The Dark Alley

"I did! I did! I tried to fight them off!"

"Shhhhh, baby, don't cry my baby! They're gone, they're NOT coming back." I kept kissing her hair, her eyes, rocking her tenderly, combing my fingers through her pretty, dark-brown hair.

We must have been there for about a half-hour, although it didn't seem that time was of any importance what-so-ever as she held onto me tightly, and me to her as if we were two survivors clinging to life, drifting in the middle of a stormy ocean.

Finally, weak though she was, her arms around my neck, I carefully helped her to her feet. Celina stumbling severely, crying out with every step, we made vain attempts to try and find her purse with her keys - to no avail. My car just about 150 feet from us, I found that she could not walk. Holding on to me, she cried out as she tried. Finally, seeing how hopeless this-all was, I picked her up in my arms – my little belly-dancer in my arms! As if carrying a precious little baby, I carried her so very carefully to my car, her tiny little feet still bleeding. GOD, she was as light as one of those stuffed bunnies!

Balancing her in one arm, I opened up the front passenger door, placing her carefully inside. Then very carefully lifting up her little feet I looked at them. In the dim light, it appeared that the cuts were somewhat superficial although they were bleeding quite badly, with rocks and stuff ground into them. Not having anything else to bandage them with, I finally removed my tee-shirt, tearing a couple long stripes off the bottom and wrapping these carefully around her feet. She sat there watching me, her head back against the seat; sobbing softly in pain and fear, as she allowed me to care for her feet. I placed the remnants of the shirt back on – looking somewhat ridiculous, this rather older, roly-poly man wearing this short shirt that should have been worn ONLY by a thinly-built, muscled teenager. She looked at me in that ridiculous shirt, her fear momentarily forgotten. She couldn't help but giggle slightly. I smiled back at her, feeling rather sheepish. That was the very first little-girl giggle I had ever heard from her involving me. It practically put me back in tears again.

"I need to get you to the hospital to have your feet checked out."

"Ok," she said, smiling weakly at me as we drove over to the local hospital.

Not wanting to wait, I again picked her up in my arms as I tenderly carried her into emergency. I could feel her smiling as she snuggled her pretty face into my shoulder, wrapping her arms around my neck – did I feel her lips against my neck? GOD, her perfume! The same perfume I had gotten into all this trouble over!

The nurse at the front desk took a look at her and called for a doctor, quickly ushering us both into a bed as I carefully lay her on it. Then, asking if I was a relative, I said, "No" and was immediately ushered back into the waiting room. Glancing back at her as I exited the door, I saw her eyes twinkling at me, as this pretty little waif smiled at me, and softly waved at me.

It seemed like HOURS as I paced the floor. I knew she was in good hands, but still, all of the memories of EVERYTHING kept racing through my mind; the fight, her soft tummy in the moonlight, her screams in my ears, her pretty arms around my neck, holding her and hearing her cry like a scared little girl, the perfume, her rejections, the threats, the bunny, her bunny comment and her soft, sweet smile and the gleam in those very unforgettable, BEAUTIFUL eyes! ALL of it flowed through my mind like molten lava.

"Hi!" I heard this sweet, tiny voice calling from the door. Looking up, I saw her in a wheel chair, her tiny little dancer feet swathed in bandages as they wheeled her out, her cute little toes wiggling and winking back at me. Smiling with a huge, warm smile I went up to her as she beamed back at me.

"God" I thought inwardly, "Is this the same girl I've been fighting with all these months?"

They wheeled her all the way out to my car, as the doctor gave her some pills for pain and infection. They had to give her some stitches. Again, I very carefully lifted her from the wheel chair as she quickly placed her arms around my neck, placing them back where I so wanted them to be, snuggling and nuzzling her face into my neck – where I ached for it to be.

She couldn't go home, she said. She didn't even have any keys for the door. So, I took her to my place; again carefully carrying this pretty little bundle into my house – "GOD, MY HOUSE!!!!????" and sitting her on my bed. All through this she stayed silent, accepting everything as "given."

"My sweet love, you can sleep here tonight, and then you and I will tackle the problem of the rest of your life."

While sitting on the bed, I let her use my cell phone to make a call – and was surprised to hear her say,

"I'm alright, everything is fine! I'm over here at Ted's house – I don't have any keys so I can't come home and it's too far. So, I want you to go over to Anna's house and stay with her the night." She had phoned her daughter who was at home and could have let her in – I had forgotten about her completely!

I looked at her quizzically, my eyebrow lifted up. However, not offering any explanation whatsoever, she just smiled up at me with that cute, sassy smirk on her lips and shrugged her little shoulders.

"You sure you don't want me to take you home? After all, that was your daughter you were talking to."

She simply giggled warmly and smiled, saying;

"Everything's going to be alright."

Laughing and shaking my head, I offered her some chamomile tea to help her sleep as I grabbed some blankets to go sleep on the couch.

Her pretty eyes still smiling back at me, her soft mouth smiling, just for me, she bid me a soft good night as I left her, watching her carefully slide those pretty little toes under my sheets.

The lights out, it must have been 2 AM in the morning. I was awakened by this shuffling sound. Sitting up, I rubbed my eyes as I watched this pretty little vision carefully shuffling towards me, these cute little toes winking at me in the moonlight as it streamed-in, in stripes through my windows, as I noticed this lovely, pale area at her tummy. She had tied up her shirt, way high and was carefully staggering towards me!

My mind went totally NUMB, my mouth dry, my body totally shaking; a certain amount of fear mixed with desire shooting through my body like a javelin thrust as she slowly swayed jerkily up to me. GOD, she was belly-dancing!!!! My little belly-dancer was BELLY-DANCING for me!!!! I was CRYING!!! I was seeing this through eyes totally clouded over in a waterfall of tears!

Arching her back, her pretty tummy slowly swaying and rolling, performing figure-eights and shivers, she carefully worked her way up to me as I saw her pretty toes winking back at me through eyes drowning in tears, tears washing down my face in a flood.

Gently, Celina took my head in her hands, kissing it, as she gently placed my face against her trembling, bare tummy, my lips softly kissing her sweet little navel, as she gently whispered,

"You would have died for me."

"YES, my pretty little belly-dancer; my little dream, I WOULD have - most happily!"

Epilogue:

Monday Morning: I came to work this morning, all the weekend's activities fresh in my mind, whistling, walking with a lightness in my step that I hadn't felt in a LONG time. Her perfume lay sweetly on my mind.

Rounding a corner, there she was! As I gazed at her, rather dumbly I reminisce, I felt my heart slowly fall to the floor in anticipation of it being trampled on – again, by the saucy, flippant movements of this pretty woman as she glanced at me with a cold, business-like eye.

Saying a quick, "Hi Joe" to me, she continued reading her papers as she carefully moved down the hall, her sandaled feet in bandages.

I feel I had again been thrown a curve, as I stood there for a moment, again drowning in a no-mans-land of confusion and betrayal. My heart hurting and bruised, I found my way back to my room where, to my surprise, she was at my desk, handing me papers saying:

"Here, Ted – the new batch of QA's."

Rather stunned, I moved and sat down slowly in my chair, taking the papers. Looking up at her, I said, "Thanks", waiting for her to spin on her heels and leave.

I watched as she did just that – in slow motion.

Then, with that cute saucy twinkle to her eyes and a little sway of her hips, she looked back at me and said, "We don't want to be accused of not playing good together, now do we?"

As I watched her slowly walk out my door, I smiled inwardly, whispering to myself, "Life is WONDERFUL! Ain't it?"