bowled over Pt 1 of 2

he almost bowled her over coming out his front door scared the shit out of them both in a stark sudden stunning eye-to-eye face-to-face her hand raised to knock his head nonchalant lowered mechanically yanking the door open
to exit the apartment

a body in his way  he stabbed his foot to the linoleum threshold halting his bolt and compelling inertia

she nearly screamed in surprise though caught it in her throat  an feral intimation  a wicked purr

JESUSCHRISTexcuse me No ones ever at my door

No Not that Ive ever seen

Excuse me Youve ever seen

Yes

Queer response Awkward

Ahyes Awkward

That youve ever seen
Figured if I had a guardian angel itd be beefcake  not beauty

Oh no      I mean I   I  I dont know what I mean

Alright 
he stepped back away from her  suffice not to intrude on her space  affording himself room to size her up
Can I help you
she was young attractive ought to be wearing a bra under her embroidered muslin blouse its coloured stitching nearly aligned to secret her bits faded blue jeans holey from wear flat leather sandals bright face bright green eyes freckles sunstreaked auburn hair pulled up in an unconstructed ponytail

Help

No

I dont think help captures it

Captures what

Im here on your invitation  As you said

I said

Listen baby I say a lot of things   though I cant say I remember saying anything to you

Yes  You said I remember you said I should come by and see you when I was legal You said be sure I had two pictured IDs  Two forms of identity You said  I remember 

Huh I may hate to say this  but that does sound like me

It does                                      

Dont rub it inBut whats that have to do with anything

You invited me then  Im here now

I   I     Would you like to come in

Is now bad timing You were going out

Nothing that cant keep or urgent  Im curious where thisll lead

Me too

Ive thought about it often

Well the thinkings over

It is  Its nice to hear your voice again Its exactly as I remember . . .

. . . Long memory  Youre remembering more than me

I was always listening though  Your voice is exactly the same  I listened when you talked out by the pool hung on your every word

Then youd do laps Up and back up and back Once I tried to count how many you did but I lost count

I often did  Caught up in my flying reverie  Here the pool at the complex  Here

Yes here   I usually sunbathed while you swam  It didnt seem to bother you that I was at the adult pool

I remember  You rarely got in  Got in to cool down I remember   Your suit definitely wasnt a swimsuit

No it wasnt

No   It was not   A string bikini top and a thong

AwHow sweet for you to remember  So you do remember me

Hard to miss you  You were precocious

I wasnt precocious

Physically precocious

Wellyes  Physically   But then you only saw me at the pool  I was only like that at the pool when you were there
Our apartment overlooked the pool  Though to overlook the pool wasnt really necessary

You were like clockwork on weekends

I missed you when you stopped coming

When the pool wasnt for adults any longer

Thats when you stopped

Yes   Cant swim at a swimming pool when kids are throwing themselves in playing  Would you like a seat
Something to drink juice water

Water please

Ill join you

Im not keeping you

No youre intriguing me  I said it would keep  Trust me if it didnt we wouldnt be talking

I trust you

I like that  Would you like ice

No thank you

Good  A girl after my own heart

he brought tapwater in Mason jars

As I was saying I couldnt swim laps Thats why I went to the pool To swim

No

No  You wouldntve been able to swim  It became a zoo  Couldnt complain about the noise during the daytime
Kids playing screaming shouting

You didnt play and shout

I stopped going when you stopped showing

Still   I dont remember saying that to you

You did  One evening  You were sitting pool side with a friend  Having a beer  I played a trick on your friend

It wouldnt have been funny if I tried to play it on you  You didnt fit the part and that made it funnier that it was

He was doglike wolfish eying me when I came down to the pool 

He made me selfconscious

You never in all the time you swam made me feel selfconscious 

It seemed you  this will sound weird you appraised me  You found me attractive  You acknowledged me
You were respectful

In a word meat   You didnt make me feel like meat

Which it  it made the joke on your friend funnier because of my meatishness

Frank arent you

I am

Do you remember the joke  the joke I played on your friend

Yes  As a matter of fact I do

Thats when you told me to come see you when I was legal  Two forms of pictured IDs

Three years ago at least  With all the things going on in your teen life with teen friends I was a teen Those were nuts-years Making everything up as you go along I dont think your teen years would be incredible different from mine

Except

Except

Yeah   Except     Except a much earlier intrusion of a harder reality fashioned by the difference between our relative technologies

True that

ChristTrue that  Shortcut lingo    Man

So how did you remember and I didnt  I got good memory

I remember from my diary

Diary

Yes
she opened her fringed bag purse and pulled out a Moleskine

I wrote it in my diary

Very cool you kept a diary

I keep a diary  Nins a hero

You know Nin

I do

I got books by her in my bookcase

I noticed while you were getting us water  Lotsa books  Lotsa art  Looks like a museum
I like your bones  Lotsa bones

Thanks  Your diary

Yes  You know what I titled my joke on your friend

You title your entries

No  But it deserved a title dont you think

Oh I think  I remain intrigued curious  Talk The floors yours

she tapped the throwrug with the soles of her sandals  slipped them off  then rubbed her feet back and forth on it
Huhmm  The floors mine

Run with it

Well get to your IDs in a moment

she laughed and her laughter peeled off into her pronouncement of her diarys entry title  
I called it
         Jailbait and Switch

*   *   *

1630,  Saturday,  30 4. 16

1250,  Sunday,  1  5. 16