As The Petals Fall

Gregory eyed the image of the three men walking gleefully to freedom. A troubled look slowly making its way into his features. He glanced up, piercing Vixen with a sorrowful stare as she began to talk once more.

"I'm sorry for the way the world is.

Trust me, I know as well as anyone else how cruel things can be out here.

But I refuse to conform to the rules of a system that is far beyond broken."

Crumpling up the torn page, she tossed it aside in disgust.

"I don't know Greg, you may not understand, maybe you never will, but I have no other choice but to."

"The whole globe is against us Vixen!"

He suddenly exploded. The frustration built up in the tense moment finally unleashing itself as he went on.

"How are we supposed to fight that?!"

Vixen felt a twinge of resentment creep up in her gut, who was he to lose his cool when it was he who first acted on impulse anyhow? As far as she was concerned, from the first time he'd brought his lips to hers he had wholeheartedly decided that whatever this was between them, was worth going through Hell for.

"Well, forgive me for assuming if you ever really cared about me at all, that it would at least be worth a try!"

As Gregory turned to walk a small circle, anger flooded through him. Almost unconsciously, he brought the ball of his foot up to collide with the trashcan set by the end of the tunnel.

Running his hands roughly through his short dark hair, he calmed his attitude, fixing Vixen a meaningful glance as his hands came to rest around the firm of his waste.

"I'm only one man Vix," He held his arms up in submission. "How am I supposed to do this huh? How am I supposed to fix something this big?"

His voice took on an unusual tonality as he said this, sounding almost forlorn.

Walking across to a nearby bench, he seated himself, letting his sunken head drift forward with the rest of his body as his hands molded their way into fist-form, propping them up beneath head. A few tufts of hair fell over Gregory's face as he motioned to speak again. His vocal cords taking a more destitute sound.

"How am I supposed to fight the world?"

Vixen approached him warily, giving herself time to assess the intensity of his worry.

As she neared him, she slid a palm under his chin, raising his boyish gaze to hers. They watched each other for a few moments, their expressions somber.

Neither one of them truly knew what to say, or if anything more could even be stated at all in this point.

He was right in a way. How could they fight society for something so dangerous when the part of society that mattered politically would never agree with them on it?

Before her mindset could catch up with her actions Vixen brushed the smooth locks away from his eyes. If this truly marked the end of things; even though she hated herself for it, she needed to meet them full on, at least one more time.

Bending down, she brought her plump lips in to place a gentle kiss on his cheek, and was surprised to feel his face move moderately toward the action.

When she stepped back, she couldn't help but to take him in, wondering if he was doing the same. They were making the right choice for themselves, the simpler choice. So how come it felt so absolutely wrong? As her gut screamed at her mouth to protest those final bitter tasting words, Vixen's head pushed to move forward with the action.

"Goodbye Gregory."

His voice was husky and low, as he reluctantly returned her sad farewell.

"Goodbye Vix."

As she turned away, she kept her focus on walking the short distance back to Mountain High Apartments.

The only thought Vixen allowed herself to concentrate on was that she had six blocks to get her mind right. And get her mind right was exactly what she would do. She knew from the start this moment was bound to present itself at one time or another. So she'd be damned if she'd let this get the best of her. She was no weakling, and she was bound and determined to set the record straight in that department.

-A week had passed since then, and it wasn't getting any easier to face the brutal truth. He didn't want her, things were just too complicated, and that was the end of it. After all, she was used to getting the cold shoulder from men of his ethnic range.

So why did she have the strong, delusional feeling that his actions may have spoken otherwise. Vixen groaned in frustration as she plucked her cigarette butt into the ashtray.

Rising from the couch where she had seated herself during the re-run of her thoughts, she made way to the cabinet resting over her refrigerator. Making use of her slightly above-average height, she raised herself up on her tippy-toes and with ease, grasped the wooden handle. Opening the miniature door she retrieving a wine bottle from the back. As she turned it over in her palm, she found the label revealing the wine's name,

'Champagne

Cuvée Dom Pérignon 1959

Rose`'

Having been saving it for a special occasion, Vixen considered returning it to its original spot and replacing it with a bottle of lesser quality, but thinking on it, she came to the decision that now was as acceptable a time as any.

As she set it on her kitchen counter to be uncorked, she noticed a tiny, yet extravagantly decorated Christmas card dangling from the bottle's head by a string. It was shaped like a snow flake, with silvery-blue glitter lining the edges. As far as cards went, it was beautiful. So why did she not remember seeing it before? Thumbing over the small-printed words, she realized it was dated last year. As she opened to the inside, it was so immersed in festive colors it was almost too difficult to make out the tiny sentence on the bottom. By squinting a bit more, it became easier to decipher.

