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Back Black Ambrosia Save as PDF
Chapters (46)
  1. CoverImage
  2. Introduction by Grady Hendrix
  3. Acknowledgments
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. 35
  39. 36
  40. 37
  41. 38
  42. 39
  43. 40
  44. 41
  45. About the Author
  46. About the Cover

After hours, days, minutes, eternities, we ended up back at the VFW hall. It was dark and empty. I thought of the weeded lot in the back, and so did Boyd. But it was dark and empty, too. And so was the shell of the lad that lay therein.

Boyd slowed to a stop in the middle of the deserted street, and looked at the building through his window. Then he rolled his window down a little way, and a frigid lick of air blew in, shattering the mood. He seemed to gather himself up with a shudder, and spoke for the first time that night.

“Out of gas,” he said.

I looked at the gas gauge. The red needle rested on the empty mark.

He turned to me and looked right into me, then drew back and smiled.

“Where do you live?”

I told him.

“I never believed in soul mates or reincarnation or any of that hype, never did, thought it was all baloney, until that night. And then when Angelina and I started to talk, I recognized her. I don’t mean her face, or her body, or anything, but her soul. I recognized her soul. Now I don’t know how that could be, but it’s true. We knew each other so well, inside and out, that we drove around—you know, after the dance?—we drove around in the truck all night long. Westwater had never looked shabbier to me. I guess I knew then that I’d be leaving, and that kind of added to the excitement.

“It was an exciting evening, all right, at least for me. We drove around until the gas stations were all closed and I had barely enough gas to get home. And we never said a word to each other. It was like the night was just so magic; it was like we were sealed in a cell together, just staring out at the world together, watch­ing this incredibly bizarre movie of the world around us, a little microcosm of society, and we were separate from it all. We were together: No, together is not exactly the right word, we were more like one with each other in a purely gut-­level sense. Soul mates, I guess, is the only way to describe it.

“When I dropped her off, I told her I’d pick her up the next night at eight, and then I drove home.