Читать книгу The Special One - James Griffin - Страница 4

Her eyes were closed, yet she could still see the colors; no, she could feel the colors as they shone down on her face. Mike had slid part way off her body to allow her to breathe easier as he fell asleep, his wet face breathing heavily into her left ear. The late afternoon sun was streaming in through the stained glass windows on the west side of the turret room, or the attic, in Mike’s mom’s house.

She could smell the mustiness of the exposed timbers, even the hardened droplets of sap that had hung from those rough sawn rafters for over 150 years. She could smell the dust, the mites, even the distant scent of moth balls coming from a corner closet of old coats and gowns. And she could smell the skin of the young naked man lying on top of her, spent, and his hair oil. She imagined she could even smell the warm daylight, as it cast its deep oranges and light greens of the glass on her 22 year old face.

Opening her eyes slightly, in a dreamy state of clouded vision she chose to hold, Rhetta stared at the window, at the lily at the center of the top sash. As the sun made its way across that hour, it lined up perfectly behind that lily, emboldening it to Easter-like proportions. The sweat on her breasts was starting to feel chilly, but the light moved across her upper body just at the right time, warming her like a blanket.

It was just a stored mattress and box spring set they had been using for the past few months, with a thin blanket thrown across and one bare pillow with no pillowcase. The mattress used to be Mike’s parents’, but now they had twin beds. It was quite stained.

Rhetta felt Mike stir inside her, for there he had remained as he passed out. He kissed her at the nape of her neck as he awoke, growing again as he moved slowly in his rhythm, that rhythm he claimed he couldn’t help whenever they even just stood next to one another and kissed. He whispered her real name, the one she said she hated, but loved when only he used it. “Lorhetta… Lorhetta… Are you in there? Has anyone seen Lorhetta? I need to find her so, so badly…”

She couldn’t help but give it up and smiled, then broke out in a laugh, which tightened her muscles so much he almost came right out of her. “Hey! Stop laughing! This is serious business I’m taking care of here!”

With that, she totally lost it, as did he, as they rolled across the old mattress giggling, clutching at each other. He wound up on top of her, a droplet of sweat from his forehead dripping down right into her right eye. “Ow! That stings!”

She rolled him over now, straddling him, holding his hands down next to his head. He feigned the role of captive as she leaned forward, brushing his face lightly with her breasts. As Mike tried to catch one in his mouth, Rhetta’d pull away, teasing him.

Finally, she sat back, “holding” him down with one hand on his chest as she reached underneath herself, finding him, readying him, then putting him back inside her body. She was now in control, and he smiled.

As she slowly moved up and down, she smiled at him. He always smiled at her, even while alone thinking about her. They were in love. And they thought it would last forever.

She leaned down closer, but they didn’t lose sight of each other’s eyes. Gaining in intensity now, their smiles grew to gritted teeth as the tempo increased. They never said so aloud, but each enjoyed the other’s eyes at this moment the best of all, especially in those final seconds when she thought he’d just about start to weep in the pleasure of it. And afterward, she watched the life drain out of him, as he took on the look of a sleeping boy, soaked in sweat, she the boy’s loving mother.

How she loved to watch him sleep.