Judy and Irene

“Kevin’s house burned down yesterday. Did you hear?”

A spark illuminated Judy’s face, and she took a drag from a cigar. A plume of smoke burst from her lips with a fit of coughing.

“Jesus, Judy!” Irene said. “Do you take shots of wine too?”

“Blech!” Judy gasped. “That was awful. When is James getting here?”

The two of them surveyed the parking lot behind the movie theater. There were three cars left beneath the yellow-orange street lamps. A handful of stores boxed them in: a party-supply store, a Planet Fitness, a couple of fast food restaurants, and clothing retainers. Their windows were mostly dark, but the signs still glowed. Far off, the occasional headlights flickered between a row of pine saplings.

Irene typed out a message on her phone.

“You’re not supposed to inhale,” she said. “Just hold it in your mouth for a couple seconds. Got it?”

Judy smacked her lips together a couple of times. She said, “What is that?”

Irene pulled the small package from her purse, checked the label.

“Supposed to be… grape,” said Irene. She shrugged.

“Is that what it is? Tastes more like blackberries to me.”

“No, it’s grape.”

There was a long pause, and Irene tapped the toe of her flip-flop against the pavement.

“This is the right place, isn’t it?” Judy said.

“Yeah,” responded Irene. She checked her phone again. “James said he’d be here five minutes ago. I shoulda known. He’s always late.”

“Oh. So how are things between you and him?”

Irene pursed her lips and looked up at the sky for a moment, then responded, “Pretty good, I guess. He wants to go to a technical school near Eau Claire. I haven’t figured out what I’m doing. I looked at Eau Claire, but it seemed a little small.”

“I mean, you’ve got options.”

Irene laughed.

“Sure I do. You’re like the hundredth person to say that to me.”

Judy held the cigar to her mouth again. This time, she just sucked in a little, tried to keep from breathing any of the noxious smoke. It coated the roof of her mouth with a sour flavor, and she ended up coughing again.

“But you don’t think you’ll stay together?” Judy asked after she regained her breath.

“We’ll see. If we end up close, there’s no reason not to, right?”

“I guess?” Judy shrugged. “So, how’s Kevin holding up?”

“After the fire?” Irene asked. Judy nodded. “I dunno. Haven’t seen him since Thursday. I heard the house got struck by lightning when the family was away. Nobody was hurt, but I think his cat died.”

“Aww,” Judy moaned. “That’s so sad.”

“Yeah. I know I’d be shaken up; I guess he’s probably still in shock about the whole thing.”

“That’s gotta mess with his whole family, right? I mean, money-wise, security-wise…”

“The whole thing’s messed up. But that’s mother nature.” Irene typed out an angry message to James, then hit send. “How about you? Did I hear you accepted Arizona State?”

“Nope. Close; Grand Canyon.”

“Oh, right, right!” Irene sat down on the curb. “Dude, you’re going to boil alive out there. It’s not cheap, either, right? Private school, out-of-state… Any good scholarships?”

“There are some. I just accepted that I’m gonna be pretty deep in the hole after four years. And yeah, I’m gonna need a bucket of sunscreen just to walk to class. That place is hot. And I burn in the shade.”

Judy held out her freckled arms, and examined them in the dim light. They didn’t look so pale right now. She puffed on the cigar, and this time she didn’t have to cough at all; she just opened her mouth and the smoke floated out.

“I don’t think I want to finish this,” Judy said, handing the cigar back to Irene. “It tastes bad.”

Irene shrugged, and took it from Judy. She felt the phone buzz in her hands, and looked down at the message notification.

“Ugh,” Irene said. She unlocked the phone and her fingers flew across the screen. “James got a flat over near Panda. Just our luck.”

“That’s only a couple blocks,” said Judy. Irene was still caught up in a flurry of typing. “We could walk over and meet him.”

“Yeah,” said Irene. “Nguyen is already on her way over to bring him a spare. Guess that means we’re not gonna make it to Drew’s place though. That sucks. Have you seen his barn? They had it refurbished last year. It’s a pretty sick setup now.”

“Well,” Judy sighed. She extended her hand down to Irene, and hoisted her back to a standing position. Irene dusted off the back of her dress, then sipped at the cigar again. “Maybe I’ll see it some other time.”

Irene dropped the cigar to the ground, and stomped it out.

“Let’s get going,” she said. “I gotta pee.”

The two of them started walking across the parking lot. Insects flew in rapid spirals around the lights that buzzed overhead. There weren’t any stars visible. A low drone of traffic was the only other sound they could hear.