Helen (2/3)

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

                                                                            as night embedded the seashore . . .

the storm blew itself out over the Pacific

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

his telephone rang as he stepped out of the shower

he answered it before it went to messages  but before he could say Hello
--   You really dont have a cellphone  You werent kidding me

   
--   Hey yeah   no cellphone

Why would I kid you

--   I didnt think you were that funny at the beach

--   I wasnt trying to be funny

--   But you come off funny  Funny ideas about how things  not  shouldnt    no  not shouldnt

but ought to be

As if you saw them that way    Not the way they are

You try to force things your way

--   Are you a shrink  You never said

--   You never asked  Youre still not asking  are you

--   Asking if youre a shrink

 

Not what you do  I see what you do I like what you do I like what I see

--   You do

--   I do  Almost swallowed my tongue  Aint seen anything like you since I saw Botticellis

The Birth of Venus  Ive only seen pictures of her  Venus    until to-day

--   Jesus

--   What

--   Thats an amazing line

--   Line

--   Are you truly likening me to Venus

--   If you were standing where I was standing this morning  unsuspecting    yes     Hair

The only difference I might suggest is that your breasts are   considerable larger     

not that I would bitch

--   You could notice   my breasts are larger

--   Sounds like youre familiar with the painting  Youd agree

--   I . . . Im  . . . Im not talking to you about my breasts over the telephone

--   At dinner then

--   Im not talking to you about my breasts at dinner either

--   Are you letting your breasts come between us   we just met

--   How did we get here

--   Between your breasts

--  That remark didnt sound innocent

--   Guilty as charged  You didnt have to come back home this morning and try not to think of your breasts and have work to do  detailed work

I was titillated a little pity for the peanut gallery huh

--   You did say  pea nut  gallery

--   What did you think I said

--   No  no   no

--   Youre gonna let something else come    between us arent you

--   I . . . I think Ive forgotten why I called

--   For what its worth

It sounds like you called to sexually harass me Which I find refreshing Usually guys are crude

I like that you jumped in feet first into the fray

                                                                              Im not adverse to a strong  agile  woman

who can stand with the best of em  Hell Im curious how I might have stood in that storm surge

this morning  beside you or at your feet

--

--   Pea nut gallery  Vaudeville

I may have blood ties to it  Someone in family may have turned a trick or two on one side or other of the bit

--   This is probably the reason why you dont have a cellphone  You couldnt talk in public like this

--   Oh no dont you tell me that  Youve heard the bullshit people talk in public  No filter  Like they and whoevers on the other side are the only two people in the world  Utterly unconscious oblivious to the people around them  as if they were deaf or spoke another language  Ugly Americans  Anywhere everywhere in the world

--   Probably true

--   Was it about dinner this evening

--   What

--   Dinner  Were you calling about dinner tonight

--   Shit Yes  Are you a mind reader too

--   I can read exactly what youre thinking  now

--   Save it buddy 

      

--   I like you calling me  buddy

--   Maybe if you remember what Im thinking about right now  at this moment  we can talk about it after dinner

--   For dessert

--   That was a little emphatic

--   I am emphatic

--   Im thinking nuts

--   I thought we were waiting for dessert  Tonight

--   Stop

--   Coitus interruptus  Latin  You speak Latin

Am I ducking a bullet

--   A bullet

Bullets

No

--   Im awfully hard to hit

--   Tonight

--   Yes tonight

--   Im running a little late  I am sorry well miss sunset

A half hour I think  Not too much more if a little longer

--   You want me to run up your way

--   No  Ive been wanting to eat at the wharf for some time  I cant talk my friends into eating there

--   Well  Now you have a new friend that you neednt talk into going  Ill be waiting for you

--   I am looking forward to this evening

Thank you

--   I am too

Soon

--   Yes  Soon

he very nearly stretched the coil out of the telephone cord

he hadnt notice the tension in the line and now  recognizing it  he was grateful it was anchored

to the wall

looked like he was going to have to replace it  flaccid  listless 

                                                                                                        everything he wasnt

he returned the receiver to its cradle and wondered  no he didnt  he could wait without waiting

he had a few books he was reading  juggling back and forth between  hed towel off  throw on some shorts and burn that extra halfhour at playtime or nonfiction  something was always begging at his sleeve wanting him to pay attention to it

 

because of the construction of his mind he tried not to keep pets

thats why he had a cat

the cat didnt need him either

                        

they were a good fit

he split his time between a history and a scifi  they were eerily alike  twisted

they both irritated him

he was grateful then for the fresh air and walk to the wharf after he dressed

the air was fresh scrubbed  the onshore breeze was slightly seasoned with a mist of salt

he hadnt been to the restaurant in a while and couldnt flip through the menu in his head

they were successful at maintaining a few standards favorites while experimenting with

or exploiting their clienteles taste buds

hed eaten things there he doubted would have ever found their way into his mouth anywhere else

he crossed the seaside road and walked at its uneven shoulder beside the water

it was flat

tide was in  high

it looked like a vast black mirror  lights slipped sideways on it

along the wharf the sparse overhead lamps had bulletpointed doppelgangers   it looked like a runway tipped on its side or a gantry to launch canistered souls to the Far East  lesser souls  prisoners  dribbling off into Australia

a vast black mirror

 

he stood on it like ice

looking down through it he saw her hands were quietly perched to her breasts                              

                                                                                                                                her hips

turned exquisitely  resting on her left  her right like a slice of the moon laced by red fabric

and hollowed warmly by a shadow running down her belly

there were no shadows on her face

her head was extended proudly back on her long neck like a perfect sculpture 

                                                                                                                                her eyes

untroubled  opened wide

her long hair wound in marl  coral  and sparse dull green weed

sandgrit shellbits and fishbone static  dusting her face  highlighting its lovely contours

2300-ish,  Sunday,  25  1. 15

2037,  Thursday,  29 1. 15