Paradise Blvd. Year One

Chapter Five

Lucien stopped the car in front of Tulip's home and looked at her. "I'm sorry," he said.

Her eyes widened. It was the first time he apologised for acting like that.

"I get that Marion's your friend and you guys have been friends for a long time, but... I mean, have you seen yourself?" he asked with a soft chuckle. "Have you seen the way he looks at you? I get a little insecure sometimes, please mind me."

Tulip sighed and opened her door. "Why apologise if you're just gonna give me excuses?" As she moved out, Lucien grabbed her by the arm, causing her to flinch.

He let her go. "Sorry. Just let me make it up to you. Please. Let me take you on a date, Tulip. Tomorrow."

"People go on dates?"

"I don't know." Lucien shrugged. "But we can."

Tulip smiled. "Alright."

Sunday

"Think about it," said Esau as they walked through the parking lot. "We're so obsessed with finding a human explanation for everything since we've concluded that magic and paranormal phenomena is the stuff of coked up fantasy authors and screenwriters, but what about the real shit out there with no explanation? This world is strange and we just have to stop seeing it from our human eyes. It's not just made for humans. We try to explain everything in a logical manner, but logic is another construct like most of the shit we believe in. Everything that is real is just our perception of it. It's real to us. It's what we see, what we know, but it's limited."

Troye nodded. "Like electromagnetic waves. Only a portion of them are perceptible to our eyes."

"Exactly!" Esau almost jumped up in excitement. "If we can't see that much, what else is there that we can't see."

"My car," said Troye.

Esau chuckled. "You said it was a 1972 blue Beetle, right?"

"Yeah."

Esau pointed right ahead of them. "Voilà!"

"Fuck me." Troye ran forward, spinning the car keys around his fingers. "You're a beautiful soul, Esau. I was afraid it got towed or something."

"Worse," said Esau after he joined Troye. "Parking ticket."

•

Forest knocked on Sailor's garage door.

"I'd be crazy if I let you in," said Sailor.

"I'm just here for the coke. I'm sorry about last night, it's a'ight if you don't wanna run with me no more," said Forest.

Sailor scoffed. "You still wanna push after that? His dude left you, man."

"Only 'cause he thought you was stealing the coke and ran after you," Forest stated. "Even if I can't trust him, my sister's helping me out with some self defense. I'll be a'ight. And if that doesn't work out, Graves can get me a strap."

Sailor sighed. "Get in, I'll get the bag."

"Thanks, man. I won't shoot anyone, though," Forest continued. "It's just for show. These Baxter Boys think they can run Paradise, but they ain't so dominant on the arms race. All their jumpers have is fists and switchblade, so with a Glock, I can turn them the other way easily."