What If I Lived Here? DO YOU EVER PLAY THAT GAME “WHAT IF I LIVED HERE?” You’re just driving through some bright city or rain-washed town. What if I lived here? What if I lived in that pink trailer off the interstate? Or in that little brick house near the university? What if I lived in that giant glass spaceship of a building that clings to the Pacific sea cliff? In that apartment with the picture window and the fire escape? In that ugly development at the state border? In that purple houseboat? Or here? I OPENED MY eyes and stared up at the cottage cheese ceiling. Where was I? It took me a long minute to put it together. Econo Lodge, Santa Fe. What if I lived in Santa Fe? I’d always played “What if I lived here?” but I’d always kept on driving. What would be the next step in the game? Geographical roulette. What if I gave myself 24 hours to build a life in this town where I knew almost no one? Then I’d call Maia and my mom and admit that we’d arrived. I left Sol and Maxito sleeping and headed down to the motel lobby for my promised “deluxe continental breakfast,”
