by Tiana Laveen
He looks like me as a little boy…
Mia spoke to the children in a nurturing sort of way, even while reprimanding the slanted-eyed black girl for speaking out earlier during class and causing a bit of a ruckus. It was clear as a freshly cleaned crystal vase: her students adored her. But who wouldn’t?
From the naked eye, none of them looked impaired, as if they had special needs, or had strange outbursts, comprehension issues, or anything of the like but Aaron knew first hand that looks could be deceiving. Nothing was at it seemed anymore. A window was no longer simply a window – it was a way out. A painting was no longer simply a painting – it told a story and changed so many who witnessed its beauty. Shaken out of his daydreams, he heard her ask them to get their book bags out of their timber cubbies, then explained she’d walk them to the office and wait with them for their parents to arrive.
According to her words shared, their parents had called in to say they’d be late. Traffic was a bit backed up on I-65; he could personally attest to that. She approached like the Pied Piper with the small ones following close behind her. He stood back from the door, hearing his own breathing as his heart begun to race in anticipation.
A few moments later, she swung the door open with the children right on her heels, almost colliding into her due to her stopping suddenly.
Their gazes met, and in that moment, they sank inside of one another. Their DNA seemed to leave their respective bodies and merge, wrap around, and melt together.
She’s so beautiful!
He wanted to reach out and touch her, grab her, but he fought the need and simply kept his eye on her, never wishing to forget this moment in time.
Her slightly trembling hands immediately went up to her lips, covering the damn things, blocking one of many physical attributes he loved about the woman. Mia stifled a moan in the palms of her hands. Her beautiful brown eyes glossed over and turned up at the ends, almost closing as if she were about to pass out. She then suddenly snatched her fingers away from her face, let out a scream and raced towards him, the tears pouring like rain down a roof as she leapt into his arms. He grabbed her back, hugged her tight and hard, bunching the green chiffon type fabric of her blouse. And then, he spun her and around…
Their spirits danced and their bodies simply followed the beautiful beat, riding shotgun to a spiritual connection that could not be stopped or altered. Neither said anything for several seconds, until he recalled the children were there, in need of care. Reluctantly, he released her and she pulled a balled up tissue from her black pants pocket. She dabbed at her eyes and took the little black girl’s hand as they made their way up the hall.
Aaron lingered behind, giving space, room, and talking himself down from an emotional cliff. He held back, stayed several feet away and then, simply paused. The woman he loved held the little black girl’s hand in hers, and in her other hand was the little white boy’s, the one with the darkness and the light vying to have their way within him. They were mere children… trusting, and loving as a source of comfort, the woman who stood between them. They had no hatred, only love. They had not been tainted by the nasty world as of yet. They were pure and clean, untarnished.
Who soils the children? Spreads their emotional and psychological diseases to the youth? Perhaps the Devil? Maybe that’s too easy, an excuse of sorts.
…Or possibly it’s the Devil in the details…
The mental treaties we sign and declare to be a solid, hardcore belief, based on things we’d seen, felt, and knew as a child – those are real. A child’s vision is clear, but skewed at the same time. Everything looks larger than life at that age, so how can it be truly trusted?
He stared at Mia, getting smaller and smaller as she continued to go up the hall. Grasping the material of his collar and bringing it to his nose, he sniffed it.
“Mmmm…smells soooo good…”
He moaned as he relished her scent.
Slowly closing his eyes, he inhaled again and again. Yes, she smelled like childhood optimism and liberation. Mia reminded him of springtime and growth, renewal and home-brewed peach tea.
Mia smelled like hope. Mia was faith in the unseen, love in the midst of putrid hatred. Mia, was everything, for Mia was his personal angel, delivering the most important gift of all…
Redemption…
Chapter Nine
THE ROOM SMELLED like that damn prison soap…
She’d never smell it on him again after today.
