Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Author:Benjamin Alire Sáenz [Sáenz, Benjamin Alire]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Published: 2021-10-11T16:00:00+00:00

Nineteen

SOMETIMES I WOULD GO TO the Charcoaler all by myself. Just to grab a bite to eat. I don’t know why. Part of it was the nostalgia of having worked there. And I still picked up a shift when they needed me. But nostalgia was only a part of it. I had this deep need to be alone sometimes. And I didn’t always have time to drive out into the desert. So I just came to the Charcoaler and got a burger, some onion rings, and a Dr Pepper. I just sat in my truck and ate and listened to the radio.

That Sunday afternoon when I drove up to the drive-in window to get my order, I noticed Gina Navarro’s blue Volkswagen parked in the lot. So I pulled up next to her and said, “Hey, you!”

And she said, “Ari! What are you doing here?”

“Same thing you’re doing. Came to eat a burger.”

“By yourself?”

“Oh yeah, well, I don’t exactly see a carful of people in your Bug.”

Gina laughed. “It’s actually one of my favorite things to do. Come here and be by myself and listen to music. I don’t always want to be around other people. Sometimes I just want to be. Just to be. You know?”

“Yeah, I do know.”

We were both smiling.

“I won’t tell anyone,” she said.

“I won’t tell anyone either.”

We stopped talking. I let her be. And she let me be.

I was lost in my own thoughts and the taste of my onion rings when I heard the beep of Gina’s Volkswagen. She waved at me as she drove away. I waved back.

And we were both smiling.

That’s the thing about friends. Each one of them is different. And each friend knows something about you that your other friends don’t know. I guess a part of being friends is that you share a secret with each one of them. The secret doesn’t have to be a big secret. It could just be a little one. But sharing that secret is one of things that makes you friends. I thought that was pretty amazing.

I was learning a lot of things about living in the country of friendship. I liked living in that country. I liked it very much.

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