Free Fall (Pyramid of Gold)

I was sitting on a curb. Claire made a snowball and handed it to me, to put on my throbbing face. Then she sat by my side, shivering.

'In retrospect,' she said, humorless, 'I probably should have gotten my coat before storming off.'

I took off my jacket and put it around her.

'Aren't you going to get cold?'

I shrugged.

'I don't really get cold these days.'

We were silent for a couple of minutes, watching the snow fall down in the beams of electric light.

'What actually happened there, Matt?'

'I came by to talk to you. And Sam decided he felt like beating me up.'

'And you didn't fight back?'

'No.'