Page 33 of You've Got a Place Here, Too
“How is that going to help me for the exam?”
“The best way to check if you know something
is to try and teach it.”
Her tongue darted out and touched her bottom lip,
and on cue my groin tightened.
I walked through the steps with Melody asking questions
and setting up scenarios. After an hour she shut down
the simulator. “You did great. You’re a quick study.”
I smiled. It felt so natural to sit in a plane and consider how I’d
navigate situations above land.
“You ever been to Moton Field at night?”
We parked her car near what had once been an airfield,
but had been transformed into an airport and museum.
Eighty years ago, it was where Hotesse trained.
The sky above looked like shine freckled ink, each star
its own island of bright. “I haven’t seen a sky like this
since I left D.R.,” I said. Melody nodded.
“I grew up in the country where every night
looked like this. It’s hard in the city.”
We lay on the hood of her car and spoke quietly.
At some point my hand touched hers and neither one of us
moved. “You’d be down to study with me again tomorrow?”
I asked into the night air.
She squeezed my hand. “Same time, same place.”
All of my imaginings about Melody
were like sketch drawings in comparison to the vividness of her.
And I imagined a lot, but not her warmth, her sweetness,
her love for her family, her plans to go into space engineering.
She laughed from her belly and it would shake her whole body.
She hummed when impatient, she cursed loudly
