Elzi.
Letters L an Z abbreviation for
names you were given but don like Otto
Bob great if dyslectic theres George WhellGeorge whadaya think Georgeduh
she giggled No. Given. Parents creatives.
Not Elsieexcuse me the cow the
Borden Dairy symboladvertisementcaricature
giggled again No. Z and ends with I . . like memento mori,
you know memento mori?
Ofcourse memento object reminder souvenir
of a person or event Mori ending with an
I Latin to die verb morier mori mortuus
sum or the always favouriteclassic gladiators line nos morituri te salatamus we who are going to
die salute you
Memento
mori
You know Latin?
I dabble bits and pieces
A history buff?
Am now not in schoolrequired to
graduate high school don know if thawas a requirement for you so rather than suffer
an entire year I did summer school six weeks five days a week eight to twelvethirty
passed with a C
A C. I never got one of those.
A D
Never got one of those.
I got two but thawas passing Geometry
physics both teachers said they had never seen a student try so hard but fail
an in good conscience they couldnt fail me although freshman year junior senior got As in math physical science
biology chemistry two As
a
Bplus
wasnt stupid concepts didnt gel Geometrys too linear I don work thaway
Not Elyse
No, though it’s a pretty name. Elzi. E L Z I.
they met on a cross country bus he
didnt see her get onwouldnt have missed her
couple hours later the bus
stopped for a breaksaw her she saw him
after two state lines she
approached him in a diner on route dinner
break driver swap
Excuse me, would it be okay if I sat an ate with you?
he stood too quickshe laugheddidnt
cover her mouth exposed deep dimples
Yahsure please
he extended his hand Joe
she set her foodtray on the
table took his I’m Elzi.
their trip ended in Seattle she sat beside him the final states was returning to U W for her senior year he was visiting his daughter
he carried hisher onboard bags
off the bus then gathered their other bags from its belly a classmate was coming to collect her he was taking
transfers local buses to meet his daughter at work had told her not to lose
time his was unencumbered
he carried their bags to the
street before the transit station
My ride should be here
in twenty minutes.
My bus goeshmmwha
time is it
she looked at her wristwatch Crazy eleveneleven . I love this tim . .
.
. Stop ya kiddin me my daughter an I text it if either of us catch it he went for his cellphone inside his jacket
Eleventwelve.
Nuts
Goodness, that disappointing?
I cant tell ya the times Ive seen it an then Im late
Eleventwelve.
A sinister time if ever there was
You’re a piece of work.
Thank you
a car hornsounded was directed at them
Elzi looked My ride. she turned to him It’s my ride.
Your rides here
It is.
Oh
Uhoh.
he smiled
Im gonna miss ya he hugged her hardshe hugged him back they leanedaway still in one another
arms it was awkwardhe thought rawawkwardness I want to kiss you
I want you to kiss me
it was a deep kiss
a
soulful kiss
car horn
still kissing
car horn
still kissing
horn
they came up out of the warmestblue
to breath
I
think my boyfriends upset with me.
Your
boyfriend
You didnt say
Would you believe
me if I said I forgot?
Yes
I
forgot. That’s your fault.
AM, Twosday,
30 5. 23
1256, Twosday
