"Last chance."
Kerry had been keeping a low profile. "I know I must be someone rotten."
"Don't say that; it's not true," Shani said.
"I know Lena wouldn't have made me someone nice," Kerry said. Lena chuckled. Kerry went, on: "I'm not Hitler, Mussolini, Nero, Charles Manson, Genghis Khan, or Pontius Pilate. Am I a female terror?"
"You're a girl," Sol said.
"Am I pretty?"
"Ehh," Lena said.
"Yes," Robin said.
"Am I alive?"
"Ehh," Lena said.
"At times," Angie said. "Yes."
"Am I well-known?"
"Amongst a small circle of friends," Shani said.
"And amongst a larger circle of football fans," Lena said.
"Lena!" Shani said.
Kerry ripped off her name, crumbling the tape and throwing it away without a look. "Your turn, Robin," she said tonelessly.
"That was rotten," Shani said.
Lena laughed. "I can't help who she is."
"Shut up, Lena, it's my turn," Robin said pleasantly, probably averting a fight. Robin was not the marshmallow of before. She fingered her pendant, the gold eagle catching the lamp light, flickering like a star. "Could I have a minute? I'm thirsty; I want to get a drink." She started to stand. Flynn stopped her.
"I'll get you one," he said. During dinner, he had done the same, waiting on her hand and foot. Robin had eaten like a bird.
"My very own butler. Thank you," she smiled. "I just want a glass of water."
Flynn was back in a minute, but he had brought apple juice instead. "You can't trust the water down here," he explained.
"Oh, but it's filtered," Robin said.
"That's right, I'd forgotten," he said, sitting back down beside her. "Apple juice is better for you anyway."
A sharp cold, like cracking ice, pumped through Shani's heart as Robin lifted the drink to her lips. Funny how apple juice could look so much like beer...
"...one drink, it won't kill you ..." So much like poison. Of course, Flynn had not been therethat night. But he wasn't the type to forget anything.
"I'm a young and beautiful woman," Robin reiterated. "I'm a famous fictional character in a recent movie."
"Several recent movies," Park said.
"Don't tell me! I want to get it." Robin pondered. "If I'm the same character in several movies that must mean there were sequels. Hmm. I got it!Star Wars! I'm Princess Leia! And here I was sitting right next to Luke." She hugged Flynn. "I should have guessed."
"I got it!!!" Bert interrupted, leaping to his feet. "Paul Bunyon!!!" he exclaimed.
Amazing, everyone had to agree.
They hashed around the possibility of other games: Angie's Spin the Bottle, Bert's Monopoly, Sol's Russian Roulette, Park's Marco Polo in the Ocean, Lena's Strip Poker. They were nowhere near a decision when Shani, out of curiosity, asked, "Robin, where did you get that eagle pendant? It's fascinating."
Robin was suddenly wary. "It's a gift. A friend who lives around here gave it to me."
"What is it?" Park asked.
Robin shrugged, her manner - for her - very peculiar. "Nothing, an eagle. It's nothing."
"An eagle," Sol repeated, exchanging a frown with Park. Shani was sure she was missing something. Sol asked, "Does this friend of yours have long stringy hair, a tan robe tied at the waist with an orange belt, and weird eyes?"
"Is he a sorcerer?" Park asked.
"He's not a sorcerer," Robin said quickly, sharply.
"That's what I say," Lena muttered, picking at her toenails.
"You have something to say about a lot of things you know nothing about," Robin said.
Lena was not impressed. "I was only agreeing with you... this time. Why don't you make upyour mind?
Is this cat for real or not?"
"What are you all talking about?" Angie asked.
"What do you want, a miracle?" Robin asked her sister. "If you can't see or touch something you assume it isn't real. There's no in-between for you, only black and white."
The tone of the evening had suddenly become chilly, as had the breeze through the dark windows overlooking the sober ocean. The foam from the waves was no longer white, or even black, but Robin's in-between - grey. Shani hugged her arms across her chest. She was not sure, but a shadow, like that of a bird, seemed to have swept by their window on its way out to sea. Far away, she heard a faint cry. It could have been a bird's, but it sounded strangely human. Robin seemed to be the only other one to hear it.
"He only spoke Spanish," Sol said. "How do you talk to him?"
"Robin's fluent in Spanish," Lena said.
"I never knew that," Park said. "That's interesting. So, tell us about this guy. I take it Lena and you disagree over his magical