Page 34 of The Second Chance Cinema
“Hilarious,” she said, without humor.
“Well, if he didn’t mean something, then why are we seeing it?”
Drake had a point. Ellie had wondered the same thing herself. She’d almost mourned that the cinema skipped over so many childhood and teenage memories she assumed would be in the cut. Already, it had jumped to her as a young adult. What was it trying to tell them?
And then, she remembered the robbery. They had left the auditorium before the robbery played out. Ellie shared how in the moments that followed their escapade, someone walked into the apartment and stole her broken television set. After hearing the noise, the landlord went into the living room in his underwear, holding a hanger—the only sharp object in the bedroom—to find that both the robber and the television were gone. “It was scary at the time, but in retrospect, it’s really funny,” Ellie said. She felt herself starting to laugh, just as she had when she’d told Jen the story a few hangouts into their friendship. They had laughed so hard, in fact, that the students in the dorm below them started to bang on the ceiling.
“I don’t get why that’s funny,” Drake said.
“Because the television was broken,” Ellie explained. “It’s funny because of the bad luck for the robber. Of all the things they could have taken. Sort of a tragicomedy.”
“You were robbed, Ellie. You didn’t lock your doors?” Drake had flipped the switch from jealousy to concern. She rolled her eyes.
“No, I didn’t lock the doors. Nobody locked the doors back then.”
“Back … That’s not true.” Drake climbed up and down the stairs, collecting his thoughts with each one. “You were being irresponsible.”
Ellie followed him halfway up. She had earned her chance to point fingers. “Speaking of relationships,” she said, “what happens next with the two of you?”
Drake stopped moving. “What?”
“Melinda,” Ellie said. “How far does this go? She’s been in two memories now. I mean, I never even saw you as the mascot. I didn’t see your college years. I’ve barely seen your parents. Melinda is the main plotline. She must be pretty important, right?”
“I don’t want to …” His mood shifted at the mention ofMelinda. Ellie had caught him on a tightrope. It was her turn to feel sick. “Look, Ellie, you were right.”
“What was I right about?”
“The rules. We should stick to the rules.”
“Got it. So, we’re going to stick to the rules when it’s convenient for you.”
“It’s not like that.”
“That’s what it sounds like.”
Natalie bounded back up the stairs and pretended to have her blinders on, which made her presence much more apparent. Her signature gold suit was hard to miss.
“Hey, I didn’t mean to judge you,” Drake said. He stepped down to face Ellie in a silent compromise, his hands soft on her arms. “I was worried. I was worried about you, okay? Worried about the guy you chose, worried about the locks.” He was calming down. “I wanted to protect you in that moment, and I couldn’t.”
Ellie still wanted to fight. It was her turn to sink her teeth in and dissect Drake’s life. He felt it was acceptable to critique her experiences but wouldn’t even give her answers about his own.
“Let’s get out of here,” Drake said. “Can we just go? Leave this behind like we’re supposed to? I’m sorry I got weird.”
Ellie nodded, but she wasn’t agreeing, exactly. Her mind was already elsewhere. She was making plans to do research when they got home. She needed to see what had silenced him and made him change his tune—why he was acting so strangely. When Drake went to bed later that night, what she was looking for was so easy to pull up.
Soon, the address to My Mother’s Shop appeared on her glowing laptop screen.
16
Ellie wasn’t technically lying when she told Drake her plans for the day. She mentioned she would overstay her welcome at a coffee shop, which was true. The only thing she failed to admit was the large detour she planned on taking before that coffee.
Drake slid over a paper box of blueberry scones he’d picked up that morning. The scones were an apology for the conflict the night before, and also, for having to work on a Sunday. Ellie tried to hide her relief when he broke this news. She had stumbled into a day without supervision. Now that Drake was busy, she could take a long morning drive to the shop on Main Street with no questions asked and still make it home in time for dinner.
Ellie and Drake had always avoided Main Street during their visits to see his parents. For Thanksgiving last year, they had stayed the weekend in Drake’s childhood bedroom, which was slowly being overtaken by secondhand fitness equipment. Ellie had asked him to give her a tour of the town. Drake sequestered them inside instead. “It’s just a couple of blocks,” he told her, flipping on the Macy’s Day Parade. “I don’t think you’d love it,” he insisted as a large-scale Sonic the Hedgehog flirted with Miss Piggy.
But almost a year later, when Ellie pulled up to the place they’d so often avoided, she realized Drake was wrong. Right away, Main Street made her feel like a figurine in a Christmas village. Cheerful red and white awnings were cozied together abovewindows showcasing toys, hardware, and trinkets. Train tracks cut through the center of town, headed by a tiny brick station.
As Ellie parked, a grown man in a newsboy hat boarded his bicycle, balanced a glass bottle of milk in the rattan basket, and cruised down the middle of the street. Bad things didn’t happen here, she could tell. Neighbors returned the sugar they borrowed from each other. People had picnics. Bedtimes were kept promises.
