Cherub

If someone had asked me to describe the thought process that led to me driving to an unfamiliar address with a tent strapped to the top of my car, well, I’d say I couldn’t tell ya. Shortly after what I guess can only be called connecting the dots halfway, I clocked out, slipped out of my Shop Stop uniform and into something that didn’t make me feel like a walking corpse. Then I grabbed my car keys and was on my way to the address I had found on the envelope. I was finally on track after asking about twenty different people for directions. Saying it was on the rural part of town was a complete and utter understatement. Sure, it wasn’t like I lived in New York City, there was a considerable amount of space between someone and their neighbors on my side of town and most folks have a few horses or a cow or something like that but this was the real middle of nowhere.

Every house seemed ancient and every person I saw, usually sitting on the porch of one of these houses seemed even more ancient. I hadn’t even passed any other cars other than one old rusting covered pickup that appeared to be ancient like everything else. It seemed like it had taken hours for me to get there, mostly because it had. The sun had begun to set when I finally reached my destination. It was an of course ancient looking pink house with baby blue shutters with a front lawn filled with dandelions. For some reason, I couldn’t imagine the girl living here. Still, I slammed the door of my black Dodge and proceeded up the wooden porch steps. For a second, I caught myself. I couldn’t believe what I was doing, yet, I let my balled fist fall against the wood of the houses door. Seconds later, an elderly woman, just as ancient as her house appeared at the door. It was at that very moment that I realized that I didn’t even know what I was going to say. “Uuuuuuuuh….Um…” The old woman stared up at me through her half-moon spectacles. “Young man, can I help you?” The woman said angrily. “Uh, no ma’am, sorry to bother you.” I turned around and started my decline down the old steps. She slammed the door, hard. I muttered under my breath. “You old hag.” I got back into my car, turned the wheel and started making my way home.

I couldn’t believe what a fool I was and it was all for some girl. Despite thinking so, for some reason it wasn’t the fact that I had drove all the way there that made me feel like an ass, it was that it wasn’t the right address. I must have been so preoccupied with my own thoughts of the girl with the straw hat that I must have not seen what was in the middle of the road. All of a sudden I felt the all too familiar jump of a car that just ran over something. It was a pretty big hop so I stopped as soon as I could catch myself to get out of the car and check for damage. There was no damage to the tires but I couldn’t say the same for the mangled bike that was still lodged underneath one of my back tires. I got back in the car to prevent any possibilities of damage to my tires by driving off of the totaled bicycle. It was an old Schwinn Hollywood. I suppose I could have just driven off but my parents raised me to be a respectable man. I assumed someone was home, there were lights on in the windows and it was the right thing to do to give the owner money for a new bike.

For the second time in a day I climbed the stairs of an unknown house, opened the screen door, and knocked. A moment later, someone answered the door. I was greeted by a familiar face full of freckles, and a pair of big dark eyes. It was the girl from the grocery store. She had traded her black sunflower dress for a long flowing nightgown and she was barefoot. She was beautiful like a pixie in a children’s story book. I know it’s unmanly of me to admit but I felt myself go weak in the knees.

“Kristofferson?” She scrunched her dark eyebrows together in confusion. I froze. I still couldn’t bring myself to say a word to the girl. “It’s strange seeing you here…at my house…on my front porch, so why is it that you’re here again, did you come to visit?” She smiled real big showing all of her teeth. I noticed she had a small gap between the two front ones. It was at that moment that I knew I couldn’t bear to see her face after she found out that I ran over the bike, but it had to be done. “Uuuuuh… Someone rolled over your bike aaaand I didn’t know this was your house but I just thought someone outta tell whoever owned the bike.” It was a half-truth at least. “Aw, darn it!” She ran past me across the yard full of grass to gaze upon the bike that lay on the ground like a murder victim. I reluctantly trailed behind her. When I saw the look in her eyes as she gazed at the bike, it nearly broke my heart…. But not enough to get me to tell the truth. The real truth was, I was glad that I’d run over her bike.

She sighed, and sat down in the long grass. “Well there goes my plans.” She turned to me, “Can I tell you a secret?” I returned her gaze, “Of course.” I sat down next to her and replied. “I was going to run away.” I couldn’t control myself. I started to laugh. She smiled, “ Heeeeey, it’s not that funny okay.” I gave her a look of disbelief, “Huh? No, it most definitely is. Where were you plannin’ to get with a bicycle?” She looked out past the lawn as if she was looking far, far away. “ Anywhere but here to be honest. Don’t you ever feel really desperate for a change, like you’re trapped and you need to escape or you’ll self-destruct? Or worse! You’ll live a miserable life for the REST of your days?” My smile faded and all of a sudden, we were both quiet. All I heard was the sound of the crickets and the sound of the wind moving through the leaves of the willows and the oaks that inhabited the yard. Suddenly, I felt a heaviness in my chest. I looked in the direction she was looking and somberly replied, “Always.” She turned to me and gave a weak smile. “Well at least I wasn’t planning on going barefoot.” We both laughed and for the first time in a while I felt elated. “To answer your question, I was actually here to drop of your tent and return these.” I presented her with the ear plugs I had stashed in the pocket of my worn brown corduroys. “Ah! You found them!” She quickly snatched them from my hands and held them to her chest. “ …You know” She looked at me from under those long eyelashes, “I don’t think I need them anymore.” And she pitched them, right into the expanse of green grass. I could hardly believe what happened next. She stood up and said with that little voice of hers. “ I know you don’t even know my name but, do you wanna run away with me?” I looked up at her with a slight smile. “…What’s your name?” she smiled back.” It’s Cherub.” It suited her. I smiled wider and replied. “Of course.”