Craving's Creek

Chapter 3-1

Chapter 3

The couch springs are broken, so I’m buried deep into it, squeezed between Sheryl and another girl named Natalie. Natalie is minutes away from spewing the contents of her stomach on my lap.

Sheryl is smoking a menthol cigarette, blowing the smoke out in circles. The party was supposed to be a pool party, but the rain hasn’t let up, so we’re in Sheryl’s basement. There’s beer her father bought for us, a case of twelve for fourteen people. Now we’re down to six people and I’m the only guy left—Bobby and Luis took off for the waterfront, taking with them the only two girls who could stand.

An hour ago, Natalie sneaked in a bottle of peach schnapps and that was a bad idea.

The last of the girls are locked up in Sheryl’s brother’s room and I can hear them all sobbing in there. The party is turning into a drama fest. There’s a terrible peach taste in my mouth and the chip bowl is empty.

Time to go.

“I’m gonna get going,” I say, looking over at Sheryl.

She puts her hand on my thigh. “After this song. I love this song.”

The song is “Black” from Pearl Jam, and I used to love it, but I’ve killed it by listening to it over and over and over again. Each man kills the thing he loves, Wilde once wrote.

I think of Alistair and sit up. I’m a little drunker than I thought and I miss him. I’d love to go to his house right now and pour out my heart to him.

“Ryde,” Sheryl says in a strange, dreamy voice. She’s not even looking at me, just staring at the washing machine in the corner. “When I turn eighteen, I’m going to Hollywood.”

I’ve known Sheryl since we were in kindergarten. We grew up together. She used to be a bubbly and funny little girl, but she’s not anymore. She’s thin and moody and always looking to pick a fight with people. She’s different from the people here, that’s what it is. She’s like a cobra trapped in a glass box full of garden snakes. She needs to get out of here or there’s going to be some serious damage. “Will you come visit me?” she asks, putting her cigarette out in an empty beer bottle. “You and Alistair?”

I don’t know why she’d mention his name. She never does. He’s nothing to her. Invisible.

“Sure,” I say, turning my beer bottle in my hands. I peel off the label.

“You know what they say about peeling off labels, right?”

I look over my shoulder at her. “What?”

“You’re horny.” She laughs, but her laugh is pathetic. “Come on,” she says, getting off the couch. “I’ll walk you home.” She looks down at Natalie. The girl is sleeping with her mouth open and her long hair half wrapped around her neck like a noose. “This party sucks.” Sheryl pulls me up. “Come on, Ryde, let’s go walk around in the rain or something.” She bangs on her brother’s door. “Get outta there!” she hollers to the girls. “My parents want everyone to leave right now.” She listens and shrugs.

I follow her up the stairs and quickly say hello to her parents, who are seated at the kitchen table, playing cards. “Where do you think you’re going, Mrs. Holly Golightly?” her mother asks.

“Nowhere.” Sheryl pushes me out the door. “For a walk.”

We hurry down the front steps, into the street. “Who’s Holly Something?” I ask, outside.

Sheryl laughs. “Breakfast at Tiffany’s? Hello?” She slaps my shoulder. “You need to lay off Stephen King.” The rain has stopped. “Too bad. I was looking forward to getting wet and wild with you,” she says, giving me a long appraising look.

I keep my mouth shut. We walk around the block and cut through the schoolyard, heading for the park. The park is dark and deserted.

“Let’s swing.” Sheryl sits on a swing and pushes off.

I haven’t swung in a long time and the beer makes me a little nauseated. If I keep my eyes focused on the same tree, it’s not so bad.

Sheryl is swinging high next to me. “Did you know Alicia has a crush on Alistair?”

What?

I’m glad it’s dark. My face feels hot. Alicia is a weird girl in his theater class. But she’s cute. Could be his type. I don’t know.

“She asked me for his phone number and she’s gonna call him this week, I think.”

I’m swinging so hard, I think I might end up busting the chains. No way. She can’t have him.

“Don’t you think they’d make a cute couple?” Sheryl asks, her voice trailing in the wind. “I mean, they’re both so strange. And their names match too. Alicia and Alistair. Sounds vaguely romantic.”

I abruptly jump off my swing, landing far off the set into the sand. I stand there with my heart beating inside my ears. Would Alistair go for a girl? He might. He just might.

Sheryl jumps off the swing and digs into her jacket for a cigarette. “Are you pissed or something?”

I look over at her, sneering.

“What’s wrong?” She’s a good actress. Better than I thought. She’s playing me. “Ryde?”

“I gotta go home,” I say, taking off for the hole in the fence.

“Wait!” She follows me and grabs my elbow. “Are you jealous or something?”

I lean back from her and stare her straight in the face. I don’t care who knows I’m gay anymore. “Tell Alicia she better back off,” I say, knowing I’ve just sold myself out. “Alistair’s not interested in her, or anybody else for that matter.”

“Yeah, I know…” She lights her cigarette. “That’s what I told her.”

“Oh.” I stare at her for a second.

She smirks and looks down the street at Alistair’s house. “He’s a little strange, but there’s nothing wrong with being a little strange.” She takes a drag of her cigarette like she’s rehearsing a movie scene. “He’s really beautiful too. Too bad he’s so terribly shy.” She throws her hair back, playing coquette. “I bet he’s still a virgin, all innocent and fresh.”

“Yeah, well, keep your claws off him.”

Sheryl mocks a cry and throws a hand to her forehead. “My dear Ryde, I have no use for boys like him. What could I possibly do with him?”

She steals a laugh out of me. She’s pretty good. “I’ll see you later,” I say, backing away. When I turn back, I see her swinging slow with her cigarette pressed between her lips. She’s still talking, rehearsing a scene for an invisible audience.