We Are Inevitable
Page 22
* * *
By seven we run out of Angela’s crumb cake, by eight the muffins are history, and by nine the espresso’s history. “I bought five pounds of beans this morning,” Ike says, dismayed. “Thought that would get us through the weekend, but it didn’t last the day.”
Ira laughs. “If we get a boom of babies in nine months, we’ll know it’s because no one in town could fall asleep tonight.”
“We’ll expand our children’s section,” Chad says, gesturing to two little kids racing around the store like maniacs. “Get a train set. Stuffed chairs. Some other kid stuff. And more books about travel. Your mom was right about that one, which is why I left the travel and parenting books together.”
“I saw that,” I say.
“Maybe we should start the musical portion,” Ira says. “Since we’re out of coffee.”
“Good idea,” Bev says. “I’ll tell the musicians. Then we can announce the upcoming events. Because we also ran out of printed schedules.”
“The schedule’s all up on the website,” Chad says as a father chases down a pair of wayward kids, followed by a laughing woman. “Holy shit,” Chad whispers. “I think that’s the guy who used to be in Shooting Star.”
“What’s that?”
Chad rolls his eyes. “Only, like, a world-famous band. The lead singer married a famous cellist. I heard they bought a spread around here to turn into a studio. Dude, I think that is them and their kids. I gotta go tell Jax. Opening night and we got celebrities in the house!”
Ira sidles up next to me. “You okay with all this?” he asks, giving my hand a squeeze.
I nod. More than okay. “It’s the happy ending I couldn’t have imagined.”
He shakes his head. “I still don’t understand how we did this.”
“Sure you do,” I reply. “Stone Soup.”
“You’re right. Stone Soup. You’re the one who got the pot going.”
“That tracks. The story does start with an act of fraud.”
“Hmm, I never thought of it like that before.”
“I did,” I reply. “Being the resident con artist and all.”
Ira reaches out to hug me. “Thanks for being you,” he murmurs in my ear.
I hug him back. “Everyone else was taken.”
* * *
When Hannah and Jax take the stage, I follow Chad to a special spot we’ve set up where his view will be unobstructed.
“Life is strange, ain’t it?” Chad asks. “Who woulda thunk it when I saw you at that first show at the Outhouse we’d end up living together, or that I’d end up a partner in a bookstore, where rock stars apparently shop. Living our best lives now, aren’t we?”
“Yeah, Chad. I think we are.”
“Hey, I keep forgetting to tell you. I finally read the dinosaur book you were so obsessed with.”
“The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs? Did you like it?”
“Yeah. It was totally not boring. The thing I don’t get is how you read that book like a hundred times and still missed the point.”
I sigh. One of the drawbacks of selling my stake to Chad is that he now feels no compunction whatsoever to lecture me about books. “How exactly did I miss the point?”
“Well, you’re always talking about the dinosaurs being extinct. Did they know? How did they feel? Blah blah blah. But they’re not really extinct.”
“I think you’re confusing the Brusatte with Jurassic Park.”
“Nah, dawg. I’m not. Because right at the end, he talks about the new breed of flying dinosaurs. They were smaller, bat-sized, able to fly, so when the asteroid hit, these new guys were somehow able to survive. And eventually they . . .” He trails off.
“They evolved,” I finish.
He reaches an arm around me and pulls me toward him, knocking me on the head as if to tell me what I already know. That I’m dense. And he loves me. And he knows I love him too.
“And what did they evolve into?” he asks, pointing up.
I look to the flock of bluebirds Amanda painted on the ceiling, and then I turn to Chad and answer his question once and for all.
“They evolved into birds.”
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books referenced or referred to in We Are Inevitable.
The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs by Steve Brusatte
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
Master of the Senate by Robert A. Caro
Modern Life by Matthea Harvey
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie
Appointment with Death by Agatha Christie
Too Loud a Solitude by Bohumil Hrabal
Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey
Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The Rules by Ellen Fein and Sherrie Schneider
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz
Batgirl, Volume 1: The Darkest Reflection (The New 52) by Gail Simone
Batgirl, Volume 2: Family Business by Cameron Stewart and Brendan Fletcher
Fifty Shades of Grey by E L James
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Emma by Jane Austen
The Magician’s Nephew by C. S. Lewis
The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis
The Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan
Ways to Make Sunshine by Renée Watson
The Unicorn Rescue Society series by Adam Gidwitz
Wonder by R. J. Palacio
The Track series by Jason Reynolds
The Dog Man series by Dav Pilkey
Walter the Farting Dog by William Kotzwinkle and Glenn Murray, illustrated by Audrey Colman
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle
The Door by Magda Szabó
The Melancholy of Resistance by László Krasznahorkai
Just Kids by Patti Smith
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
Stone Soup by Marcia Brown
The Scent of Desire by Rachel Herz
The Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living by Meik Wiking
The Art of the Deal by Donald J. Trump and Tony Schwartz
War with the Newts by Karel Čapek
Goldmine Record Album Price Guide, 10th Edition by Dave Thompson
Beethoven’s Anvil: Music in Mind and Culture by William Benzon
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Starting and Running a Coffee Bar by Susan Gilbert, W. Eric Martin, and Linda Formichelli
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
Lost Horizon by James Hilton
Moneyball by Michael Lewis
Alcoholics Anonymous: The Big Book by Bill W.
