Evan and Lily loaded the Civic and
Started back
Evan put in his parent's address
And felt wistful as the TomTom
Showed them the red line once again
Tennessee to Michigan
They pulled out of the Motel 6
Parking lot, Evan taking note of
The lobby, the balcony, the distant
skyscrapers, the haze, the devil horn
Skyscraper, knowing he'd likely
Never have a reason to
see any of it again
Lily was quiet, didn't text
As much, didn't talk much
Either
Did you do a line? Evan asked her
When they pulled out
Yeah, I did, she said, looking out
Her window.
I finished the rest of it,
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Actually
But stop asking me that. It's none
Of your business
You're the one who told me about
It.
It's still none of your business,
So quit asking me every time
I do a line if I've done a line
Don't be a buzzkill
Evan didn't respond
He put in a mix CD
The first song was
Girl by Beck
Lily was asleep
for the first half
Of the drive
Evan watched the city of
Nashville go by to his left
Farewell, he thought
He set his eyes to the road ahead,
let the highway hypnotize him
He listened to three mix CDs,
Then Them Crooked Vultures, then
The Pixies, then a mix CD, then another
Mix CD, then he put in My Mother's
Hymn Book again but took it out
Before Do Lord played
Louisville was in the rear view
Mirror before Evan even realized
They'd passed it
Lily awoke soon after, blinked,
Rubbed her eyes, pulled out
Her phone, looked at it for a moment
Then put it away
Let's listen to U2, she said
What?
Show me a U2 song you think
I'll like
I thought you hated Bono
I do, but you should show me
A song
Evan knew exactly which one
He'd show her
He pulled out his burned
copy of All That You Can't
Leave Behind from his book
and put it in
He skipped to Track 6
And from the speakers
came the opening riff of
In A Little While
Lily listened to the whole
Thing without saying a word
That was nice, she said when it
Was over
What's that called?
In A Little While, Evan said
Joey Ramone, or the singer
From the Ramones, I can't
Remember which one he was-
You're right, Joey was the singer,
said Lily
Yeah, well, he was listening to that
song
when he died
Huh. How poetic
Yeah
Yeah, that wasn't bad
Want to hear more?
Sure.
Evan tried to start the album from
The beginning but Lily shut him
Down once the opening synth
Chords of Beautiful Day sounded
Ugh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no
She said, hitting the volume knob
I hate that song, that's
The song I hate
Evan ejected the CD
You pick something then, he said
Lily pulled a CD out of her own case
And inserted it
It was loud, expansive alternative punk
Music. Evan didn't recognize it
What is this?
Rise Against
Which album?
It's a mix. I don't really know
Song titles
Evan listened. The song was loud and
Exultant, the chorus about running away
and outgrowing the things you love