Olivia leaning over the seat. “You going to get in or what?” I got in and put on my seat belt. “Do you know where it is?”
“Yeah, but I’ve never been in it. Is it cool?”
“I think so,” I answered.
About halfway to the bookstore, there was a dead deer on the side of the road. Olivia sighed. I turned to her and saw her press two fingers to her lips and hold them toward the window, as if offering a kiss to the animal.
It was one of the strangest things I’d ever seen. “Why did you do that?”
Returning her focus to the road, she said, “To let it know that someone remembers its life.”
“But it’s dead.” I hadn’t meant for it to come out rudely. “I mean, it can’t hear you or see the gesture.”
“How do you know?” she asked.
If it had been Casey or Aaron asking that, I would’ve said, “Duh,” but because it was Olivia—beautiful Olivia—I said, “Because it’s dead.”
“But the spirit of that animal goes on and the energy I just sent out into the universe wil find its way to it.” Oh, God. She was one of those new-aged hippies. I knew she was vegan, but I thought maybe it was just because it was trendy. Now that she was talking about energies and spirits, it al came into focus for me. I understood that the world took al kinds and different strokes for different folks and al that, but I didn’t understand her statement.
“What energy?”
As we slowed at a red light, she turned to face me. “Energy, thought, prayer, vibes, whatever you want to cal it. You think it’s bul shit, don’t you?” I wasn’t going to offend her by saying that I thought what she obviously believed in was crap. “I don’t know.”
“Haven’t you studied quantum physics?”
No, I didn’t study quantum physics. “I’ve heard of it, yes, but we haven’t gotten that far in class.”
“But you know some of Einstein’s theories.”
Sure, I knew the nuts and bolts of them, but I didn’t understand what she obviously wanted me to. “Yeah, but what do they have to do with a dead deer?”
Olivia sighed, but didn’t explain. After a few seconds of silence, she asked, “You don’t think a life should be memorialized in some way once it’s gone?”
“Sure, I do, but it’s a deer , Livie. Not a person.”
The light turned green and she looked back to the road as she took off slowly. “So we can respect the life of a human, but not an animal?”
“That’s not what I said,” I didn’t real y want to get into a conversation like this with her, but at the same time, it would yield valuable information. “Is that why you don’t eat meat? Because you respect the life of the animals?”
“Yeah.” She said it in a way that let me know she was annoyed. I couldn’t help how I felt. “And don’t say stuff about how domesticated animals are meant to be food because I’l flip out.”
I certainly didn’t want that. Maybe I should’ve just left this conversation alone and asked about something else.
“I don’t eat meat because it’s bad for you, bad for the environment, and it exploits the lives of those who can’t speak for themselves. People think animals don’t feel, but they do . They shouldn’t have to die because—”
“Everyone dies, even animals. How is eating meat—something humans have been doing since the dawn of time—bad for you?”
“Do you want me to e-mail you the links to the medical studies that prove it? As far as the ‘dawn of time’ crap, should I break it al down for you on an evolutionary scale? Look at your teeth and your intestines and tel me they’re made for meat eating. Eating animal flesh leads to heart disease, stroke, cancer, and—”
“Everyone dies,” I said again.
She let out an exasperated sound, but then took a deep breath. As we pul ed into the parking lot of M.T. Shelves, she turned to me, eyes boring into mine. “Yeah, everyone dies.” Her voice was serious and it made my stomach flutter. “But it’s how you live
“Yeah, but I’ve never been in it. Is it cool?”
“I think so,” I answered.
About halfway to the bookstore, there was a dead deer on the side of the road. Olivia sighed. I turned to her and saw her press two fingers to her lips and hold them toward the window, as if offering a kiss to the animal.
It was one of the strangest things I’d ever seen. “Why did you do that?”
Returning her focus to the road, she said, “To let it know that someone remembers its life.”
“But it’s dead.” I hadn’t meant for it to come out rudely. “I mean, it can’t hear you or see the gesture.”
“How do you know?” she asked.
If it had been Casey or Aaron asking that, I would’ve said, “Duh,” but because it was Olivia—beautiful Olivia—I said, “Because it’s dead.”
“But the spirit of that animal goes on and the energy I just sent out into the universe wil find its way to it.” Oh, God. She was one of those new-aged hippies. I knew she was vegan, but I thought maybe it was just because it was trendy. Now that she was talking about energies and spirits, it al came into focus for me. I understood that the world took al kinds and different strokes for different folks and al that, but I didn’t understand her statement.
“What energy?”
As we slowed at a red light, she turned to face me. “Energy, thought, prayer, vibes, whatever you want to cal it. You think it’s bul shit, don’t you?” I wasn’t going to offend her by saying that I thought what she obviously believed in was crap. “I don’t know.”
“Haven’t you studied quantum physics?”
No, I didn’t study quantum physics. “I’ve heard of it, yes, but we haven’t gotten that far in class.”
“But you know some of Einstein’s theories.”
Sure, I knew the nuts and bolts of them, but I didn’t understand what she obviously wanted me to. “Yeah, but what do they have to do with a dead deer?”
Olivia sighed, but didn’t explain. After a few seconds of silence, she asked, “You don’t think a life should be memorialized in some way once it’s gone?”
“Sure, I do, but it’s a deer , Livie. Not a person.”
The light turned green and she looked back to the road as she took off slowly. “So we can respect the life of a human, but not an animal?”
“That’s not what I said,” I didn’t real y want to get into a conversation like this with her, but at the same time, it would yield valuable information. “Is that why you don’t eat meat? Because you respect the life of the animals?”
“Yeah.” She said it in a way that let me know she was annoyed. I couldn’t help how I felt. “And don’t say stuff about how domesticated animals are meant to be food because I’l flip out.”
I certainly didn’t want that. Maybe I should’ve just left this conversation alone and asked about something else.
“I don’t eat meat because it’s bad for you, bad for the environment, and it exploits the lives of those who can’t speak for themselves. People think animals don’t feel, but they do . They shouldn’t have to die because—”
“Everyone dies, even animals. How is eating meat—something humans have been doing since the dawn of time—bad for you?”
“Do you want me to e-mail you the links to the medical studies that prove it? As far as the ‘dawn of time’ crap, should I break it al down for you on an evolutionary scale? Look at your teeth and your intestines and tel me they’re made for meat eating. Eating animal flesh leads to heart disease, stroke, cancer, and—”
“Everyone dies,” I said again.
She let out an exasperated sound, but then took a deep breath. As we pul ed into the parking lot of M.T. Shelves, she turned to me, eyes boring into mine. “Yeah, everyone dies.” Her voice was serious and it made my stomach flutter. “But it’s how you live
Similar Books
