The Orphans of Race Point: A Novel Read Online Free

atmosphere Nick had hoped to avoid.
    “Jesus Christ ,” he bellowed, hopping out of his truck. “What the hell is this? And you can put those damn beads away. The sea isn’t going to part no matter how many Hail Marys you say—not in Provincetown, and not this afternoon.” When he got no response, he shook his head and released a string of Portuguese curses as he made his way through the silenced group.
    He turned around and faced them at the door. “Listen, if you want to waste a perfectly good Saturday afternoon standing out here like a pack of fools, I don’t suppose there’s anything I can do to stop you.”
    The onlookers, momentarily cowed by Nick’s anger, lowered their heads, discreetly tucking prayer beads into pockets, and beers out of sight, but didn’t budge.
    “Okay, then,” Nick said. “If you’re going to stay, at least have the decency to keep quiet.”
    A hush fell over the group. Almost unconsciously, Neil Gallagher squeezed Hallie’s hand between his. She’d never held hands with a boy before. Neil’s grip was so ferocious that she felt as if her bones might break, but she didn’t let go. “Do you think we should pray?” he asked.
    “Me and Nick are atheists. We don’t pray,” Hallie said, repeating the word her father often used. Then, in spite of her disavowal, she closed her eyes and imagined being on the roof with the darkness all around her, recalling the rush of emotion that had invaded her on the night Gus Silva lost his mother. Silently, she whispered to the invisible stars: Pleeease!
     
    N ick was known for taking his time with his patients, so no one was surprised when an hour passed and he still hadn’t emerged. However, when Manny pressed an ear against the door and pronounced the parlor mysteriously quiet, the determined gathering was baffled. What was he doing in there? One of Alvaro’s friends speculated that he was ashamed to admit he’d been stumped by a silent nine-year-old and had escaped out the back door.
    “Keep your opinions to yourself,” Manny told him sharply.
    The first long hour passed into two and then three. Fatima’s Aunt Elesandra announced she was going home for a nap, while the other women, who’d completed the fifteen mysteries of the rosary twice, complained about their arthritic fingers. At the edge of the property, Alvaro asked if the good doctor was giving Gus a brain transplant in there. Hallie and Neil played a tense game of marbles in the bushes. “You’re good,” Neil complained when Hallie swiped his last one. “Uncle Buddy taught me,” she said, enjoying the feel of the marbles rattling in her pocket. Then she returned them. “I’ve got a whole jar at home.”
    By the time they reached the four-hour mark, Alvaro’s six-pack was empty. He looked stripped and forlorn on the hood of his car. Fatima’s friends had left, claiming they needed to get supper ready for their families, but they were soon replaced by Aunt Elesandra, who returned with some curious neighbors. By then everyone was starving, so Manny went into town to pick up pizzas. The scent of the food drew the crowd around Manny’s car—among them Neil and Hallie, who were so hungry that they decided a slice was worth whatever punishment they got for defying Nick’s orders.
    “I should’ve known you’d show up!” Fatima said when she spotted the boy she shooed away from her door on a daily basis.
    But Manny was focused on Hallie. “Nick’s been in there for half the day, and we haven’t heard a sound out of either of them. What the hell is he doing?”
    Hallie felt the eyes of the crowd on her; and in the background she thought she heard someone whisper the word she hated most: genius . Since she knew no more about what was going on than anyone else, she looked toward the house, and put her finger to her lips, reminding them of Nick’s request for quiet. The reminder couldn’t have come at a better time, because a minute later the long, almost