The Boiling of the Bones

16. New Chapter

"Oh my gosh. Where are you?"

"Here."

"Here, where?"

"In New York, Washington Square Park, on the steps between the arch and the fountain."

"Oh my gosh, you are here. I'm only three blocks away. Don't move. I'll be right there."

"Alright, see you soon."

I hung up the phone and handed it back.

"Thanks man, I really appreciate it."

"No problem."

She looked amazing. She was radiant, wearing a red dress with an elegant pearl necklace and gold earrings. Her hair was shorter. Shoulder length curled and styled. She smiled and awkwardly ran to me in heels. I threw my arms around her and hugged her tightly.

"It's so good to see you."

"You too. I almost didn't recognize you, what happened to your hair?"

"Oh, it's a long story for another day."

"Oliver, it's great to see you to. But I have to tell you up front, I'm dating somebody."

"That's alright. I'm so glad to see you. Is this a good time? I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"I have a few minutes, but I'm meeting my boyfriend for dinner then going to a performance. Maybe we can go for a long walk in Central Park this weekend and catch up on everything. I'm free all afternoon on Sunday."

"Sounds great. Hey, I went to Avalon yesterday, by the way."

She laughed, joyfully, recalling a flood of warm memories, then looked away regretfully. She was conflicted and emotionally overwhelmed.

"Where have you been all this time? Where did you go?"

"I did what you said. I confronted my dad. You would have been proud. I stood up to the bully and really gave him a piece of my mind. You should have seen it. I let him have it. The next day he had me kidnapped. Two ex-marines literally dragged me out of bed in the middle of the night and took me to a rehabilitation clinic for troubled teens in Utah. I desperately wanted to call, or write you, but every time I tried, I got caught and they locked me up in solitary confinement as punishment. We weren't allowed to have any outside contact. It was a cross between being in prison and being in the military. We did a lot of marching and physical fitness training. When I turned eighteen last week, they had to release me."

She clenched her fists as she started crying, looked away, then tenderly spoke.

"I'm so, so sorry."

"Don't be. Tell me about your boyfriend. What's he like?"

"He's a Russian guy."

I teased her to break the tension.

"A Russian spy?"

"You heard me," she playfully slugged me in the shoulder, "he's a ballerina."

"He could still be a spy, they are still spying on us you know," I, matter-of-factly stated. "Just be careful, because he'll probably try to extract whatever dark secrets, he can get out of you."

"What? Like my locker combination at the gym?"

"Well, yeah, that and your famous chocolate chip cookie recipe–they don't have chocolate chip cookies in Russia."

"It's right on the bag," she laughed. "I use the Nestle Tollhouse recipe."

"Oh, man you gave that secret up without even a fight. Imagine what he'll uncover with his subtle trickery."