“You told your sister, you pickle-pricked bastard.”

The phone cord tangled my waist and thigh as I paced the living room. “How'd you know that?” I asked Whit.

“Mara told me.”

“When did you talk to Mara?”

“I called you earlier and she picked up. Said you were busy takin' a dump. How'd Livy react?”

“Like you'd expect.”

“Poor girl.”

“She had a right to know. And at least I never hafta see Ryan Brosh again.”

“Too bad you're grounded,” Whit said. “They’re already settin’ up the Zipper and the Gravitron. The whole street smells like cinnamon.”

“I don't have time for rides. If I don't spend the next two days editing...”

“How far are we?”

“The opening and the red room scene are both finalized. The war needs sound. The evil prince and the ending are still under construction.”

“Damn. How 'bout the credits?”

“Still gotta write them on poster board, but my penmanship sucks.”

“Ask the girls.”

“It's impossible to stay focused in this house.”

Whit scoffed. “It's only gonna get worse, my friend.”

“Thanks for the encouragement.”

“I'm just sayin'... you can't contain the chaos forever.”

“What do you mean?”

“Haven't you read Jurassic Park?”

“I saw the movie. Seven times.”

“You remember Malcolm?”

“The guy with greasy hair.”

“In the novel, Malcolm gets high on morphine and starts ranting about how it's impossible to constrain complex systems. The dinosaurs are an epic force of nature, and nature can't be controlled.”

“Um, okay.”

“The scientists do everything they can to contain the dinosaurs. They build massive electric fences, implement state-of-the-art security systems, hire hunters and archeologists and lawyers to test out the park... they even engineer the dinos so they can't breed.”

“Right.”

“But what happens? The raptors escape. They build nests. They reproduce. They conspire. They learn the patterns of the supply boats and--despite every effort to contain them--they get off the island.”

“Are you calling Mara a dinosaur?”

“Mara Lynn is a complex system; way more complex than a dinosaur. She doesn't belong in our world, much less your sister's bedroom. If you think she's gonna sit, stay, and roll over because you pet her, you're gravely mistaken.”

“What ever happened to the nerd who once traded candy for a picture of a naked girl?”

“It happening, James. It's right in front of you and you don't even see it.”

“What's in front of me?”

“Expectations of stability. You buy school supplies. You ask Mara to go out with you and she says yes. You beat up Ryan as if it matters.”

“It does matter.”

“While you're busy planning a nice, linear path for your future with Mara, your dad is outside shooting kids outta the trees.”

“That was an accident!”

“Your mom sent the twins away.”

“Yeah? So?”

“Your sister went berserk.”

“Get to the point. I've got work to do.”

“Ms. Grisham tried to contain her too. Look what happened.”

“That was different. There were boys spying on her from the...” I caught my mistake, but it was too late.

“Precisely,” said Whit.

“Sheriff Beeder’s patrolling the woods as we speak. Those boys are done for. Besides, I'm way smarter than kookie Ms. Grisham.”

“You said she had three locks on her front door.”

“Yeah.”

“And barbed wire in the bushes.”

“What about it?”

“She kept Mara on the second floor, handcuffed her ankle to a pedestal, pulled her out of the fifth grade, never let her out of the house alone, and slept in bed with her.”

“What's your freakin' point?”

“All those precautions... and you know what toppled her master plan? An ad for a camera. Grisham spent ten years perfecting her security system. Then a twelve-year-old boy responds to a classified ad and two days later, she's rotting in prison and Mara's gone forever. You really think you have a tighter grip? There’re too many factors; too many variants. Mara Lynn is the personification of chaos and sooner or later, she's gonna break free.”

“But I'm different.”

“Why? Because you were the only boy she ever ate crackers with in a tree?”

“Yes!”

“After months of staring at boys outside her window, the hottest girl in the world sees pudgy James Parker and says, ‘I pick that one!’”

“She didn't sneak out with other boys! And even if she did, she chose me. And that’s got nothin' to do with dinosaurs.”