Page 21 of Wish I Were Here
“You don’t know? Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure. Why doesn’t anyone seem to believe me?”
“It’s just… well. Out of everyone I know, you’re the most…” He trails off.
“What? I’m the mostwhat?”
Luca clears his throat. “Organized.You’re the most organized person I know.”
But I know what he’s thinking. He stood in the middle of my apartment earlier today. I know it wasn’t lost on him that I line up the spines of my books so none of them stick out farther than the others, I color coordinate the dishes in my display cabinet, and I alphabetize the spices in the rack in my kitchenette. “You weren’t going to say organized. You were going to say something likepicky, orfussy, or…anal retentive.” Luca’s apartment is probably complete chaos. Maybe that’s why he sleeps on the floor of the lobby. Because he can’t find his bed.
Two pink spots appear on his cheeks. “Don’t put words in my mouth. I was going to saycapableandcompetent, actually. But now that you mention it, youdohave a color-coded filing system with printed labels. So why can’t you find your birth certificate?”
“Well,” I huff. “My dad didn’t have color-coded files. I found that copy of my birth certificate in a box of his papers when I was applying to college, along with my Social Security card.” I hold out my hands, palms up. “This was all hehad, and I thought it was real. I never needed the embossed stamp, I guess. I just submitted an electronic copy for all the universities and jobs I applied to.”
“Do you think your dad has the real thing?”
I remember stumbling on that box containing my most important paperwork. In addition to my Social Security card and copy of my birth certificate, that box held—among other things—a bunch of CDs by bands from the ’90s, a single black Converse sneaker, and a rubber chicken. “I suppose it’s possible. But good luck finding it in his messy apartment.”
“Maybe you can order a new one.” He turns to Tonya. “Can she order a new birth certificate?”
“Sure.”
I lean into the desk. “Do you know how I’d do that?”
“Not really.”
“Can you… look it up?”
Tonya gives me a stare and then slowly lowers her eyes to the keyboard. She pecks out the letters with one finger. “G-O-O-G-L-E.” Her eyes flit back up to me. “Ever hear of it?” Then she goes back to typing—presumably my question—and then hitsEnterwith a flourish.
“Okay, let’s see here. Uh-huh. Okay… government-issued ID… uh-huh. Got it.” She looks up at me. “To get a new birth certificate, you need to apply using a valid government-issued ID.” Tonya slides my driver’s license across the counter. “Like this one.” She pauses, and then says, “Only not a fake.”
“For the hundred millionth time, this one is not a fake.”
Tonya leans over the counter and waves at the policemanstanding guard by the door. “Bill. Hey, Bill. Come here a second.”
Bill strolls over, his thumbs hooked in the pockets of his police uniform right next to the gun strapped to his belt. “What seems to be the problem?”
“Can you look this woman up for me? She claims she’s in the system, but I can’t find her anywhere in mine.” Tonya waves at me to give Bill my ID. “Maybe you’ll have better luck with yours.” She shrugs. “Or maybe it’s a fake.”
I open my mouth to object, but Luca squeezes my hand again.
I slide my ID over to Bill, and he takes a look at the front and then flips it over.
“I’ll need to run this through in my car. I’ll be right back.” He heads outside.
I check my university email while we wait, hoping for a note from Helen that says she cleared things up in HR. But the system must be experiencing problems because my messages won’t load.
A minute later, Bill returns. “Where did you get this?” he demands, waving my card.
“What do you mean? I got it at the DMV on Smithfield Street.”
“That’s impossible. There’s no record of a…” He squints at the card and back at me. “Catherine Lipton. This is the best fake I’ve ever seen. And I used to be a bouncer at a college bar. I’ve seen it all.”
I take a deep breath, but before I can reply, Luca leans in. “It’s not a fake.”
“If it were real, it would show up in my system.”
