Excerpt: Electric Slide

Damn, we forgot about the geese. Z’s reprimanded herself and absent Nate as she waded through the stupid aggressive birds. She shuffled and swiveled to avoid their beaks biting into her backside. Maybe that is why Nate wasn’t here waiting for her. Maybe he remembered and decided to skip out on their picnic. Maybe she should flee while she could. No chance of that. Z was a stick to the plan, do or die kind of girl. Z held the basket over her head. From past experience she knew that food only incited the fowl creatures to further violence. She didn’t understand that, for she was always mellow and happy after eating. Only hunger caused her to draw blood and even then usually only with the sharp tip of her tongue. Unfortunately she rarely had the chance to be hungry.
Z shook her head, removing her attention from her mind and inner dialogue and focused on closing and shifting the basket to rest on her hip. How the hell did she allow Nate to talk her into this? Oh, yeah, that’s right. She lost their bet. He couldn’t have asked for something easy for her wager, oh no, he was out for vengeance. It was the only thing that made sense. Z grasped the ladder and gingerly climbed to the roof of the train engine. She found a flat spot to sit the picnic basket and then had to find another level area to sit her butt. She was actually glad Nate hadn’t arrived yet. She didn’t want him watching as she almost rolled herself from the ladder onto the roof. She wasn’t graceful so she was grateful that she was alone and didn’t have a clear picture of how she looked settling herself on top of the train. She didn’t need another memory of her big ass waddling to fit into place or to find a space to hunt her.
All the recollections of the last four years were enough! She graduated with honors and Nate by the skin of his teeth. Thus winning his end of the bet and since she hadn’t gotten through the ceremony without snacking she lost hers. So here she was on top of the old train engine in Primeval Monroe Station Park, wondering where the hell her supposed boyfriend was hanging. Nate better not stand her up again! He had a horrible tendency to forget their dates. The worse time was last week. He forgot to pick her up for the prom. Z blushed bright red at the memory. She couldn’t see her face, but she felt the warmth. Z decided to skip the dance then to walk in alone. She hadn’t seen any of her classmates since the end of first semester because she graduated early. She had to wait to walk with the rest of the class of 2007, but it was worth it to start her internship early.
Working for Webber, Webber, and Frost while still attending Monroe High school had been out of the question, the commute alone made it impossible. Z was moving this summer and she couldn’t wait. Her budget needed a break from spending $100 a week at the pumps. Her wallet had stretch thin. Her scholarship money covered only her college tuition and related expenses and she wouldn’t get her first real paycheck until after the summer. Luckily her savings from two years of working at Pick and Save covered all her costs so far. Also Dad still paid her living expenses. That would change tomorrow.
Smartly she had already paid her deposit, rent and all her utilities for the entire month of June. She didn’t want to stay in the dorms. She wanted the luxury of choosing her own room mate. She would need one, but she had a month to find the right person. The right girl, her father insisted. Z really didn’t care one way or the other, but to keep the peace she was willing to let him believe whatever he wanted.
Z looked around the lonesome park and again wondered what had happened to Nate. She also realized that her picnic basket was empty. Her mouth was always running away from her. Now if that tendency was limited to conversation, it might not be so bad, but oh no, open mouth insert twinkie, mal a mar, whatever. Worse, like right now, most of the time she didn’t even realize until her aching stomach and empty containers bring her back to the fattening reality. She was a daydream eater. Her mind wandered while her hands stuffed her mouth full. She wasn’t a sleep eater, so that was something to be grateful for, but it was hard to be constantly vigilant. If she didn’t have food on hand when her attention diverted it could get ugly. Her hands and mouth, without her mind’s judgment, did not honor any sort of laws or limits.
In the fourth grade she was standing in line with her class to go to lunch. She was entertaining herself, recalling Shel Silverstine verses alphabetically. She was lost in her own world, letting her mind go. The next thing she knew she was being hauled to the principal’s office by her outraged teacher. Apparently Z had stepped out of line and started eating off another student’s tray. To this day she couldn’t remember doing the deed, but she blushed at the memory of her humiliating and public removal from the cafeteria. The whole incident became horrifyingly worse when the principal asked Z why she would do such a thing. She innocently told him that she must have been hungry. The principal leaped to the erroneous conclusion that Z’s single very young father wasn’t feeding his daughter. Things got pretty hairy for a while, but Z learned a valuable lesson.
Never go anywhere without a snack and if she didn’t want to eat she couldn’t let her awareness lapse from the immediate happenings around her, especially at school. Not a fantastic way to live, but on the plus side Z got a reputation for always paying strict attention and her GPA was the highest in her class. Not that those good grades helped her social life. Z was so mad at Nate. He knew better than to leave her all alone with a picnic basket full of food. Z sighed and picked up her litter. She slammed the basket closed and slid it closer to the ladder.