Helen (1/3)

She stood up in the shallows between rollers on her hind legs ahead of the spastic sea and ambled towards the beach against the running slick of bronzed sand black rock and pebbles

and hints of white glitter  paper trash and smashed bits of seashell

he couldnt help but watch her come in

a sneaking admiration

despite his athleticism  he had doubts he would have tried a swim to-day

 

and the water was cold

--   Hey

--   Hey yeah  she roused him from his reverie  his eye glommed on her  Big water

--   Yeah  Got big quick

Didnt think the oncoming storm would be pushing the sea just yet  though could feel it like electricity when I went in

Ive seen you around

--   Yes  Im around  Live just up the beach from here

Ive seen you too

she walked right up to him and stuck her hand out

--   Helen

--   Throwback name  Joe

--   Named for an elderly aunt   My parents tell me she snarled when they told her they named me for her  She thought Helen was a miserable name  She went by El  I got to agree with her  I go by El to my friends

--   Are we friends

--   Making small talk  dont know why  Whats the word       loquacious      Im not usually loquacious  but maybe you standing there watching me come up from the surf  watching me for nearly half a football field  makes me    ah         curious

You never turned your eyes

--   I suppose from where you were it appeared I didnt

I cant say I even saw you coming

I was admiring you in the rough water  under a darkening sky  particularly when I was thinking

I wouldnt be in there    and often I am

Probably thinking you were the better man to-day
 

--   Ha  you ought to look again

--   Ive been looking  thank you

--   Oh  So you were looking                                                                                                             Youre welcome

--   Not the whole time  though now   And you look cold . . .

--   Oh what keen eyes you have

--   . . . as I was saying . . .you look cold  Would you like my jacket until you reach your car

--   A gentleman

--   Not so much  Just prefer my mother not appearing out of thin air to berate me in front of you for not offering you my jacket or walking streetside with me between you and traffic

--   Old school

--   No  Just raised polite

Some women spite it

I know where theyre coming from  but from where I come from I dont care what they think

Chauvinist perhaps  Not a feminist wrong  Misogynist nah like an old coboy I once overheard say  I loves the weemins I deeply do

But maybe his comment was an assurance that he was wellhung

--   So  Youre loquacious

--   Stomp on my foot and Ill scream

--   Yeah ok  Ill happily take your coat

--   Great  I think I earned me a boy scout patch

--   Are you real

--   Me  Are you real  Youre the one who emerged from a wicked sea  I suppose well see if you make it to the car before your legs turn into a tail

 

and you fall flat on your face

Id help you up in a heartbeat you understand

--   For another boy scout patch

--   I think theyd make me an Eagle scout for catching a mermaid

--   Youre not holding your breath are you

--   No  I couldnt talk  excuse me  be loquacious  if I was

her eyebrows jumped a tad bit higher than before

She likes me  he thought

Loquacious   he likes me  she thought

they made a dinner date for that evening  either for sunset or a sunset interrupted by storm

they were hoping for the storm

he returned home to work from his place

one of the few perks he finally managed to squeeze management for

logging on he was advised he was late  on-line or in-office  always attended by those miserable myopic snitches

he wondered if there wasnt a louse powder he could purchase and disperse and have them all choke to death

  

he knew who they were and they loved being known who they were  and for all their magickal powers  they imagined

gamers

who he thought were unhinged  and suffering disabilities teamed by virtual prowess 

it was maddening not to be able to take them out back in the uncomfortably sterile alley behind the office and settle things in a manly way                                                                     

                                                                               and he was talking about the women

his male cohorts  he wouldnt dirty his hands on  their technological workplace smelled of hypermercury and disinfectant  craps still tucked up asses because regular bowel movements seemed a commodity only upper-grade employees enjoyed the protection of

there was talk at keeping him chained up at his desk  his supervisor  attempting supervision

he didnt need

he told him You wanna keep me at my desk  Ill commit  Ill stay put sit tight and promise

and you know me and my promises   and Ill shit in my wastebasket rather than use the corporate equality unisex toilet  You know me to be a man of my word

his word went immediately upstairs on the shrill nervous voice of his supervisor

and while he wasnt called upstairs he could feel their eyes through the glass floors above his glass ceiling

They had a problem

                                 but their problem provided immaculate work and they made money off his labor

to their credit they recognised part of the problem was their supervisors angst and mental anguish  he supposed that why managers existed

                                                                                            it  a visceral physical reaction

to be playing with chemicals at odds with one another

they tried keeping them in glass stoppered bottles on the shelf  side by side

perhaps now they saw the wisdom in not doing the same thing over and over again and

expectingSurprise! different results

a fast wisdom came down placing them not only in separate rooms      but miles apart

 

of course management cautioned him if his work suffered hed have to return to the office frequently

                     he replied he appreciated that they recognised the value of incentivising him

it probably would have been better received if he didnt smirk

but some smirks you just dont repressed

he copied the snitches on the completed data hed finished early  two evenings prior

ahead of schedule

Choke on that you miserable muthafuckers  came up out of the well of his body abruptly into

the quiet room overlooking the choppy sea     

                                                                                  a beautiful silent complement

his work melted away and the alarm he set to shower for the night chimed unexpectedly

if he could figure out where Time goes whether he was having fun or not hed be complete