The 2010 Rand McNally Road Atlas
His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman
A Grief Observed by C. S. Lewis
My Brother by Jamaica Kincaid
“The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The Great Good Place by Ray Oldenburg
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes by Edith Hamilton
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
/> ADDICTION NOTE
In We Are Inevitable Aaron repeatedly says that Sandy’s addiction is his own doing, that he chose his addiction over his family, that if he’d wanted to, he could’ve kicked the habit.
I want to start this note by emphatically debunking this idea, which has been proven untrue by scientists and substance-abuse experts. Addiction is not the fault of the addict. We authors often make characters say things we know to be untrue—and, spoiler alert, by the end of the book Aaron begins to realize that his blaming of Sandy is a way to shield himself from the pain of losing his brother.
The opioid addiction sweeping the country is not the fault of weak-willed addicts, lack of willpower, etc. If you feel the need to assign blame to for the crisis, one place to look is the pharmaceutical industry itself, notably companies such as Purdue Pharma that have knowingly heavily marketed products like oxycodone as non–habit forming even though these synthesized drugs’ chemical makeup is nearly identical to morphine, the highly addictive opiate from which heroin is derived. This is a travesty and a public-health nightmare, and if you’d like to read more about it, I highly recommend Sam Quinones’s Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic. An adult and a YA version is available.
Here’s what you need to know about addiction. It is a potent combination of physical and psychological dependencies, and if it were easy to kick, millions of people in this country would not be losing their livelihoods, homes, and lives to addiction.
And yet recovering from addiction is possible. For every Sandy, there are a hundred Hannahs.
If you believe you have a substance-abuse problem, SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) has a 24-hour-a-day, 365-day-a-year information-service hotline for individuals and family members facing mental or substance-use disorders. Call 1-800-487-4889 or visit samhsa.gov. The calls are confidential—no one will tell your parents, your doctors, etc.—and can help you figure out the next steps, such as rehab options or twelve-step meetings, or offer support so you can tell the trusted adults in your life. According to several studies, many people with substance-abuse problems have underlying untreated conditions (like anxiety and depression), and SAMHSA can help you find mental-health support as well.
If you have a friend or family member who has a substance-abuse problem, you can also reach out to SAMHSA. You might also think about joining an Al-Anon (al-anon.org) or Nar-Anon (nar-anon.org) group, which supports friends and relatives of people struggling with substance abuse. (Al-Anon focuses on alcoholism and Nar-Anon on narcotic addictions, but the struggles with substance abuse transcend the substance, so you would be able to find support in any such group.)
Anyone can attend a twelve-step meeting anytime. So if you think you might have an issue, Google “twelve-step meeting near me.” There are meetings happening all the time—most of them virtual until the pandemic ends—and you can attend nearly any of them.
According to SAMHSA, in 2016, of the approximately one in thirteen people ages twelve and older who needed substance-abuse treatment, only about 18 percent were able to access it. Other studies suggest that only 11 percent of those needing treatment can access it. There are many reasons for this—stigma, denial, proximity to facilities (particularly a problem in rural areas)—but one major obstacle is the scarcity of publicly funded rehab facilities. This is not an accident. Many states have defunded public-health programs that pay for rehab, leaving families like Aaron’s to fend for themselves. If you are of voting age, you should vote, and especially you should vote for candidates, particularly in state government, who support funding necessary public-health services, including rehab.
Whether it’s you or someone you love dealing with substance abuse and addiction, understand that you are not alone. And as you move forward on your journey, whatever it is, try to walk with compassion. Forgiveness is hard. Forgiving others for their stumbles is harder. Forgiving ourselves can be hardest.
—Gayle Forman, January 2021
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book is a love letter to books, and to booksellers, so I want to begin by thanking all the booksellers I have had the pleasure to know and those of you I have yet to meet, those of you who have hand-sold me (and millions of other readers) books, and those of you who have hand-sold my (and millions of other authors’) books.