She watched him pluck construction project paperwork from the desk, assigning himself as her personal housekeeper. Smiling inside and out, she placed her pencils neatly back inside her desk drawer and went about her chores. Every now and again, the man would pause, pick something off the ground and toss it away, take a look at her, then continue on. She’d cleared off her desk, then made her way to the bins, sorting the folders of each student and placing them back in alphabetical order.
“I don’t understand why you insisted on helping me clean up my classroom.”
“This school is all year round, right?” He kept going, busying himself.
“Yes, we have a two week summer vacation and then the children return…don’t want them out of school too long.”
He nodded in understanding, then pulled out a small mp3 player with an attached speaker, and turned it on as he continued to work. Suddenly she was hearing Daughter’s ‘Medicine.’
“We can get ready to leave now,” she stated as she removed her purse from the coat hook. “The janitor will finish the rest, honey.” She grabbed her keys and began to walk towards the door of her room only to find the man cut her off at the pass. He made his way to the doorknob, turned it until it clicked shut. Locked. Facing her, he stood there for a moment or two, then tugged at his pants.
“Aaron… what are you doing?” Her low heels clicked against the floor, echoing as she moved in reverse, backing away, stumbling about.
He said nothing.
A ray of sunlight caught the silver of his heavy belt buckle as he slicked the thing out of his jeans and cast it onto the floor with a mighty crash. As if his words had been stolen, he simply communicated with his body until he was flush against her, wrapping his arms around her waist and bringing her close. He forced her back into the desk.
“Sit down.”
She quickly tossed a glance over her shoulder, then back at him. The man’s lips lifted in a devilish smirk. Sitting on the desk surface as he’d instructed, she undid the top button of her pants, and pulled down the zipper. Her pants hit the floor, her sheer baby blue panties now in full view. Reaching out, she ran her hands up and down his hard chest, bunching the black fabric of his T-shirt. For a split second, the man seemed to lose composure at her touch.
He gripped the back of her shirt in his powerful fist, pulled her roughly to him and wedged himself between her legs. With his pants puddled around his ankles, he nestled his lips in the crook of her neck and delivered fast, frantic kisses up and down her jawbone and shoulder blade.
“Mmmmm!” They both moaned as she caressed his scalp. In a fit of lust, she caught his face and cradled it between her palms. Gaze locked on his, she pressed her lips to his, over and over again. Meanwhile, he squeezed her breasts hard through her bra, then released them as he bumped his pelvis into her zone. Unable to take a second more of that teasing, she reached behind herself and undid the clasp of her light blue bra, letting it fall off her shoulders. He slowed, looked down at her mounds and back into her eyes before initiating a slow, sensual kiss…
“Ahhh…” she breathed out as he laid her down on the desk and pushed his dark boxers down his legs, exposing a gorgeous cock to fill her need. Sliding her tongue slowly across her upper lip, she waited in sweet anticipation. She scooted back and pulled him close, feeling his taut flesh against hers. After yanking her panties down, he leaned forward, covering her with his inked flesh. Those symbols were not the same now – a reminder of the old Aaron that was no more. They didn’t bother her, except th
at they served as a reminder of all the pain he had to go through as a boy growing up in a deep vat of hate. Whatever story those ink designs told though, they pertained to his past. Today—right now—he was simply, solely, her man. Her one true mate who’d been reborn in love, just for her.
Suddenly, he paused. “I bought some condoms, hold on…”
“Aaron…”
“Yeah, baby?” He slowed down, all ears.
“I started taking birth control. I didn’t know when you were coming home, but I wanted to be ready…”
Grinning wide, he lowered himself back on top of her, knocking her legs further apart as he sluggishly ran his fingers through her hair.
“I love you so much, Mia.”
The simple, earnest words heated her body impossibly further, filled her heart with a flood of penetrating, passionate emotions.
“I love you too, Aaron… so glad you’re home…ahh…” Riding a ghost of a whimper, her eyes widened then closed in ecstasy as he entered her. He thrust deep and slow, held her close, nurtured her with his perfectly timed, beautiful movements. They simply stared at one another, smiling, speaking with silent words. Gradually, he sped up, making her coo and wrap her legs tightly around his waist.
