The Boneyard is a dead, dry place, and I hate being here. It’s not just the climate that’s barren and terrible either. It’s the whole energy of the place.
I’ve only been to the Boneyard a couple of times in my life. As teenagers, we came out here, daring each other to see how far we would go, to see if anyone was willing to try drugs. I never did. They never held the fascination for me that they seem to hold for others, and I’ve seen people out of their minds on drugs enough times to feel like the whole enterprise is a complete waste of my time and energy.
Today, though, I’m here on a mission that’s not a waste of my time at all. I have to make sure Lonnie knows I will not be a threat to him.
Lonnie, fortunately, is easy to find. And Deidre is right beside him. I was hoping not to see her, but since Lonnie wasn’t at his house this was my only choice. The whole group here at the Boneyard is oriented around them, as if the two of them were holding court or something. I don’t know how they command such focus because they’re not doing anything. They’re just lying around.
I walk right up to them. The others turn their attention to me as I pass by, but no one says anything, probably because they’re bombed out of their minds on whatever it is they’re on. This isn’t going to work unless Lonnie’s fairly sober, and fuck, I really hope he is because I don’t want to have to keep coming back here. I don’t want to have to even try to have this conversation more than once in my life.
He peers up at me. “Alicia? That you?”
“Well, if it isn’t the prodigal daughter. What the hell are you doing here?” Deidre slurs. I stare at her in shock. The twenty years I have been away have not been kind to her. Her skin is cracked and wrinkly, and it seems as if half her face is sunken. She looks so haggard from all her days spent at the Boneyard that I almost feel sorry for her. As usual, she’s a hell of a lot more confrontational than her son. She’s never made a secret of the fact that she hates and fears me. Lonnie, for all his flaws, has a lot more confidence than she does. I don’t think he thinks I can do anything to him—not today, at any rate.
I swallow hard. It’s so painful for me to be around them. I need this to go well. I am doing this for Brandon and Emmy.