Thomas and Niko in the City of Trees

Chapter 8 - Part 1

So word gets around and about twenty-five people show up. Owen's older brother works at Urban Brewing and supplied a keg, which ends up being a pretty big windfall. We all chipped in and Thomas and I went down the hill to Garden City to pick it up. Anyway, it's getting close to ten now, and everybody's having a good time. I'm standing in the kitchen next to Lexie, and we're arguing with Garrett and some girl from Borah High that he brought with him.

Lexie is well into her third whisky-coke (she hates beer) and she's the one steering this ship, so goes the phrase. "You know what, Garrett? Fine," she says. "If you really want to believe they're all just out there choosing to sleep in the cold, choosing to eat food out of a trash can, I guess I can't force you to open your eyes."

"Why the fuck else would they be out there?" he says. "They have places they can go. There's open beds in the shelters all over town."

"Let me tell you what you're going to do," she says. She's kind of sloshing her drink at him. "You're going to put the words 'homeless' and 'mental health' into a search and read some of the articles that come up. And then you're going to come back to me. I'm won't waste my breath arguing with someone who has decided not to inform himself."

Garrett kind of scoffs. "Yeah, I'll look it up sometime."

"I fucking bet you will, Garrett Landon." She's poking him in the chest with her index finger.

I'm loving this moment. He's looking at me now, saying, "You have anything to add to the debate, Savic?" I tell him Lexie's saying enough for both of us. Meanwhile, the girl Garrett brought with him doesn't seem to have much of an opinion about anything.

The so-called debate dies off and Lexie and I go into the living room. Thomas has music playing so loud from his bedroom that it fills the whole house. A few people are kind of dancing around in there. Alfred's standing in the hall with a cup of beer in his hand, which is a sight to see, across from this girl he seems pretty interested in. Two of his other friends showed up and they're playing Switch on the couch. Driggs and a girl named Chloe are talking to Owen and his girlfriend, this Junior whose name I don't know. Three other guys from the football team are here. Thomas and Madison are nowhere to be found.

I get the sense already that the energy is building. The music gets turned up another tick. The air-conditioning must not be running because it's hot as hell in here. I go back into the kitchen and open the window over the sink. I open the door to the backyard. Lexie grabs my arm and escorts me out onto the lawn. We're just acting dumb and dancing around on the grass for a while. It's another warm night. The light from the moon fills every inch of the backyard.

We go over and lean against the storage shed. Lexie moves in and kisses me. She finishes her drink and spins in a circle, looking around in every direction. Her eyes land back on me. "Where did Thomas and Madison go?"

"I was wondering the same thing," I say.

She smacks my chest. "I bet they're at it again. The floodgates are wide open now."

"What are you talking about?"

She stops moving. She looks right at me. "Thomas didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"They finally did it—last night. They went all the way. Madison texted me this morning. Can you fucking believe how long it took?"

"No," I say.

"I can't believe Thomas didn't tell you," she says. "Jesus, what do you guys even talk about?"

I sort of laugh. It's a good way of hiding my surprise. "Not much, I guess."