The presence of the man made all three of them nervous. Aria tried to pay attention to something else, sensing that if this man felt the pressure of her attention on him, she might show up on his radar enough to make him cross the street. He was trapped in an alternate reality, where everything and everyone was just a part of the world that only existed in his own mind. Aria did not want to show up in that reality. She knew that if she did, she would exist there as something other than herself. He would fit her into his story about her, and if that story about her was a bad one, he might become violent toward her.
After a few minutes, a police car rolled up to the curb and two officers stepped out. The man began rocking back and forth. Aria felt her chest begin to ache. It was obvious that the police were trying to help him, even while they were getting him to stop throwing rocks at the cars. But she knew that the man had already fit the two police officers into his reality, the poisoned game of unintentional pretend that was taking place in his own mind. It was a false reality, where everything and everyone was out to get him. They were powerless; there was no way to avoid directly playing into his disordered storyline.
Aria watched as one of the officers managed to convince him that he had come to take him to a safer place. The man rocked his willowy body over to the police car, shouting one more time at the cars on the road before getting into the back seat willingly.
When Aria saw the cop car make a U-turn, she jumped behind Wolf, suddenly afraid that they would see her and Taylor, who looked younger than he was, and try to bust them both for truancy. But instead the car drove right past them. She eyed it until she couldn’t see it any longer and instead began to worry about what might happen to the man.
Making sure the coast was clear, they got up and walked in the direction of the car lot. By the time they reached the lot, the moisture in the air, mixed with the brine of their sweat, had made their clothes adhere to their skin. Aria convinced Taylor and Wolf to walk to the stream in the woods, where Luke had taken her. Despite the overall chill of the day, being put off by the scent of herself, Aria had it in her mind for them to launder some of their clothes. She left Taylor and Wolf standing outside the fence, waiting so she could go see if Luke wanted to join them.
When she approached his tent, it was empty. Though the door was zipped closed, she could tell that he had left with Palin for the day. But when she turned back around, something strange caught her eye. It was a little collection of items lined up on the hood of the Land Cruiser.
Aria approached the broken-down car, which she now considered a home, with hesitation. She wasn’t sure if it was a practical joke or a cosmic blessing or even if she was seeing clearly. A packet of baby wipes, a water bottle, a pair of new socks in a plastic ziplock bag, three granola bars, fruit snacks, a new toothbrush and toothpaste, a burrito wrapped in silver foil and a Snickers bar. Aria stood in front of the hood, confused. She didn’t know if the items that were placed there were for her or for Taylor, or if, by some bizarre circumstance, someone else had left their personal stash there. She didn’t want to unintentionally find herself in a conflict, but she also didn’t want to lose an opportunity where one had presented itself, so she collected the items and stuffed them inside her backpack as fast as she could. She decided that if Taylor or anyone else came looking for them, she would pretend that she had taken the items for safekeeping. Until it was clear that no one would come looking for them, she would not allow herself to get excited or even to consider them hers.
She rejoined Taylor and Wolf. They spent the rest of the day at the river, which had grown irascible and swollen with the California winter.
Omkar had pored over various articles online about the things that homeless people need. He had searched the landscape of his conscience for an argument against taking items from the family shop and giving them to the girl he was in love with, but in the end, he couldn’t find one that was good enough. During his next shift, he collected the items in a little plastic bag and waited until he could find a perfect time to drive back to the car lot, hoping that she would still be there. Omkar had never intended to walk up to her and give her the items. He knew she would probably be embarrassed. He had always planned to put them somewhere for her to find.
Sneaking into the car lot made him nervous. To him, the people who occupied these kinds of places seemed like animals. He was afraid of them. But he pushed through the fear, willing to take the risk that one of them might attack if they saw him. He had watched the lot for long enough to see that the girl wasn’t there. He lined up the items on the car that he had seen her get into, and ran back the same way he had come.
Omkar knew there was a
