Dark Kisses Pt. 02

Copyright @ calibeachgirl and Jim Crowell
All rights reserved, 2011

**********

Chapter 4: I left my heart...

Carolyn had a smile on her face until she went into the kitchen to fix dinner for Kendra and herself. Opening the freezer, she looked to see what there was... frozen burritos... corn dogs... God, she thought, is there anything in here worth eating? How has my grocery shopping become so skewed to a teenage diet? She looked at her butt's reflection in the back door window, wondering how she looked to David...

"Kendra! Do you want corn dogs or burritos?" God, what a choice... what am I doing to my health, eating all this junk food? to Kendra's and Michael's? She ran her fingers around her waist, wondering how she felt to him.

"I don't care, Mom. Whatever you want," Kendra yelled back from her bedroom, intent on listening to Gym Class Heroes.

Great, thought Carolyn. It's on me. Let's see what else we have. I've got to go grocery shopping... how did I let it get like this? This is awful.

She opened the pantry door, peered inside and then pulled out a can of olives and a bag of croutons. From the refrigerator, she picked up a sad and lonely head of lettuce, what was left of the tomatoes and a couple of boiled eggs. A healthy salad... well, maybe not so healthy after putting on the dressing but much better than a soggy, micro-waved corn dog or two. I'll go easy on the bleu cheese, that's all.

After dinner, Carolyn sat down and started a shopping list for the next day. She walked back to the pantry and looked again, realizing the empty shelves were damning evidence of her frustration with life before David. She was hot-faced ashamed and started writing and writing and writing.

Michael came home an hour later and she made him a sandwich with the last boiled egg.

At Costco the next afternoon, she soon found herself pushing one cart and pulling another, stopping every time there was a sample to be tasted. Cases of food, boxes of food, cans of food... there was something new in each aisle that caught her attention and she just had to have. Maybe, she thought, getting the second cart wasn't such a good idea, after all.

"$438.43, please."

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

**********

"Wow, Mom! Fish and steak fries... what's the occasion?" Kendra sat down, watching her mother pull dinner out of the oven. "Grandmother says 'hello.'"

"And, ice cream for dessert, too," Carolyn answered. "We're going to be eating healthier from now on, especially that the season is almost over. How is grandma?" I just don't know how I'm going to pay for it, is all.

Just then, Michael came in. "What smells so... food! Wow, Mom, what happened?" He plopped down on his chair and picked up a fork, pulling the rest of the baked fries onto his plate. "Thanks, Mom." He started to shovel food into his mouth.

"David got us all tickets to the game and we're flying up," Kendra informed her brother. "And... we're going to San Francisco, too."

Michael was quiet and then he spoke directly at his sister. "Oh? David did, did he? It's David, now?" He finished his dinner in silence and went to his room, leaving his sister alone at the table and his mother at the sink.

"Well..." said Kendra, "that went well... he's SO stupid, Mom."

"Kendra!" Carolyn put her head onto her palm and stared at her plate, knowing that Michael was going to be a problem. What could she do, torn between her son and her lover? If she let Michael control her life, she would become a lonely, old woman always wondering 'what if'? He was going to break her heart if she let him.

Kendra put her hand on her mother's back but Carolyn just cried, "leave me alone, just leave me alone."

The next morning, Carolyn was still there sound asleep on her arms when Kendra came into the kitchen. She resolved to speak to her brother, once more. His attitude was going to ruin everyone's lives if he continued.

***********

"Love is so hard to find," the television psychologist said, "and when it arrives, go with it." The show went to a commercial break, the advertisement showing the benefits of Cialis for 'when the mood arises.'

The show came back on. Carolyn sat on her sofa, listening to the woman as she spoke of lost loves and later-in-life marriages. She thought of her own marriage to John. There were good times but there were SO many bad times.

"When you're older," she continued, "you know what you want in life and are much more mature in your outlook. No one wants to go to bed alone but don't go to bed with someone you don't really, totally love. And, watch your money. Ladies, those of you who've lost your husband... wouldn't he want you to be happy in life?"

