“I don't know. Human beings built the greatest empire the world has ever known. It lasted a thousand years, which must have felt like an eternity back then, and then it was gone. I can’t really explain it. But nothing is too difficult to build. And nothing is too great to lose.”
Naomi makes a noise like she understands. However, I can’t comprehend how she can, given my complete lack of eloquence on the matter.
“What do you read?” I ask.
“Oh, maybe the exact opposite of what you read.”
“Which is?”
“Romance, mostly.”
“That’s sweet.”
“Sweet?” Naomi looks at me like I’m crazy.
“Yeah, people falling in love and getting married… and stuff…” The look Naomi gives me tells me I’m way off base. She laughs.
“Oh, Walker. Poor, innocent Walker. The books I read go way beyond kissing.” The “way” is stretched out, and in that long tone, I get her gist, and my mind is filled with all the dirty things she’s indicating. And they’re all with her. She turns nearly as pink as her tank top.
“Okay then,” I say, with a grin.
“Small-town romance is my Roman Empire.”
“But why?”
She pauses, her eyes on the horizon while she considers. “Even if the gods don’t favor you, it’s nice to think there’ssomething great worth building with someone else, even if you’re always at risk of losing it.”
There’s a gentle silence before she adds, “But with fucking.”
We both laugh. It’s still a strange music. Hers is beautiful, of course, but mine is a tune I haven’t heard in a long time.
Not until she brought it out.
Her laugh turns into a yawn, and I note the time.
“We should stop for the night.”
“I can drive for a while.”
I shake my head. “No, let’s rest. We still don’t have an exact location. We're better not rushing if we want to stay under the radar.”
“I don’t see any motels around.”
“It’s a nice night. You up for roughing it?”
Naomi grins and nods.
When I find a suitable desolate stretch of road, I pull the truck off the main highway. I navigate carefully over the uneven terrain until we're well hidden from casual passersby but still have clear paths back to the highway if needed.
"This should work," I say, killing the engine.
We climb out, and I lower the tailgate, spreading a tarp and some blankets in the truck bed.
We sit side by side, backs against the cab, looking up at the vast desert sky.
The volume is turned all the way down, and I’m not my past, and she’s not what she’s running from. We’re just a man and a woman. A pretty girl and the boy who can’t get her out of his head.
My mission to get to know her has been successful.
