Page 209 of Falling Backwards
Her smile grows before it softens again.“I miss me at your apartment too.”
I tell her seriously, “Come back anytime.”
“Day or night?”she checks just as seriously.
“Mmhmm.”
“Okay.”
A joke about blanket stealing halfway blooms in my mind, and her eyes slip over my lips and the rest of me, and mine do the same to her, and I silently will myself not to fall into this most perfect trap towards memory territory while I’m behind the wheel of a car….
As if on cue, the red glow being cast on us turns green.I have to turn my attention from anything that isn’t driving.
I face forwards and get us going again.As I glance around at my mirrors not only to check traffic but to check that no one particularly suspicious is behind us, it dawns on me that nothing weird has happened with Kyle the last few days.When did we last see him?Sunday?
“Thank you for this holiday,” Maggie says.“I had an amazing time with you.Felt happy and safe.”
I smile because I love those words, on top of feeling encouraged about Kyle.I don’t look over to her, but I hold my hand out for her to take.She does, right away, and notches our fingers together tightly.
“It was amazing and happy for me too,” I tell her.“And you’re welcome.”I pause, then remind her, “I’m all yours.You’ve got me and you can count on me.”
She lifts our tangled hands to her face and nuzzles them with her cheek.I do my best to brush at her soft skin with my thumb.
“Back at you, Luke,” I hear her murmur.
A minute passes in silence, and then we start talking about the shopping we did today before work.It was hectic because of the Black Friday shoppers, but it felt good to finally buy stuff for the homeless shelter and food bank and drop it all off.The couple of staff members we spoke to were bright and grateful; the ones at the shelter said they were in great need of a particular few items we brought, so that made us even more glad to be donating.
“That was an unforgettable feeling,” Maggie says.“That feeling of having done something to help people.”
“God, I know,” I agree, recalling how I felt as we were getting back in my car to leave the shelter.‘Unforgettable’is the exact right word for it.“I wanted to do more good.Stillwant that.”
“Me too.Sometime soon, we’ll have to figure out what to do next and who to do it for.”
“Absolutely.”
“The women’s shelter would be a good choice.”
I nod.“Women and kids escaping bad situations, right?”
“Yep.”
“Yeah, I love that idea.”
“I bet they’d need similar things to what the homeless shelter needed, but we can call and….”
By the time we’re parked in her apartment’s lot, we’re freshly excited to do more donating to this new place.The night is frigid and the ground is wet from the rain that was here earlier, so we carefully walk towards the building with her under one of my arms and her arm around me.As usual, I keep checking around us for any sign of Kyle, satisfied that there’s still none at all.
I don’t mention it to Maggie.I just join her in voicing unsympathetic views on people who abuse others.
Thinking about assholes like that makes me hot with anger just as it makes something in me hurt for thosetheyhurt.There’s a tightness to Maggie’s tone when she says she doesn’t know how she’d react if she ever witnessed someone being treated meanly like that.
“Well,” I say, “if it turns out you can’t keep from throwing punches and you get arrested, I’ll bail you out of jail.”
She doesn’t laugh, and I’m glad because I’m not kidding.She just says, “Thank you.I’ll bail you out, too, if you’re the one who gets in trouble for putting some sorry bitch in their place.”
I stamp a kiss to her hair.“Thanks.The trouble would be worth it.”
“Sure would.”
