by Shawn Hill
CHAPTER 2 - THE MORNING
The warmth and brightness of the sun’s rays shining through a bedroom window eventually triggers Thomas to open his eyes. Glancing at an old style analog clock on the bedroom wall becomes delusive as Thomas remembers how much he hates trying to determine the time from those types of clocks. It always seems to takes his brain way too long to convert what he sees into a number he understands.
After reaching for his cell phone lying on the nightstand he looks with a feeling of comfort when the familiar digits on the screen come in to view. 8:36am, Saturday, July 12th. A quick sigh of relief, and he turns to see the morning’s light reflecting from Juliandra’s smooth skin. She’s beginning to wake and her lips slowly form a smile as he gently moves closer and begins kissing her neck repeatedly. A few seconds go by before he stops and whispers into her ear.
“Hey, hey… I need your help with something. I think someone slipped me one of those pills last night.”
Juliandra shifts her head slightly towards him without opening her eyes and asks. “What pills? What the heck are you talking about?”
“You know, one of those pills that makes your… umm… your thingy become supersized. I need your help because I hear it’s bad to let ’em stay that way, and I have to use it or I could be injured or something.”
Juliandra starts to laugh when Thomas begins kissing her neck with loud lip smacking sounds. The mood of humor soon changes to that of romance as the sound of giggles transforms to moans, and the comforter gets pulled up and over their bodies.
The morning light brightens, and for a while, the two remain in bed holding each other closely, sharing laughs about past mistakes.
“Christmas, 1998,” Juliandra says.
“Why? What mistake did you make that year?”
“Well… When I was thirteen, I was really into Brenda Braxton. I mean I just loved all her songs. I loved how she looked because she was such a beautiful black woman. And, I loved what she represented, an independent female who could do just anything. She was glamorous, talented, and could sang!”
“Huhh” Thomas replies, “I liked a couple of her songs back in the day. Well, I still like ’em today actually.”
“Me too, but back then, I really wanted to be just like her. So, I would try and sing along to her songs when I heard them, and I would try to look glamorous while doing it. I had my poses down and everything!”
“Hah, I bet you were pretty good. Care to demonstrate some of those poses?”
“Not a chance! I was thirteen. I’m not doin' them now.”
“Come on… Just a couple.”
“Anyways… Like I was saying, I really wanted to be like her, so I kept asking my mom for a dress like the one Brenda had on at the 1997 Music Awards Show. It was a beautiful two tone dress with white in the front and brown down each side. I think I asked her a hundred times for it.”
Thomas chuckles a bit “Did she smack you for asking too much? Oh, I can see her pulling off one those shoes and waving it around in the air. ‘Girl, you better get to your room and stop asking me about that damn dress!’”
“Ha ha, funny. No! She didn’t hit me for asking, but she did smack me straight plenty of other times. Nah, she just kept tellin’ me that if it comes, it comes, and if it don’t, it don’t, and that’s that. And a few times, she would say ‘Ask your father!’ and I would just tell her that dad wasn’t home yet.”
“Was he working or something?”
“Yeah… He was working extra hours for two months and we only got to see him for a few minutes before bed that whole time.”
“Well, what the heck was your mistake? I’m sure you got wacked by a shoe for something.”
“Let me finish my story, boy. So, Christmas came around and that morning I ran out into the living room. All I wanted to do was find my present and see what it was.”
“Present? Just one? You only got one thing?”
“Uh huh, did I not mention how poor we were? Brighten got one thing and I got one thing and we were damn lucky to have whatever we got, even if we didn’t like it.”
“Wow, we were poor too, but I think my mom took our stuff apart and wrapped the separate pieces to make it look like we had a bunch of presents. I remember opening stuff up and low and behold it all created one toy. I thought it was genius.”
“Your momma was a smart cookie. We just got the one and that Christmas I waited for Brighten to open up his present so I could open mine. I just couldn’t wait to get the wrapping off.”
“Wait, what did Brighten get? Do you remember?”
“Oh yeah, I remember every detail of that morning. Brighten was so happy when he tore off the newspaper to find a brand new basketball. He would not stop dribbling that ball all day and I’m pretty sure he got a whooping later for dribbling in the house.”
