She holds the tacos out to me and I give them a suspicious sniff.
“What kind are they? What’s this stuff?” I ask, lifting up the tortilla to reveal a yellowish-green mystery sauce.
“You’ll like it. I promise.” She reaches out to lift the boat closer to my face, but I don’t budge. “Try it!” she insists.
“Okay, okay!” I laugh, before doing as she says, andOh man. She’s right. It’s some kind of spicy steak with fresh cilantro, pico, guac, shredded cheese, and a tangy lime sauce drizzled on top. “Told you,” she says with a satisfied look on her face as she holds out the thing in her left hand. “Here, try this.”
I’m not totally sure what it is. Some kind of rolled cinnamon pastry filled with cream. This time, I don’t put up a fight, I just trust her and take a bite of the thing.
“Okay. Holy shit, that’s the best thing I’ve ever tasted.”
“That’s a Steel City Chimney. They were always your favorite. They roast them on this cool wood-fired rotisserie,” she replies, her eyes lighting up as she watches me take another bite.
“You know, I don’t think it’s very fair that you know all this stuff about me but I know basically nothing about you,” I tell her over the food in my mouth.
“What do you want to know? Ask me anything.”
I swallow the bite of dessert in my mouth and consider the question while I reach in to try the other taco.
“What kind is this one? Those pickled onions look good.” I go to pick it up, but Nora smacks my hand away before I can even touch it.
“That one’s mine! Jeez, lady,” she says as she scoops it out of the boat and takes a bite. “You can ask me anything and that’s what you want to know?”
“Fine. How many times have we been here?” I ask, taking another bite of my own taco.
“This is our third time here. They have three or four every summer,” Nora replies.
“What’s your favorite food?”
“Aw man.Cheeseburgers,” she says, her eyes widening with wonder.
“You’ve got a little drool.” I point to my mouth, and we both laugh. “What’s your favorite food that you can still eat?”
“Honestly, this freaking veggie taco is bomb.” She shoves the rest into her mouth. “I gotta ’ake ’ese at home.”
“Looks much more appetizing than your soggy Tofurky.”
“Don’t knock it. It’s actually pretty good,” she says, and I give her a look like I don’t believe her. “Okay, it’s no honey ham.” She laughs.
“What’s your favorite movie or show?” I ask.
“Oh myGod.Stevie!” She stops dead in the middle of the sidewalk. “Dickinson! You don’t remember that, do you?” she asks, her eyes wild with excitement.
“What? Like Charles Dickinson? TheOliver Twistguy?” I ask as we start walking again.
“Charles Dickinson!? First of all, I think you mean CharlesDickens. And… Stevie, please. I’m talking about our queen, Emily Dickinson. They made a TV show about her and it’s only the greatest show in television history. See? Something goodhascome out of all this.” She pauses to stare at some far-off point in the sky. “What I wouldn’t give to relive the Emisue love story all over again for the first time.” She grazes my arm with her hand, just barely, but it’s enough to give me butterflies. “Okay. Okay. More questions.”
“Well, wait. Tell me more about it,” I demand, intrigued.
“No. Just move on before I spoil anything, you always get mad at me for doing that. Trust me,” she replies, waving her hand at me.
I think for a second. What Ireallywant to ask is whensheknew she liked girls. I haven’t stopped wondering about that since we looked through the box, but it feels a little too personal to be asking in such a public space, so I opt for a different question I’ve been holding on to.
“You told me in your bedroom that you aren’t going to college. What were you going to do in California if I was going to UCLA?” I ask, finishing off my taco.
“Oh, umm.” I can tell she’s surprised at the sudden shift in topic. “There’s a farm just outside of LA County that was going to give me a job. It’s not like… myidealfarm, but they’re always hiring there. And I figured I can get my feet wet, make some connections with other farms and figure out what I wantto do from there. Someday I’dloveto have my own, grow vegetables sustainably and join a CSA.” She takes an excited breath and presses her hands over her chest like she’s trying to hold everything in. But it bursts out through her smile anyway.
“I like watching you talk about all that stuff. I can tell how much you love it.” It all reminds me of my own future. “I signed into that secret email account of mine that you told me about and read all the stuff from UCLA. I applied undecided. I never really knew what I wanted to be at fifteen, but I thought maybe I’d have my shit together a bit by now, you know?”
