There was a rattle in the keyhole at the front door. Tom carried a paper bag of groceries inside. His eyes went wide and he grinned when he saw Nathan. "Hey, man! You're up and about! Nice to see you using the new hardware," Tom said, gesturing to his friend's leg.

Lacey pointed to Nathan's arm that was covered in scar tissue. "Have you seen this, Tom?"

"Yeah. IEDs, baby. I told him we'd get it fixed next time we were both in Asbury Park."

Nathan nodded, looking at the mangled image of the sword. "And here we are."

"Yeah. So much for the lives we picked for ourselves when we were eighteen. What's the saying about telling God your plans?" Tom held up his forearm to compare his tattoo to Nathan's. "I'll go with you to show mine to Elena. She'll fix you right up."

Nathan saw no need, and it made sense for Tom to have the prettier tattoo. Tom had always been the pretty one, after all, though he hated to be reminded. He was of an average height, slight in his build, and he had sky blue eyes that melted all the girls' hearts.

Tom tossed his blonde hair out of his eyes and said to Lacey with great dramatic flair, "Lover. You can't wear those shorts in this neighborhood if you want the women here to like you."

"Shut up, Tom," she said. "It's hot as Hades out there."

"It's not like I'm asking you to wear a burkah. Just throw something on so Nathan doesn't have to keep hiding his boner."

Nathan sighed, realizing now how much he had missed Tom and wishing he had come over to see him sooner. Lacey rolled her eyes and retreated upstairs. Tom unloaded his groceries and tossed the vegetables into the crisper.

"How's living with Carl working out?" Nathan asked.

"Not so bad with Lacey here."

"You two getting serious?"

"Not really. We're poly."

"Oh? How's that work?"

"If she wants to be with someone else, she tells me. And likewise, I tell her when I've got someone in mind. We were hooking up with other people a lot more in the beginning, but nowadays not so much."

Lacey returned wearing one of Tom's lacrosse shirts from high school.

"There. Now you have your name on me," she said, pointing to the list of team members printed on the front of the shirt. Nathan suppressed the urge to laugh. Tom's name certainly was on her now, but so were the names of everyone on the lacrosse team.

Tom grabbed an acoustic guitar off the couch and headed out to the porch. "Grab us some brews, babe," he told Lacey.

"We don't have any beer, but there's wine," she said. She reached into the fridge and took out a magnum of chardonnay.

"God. What is this, a ladies' book club?"

The three of them went out on the front porch with their drinks. Tom and Lacey swung gently on a hanging bench and Nathan found a seat across from them in a wicker chair. It was still muggy, but the white wine made it bearable.

"So, do you still remember the codes of Ghost Woods?" Tom asked.

Nathan smiled. "Of course."

"What are the codes of Ghost Woods?" Lacey asked.

"Part of this game we played when we were kids." Tom said.

"What?"

"We used to have Ghost Woods adventures," Tom explained. "Nathan's dad died when we were little and he moved in with me and my family for a while. He brought his books over, stuff like The Hobbit, Robin Hood, Once and Future King. We'd stay up reading them, talking about armor and swords, which heroes we liked."

"Jesus, Tom," Nathan whispered. "Do you have to tell everybody about our Ghost Woods adventures?" The sun was starting to set. He drank from his glass, and waited for the buzz to kick in.

"We had our own coat of arms, our own codes of honor. We even had an armory full of broadswords, maces, staffs, everything you can think of."

"It was all sticks," corrected Nathan.

"Yeah, whatever. Here. Play something, man." Tom handed him the guitar. Nathan had worked on physical therapy to the point of agony to retain the use of his left hand. Though gripping was painful, he could still play.

"You took up guitar?" he asked Tom, snapping out of it.

"With these beautiful hands? No way. It's Lacey's."

"You play?"

"Since I could hold a guitar," she said.

Nathan handed it off to her. "Let's hear something."

She twisted the tuners around the headstock, plucking and tuning each string by ear. She played "Hey Jude" as twilight settled in. Black clouds streaked a sky that glowed like neon. Lacey handed the guitar back to Nathan and he attempted a classical piece with intricate fingering. Lacey leaned in, watching his hands as he played. Nathan's eyes studied the fret. He stopped before the end as his left hand began to spasm.

"I love that song," she said. "Black Orpheus, right?"

"Yeah."

Their eyes met and Nathan had to look away, as if scorched by her intensity.

Tom left and came back out with a plate of sliced apples. Nathan continued to play flourishes here and there, as much as it hurt.

"Have you seen Alex yet?" Tom asked. Nathan polished off his glass of wine. He shook his head, offering his cup for a refill. Tom filled Nathan's wine glass an inch from the brim. "Why not? I'm sure she's just dying to thank you for your service."

"It's over," he said.

"Who's Alex?" Lacey asked.

"Remember that story I told you about the girl we found in the woods? Alex was that girl." Tom kicked up his feet and laughed dryly, "She is Nathan's maiden fair, his bride of destiny."

Nathan's music ceased abruptly. Normally he would tell Tom to shut up, but not in front of his girlfriend. "Tom's been teasing me about this since we were twelve," he muttered.

"Hey! I don't care, man. I've been telling you to go for it. She's cute."

Alex was more than just some cute squeeze. She was kind, charitable, noble, a rare beauty with eyes that could make a guy brave enough to die in a wasteland on the other side of the planet.

"I broke up with her the other day," Nathan said. "It wasn't pretty."

The slices of apple had turned brown. Nathan passed the guitar off to Lacey. She started plucking notes that glistened like droplets in a waterfall. Her fingers traveled, strong and nimble as she began to play "Soldier's Poem."

Throw it all away.

Tom rambled on, "I met with Alex a couple times when I came home over break. She fences, you know, so I gave her some free lessons. Sweet kid. I can see her being codependent though. All she ever wanted to talk about was you. She'd ask me if you were afraid of commitment."

Nathan was barely listening to Tom. Lacey's song resonated with him, the melody like a hymn, the lyrics breeching a part of his mind he kept shut off as a defense mechanism. He felt the heat of the desert on his back. He had to cling to this song, to this moment, to keep from going back there; he couldn't.

He imagined how Hannah died on the beach. He had seen so many corpses in the sand, he didn't even have to try to envision the scene.

There's no justice in the world.

He remembered seeing a hijab stomped on the sandy floor. He remembered his lizard brain taking over as he cleared corners.

There's no justice in the world and there never was.

The streetlights had come on as Lacey played. Her eyes carried such breadth of wisdom, such weight of weeping for the fallen. Nathan had no words. His eyes lingered on her lips a little too long.

"It's bullshit how Hannah died," he said, turning to Tom. "What kind of asshole would just leave her all alone like that?"

Tom shook his head. "I didn't even know she did drugs."

"Who is Hannah?" Lacey asked.

"We dated in high school," Tom said. "She ODed."

"Jesus, Tom. Why didn't you say anything?"

He shrugged. "We weren't together long. Feels like I barely knew her."

"Do you know where she died?" Nathan asked. His mind was already drudging up the details he knew about the mysterious circumstances of her death. He wanted to know more.

"Asbury Park. Right next to the boardwalk."

The guitar blurted a note as Lacey leaned it up against the house. She cleared the glasses.

Nathan leaned forward on his knees. "We should go," he said suddenly. "We should say some words for her."

"Yeah," Tom said. "We should."

_____________________

Music: "Soldier's Poem" Muse