Saturday, January 22, 2005

Santa Cruz

That night. That particular night. That night after I got shot in the leg by a metal clip from the cardboard crusher. That's when I told Darlene about the child. The unborn child.

I woke up on the floor of the warehouse. Smelling nasty ammonia in my nose and the fireman that looked like Hal and another fireman and Richard and Merry and Darlene were there, around me, looking down at me. and my head ached, the back of my head, where I had hit it on the cardboard crusher. I tried to touch my head back there but my head was strapped down when I tried to lift it and so were my arms and my legs.

"Okay, buddy?" the fireman who looked like Hal said.

"Let's get him into the ambulance." the other fireman said.

"Hey," I said, "Am I okay?"

"We're just gonna take you to the hospital to check you out." the fireman who looked like Hal said, "X-ray your leg and stuff."

"You may have a fracture," Richard said.

Darlene's eyes were all puffed up. Couldn’t hardly see her hazel eyes behind the lids. Her neck was bunched under her chin and she held a Kleenex that was pretty soggy in her hand. That Kleenex looked more like a wad of cotton, there were trembling drops of water hanging under Darlene's hand.

"You'll be all right," Darlene said. But her voice was shaking all over the place, and it lost it's sound on the last word. Her mouth was too rolled up from crying to talk.

"I'll be fine. Get me at the hospital," I said, "Take my car."

Darlene nodded.

"Keys are on my belt loop." I said. "You got my pants?"

I could tell I didn't have my pants on by the way my crotch felt. The way the blanket felt on my crotch, all soft and loose. My pants are hard and tight feeling.

The fireman who looked like Hal pulled something from under my feet and gave it to Dar.

"Hold onto my wallet," I said.

Darlene nodded. The fireman who looked like Hal and the other fireman picked the stretcher up with me on it and carried me out to the truck, to the ambulance.


The doctor told me I didn't have a fracture but just a big bruise that was gonna hurt and look ugly for a while and he gave me a pain killer and a muscle relaxer and told me to use cold compresses and take it really easy for a week or two. He gave me a prescription for more pain killers and muscle relaxers and asked if I had a ride home. I told him about Darlene and he went and found Darlene where she was waiting in the waiting room.

Darlene drove us to the pharmacy where I waited in the car while she got cold compresses and the prescriptions filled. She drove us back to her house, to her parent's house way up in the hills, way up in Boulder Creek with the sun gone down and the trees all dark and moss smelling and helped me to get in bed and got me cold compresses and let me sleep. I guess she did all this, but I don’t really remember.

* * *

I woke up and Darlene was there in bed next to me, sleeping. I tried to shift a little and a sharp pain went up my leg and I hissed. That woke Darlene up.

"Hey," Dar said, "How you doing?"

"Okay, I guess," I said. "Hurts like hell when I move."

"Time for another cold compress," Darlene said. "I'll get you one."

Darlene got out of bed naked. It was dim in the room, light coming from the living room through the kitchen through the open door of the bedroom. Darlene in silhouette in the dim light. Darlene's breasts sitting heavy and full against her chest. Darlene's stomach, sloping out as it went down, then curving back sudden to her pubic hair where her legs came in on either side, soft and glowing hair like an aura in the light. Darlene's butt, curving out from her back along the same lines as her belly curving in and then her butt curving round and sudden back to her legs. Darlene's thighs, curving out in front beside her pubic hair aura and straight down in back, down to below the edge of the bed where I couldn't see. Darlene's hair, swinging around her shoulders, some of it hanging in the air around her, like defying gravity, glowing, like an aura. Darlene's shoulders and upper arms, solid and round. Darlene's arms wove patterns in the air and her breasts swayed heavy and her body snaked from side to side as she put on a robe, right arm in the robe, left arm in the robe, right hand behind head bent forward, hand under hair, flipping hair out of the back of the robe. Darlene's hands tying sash of robe.

I wanted to reach and put my arms around her waist and rub my face into her side, into that spot where her hip bone carved a line next to her stomach. I wanted to touch her belly button with my tongue and wiggle my nose into that soft shadowy funnel. I wanted her to put her hands on the back of my head while I did this and I wanted her to smooth her hands over my hair. I wanted her warm hand against my cheek on one side, her warm soft belly against my cheek on the other side. I wanted to feel the underside curve of her breasts touching the top of my head. Smell the woman smell coming from her. Hold her like this until I went to sleep.

Darlene went quiet out to the kitchen. Freezer door sucking open sound. Darlene came back wrapping the cold compress in a kitchen towel and she knee walked onto the bed, handed the cold compress in the kitchen towel to me. I put the cold compress in the kitchen towel on my leg under the covers. Darlene took her robe off facing me silhouette kneeling on the bed knees apart just enough for light to haze through her pubic hair. Her pubic hair glowed and her head hair glowed around her dark face and I reached up when she had the robe open, her hands pulling the robe back over her shoulders and I touched her breast, the smaller one. Darlene's arched back made her breasts stand up a little more. Her nipple hardened to my touch and Darlene let the robe fall back off her shoulders and didn't move, hands behind her still in the robe's sleeves. She let me slide my hand over her smaller breast and then her larger breast, back and forth until both nipples were hard and standing up and then Darlene let me slide my hand down her stomach to her belly button where my finger went around and in and then she let me slide my fingers down into the soft fur of her pubic hair, feel the curve of that hair, the permanent twisted curl of the main part of her pubic hair. Let me run my finger down over her clitoris that was a hard little ball and when my finger touched her clitoris Darlene's body shivered just a little. She let me run my fingers over the lips of her vagina, where my fingers started to get wet. She let me smear the wet around between the lips of her vagina until my finger went into her. One middle finger inside warm and wet and the other fingers close and holding the outer lips, the starting curve of her cheeks in back. Round. Full.

