As students – no,
graduates
– begin the migration toward the line of buses waiting to deliver them to a casino-themed graduation night, Claire grabs Bryce by the sleeve.
“Grandpa talked about your art school on the drive over here,” she says. “He told Mom and Dad he’ll pay your way.”
“Are you joking?”
She draws an
X
over her heart. Bryce goes back, against the herd, toward where he last saw his grandparents. They stand under one of the pathetic trees at the edge of the field, wearing their matching floppy sun hats.
“Grandpa, Claire told me – ”
He reaches out, grips Bryce’s hand. His skin feels like a paper bag. “I said we’d figure it out, didn’t I? I can’t sit by and let you waste the talent the Good Lord gave you, studying business or somesuch.”
Bryce feels it coming on but stops it. Enough crying already!
“Your parents love you and want you to succeed. I hope you know that. Sometimes people need to broaden their definition of success, is all.”
“I don’t even… Thank you.”
“I’m an old man with money, and there’s no luggage rack on a funeral limo.” Grandpa tightens his grip. “You better be prepared, though – those Chicago winters can freeze a man’s pecker off.” Grandma slaps his shoulder with her purse.
Bus engines rumble to life from the direction of the parking lot. “I should go,” Bryce says, wiping his eyes.
“Straighten your tie,” Grandpa tells him. “And then make this a night to remember.”
Cameron pauses before opening the envelope that contains his last report card ever. He has an hour before Rosemary comes over, before they drive in his new (used) car from Carter Ford to meet his mom and the mysterious new guy Howard at Pelican’s restaurant; he wonders how many other people his age have gone out on a double date with their mom.
Tomorrow is packing day for the big road trip to Washington, D.C., where student clubs from all over the country plan to deliver their anti-nuclear petitions to the White House on July 4th. Their school Peace Club alone gathered almost two thousand signatures. When Rosemary suggested that Cameron come with her, she made it clear there would be endless hours of car time, people piled in motel rooms, and long stretches between showers.
“I wouldn’t go myself if the cause weren’t so important,” she said.
What she didn’t realize was that piranhas, erupting volcanoes, and mandatory head shaving wouldn’t have deterred him from going (though that last one would’ve been tough).
Sometime on the trip, or afterward, they need to have The Conversation. They’ve successfully avoided talking about the future since graduation, filling their days and nights with each other, but this all feels like a road that hasn’t been completed yet – you can only drive so far before you run out of room.
Him at Berkeley + her on a gap year = ?
His report card is a string of
A
’s, interrupted only by his English grade, his best subject.
B+
.
“Bitch,” he says, tearing it in half, unable to help but laugh about Mrs. Gordon. He lost the 4.0 but likes what he won instead.
The empty coffee can gets placed in the center of the cul-de-sac.
The person who’s “it” first – Cam – sits on the can, closes his eyes, and counts loudly to twenty while the others hide.
Bryce squats next to the rhododendron bush in his front yard, at an angle that will be impossible to see from the can. Sometimes being puny pays off. Rosemary stands behind the Evergreen in Cam’s front yard, Noel at Steve and Bo’s. Geoff ends up somewhere.
The thermometer broke 100 earlier that day; the night is heavy, and even the cicadas seem slower.
“18… 19… 20! Ready or not, here I come!”
Cam quickly calls out Geoff, up in the Vanzants’ tree.
“How’d you even see me, bitch?”
The crack of branches, a thud on the ground, then cursing.
Next, Rosemary beats Cam to the can in a footrace (when he’s obviously not running full speed), sends a spinning satellite high into the air, and yells, “Freedom!”
“Just say ‘free,’” he tells her.
While Cam pokes around the alcove of Steve and Bo’s porch, Noel rolls out from under their car right behind him and gets to the can. “Free!” Cool move.
Bryce hasn’t gotten the green light to kiss her yet, but he still has six weeks before leaving for Chicago. Six weeks would be plenty of time for Han Solo or Captain Kirk – they’d get a kiss and have her begging for more.
Six weeks…
He shifts position, ready to spring as Cam walks toward the rhododendron.
Too many freckles.
