Page 73 of Reggie and Delilah's Year of Falling

“How much time does it say we have until San Luis Obispo?”

I check the maps app on my phone that we’ve been using to navigate. “A little over an hour.”

Reggie nods and then he turns the wheel, swooping his car over to the right lane.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m taking you to see the ostriches!”

A little bit later, we’ve paid our admission to Ostrichland USA, and we’re standing in front of a fence, as ostriches jut out their heads and snap their beaks to get to the food trays that we’re both holding. A sign right below their long necks warns in green block letters, “YES, WE LIKE TO BITE!”

“This place used to cheer you up?” Reggie asks, his eyes wide.

“Uh... that’s what I remember.”

“Because I kind of feel like we’re those stupid people inJurassic World, trying to chill with dinosaurs on vacation.”

“They do kind of look like raptors, don’t they?”

Reggie shudders. “They do. I don’t like it.”

“Well, we paid extra for the food,” I say, taking a tentative step toward the fence. “We don’t want to waste it.”

“I would be okay wasting it. If it means I don’t lose an arm.”

“C’mon... I used to do this as a kid. It’ll be fine.” As if on cue,a little girl in overalls and pink flip-flops walks over and lifts up her tray. The ostriches start eating frantically as the girl giggles and her mom films the whole thing. When they’re finished, she skips away, and the ostriches turn back to us in an, admittedly, menacing manner.

“We have to do this. We’re taunting them.”

Reggie lets out a big exhale and then starts bobbing his head like he’s pumping himself up. He takes two long strides forward, so he’s standing closer to the fence than me, and then slowly lifts up his food tray. The ostriches’ heads jerk toward him, mouths wide. Reggie shrieks in terror, food goes flying, and next thing I know, he’s sprinting toward the car. That tray belongs to the ostriches now.

I’m still falling over in laughter when I finally catch up to him, cheeks and sides aching.

“No. Nah. That’s not how I’m about to go out!” Reggie says, shaking his head. “Did you see the way that tall one was staring me down? He’s already had a taste of human flesh! You could see it in his eyes!”

“Your—scream!” I gasp out in between laughs. “That pitch! And—oh my god. I didn’t know you could run that fast!!”

“I mean, when it’s life or death!” he yells, but now there’s a smile on his face. “I have a responsibility here! I gotta get you to your show!”

“Oh yeah? ’Cause I don’t think you turned around once to see if I was taken by the ostriches.” I smirk at him and cross my arms.

“Yeah—um, ’cause, well... I knew you’d be all right,” hesays. “You’d already conquered them as a child. You’re the experienced ostrich fighter here.”

That sets us off into a whole ’nother fit of laughter, the kind that makes tears pop out and it hard to catch your breath. And I find myself wishing that we didn’t have to go to the show. That we could take our time and make this a proper road trip, stopping at all the cool and bizarre places like this along the way. I wish it could stay just us.

So it kind of feels like a joke, or maybe a fairy godmother’s wish-granting gone rogue, when Reggie’s car doesn’t start.

Reggie

“Oh shit,” I mumble as I turn the key in the ignition for the fourth, maybe fifth, time. I’ve lost count. But like every time before, there’s no roaring, not even a troubling gurgle. Bessie just keeps clicking. And no matter what stories I try to tell myself, I feel it in my gut: she’s not starting up anytime soon.

My mind starts spinning, trying to figure out how I’m going to save this trip and get Delilah to her show. Of course, my AAA membership just lapsed like two weeks ago. Mom kept telling me she was going to take me off theirs, that it was my responsibility to pay for it now, and I kept saying, “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’ll handle it.” But I didn’t handle it. And I can’t go calling my mom, asking her to do me a solid and sign me back up, because well... she may think I’m sleeping over at Yobani’s tonight. She may think that because I told her that. And if I call asking for help now, she’ll find a way to kill me from a hundred-something miles away, and my ghost will be no help to Delilah.

But—“I can call you a Lyft,” I say, turning to her. Her eyebrows shoot up, and I realize I’ve been totally silent in disaster control mode. She might not even know fully what’s going on. “Bessie isn’t starting, and I don’t think she’s going to make some miraculous recovery in the next hour.” I pull out my phone and check the time. “You still have a while before your show, so there’s plenty of time to take a Lyft.”

She’s already shaking her head. “Reggie, it’s over seventy miles away. That’s going to cost a million dollars.”

“It’s fine. I have money saved from Cultured and from my birthday. I really don’t mind—”

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