He put his head down next to hers. Her lips brushed his face, her hand stroking the back of his neck.
“I don’t know where I stop and you begin,” she said. Her voice had the slurred and sultry rhythm which meant she was growing drowsy. “Everything I am is so woven in with everything you are. It’s like… I can’t explain. I can’t explain love anymore, Erik. It doesn’t mean what it used to.”
I am the only one.
Erik moved closer against her as a great bell in the cathedral began to toll.
She knew.
Of course she knew.
How Well You Deal
Erik returned to school from winter break on the fourth of January. It was nearly a six-hour drive from Rochester and he made decent time, pulling up in front of Colby Street around four in the afternoon.
Daisy came out of his house and met him at the curb. “How was your drive?”
Erik kissed her. “Not bad. A little snow when I got into Pennsylvania.” He pulled his backpack and duffel from the backseat and shut the car door.
“Are you hungry?”
“Starving.”
“I have soup ready at my place and I can make grilled cheese.”
“Perfect. Let me drop my stuff off.”
He followed her to his kitchen door. They went into the living room where a clobber of bags, boxes and jackets was spilled. “When did Will get back?” Erik said, heading to the stairs.
From overhead came a long, loud moan. Erik looked up at the ceiling, then back at Daisy, eyes wide.
She smiled. “Will came five minutes after Lucky did. And pretty much every hour since.”
Erik dropped his things and headed back toward the kitchen door. “Let’s eat.”
Later in the evening Will and Lucky wandered over to Jay Street, dreamy-eyed and sated. David and James came by as well. They sat around the living room drinking wine and smoking. Will had Lucky in his lap, caressing her as she told entertaining war stories about her EMT course. As he listened, Erik covertly watched James, looking for exchanged glances with Will or any signs of tension. So far the air was neutral and relaxed. If anything, both boys seemed to be going out of their way not to make eye contact.
“So are you definitely going down this road now, Luck?” David asked. “Do you have the stomach for it?”
“I don’t,” Lucky said. “There are stories I’m not going to tell you guys. Suffice it to say, I saw some horrible shit. And I discovered I’m not one of those people who can un-see things. I would not make it. If I did it for a living I’d be institutionalized within a year.”
“We can’t have you locked up,” Daisy said. She held out her arms. “You had her all day, Will. Share.”
Lucky extricated herself and went over to squeeze next to Daisy in the easy chair. “I missed you,” she said, kissing her friend. “I missed you guys so much. I was bummed about missing the fall concert. What’s the gossip for spring?”
Will had news. Powaqqatsi had been such a triumph, Kees was recommending it be expanded and reprised at the spring production. Will was already going through the entire score and picking which segments he wanted. “Definitely the second section,” he said.
“‘Anthem’?” James said, stubbing out his cigarette. “You add it onto the original and you have a good ten minute ballet.”
Will nodded. “Dais, the part I played for you, where the tambourine comes in? I see a pas de deux there. I thought about making it for Aisha Johnson.”
“She’s gorgeous,” Daisy said. “Aisha and who else?”
“Me.”
Daisy pointed at him. “It’s your graduating concert. You better be dancing something with me.”
“I will. But there are no senior boys in contemporary this year. I know Kees will let me dance in my own work.”
“See, I knew you walked both sides of the line, Will,” David said. “Nobody believed me.”
Loud laughter except, Erik noticed, from James.
“Dais, you’ll help me?” Will said. “I have a bunch of stuff I need to try on you.”
“Why don’t you try it on Aisha,” Lucky said.