It read: "To Vixy, Congratulations on the new place sugar! Have one on me, Gregory."

Vixen rolled her eyes. Was there no end to this torment? Well, at least it was a gift that was about be put to good use. As she undid the cork and took a shot of the sweet red liquid, it tasted like roses and hints of white chocolate, along with the slightly bitter aftertaste from the alcohol, it was absolutely splendid as it melted its way down her throat. Momentarily distracted by the familiarity of the wine's smoothness, Vixen couldn't help but to compare the taste of it to that of the gift's original owner, even though she knew that it would eventually only bring on more frustration, some things just couldn't be helped.

Reaching through to the adjoining cabinet for a wine glass, she found herself pausing. Who was she trying to impress? Bringing her arm to rest beside her, she grabbed the bottle off the counter top and made her way down the three steps to the living room area, plopping herself comfortably on the sofa. Leaning up, she turned the small knob that controlled the television and adjusted the ears to the proper length before settling herself back into her seat. The TV emitted a slight buzzing noise as it gathered its pixels into tune. Preparing herself for another splash of luscious numbness, she tilted the bottle towards her mouth but halted mid-movement as her eyes fixated on what played on the screen.

...."Ay! The gypsies say that a lover should have gentle hands, a gentle mouth and a gentle heart."

"And a woman of the same?"

"No. She should have cruel hands, a cruel mouth, and no heart at all."

As a handsome actor landed a deep kiss on Rita Hayworth,

Vixen's mood took another turn.

"Really?" She stated the comment aloud, and in such surprise she almost took herself off guard. With a slight laugh, she let her head fall back before hesitantly raising it up again, her eyes lowered in annoyance. The irony was endless it seemed. "At this point, it only figures." she muttered bitterly after a moment.

Switching the channel turner, one thought in particular couldn't help but enter her mind as she ran a hand over her dark curls

"This is gonna be one long night."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gregory looked out from his doorway, taking in the quick coming night air. Things shouldn't have been as complicated as they were, usually he was genuine problem solver, quick to find a different route around any issue, but there was no way around this. As he racked his brain for solutions that didn't exist, he heard someone enter the room behind him.

"Still on about that Negro girl, huh Greg?" Adrian Barrot crossed the living room to an extensively stocked bookcase, fingering one of the books from the shelf and plopping himself down into an armchair that occupied the space beside it. "Shut the door will be you? It's chilly tonight. Ya know heating goes a long way when you don't invite the cold straight in." Turning from the entryway, he eyed his brother as he glanced over at him.

"Don't call her that. She's not some Negro girl. She's a person. One is better than you I might add."

As Adrian skimmed through the pages, he took in a deep breath, letting it out in an exasperated sigh. "Don't do this again, Greg. She's got a black mother, she's black. You know how it goes."

His eyebrows furrowed at the snide remark. He already had to hear this from basically the rest of humanity. He would be damned if he had to deal with it in his own house. His brother was welcome over anytime. He knew that. Growing up, they were always close. Probably closer than most considering they were only three minutes apart. But even still, there were some lines Gregory had set in place concerning his private life that he just didn't like being crossed, and Adrian had always seemed fully committed to the task of crossing every single one of them.

"And I guesses her father's side just doesn't count right? Look if you're not gonna to say anything intelligent about this then the least you can do be just shut up for once."

As he slammed the door shut and walked to leave the room, his brother's voice caught his ear again.

"If you really think you can have any sort of future with her, then it sounds to me like I'm the one with the common sense around here right now Gregory." he retorted.

Ignoring his brothers words, he stormed out of the room, heading upstairs to his bedroom.

Shutting the door in an angry haste, he stood looking around at the blankness of his personal space. It was filled with nice trinkets and furniture and such, but still, as he viewed it, he felt that it might as well be empty.

As he wandered mindlessly around his room for a minute, he came to a stop at the window beside his bed frame. He had to admit. The city looked stunning when the sun went down. Soon enough, he found himself wondering why all people couldn't see beauty in the way he did.

Falling back onto his bed, Gregory brought his hands to rest over the smoothness of his brown hair, shutting his eyes as a reluctant memory was brought to mind.

