“What did you want to talk about, then? Zach?”
She shakes her head. “I’m so sick of him, I don’t even want to complain about him.”
“What then?”
“Later, we’ll talk about it. Right now, there’s something else I wanted to show you,” she says. “Something I made.”
She stops and pulls it out.
I squint. It’s hard to see in the near dark.
“It’s a friendship bracelet. Made out of hemp.”
“Sweet,” I say.
“I’m glad you like it,” she says. “Because it’s for you.”
“I haven’t seen you for months,” I say, “and now you make me a bracelet? I don’t know what to say.”
“Then just put it on, you idiot. It’s not like I’m asking you out or something.”
She waits as I tie it around my wrist. The hemp feels good and scratchy, somehow, like it grounds me. I could use some grounding, what with the moon glowing up above me. My teeth ache. Sometimes, on nights of the full moon, my gums bleed. Right now, though, there’s just an ache in my teeth and an itch in my palms. I concentrate on the hemp rubbing my wrist and try to forget the rest.
We keep walking. We are approaching Burger King, and the smell of charred meat is stronger. Ugh. But I’m so hungry I get a cramp, and I bend over right there in the street.
Karen stops. “You okay?”
I nod through clenched teeth. “Yeah, I guess so. I’m just really hungry.”
“You always bend over in the street when you’re hungry?”
“No,” I say, through clenched teeth. “This is kind of new.”
“Maybe you need to eat some meat.”
“Ha, ha,” I say, straightening up, still clutching my stomach.
“You sure you’re okay?”
“I don’t know,” I say. “It’s not just the cramps. I’ve been having these cravings.”
“Cravings? For what?”
“You won’t tell anyone?”
“Who am I going to tell, Stanley?”
“I don’t know? My parents? Or Zach, maybe?”
Karen’s face clouds over. “I told you. Zach and I are completely over.”
“You said that last time.”
“Yeah, well, this time it’s for real. And I promise I won’t tell anyone.”
“You promise.”
“I, Karen Maloney, do solemnly swear not to tell anyone about Stanley Hoff’s cravings. Whatever the hell they are. Satisfied, or do you want to pinky promise?”