She thought of her lover, how quickly she had fallen for him and realized she didn't even have a picture of David. She knew he didn't have one of her and determined to change that as soon as possible. She had to watch this show, more often. When it was over, she went upstairs looking for a photograph she could frame and give to him. While she was going through photo albums, she thought about what he had asked her... twice.

**********

In his otherwise empty house, David was staring at everything he had spread on his kitchen island counter. He didn't know why, but the impulse to bake a loaf of bread had struck on the way home and he had stopped at the grocery store. On a cookie tray, he had a large ball of dough waiting to be put into the oven.

The oven beeped and he slid the tray in, hoping for the best. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

That night, he had fresh, hot bread for dinner. That's all he ate, with melted butter and strawberry jam. The flavor was so different from anything he ever tasted before. He wished Carolyn was there with him, sitting at the kitchen table, maybe Kendra and Michael, too. He knew he was going to be sorry in the morning but he didn't care. It was just too good to stop, like making love to her. He licked at a dripping bit of jam. God, this is so good...

It was close to ten o'clock when he called Carolyn. "Guess what I did?" he asked, still high on his kitchen accomplishment.

"What?"

His happy mood instantly disappeared when he found her to be unsettled.

"Carolyn, what's the matter? You can tell me." What was happening with her? Her mood swings were beginning to worry him.

"It's Michael. He's... I don't know what he is... he's angry... at me."

Silence. He could hear her start to cry.

"Because of me, isn't it?" Shit! That kid is going to be a bigger problem than I thought. What to do? What to do? "It'll work out. Please, stop crying, baby, you know I love you. I'll talk with him and try and explain."

"David, it's not just you."

"It's all about his father, isn't it? He has trust issues. I understand that. I'll do the best I can but I don't want to lose you. You have no idea how much I love you." He looked at the bedside alarm. "Tonight, can you dream of me? And the life we can have together?"

Through her sniffles, he could just make out her acceptance of his wish. "Good night, David. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

His phone went silent and he turned it off. It was late and he was more tired than he realized. Though he liked to listen to the radio at night, he fell asleep before the KFI eleven o'clock news even began.

She couldn't sleep and put "Bridget Jones' Diary" into her bedroom DVD player.

**********

His anticipated upset stomach the next morning never occurred, much to his relief. He wished he had saved some bread for a sandwich and laughed at his greedy appetite the night before.

David went into the garage and picked up his box of coprolites, knowing full well his students' reaction once he told them what they were. His oceanography students were going to design model surfboards from balsa. Barbie was going to go surfing, once again... and the geology students were still working on the massive amount of data generated from the USGS following the earthquakes. You never knew where life lessons were going to come from.

"Kendra, may I see you after class, please?"

"Yes, Mr. Christy."

He never had been a clock watcher, always speaking until the very last second, sometimes getting cut off by the bell, always demanding they stay seated until he had finished talking. Never had the last five minutes taken so long to end.

"It's about Michael, isn't it?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so. Your mother was crying last night." The memory of her tears was still raw, still fresh in his mind. Is this what love is all about?

"She was crying since dinner time. He's been very rude... ever since..."

"I started seeing your mother?" What else can I say? It's the truth.

"Yes. I can talk to you at lunch." Kendra headed for the door.

"All right, I'll wait here." He watched her walk out the door, wondering if she would be in his life after graduation.

The noon bell rang and Kendra waited until his classroom was empty of other students. She shared the top of his desk and opened her cold-pak lunch box. "Look what I've got," she said, pulling out a banana, a yogurt and a nicely done roast beef sandwich with lettuce and tomato.

David looked at his own meager offerings and laughed. "I'm going to have to get your mom to fix my lunch from now on."

"I don't know what happened, but she went shopping at Costco and brought home what she called 'healthy' food. So, now, we're eating healthy. Want my banana? I don't like bananas."

"Kendra, dear, what am I going to do about Michael? He doesn't seem to like me, I guess."

"That's not so much it as he's SO angry at our father for not coming back. There's a lot of anger and disappointment."

"And, not with you?"

"I had Mom; you know, for girls it's different and Michael grew up without a father... and, I like you and he doesn't. He and you are just so diametrically opposed and when I began to like oceanography, it made him dislike you even further."

