Burning Down the House Read Online Free Page A

through the gloom, his hand locked around the neck of a bottle of champagne. He nodded to a glass on the counter. Neva picked it up and held it out and he filled her glass and she sipped and drank. The liquid was arid, elegant. She sipped again.
    I would be happy with water, she said.
    The man took a swig and then topped off her glass.
    You think you would, he said, but you’re mistaken.
    Solitary, large but not muscular, his eyes searching as if seeking out some hidden meaning beyond enlightenment, beyond reason or spirit or truth.
    Really, said Neva, I’m okay with water.
    She finished the little left in her glass and walked several steps to the sink. She could see better now.
    At least drink the bottled water, the man said.
    Really, this is fine, she said, filling her glass from the tap.
    You’re the boys’ new nanny?
    She kept the glass up to her mouth while she thought about how to respond.
    I’m Steve, he said. Their father.
    I know, she said. I’m Neva.
    —
    She turned around and washed her glass and dried it and put it back in a cupboard. She thought that maybe she should leave now but the thought was swept quickly along on a river of thoughts. The more compelling thought was about how different Steve was from the way she had imagined him, how much larger and yet more approachable. She had known that she wouldn’t be afraid of him, but she hadn’t guessed that she would want to be around him. She had expected to hate him.
    How old are you? he asked.
    Twenty-six.
    Where’re you from?
    Russia.
    How long have you been here?
    I came to the States when I was ten years old.
    Not much older than the twins, he remarked. He took a long swallow from the bottle.
    The boys are very sweet, she said. I’m glad to be taking care of them.
    They’re not sweet. But maybe you haven’t realized that yet.
    Well—she smiled—they’re very bright.
    Felix is. I worry about him. Roman’s an operator. He’ll be fine. He opened the refrigerator and with his hulking back to her he said, Why the hell isn’t there anything to eat around here?
    I don’t know.
    They’re probably having it all flown in from someplace. Jonathan and his goddamn expensive palate.
    Neva began opening cupboards and said, I’ll find something. Do you like eggs? I see some oil, I can cook them with that.
    Scrambled, not overcooked.
    She had already found a pan and lit the stove.
    —
    She has entirely forgotten the thought of leaving and is deeply engaged in the feeling of being around Steve, being present with him, settling in to what seems like a very natural rhythm. If she is a river then he is an ocean, and she feels herself flow naturally in his direction. Already in the car that took her away from home she was gliding, gliding toward this moment.
    —
    She finds, much to her surprise, that she does not hate him. Instead, she feels as if she knows him.
    —
    I’ll find a bowl, she said. She looked around for a bowl and a fork to stir the eggs. She opened drawers, but she found only keys, a screwdriver, duct tape. Far off in the house the plumbing rumbled and drifted off. She opened another cabinet and found a fork sticking out of a teapot.
    You can just crack them in the pan, he said. I like them that way.
    All right.
    Neva stirred the watery eggs and they swirled into one another.
    Couldn’t sleep in this strange house? he asked her.
    She didn’t answer him.
    Steve nodded his head as if answering the question for himself. You’ve had a hard life, he said. It’s a crazy world, isn’t it?
    Not crazier than any other, she said.
    To other worlds, he said, raising the bottle. You seem like you might’ve come from another one.
    She found a stash of plates in a dirty old dishwasher and cleaned one and put the eggs on the plate and handed him the eggs and fork.
    I sometimes feel that way, she said.
    He offered her his fork. Have something to eat, he said.
    I was only thirsty, she said.
    They stood together in silence while he ate. The light outside