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his voice, but I didn’t care.
    It was easy being with Marcus. He didn’t look at me sideways all the time, because I was ‘the kid whose mom died’. You’d be amazed the shit teachers let you pull when they think you’re ‘acting out through grief’. The school counselor said that to me shortly after it happened and I’d been caught beating up a Senior who was bothering Yansi. I wasn’t ‘acting out’—I was kicking the shit out of a dickhead. I didn’t even get a detention.
    I put my hands behind my head and stared at the sky, stars marking their way across the night, moving, moving, until they burned and died.
    “Birthday cards are okay, I guess. Kinda lame. But I don’t see the point of Valentine’s cards. I mean, they’re just embarrassing, right? That dude, St. Valentine, he got thrown to the lions or beheaded or something. What’s that got to do with hearts filled with chocolate and flowers and all that shit?”
    Yeah, I think the weed was getting to me; I didn’t usually talk this much.
    “Maybe because girlfriends take your head off if you forget to send a Valentine’s Day card.”
    I laughed. It sounded like he’d met Yansi, although I knew he hadn’t.
    “I always preferred St. Jude,” said Marcus, with a huge yawn.
    “Who’s he?”
    “The patron saint of lost causes.”
    “Yeah? Does he have a special day?”
    Marcus laughed. “What? Like Hopeless Loser day?
    “Yeah!”
    “And you think people would what … send cards to real losers?”
    “Or, if you were a real loser, you could send one to yourself.”
    He laughed slowly, drawn-out and mellow.
    I must have fallen asleep after that because when I woke I was cold and the fire had gone out. The sky was the faintest gray and I could tell that dawn was only an hour away.
    Marcus was sprawled out on the other side of the charred sand, our empty beer cans lined up drunkenly.
    “Hey!” I said, then again, louder. “Hey!”
    He grunted and sat up.
    “Oh man, what time is it?”
    “I don’t know. Maybe 5:30 AM ?”
    He rolled his shoulders and stretched, working the stiffness out of his neck.
    “I haven’t fallen asleep on the beach in a while. That must have been some good weed.”
    I wondered if Julia was up yet, and I wondered how much I cared that she’d be mad at me.
    We climbed back into the van and drove home, some early traffic already on the road.
    Marcus went straight to his room without a backward glance. Groaning, I realized that I had less than an hour before I had to be up—my first day of working for Mr. Alfaro. I stopped to get a glass of water from the kitchen, but paused when I heard voices—Ben and Julia, arguing again.
    “What time is it now?”
    “Ten to six.”
    “Damn Nicky! Where the hell is he? I should have left for work five minutes ago. He’s been gone all night. All night, Ben! He could be dead!”
    “Don’t be too hard on him, babe.”
    “Why are you always taking his side?”
    “I’m not,” Ben replied, his voice calm like always.
    “He’s out all the time, doing God knows what. He doesn’t listen to me. He certainly doesn’t listen to you.”
    “Nicky’s a good kid. He’s had a lot to deal with.”
    Julia’s voice was tight with irritation. “And I haven’t?”
    “That’s not what I meant, babe.”
    I pushed the door open and walked inside. Julia’s face was red and blotchy, her expression furious, like she’d explode any second or her head would start revolving.
    Here it comes.
    “Where have you been?”
    I shrugged my shoulders. “Out.”
    “Your curfew is midnight!”
    I laughed out loud at that. “Curfew! Says who?”
    Her eyes bulged and the red flush on her cheeks spread to her neck. Not a good look.
    “I know I’m not your legal guardian, but you should let me know where you are as a common fucking courtesy, for God’s sake!” she snapped.
    I stared straight at her and she was the one who looked away first.
    “Well, there’s no one else to worry about you,