That Wednesday, the school played their traditional rivals in the quarter finals. When they walked in the junior college's gym, David was amazed by the 6000 fans already there. Two crowds, separated by a valley floor of a basketball court, ready to kill each other given half a chance.

"Surprised?" Kendra asked.

"Oh, yeah," he said, nervously. He decided it was smarter to be quiet than look any more ignorant than he had already. He had shut out so much of his students' life and the tribal intensity between the two schools brought him back to the Korean DMZ.

Carolyn took his hand and pointed to their seats halfway up. "We're over there," she said, bringing him back to the present. School colors and gang colors all blended into a deadly palette of reds and blues.

As they walked up the bleachers, fifty or so of his students stood up. "Hey, Mr. Christy! Good lookin' out!" They gave him fist pumps and he smiled, self-consciously and gave a bit of a wave. It never occurred to him what the possible fallout would be if their romance became public. So far, though, he hoped everything just looked friendly. How do I get myself into these problems? he wondered and then looked at Carolyn and knew.

He tried to pay attention to the game but still found the referees' calls too confusing. It seemed every time the players were running from one end of the court to the other, throwing the ball around the key as they called it, the whistle was blown and play came to a halt. No wonder the last two minutes took a lifetime. The squeak of the players' shoes against the hardwood was driving him crazy, and the stone-cold stares from across the way were chilling. I spent three years in Korea so these kids could do this?

He took out his phone and texted Carolyn. "I LOVE YOU," he sent.

His phone chirped. "I LUV U 2"

"HOW MUCH LONGER WITH THIS GAME?" he texted back.

"2 LONG LOL"

"LATE NIGHT TREAT?"

"WHAT U GOT IN MIND?"

"NOT THAT. ICE CREAM?"

"K"

David looked at Kendra, jumping up and down with the rest of the crowd as the ball changed hands during the night. He looked at the scoreboard clock... almost a minute left and the team had a good lead, he thought. He had read two books about coaching basketball and waited for the inevitable fouling to take place in a desperate attempt to gain control of the ball by the other team. He just wished he understood why the refs were always calling fouls. The playing looked good to him but he knew he was just as naïve about the game as he was before the books.

When the game-ending buzzer finally sounded, Michael's team won by fourteen points... the last several courtesy of blatant fouls that even David understood as one player went down and it looked like both bleachers were going to empty onto the court.

"So, Michael..." said David, "who do you think you're going to play Friday?"

Michael looked up from his ice cream. "Probably Lincoln Prep from San Diego..."

David tried his best to draw the young man out but to no avail and he eventually gave up. He looked down at his melted ice cream and put his spoon down, his appetite gone and at a loss at what to do.

**********

"Saw you last night at the game. Was that Mrs. Smith with you?" The short, pudgy, disagreeable math teacher sat at the faculty room lunch table, a smirk on his face.

"What's you point, Jones?" David was tired of the little man; he was a yapping dog fussing with his pants cuff. He reached into his mailbox and pulled out the memos there.

"No reason to get all huffy about it... I was just saying..."

"Too damn much. Shut the... shut up and mind your own business." David looked at the rest of the teachers there, shocked looks still on their faces. He walked out and down the long hallway to his classroom at the other end of the campus.

Jones never knew how close he came to losing his teeth.

**********

Saturday at midnight, Carolyn found herself standing in line with David, waiting to see "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." All around her were people dressed insanely and when the film finally played and they jumped up to dance...

"Oh, my God," she said, just watching the wild gyrations in the aisles. When she was hit in the head with a piece of toast, she stood up and threw it back, starting a barrage of food, popcorn and empty drink cups flying through the theatre.

"Three o'clock in the morning and we're having ice cream sundaes." She licked the whipped cream from her spoon.

"Well... it IS Sunday morning, after all." He gave her the whipped cream and cherry from his chocolate fudge milk shake.

"Sorry we got thrown out."

"Baby, you've got some popcorn still in your hair." She self-consciously looked around the almost empty restaurant. "And, you wait until now before you tell me?" She brushed through her dark curls, found the offending food and threw it at her lover. "Silly white boy..."

"Chocolate girl..." He opened his mouth just enough to run his tongue over his lips. "Easter's coming and I'm going to get a bite."

