The Convenience of Lies Read Free

that?” I ask him.
    “Oh, that was Brent Andrews.”
    Brent is a guy who everybody calls 'Brent Andrews.' No one says just 'Brent;' he is 'Brent Andrews.' That is, only when we are talking about him, not when he is around. It is sort of like when people talk about celebrities. It is always 'Brittany Spears' or 'Elijah Wood;' nobody ever just says 'Brittany' or 'Elijah.' That's just how things are. Both Kira and I agree Brent Andrews is extremely hot. He is short for a boy, has cropped blonde hair, light blue eyes, a pointy nose, and a built body.
    Kira knows Brent Andrews a lot better than I do because he works at this place called Gameland that Kira's family owns. Gameland has a bunch of computers lined up in rows, and patrons can buy time to gain access to them. The lights are always dim inside the store, which is supposed to give the patrons more privacy. However, they are all always playing games like
Call of Duty
together online, so even with this sense of solitude, everyone is still connected. Once in a while, it's clear that there is some semblance of unity when one player gets pissed off at another one, and they start fighting in real life, rather than fight in imaginary life. The players usually leave their speakers on, meaning that whenever there is some kind of big explosion or shoot-up in the game, it reverberates throughout the store. Ramon likes to go to Gameland, and that's how Kira met him. I often hang out with Kira while she's working on Friday nights, and so I have briefly met Brent Andrews there maybe once or twice. Personally, I want to get to know him better because Kira has said some complimentary things about him.
    “Is Brent coming over now?” I ask Ramon.
    “Yeah. He'll be here.”
    I groan. There is a glitch here. Kira has a crush on Brent Andrews, and she wants to tell him before she leaves for Russia tomorrow. I'm not sure when she'll get that chance if Brent Andrews is hanging out at Ramon's place.
    Ramon misinterprets my groan. “What's wrong with Brent Andrews?”
    “Nothing. He's fine.” Ramon gives me this look like he thinks I'm not telling him the truth, and I ignore him.
    Pretty soon, we hear Brent Andrews' truck roar up to the curb and trail off as he kills the engine. Brent owns this big, black, raised truck, I guess because he's a little guy, and he's overcompensating.
    “Hey man, what's up?” Ramon says.
    They strike up a conversation about some people I don't know, and I tune the two of them out, until Brent Andrews starts talking about Kira.
    “God, I hate Kira! She is so fucking negative. Everything I do, she turns into a bad thing. It's like I'll say 'hi' to her, and she'll think that I am mocking her or something.”
    That's another thing about Brent Andrews, he talks shit about everybody; this is a common fact that even I know, even though this is the second time I've ever met him. Listening to him talk, I'm getting worried about what is going to happen to Kira once she finally gets to talk to Brent Andrews. This isn't going to be good. Kira has never been rejected before, and I can see it coming.
    So anyway, Brent Andrews and I start to talk, and I tell him about how sad I am that Kira is going away to Russia for two whole months. He seems pretty cool; I guess he just lets his mouth run. I also find out that Brent likes this girl, Alicia, which is some news I silently note to myself to pass along to Kira.
    “I got a ticket for off-roading a couple days ago!” Brent says like he has received a Christmas present early. The boys love to go off-roading, and I have always wanted to go also, but never have gotten the chance.
    “Oh really? Were you driving your truck?” I ask him. Maybe if Brent can take his truck off-roading, I could get him to take Kira and me sometime. I don't understand why the boys have never invited us to come along. I think it would be a romantically thrilling experience. A good opportunity for “chemistry” to happen.
    “Yeah. Oh, was that your