to Cranberry Glades?” she asked.
    “In the opposite direction,” said Hobbs. “You coming?”
    “I am,” she said, and took a step toward him.
    “You’re not.” This time I did grab her, pulled her back with my cold hand. “This game ends now.”
    “Game?” Her shoulders squared, and her wide blue eyes narrowed. “I know what I’m doing, Jazz, and I’m a legal adult. I can and will do what I want.”
    “I don’t care how old you are on paper, you’re reckless!” I said. “You’re irresponsible! You’re—you’re like a two-year-old out here, devoid of any sense of logic or reason, and this—” She squeezed my shoulder until I let go of her arm. “This proves it! Riding a train? Running around in the wild with strangers? Are you trying to kill yourself?” I hadn’t meant it literally, but now the words hung in the air between us, dangling like a noose. Made me even more afraid, even angrier. “How can you just blindly trust him?”
    “Trust me? You see me going around punching strangers?” said Hobbs. “But at least now it all makes sense. Why she’d rather stay with the likes of me than go back home. Why she’d choose anythingelse over having to return. No one would want to have to deal with the likes of you.”
    “I’m her sister,” I said with a snarl.
    “You’re a bitch,” he said.
    “Doesn’t feel so good, does it?” Olivia said quietly, as a crow cawed high above us. “Listen, Jazz, you never wanted to do this in the first place. I get that—how you think this is a waste of time, stupid, how you have a job to get ready for, all of it. That’s your point of view, but I have a point of view, too, and it’s just as valid, even if it’s different. I need to keep on and finish what I set out to do. It’s what I need. Hobbs has said he can take me closer to the glades, and I’m going to let him. I’m going to trust him, and I’m going to trust me . I have to trust me .”
    A breeze blew up when she dropped her hand, and my panic spiked. This was a change. Not a jabberfest. There was something different about my sister, as if she wasn’t trying to bait me to follow. As if she’d grown an inch taller, her skin a millimeter thicker. As if her heart had become sufficiently calloused, and now she was not only ready but determined to walk on without me.
    “I will take you once the bus is fixed, okay?” I found myself saying. “I’ll take you and Dad and Babka, and we’ll scatter Mom’s ashes together so she can see whatever wisps she wants whenever they decide to come around. Isn’t that a fair compromise? We’ll do it on a weekend, when I’m not working.”
    “Working at Rutherford and Son Funeral Home , you mean?”
    I felt the others’ eyes on me but kept mine on my sister, my voice even. “You know