That's the name of the magical street too, the one I always ride down to get In-N-Out. The street with the one streetlight. It's funny, I'd always just notice it when I'd ride by and it'd flash, pop once, right beside me.
Not tonight.
No, tonight I think is the first time I remembered with a shocking clarity that only comes from getting hit by a car full of girls on the ride down from Claire's, such a breath of fresh air.
"Wait, what?" said the girl.
Tonight I looked down the length of Garfield from my street and saw it standing there in the distance. It flashed twice, pop-pop and when I rode by it was dark, so strange, so I looked at the street sign at Lincoln.
GARFIELD AVE.
Tonight's the night for profound revelations then. Like depression, remember? Yes, the end of it is the difference between seeing a red light and a light that's almost green. See? You just have to put your mind to it, remember. To do anything really, but that's always the hardest part; to remember to put your mind to it, to tell it what to do. The doing's the easy part.
Like tonight she told me she didn't want it to be emotional, (which was some small realization in itself) so I told it not to be vindictive. Supportive, I told it to be what she needed it to be. It's over so I gave her the ring I was going to propose to her with because what the hell else was I going to do with it. I couldn't bear to keep it, it's garnet and opal, her birthstone and mine. That's too much to hold on to, and she's loves jewelry. It belonged to no one else but her, I had to, and it made her happy.
And tonight just now, I bought a man sleeping on the street some french fries, which only means something because I never get french fries, and I've never done that before, buy someone else food. I learned that from her, my dear Claire, my fresh air.
I hope he likes them.
