A Day Called June 3rd
(Part three of The People That Were Also Talking)

Stella sort of hated when Kenny called, yet would feel offended if he never called either. You see Kenny always called to make sure she wasn’t dead and get an opinion/make sure his actions were justified. This was nice it felt good to know someone thought highly of her-thought she mattered to them. What she didn’t like is how he always called in the five minutes between moving from one thing to the next. Or how ever so slightly there seemed to be a bit of disinterest in the things she had to say. She didn’t think it was his fault, frankly she just like didn’t his over the phone tone. All of Kenny’s family sort of had that blunt and disinterested tone, it as this act hat made his mom a little mean. Not in a troubling way, simply in a way that sometimes made Stella thin to herself: “That was a little mean I can’t believe you said that to me.”
When they got off the phone Stella pressed enter on the email she attempted to proof read while on the phone. Once it was sent she realized she left out the synopsis and the first fifteen pages. She opened a new email, rewrote her query, copy and pasted the forgotten things, and sent it. She accepted that her lack of business know how would probably end in a Random House rejection. Oh well, c’est si bon-tomorrow she’d Google another agency and start again. She liked Random House because Libba Bray was published there, and she happened to mean a lot to her high school career. Today Stella is exceptionally poor having had no job, took this year off of school so no financial aid, not an established writer, and just paid her car registration. The car was the reason she was broke today; But on the plus a blog group accepted her as a writer-non paying o course, so things were looking up.
The thing she thought was really clever about literary agencies is that they took just enough time to respond, that the person inquiring worked themselves up to the point of either almost forgetting they sent it, or accepting impeding rejection. So that the moment they make their peace or start forget their anxiousness the letter comes that says, “Boo try again or give up.” Or something like that and the blow still hurts anyway. One time The Sun, a magazine, wrote her back saying the story was god but not appropriate for them. Which was probably true, she didn’t know. Stella has never read a single one of their articles she just liked their attitude.
It was late afternoon, still spring, and lots of clouds were out. The fat fluffy clouds that make you feel something. They were even kind enough to let the sun go on shining anyway. Overall a nice day with Stella sitting at a table littered in food and drinks listening intently to older Mexican women speaking Spanish. From what she gathered they were talking about their favorite songs from back in the day. She commented that every day she felt like, Oye Comma Va by Carlos Santana. That really tickled them as she bit into a grilled pepper in attempt to fit her role as their “adopted” daughter. Well one of the women and the guy on the grill pretended like she was one of them when she came around. They liked her choppy o good Spanish, thought it or she was sweet.
Their backyard was the ideal backyard. There are trees, plants, and flowers everywhere making it seem as if no one existed but them who were at the BBQ. At the front of the yard were rows upon rows of bird cages, and a couple of wind chimes. The other end of the yard, behind the table, was the chicken coop and dog house. Stella really loved being there. It reminded her of the days they used to give her rides from school. More particularly the winter days when it rained a lot and they drove that old green van that Eileen used to call “The Rapist” van when she would see her parents pull up. Back then Eileen’s siblings were still in elementary school and used to watch old Christmas cartoons from the small tv/vhs hooked up in the van. And although Elien hated that an Stella loved it and remembered being a little sad when they got a new car. That winter is one of her favorites and whenever she spent time with them she felt hat time in her heart.
“No hay agua Stella!” Eileen’s mom laughed as Stella’s eyes starte to watr and her mouth burn. “You’re Mexican now remember?”
Everyone laughed.
“Si” Stella agreed and though she knew it was a mistake took another bite of the pepper with a handful of chips. “Pero…pero…it’s mucho spicy-oh.”
More laughter.
Eileen rolls her eyes at Stella, “That’s an interesting take on the Spanish language”
Stella nodded, “Que, si, que?”
“I’m over you.”
“Then get over,” Stella put down the pepper to devour the rest of her hamburger, chips, and Pepsi.
In the missing of food she and Eileen discus the various things they recently watched. Then joined the conversation Eileen’s mother, Mara, and Eileen’s aunt were having over the random titling of many Spanish songs. The current one being talked about was Pineapple Juice by Supershow. Stella couldn’t really keep up in conversation or dialect but as was said loved to be near them. Plus whenever they cut to her in English she always had a joke or witty retort.
