Nothing Can Hurt You
Page 16
“Like Jack?”
“No offense, but yeah.”
“None taken. You’ll find someone in college, I bet.”
“I hope so.”
“Of course you will.” Sara gestures to Dawn’s body, naked in the darkness. “Look at you. You’re stunning.”
“You literally can’t see me.”
“I know what you look like!”
This makes Dawn laugh, and Sara relaxes. She swims more laps, practices handstands and tumble turns. She has no way of knowing how much time is passing.
“Is it starting to get light out?” she asks Dawn.
“I don’t think so. I think our eyes are just getting used to the dark. I don’t know. Do you want to go home?”
“I’m cold,” Sara admits.
They get dressed in their dry, flimsy clothes. They pull the plastic cover back over the pool. They ride their bikes back to Dawn’s house. As they approach the driveway, Sara stops abruptly.
“Fuck,” she says. “I totally forgot.” She pulls the ten-dollar bill out of the pocket of her shorts.
“What?”
“Owen just gave us the beers, so we didn’t use my money. My cursed money.”
Dawn bursts into laughter.
“What are you going to do with it?”
Sara smooths the bill against her thigh. She holds it up as if inspecting it. Without asking, she takes a lighter from Dawn’s purse and sets the bill on fire. She holds on to it for as long as she can, until the flames come too close to her fingers, and then she drops it on the ground.
“Shit,” says Dawn finally. She stamps out the flames with her flip-flops. “You’re fucking crazy.” But Sara knows she is impressed.
Some grass and wildflowers have grown up through the concrete, stubborn as children. Among them, the embers glitter like a hundred hungry eyes.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book would not exist without the kindness of many people. I am not capable of thanking as deeply as they deserve, but I will try.
My most heartfelt thanks to my agent, Julia Masnik, who believed in this book way before it was actually any good.
And to Paul LaFarge, for introducing us.
To my editor, Callie Garnett, and everyone at Bloomsbury for giving this strange story a good home.
To Rivka Galchen, Elissa Schappell, Lara Vapnyar, Yelena Akhtiorskaya, Darcey Steinke, and all the wonderful, generous people at the Columbia MFA program.
To Susannah Slocum, for her wisdom and insight.
To Michael Hanna, for his kindness and brilliance.
To Nicole Ouzounis, my true ride or die. Thanks for literally helping me not die.
To Rebecca Godfrey, who I am outrageously blessed to have as both a mentor and friend.
To my friends, those beautiful people who graciously let me babble about murder for three years without complaint.
And to my family, for allowing me to become the person I needed to be to write this book.
I love you all so much more than I can say.
A NOTE ON THE AUTHOR
Nicola Maye Goldberg is a graduate of Bard College and Columbia University. She is the author of Other Women and The Doll Factory. Her work has appeared in CrimeReads, the Quietus, Queen Mob’s Teahouse, Winter Tangerine, and elsewhere. She lives in New York City.
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This electronic edition first published in the United States 2020
Copyright © Nicola Maye Goldberg, 2020
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and events are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Material from the chapter entitled “Lizzie” was previously published, in slightly different form, in The Grief Diaries.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers.
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc does not have any control over, or responsibility for, any third-party websites referred to or in this book. All internet addresses given in this book were correct at the time of going to press. The author and publisher regret any inconvenience caused if addresses have changed or sites have ceased to exist, but can accept no responsibility for any such changes.
ISBN: HB: 978-1-63557-488-3; eBook: 978-1-63557-489-0
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Goldberg, Nicola Maye, author.
Title: Nothing can hurt you : a novel / Nicola Maye Goldberg.
Description: New York : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019051616 (print) | LCCN 2019051617 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781635574883 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781635574890 (ebook)
Subjects: GSAFD: Suspense fiction.
Classification: LCC PS3607.O4433 N68 2020 (print) | LCC PS3607.O4433 (ebook) | DDC 813/.6—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019051616
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019051617
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