"Stop that, people are looking."

"There's nobody here but some cops." David waved at the two laughing policemen eating breakfast. "We'll go when they leave. I haven't ever been here this late and don't want to take you out in the parking lot... you know, just us."

He set his spoon down. "Carolyn, you know I love you and I'd like to take this to the next level."

"And, I love you, David, but what next level? We're already sleeping together."

"I'm asking you to marry me, Carolyn."

"Oh, David..." she said, hesitantly.

The police got up and David threw a ten on the table. "C'mon."

When she drove away from his house that morning, he realized she had never answered him... for the third time.

**********

When the team made it to the state finals, first thing Monday morning David phoned and bought three plane tickets on Southwest for Oakland and then called Carolyn. "I've got the tickets, honey. Pack your bags for Friday morning; we're all going to the game!"

"Oh, David, thank you! This will be so much fun." She was relieved, unsure whether he would be able to get tickets in time, unsure whether he'd want to spend so much money on watching a basketball game, unsure how she was so lucky but that he loved her, that she was sure.

"We'll rent a car and go to San Francisco the next day and fly back Sunday with the team," he assured her. "You'll... you'll both have a good time." And, so will I, he thought, lecherously, dreaming of her inviting, mocha-chocolate body waiting for him.

"It's been years since I've been there and it will be fantastic for Kendra. I think Michael is going to stay with his team, though. That's OK; we can always go back during the summer." Maybe, take in the wine country, too, he hoped. A prolonged honeymoon? He had the whole summer free. Who really knows what the future would bring?

Carolyn put her phone down. Without David's help, it had been unlikely they would have been able to attend the game if not impossible and then, like a guardian angel, he had filled their lives with hope... her life with hope... her life with love. She had so much to thank Kendra for but was still embarrassed how quickly she had gone to bed with him.

Late at night, when she thought of him, her fingers sought out and found just that special spot, bringing her a greater ecstasy than ever before. What a strange, magic hold he had on her.

**********

Tuesday afternoon, he was correcting another group of student essays when his cell rang.

"Hey, Baby, I missed you," she said. "You didn't call this morning... am I old news, already?"

"What? No, no, no... I just have a lot..." he stammered.

"I'm just playing with you, Baby..." Carolyn laughed. "Can you see me, tonight?"

"Uh, sure," he said, looking at the stack of papers on his kitchen table. "Where?" There was a knock on the door. "Wait a sec, there's someone at the door."

He opened the door and there she was, wearing a yellow raincoat and nothing else.

"Aren't you going to invite me in?"

"Shameless hussy... I've been looking for you."

He gazed at her in that intense way she had quickly come to know, all his attention focused completely on her and her heart began to beat in a response she couldn't control.

David took Carolyn's hand and led her from the living room to the bedroom, pulling the door closed as he did. Then, without hurry, he pulled her into his arms. He slid his hand around the nape of her neck, underneath her curls and drew her toward him as he moved to close the gap between them.

Carolyn went eagerly, if slowly, into his arms, ready and willing. David's white hands were strong and possessive on her dark shoulders and their warmth remained even as his hands lifted to touch her face with the same possessive assurance that she was his. His gaze held steady on hers, keeping her a willing participant, until the moment he bent his head and her eyes drifted closed.

Somewhere in her heart, she began to tremble as she had each time they came together. She breathed in his scent and then his mouth was on hers and her head was beating, her heart spinning.

His mouth was warm, moving over hers with a slow, potent seduction that made her body soften and sway toward his. She knew she didn't have a hope of resisting him.

Nothing made sense and nothing else mattered except his touch, his feel... nothing else mattered except his lips, moving against her full ones in small circles, luring her deeper into his kiss, making her aware that all the kisses she had ever had were nothing and that David was the only one who had the faintest idea how it should be done. She'd never been kissed so... thoroughly... or tenderly... or with such love.

He pulled back, keeping one hand braced against the wall, one hand curved around her waist... Carolyn noticed he wasn't too steady, either. She was sure his breathing was as shallow as her own and she thought it was his heartbeat she felt beneath her palm, pulsing hard and fast.