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“It seems mean to just leave them there.” He flushed a little, but he didn’t take back his statement even in the face of Talia’s disbelieving glare. “You don’t have to do it with me, I know it’s weird.” Dmitri rubbed the back of his neck, then shrugged and walked over to scoop it up. Before he could make contact though, Talia snagged his shirt again and hauled him back.
“Yeah, don’t touch that. That’s seriously disgusting and probably diseased. Let me get a bag first.” She didn’t let go until she seemed sure Dmitri wasn’t going to use his bare hands, then she popped into the side door, letting its slam echo across the parking lot.
Dmitri fought back his blush. He was fairly sure whatever germs the bird had on it wasn’t going to kill him, but he also wasn’t going to fight a woman who looked like she spent regular time in mosh pits for fun.
He startled when the door opened back up, but he caught the set of plastic gloves Talia threw at him, and he was a little surprised to find her holding a small, empty butter box. Dmitri slid the gloves on, then crouched down and carefully lifted the remains, sliding them into the makeshift coffin. It felt absurd and half embarrassed that Talia was indulging him in this, but he didn’t try to defend himself, and Talia didn’t ask.
She just followed Dmitri across the parking lot, stepping over the curb and onto the soft, mossy ground that led toward the thicker woods.
Dmitri picked a spot near a cluster of boulders, green with lichen across the top. He sank to his knees and used his fingers to dig down and under the rocks until he’d hollowed out a little cavern. Talia passed over the box, and Dmitri nestled it into the ground, then he packed the dirt in and hoped that it was enough to keep the animals from dragging it out.
“Do you want to, uh…say something?” Talia asked.
Dmitri allowed himself to laugh quietly. “I’m notfive.”
“You just buried a half-eaten, dead bird,” Talia argued.
Shrugging, Dmitri rose and peeled off the gloves, which were barely intact from all the digging, and he squeezed them in his fist. “I know it’s stupid. It just…” He struggled to find the words, because what he’d done really didn’t make sense from a man of twenty-one, but the idea of leaving it to rot on the street or just throwing it into the trash felt awful.
Talia let out a sigh, then beckoned Dmitri along, surprising him when she led him to the door ofL’Chaimand opened it. “Um,” he said, hesitating at the step.
Talia rolled her eyes. “You just buried a dead bird. You’re going to wash your hands, then we’re going next door to the bookshop for some coffee.”
“You don’t need to,” Dmitri started, but Talia apparently had had enough of his stalling, because she gave Dmitri’s arm a tug and let the door shut behind them. The kitchen smelled just like the Tavern—a mix of old food, cleanser, and raw flour. It was dark, and there were no sounds of prep yet, which allowed Dmitri to relax as Talia steered him to the employee bathroom.
It smelled a bit too much like piss, but there was a little bottle of Febreze, and it looked like Adam used the good soap. Dmitri scrubbed up to the elbows, then wiped his hands on a paper towel before venturing out, and he found Talia waiting for him with her back propped against the wall.
“You really don’t need to get me coffee,” Dmitri said, then he froze because Talia hadn’t actually said she was buying.
She didn’t seem to notice though. She just silently led the way back outside, across the parking lot, then around the front to the public doors. The new buildings still had that fresh stucco and paint scent, and the wood beneath them was too new. Dmitri hated and loved it, the way the doors creaked, the way the bookshop was nothing like the one he’d loved as a kid.
It was wide and expansive, and it lacked that creepy feeling of too full, too close shelves that a person could get lost in. When he was little and could barely see above the second shelf, he felt like he was lost in a storybook. This place was modern. Everything had its place, and the coffee shop took up most of the real estate.
He took a moment to feel a pang of loss for the few things that offered him an escape when he was younger, then he followed Talia to the counter and ordered a small black coffee.
“Do you like that, or are you just trying to be cheap?” Talia asked as she handed over cash.
Dmitri shrugged and took a sip, the temperature just shy of scalding. “Both? I’m not really into the sweet stuff.”
Talia eyed him over the rim of her own drink, which was probably more cream and sugar than actual coffee, but Dmitri wasn’t one to judge. He felt a little awkward, but Talia led him back outside and grabbed a table near the railing. The waterfront views really had been a good idea, and though Dmitri hated what he’d lost, he liked that so much had been preserved.
“Did Adam buy the land for his place?” Dmitri asked, looking at his hands that were curled around his cup.
Talia made a soft humming noise. “He and I both bought the property forL’Chaim.”
Dmitri bit his lip, his gaze drifting out along the water. Savannah always felt so small and so big at the same time, and he had always marveled at his ability to get lost there in spite of everyone always being in each other’s pockets.
“Is that your subtle way of telling me it sucks out here?” Talia asked after Dmitri’s silence.
He almost choked on his coffee, and he swiped his hand over his mouth. “No! God, I’m not. No. I like it.”
“You looked like you were having a full-on existential crisis earlier,” Talia pointed out. “On my dock.”
Dmitri’s cheeks flushed hot. “I thought it was a public dock.”
Talia hummed, dragging her fingers around the plastic top of her cup. “Fair. And I guess it’s a good place to have one.”
“I had most of my youth crises out here,” Dmitri admitted, and Talia snorted a laugh.
