"You're not supposed to be home till the sixteenth."
"Boat broke," I said. "They sent us home." I sat down on the wall next to her. The concrete was warm. "I wanted to surprise you guys."
"Does Mom know?"
"Not yet. I came to find you first."
She looked at me for a long moment like she was deciding whether to believe that. Then she leaned over and put her head against my arm, just for a second, and took it away again. "You smell like the boat," she said.
"I know. Sorry."
"I like it." She picked at the grass stain on her knee. "Are you going to see Finn's cupcakes? They have soccer balls on them. Mom stayed up till midnight."
I didn't say anything for a minute. Down on the field the parachute went up again, red and blue and yellow, and a dozen kids ran underneath it screaming, and it came floating down on top of them.
"I saw them," I said. "I saw you go over there."