East Four #2
She mouthed, through her continuing smile, “Mad. G.”
I mouthed, “I love you.”
I did. I didn’t know why or how, but my love for her was pure. No myth or story would take that from me. No human rule could stop this adoration. Nothing that Styx had to tell me, because I knew there was more, could change what was blessedly between Saleeni and me.
Extremely curious, she swam to me, studying my mouth.
I now understood that meant she was trying to understand what I had just said, so I told her, “Love,” then motioned my arms wide, then flowing between us.
Taking Styx’s advice about communication between bikers on the road, I pointed to her heart, then mine.
In front of my chest, I laid my right hand over my left, then imitated a pulse, keeping my hands as they were, yet pumping them back into my chest.
Then I closed my eyes and moved my joined hands to hold them against my stomach, hoping she could feel the pure joy she created inside me. Then I opened my eyes. “Love.”
Sparkles floated from her eyes as she cried, smiled, and. repeated the motions. She nodded. “Love. Mad. G.”
With her now close, I grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her mouth to mine.
Oh my God, this kiss. It was a seal of all our unspoken promises. It was the oath of joining life forces.
Diving deeper into her mouth, tongues dancing in celebration, my mind raced with one thought, over and over. I love you. I love you. I love you…
I was unaware that Saleeni and I, connected spiritually and physically, had risen from the water until I heard Styx crying.
I pulled my mouth from Saleeni’s to see him still on the wall, but now standing.
The bliss on his face appeared as if he felt complete—had fulfilled a promise of his own.
Raw in feelings, he said, “You two are beautiful together.” Then he waved before walking away to the clubhouse.
Still holding Saleeni, I watched him until our slowly descending bodies were blocked by the wall, and I could no longer see my grandfather.
I gazed into Saleeni’s eyes. “So many questions,” I told her, or myself, as we gently slipped back into the water, “Someday, I will get answers.” I smiled at the center of my Universe. “I guess Styx was wise to advise sign language.”
Inquisitive as always, she touched my lips. Then she looked at me.
When I didn’t speak fast enough, her fingertips patted my lips again, and she gestured with her head as if urging me to get on with it.
I chuckled, so pleased she was ready. With my own fingers, I exaggerated swiping my bottom lip, offering a sign for her to learn. “Lips.”
She studied my hands, then my eyes.
I nodded, repeating the swipes, left to right. “Lips.”
Saleeni reached up and swiped my lips, then looked me in the eyes.
I nodded. “Yes, now do it to you.” I gently swiped left, then right on her mouth. “Lips.”
She repeated the process, this time on herself. “Lllll…Laaaiii—” She grunted in frustration.
Giggling at her wonderful angry streak, which I respected, I tapped her lips and kissed her. “You will get it.”
Saleeni tapped my lips with her fingertips, then kissed me. “Gggg-t eeet.”
Now I laughed, fully. “No.” I tapped her lips. “That was a kiss.”
The grin that crossed her mouth was so sexy I was stunned into silence.
She tapped my lips, then kissed me. Then this luscious creature tapped her own mouth and waited.
Fuck me.
I kissed her hard and good, starting a teaching technique of the ages.
Leaving Saleeni’s side was pure torture, but I was looking like a prune in jeans. Plus, my lips were going to fall off from all the kissing. For every hand gesture I attempted to teach, Saleeni tapped her lips, wanting her reward.
For real, who was I to say no?
One of the last lessons for the afternoon was me walking my fingers across my flat palm before pointing to the clubhouse.
Saleeni caught on quickly and grabbed on to me, silently pleading for me to stay with her.
Hating myself for upsetting her, I quickly showed her my walking fingers in a different direction, then pointed to her.
With a pout, I had no idea how a mermaid even learned to do it; she walked her fingers across her palm, then pointed to herself.
I nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be back real soon.”
Already owning the strings to this puppet, she tapped her lips.
Leaning in, I whispered, “I will always come back to you,” then let our temporary goodbye be sealed with a tender kiss.
Nothing else was said as I was placed on the seawall, this time on my feet. I watched her slip back into the water to disappear. Only a tail swipe at the surface was to be seen of her, and I swear it was her way of flicking me off.
Proudly, I chuckled, “You were made for me,” before heading back to the clubhouse.
Once at the door, I punched in the security code and thought about how I needed to teach it to Saleeni.
