Page 52 of Flying

With a giant smile, one that suggests she’s about to drop a truth bomb in my lap, Anna Lucia says, “Sure, if you want to be about this town. Isn’t the world a bit larger than just one shitty little town in New Jersey?”

I nearly choke on the laugh I am fighting, but manage to nod and wait for her to finish.

“No, my dear, the peacock goes back way further. To Roman art, to Jewish folktales, and to India and Iran. There’s more magic in one little bird than you could ever imagine. In this instance, it’s not about royal figures, but about the magic that comes with mediating between the heavens and the ground. The gift of flight. The desire for us to flee the mundane and reach for something bigger, something unbelievable and unexpected. Break the chains of what holds us back,” she pauses and gives me a stern and thoughtful look.

Her philosophical answer is stoking an anger in me. “If the town’s about breaking chains then why are we meeting aboutliterallychaining Lily to a historical piece of wood for setting her cheating ex-husband’s things on fire? While still married to him? She was nineteen, he cheated on her. Publicly, her parents turned away from her. So she’s, to keep our theme, flown the coop. She has not stopped running, and won’t stop.” I hate how desperate I sound right now.

“Exactly,” Anna Lucia affirms to me.

Exactly? What the hell does that mean?

“It’s not about the town, it’s not about the physical restraints, which she could have sat out, or tried to talk us out of, it’s about the running away. She’s still chained to us. She has to face everything. She has to face herself. Until she does that, she’s tethered to everything. From what I hear, you knew a little something about that marriage being destined to fail and it chains you too, George River Hendrix. I wouldn’t be so quick to judge how we each handle secrets.”

The only person I have ever told this to was my mom and Seth was throwing up far away from us, he didn’t hear.The gears are turning in my mind when she interrupts the thoughts.

“The answer to the question you came here to ask, son, is no. We cannot take it away. We can, however, revise keeping her out of the conversation. Tell that witchy little coven of hers too. Make it clear that we’ll grab her from her bed or out of the lineup for the wedding if we have to. She cannot run forever, but River, neither can you.”

She then picks up her espresso cup and goes back to the magazine she was leafing through as a silent dismissal.

spring

texting interlude

March 30th

Group Chat: Bad Bitches [Stef Santos Manolo, Lily Long, Delia Shane, Nessa Rabin]

Lily:

In KC, you think I can find Brittany Mahomes to network tonight?

KC

(8 hours later)

Lily:

Officially in Pitt. You are all weirdly quiet - what is going on out there?

Stef:

Nothing, we had work yesterday. School doesn’t like when I am on my phone instead of paying attention to the students in my office.

Delia:

Your boyfriend has been up my ass since I got back from London

Lily:

Not my boyfriend

Nessa:

[Jennifer Lawrence yeah, ok with thumbs-up gif]

Lily:

Shut up. See you tomorrow.

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