couldn’t quite place. “You looked like you were gonna fuckin’ piss yourself...”
“Haha.” I rolled my eyes and a lapse of silence fell over us.
“You know,” he spoke up after a few minutes, suddenly serious. “I think that’s when I realized you loved her.”
My blood ran cold, but I kept my eyes focused on the water and didn’t react.
“Aw don’t look like that man,” Liam added, “you don’t have to deny it on my account.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You know.” He nudged me in the shoulder with a sad shake of his head. “She’s only ever had eyes for you. Ask anyone around town if you don’t believe me…they’ll tell you…”
“That’s ain’t true,” I retorted, feeling my mouth go dry. “We were only ever friends. That’s it.”
“Who are you tryin’ to convince?” Liam chuckled. “Yourself or me?”
“It’s the truth.”
“Nah,” he said, brushing dirt off his hands. “You know she’s working up at Sparrows diner. Why don’t you go pay her a visit?”
“Yeah…not sure that’s such a good idea…”
“Why not?”
I shrugged and ashed my smoke, staring off into the horizon. The sun was setting over the water and the air had a light quality to it that I only ever found in Poulsbo. Fireflies danced in the distance and a lonely cricket chirped.
“You had the life I always wanted,” I spoke up after awhile, “the girl, the land, the house with the fuckin’ white picket fence. All of it. And you just let it go. What about me man? What do I got?”
Liam was quiet.
“I’ll tell you,” I continued, “all I got is one bad leg and the scars to match. That’s it. What’s she going to want to do with me? You know she never even wrote me back...”
There were so many times I found myself wanting to pick up the phone and call her. But what would I have said to her?
Her silence spoke for itself.
“That’s because I never gave her your letters,” Liam spoke up after awhile, rubbing his neck. Something flickered behind his eyes and his tone was laced with regret.
“What?” I frowned and shook my head in disbelief. I couldn’t have heard him right. “Why the fuck would you do that?”
He looked up and met eyes with me, ripping the seal off another beer and chugging it back. “Come on,” he said with a nod, clearing his throat and wiping his hand over his mouth. He poked me in the shoulder for emphasis. “You know why.”
I pulled at a patch of weeds and slapped at a mosquito on my arm. “Still doesn’t make it any less shitty,” I told him, “there wasn’t a day that passed that I didn’t hope for a letter from her. And now you’re tellin’ me this shit?”
“I know,” he interrupted, “and I’m sorry, I am.”
“Oh, you’re sorry?” I looked over him. “You know…I thought she hated me…for fuckin’ off. But now I’m sure she does. Do you even realize what you’ve done? She thinks I never tried to reach out to her…”
“Why did you?”
“What?”
“Fuck off…”
I shook my head. I wasn’t about to talk about this shit with him. Not anymore. “Where did you say she’s working?” I questioned, pulling myself to my feet. Thunder clapped in the distance and heavy raindrops began to splash against the water.
“Sparrows,” Liam answered.
I nodded and limped up the rocky hill away from him.
“Wait!” he called after me, scrambling to his feet. “Look, you can’t tell her about the letters A…”
But I gave him the finger and continued walking.
Chapter 2
—
“ What is the hardest thing about re-acclimating yourself with the outside world?” The group therapist questioned, pushing her glasses up on her nose and looked around expectantly.
Everyone around me was quiet with the usual timidness that came along with these things. I yawned and