…Don’t go…stay right here inside of me…
“Deeper…” Pulling him down by the neck, she touched her lips to his.
He did as she ordered and she came undone as his groans resonated within her body.
“Faster…faster!” She wiggled her pelvis and pushed it firmly against his own, grinding harder and harder.
“Uhhh!” He crashed into her, gritting his teeth, and he rocked her hard against the shaking desk.
“Mmmm, yes!” Her eyes flew wide open, her back arched. She felt dizzy, lightheaded and calm all at once.
I’m flying…
The room spun in slow motion as the white ceiling, pocked with tiny holes, reminded her suddenly of some reverse universe…
“Let me take your mind somewhere else… your body, it’s my blessing! I wanna make you feel so damn good, honey…so damn good!” He kissed all over her face, ravishing her. Her hair sprawled across the desk in all different directions. She whimpered and bit into her lower lip as her orgasm crept from her core, grabbed her fleshy, swollen zone, and her pelvis went into a series of uncontrollable spasms. And, too, she lost her breath. The slight hum from a box fan seemed to become louder as her ears picked up the tiniest of things – like his labored breathing, the way he swallowed as he observed her… hovered above her like some eagle watching over its baby.
“This is your world, Mia… I just live in it.” He placed a soft kiss against the tip of her nose and gracefully caressed her cheek.
“You’re the ambassador to my palace, and my palace is my heart…”
She reached up and pulled him close once again… and then, he shook, he gasped; his eyes filled with pools of lustrous release… Her core was flooded with a rush of warmth.
There he goes…
He shuddered within her again and again… his essence pouring out, filling her up. His nails dug harshly into her hips, dragging roughly across her skin as he lay down on her breasts, gasped for air, then disappeared against her heart. He settled after a while, throbbing within her, but clung to her so tightly, it was as if his very life depended on it. Inside, she exploded with pain and release! She was a healer, and she’d taken his pain away, treating it as her own.
It hurt! Such sadness, such despair…
She looked lazily over at a window, the blinds half pulled down, blocking their view and hiding them from the world. Still, a crack of light allowed them to see the bright blue, cloudless sky and the tips of the flourishing, lush, green trees…
Trees.
Growth from roots up to the heavens…
One day, Aaron, I’ll tell you about that tree in my grandmother’s yard…yeah, the one I was afraid of. The one with twisted, dry, knotted bark, gnarled limbs and grooves that made it appear alive, yet dead at the same time. I didn’t tell you the other half of that story, Aaron, and now is not the time. But I will… I will tell you how my grandmother refused to cut down that tree, because her great grandfather was hung from that tree…
… but the rope broke, and his life was spared in that instant. They’d tried several more times, the white men in their anger, waving their fists, shouting and carrying on, but each and every time, the rope broke, no matter who tied it, Aaron… so they took him out to the river and drowned him. The river took him away, but that tree refused. So you see, Aaron… she couldn’t cut that tree down, not for me, not for nobody, because it understood my ancestors, and it refused to let their blood be shed upon its branches. It refused to take life, only give it…
So that’s why the flowers, still, to this day, bloom at its base…and that’s why birds rest on its broken and cracked boughs…and that’s why, Aaron, I can forgive you…
’Cause you were afraid of me… you saw life in me, but constant fear is just another form of death. You ain’t know no better; it was my duty to teach you… and now you know better…
She ran her hand over his beautiful face.
‘Yeah, now you do…’
…The next day
THE LOUD SUCTION sound of the fizzy cola flowing through the white straw continued. Mia was certain it sufficed to cause him to want to bust a gut at her antics. She’d tried to cool her nerves with the beverage, calm her excitement down, but it only ended in her chewing the tip of the straw so badly, it barely allowed her to partake in the final sips of melted ice. She was making a fool of herself, but she simply couldn’t help it. Happy times such as this gave her the exultant jitters. She became clumsy, uncouth, and a bit off key. He, on the other hand, looked quite comfortable, dressed in a light blue button down shirt, a nice pair of black slacks, and an easy smile as they sat in the crowded Chick-fil-A. She plucked a warm fry from her plate and swirled it around in a dollop of ketchup before popping it inside of her mouth.
