That’s thirty days of isolation from a person I’ve never gone without, and also, a person I don’t want to go without. I’m mostly depressed about it, but I keep myself busy with work and the new art classes I’m taking. Be magical, June said. So, I’m trying. I just want to earn my wand. Martin and Marshall from work talk me into going to the Broward County Fair. To even out the girl/boy score I ask June to come. Martin is stout and red-haired. He fancies himself a wine connoisseur and likes to make the rest of us feel inferior. I swear to God, even his voice changes when he’s lecturing us on the delicate skins of pinot grapes. I sink lower into my seat because I don’t know which grapes those are. The red ones? Martin’s favorite movie is Sideways with Paul Giamatti. I see the similarities. Marshall, on the other hand, is Puerto Rican and bitterly confused as to why his parents would name him Marshall when his brothers are named Roberto, Diego and Juan Carlos. He suffers from a self-professed identity crisis.
