Free Freak City by Kathrin Schrocke Page B

was hurt. “The chicks seem to just fall at your feet. The next time one catches my eye, you can be sure I won’t tell you about it.”
    “Nothing’s actually going on, man,” I added in a hurry. “I just happened to meet her, in town. We just talked for a little while . . .”
    “Yeah, right. Listen, I have to go.” Claudio suddenly had nothing to say.
    “Come on, you’re not mad, are you?” This was going great. Claudio hated me, and I hadn’t even gotten around to telling him the most important detail. That Leah was deaf.
    “My mom’s planning a feast on Friday. Just bring your little girlfriend along. Mom will cook enough for seven anyway.”
    “She isn’t my little girlfriend!” I tried not to sound too annoyed.
    “Whatever. Think about me, man, when you’re making out with her. She was my bride. I hope you keep that in mind every second.” Claudio hung up without saying good-bye.
    I stared at the telephone. This was completely absurd. So far, I wasn’t even capable of exchanging a normal sentence with Leah. Making out with her was something far in the unattainable distance.
    Once again, I was struck by how complicated this story truly was. If Leah were a normal girl, I would probably have called and asked her out long before now. And I probably would have bought condoms today, just in case.
    But Leah was different. I hadn’t even thought about having sex with her so far.
    Why not, actually?
    “Trouble?” My father came out of the kitchen wearing an untied apron. He held a meat cleaver in one hand and pointed it toward me like he wanted to chop me into fillets.
    I shook my head. I could hardly tell my dad that I was about to steal a girl away from my best friend. And it would be even more idiotic to tell him I was pondering whether it was possible for someone to score in the sack with a girl that you couldn’t even talk about the weather with.
    I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it yet. Normally, at the first sight of a woman I only thought of one thing. Why wasn’t that true with Leah?
    It was probably Sandra. She was just taking up too much space in my brain.
    “Where’s Mom?” I quickly changed the subject.
    My dad looked disappointed. He had probably been excited about a man talk, father and son sitting on the patio together with a couple of sodas. “Out with Tanya.” Now Dad was just as short with me as Claudio.
    No matter what I did lately, it was all wrong.
    “What are those books you’re lugging around there?” My dad gestured toward the bulging bag.
    “For school,” I lied. I lied so badly that it was embarrassing even to me. Of course, my father saw through it immediately. Disappointed, he just stared at me. Then he went back in the kitchen.

    5-1-0-1- I snapped the cell phone closed again. I had already started to send this text message three times. Somehow, I just didn’t dare to do it.
    “Want to see a movie Friday night?” I started typing in Leah’s number one more time.
    My cell phone vibrated. I had a text from Sandra. Why now?
    “Still awake?”
    “Yup,” I replied. Not two minutes later my phone rang.
    “I can’t sleep,” she sighed into the receiver. It was one o’clock in the morning. My alarm was going to go off at seven.
    “I’m wide awake, too,” I said. Next to my pillow was the biography of a deaf actress, Emanuelle Laborit. Her pretty face was on the cover. She had gotten into a lot of trouble when she was young. Taken drugs, subway surfed, shoplifted. Later, she had become a successful actress. She had played the main role in a German movie about deaf people.
Beyond Silence
. The movie had won awards. I wanted to borrow a copy when I could find the time.
    “Are you still thinking about it?” Sandra whispered into the phone.
    “About what?” I set the book aside and crept under the covers. I didn’t want my parents to find out that I was having crisis sessions on the phone in the middle of the night.
    “Us, silly!” Sandra said.