A Tragic Kind of Wonderful(67)
I hurl the Magic Wand across the roof and yell, “If you jump I’ll never talk to you again!”
He skids to a stop, spraying gravel. I don’t know if it was because I shouted or to dodge the Magic Wand.
I hold out my hands, palms down. “See? I’m not shaking. It’s not a lie—I’ll never speak to you again!”
He watches me. Then he says, “I believe you, but I can live with it if it keeps you from falling down this hole later.” He shakes his head. “You can’t talk me out of this.”
“Yes I can.” I squat and push my right foot against the short wall, ready to run. “I’ll do whatever you do. If it’s okay for you, it’s okay for me.”
“Mel? What—”
“If you jump, I’ll jump. If you leave, I’ll leave. Either we do this or we don’t. It’s up to you.”
Now he looks confused.
He says, “If we leave, how do I know you won’t come back later—”
“You don’t. Maybe I will. You can’t control me.”
“That’s not what I want.”
“I don’t know for sure what I’m going to do tomorrow,” I say, “so I can’t promise anything. Neither can you—”
“Mel, I promise you, one hundred percent; I’ll never try to jump over this death trap as long as you promise, too.”
“Well, I can’t. If that’s too much for you, I’m sorry.”
He walks over a few steps and picks up the Magic Wand. He stands there looking at it. I’m not sure from here but maybe he’s smiling? I can’t imagine why.
“Come on, David. Are we doing this or not? I’m getting hungry.”
He chuckles, spinning the Magic Wand in his hand, looking at it.
“Quit stalling. I want breakfast. With extra bacon.”
He walks toward me. After a few steps, he says, “I thought you were going to do whatever I did.”
I walk forward, too. We stop ten feet apart, the skylight between us. He pivots and walks along his edge, and I walk along mine. By the time we reach the far end, our steps are synchronized.
We round the skylight and walk toward each other. He holds out his arms. I do the same. We hug.
He squeezes me and whispers, “Please don’t come here again.”
“I’ll do my best, but no promises. You might have heard; sometimes I don’t think straight.”
He snorts. “That’s an understatement.”
I pull back. “Are … are you making fun of me?”
He raises his eyebrows. “Too soon?”
“No!” I hug him again, tightly. “Not too soon.”
We head for the fire escape. Halfway there I notice we’re holding hands. At the ladder, he raises the Magic Wand.
“Here, you dropped this.” He shrugs. “Sort of.”
I take it and slide it into my back pocket, star down, with the joke book.
“You know,” I say, “I didn’t come to jump. It’s not something I’ve been thinking about. It never occurred to me till I got here. I just came to say good-bye.”
“So did you?”
“No. I thought this would be the right place to do it, but it’s not.”
HAMSTER IS RUNNING
HUMMINGBIRD IS FLYING
HAMMERHEAD IS CRUISING
HANNIGANIMAL IS UP!
David and I walk together along the western railing of the Golden Gate Bridge, watching the Saturday sailboats tacking back and forth across the mouth of the bay. I haven’t told him why we’re here. When he asked where I wanted to go on our first official date, I said I wanted to show him something on the bridge. We could decide where to go from there.
When we reach the south tower, I glance down and see the letters scratched in the concrete but don’t say anything yet. Instead I stand at the rail and hold out the Magic Wand, letting it bounce around in the wind.
My seventeenth birthday party was at the Silver Sands last night—family and friends mixing with the residents—and I’m sure Judith is still regretting it. Not only had the Beachfront Lounge never held so many teenagers at once, it had never had a karaoke machine in it. Connor and David escaped the mic, but not Declan. Holly dragged him up with her more than once, though I don’t know if her whispers to him were threats or promises.
Zumi, of course, was unstoppable. In a night of unforgettable moments, the high point had to be Zumi and Mr. Terrance Knight singing Sonny and Cher’s “I Got You Babe” to each other.
On the bridge, David and I look out over the water in comfortable silence. The traffic is pretty loud, actually, but it seems farther away than it really is.
I get a text from Holly.
Movie Roulette tonight?
I let David see it. I hold the phone so he can watch me type.
Can’t. Busy.
Is that so? Bring him along. ;)
Next time. Have fun!
Don’t make any little girls cry!
You too! Later. :)
David leans on the rail next to me. “How far we going?”
He doesn’t mess around. Straight to the point. I like it.
I pivot and point down. “Nolan did that. When he was eleven and I was eight.”
David squats. “N, A, H. Is this why you were here when I … picked you up before? To look at this again?”