Deadly Compromises by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview
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Chapter 20
On December 15 Kelly was already at the river when Bobby showed up at 9:15AM. They walked slowly toward each other.
Kelly screamed; “You’re late!”
Bobby threw his hands out to the sides and mumbled; “I’m probably close.”
She registered a lesser outrage when she said; “Don’t you wear a watch?”
“No, I can tell the time closely enough by the sun’s position.”
Now, sounding placated, or entertaining a new thought, she said; “So, How do you adjust for Daylight Savings Time and the night?”
“I don't know. I just do. At night I use the stars. It’s really irrelevant because I never make night appointments anyway.”
She smiled; “That could change.”
He wanted to say something weird and tried; “When you look at the sky, you can count the stars, but still not feel or see the light.”
“Far fuckin’ out. That sounds a lot like ‘You can’t see the forest for the trees.’”
Starved for a comeback, he giggled at her and added;
“Hmmm...... I’m not sure, but I think not. It means precisely what the words say. Maybe someday I’ll be able to articulate it better.”
Kelly laughed warmly; “I wouldn’t mind teaching you some new vocabulary.”
“I’d like that very much.”
It was around 20 degrees on a morning exhibiting reasonable sunshine. They hugged and kissed. She said; “I’ve really missed you.”
Bobby was upbeat upon seeing her. He forgot anything that he was the least bit nervous about and confidently said; “Soon.
Soon we’ll be together for eternity. I can’t wait.” He lifted her off the ground and spun around quickly.
When he put her down, she said; “I don’t know about eternity. I think I’ll have had enough after eighty years or so.”
He pinched her rosy cheek and said; “We’ll see. Hey, is everything going well for you?”
“The cops paid me a surprise visit a week ago. I think I handled it well. They haven’t been back since.”
“Excellent. No news at my end. I’ve been thinking about you.”
“What do you think?”
“More than you probably expect. I think you’re great, you’re perfect and I love you more than anyone else can love anything.”
Kelly said smiling: “That doesn’t sound possible.”
“It’s unexplainable. I keep getting a message from somewhere that we’re two souls who met and fell in love in heaven.
It was my job to find you and repeat the process on earth. Or sometimes I think we were two parts of something split part at the big bang. We’ll never be complete until we’re together.”
She stared, surprised. “Where did that come from?”
“It just popped into my head. It’s the same old story though. Everything else is distraction. The only thing that matters is us being together.”
“You’re becoming a space pilot. Don’t change on me. I love you with both your feet on the ground.”
“They are on the ground. I occasionally fly away, but I can come back whenever I want. I’m with you here and I’m with you there.”
Kelly replied; ““Sometimes I think of us as two birds, the last of our species, flying together.”
“If someone hears us now, we’ll probably be incarcerated for something other than murder.”
She put her arms around his neck and said; “I want to fly some more.”
“Let’s show ’em what they wished they could do.”
They smiled gently and happily and stared into each other’s eyes.
She said; “It’s very cold out.”
“This sounds like a role reversal of last time.” He got on his knees and, with difficulty, started to undo the button and zipper of her well stuffed jeans....
Gentle music came from somewhere.
She led him in a different direction than last time. They walked along a clear, easy path, so wide in most places they could walk side by side. A lot of the old cottonwood trees had shed large branches, which lay on the ground. They passed through easily, with only minimal attention to the few hazards and entered a grassy area. She directed him out of it to a densely wooded area, new and outrageously gorgeous to him, which they followed to an opening. They scooted through a large field, which appeared to be occasionally mowed. Even though that couldn’t be the case, they both found it as appealing as a lawn. They crossed its ten acres and turned toward the river to where there were only coyote paths, some horse prints and no evidence of human foot incursion.
She sat on a broken log. He settled as close to her as possible and put an arm around her. He said; “Come on, Kelly. Hold me.
We’ve got to keep each other warm.” For the first time in her recent memory she silently did exactly what she was told. She liked the new feeling and thought that she’d continue to...... at least for a while.
She said; “I once got chased and stung by about 20 bees right around here.”
“Eek. Are you allergic?”
“No, but their stings hurt for some time. I was surprised because, usually bee stings are pretty mild in New Mexico. I was walking one of my dogs through an area with tall grass. He started to bolt and I saw a bunch of bees on him. I started to brush them off and then they just jumped on me. We ran about 50
feet and they were gone. We both got stung five or six times.”
“That’s nice that you loved your dog so much.”
“Ah, it’s instinctive. It’s one of the biggest adventures I’ve had walking here. I’ve been here thousands of times. When it warms up a little, I’m going to bring some wine and food for us.”
“At 9AM?”
“Sure. I do like my wine.”
They spent another half hour enjoying pointless chit chat and looked at the sky for birds. They started walking back the same way they had come. She grabbed his hand and led him on a small diversion, to an area on the banks of the river frequented by fishermen and a lot of would be fishermen.
“The river’s usually low this time of year. The fish come here because the water’s warmer and much slower moving.”
They could see some of the fish. They watched them a while. Carp occasionally broke to the surface as there was some water only two feet deep. They made a slapping sound on re-entry, always getting Bobby and Kelly’s attention.
She pointed at one of the acrobatic show offs, smiled wickedly at Bobby and said; “Someone once told me they were dirty bottom feeders.”
Bobby sheepishly grinned and thought a few seconds. He replied; “I don’t really understand. I can take that two ways.
Who says the bottom is dirty? Isn’t that the best soil? Or, who says the feeders are dirty? They’re right in the water getting a constant bath.” The remaining swallows flew around in circles, noisily.
Kelly looked in his eyes, made a wry smile and said; “I like your questions. The answers are implied.”
She pointed up river at a piece of land that jutted into it. She said; “Lately, I’ve been seeing an ibis over there, but when I get to the spot, I never find it. It’s a difficult point to get to.”
“Want to try it now?”
“No, let’s head back. I’m starting to really feel the cold.”
They walked silently back the way they came. When they got to their cars, he took her hands, looked in her eyes and said,
“Soon.”
She nodded and mumbled; “Soon.”
He let go of her hands, put his arms tightly around her waist, pulled her to him and said; “God damn it, Kelly. Not soon enough. The day went so fast.”
Kelly held him, both happy and sad that he said what he did. She made no reply. She looked into his eyes, broke away and entered her car.
Bobby’s eyes were fixed on her as she drove away. He thought he saw tears and then felt his own.