when I first saw her
she tried to hide.
she turned that beautiful face of hers away from me
and scurried away.
I guess she did not want me to see her
in her little heart-covered pajama bottoms
and fall out boy t-shirt.
because she didn't know me.
I was only there to mend the cracks in the walls,
anyway.
but I wanted to mend the cracks
in her heart.
I could tell she was broken
simply by the way she stared
mindlessly
at the television
and her eyes became glazed over
whenever she witnessed an act of love.
then I realized,
a little too late,
that I was staring
mindlessly
at her.
and she began staring back,
rather than hiding her face from view.
and I caught my first real glimpse of her face -
her unprecedented face.
and her eyes -
her bright, caring eyes.
and her lips -
her outspoken, yet soft-spoken, lips.
and when she spoke,
her voice was filled with both curiosity and disdain,
and a faint sliver of gentleness.
"shouldn't you be working?"
she asked me.
I answered simply:
"yes."
I stayed put and the staring contest continued.
her eyes were like stars -
beautiful and shimmering with light,
and bluer than a supernova.
but they flew away from mine
when the door swung open
and her mother arrived home.
and I went back to work.
the hour hand completed two rotations
before I saw her again.
and she was even prettier than I remembered.
and she spoke to me.
she said,
"hello."
and this time there was not a hint
of disdain.
"shouldn't I be working?"
I asked her.
she answered simply:
"yes."
but no matter how critical the task at hand was
(which was not very),
I did not dare
leave that wonderful girl
again.
and she did not leave me.
eventually,
I went back to scraping plaster onto walls.
but she stayed.
and she talked.
her name was Mary Beth.
and as I filled in the cracks in the walls,
she filled me in on her life.
Mary Beth was sixteen,
some might say too young
for a nineteen year old such as myself,
but I did not care.
Mary Beth liked cats,
and dogs,
and porcupines.
her father was dead
and her mother was not.
she had few friends,
and the one person she loved
left her
for a girl he impregnated
when he claimed to love Mary Beth.
but Mary Beth was strong,
and smart,
and forgiving,
and she had moved on.
and she was moving forward.
and after that day,
I planned on moving forward with her.
so I did.
and she forgot about the pain he caused her,
and the pain of her dad being gone,
and the pain of not having anyone,
because she has me.
and she loves me.
and I love her.
and her mother doesn't approve
because I didn't go to college.
but if I had,
I never would've met Mary Beth.
so I do not regret a thing.
I am employed.
and I am doing fine.
I am happy.
and she is happy
for once in her life.
and I love her.
isn't that all that matters?
