LEMONADE :: ZAYN

hope

The nail technician pushes my cuticles back, turns my hand over. Stretches the skin on my palm and says, "I see your daughters, and their daughters." That night in a dream the first girl emerges from a slit in my stomach. The scar heals into a smile. The man I love pulls the stitches out with his fingernails. We leave like searchers curling on the side of the bath.

I wake as the second girl crawls up headfirst up my throat, a flower blossoming out of the hole in my face

°°°

Gizelle sat in Dana's living room, watching the woman walk around nervously, tidying up random parts of the room and panicking just a little.

"What are you doing?"

"I lost my keys and I need to be at the dentist in thirty minutes," she looked under the couch and whined when she didn't see her keys.

"Thirty minutes? Da--"

"I know, but -- yes!" She gasped when she found them in the cushion of the recliner, "now we can go."

"This is the last time I let you drive me home," Gizelle rolled her eyes and grabbed her jacket. Dana locked the door behind them and followed her out the door.

"I'm a great friend," she declared, "without me you'd be riding a bus that didn't take you directly home."

"Thanks, Dana. I'm pretty sure Zayn would pick me up."

"He would, wouldn't he?" they both got in and Dana drove out of the driveway, "so, you guys are good now?"

"More than good," she smiled, looking down at her wedding ring. Zayn found it under the couch after she left. This morning Gizelle was upset that she couldn't find it and Zayn being Zayn let her cry a little before he slipped it back on her finger.

Where it belonged.

"Really?"

"Yeah," Gizelle continued, "it's been a few months and he's being completely open with me. He's treating me like how we first got married and of course he's always concerned if I'm okay or not. That's all I wanted. Nothing extravagant, I just want him to show me he cares."

"Cute," Dana stopped at a traffic light, "anyway, I'm glad you two are working things out because I was so worried about how you were gonna act when you split from him. You were very crabby."

"Wouldn't you be if your man cheated on you?" Gizelle asked in confusion.

"No, I'd be a crying mess if that man is dumb enough to fuck around," Dana rolled her eyes and continued driving until she saw Gizelle's house ahead. "I mean, I'm a very insecure woman so my first instinct is to cry. Mess his shit up a little, cry again and maybe for the rest of my life. You , on the other hand, are passive yet...so soft but aggressive. You never think about yourself."

"What?"

"I mean, you thought about yourself when taking Zayn back but let's face it, Amal took the cake. She matters more than anything."

"Well, yeah. You're right."

"As always."

Gizelle rolled her eyes and got out of the car when Dana parked, "I'll text you, D."

"Okay, girl. I'll talk to you later."

"Will do," she walked up to the house just as Zayn was opening the door, "hey."

"Hey," she kissed his lips and Zayn closed the door behind them both, "how was work?"

"It was good," she shrugged her lab coat off and hung it up, "except I went to Dana's place and that's where my car decided to break down."