- "You know. Some of the best wonders of the world happen when the sun goes down." He remembered the tenderness of Vixen's voice as she was saying this. Her head resting against him, the soft thickness of her curls tickling his chest as he embraced her curvaceous waist. He could still feel the warmth of their nude bodies pressed against each other as he wrapped them both up in the bed sheets. Watching from the window, they prepared for the remaining bit of light to disappear from the sky. He'd watched the sunset before, but this seemed like the first time he really seen it, and he couldn't get enough. That, along with the feel of her gentle hands hugging his arms tight around her, was enough to make his insides feel on the brink of bursting again, she'd had a habit of doing that to him, and he had a habit of putting up no resistance. As long as she was standing there beside him, she could do it all she liked. "It's the last few hours of the day before a new one comes, and it starts all over again."

Her sweet, melodic voice echoed through his mind, traveling in memory down to his ears, touching his heart.

It was as if he were hearing her again right then. Oh man, how was he going to get through this?

"There's gotta be a way." The words were but a whisper as they passed through his lips. "There has to be."

As he thought on this, he was disturbed by a light knock at the door. Lifting his head slightly, he gave an aggravated sigh. If it was Adrian with any more of his pointless ranting's, he was not up to hearing it at the moment. "Yeah?"

His brother's reluctance was a surprise to him. "It's me." Sitting himself upright on the bed, he paused a moment before giving a reply. "Come on."

As the door opened, Adrian's face held a guilty look. It was not like his brother to show remorse that often, and in the back of his mind, he wondered if maybe he had been a tad bit too rough on him.

"Look, I just wanted to apologize for what I said."

Gregory looked questioningly at his brother. This was just not like him. "I get that you care for her. Why? I have absolutely no idea. But you're my brother, I know you. You may say you've given up on something, but you always put your mind to find out how to fix the impossible."

He really did know him too well. A snide remark lingered inside Greg's head as he found his brother's identical set of eyes, "I guess that's the price you pay for having a sibling who once shared the same brain as you." Realizing that this was not another attack on his perception of things, he lowered his scowl to a less threatening stare. "Well I accept, thanks."

Nodding slightly, Adrian entered further into the room, clearly not through getting his point across.

His eyes dropped down then back up to meet his own mirror image.

Generally he was accustomed to it, but even now, Gregory still sometimes had trouble accepting how much they resembled one another.

"I just don't wanna see you risk everything only to get nothing in return." he finished.

Attempting to lighten the mood, he continued on, nudging his brother's leg as he tried to bring about a positive response. "Come on Greg, I mean, where were you really going with this?" Greg's eyes lowered as he reflected on that final conversation he'd had in the park. "Nowhere now." he muttered coarsely under his breath.

Adrian's smile slowly faded away as he crossed to Gregory's side.

Seating himself in the chair adjacent from the bed, he took a more serious expression. "You could do so much better for yourself by Gregory. Look at you. You're talented, chivalrous, got a house, a career, a fair amount of money. Any girl would be lucky to have you...Why fret so much over someone who can never be a part of that, happily, at least?"

Greg rubbed the back of his neck. This conversation was overwhelming him, and it had only just begun. How could he explain to him that it wasn't about how lucky the girl was to have found him. But about how lucky he was to have found the girl? He'd met girls before, and of course they had fallen at his every whim, but he never felt anything in the encounters so striking as the first time he'd set eyes on Vixen, and since then, he couldn't imagine anything could come close.

Sure Gregory Barrot was no stranger to the love of women, but he couldn't help but feel that Vixen's love was unlike any other out there, and regardless of whether he let himself believe it or not, he wanted that love with a passion.

"You wouldn't understand even if I told you, so please, let's just drop the subject alright? None of it matters now anyway, it's over with, she's gone...And she's not coming back."

As if sensing the uneasy energy in the already constricted atmosphere, Adrian rose from the chair, turning to exit his brother's room.

Five to one, he could usually tell when his older sibling was being truthful or not, but now was not one of those times. "Well I hope you know what you're doin' Greg." he said as he neared the doorway.

"Just, promise me one thing, be smart, okay? Think with your head...Or, the one that has a brain in it anyway.

Motioning a goodbye wave through the small space still left ajar by the door, Adrian finished off the all-too familiar discussion with "I'll see you tomorrow."

As the door shut completely behind him, Gregory lets out another sigh, this time, one that emphasized relief.

He was so ready to be done with this situation, and at the same time, couldn't bring himself to want it to end. In all his years spent on earth, Gregory had been through some pretty tough situations, but none could hold a candle to this one.

Kicking his shoes off, he rolled back onto his bed, assuming the previous position he'd held before his brother's intrusion. If there really was an answer to all this, maybe he would be able to find it through a good night's sleep...If that was even possible.