“He got a basketball that year?”
“Yup”
“So, that basketball wouldn’t happen to be one of the older leather looking ones?”
“Yup, he still has it. It doesn’t hold air well anymore but he keeps it around for some reason.”
“Ahhh… Go on.”
“Well, for a few seconds, I was so happy for Brighten that I forgot about my gift. I was watching him smile, bouncing it and acting like he was a pro player. As soon as dad yelled at him to stop, I remembered the present in my hands. Mom told me to open it up and when I did, I started jumping up and down. It was a dress that looked just like the one Brenda Braxton had on. It wasn’t exactly the same, but it was damn close. I loved it. I kissed mom then ran over to my dad and kissed him. And, I said thank you twenty times while prancing around holding it in front of me.”
“Hmm, that sounds like a happily ever after moment to me. So, why did you get smacked?”
“I told you, I didn’t get smacked fool. I loved that dress so much I wore it everywhere and all the time. Mom had to pry it off me in order to wash it, and as soon as she did I had it on again. One day, I was outside playing with my friend Arial and we were taking turns riding an old bicycle up and down the driveway. On one of my turns, the lower part of the dress got caught in the chain, by the pedals and it ripped.”
“I knew it! And Regina came out, and beat you with her shoe for ripping your dress! I knew you got a smack down!”
“Wrong again. Mom came out, and saw me crying about the dress. It was ripped pretty bad too. She just told me to go inside and change so she could try to fix it. I did. I went in, put on different clothes and in a little while, forgot all about the dress. I just kept playing outside and mom never said another word about it to me.”
“What the heck man? Someone better be gettin’ smacked soon in this story.”
“I never said anyone got smacked. A couple days later, I overheard my parents talking about not being able to pay the electric bill, and dad was mad. He told my mom that he worked so much; he didn’t feel like he was part of the family anymore. He said he was gone all day and never got to see us grow up. I listened to them talk for a long time until they caught me and made me go to bed, but I found out that the reason dad was working so much was to make up for the money they spent on my dress and Brighten’s basketball. My mistake sir… was asking for that dress. I would never have asked for it, if I had understood how much it cost them to get for me. I would’ve gladly traded it for the extra time to spend with my dad. Just to have him home instead of working all the time. And you know what? I never asked for anything else after that.”
“Holy cow girl! That’s deep… You win this one. I totally give up because I’ve got nothing on that mistake. I did not see that coming. I really thought it was gonna be a funny story.”
“Well Brighten did get a whoopin’; that was pretty funny.”
“Hah! That’s right, he did and yes, that’s funny with no end to it. Now, whenever he starts flappin’ to me, all I’m gonna do is picture your mom beating him with a shoe.”
After a few more laughs, the two decide to get up and share some hot tea in the
kitchen while telling one another silly unknown facts about themselves.
“No seriously, I have moves. You’ve seen my moves,” Thomas says.
“Oh you’ve got moves alright.” Juliandra replies, “You do have some kind of moves. Not sure what to call ’em but they’re moves I suppose.”
“Well, despite how great I can dance at home, I tend to freeze out in public. I just can’t get myself to move in public. It’s like someone flips a switch and I forget how to move my body.”
“Oh, is that what it is? I thought it was more like you just didn’t do your moves because it was too embarrassing.”
“No way! I got awesome moves, I just freeze in public.”
“Oh, I hear ya. Did I ever tell you that when I was seven years old, I told my mom that I was going to be a pole dancer?”
Thomas bursts into laughter and spits the tea he’s sipping out onto the kitchen table. “Say what?”
“Oh my god, it was so funny. I saw a show on TV where this girl was pole dancing and I thought it was like gymnastics or something, I was really impressed at how this lady was able to spin around and hang off the pole.”
“What kind of shows were you watching as a child?”
“I don’t remember what it was. It could have been a movie or something but I told my mom that I was gonna become a pole dancer, and she looked at me like I had gone insane. I remember that look like it was yesterday; her eyes got all wide and her eyebrows went up really high. She was cooking on the stove and dropped a spoon onto the counter. She just said ‘Oh, really Juliandra?’ and I told her that I had just seen someone pole dancing on TV and that it was so cool, like gymnastics. After I got done explaining all about it and why I was going to be the best pole dancer ever, she laughed and laughed. I don’t think I’d ever seen my mom laugh so much before. When she couldn’t laugh anymore, she told me what pole dancing was really all about, the nice version mind you, and I was so embarrassed.”
