Ghost Time

I could tell he was changing the subject, but whatever. Why does this girl go back in time instead of forward? Got this one, Mel , I said. There are lots of reasons why she goes back in time, but, mostly, because that’s the only direction she can go. The only way you can get somewhere that’s never been is with art, so she has to make art or go back in time, maybe both, we’ll see! Honestly, until that moment, I didn’t even know how much that picture with Cam truly meant to me, but I know now.
    Because The Future Is Unwritten ! I said, clapping my hands, grabbing my phone from my bag. I had the picture—I showed Knox the picture of me and Cam, standing in front of the Joe Strummer mural on his birthday. Mel goes, Show me! Show me, Thee—what are you doing, showing my dad first? I laughed and said, Mel, I only showed him first because he was closest, but she was right, so I jumped over and showed her. It was only then that it dawned on me that I’d never offered to show her a picture of Cam. And I felt terrible about that, too. I mean, she never asked, but I never offered. I guess because I felt like I was always looking at pictures of him.
    Here, I said, holding the camera up for her. And she inhaled so deep, like she was flapping her face, unable to breathe, excited, and she goes, Ohmygod, Thea! Cam is so cute! I laughed, blushed. Part of me was like, Oh, here we go again, even my own best friend is going to wonder what he’s doing with me, so let’s be done with it, already. But then part of me was just giddy. I said, Yeah, he is really cute, isn’t he? When I say cute, I mean really fucking cute, like I just want to eat him up! I said, bobbling my head, cooing at the picture of us, and immediately, I feel a flare up in the corner: Knox telling me to watch my language. I was just like, This is our world, our domain, Knox, you want in or not? I didn’t say that, because there was no point: you know he wouldn’t have known how to answer. Did he want to be included in our world, really? Maybe. Gee, sounds good on paper, honey, but… I’m sorry, but dads and their cafeteria-style intimacy, you know? When I watch Knox, I get it, though. He just doesn’t have a clue. Anyhow.
    Then Knox goes, Hey, you two, what do you say about going to get something to eat? Mel goes, No, thanks , and he goes, I didn’t have a chance to shop, and Mel goes, Not again , and he said, So we’ll pick something up before we take Thea home, and I just looked at her, and I looked at Knox, and he goes, What? I shook my head, never mind.
    We got in, got Mel situated, pulled out, and Knox started to say something, and Mel goes, Here we go , and Knox goes, I know it’s nothing fancy, but how’s McDonald’s sound? And I just shrugged, like, whatever, it’s up to you guys, but then Mel goes, No . I turned around to look at her, and Knox looked at her in the rearview. And I said, What’s wrong? She goes, Never mind , and she sighed this heavy sigh. Knox looked at me, and I shrugged, like, I don’t know.
    So we got to the drive-in, and Mel goes, Thee, I want you to tell my dad something. I turned and looked back at her, because she hadn’t said anything the whole way, and I was like, What’s up? And she goes, I want you to tell him that I’m a vegetarian. Knox looked at her in the rearview again, and he goes, What’s up? He could tell, so I told him: There’s something you should know about Melody. He goes, Sounds serious, and I said, It is. To Mel, I said, and Knox goes, All right. Let’s hear. Then he turned to face her, and he said, Let’s have it. I sighed, and then I spit it out: Mel’s vegetarian, and Knox laughed, and he goes, She’s what ? So I told him, I said, She’s vegetarian. She doesn’t eat meat—wouldn’t if she had any choice, I said.
    He looked at me, he looked at her, and he chuckled, then he goes, You got to be kidding me, vegetarian, turning back around,facing front. No how, no way: capisce ? he said, turning back to look at Melody again. Then Mel goes, Ohmygod, seriously, Dad? You’ve never noticed? Tell him—Thea, tell him , she said, and I go, Knox, why do you think she throws the worst fits when you’re feeding her? What are you feeding her? And he goes, She throws fits every night for god’s sake, and I go, Because you force her to eat meat every night! Didn’t it ever occur to you? I asked, and his mouth fell open. Finally, in this stern dad voice, he goes, No. No, it didn’t. And she