Chasing Shadows Read Free Page B

square my shoulders and look at my bicep. "Yeah I just
came from Balley's, you know, total fitness."
    Shelving Fairy laughs. "He's just being
nice."
    I gasp dramatically. "You like him! Ha! Another
love connection blossoms at the Flagship."
    Shelving Fairy rolls her eyes. "What about you?
Who are you seeing?"
    "Nobody. So you're seeing him?"
    "No, but I might. He's a nice guy."
    "Eyebrows." I whisper.
    "I like 'em bushy." Shelving Fairy replies. We
both laugh. I wonder if this would be a good time to ask Shelving
Fairy her name.
    "Do you live around here?" Shelving Fairy asks
me.
    "Nope. North side."
    "Huh. So you came down here for what, Drugs?
Prostitution? Cause I hear you can get better of either up
there."
    I laugh a little, just as much as the comment
merits. "I just troll around at night and my neighborhood's not
that bad."
    "So, drugs then."
    "Look, there it is." I point to the little
yellow sign that says 'Golden Waffle'. "Two more
blocks."
    "Good I'm starving, and quit ducking questions
unless you're a secret agent, in which case I promise I'll never
tell."
    I am taken aback. If she only knew how unlikely
it is that I'd actually have foresight to dodge anything. "It's not
like I know much about you either." I say.
    Shelving Fairy glares at me, and I feel guilty
for some reason. "You know everything. I'm from New York. I moved
here for school. I live in the dorms. I have two sisters. I'm
twenty. Hell no one at work even knows your age. What's with
that?"
    "I don't know." Ah fuck, now she thinks I don't
remember our conversations, just like Ashley. Am I really this bad
of a person?
    "Look I'm not that hungry anyway so if you
don't want to talk that's cool. I can go."
    Panic, anger. "Jesus, I know you're running
from the mob or some shit but don't take it out on me, and anyway I
meant it, like, I really don't know . I don't know how old I
am other than mid-twenties. I don't know where I come from or where
I was born, or raised, or by who, or anything."
    "Fuck you Meegan. You are so weird."
    I sigh. Why am I about to confess this to
Shelving Fairy? Because she remembers my name, that's why. "Really.
Three years ago, give or take, I washed up on the beach near
downtown in the middle of February. Some lady called it in. Thought
I was a corpse. I can't remember shit. Don't tell
anyone."
    "Bullshit."
    "Whatever, Google it. Coming to
breakfast?"
    "Huh. I don't necessarily believe you, but it's
an interesting lie. So, yes, I will allow you to consume food at
the same table as me."
    ***
    Shelving Fairy is quiet, unnervingly so, as we
look over the menus. I remove my hoodie and from it take my Camels
and lighter, placing them on the table between us. Shelving Fairy
doesn't even look up at me before reaching out and grabbing another
one of my cigarettes.
    "Like ridding a bike isn't it?" I
say.
    "Hmm. What are you getting? And if your so
amnesiated how do you know you name's Meegan and what about ID
cards, social security numbers, bank accounts, all that
stuff?"
    I light up a smoke as well. Less than half a
pack left. I wonder if I have any more at home of if I need to go
out and buy another carton. I guess my silence stretched out for
too long because Shelving Fairy smacks the menu on the table to get
my attention.
    "Hello? It's called a conversation, weirdo. You
have to participate."
    I sniff and flash a sideways smile. "What were
you running from?"
    "I told you, I'm not talking about
it."
    "Bullshit. You're dying to tell me. I can feel
it. Besides you know I'm good with secrets. You can say anything
and I'll never tell a soul."
    Shelving Fairy takes a delicate drag on her
cigarette. "There's no proof that everyone has a soul, so you're
promise means nothing."
    I laugh before I realize that Shelving Fairy
wasn't joking. "Well shit." I say.
    Shelving Fairy turns in her seat looking out
the window several booths away. "You first anyway."
    "I'm going for the ham and cheese omelet with a
side of sweet potato fries, since you