yells to me from across the parking lot.
“Hey,” I yell back as I start to open my car door. But I’m not fast enough, and she and Sheldon catch up to me.
“We’re going to go and have a little walk by the old zoo,” Tiny says, a bit breathless. I think it’s sometimes an effort for her to run. “Want to come?”
I want to say, no, I don’t. I have plans for this afternoon. I have things to do. Like shop. It’s the day after Christmas, and I have three gift certificates to spend. I can’t be hanging out with you guys. I don’t even really
like
you guys.
But it’s already three p.m., and I bet that everything good is already gone, and I don’t really want to go shopping by myself. So really I have nothing to do at all.
“Okay,” I say.
“Terrific,” Tiny says. “It’s not far. Just follow us.”
I get into my car and follow them deeper into Griffith Park. I want to go faster, but Sheldon insists on going the speed limit, twenty-five miles an hour. Finally we park. I get out of my car and look around. I see nothing but trees and picnic tables.
“Great,” I say. “What a waste of time.”
Sheldon rolls his eyes and mumbles something.
“I can’t hear you,” I say.
“He said,
follow me,
” Tiny says. They start walking past the trees, past some picnic tables, and up some stairs. Soon, I see a row of impossibly small cages. There’s a sign above them.
It’s the Old Zoo.
Tiny sits on the grass under the shade of a large tree and opens her bag, pulling out three bottles of water, and hands one to Sheldon and one to me. She stares at the cages. Her face has a far-off look on it.
The cages are open. There are picnic tables inside them. I move toward the first one. I step inside. Immediately, it’s claustrophobic. There is no room, and the fake rock face has no purpose. It’s desolate, like an animal ghost town.
“How could this be a zoo?” I say. “How could they think that animals would be okay in these cages? What about the animal enrichment? And how did they roam?”
“They didn’t,” Sheldon says. He must be projecting because I can hear him fine.
“This place is depressing,” I say. “I bet a lot of animals died of sadness here.”
Tiny and Sheldon watch me as I pace inside, twenty steps one way and twenty steps the other.
“Or boredom,” I add. “I bet they were totally bored.”
Perla is showing me all of the clothes she got for Christmas.
She is wearing that shirt that she wanted me to get. The brands run together like, maybe, an old cheeky Andy Warhol painting. Only I think the joke is on Perla, because when I stare at the shirt long enough I notice that the negative space between the logos spells out the words “BRAND WHORE.” As she continues to pull clothes out of her color-coordinated closet, I decide to keep this discovery to myself.
But the more I look at all those brands, the more I want to cut them up.
“So, we don’t even have a New Year’s Eve plan,” Perla says. “We always have a New Year’s Eve plan by now.”
“Don’t worry — I’ve got it covered. I’m going to throw a party,” I say.
“Oooh, perfect! Do you think your parents will let you?”
“Leave that to me,” I say. “But here’s the theme: Fashion Deconstruction.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m not sure yet. But that’s what it’s called.”
“I love it!” Perla says. “I’ll post it on my blog.”
“Yeah, invite all real-life people. Let’s make it huge.”
“Everyone will come, Libby. Your parties are off the hook.”
She bounces on the bed and hugs me.
I run into Sheldon in the parking lot, and he waits for me to park my car, so I have to walk up to the zoo with him.
Lately, the wind must be blowing the words from his mouth in my direction, because I can actually hear them. Too bad I can’t understand most of them.
“I don’t know what that means,” I say after he throws out a fantastically-ginormous word.
He looks at me blank-faced.
“I
“Hey,” I yell back as I start to open my car door. But I’m not fast enough, and she and Sheldon catch up to me.
“We’re going to go and have a little walk by the old zoo,” Tiny says, a bit breathless. I think it’s sometimes an effort for her to run. “Want to come?”
I want to say, no, I don’t. I have plans for this afternoon. I have things to do. Like shop. It’s the day after Christmas, and I have three gift certificates to spend. I can’t be hanging out with you guys. I don’t even really
like
you guys.
But it’s already three p.m., and I bet that everything good is already gone, and I don’t really want to go shopping by myself. So really I have nothing to do at all.
“Okay,” I say.
“Terrific,” Tiny says. “It’s not far. Just follow us.”
I get into my car and follow them deeper into Griffith Park. I want to go faster, but Sheldon insists on going the speed limit, twenty-five miles an hour. Finally we park. I get out of my car and look around. I see nothing but trees and picnic tables.
“Great,” I say. “What a waste of time.”
Sheldon rolls his eyes and mumbles something.
“I can’t hear you,” I say.
“He said,
follow me,
” Tiny says. They start walking past the trees, past some picnic tables, and up some stairs. Soon, I see a row of impossibly small cages. There’s a sign above them.
It’s the Old Zoo.
Tiny sits on the grass under the shade of a large tree and opens her bag, pulling out three bottles of water, and hands one to Sheldon and one to me. She stares at the cages. Her face has a far-off look on it.
The cages are open. There are picnic tables inside them. I move toward the first one. I step inside. Immediately, it’s claustrophobic. There is no room, and the fake rock face has no purpose. It’s desolate, like an animal ghost town.
“How could this be a zoo?” I say. “How could they think that animals would be okay in these cages? What about the animal enrichment? And how did they roam?”
“They didn’t,” Sheldon says. He must be projecting because I can hear him fine.
“This place is depressing,” I say. “I bet a lot of animals died of sadness here.”
Tiny and Sheldon watch me as I pace inside, twenty steps one way and twenty steps the other.
“Or boredom,” I add. “I bet they were totally bored.”
Perla is showing me all of the clothes she got for Christmas.
She is wearing that shirt that she wanted me to get. The brands run together like, maybe, an old cheeky Andy Warhol painting. Only I think the joke is on Perla, because when I stare at the shirt long enough I notice that the negative space between the logos spells out the words “BRAND WHORE.” As she continues to pull clothes out of her color-coordinated closet, I decide to keep this discovery to myself.
But the more I look at all those brands, the more I want to cut them up.
“So, we don’t even have a New Year’s Eve plan,” Perla says. “We always have a New Year’s Eve plan by now.”
“Don’t worry — I’ve got it covered. I’m going to throw a party,” I say.
“Oooh, perfect! Do you think your parents will let you?”
“Leave that to me,” I say. “But here’s the theme: Fashion Deconstruction.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m not sure yet. But that’s what it’s called.”
“I love it!” Perla says. “I’ll post it on my blog.”
“Yeah, invite all real-life people. Let’s make it huge.”
“Everyone will come, Libby. Your parties are off the hook.”
She bounces on the bed and hugs me.
I run into Sheldon in the parking lot, and he waits for me to park my car, so I have to walk up to the zoo with him.
Lately, the wind must be blowing the words from his mouth in my direction, because I can actually hear them. Too bad I can’t understand most of them.
“I don’t know what that means,” I say after he throws out a fantastically-ginormous word.
He looks at me blank-faced.
“I
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