They blossom out from the sides of Claire’s nose, covering her cheeks. Some strays rise onto her forehead like bubbles from her carbonated eyebrows. She puts on her Albuquerque Zoo T-shirt, pulls her freshly washed dark hair into a short ponytail. The judge offered Claire a choice of where to work her community service hours this summer. It wasn’t hard – why go to a hospital or senior citizens’ center when you can work at a zoo? Her job mostly involves sweeping the walking paths or patrolling the prairie dog mound, telling bratty kids not to throw food to the little brown heads that pop up from holes.
The nails of her right hand are painted white, not because of Meredith but because she tried doing both hands and it simply looked wrong. Meredith’s new routine is painting all her nails – fingers
and
toes – purple, so obsessed is she with the new Prince album.
Next to the doll case hangs the framed certificate for winning third place in the city photo contest, youth division. She and Meredith (her subject and guest of honor) got dressed up for the exhibit hall ceremony, then stood by Claire’s picture all evening, consuming sparkling cider. When the photos got printed in the newspaper, her mom bought every copy from the machine at the grocery store in order to send to all their relatives.
Claire walks down the driveway on her way to the bus stop, seeing the world through her big sunglasses that Bryce says make her look like an insect. To her right, the Vanzants’ house FOR SALE. When the sign first went up, Claire asked her parents about it and got speculation on different reasons, concluding with her mom’s comment: “Who knows why people do what they do.”
Nine in the morning and the sun just getting going. How hot it must be up in the mountains at church camp, which Bryce vigorously insisted on attending this year. Every time their parents express surprise at his strong interest in youth group events (which all happen to include a certain girl) Claire smirks to herself that they can’t see through that phony.
But then again, they can’t see through the face she puts on at service every Sunday either.
She takes Bryce’s old Walkman from her backpack, puts the headphones on. A push of the button later and Bruce Springsteen sings to her and only her about dancing in the dark.
After work today, she’ll ride two other buses from the zoo to Dr. Crumpler’s office. After that, she and Meredith and this girl Kelly from Sandia are going to see
Gremlins
, Claire’s first night out since the grounding ended. Let her parents hold on to the idea she learned some lesson during all the time in her room.
Today’s Cancer horoscope in the newspaper:
There are many aspects to your personality. The gentle you accepts and supports the you who has to be somewhat fearsome to make things happen.
Claire smiles under a turquoise bowl of sky.
The world is still here on this July morning, at least so far.
THE END
If you enjoyed this book and want to further immerse yourself in the world of the characters, or if you just want a good playlist, here is the “soundtrack” to accompany the story.
“Message in a Bottle” & “Wrapped Around Your Finger” – The Police
“Hells Bells” – AC/DC
“Street Hassle” – Lou Reed
“Sister Christian” – Night Ranger
“Abracadabra” – Steve Miller Band
“Red Skies” – The Fixx
“The Prisoner” – Iron Maiden
“Video Killed the Radio Star” – The Buggles
“Heat of the Moment” – Asia
“Down Under” & “Overkill” – Men At Work
“Jessie's Girl” – Rick Springfield
“Babe” – Styx
“99 Luftballoons” – Nena
“Cruel Summer” – Bananarama
“Karma Chameleon” – Culture Club
“Take the Long Way Home” & “It's Raining Again” – Supertramp
“Comfortably Numb” – Pink Floyd
“Poor Pitiful Me” – Warren Zevon
“Centerfold” – J Geils Band
“Africa” – Toto
“Give it Up” – KC & The Sunshine Band
“Photograph” – Def Leppard
“Fields of Fire” – Big Country
“Common Ground” – Goanna
“I'm Not There” – Bob Dylan
“Holy Diver” – Dio
“Jump” & “Panama” – Van Halen
“Taking It All Too Hard” – Genesis
“Dancing in the Dark” – Bruce Springsteen
…and, of course, “Wild Horses”.
Kevin Sharp is a New Mexico native who currently lives in Northern California, where he teaches high school English. He is the author of numerous screenplays and two award-winning short stories. While he has technically grown up, Kevin has yet to outgrow Looney Tunes,
The Price is Right
, fantasy novels, or comic books. Deep down, he still thinks that working with apes would be the best job in the world.