“Maybe,” Andy said.“Maybe.”
My birthmark had been throbbingfor days.I had no idea what it was.And when I slept at night, I saw things.A tower in the sky, and the moon, and four flickering flames chewing away at the atmosphere.Something had changed.In some fundamental, deep-bone way, something had changed.And I wasn’t sure what was going to happen next.
“So,”I said.“How are things going with you?”
“Things are pretty great, actually,” Tamara said.“Me and Joey are doing well.”
“You and Joey, huh?”I asked.
Tamara nodded.
“You know he’s?—”
“Yeah,” Tamara said, her voice hard.
“Just checking,” I said, hands up.
We were not at a coffee shop.I didn’t think we’d ever go to another one if I was being honest.Instead, we were at Sal’s Salamis and Za.A little part of the Underground Market.A few ashen-faced couples around us sat and ate meals I tried not to look at as I pecked at my Caesar salad.
Joey returned to the table, smiling, from where he’d gotten up to use the restroom.He motioned a waiter over and asked for a kombucha.They made a cute couple.Not that Tamara needed me to qualify her dating decisions.There were less traditional ways to date, and someone dying just once and barely scraping through if you blink was hardly anything.Even if he was looking at the special menu with an unhealthy amount of interest.
“I wonder if they serve cocktails,” I asked.“You know how hard it is to go out on a date when only one of your boyfriends can process human food?”
“That sounds like a problem I am happy not to have,” Tamara said.“So, is this it?You guys are in the clear?”
“You don’t sound happy,” I said.
Tamara frowned.
“I’m not,” she said.She shook her head.“This is ridiculous.That we’re supposed to pretend none of this happened?I mean.How can we, after all of that?”
“I don’t know,” I said.I paused, thinking, and shrugged.“I don’t know.”
“I want to start a support group,” Tamara said.“For people who have had contact with the Underground.You know.Breathers.”
“That sounds racist,” I said.
“That’s their word for us,” Tamara said.“I’m just reclaiming it.”
“I’m sorry I dragged you into all this,” I said.
“Don’t be,” she said.“To be honest.I feel better about myself.Like I’m trusting my own instincts, you know.”
“I didn’t screw things up, did I?”I asked.“Our friendship, I mean.”
Tamara shook her head.
“No.We’re good.I was upset when I realized you wandered off, but Joey met up with me and we started talking.”
Joey popped his head up.
“Hey, thanks for introducing us again,” he said.
“Any time,” I said.
“Are you doing okay?”Tamara asked.“How’s your You know situation.With the boys?”
The boys.As if I were dating a group of teenagers and not a council of vampires.
