Punk and Zen by JD Glass Read Free Book Online Page B

she
spoke. “I’m spending the summer holiday here on the advice of a friend, well,
an ex, um, sort of.” She grinned, but seemed slightly embarrassed. I can’t tell
you why, but I found that attractive, too. “You know how these things can be.”
    I nodded in polite agreement. In reality, I
didn’t—know, that is. I dated, I occasionally fooled around, but my first
girlfriend I hadn’t spoken to in quite a while, though I’d seen her at the club
from time to time, and besides, I never dated anyone long enough to become
anything other than friends, and didn’t want to, either. People, once you
trusted them? Fucked you over, and I’d been fucked enough, thanks.
    “She’s an American, from here, I mean. New York,
actually,” Blue added.
    “Don’t ask me if I know her.” I laughed. “New York’s a
very big place.” That was something everyone from everywhere did, and as far as
I can tell, still does, you know, the “hey, I’m from X,” followed by “oh, yeah?
I know Y in X—do you know him/her/it?” I think it’s funny and sort of cute,
even heartwarming in its own way, how we all want to reach for these connections,
bridge the gaps of time and space/place.
    “How big is Staten Island?” she asked me with a small
twist of her lips and appraisal in her eyes. “Because that’s where she’s from.”
    “Not nearly as big.” I answered, amused. “Sooner or
later, you find that everyone’s someone’s cousin or sibling or something like
that.”
    “Well, that explains it, then.” Blue smiled. “You must
be a cousin.” She put her bottle down beside her.
    That was weird. “What do you mean?” I asked. As far as
I knew, all the cousins I had in this state, and there were only two of them,
were in grammar school, and in fact, they lived with their mom in my parents’
house.
    “You look so very much like her, and there could
hardly be two of you, could there? I mean, she never mentioned a twin of any
sort, especially not with the same name.”
    My head started to tingle, and I could feel the skin
on the back of my neck tighten. This was more than the alcohol, this was a
sign, a part of my brain said. Have another drink and don’t be a moron, the
other part told me. Since that was the part that I thought made sense, I
listened to it and took yet another sip of my this-is- not -juice juice.
But still…
    “What’s your friend’s name?” I asked, more than
curiosity piqued. It could be possible. I mean, maybe I did have a cousin I
hadn’t known of before. Lord knows, history, hell, the world is full of stories
like that. Some of them even true. Okay, that’s the alcohol thinking for you ,
said the part of my brain that had just told me to have some more.
    “Oh, no, not my Ann, but a girl she knew a few years
back,” Blue corrected. “She has pictures, from secondary—I’m sorry—high-school
yearbooks, and you look very much like her friend. But,” and as she paused, the
expression in her eyes softened, “sadly enough, Annie’s friend passed away
quite some time ago and you, ” she ran a finger along my cheek, “you’re quite
alive.” Blue smiled sensually and showed me her teeth as she gently stroked my
chin with her thumb. Her eyes lingered appreciatively on my lips.
    My cheeks grew hot, but still I considered what she’d
said. It was possible she was talking about my high school and yearbook. I
mean, I’d been in pictures all over it for each of the four years I attended,
but I didn’t remember anyone named Ann, at least not that I’d hung out with,
and I couldn’t remember anyone who’d died, at least not recently.
    I mean, there had been one girl who’d been a freshman
when I was in my sophomore year, a lovely girl named Susan who’d been born with
an incomplete heart wall—a blue baby. Sadly enough, for whatever reason, that
poor heart finally stopped one day, and the entire student body mourned the
loss of the beautiful soul that she was and the person she could