“So, Joe-Joe said he was becoming a rapper,” Aaron continued to explain his latest conversation with his brother. “That guy is crazy.” He chuckled. “I suppose we all are.” He shrugged as he looked lazily out the window then back at her through slightly narrowed eyes.
“What’s his rapper name?” she asked, taking another hard draw on the straw, trying to force the miniscule amount of liquid to enter her mouth with deep pressure.
Aaron’s eyes grew a bit wider as he clicked his thick, long tongue inside his inner jaw. A smattering of a smile materialized on his face, one filled with something nasty, lewd, and right up her alley.
Damn. Memories.
His dark brows bunched ever so slightly while he tapped the back of his bench seat, leaned his head against the window, and slumped in the corner of the booth.
“Sir Foreskin, shit, hell if I know…” He shrugged, stifling a smirk.
Mia burst out laughing then cupped her hand over her mouth to keep the last bits of watered down soda she’d managed to extract from spewing out. Aaron offered her a cocky, off kilter grin. The man wasn’t sexy, sexy was him…
“You have such beautiful laugh. Funny, I almost forgot how it sounded.” He cocked his head to the side. “Isn’t that strange? The things we love most, sometimes we forget? Maybe I tried to forget it, afraid I might not get to hear it again.”
“Why would you think that?” She looked at him and the invisible wedge between their bodies, the one made of broken bricks of regret. No, this time he could not escape behind a cell door or slam the receiver of a phone down… or ignore long winded, emotional letters covered in tear stains. She leaned across the table and took his hand. She shook it a bit, showing the man strength, control, and love.
“Because things happen, Mia. Things we don’t want to happen, but they do.” His lips twisted up tight, as if he were preventing himself from saying anything further.
“I am looking forward to meeting Laura. You talked about her so much yesterday, I could a
lmost picture everything you said.”
He broke out in a wide smile. “Yeah, that’s my world right there… I want her to meet you, too; I’ll get that arranged, just like I said. With our situation, I gotta be careful is all. I saw her yesterday and talked to her on the phone this mornin’. I’m going to spend some time with her later on today.”
“Good! I hear that new park they opened is real nice. She might like that.”
“Yeah, that’s a good idea. She can go on some rides with me… scream her head off.” They both laughed for a spell, their voices waning at just the same time. “Look, Mia. I’m sorry about takin’ off so abruptly last night. It wasn’t anything you did; I just had some time sensitive stuff I needed to take care of. I appreciate you cookin’ me dinner and all. It was delicious by the way. Wish I had some more right now.”
“You’re welcome.”
“I just uh…” He looked down at his hands. “Well, I had things to do. You looked disappointed, but trust me, I was more so.”
“Yes, but I understood. I mean, you’d just gotten home after a year.” She nodded, then switched gears. “You didn’t seem in the mood to talk about much after you came to the school yesterday, Aaron. I wanted to discuss things with you, but instead decided to give you some space for a minute or two, let you get your bearings. But, this can’t wait any longer.”
He met eyes with her and ran his index finger over his lower lip as if in deep concentration.
“Well, what’s troublin’ you?” He reached for her hand, held it tight.
“Why didn’t you tell me that your court case date had changed? Aaron… you’ve been keeping secrets.” She shook her head as a tiny bit of anger planted itself inside of her, threatening to grow out of control and ruin their reunion. She tried to hide her resentment, but she simply could not, so she slowly slid her hand away from his and leaned back in her seat, arms crossed and hands tucked at her sides. “What other things have you been keeping from me? We made a pact. We had an agreement. First, you almost died due to being jumped on at Holman and now this.”
