“Yeah.”He nodded.Then puffed a soft laugh.“I’m supposed to be in Munich.”
That was not what I had expected.
“What?Really?”
He swatted a fly away from his face.“I was supposed to go visit my brother.He’s a researcher at a hospital there.”
“Oh.”I waited for him to say something else.When he didn’t, I probed gently.“You didn’t want to go?”
He shook his head.“I needed to be…by myself.Well, not by myself, obviously,” he gestured at me.“But away from the people who know about everything.”
I nodded, not understanding yet, but to show I was here for him.Since we had no connection beyond the BCR, maybe he felt he could unburden himself.I didn’t know whether to ask for clarification or just be quiet.I chose the easier option.And, after a little while, he started speaking again.
“My best friend…he’s so pigheaded,” Puck said quietly, shaking his head in frustration.“I told him the guy he was seeing was a dick, and he didn’t listen.This boy he liked—the loser he wasobsessedwith—wasusing, and so fuckingirresponsible.I warned him, but he ignored me.He thought I was jealous or something, which is really turned around.”
I listened to the hum of cicadas and the occasional call of a loon while I sat there, a listening ear for whatever he wanted to get off his chest.
“Fucker crashed the car they were in.This boy, this stupid, fuckingkid, was on a cocktail of drugs and crashed the car,killinghimself and landing my best friend in the hospital, fighting for his life.”
“Oh shit.That’s terrible.”My words sounded so ineffectual, but I couldn’t think of anything else to say.“Is your friend…is he all right?”
“Depends on your definition ofall right.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah, everybody’s sorry.Doesn’t help.”
“Aw, Puck.Jesus.”
“Just let me talk.I haven’t talked about any of this.And I think I need to.”