Eileen’s siblings were now in high school, her brother Jorge who used to fart on purpose, blush in Stella’s presence, and promise to take her to prom; now swore a lot, was a heavy gamer, and rode his bike everywhere. The sister, Arianna who used to be really shy, sweet, and always laughing; was now wearing makeup, wonderfully sarcastic, and getting ready for a date.
Jorge says. “Papa, me Alfie, and Ryan are going to the park. I’m going to take my bike.”
Eileen becomes attentive of her brother, “Which one?”
“Jorge, can you pass me the watermelon?” Stella asks.
“Stella, quires algo?” Eileen’s dad, Michel, asks her while pulling steak off the grill.
“Si y tortillas y salsa and guacamole.”
“Culo gordo,” Mara chuckled.
Even more laughter: Jorge passes the watermelon at the same time a new plate was passed to Stella. As she is fixing up her taco she suddenly looks up, eyes wide and lips grinning.
“Wait did you just call me a fat ass?”
“Si-see, you’ll be speaking Spanish in no time finally.”
“We’re going to the park down the street.
Eileen lost interest but not her dad. He said: “Come back before dark.”
When it physically hurt to cram another bite into their stomach Eileen and Stella excused themselves to her bedroom where Arianna was still preparing for her date. She, Arianna, was nervous they were going to be late for their movie and sore up and down it wasn’t a date because other people were going. Eileen joked that Arianna wished it was though which made Eileen momentarily develop her old shy habits, blush, and call the boy picking he up ugly. Stella collapsed on the bed, felt too full, hand to stand up again.
“Santa mierda!” she exclaimed.
Eileen and Arianna looked at her one of them asks, “What?”
“I’m so fucking full, but at the same time maybe I want to eat some more.”
“You crop top wearing ft ass.” Eileen says.
“Well, so where’s your boyfriend Arianna?”
“He’s not my boyfriend!”
“But she wishes.”
“Shut up Eileen, he has a girlfriend.”
Stella smiles, “But not for long eh Arianna?”
Arianna laughs, “What? No-” looks at her phone, “They’re here bye!”
“Good luck!” Eileen shouts.
From the door Arianna: “What do I need luck for?”
“I mean bye.”
“But also good luck!” Stella adds.
When Arlington was running late it meant he wasn’t coming-or he was coming at the very last moment. Jack knew this perfectly well, yet for some reason he couldn’t find the courage to leave. Sophie wasn’t here so he couldn’t tell her how much he liked her work, and Stella said she plain out wasn’t coming. Unfortunately Stella had to give a reason why she wasn’t going otherwise Jack would keep pressuring her to come. So Stella answered that her friend who wanted to see the stupid exhibition in the first place suddenly “lost nerve”. Plus Stella didn’t feel like she had to show support for a girl she met drunkenly at a bar once. But the real reason was Stella was at a BBQ and didn’t feel like leaving.
“Jack? Jack Colby?” Sophie’s sweet, nearly like the ripple of a rainbow growing close but never tangible to touch, says from behind him.
Incidentally Jack is standing in front of her wall sized picture of a long shot to fish eye of a fish’s eye through a break in the coral reef. Sophie is supposed to be in Japan. Jack smiles.
“You liar, you’re supposed to be in Japan.”
“Am I?” Sophie smiled and lowered her head so she would have to look at him through her bangs. She did not have these when they first met. Nor did she come across as a nervous person, but it was very clear to Jack at this moment that she was. It was in the way her hand was gripping and releasing the other.
“Well anyway I’m glad you lied.”
Sophie’s smile broadened, “You are?”
“Now I have someone to talk to. Besides it means you didn’t want to sleep with good old Arly.”
“He thought he had me fooled when really it was the other way around. Know all about his bad reputation, his kind torture. Three of my friends have all been on that train and reached different stops.
“And still you went out with him?”
“After all I was Friday and I had nothing better to do…and I did have hope.”
