Peak (Peak #1)

by Roland Smith

The grin was gone. His easygoing mood had completely changed. “Why’d you write her?” he asked. “Because she wrote to me,” I said a little more belligerently than I intended. (I guess my mood had changed, too.) Josh looked confused. I knew that one day I’d have this conversation with him, but I didn’t think it would be at 20,000 feet with him sick and me so tired I could barely lift my feet. But I guess there is no ideal time or place for something like this. “I thought we had an agreement,” he said. “I thought we were going to let me handle your mother.” “There was no agreement,” I said, and I didn’t think anyone could “handle” my mother. We glared at each other. “The least you could have done,” he said, “was to tell me that you wrote her so I wasn’t blindsided.” “The least you could have done is to write me back!” “What the hell are you talking about?” “I sent you letters.” “You mean when you were a kid?” “Yeah.” “So?” “You got the letters?” I shouted. He stopped and pulled his goggles around his neck. “Yeah, I got your letters. What does that have to do with telling your mother about Everest?” “Everything,” I said.