“And what about you?” he sighs, crossing his ankle over his knee in a gesture that I see as wonderfully relaxed and comfortable. “Do you have plans to go somewhere? I am going to take a wild guess that you are not enlisted.”
I reach out and tap his shoulder with my index finger approvingly. Happily, it gives me a little thrill of contact.
“You would be correct!” I announce. “I’m not enlisted. Not that I couldn’t be… But I decided to go to school instead. Or I decided to go to school first, I guess. I might enlist later. Or I might not.”
“So, not totally settled then?”
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that…” I answer shyly, realizing that I sound like I’m being evasive. Why am I doing that? Habit, I suppose.
“You don’t have to tell me more,” he shrugs pleasantly.
“Oh, it’s not a secret!” I chuckle. “Sorry, just not used to people asking me personal questions, I guess.”
“I know what you mean.”
“Yeah… I bet you do. Well, I am a little over two years through school. I have a plan to get out of town and go to New York to finish up.”
“New York, huh? Seems like everything is there.”
“You too?” I ask politely.
“Sort of,” he shrugs. “There was something floated to me, but I’m not sure how Cass would feel about it. And I haven’t made the time to ask him, which is on me. But anyway. Just funny you mentioned New York. What’s holding you back?”
“That plan is not 100 percent approved.”
I finish with a grimace, feeling as though I’ve really let the cat out of the bag. But he doesn’t seem judgmental at all. He seems sort of delighted by the idea.
“Oh, a secret plan? Like a run away and join the circus kind of plan?”
Laughter tightens my core and I realize this is fun. Really fun. Personal.
“More like a run away and join the ranks of community healthcare providers kind of plan!” I laugh. “There is a great program in New York where I can finish school while I do work with at-risk communities. My dad wants me to stay here, of course, but I feel like this is a great opportunity for me to do something I really love doing. You know?”
His eyes sparkle with interest. As he looks at me, it gets easier and easier to talk about this, even though I haven’t had any real practice. Mona listens, of course, but I have never told anybody else.
“I know exactly what you mean!” he says confidently. “So, how do you get there? Is there an application process?”
“The application is already approved,” I explain, shrugging. “In fact, all I need is the last eight hundred dollars for my housing deposit. That’s it. Eight hundred dollars to goal.”
“Ahhhhhhhh,” he sighs for a long time, knowing and sympathetic. “And does that explain how you ended up in your underwear at Sweeney’s?”
Embarrassment colors my cheeks crimson. Somehow, I had forgotten all about that again. But there it is again, oh my gosh. What a disaster.
“Honestly? Yes,” I admit, cringing. “And wow, that did not go as expected! Mona said it would be easy... in and out, a couple hundred dollars closer to my goal. Now I am zero dollars closer and I need a new ID.”
“Yeah, easy plans usually turn out to be the worst,” he rolls his eyes.
“I know, right? I should’ve known better, but the thought of reaching my goal before my dad got back was too tempting to pass up. I fell for it. And in my defense, Mona wasn’t exactly forthcoming about the details of the job, or about Ty…”
I feel him tense beside me, sense the anger he immediately reins back.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t talk about it,” I apologize nervously.
“You have nothing to be sorry for!” he barks, half startling me.
When I flinch back, he takes my hands in his, looking down for a moment while he collects himself. His thumbs trace deliberate circles on the backs of my hands.
“Sorry… I don’t mean to raise my voice,” he explains calmly, though I can still hear the emotion he is holding back. “Not sure why I have such a bad reaction to that guy, but I do. All I can tell you is I think he is really bad news.”