happened to
the salads?”
He holds up the Salad-A-Go-Go bag and
nods in the direction of the food court, where Bridgette and her friends, my
students, are hanging out. If we lived in a more populated area only rats would
crawl out of the sewers at night. I can deal with rats while I eat, but not a
fly on the wall.
“Have you ever gone up Rawlings Road?” he
asks as we walk to his car.
“You mean the dirt death trap behind
where we live? It’s a dead end.”
“It’s a nice place to go when you need a
quiet spot to think. It’s only a quarter mile and it ends at the top of a hill.
With our new row house community growing, another line of them will be built
behind us by next year, right on that hill, and then Rawlings Road will be
gone. I thought you might want to see it before that happens.”
“I don’t know. A guy I’ve been out with
twice wants to take me to the end of a dirt road. Sounds like a set-up for a
horror movie.”
“Tell you what. You eat dinner with me at
the top of that hill, and I’ll leave you with an entire bag of books.”
“You’re bribing me with my own books?” I
laugh. “And if I say yes and you kill me, you get the books anyway, so how is
that beneficial to me?”
“You’re not serious? I mean, we were in
the fitting room with no one else around and on your front porch... I didn’t
hurt you then.”
“I was within earshot of other people,
but up there...”
“It’s pretty, Div. That’s all.” He seems
disappointed.
“What if a bear attacks us?”
“Then we’re dead. I can’t kill a bear
with my bare hands. It’s a chance you’ll have to take,” he smiles and places
the bags in the backseat of his Cherokee.
“Oh.”
Bears. A bear would be worse than being
strangled. I don’t want to be eaten and shit out by a wild animal. “Can we stay
in your car?”
“Nope. There’s no point of driving up the
hill if you don’t get out and walk a few yards to the cliff.”
“Hell no. Now there’s a cliff? I don’t
think so, Dan.”
He laughs as we drive away from the mall.
“Suit yourself. I’ll drop you off and you can eat alone.”
“Wait, There’re no other options? That
sucks. You can’t have all the control in this relationship. You know what, pull
over.”
Oh my God, he’s pulling over. Why did I
say that? What am I going to do now? I was only teasing.
“Okay. I’m pulled over.”
He waits.
I wait.
Fuck.
“Alright, James Daniel Keller. I’m not
even going to use the term relationship because we haven’t even kissed yet, and
as far as I’m concerned, we’re hanging out as friends. Once I feel your tongue
then I’ll know it’s official. So as friends, I’m sure we can agree on another
place to eat, like my...”
You
asshole, Div. Shut your fat mouth, open your legs, and fuck him.
Violet.
“Eat where? Your place?” he asks. “That’s
fine. Are you inviting me in?”
Yes,
enter into my tight dark hole that Div’s been hiding from men for years. If you
can break through the cobwebs, you can come in.
I’m not ready for this. “No,” I shake my
head. “No, not yet. I need some time to clean before you come inside.”
Liar!
“You know, Rawling Road’s starting to
sound okay. Yep, it is. Yes. Yeah, let’s go up that dirt road. It will be
fine.”
“You sure? That was a quick change.”
“I was only kidding around.”
“Like the books, right? They’re for
display?”
“You’ll see soon enough, and then you’ll
think twice about picking on me.”
“You know,” he says while brushing a
finger over his lips. We continue to our neighborhood and I wait for the rest of
his sentence. You know what?
“Sooo...” he starts again, dragging the
word out as we start to drive up the dirt road. A dust cloud forms behind the
Cherokee as the tires seek traction on the steep slope. The short burst of rain
last night wasn’t enough to quench the dry earth.
So what? Talk damn it. Sooo, say
something.
“So,” he says again
the salads?”
He holds up the Salad-A-Go-Go bag and
nods in the direction of the food court, where Bridgette and her friends, my
students, are hanging out. If we lived in a more populated area only rats would
crawl out of the sewers at night. I can deal with rats while I eat, but not a
fly on the wall.
“Have you ever gone up Rawlings Road?” he
asks as we walk to his car.
“You mean the dirt death trap behind
where we live? It’s a dead end.”
“It’s a nice place to go when you need a
quiet spot to think. It’s only a quarter mile and it ends at the top of a hill.
With our new row house community growing, another line of them will be built
behind us by next year, right on that hill, and then Rawlings Road will be
gone. I thought you might want to see it before that happens.”
“I don’t know. A guy I’ve been out with
twice wants to take me to the end of a dirt road. Sounds like a set-up for a
horror movie.”
“Tell you what. You eat dinner with me at
the top of that hill, and I’ll leave you with an entire bag of books.”
“You’re bribing me with my own books?” I
laugh. “And if I say yes and you kill me, you get the books anyway, so how is
that beneficial to me?”
“You’re not serious? I mean, we were in
the fitting room with no one else around and on your front porch... I didn’t
hurt you then.”
“I was within earshot of other people,
but up there...”
“It’s pretty, Div. That’s all.” He seems
disappointed.
“What if a bear attacks us?”
“Then we’re dead. I can’t kill a bear
with my bare hands. It’s a chance you’ll have to take,” he smiles and places
the bags in the backseat of his Cherokee.
“Oh.”
Bears. A bear would be worse than being
strangled. I don’t want to be eaten and shit out by a wild animal. “Can we stay
in your car?”
“Nope. There’s no point of driving up the
hill if you don’t get out and walk a few yards to the cliff.”
“Hell no. Now there’s a cliff? I don’t
think so, Dan.”
He laughs as we drive away from the mall.
“Suit yourself. I’ll drop you off and you can eat alone.”
“Wait, There’re no other options? That
sucks. You can’t have all the control in this relationship. You know what, pull
over.”
Oh my God, he’s pulling over. Why did I
say that? What am I going to do now? I was only teasing.
“Okay. I’m pulled over.”
He waits.
I wait.
Fuck.
“Alright, James Daniel Keller. I’m not
even going to use the term relationship because we haven’t even kissed yet, and
as far as I’m concerned, we’re hanging out as friends. Once I feel your tongue
then I’ll know it’s official. So as friends, I’m sure we can agree on another
place to eat, like my...”
You
asshole, Div. Shut your fat mouth, open your legs, and fuck him.
Violet.
“Eat where? Your place?” he asks. “That’s
fine. Are you inviting me in?”
Yes,
enter into my tight dark hole that Div’s been hiding from men for years. If you
can break through the cobwebs, you can come in.
I’m not ready for this. “No,” I shake my
head. “No, not yet. I need some time to clean before you come inside.”
Liar!
“You know, Rawling Road’s starting to
sound okay. Yep, it is. Yes. Yeah, let’s go up that dirt road. It will be
fine.”
“You sure? That was a quick change.”
“I was only kidding around.”
“Like the books, right? They’re for
display?”
“You’ll see soon enough, and then you’ll
think twice about picking on me.”
“You know,” he says while brushing a
finger over his lips. We continue to our neighborhood and I wait for the rest of
his sentence. You know what?
“Sooo...” he starts again, dragging the
word out as we start to drive up the dirt road. A dust cloud forms behind the
Cherokee as the tires seek traction on the steep slope. The short burst of rain
last night wasn’t enough to quench the dry earth.
So what? Talk damn it. Sooo, say
something.
“So,” he says again
Similar Books
