- 36 -
A Visit
Mary spent most of her summer evenings on the roof of the apartment. No one understood why, because it was stupid hot. Seriously, it was the kind of hot that made some of your IQ points melt out your ears. The blistering sun beat down on the city all day and the heat lingered even in the dead of night. But it didn't bother Mary at all.
Mom complained about Mary not seeing Carter anymore. He had gone to summer school and then to Europe with his family. The Maxwells invited Mary to go with them, but she declined. They weren't going anywhere she hadn't already been, anyway.
"Ever since prom, it's like you two don't know each other," Mom said once. She just didn't know how right she was.
One night, it finally took an unseasonable rain to drive Mary off the roof and back into the apartment. It was annoying. The kids upstairs were now allowed to stay up insanely late playing their video games, and there was no one for Mary to talk to in person or on the phone. Mom was at work, Ba had gone to bed, Sienna was in Brazil visiting family, and Martin had very regulated phone calls. Mary had started hanging out some with Chavy, Bruce's fourteen-year-old daughter. Chavy and her mother's immigration papers had finally gone through, right around the same time Bruce received a mysterious donation that was enough to fly both of them and some of their belongings to the States. Chavy was a sweet girl, but she didn't speak English very well, so she and Mary usually just sat around and watched Bruce Lee movies together. But Chavy was having dinner with her family tonight, and Mary wanted them to enjoy their time together.
Mary sat at her desk and started reading through some of Martin's letters. He had terrible handwriting and didn't know how to spell very well. But she liked to read them. They were the only things, it seemed, that she enjoyed reading. As she reached for the next letter, Mary's hand found her sketchbook. She opened it and found a ton of drawings she had made when she was in other countries. She had sketched a few landmarks, like the Clock Tower in England and the Sydney Opera House in Australia. But most of her drawings were of people of many ages, skin tones, and cultures. Phos had been right. People were masterpieces.
Of course, the person Mary had drawn the most was Phos himself. To anyone else, it looked like Carter's face. But there were subtleties—the shape of his smile, how he sat or held his shoulders—that were undeniably Phos. She also had printed copies of the pictures Mom had taken before they left for the prom paper clipped to her book. Those had captured the spark in his eyes.
Mary turned the page. The last sketch she did was of him standing on the roof of Carter's house with the glowing city in the distance. Along the side, she had tried her hand at some lettering. The words she had drawn were, "Love never fails."
The rain pounded against the window. But then Mary heard something different. A soft tap on the glass. Someone was out on the fire escape.
Mary got up from her desk and opened the window. A beautiful watery face looked back at her.
"Mayim!" Mary said.
"Hello, Mary," she greeted. "It has been a while."
Mary smiled. "How are you?"
"I am well," she answered.
"And Phos?" she asked.
Mayim grinned. "Perhaps you should ask him."
Mary gasped. "He's here?"
She nodded. "Come to the roof."
Mary's feet hardly touched the floor as she flew through the apartment and up the stairs. Blankets of rain soaked her instantly on the roof.
Mayim stood at the center. "He wants to come in his real form. I have a good rain here to protect you from his energy, but you must close your eyes. If you do not, you may lose your sight."
Mary nodded and closed her eyes. The rain came down more, bathing her in its coolness.
Then, she felt him. It was like standing in front of a furnace.
"Hello, Mary," he said.
She didn't realize how much she had missed hearing his voice. His real voice. Mary wanted to open her eyes, wanted to see him as he really was. But she fought to keep them closed.
Fiery hands caressed her soaked cheek and traced the lines of her brow, nose, and lips. Strong arms wrapped around her, pulling her close to him. Then scalding lips kissed hers. The rain sizzled everywhere he touched her.
Mary didn't count how many seconds the kiss lasted. Whether one or one million, it was over too quickly.
"I've missed you," she said.
"You have no idea how good it is to hear you say that," he said.
She smiled. "Where have you been?"
"Around," he answered. "Working as usual."
Mary smirked. "When can you take a vacation?"
"I don't think it works like that," he chuckled. Mary was about to say something else, but his lips were on hers again.
After two or two million seconds, Mayim cleared her throat gently. "The meteor shower?"
Phos sighed. "Right. Back to work then."
"There's a meteor shower tonight?" Mary asked.
"Yes," he said. "Wait for me to leave. Then look up. Mayim will clear the clouds so that you can see it."
He was gone before her eyes opened. In the distance, Mary saw two figures racing skyward, leaving ribbons of rain trailing behind them. One was Mayim and the other was like a shooting star, only flying up instead of falling down.
A few minutes later, the clouds parted like stage curtains and the rain disappeared. The brilliant diamond littered sky opened above. A small light raced across the darkness. Then another. And another. And another until the night was ablaze with burning meteoroids. Mary sank onto the patio chair, never once taking her eyes off the sky.