I will not try to gloss over how difficult this past year has been for you all. What I will say is that it has reminded me and so many others how much we rely on you, not just for the books you sell but the great, good places you provide. That so many of you managed to create great, good places in the virtual world speaks to your power. That said, I look forward to seeing you again in the crowded aisles.
Along those lines, I want to thank librarians, teachers, and other educators. I cannot imagine how challenging a year this has been for you, but I have seen firsthand the way you have risen to the occasion, turned destruction into creation. Words alone cannot express my gratitude. But words are all I’ve got.
Writing outside your own experience is both a necessity of fiction and an act of humility, and I want to thank all of the people who educated me and helped me, particularly on disability issues. Thank you to Andrew Skinner of the Triumph Foundation, to Jennifer Korba, who read carefully and thoughtfully, and to Dean Macabe, who did not blink when in our first conversation, I brought up erections and catheters. Thank you to Zoey Peresman for guidance and insight on addiction and recovery issues. Thank you, Andreas Sonju, for helping me make sure I got my lumber lingo and sandpaper grits just right. And to Heather Hebert for reading this book with an open, honest heart and for being everything I love about booksellers in one human.
Thank you to Leila Sales, who pushed me hard on this one. Every time I would hot-potato it over to her, claiming (wishing) I was done, she’d send it back and kick my ass a little further. If you cried at the end of this so-called comedy, blame Leila.
At Penguin Random House, thank you to my amazing team, Christina Colangelo, Felicia Frazier, Alex Garber, Carmela Iaria, Brianna Lockhart, Jen Loja, Lathea Mondesir, Shanta Newlin, Claire Tattersfield, and Felicity Vallence. Tip of the hat to Theresa Evangelista for the striking cover design and Anna Rupprecht for the spot-on illustration. Thank you to Eileen Kreit for ongoing support and good cheer. Finally, a bear hug of thanks to the ringmaster of it all, the incomparable Ken Wright.
I also want to thank the PRH book reps: Susie Albert, Jill Bailey, Maggie Brennan, Trevor Bundy, Vicki Congdon, Sara Danver, Nicole Davies, Tina Deniker, John Dennany, Cletus Durking, Joe English, Eliana Ferrier, Drew Fulton, Sheila Hennesesy, Todd Jones, Doni Kay, Steve Kent, Vance Lee, Mary McGrath, Jill Nadeau, Tanesha Nurse, Deb Polansky, Mary Raymond, Colleen Conway Ramos, Talisa Ramos, Jennifer Ridgeway, Samantha Rodan, Christy Strout, Judy Samuels, Nicole White, Allan Winebarger, and Dawn Zahorikm. Many readers might not realize that reps are on-the-ground champions of books, the conduit between author and bookseller. I’m not sure how they all managed to keep the train on the tracks when there was no actual train but they did, and for that, and so much more, I am grateful.
Thank you to Michael Bourret and Lauren Abramo, and everyone at DGB. To Mary Pender, Alyssa Lanz, Gregory McKnight, and everyone at UTA, and to Suzie Townsend and Dani Segelbaum and everyone at NLLM. Thank you to my foreign co-agents and publishers for signing up for another ride.
Thank you to Amy Margolis for the encouragement on that frigid day at the beach when I thought I’d never finish this book! Thank you to Raquel Jaramillo for support and encouragement and help figuring out what to call this thing! Thank you to Tamara Glenny, who is always among my first readers. Thank you to my trio of sister-wives: Emily Jenkins, Libba Bray, and Marjorie Ingall, who, respectively, helped me figure out the head, the heart, and the funny bone of this book and who kept me sane during the pandemic. And thank you to my actual spouse, Nick Tucker, who continues to be my muse, this time informing not just the rec
ord- and book-collector traits and indie-band ethos, but also the more obscure literary references. I probably never would’ve heard of Hrable were it not for him.
Thank you to my family, of course, in particular my two girls: Denbelé, my big-hearted partner in crime, and Willa, who showed me that a teenage reader could love Ike as much as I do.
And finally, thank you, my dear reader. It’s not always an uncomplicated love affair, this reading thing, with our collective attention pulled in so many directions. That you dedicated yours to a book, this book, and made it all the way to these final pages, it makes me (and, I like to imagine, Aaron, and Ira and Chad and Ike) very, very happy.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Gayle Forman is an award-winning, internationally bestselling author and journalist. Her #1 New York Times bestselling novel If I Stay was adapted into a film starring Chloë Grace Moretz. Gayle is also the author of several other bestselling novels, including Where She Went, I Was Here, the Just One series, I Have Lost My Way, and Leave Me. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and daughters.
CONNECT WITH GAYLE:
Website: GayleForman.com
Twitter: @GayleForman
Instagram: @GayleForman
Facebook: Facebook.com/GayleFormanAuthor
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