“Don’t tell me it was the hoe that you’d be the one to change him? Because let me tell you something shorty only evil can fix evil. That’s why that saying is good girl gone bad is so famous. You never hear god girl gets bad boy to be good for good.”
“You’re sort of funny huh?”
“Tell me your hope.”
Sophie turned away from him, “I hoped you’d be there.” She took a deep breath before turning around with her hand outstretched. “By the way I’m Sophie, Sophie Ito.”
Jack shook her hand, “And on June 3rd Sophie Ito, photographer, met Jack Colby Myers, writer.”
Shortly after this they left on a walk around the block twice and it was a little cold. Sophie rally was going to Japan in July to visit her brother Yuki and his girlfriend. Ever since they were kids she’d always knew that he would move there because when they were visiting family for the summer he always left with more friends than her and promises and promises to be back next year. Then he went to college and she “never saw him again”. It was okay though, when she missed him she simply pulled her hair back, wore a baseball cap, and loose clothes. Even though they weren’t identical they looked a lot alike. She was leaving around three am July fifth. Yuki was older by six and a half hours their mother lets them forget that. When Sophie became an unruly teenager her mother used to say. “Remember I had six and a half hours to abort you. Now clean your room.” For Yuki she’d say, “I wish the girl was born first then your wining would make more sense to me.”
Sophie believed that secretly her mother wanted to go back to Japan now that her father was dead so she could be with her family and Yuki-and see Yuki start his own family. But Sophie’s mom was like Sophie in e sense that she was kind and loving and wouldn’t abandon her youngest for her own happiness. Though Sophie and Yuki told her to do what makes her happy. After all her children were now adults, stable humans, not murderers, rapists, racists, or homophobic, and sincerely believed in God like she hoped (but never pressured) they would; Still, their mother wanted to be sure Sophie would be alright too, she wasn’t caught convinced yet.
The back story completed the two lap block. Jack thought Sophie was wonderful, though he couldn’t say why, he just did. He liked the way she looked down to smile and how she stuck her hair behind her ear when saying something she deemed embarrassing. The air started to get cooler so they walked a bit further to a coffee shop and believe it or not Sophie doesn’t drink coffee. She ordered tea, piping hot pomegranate tea. She clutched her throat because I burned going down, made a face at Jack that suggested pleasurable torture, and took another sip. Even this was wonderful. He thought she was crazy.
In the coffee shop Jack told her about the pet bunny he had when he was six and how he was convinced it lived the same lie as Bugs Bunny when he wasn’t around. He admitted dying in his sleep was a fear of his because he would never see it coming. His favorite day is November 3rd but not because it was his birthday. He merely liked the way it sounded, especially when falling on a Thursday. Sophie suggested he probably liked the way it sounded because it was his birthday. Jack liked hi immediate family fine and Arlington’s parents, but everyone else was for the dogs: “Just terrible” to give an exact quote.
“Speaking of Arlington, I have to go by that assholes house. Do you want to come? I warn you though there’s a 10:1 chance he’ll be there with some girl. I mean I know you used him to meet me, but he didn’t come to your opening like he said he would and no girl in history has ever played nice to being slighted.”
“Not slighted, not really because you came and here we are.”
“Jack takes a sip of his coffee, “And on June 3rd Sophie Ito met Jack Colby Myers, and wasn’t slighted b Arlington Black Myers.”
This is how Arlington was playing it with Lori: he had her on the couch eating a bagel and watching him pace a little in front of the TV. The couch was low, almost nonexistent, and a green stained sheet over it to give it flare. As he paced Arlington made sure not to make eye contact with her and purposely get distracted with something that could be viewed from the window. Since the window was at ground level the only thing worth looking at were his neighbors across the way plants. If anyone is curious they have two succulents, one baby and one full grown, a bed of budding daises, and a palm that has recently been replanted. The reason Arlington was avoiding Lori’s gaze was because in the month and a half that they had known each other he had convinced her that he was the shy sensitive type. Currently he was being shy and sensitive over his ex-girlfriend Jasmine who worked at a coffee shop and used to drop the ‘t’ out of a lot of words. According to him he really loved her but she didn’t love him-or at least not enough. He alluded to tell how when moving to Chicago he giddily refused to go with her though she begged and cried. He also failed to tell her that three months prior to Jasmine moving he started cheating on her with Kayla who was only going to be in town for one semester and was looking for a little fun. Even though she was no elsewhere she occasionally got really drunk and snapped him. Kayla was cool.
