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Small Town Monsters

15

“I mean all of us. Remember the rope swing down at the canal?”

“I broke my arm,” Tory said.

“On my dare, you broke your arm. I couldn’t believe you took the swing from the top branch. You were crazy back then.”

“I was twelve; everybody’s crazy when they are twelve.”

Lucy stared through the windshield into the melanin night, letting her head lie back on the headrest. She spotted Yellow Unicorn, her own constellation she had named when she was no older than six. Yellow Unicorn only appeared during the winter. Every October, ever since she could remember, she looked for it in the night sky. She’d never told anyone about Yellow Unicorn, but the creature, punched out of the firmament in stars, always brought her a form of comfort. Perhaps because the constellation reminded her of more carefree times. Perhaps Yellow Unicorn acted as a sort of guardian, dripping its starlight charms down on her throughout the cold and gray winter months.

“You’ve always been there; don’t think I haven’t known it,” Lucy said.

“What do you mean?”

Lucy shook off her miasmic stupor, not knowing herself if she was talking to Tory or to Yellow Unicorn. “Nothing,” she said. “Just thinking about something else.” She craned around so she could look Tory in the eyes. She saw no lechery there; it surprised her, him being a man and all. “So what is the big secret?”

Tory inclined his head and crimped his hands down hard on the steering wheel. The leather sheath rasped under his grip. He’d rehearsed what he was going to say many times. But now that the impending moment had arrived, his mind had tipped sideways and dumped his prepared words out onto the cold ground. “I was accepted to Cal Berkeley. I plan to go to law school.”

“Well, that’s good news, isn’t it?” Lucy said, forcing a smile to cover the layer of pain just beneath the surface. “When are you leaving?”