               Simple mortal youll not be granted that   Gawd often spoke through him

they were meeting to have dinner on the wharf  a straight-forward seafood place served on white stoneware platters  with flatware and big linen napkins to protect your lap and wipe your mouth at the same time

she said she preferred beer

if shed preferred wine before or with dinner hed have to drive further down the coast to meet her  a wellknown square place of trappings      though sensational seafood

he only knew of it by mistake

he soaped and showered

who knew what his hair was doing  hed given up on that  the spinoff was it contributed to his boyish good looks  he had more cowlicks than you could shake a stick at but he wasnt going to wear a buzzcut that would tame them  too many skinheads walking around these days that he had nothing in common with or whatever they thought their cropped heads or bald heads or tattoos said

a quick aerosol of stink  

                                       Stink  to this day it killed his mother to hear him refer to cologne as stink

Stink isnt smelling nice  You know that

Yeah but stink aint smelling like me either

Youre not in France

he didnt get that

not that she should know that because shed never been out of America

but he did catch a whiff of  the musk  off a Frenchman who was visiting a woman he knew and who threw a party for him to introduce him to all her friends

he got the broken-English Frenchman off to the side not to long into the party and asked him why he didnt shower before the party  You stink man

the Frenchman was offended

he was so offended by his remark that he told their hostess

and she was incensed with him  even more so than Frenchie  hed truly forgotten his name and he was good with names but the stink in his nose erased his name struck an offset in his brainWOW

glaring at him she asked what the hell he thought he was doing

Doing  Trying to breath and not retch You cant smell that

she asked him to leave

 

he told her as he left  I hope your upholstery doesnt smell like that when hes gone

a quick aerosol of stink always run that loop through his head

he didnt regret running her through his head  they had had their time before the Frenchman and if she couldnt smell him then Frenchie might have an unforgettable time too

Better stop thinking like that  Youll be preoccupied with sex when you meet her  he said to himself as he walked

When am I not preoccupied by sex

a clip from the Big Lebowski looped in his head  Maude  Its a male myth about feminists that we hate sex  It can be a natural zesty enterprise

How can you not be preoccupied by a natural zesty enterprise

the storm blew itself out over the Pacific

a picturesque sunset was warming up  itd been nice to watch through a pint of Imperial IPA

the seafood house had an excellent selection of Northern California beers

he wondered who they killed to get the distribution

--   Youre so violent

--   Im violent  I was protecting you

--   You dont think I can protect myself

--   You wanted his hand on your tit  The expression on your face and eyes werent telling me that

--   You didnt give me a chance to stop him

--   You stood there You were shocked I did what comes natural to me

--   I dont like it

--   And you dont have to  Say thank you  Youre welcome  Ill not call you any more

another loop that played on occasion

he heard she went over to France after Frenchie returned there after a couple of months of living on her dime

walking towards the wharf  under the slip of his bemusement  he saw blue amber lights flickering like bugs before the screen of marbled tall clouds and a pinktinged sky

and sudden  awkward  beams  like drunken shooting stars

                                                                                                    just this side of the wharf

up from the heavy timbered span leading out towards the ocean where huge rocks were piled

atop one another and made up a loose impressive seawall   the rocks the vertebrae  were brought down from the mountains spine that overlooked this swept of coast

the closer he got he could see the yellow police tape strung  a fragile barrier  at the top of the rocks where they began their descent towards the water 

 

officers kept onlookers at bay

traffic was snarled  taillights  the sweep of their headlights were becoming more pronounced

he didnt get there on his legs . . .

he found himself in midair

looking down on the waters surface where the rocks  bird spattered  took a deep breath and went underwater 

thin undulating cellophane   stretched over and containing what tomorrow mornings rags would pronounce  and the public would chew  then spit out and try their opinions their two-bits to anyone who would pay the slightest attention   anywhere

spewing  vying their fictitious accounts                                                                                           

                                                                seeking to be primary to making of a bona fide chain on Facebook

looking down through stretched seal  her face only inches beneath the waters surface

petite silver bubbles of air at her eyelashes  her eyes open  staring back at him

her head gently rocking no  no   no

she wouldnt be meeting him for a beer  or dinner      ever

the police were oblivious to him

her head gently rocking no  no   no

there was no surprise or horror on her face   calm  a pale Kewpie doll  pursed lips  just so

looking up  unseeing  at him

she was wearing an expensive red bikini  fitted perfectly to her form  and wrapped in a tasteful black lace mesh kimono

he could see no injuries  bruises   hemorrhaging

she looked as if she laid down  nestled herself comfortably among the rocks   and let high tide sweep in  and up   and over her 

                                                                            as night embedded the seashore

. . . as he left   

                       I hope your upholstery doesnt smell like that when hes gone

2300-ish,  Sunday,  25  1. 15

2037,  Thursday,  29 1. 15