Then I imagined her trying to get across the yard without water to swim.
Opening the door, I was growling in frustration, absolutely perplexed about how I was going to live with a mermaid, or whatever she was.
She needed water. I needed land. “Goddamnit!” I slammed the door shut.
Then I closed my eyes and chanted, “Nothing is impossible. Nothing is impossible…”
Gaining control of my frustrations, I finally realized there was a power tool hard at work.
I followed the noise out the opposite door of my bedroom, realizing I had yet to ever use it.
This whole building was newly purchased for the club and was under construction when my tenth Life Date had come.
Sadly, I had never gotten a chance to see it.
Curiosity piqued, I crossed the threshold and entered a gigantic open room that was the inside and center part of this mall.
Even though it was quite bare, like my bedroom and bathroom, the massive room was all white, including ceilings that were triple the height of my room.
It would’ve taken at least fifty of my rooms to fill this space.
Besides canned lighting in the ceiling, there were no decorations to speak of. No plants like Noma would’ve had scattered and hanging about. Just… lots of empty space.
Identical to my door, there were at least twenty-five more surrounding the large room.
It was easy now to understand how this was a great layout for a club.
From the outside, every member had their own access to their own living quarters; however, they could meet in the middle with only a few steps.
Whether it was party time or for security reasons, this was brilliant.
With his back to my door, Styx was crouched in a far-off right corner working a drill.
He didn’t see me enter the room, so when the tool shut off and I accidentally kicked an empty can of paint, a gun was pointed in my direction so fast I couldn’t talk.
I could only close my eyes and beg the Heavens above not to call me home.
“Jesus, kid! Trying to die young?”
I exhaled. “Not really. Believe it or not, I want this crazy life.”
From his knees, putting the gun back in a holster, he smiled. “Damn good to hear—” but was cut off by an insanely loud shriek.
I jumped, spinning in the air, to now face the door I had just walked through. “What the—”
Styx was running up behind me. “Go! Shut her down! She’ll be heard in a ten-mile radius!”
Through my room, rushing a code, and out the next door, we darted across the yard to the wall. I barely stopped in time not to fall back into the water.
Eyes blazing green, Saleeni was in the water, irate, doing all kinds of walking her fingers across her palm, then slamming those palms against the surface, shrieking the whole time.
My arms waving to get her attention, I told her, “Stop! Stop!” Frantically, I swiped my bottom lip, left to right, then held my top and bottom lip together, hoping she would understand to shut her trap.
She opened her mouth again to give us hell, but I interrupted, “No!” and clamped my lips together again.
Saleeni huffed and puffed but finally did as told, holding her own lips together.
So fucking happy with her, I praised, “That’s my girl,” while making the universal shh sign with one finger.
She huffed again but made the same sign.
Another lesson learned. Now to figure out what caused the ruckus in the first place. I scanned what of her I could see, telling Styx, “She looks okay. Why so mad?”
With her calming down, Styx grabbed his chest. “Maybe it’s good she doesn’t have legs. She may have killed me for scaring you.”
In amazement, I gazed at my beauty in the water. “Is that what you’re carrying on about?”
Saleeni started rambling in a language I didn’t understand, her hands going a million miles a minute. One motion I understood was her hitting her chest, again and again.
I asked Styx, “She felt my actual heart pounding?”
He sighed, long and hard. “From what Noma told me, you seemed to sense Saleeni all the way to Cali. Imagine what she senses with you so close.”
“Wow.” I stared at her in amazement but also deep concern. Complications just got more… complicated. “I have to be more careful.”
He patted me on the back. “I’m glad you know this episode was your fault.” And walked away!
After walking my fingers across my palm to tell Saleeni I would be back later, I chased the old coot. “Ever heard of work in progress?”
Beep beep beep… went the code on the door. “Yup! Speaking of, follow me.”
I did, past my bed, then past the bathroom…
Back in the large room in the middle of the mall, he gestured about.
“Here’s where your club will meet.” He pointed to a door I hadn’t noticed was different earlier.
It was near where I had spooked him in the corner.
“That’s Church.” It was a medium-dark wood that was rounded at the top. Cathedral-like.
Not sure why I needed to become religious on top of everything else, I nodded. “Bibles. Got it.”
He grimaced. “What? No. That room is for your meetings. Members only.”