Page 41 of Two Marlboros

“What do you mean ‘Bye’? Wait!”

But I was so stunned that he managed to leave before I could stop him.

Before I could give himhisten dollars.

Before going home, I checked the mailbox. I lifted the door and found inside advertisements for a department store and a request for donations from a humanitarian association.

I grabbed all that paper and closed the box, but something slipped from the bundle in my hand. It was a note, which I was able to pick up only after it was dropped on the floor. It was similar to the one I had received a few days earlier, with a string of words like “Soda” or “Dog Food,” with numbers, places, and a scrawl in the header. It was all handwritten, and I speculated that perhaps it was from someone who had put in the wrong address, only to realize a moment later that the address was not there. Maybe one of those guys handing out flyers had put it there, although it didn’t look anything like it.

I entered the building and rang the apartment of Carter and Cathy’s family. It was Jane who opened the door for me, along with the cries of children who were fighting over a stuffed bunny. I wondered how long it would take the poor bunny ear to detach from the rest.

The woman greeted me, but not before yelling at the children.

“Sorry, it’s like hell here. Do you need anything?”

I showed her the card. “This is already the second time I’ve found mail like this. I don’t know what it is, did you get it too?”

She grabbed the card from my hands and scrutinized it. She turned it over, then went back to look at the words and numbers. Finally, she shook her head and handed it back to me.

“No, I’m sorry.”

“I thank you. If anything like this comes to you, could you let me know?”

She scolded the children once again as the bunny struggled for integrity.

“Sure, no problem.”

It finally happened.

Crack.

Cathy’s cry rose throughout the room, while Carter was ready to point his finger at his sister. I could read the terror in their mother’s eyes, so I hurried to thank her and say goodbye.

To call that hell was indeed an understatement.

With my head bent over that damned Modern Architecture book, I still couldn’t get over the fact that I would be rid of Steve forever, or at least long enough for me to finish my studies.

I rasped my hand into the bowl of chips next to me and grabbed a handful of remnants that I tried to scatter in my mouth, but of course they all stuck to my fingers. And as I continued to reinvigorate my mind with carbs and wipe the stickiness from my hands, sowing yet another greasy slick on the book, I heard the ringtone of a text message.

For a moment I thought it was Alan, announcing that what he had told me that afternoon was nothing more than a joke and that I would be fine. In reality it was an unknown number,but as I read the content, that twinge became a vise and an irrepressible smile spread across my face.

Hi Nate, I finally found the time to text you.

I’ve missed you, you know. When are you free to see me?

xxx Harvey

ps. I have a surprise for you...

That text I had waited so long for, and which I no longer hoped for, had finally arrived.

10

Planet Nathan

(?Soul Decision - Faded)

Nathan arrived a few minutes after ten o’clock. He seemed to be making haphazard decisions in every sphere except dress: he was wearing a soft cotton T-shirt, long enough to slender his physique, and he seemed to have followed the same philosophy with his skinny jeans. When he got into the car, a smell of gel mixed with tobacco invaded my nostrils.

---