Sanchez. Forever and ever.”
“ You’re going to kill me, aren’t you? ”
“ Yes. I’m sorry.”
“Why?”
“Because you spelled my name zurong on my passport. It was okay for the padre to make a mistake, but I’m your wife. You shouldn’t have spelled my name wrong. Say hello to the padre and tell him I forgive him.”
“No! No! Wait!”
Lex tumbled from the bed, his body drenched in sweat. “Jesus!”
Trembling from the nightmare and his memories, he marched down the hall to the kitchen where he loaded four bottles of beer onto a tray. If he wanted to sleep he knew he’d have to drink all four. He’d been down this road before, too many times. He wasn’t about to give up another night’s sleep.
And this is your life, Lex Sanders.
For now anyway.
Tomorrow is another day.
Maybe it’ll be better.
Don’t count on it.
I never have.
He thought about Ariel Hart and how pretty she was in the movie. Maybe tomorrow would be a better day.
Five
It was a glorious place, a, fairyland, and it smelled better than fifty Christmases combined. A special place, so special only she and Felix knew about it. Special because it was their honeymoon suite. She curled herself into a little ball next to her new husband. “Isn’t it wonderful, Felix? You were my only true friend in the whole world and now you’re my husband and my friend. I wish we could tell everyone. I wish we never had to leave. I wish . . . ”
“You can’t wish your life away Aggie. Wishes are nice. I made a list once and called it my wish list. I pretended I had a fairy godmother and she told me to write down everything I wanted. She said I should call it my wish list and when one of my wishes came true I should put a gold star next to it. I didn’t have any money to buy gold stars so I colored one in with my little sister’s crayons. My first wish was that you would like me. My wish turned out better than the one I wrote down. You love me. Maybe I’ll put two stars next to the wish. I’m going to keep it forever and ever.”
“I’ll do the same, ” she whispered. “Will we look. at each other’s lists?”
“They should be secret. You can see mine if you want. Maybe we should make a pact not to show each other until we’re old in rocking chairs.”
“Okay. Are you going to kiss me? Are you going to touch me all over?” How breathless her voice was.
“I want to touch you all over. Will you touch me?”
“All over?”
“I want you to.”
“Then I will. I’ll do whatever you want me to do.”
“Will you always love me, Aggie?”
“Forever and ever. Will you always love me, too?”
“Until the day I die. I’m going to get a good job and give you everything. I’m going to love you so much. Every day I’ll tell you how much I love you. You’re so beautiful. I wish I had a picture of you. Will you give me one?”
“My parents don’t take pictures anymore. They used to take a lot of them when I was little. Do you want one when I started school? I think I was six. Do you have any pictures of yourself?”
“No. We don’t even have a camera. We should have a wedding picture. You might be sad when we get older and you don’t have a picture to show our children. I can go back to the padre and ask him for some paper and a pencil and we can draw ourselves. Would you like me to do that, Aggie?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
When Felix returned with the paper and pencil, they sat cross-legged in the fern bower like the children they were. They stared solemnly at one another as their fingers traced each other’s likeness. When they had every contour memorized, they took pencil in hand.
“I want to keep this, but my mother goes through my things. You have to keep it, Felix. Do we get a marriage certificate? You should keep it, too.”
“All right. Our marriage certificate is in Spanish. I have a safe place where I can keep it. No one will ever know until we want them to know.”
“I want you to kiss me, Felix.
“ You’re going to kill me, aren’t you? ”
“ Yes. I’m sorry.”
“Why?”
“Because you spelled my name zurong on my passport. It was okay for the padre to make a mistake, but I’m your wife. You shouldn’t have spelled my name wrong. Say hello to the padre and tell him I forgive him.”
“No! No! Wait!”
Lex tumbled from the bed, his body drenched in sweat. “Jesus!”
Trembling from the nightmare and his memories, he marched down the hall to the kitchen where he loaded four bottles of beer onto a tray. If he wanted to sleep he knew he’d have to drink all four. He’d been down this road before, too many times. He wasn’t about to give up another night’s sleep.
And this is your life, Lex Sanders.
For now anyway.
Tomorrow is another day.
Maybe it’ll be better.
Don’t count on it.
I never have.
He thought about Ariel Hart and how pretty she was in the movie. Maybe tomorrow would be a better day.
Five
It was a glorious place, a, fairyland, and it smelled better than fifty Christmases combined. A special place, so special only she and Felix knew about it. Special because it was their honeymoon suite. She curled herself into a little ball next to her new husband. “Isn’t it wonderful, Felix? You were my only true friend in the whole world and now you’re my husband and my friend. I wish we could tell everyone. I wish we never had to leave. I wish . . . ”
“You can’t wish your life away Aggie. Wishes are nice. I made a list once and called it my wish list. I pretended I had a fairy godmother and she told me to write down everything I wanted. She said I should call it my wish list and when one of my wishes came true I should put a gold star next to it. I didn’t have any money to buy gold stars so I colored one in with my little sister’s crayons. My first wish was that you would like me. My wish turned out better than the one I wrote down. You love me. Maybe I’ll put two stars next to the wish. I’m going to keep it forever and ever.”
“I’ll do the same, ” she whispered. “Will we look. at each other’s lists?”
“They should be secret. You can see mine if you want. Maybe we should make a pact not to show each other until we’re old in rocking chairs.”
“Okay. Are you going to kiss me? Are you going to touch me all over?” How breathless her voice was.
“I want to touch you all over. Will you touch me?”
“All over?”
“I want you to.”
“Then I will. I’ll do whatever you want me to do.”
“Will you always love me, Aggie?”
“Forever and ever. Will you always love me, too?”
“Until the day I die. I’m going to get a good job and give you everything. I’m going to love you so much. Every day I’ll tell you how much I love you. You’re so beautiful. I wish I had a picture of you. Will you give me one?”
“My parents don’t take pictures anymore. They used to take a lot of them when I was little. Do you want one when I started school? I think I was six. Do you have any pictures of yourself?”
“No. We don’t even have a camera. We should have a wedding picture. You might be sad when we get older and you don’t have a picture to show our children. I can go back to the padre and ask him for some paper and a pencil and we can draw ourselves. Would you like me to do that, Aggie?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
When Felix returned with the paper and pencil, they sat cross-legged in the fern bower like the children they were. They stared solemnly at one another as their fingers traced each other’s likeness. When they had every contour memorized, they took pencil in hand.
“I want to keep this, but my mother goes through my things. You have to keep it, Felix. Do we get a marriage certificate? You should keep it, too.”
“All right. Our marriage certificate is in Spanish. I have a safe place where I can keep it. No one will ever know until we want them to know.”
“I want you to kiss me, Felix.
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