The Gemini

35 - Parallelogram

January 9, 1989

"Where do you want to be the most?"

Roger was expectant that she'd say here in his arms, where she lay. But Jody's words pleasantly amazed him yet again.

She put her finger to his temple. "Right here. I wanna take up this space and make it mine. I want the simple thought of me to play at all times. When you sleep, it'll be me you see. When I'm away, I want to haunt your memories. Here is where I want to live."

"Done."

..

The girl must be a witch because a spell was cast on Roger that day.

Now over a week after the breakup he still couldn't cope.

Held between his forefinger and thumb was Jody's intended engagement ring. Sunlight poured through the east window making the emerald shine and the diamond encrusted band sparkle. Maybe if he would've given it to her sooner he'd have the real woman by his side instead of a haunting.

Along with the ghost of her being came a question. The same one that had been echoing in his conscious since that night.

Why hadn't she told me?

Somewhere along their road, Jody thought she was pregnant. When she dropped that bomb, Roger's heart stopped. Each and every word that he had so maliciously thrown at her, he regretted them all in that instant.

Up into the hours of that following morning he did nothing but walk the floor, drawing up a timeline as to when all of this might've taken place. Then he clued that the end of her time in California was as suspect as any. Her uncharacteristic actions made sense to him now. He knew something with her was off but Jody swore that all was fine. She lied.

Why?

Frowning at the ring, "You hypocrite."

She demanded honesty from him yet she withheld information regarding something so important. A potential life made. The fact caused his annoyances to rise.

How could she do such a thing? Why? Was she ashamed? Regretful? Afraid?

Amid his frustrations at her came the same at himself. "You raised your hand at her like you ain't got no good sense, can you blame her for being afraid?"

Simultaneously immersed in seven different emotions in that moment, Jody's slap knocked him completely off axis. Before Roger knew it, his hand was halfway to meeting her face. The sight scared him. The image of her flinching shook him back to reality before it was too late. He stood there shocked and hearing her mocking didn't help matters so he yelled. Once again Roger's response to being hurt was to hurt back.

"Motherfucking idiot."

......................

"I'm such an idiot." Jody told herself.

Hugging knees closer to her chest, she rest her chin there. Crying? She left that behind in the dark hours. Now here in the daylight she felt hollowed out. 'Stupid' written across her forehead in invisible ink. She felt nothing and everything all in the same breath.

On replay was Roger's warning, "....there's a side of me that only knows how to fuck everything up and run." In his own words he foreshadowed her heartache yet Jody paid caution to none of it. Those words of his only made her want him more. To prove him wrong. They only made her want to fix him with her love.

Foolish girl.

He took the heart that she gifted and burned it to ashes. Even still, the left over dust spelled out his name.