If These Wings Could Fly - Kyrie McCauley Page 0,44
for him—but the effect is real. It’s like the eyes have come to life a little more on the page.
“Why is he gray?” Liam asks.
“Because the real Joe is gray. Turns out it’s not just an abnormality. My bird guy thinks Joe is an entirely different crow species, called a hooded crow.”
“The most alarming part of this conversation so far is that you have a bird guy,” Liam says.
“An ornithologist, if we want to get technical.”
“Nerd,” he says, and his shoulder rocks into mine. I roll my shoulder against him in return.
“The weird thing is that hooded crows are mostly found in Europe. How do you think Joe came to be here?”
“That’s a little existential for a bird, don’t you think?”
“You two are big geeks, you know,” Fiona says, climbing off the couch. “It’s Friday night, let loose a bit.”
“Maybe we could ‘let loose’ if I didn’t have an annoying, hovering sister around all the time,” Liam says.
Fiona laughs, immune to his teasing.
“You love me,” she says.
“God help me,” he answers.
I smile and slip my drawing back into my bag. Portrait of an Old Crow can wait.
“How about a movie?” Liam asks. “I’ve got a great collection.”
“Oh, no, here we go,” Fiona says. “Here it is, Leighton. We’ve arrived. The moment you dump this boy. Liam only watches superhero movies.”
“Well, that doesn’t sound bad. Everyone loves superhero movies.”
Fiona sits up. “It’s not bad until you are on the third Spiderman movie in a row, debating different director visions and deciding which iteration or decade of comic book portrayals best supports that vision.” She collapses back into the couch. “He doesn’t just watch superhero movies. He dissects them.”
“Thanks, Fiona. You could ease her in a bit.”
“To what a top-level geek you secretly are? There’s no hiding it, Liam,” Fiona says. She turns to me. “Ask him how many times he saw Into the Spiderverse in the movie theater. Hint: more than five.”
“C’mon, Fi. A Black superhero origin story—and my favorite superhero, at that—with absolutely out of this world animation. And if I recall, you went with me to the movies three of those times.”
“Whatever, nerd. I’m going upstairs. Mom is probably watching a home makeover show.”
Fiona hops off the couch and starts to head upstairs.
“You know those are, like, crazy staged, right, Fi?” Liam calls. “Like, how can a preschool teacher and a community garden organizer afford an $800,000 house?”
Fiona leans over the steps at the last second, stretching out her arm and pretending to shoot a web at Liam before disappearing upstairs.
“So . . . have you seen Into the Spiderverse?” Liam asks, turning to me.
“Umm . . . honestly, it’s a lot of My Little Pony and Disney channel in my house. I haven’t seen any superhero movies in years.”
“That’s tragic, Barnes. Time to fall in love with a kick-ass film.”
“Film,” I tease. “Isn’t this a cartoon?”
Liam pauses in his task but doesn’t look up. “Not a cartoon. An Academy Award–winning animated feature.”
I smile at this geeky side of Liam. I think of the glasses, and the shelves upon shelves of comic books in his room. There’s something kind of vulnerable about loving something this much, and it makes me feel like I’m seeing a whole other version of him.
“You could have picked something you haven’t watched a lot already,” I say.
“And miss a golden opportunity to get Fiona to leave us alone for a bit?” he asks.
Well played, Liam McNamara. He joins me on the couch.
He isn’t wrong, though. It’s a great movie. Film.
“Ready to admit it, Barnes?”
“Admit what?”
“I have great taste.”
“Well, clearly.” I shrug.
“I meant movies.”
“I know. But you’re fishing for a compliment, and I’m not giving you the satisfaction. The movie’s fine.”
“Barnes, you’re killing me.”
“Of course it’s great,” I laugh. “Everything you do is great. I’d rather see some flaws at this point. No one is this perfect.”
“I’m not perfect, Barnes.”
“I know. You just want everyone to think you are.”
Well, shit. If I could go back in time thirty seconds and bite my own tongue, I would. I tried to say it with some levity, but it fell terribly flat.
I mean it, and he knows I mean it. Liam reaches for the remote and pauses the movie.
He shifts so he’s facing me. “It’s not like it’s an act. I just feel like I can’t afford to make mistakes.”
“I can understand that, Liam. But maybe . . . with me?”