"Mmmm," Darlene said.

Darlene started to roll her hips forward and back, just a little. Just enough to move my finger inside her a little. Just enough to feel the wet slick sliding of lips against finger. Darlene caught her lower lip in her teeth, in the dim light just visible the shine of light on edge of front teeth.
"Mmmm," Darlene said. "Does your leg hurt?"

"What leg?" I said. Then I said. "Actually, yeah, the middle one does."

Darlene moved her hips with a little more force. I braced my elbow against my side.

"The middle one?" Darlene said. "Oh, that one. Let me see."

I pushed the sheet down with my other hand. Darlene leaned forward and put her right hand near my shoulder to hold herself up. She rocked forward on her knees and then back, arching her back up when she came forward and then down when she went back.

"Does it got a booboo?" Darlene said, "Need a kiss to get better?"

"I think so," I said.

Darlene looking down at my penis. She rocked forward on her knees, back arching up, rocked back, back arching down.

"Well, no wonder," Darlene said, "It's all swollen and red."

"Uh-huh," I said.

Darlene reached forward with her left hand. She wrapped her fingers around my penis and squeezed a little.

"Does it hurt when I do this?" Darlene said.

"Mmm" I said.

Darlene edged her knees forward, trying to move around without losing contact with my fingers. Darlene's hair fell around my penis and her hand when she leaned forward. She tried to flip her hair back out of the way, but it just floated back down over her neck, slid back down to my stomach. Then her mouth came down around me. Soft lips touching surrounding covering tongue flat wet rubbing that part, that little upside down V shaped part. Tongue in that V part like electric tiny shock. Hair floating soft and fine and cool against my stomach, over my testicles, under her hand. The ridges on the inside of her mouth, the soft finger of her tongue, every muscle in my body tightening up connected to that muscle, every bone, neckbone, backbone, hipbone, thighbone all connected to that bone and lifting me off the bed, bones and muscles suspending me from the four points of right heel left heel left shoulder, right shoulder, left leg tense hurting but far away, someone else's hurt, someone else's bruise, that bruise muffled down below cotton, down below velvet, folds of thick velvet, smooth thick wet velvet lips and velvet finger tongue, wet velvet tongue like finger on my penis and I needed some distraction.

"Hey," I said, trying to relax my back muscles. I touched her hair, the back of her head.

"What?" Dar said. Looking at me. Penis against cheek. Penis eye by Darlene's eyes, all looking at me.

"Did I hurt you?" Darlene said.

"No, I just..." I said.

"Want a mustache ride?" I said.

I had a mustache then. Just a little thin mustache. Couldn't grow a thick mustache. Not then. Not now, either. But it was enough of a mustache. To qualify. To ask the question.

"Sure," Darlene said.Darlene walked her knees over, not letting go of my penis. I put my arms up and Darlene lifted her leg over my face, solid strong padded legs calves under my arms round butt cheeks stretched wide, wet hair, wet lips open just edge lit in dim light. Just the edges showing up lighter against darker shadows, shiny edges catching spots of light, S curves like the curve of old rivers seen from above in the early morning light. Soft flowing river into blond forest. Round white hills, soft warm white hills coming down around my face. My tongue to her lips taste salt musk. Tongue to clitoris, hard little ball quiver like electric shock. Nose between lips smell salt musk woman coming smell wet and slick around my nose. Then her lips on me again, her tongue again warm wet velvet tongue finger and cool air and then warm wet and then cool air and then warm wet and her nether lips on mine, my tongue on hard little knob, her hips rocking, back arching, sound starting to come vibration around my penis, vibration of her lips saying Mmm, Mmm, Mmm and saying Mmm, Mmm, Mmm faster and higher and cool air on my penis and her mouth free, open to say Ahh, Ahh, Ahh and the bed starting to make its noise to match her noise not a squeak but a rumble the bed in time with her Ahh, Ahh, Ahh and then her rocking into my face, pushing onto my nose and tongue, Darlene taking control and I hold my neck stiff and my tongue stiff and my nose stiff and she pushes and calls and rocks herself to that spot where everything has to stop everything has to hold still for that one moment until the land slides out the ground dissolving from under her the gravity takes over the free fall begins and she only has to ride it, ride it calling loud syllables like Spanish vowels like Ah and Oh and Ooh and the ground and the sky and the beds and the blankets and the arms and the legs and the mouths and the lips and the eyes and the hands all come rolling down tumbling together, mixing until sky does not end where legs begin and ground is part of mouth and eyes are lips and teeth are blankets and dark is hand on smooth soft white round hills with a curving shining flowing river between.

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