I'm Comin' Home To You

Chapter Four

“In a space of heartbeat I seem to have found you/This hole in my heart is ripped wide at the seams/But you don't pass through it./My thoughts are a jumbled, unkempt mess/Clips from photos I've seen, some I've taken/Of limp skeleton trees, and a backdrop of blue/Leaves dripping with dew/And poppies perched on a windowsill, it was October, the sky blazed with fire. The dead sun/Shines on a frosty cabin window as it trades places in the sky, the moon rises/The fusty-smelling gaping mouths of tents, of vendors at the fairgrounds./I pictured horoscopes and star charts, lyrics from songs bits of thoughts/Contents clutter everywhere/They fumble around, my mind is everywhere./As you watch over me, eyes like sea glass/Coals glowing in a grate/She was sent to protect me./I am a rain cloud, she poked a hole in me and my heart drained out/Vermilion lips, threadbare from all the words that she's said/Milky canvas skin, wrists scratched half-bare, she's seen pain./I'm a spent candle, all sputtered out/I have to bleed this blush from my cheeks /Each letter of her name, like shining diamonds on a string/Eyes glittering like little lights, glow-flies perched in cathedrals/Her voice rakes my skin, reap what's sewn there/Little taunts buried inside, a twisted knot of worms, of nerves and hurt./Her hands are small, white gloves, like swans

Golden rings wrapped around each finger/We sip wine from glasses, lie beneath the lime trees/As locusts drum the hazy air with the beating/Of their razor wings./Late afternoon. In the sky, the clouds/Are caravans of light, careful dewy-eyed moths, storybook characters/Spinning planets, paisley patterns and peacock feathers/But still, I only see the in-between, that bare gap of blue/In time that's all I've learned to see—/A domineering hive queen./In our wax mausoleum.” After Lucille stopped speaking, the class was silent.

“Very... interesting, Lucille.” Ms. Mann said, slowly. “you had a lot of descriptive imagery in there. I think you did a wonderful job.” She clapped her hands together once. “All right. Who next? Jade? You always have some good poetry.”

I smiled and nodded, standing up to read.

“This is called Gone. 'The mistletoe hangs, it poisonous bite dangling only inches above your head./She standing right in front of you, nervously chewing her luscious lily lips./You can already taste them- Cherry, soft and delicious. Just like you fantasized./So why can't you move in? Why can't you close the gap between the two of you, darken the light spot on the floor between your shadows, bring your ragged lips to her lily ones?/Too late, she looks down, wet brown eyes leaving your./And like a ghost in the night, she is gone./So is your chance of happiness.'” I sat and everyone slowly applauded.

“Nice. Wyatt?”

Wyatt stood and I put my head in my hands. Here comes the tits.

“Hair as beautiful as red gold,/Skin as pale as ice./She's all I could ask for/And she'll never be mine./She's not the kind of girl/You leave sitting alone,/Her beauty captivates all who pass/ and she's all I could ask for/Yet she'll never be mine./She doesn't go for guys like me/She doesn't go for guys at all./She's all I could ask for/And she'll never be mine.” He sat down. The room was silent. We all knew who he was talking about. I looked over at Lucille as she stood, stumbling and grabbing her bag. She ran out the door, cheeks flushed.

“Great going Wyatt!” I grabbed my bag and followed her. “Lucille! Baby, come here. Please?” She stood at the end of the hallway, back to me. Her shoulders were heaving. “What's wrong?”

“How could he do that? Embarrass himself like that because of me? How could I know that he liked me and not do anything about it. He's hit on me the past few months, even asked me why you instead of him. I just... How can I face him after that?” She turned and faced me. She didn't have tears running down her face, but was close. They glistened like diamonds in her eyes.

“Oh hunny, Wyatt does this a lot. Don't feel bad about breaking his heart. He'll be over it within a week or two. Don't stress. Stressing will give you wrinkles and early grays anyway.” I joked. She smiled faintly. “It's okay to laugh.” She smiled a little bigger. “That 'a girl. C'm'on, let's go see if Marcus has any new bud he's willin' to part with.” I grabbed her hand and we walked off to find the greasy potato chef.

§§§§§§

We lay on the merry-go-round at the park, slowly spinning around, staring off at the clouds.

“Is this just a fling for you?”

“What?”

“You heard me. Is this a fling? Or is this a forever thing? Not that this answer is going to be binding, I just want to make sure we are on the same page. I don't want to be planning on a forever type thing while this is only a fling for you. So, is this a fling?”

“No. Of course it's not. I never do something as heartless as that. I am an all-or-nothing type of girl.”

I flipped onto my stomach, holding my head above her's. I leaned over and kissed her, like Spiderman kissing MJ, and she kissed back. “Glad to hear it. What if your dad finds out though?”

She sighed. “I don't think he will. Anyway, I don't want to think about that right now.”

“Oh really? And what do you want to think about?”

“I don't know... What are you thinking about?”

I leaned over and kissed her again, cupping her cheek in my hand. “Lucille?”

“Yeah?” She sighed into my mouth.

“I love you.”

“I love you too, Jade.”

§§§§§§

I woke in a dark room, the only light the pale moon through the lace cloth strung in front of Lucille's window. Lucille snored quietly next to me.

I rolled over and stared at her. Bathed in moonlight, she was even paler. Her freckles stood out against her beautiful skin.

I brushed her bangs behind her ear and kissed her lips lightly. She started, and opened her eyes slowly.

I smiled at her. She was so beautiful in the moonlight. She was beautiful anytime, really.

“Run away with me.” I whispered. She nodded her head. We fell back asleep.