They laugh, they blush.
I lay my eye upon Portia—a striking redhead with a wide and easy grin—and I absently trail her from room to room. For a time we dance together, but when she later hooks herself to a boy in a buttoned blue shirt, I give up the pursuit and find something else to occupy me. I chat with friends. I play songs on the stereo.
By 3:00 A.M., the keg is dry and the party disperses. Two bodies with open mouths drinking in the inebriated night air sprawl on the couch; another several have passed out on the floor; and my roommates’ rooms are all occupied as well. I crawl through my second-story window and sit on the rooftop, pondering the few stars visible through the streetlights’ fluorescent glow. A cool breeze rustles the nearby trees while farther away, the crickets harmonize in the night. A car shoots out of the dark, rambles along the avenue, and beams light on the night-silver trees. Soon Sean steps out of my window to join me.
“So, this is where you’re off to. Hiding out on the roof.”
“I’m not hiding. I just felt like being here.” The smell of the river drifts in the wind and mingles with the fragrance of gladiolas. A light fog puffs about us. “Twenty-one,” I tell Sean as he lowers himself beside me. “Twenty-one.”
“I know.” He nods his head, tips back his beer cup. “And you’re doing great.”
“I am.”
We sit quietly. Below us a man bicycles past, pedaling in the night.
“I got a letter this week. A birthday card from Ana.”
Sean sips his beer. “Really,” he says. “How’s she doing?”
“Well, it wasn’t exactly from her. It was from an AIDS organization, PWA. It says that she’s made a donation in my name, honoring my birthday.” Sean, staring off past the elm tree that shades the front lawn, brings the beer to his lips again and takes a long draw. “Can you believe that? It was a lot of money, too.” Sean nods. “I can’t believe it. I guess that even after all the hurt I caused her, I can at least feel like she doesn’t want me dead.” And then it is out there, the brutal irony.
Sean and I can’t control ourselves. We laugh loudly. I hold my side and lie flat onto the rooftop to catch air, and it is good.
“That’s great,” Sean says. “That’s really something, you know.”
“I know. I can’t even say how it made me feel.”
“So, did you tell anyone about it?”
“No. And I’m not going to. This is just something I’ll keep to myself.”
“Your secret’s safe with me,” he says as he stands. He sips again. “So I’m heading back in and will leave you to your thoughts. Besides, I’ve got this little hottie that I think may go home with me.” He ducks back through the window. “Don’t stay out here too long trying to solve all the world’s problems tonight,” he shouts back before a long silence returns and the crickets chirp in the background.
A few minutes later, Sean yells up to me from the front yard, says, “I’m headin’.”
“Later,” I call back. A young blonde is leashed to his arm and they both stumble to his car.
“She’s cute,” I call out.
“Hey. What’d ya expect?” he says throwing up his arms and letting out a laugh that echoes through the quiet street.
Sean falls into his car seat, cranks, swerves away, and howls out his window as he speeds down the avenue. I watch the taillights fade.
Later, the stereo quiet, the lights out, the party over—I slip back through my window and fall into my mattress, listening to the box fan hum a sleepy breeze.
At a club in downtown Wilmington, I meet Kaitlin. She dances, and as I watch her twirl to the music, I pine for the happiness that she exudes. A few songs later when she notices me smiling, she stops dancing, sidles to the bar next to me. I drink to increase my courage and to slow my nervous heart. I give her a hard stare.
“Can I buy you
I lay my eye upon Portia—a striking redhead with a wide and easy grin—and I absently trail her from room to room. For a time we dance together, but when she later hooks herself to a boy in a buttoned blue shirt, I give up the pursuit and find something else to occupy me. I chat with friends. I play songs on the stereo.
By 3:00 A.M., the keg is dry and the party disperses. Two bodies with open mouths drinking in the inebriated night air sprawl on the couch; another several have passed out on the floor; and my roommates’ rooms are all occupied as well. I crawl through my second-story window and sit on the rooftop, pondering the few stars visible through the streetlights’ fluorescent glow. A cool breeze rustles the nearby trees while farther away, the crickets harmonize in the night. A car shoots out of the dark, rambles along the avenue, and beams light on the night-silver trees. Soon Sean steps out of my window to join me.
“So, this is where you’re off to. Hiding out on the roof.”
“I’m not hiding. I just felt like being here.” The smell of the river drifts in the wind and mingles with the fragrance of gladiolas. A light fog puffs about us. “Twenty-one,” I tell Sean as he lowers himself beside me. “Twenty-one.”
“I know.” He nods his head, tips back his beer cup. “And you’re doing great.”
“I am.”
We sit quietly. Below us a man bicycles past, pedaling in the night.
“I got a letter this week. A birthday card from Ana.”
Sean sips his beer. “Really,” he says. “How’s she doing?”
“Well, it wasn’t exactly from her. It was from an AIDS organization, PWA. It says that she’s made a donation in my name, honoring my birthday.” Sean, staring off past the elm tree that shades the front lawn, brings the beer to his lips again and takes a long draw. “Can you believe that? It was a lot of money, too.” Sean nods. “I can’t believe it. I guess that even after all the hurt I caused her, I can at least feel like she doesn’t want me dead.” And then it is out there, the brutal irony.
Sean and I can’t control ourselves. We laugh loudly. I hold my side and lie flat onto the rooftop to catch air, and it is good.
“That’s great,” Sean says. “That’s really something, you know.”
“I know. I can’t even say how it made me feel.”
“So, did you tell anyone about it?”
“No. And I’m not going to. This is just something I’ll keep to myself.”
“Your secret’s safe with me,” he says as he stands. He sips again. “So I’m heading back in and will leave you to your thoughts. Besides, I’ve got this little hottie that I think may go home with me.” He ducks back through the window. “Don’t stay out here too long trying to solve all the world’s problems tonight,” he shouts back before a long silence returns and the crickets chirp in the background.
A few minutes later, Sean yells up to me from the front yard, says, “I’m headin’.”
“Later,” I call back. A young blonde is leashed to his arm and they both stumble to his car.
“She’s cute,” I call out.
“Hey. What’d ya expect?” he says throwing up his arms and letting out a laugh that echoes through the quiet street.
Sean falls into his car seat, cranks, swerves away, and howls out his window as he speeds down the avenue. I watch the taillights fade.
Later, the stereo quiet, the lights out, the party over—I slip back through my window and fall into my mattress, listening to the box fan hum a sleepy breeze.
At a club in downtown Wilmington, I meet Kaitlin. She dances, and as I watch her twirl to the music, I pine for the happiness that she exudes. A few songs later when she notices me smiling, she stops dancing, sidles to the bar next to me. I drink to increase my courage and to slow my nervous heart. I give her a hard stare.
“Can I buy you
Similar Books