Anyway he had Lori right under his thumb and was contemplating making this the moment to say how much faster Jasmine had moved on than him. His mouth was opening but a knock came to the door. Arlington paused. Another knock came before Jack let himself in. Arlington relaxed, believing for a split second he had given some girl his key, or worse it was Lucy. Just in case you believe incorrectly: there is not a being on earth who does not eventually attach to someone else. For Jack the love of his life is also his enemy; is also Lucy.
“Hiya Jack,” Arlington says going for a shake.
Jack put up his hand to stop him, “Got any whiskey?”
“Sure man.”
Lori raised her eyebrows, “I thought you didn’t drink.”
Nothing but Jack’s eyes was laughing: “Oh yea, what the hell you doing with alcohol?”
“It’s not mine it’s Samuels,” he turned to Lori who was in his apartment for the first time. “He’s the roommate I was telling you about.”
“Oh,”
Jack shook his head, “Bring the whiskey and come outside I need to…” he glanced at Lori, “…ask you something.”
Jack takes his leave. Outside Sophie is sitting on the top step taping her foot and playing her fingers on her thighs. She hums, Liebsleid. When she looks up at Jack her eyes are a little watery.
“Something the matter?” he asks.
“I just suddenly missed my dad,” she snapped her fingers. “Just like that-this building looks like this building I’ve been to before with my dad to visit my grandpa. It was just me and him and he had his violin, and I remember we went to my grandpa’s house and he had a piano. We had lunch then I went to watch cartoons or something and…I must’ve fallen asleep because I remember waking up to music and following it to the living room. My grandpa was at the piano and my dad was facing him with the violin and…they were dueling Liebsleid and they both were crying and smiling. It made me cry-my grandpa’s hands made me cry. The sounds they were creating the pain…I…I ran to him and just kept crying how much I loved him and it made my dad happy because he said he had done that to his mother when he first saw her play the violin. Six years later I played Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata-the full thing for my dad’s birthday and at two different times him and my grandpa told me when I played it felt like they could almost see my grandma yanking my hands all over the place, oozing out of my soul.” Sophie blinked and scratched the side of her face with a finger, quickly looked at Jack and smiled. “I don’t know what the point of that story was.”
“Did you know your grandma?”
“No, she died two years before Yuki and I were born.”
“Can he play too?”
“He liked sports better.”
“It sounds like you could have been a prodigy.”
“I don’t think so. A musician plays mostly for themselves and restly for everyone else. The people I want to play for are dead.”
Jack chuckled and was going to ask her to define “restly” nut Arlington came outside with half a bottle of Wild Turkey under his arm. First he was smiling then he wasn’t. He eyes enlarged and he fumbled his words half wanting to curse Jack for putting him in this position and half wanting to make good with Sophie.
“Have you got another girl in there?” Sophie asks trying to sound hurt.
“Sophie I…it’s not what you think I…I mean…”
The apologetic look and pleading expression looked so well practiced Sophie laughed at it confusing Arlington. Jack laughed too and took a swig of the drink.
“What goes on here?”
Sophie stood up to hug Arlington in the cramped space, “No it’s not what you think. I like Jack.”
“Yea?” Arlington looked between them, recalled they night they first met, and grinned. “You got me then.”
“Sure did, you dated three of my friends so that makes me immune to you. But I knew you were related to Jack so I played along.”
“That’s never happened to me before. You played a good opener and I’d like for us to be friends. Believe me it’s a much better position that lover.”
“Okay, we’ll be friends.”
“And on June 3rd Sophie Ito met Jack Colby Myers and wasn’t slighted by Arlington Black Myers because they were friends.”
Sophie beamed at Jack.