“I just can’t win with you, can I? Every single story I have, you have one better. I could say like… Umm, hey, I flew to the moon yesterday and you would be all like… Well, I did that when I was six and then I went to Jupiter for a week. One of these days I’m gonna have a better story and win.”
“Keep trying boy; I have some good stories left yet.”
It’s now 9:16am and Juliandra offers to make breakfast if Thomas agrees to dance with her a few moments while singing lyrics from one of her favorite songs. He immediately springs to his feet doing his best impression of a proper dancing posture, reaches out for Juliandra’s hand, pulls her close and stares into her eyes with a slight squint, one eye brow raised and lightly puckered lips. He takes one step backwards and with a serious face, begins to yell out the words to a well-known rap song about grinding on the dance floor. He then quickly spins around and begins to push his hind end towards her bobbing it up and down while singing the chorus line.
Juliandra laughingly yells out: “Not that song! My other favorite song!”
Thomas spins back around with a big smile, gives her a hug and reaches for her right hand. He leads her in a slow romantic sway, singing in a quiet soothing tone. He knew the song she wanted to hear and had memorized all the lyrics to serenade her at the right moments. Even though he can’t really sing, Juliandra still loves hearing his voice and just closes her eyes while Thomas does his best.
After dancing a short while and a kiss to seal the deal, they break free and Juliandra starts gathering everything needed to make breakfast for the two of them. Thomas walks over to the trash and proceeds to take it outside to the larger cans in front of the house. On his way back he stops at a pile of mail on the sofa table near the front door and takes a quick glimpse at each envelope, but finds nothing of interest.
Unimpressed, Thomas walks back into the kitchen where he makes eye contact with Juliandra and smiles. At the same time he catches a glimpse of the microwave clock, which shows the time of 9:36am. Then he notices a glass on the counter suddenly burst into pieces and scatter throughout the kitchen. The window Juliandra is standing by shatters and glass seems to fly everywhere while a magnetic clip, holding their grocery list on the refrigerator, explodes allowing the paper to fall.
Thomas turns his head back to look at Juliandra and yells out: “What the hell!” Juliandra spins around with a look of fear and shock, both hands on the side of her face. Soon, her look changes from fear to confusion and then to agony as she suddenly drops to the floor in pain.
Screaming out her name, Thomas runs over to grab and pull Juliandra into the living room. He drops to his knees and holds her in his arms. Frantically, he starts to check all over her body for wounds while she lies on the floor barely able to speak and struggling to breathe. Blood pools outward as her breath becomes more and more shallow. Thomas keeps pressing where he thinks it’s coming from, but he’s dumbfounded, emotionally charged, and can’t think straight as the red continues to flow.
Her life is fading quickly and with both arms, Thomas embraces Juliandra.
”No! No! No!” He yells out.
Slowly, he leans away to see her face and looks into her eyes as she reaches for him. Juliandra’s arms drop quickly, as if a switch had been flipped, turning off her ability to move. Looking up at him, her shallow breath turns to panting as she attempts to speak. “My life… Thomas, I… love… yhhh”
Absolutely nothing in the universe could possibly distract his gaze, and in this moment, Thomas feels a sharp pain around his heart. It was a pain so terrible, like someone cutting it from his chest with a dull knife. Tears uncontrollably and rapidly flow and fall from his eyes.
“I love you Juliandra.” He cries. “Don’t leave me!”
Then with every ounce of thought, intent, and being, he expels any trace of air left in his lungs as he screams out her name one last time, “JULIANDRA!”
For a split second, time seems to pause. No more sound exists, no more motion, no more pain; only the vision of Juliandra’s face and a single tear, which had fallen from her eye, frozen in place. Thomas’s heart, which was healthy and strong, stops beating at the same moment Juliandra slips away. A sudden brightness that fades to black and his body slowly collapses backward onto the floor beside her.
Silence…
No voices. No wind. No heart beats. No life as darkness fills the room and existence ceases to be.
