We left the car by the side of the road about a half mile from the beach where Valentine and I first made love. It was her car, so there was nothing inside worth stealing. Valentine had made such a fuss about leaving her stupid cassette tapes, but I assured her that we hadn’t parked the car in 1989, and any self-respecting burglar would have lost interest in tapes years ago. She wasn’t amused. There was no one at the beach that day, besides us, but that’s Valentine for you. In the summer, this place usually resembled something of a LA riot, but we were miles away from summer. The soft scraping sound of shoes on gravel echoed behind me as she hurried to catch up.
Stark grey skies from that morning had decided to linger well into mid afternoon, accompanying us as we set a brisk pace along the isolated trail. There was a fine mist drifting in from the ocean, cascading on our heads in gentle sheets. It was warmer the first time we came this way, but to be fair, the first time wasn’t in February. An east wind caught her tangled blue hair as she turned to me.
“You could’ve waited.” She scowled, catching her breath noisily. She formed a small bubble with her gum that I reached over and popped, earning another dirty look. It was my bubble gum, anyway. She doesn’t even like cherry. I shrugged and put my hood up in an attempt to keep the drizzle out of my hair.
Another thing that bothers me about Val, her hair’s always such a mess. I used to love her little-sisterly endearing qualities, like the way she intentionally mispronounces words to see if I’m listening. I have a pet-peeve for lousy grammar that she’s fond of taking full advantage of. I used to love all of Val’s quirks that currently get on my nerves. Used to.
She’s the most well-groomed individual you’re ever likely to meet except for her goddamn hair. “We’d still be at the car if I had.” I shot back, icily.
“That’s not fair. I was looking for something.” She said, producing a small flask of vodka from the breast pocket of her jumper. “Ta-da!” She flung her arms to either side in an elaborate gesture of showmanship, like a magician after finishing a particularly difficult trick. She looked at me, smirking, as if expecting a round of applause.
“I don’t think that’s such a great idea, Valentine. You know how you are when you drink.” I offered, trying to sound rational.
“What do you mean by that?” She spoke in an antagonizing tone, her former cheeriness all but melted away. “Come on. It makes me feel good, and when I feel good people are more inclined to like me.”
“And that’s just such a Valentine thing, isn’t it? Everyone needs to like you, don’t they?”
“No, but it would make for a fucking splendid occasion if *someone* did.”
“Never mind. Let’s drop it, yeah?”
“Excuse me? I thought you had something to say, baby?” Her voice was sweet and dangerous like poisoned honey.
“Look, forget I said anything, alright? Knock yourself out.” She smiled innocently, taking a large gulp from the flask. “Should I call the folks at AA and tell them to reserve a seat for you?”
“Aw, you made a joke.” She said, in her deadpan that drove me apeshit. “It doesn’t suit you, Parker, telling jokes. Stick to being cynical and boring.” We get along famously, me and Val.
And this is what passed for a conversation with someone you love.
The picnic basket in my arms had grown heavy by then, but I knew she wasn’t about to suggest carrying it awhile. I would have politely refused the notion if she had, but it’s still the thought that counts these days, right? That’s what they say.
Having a picnic in February had been her idea, oozing with sentiment yet unreasonably impractical as most of her judgements were. But then, Val’s not what I’d call a practical person. She’s a hurricane with a pretty face and an attitude. I watched her tread listlessly beside me along the secluded path. She wore her habitual violet jumper, casually flicking a Bic lighter in a petite, girlish hand with delicately painted black fingernails. I witnessed her folding her arms under her small breasts as she tried to spit her gum at me, missing pathetically, and wondered how she always managed to drag me along to these places. The beach. The park. The fair. There was always somewhere new to go when you were with Valentine.
“Having fun, Val?” I asked, as the wind started to pick up.
“Wanna eat me, Parker?” she retorted dryly, wrapping her arms around herself.
We walked the rest of the way to the beach in near-silence. The only sound that greeted us was the rustle of the wind through the winter-stripped trees, the soft crunch of dead leaves under our feet, and the constant, rhythmic wash of waves hitting the shore. “It’s our song, Parker.” Valentine whispered with mock sincerity, as we arrived on the wet, grey sand. It took me a moment to realize what she’d meant. Silence. And rain. “They’re playing our song.”
“We don’t have a song.” I said, apologetically.
“That’s because you’ve never danced with me.”
She did a few unbalanced cartwheels in the sand before falling abruptly. “Shit.” She swore, laughing with a half grimace. “Fucking rocks.”
“I can’t imagine why not.” I rolled my eyes. “We’d make such a graceful duet.” Okay. That probably wasn’t the nicest thing I could have said just then. She gave me a look that would melt iron in December.
“Little girl,” she spoke angrily at herself, tenderly rubbing an area of her ass that would soon develop a bruise. “You’re such a klutz.”
“Honey. Can I help?” I offered her my hand, feeling guilty. She took it, only to let go moments later and watch me stumble backwards while she bounced happily to her feet.
“Yeah, my ass has a boo-boo. Kiss it and make me all better.” She giggled relentlessly. I brushed the wet sand off my jeans and sighed. Typical. Val hated to let anyone think she ever needed their help. She made her way over to where I’d set the picnic basket down, and reached inside for an item wrapped in a cloth bandana that smelled like green apple shampoo.
“What’re you doing?” I asked as she pulled out a pack of Marlboros.
“Fucking yoga, what’s it look like?” she spat, placing a cigarette between her sulky red lips and trying to light it against the breeze. A disparaging pout darkened her face momentarily, until the flame jumped to life and her despondency vanished. Thin wisps of smoke curled upward, framing her face before being lost to the wind.
“You said you were going to quit.”
“Oh please, don’t tell mommy and daddy on me, Parker. Just this once? I’ll do anything you want, but I forbid you to throw a fit.” She taunted, fluttering her eyelids at me and making a rude gesture out of scratching her nose with her middle finger.
Don’t tell mommy and daddy. Val and I sometimes liked to play brother and sister. It had been a fun way of getting her aroused, typically resulting in a night of steamy sex, but this time she wasn’t being flirtatious. “I’m not a child, for Christ’s sake,” she chided, “relax.” She gazed idly at the overcast sky and exhaled a shaky stream of smoke into the crisp winter air, cupping her right breast with an idle hand. She had never developed enough in that area to believably look her 20 years. It was one of the things that had first attracted me to her.