around the room. “It smells nice in here. What’s that smell? It’s like vanilla.”
“You like that?”
“Yeah.”
“I like it too. It’s exotic.”
She was quiet for a moment.
“God, I wondered when you were going to bring that guy up. You probably thought I was a big whore.”
“Actually, it’s pronounced the other way. Like the moving company.”
“Simon, it’s too early for grammar lessons. Really. I feel sort of sick to my stomach. Why aren’t you tired? Lie down here for a minute. Just be quiet.”
I went over and lay down on the very edge of the bed. She turned over and faced the wall.
“I’ve always wondered what it would be like to sleep in a pink room,” I said after awhile.
“Shhh,” she said.
I lay there and tried to sleep.
“I can feel you thinking, Simon. It’s making the whole bed shake. What are you thinking about?”
“Snakes.”
She didn’t answer.
“When I was a little kid,” I went on, laughing all of a sudden, nerves probably, “my mother used to come in and tuck me in and sometimes she’d say, ‘Well, Simon, what do you want to talk about?’ and this one time, I thought for a second and I said, ‘Snakes.’ I must have been about six, but I remember that very clearly. Not the other times. But that one. Weird eh?”
She rolled over and looked at me. Very pretty. Didn’t say anything, just looked at me.
“What?” I said, suddenly very self-conscious.
“In the dark, you’re very handsome.”
She rolled back over again. I lay there, looking at the back of her neck. You could see where her hair had been chopped; it was thick and then nothing, just her neck. From that angle, I was thinking you couldn’t tell if she was a boy or a girl. Except for the smell, of course. No guy ever smells like that. Or should anyway. So I lay there for awhile longer, thinking about this and that, the way you do, but really thinking about one thing, the other stuff just jumping along the surface like grasshoppers. I put my hand on her shoulder, really softly, so it was hardly there. But she didn’t move or twist around, didn’t do anything that told me to move it. So I let it rest there, the full weight of my hand, this ache in my arm, I realized, from the tension of holding it there, a very unnatural position. But she didn’t moveaway. And then I moved my face right close to the back of her neck and I kissed her hair. But I could tell by her breathing that she wasn’t quite asleep yet. There’s a way people breathe when they sleep and a way they breathe when they’re waiting for something. I didn’t really know her well enough to be sticking my tongue in her mouth and besides I wasn’t sure I tasted too good, so I sort of hugged her. But really gently. I had the feeling, you know, that I was a safe-cracker, I was opening a very, very expensive safe, one false move would set off the alarms and release the dogs. So I proceeded very carefully. Very carefully, I pulled her shoulder toward me. It gave a little. I tugged a little harder and she just rolled over, her eyes still shut and her face in my armpit now. All warm and sleepy but not quite asleep. I started moving my hips a little bit, they just started moving themselves actually until I felt myself being drawn toward this giant, black planet. I could feel it drawing me toward its surface until gradually it seemed sort of inevitable that I’d go there; suddenly all the nerves in my body switched direction and I could feel myself arrive somewhere that was absolutely
me
.
CHAPTER THREE
S LEEPING in the same bed with somebody ain’t all it’s cracked up to be though. I mean you want it to be nice for them, you know, not breathing all over them or lying on your back snoring like something that’s been washed up on a beach. You can’t really relax, just let one go like you might in your own bed; on top of which I’d taken my shirt off, it always makes me sweat wearing clothes when I sleep, but I was having a
“You like that?”
“Yeah.”
“I like it too. It’s exotic.”
She was quiet for a moment.
“God, I wondered when you were going to bring that guy up. You probably thought I was a big whore.”
“Actually, it’s pronounced the other way. Like the moving company.”
“Simon, it’s too early for grammar lessons. Really. I feel sort of sick to my stomach. Why aren’t you tired? Lie down here for a minute. Just be quiet.”
I went over and lay down on the very edge of the bed. She turned over and faced the wall.
“I’ve always wondered what it would be like to sleep in a pink room,” I said after awhile.
“Shhh,” she said.
I lay there and tried to sleep.
“I can feel you thinking, Simon. It’s making the whole bed shake. What are you thinking about?”
“Snakes.”
She didn’t answer.
“When I was a little kid,” I went on, laughing all of a sudden, nerves probably, “my mother used to come in and tuck me in and sometimes she’d say, ‘Well, Simon, what do you want to talk about?’ and this one time, I thought for a second and I said, ‘Snakes.’ I must have been about six, but I remember that very clearly. Not the other times. But that one. Weird eh?”
She rolled over and looked at me. Very pretty. Didn’t say anything, just looked at me.
“What?” I said, suddenly very self-conscious.
“In the dark, you’re very handsome.”
She rolled back over again. I lay there, looking at the back of her neck. You could see where her hair had been chopped; it was thick and then nothing, just her neck. From that angle, I was thinking you couldn’t tell if she was a boy or a girl. Except for the smell, of course. No guy ever smells like that. Or should anyway. So I lay there for awhile longer, thinking about this and that, the way you do, but really thinking about one thing, the other stuff just jumping along the surface like grasshoppers. I put my hand on her shoulder, really softly, so it was hardly there. But she didn’t move or twist around, didn’t do anything that told me to move it. So I let it rest there, the full weight of my hand, this ache in my arm, I realized, from the tension of holding it there, a very unnatural position. But she didn’t moveaway. And then I moved my face right close to the back of her neck and I kissed her hair. But I could tell by her breathing that she wasn’t quite asleep yet. There’s a way people breathe when they sleep and a way they breathe when they’re waiting for something. I didn’t really know her well enough to be sticking my tongue in her mouth and besides I wasn’t sure I tasted too good, so I sort of hugged her. But really gently. I had the feeling, you know, that I was a safe-cracker, I was opening a very, very expensive safe, one false move would set off the alarms and release the dogs. So I proceeded very carefully. Very carefully, I pulled her shoulder toward me. It gave a little. I tugged a little harder and she just rolled over, her eyes still shut and her face in my armpit now. All warm and sleepy but not quite asleep. I started moving my hips a little bit, they just started moving themselves actually until I felt myself being drawn toward this giant, black planet. I could feel it drawing me toward its surface until gradually it seemed sort of inevitable that I’d go there; suddenly all the nerves in my body switched direction and I could feel myself arrive somewhere that was absolutely
me
.
CHAPTER THREE
S LEEPING in the same bed with somebody ain’t all it’s cracked up to be though. I mean you want it to be nice for them, you know, not breathing all over them or lying on your back snoring like something that’s been washed up on a beach. You can’t really relax, just let one go like you might in your own bed; on top of which I’d taken my shirt off, it always makes me sweat wearing clothes when I sleep, but I was having a
Similar Books
