Page 71 of Talk to Me

“Is it lonelier being on Peepers alone?” I asked. “Or was it lonelier with Ben?”

Theo chuckled bitterly.

“It was definitely lonelier then,” he said. “People treated me like the most important part of me was that Ben and I were together. At least now I’m not defined by another person.”

I smiled.

“You know what might make you feel better?” I asked softly.

He replied, his voice thick, “What?”

“Pecan pie,” I said, smiling widely as I stared at the sky. “Pumpkin, too. Or chocolate if you’re picky about your pies.”

Theo laughed. “I think I can fit a slice or two in now.”

Turning together, I laced my arm through his and dragged him towards the house.

In order to counteract the effects of all of the food Mom had stuffed down our gullets in the last few days, Theo and I were gnawing on apple slices in the car. We’d each stuffed down a banana and some pineapple in the first half of our trip back to campus, but more fruit was never a bad thing. Even though we’d been sent off Sunday morning after a breakfast of pancakes, bacon, and eggs, and our bellies full, the fruit was necessary. As I delicately explained to Theo, if he wanted his digestive system to continue working when we got back to campus, fruit and water were important.

So, we stopped at a grocery store a few minutes from my parents’ house and got precut fruit to share in the car. Then we stopped by a Starbucks and got a couple of strong dark roasts to help things along. Even though I knew the fruit and coffee were necessary to keep our digestion going, I desperately hoped it wouldn’t do its job until we were back in the dorms. Having to make an emergency stop at a rest stop or gas station was not ideal.

Even after all of our talking about social media over the last few days, Theo amused me by taking pictures of our fruit haul. He’d posted a picture of the fruit on Instagram with the caption, “Getting back on healthy food after four days of overeating!” Then he’d put his holiday red Starbucks cup on the dashboard while I drove and took a video to share on Peepers. With the Christmas music playing in the background and the dreary weather outside, it was definitely seasonal.

“Do you think people will get mad?” Theo asked after reaching over to turn down the volume on the music.

“About what?” I asked, frowning.

“The Starbucks cup,” he said. “I think we’re supposed to be boycotting them.”

“Who’s we?” I laughed.

He shrugged. “I think people are mad at them or something. I can’t remember why.”

“Is it bad? Whatever Starbucks did?”

He shrugged.

“Look,” I said, tapping my phone to completely pause the music, “I’m not trying to make light of whatever it might be, okay? Especially since I don’t know what it is.”

“Right?” Theo urged me on.

“But if you don’t even know what the boycott is about, why are you fretting?” I asked. “Besides, boycotting entire companies rarely has any effect other than harming the workers. When companies lose money, they don’t stop the stupid shit they’re doing.”

“True,” Theo said.

“They do massive layoffs, cut costs by making products with cheaper parts, slash benefits for employees, reduce staffing, shorten hours—whatever they can do to make up for the loss without actually changing their problematic behavior. The employees and consumer pay the cost until everyone forgets about the boycott and everyone starts frequenting the company again. And the company doesn’t restore benefits, pay, or employees that they phased out during the boycott because they found out they can make money with less overhead, and people will keep coming, so why bother? It’s stupid.”

Theo stared at me, horrified. “So, you’re saying—”

“I’m saying pressure needs to be put strongly and consistently on government representatives who can make regulations and laws that prevent that shit. The populace needs to insist that lobbyists, big money, company donations, and the like have no place in government. All that influence needs to be made illegal. Don’t waste any spare energy trying to shame the shameless. Put all the resources and energy into actual change. Companies are solely motivated by profit—you can’t shame them. And people have incredibly short memories. Everyone will be back at Starbucks at some point, so it’s really just a distraction to the bigger picture.”

“I feel that you’ve thought about this a lot,” Theo laughed.

“Nah,” I said. “It’s just common sense. I’m not making fun of those movements, but, like, people get pissed and make plans based off of their emotional reactions. Which you can’t blame them for it—but it’s ineffective and distracting. And that’s what companies and the government want. It makes it easier for them to keep being shady if we’re all scattering acting crazy. That’s all. So…drink the damn Starbucks. Call your representatives and raise hell. Keep raising hell. Run for office. Fuck if I know.”

“That makes some sense,” Theo said. “But can you shame politicians who are getting donations from companies?”

“Fuck if I know!” I threw my hands up, then quickly put them back on the steering wheel. “Everything’s fucked! That’s why I say to just drink the damn coffee!”