The Beginning and the End

This is a brand new piece. I alluded to it before when I mentioned that it wasn't quite perfect yet. I am still not sure it is perfect, but here it is.

I never quite understand the favors that my brother asks of me. He is completely capable of going to see his son’s teacher without my help, yet here I am. It sometimes occurs to me that he just asks these ridiculous things to see if I will play along. He shouldn’t need to test it. I usually do. That is why I am here now, looking at my old elementary school.

It hasn’t changed much despite the new wing they built a few years back. I look at the long brick building for a moment as I feel my pocket to make sure that I really placed my keys there. Reassured, I swing the door closed. It clicks closed as memories of my own childhood in these walls come back to me. I shake them away and take in my surroundings, reassuring myself that my brother hasn’t already pulled into the lot. I look back toward the road just as my brother’s familiar blue compact car pulls into view.

He turns on his blinker at the last possible second, pulling into the lot without slowing down much. He races the car toward me, slowing down at the last second to whip into the spot next to mine. I refuse to flinch even when the wake of his squealing brakes shoots up bits of gravel. I just fold my arms across my chest and watch him silently. He smiles as he steps out of the car, unfolding his long, slender frame carefully.

“Scared ya, didn’t I, sis?” The smile on his face couldn’t get any bigger.

“Not really. I am used to looking at that face.” I refuse to let my lips pull upward into a smile.

“Very funny,” he says as his smile fades a little.

“I know. I’m thinking of going on tour, but first I had to help you talk to a teacher. Still afraid of them?”

“No. I just thought this teacher would respond better to you.”

“Oh, is that all?” I smile at him affectionately as he starts walking away from me.

I gasp a little as I almost run to keep up. He got our father’s height while I got our mother’s less lofty stature and affection for chocolate cake and all things sweet. He turns around a couple of times to look at me but doesn’t even feign slowing down.

“Keep up, shortstuff.”

I just frown at him and pump my legs faster. Despite my efforts to catch up, he reaches the row of double doors before me and disappears into the gloomy interior. Expecting him to be waiting, I pick up the pace and throw open the door.

“Okay, I think…”

He is nowhere to be seen. I look down the length of the hallways stretching in either direction. He has disappeared. I turn from side to side, hoping to find some clue about which way he went. No psychic sense stirs within me. I turn left anyway.

As I begin walking down the hall, I hear a door opening behind me. I turn expecting to see my brother laughing at me for going the wrong way, but instead find myself facing a man with slightly curly, dark hair that hangs almost to his chin. His eyes seem to light up as they fall on me and a smile slowly crosses his face.

“Hello there,” his voice is soft and soothing.

“Hi,” I say tentatively.

“Not who you expected, I guess,” he says.

“No. Not really,” I admit.

He steps closer to me, “But I could probably help you out?”

He seems so eager that I can’t deny him, “Maybe? I am looking for my brother.”

“Oh, is he a teacher here, too?”

“No. He came to talk to a teacher about his son.”

“Oh, really? That could be me,” he smiles at me, “I’m Beau.”

He extends his hand to me. I put my hand in his and get the feeling that he already knows who I am. His hand doesn’t shake mine as much as it engulfs it. I feel my fingers disappearing into the warmth of his grasp.

“My name is Daisy.”

“Oh, really? Isn’t that interesting?”

“I guess,” I realize our hands are still clasped and slowly pull mine free.

“Your brother’s name is Luke?” He says, stepping closer and bumping his elbow gently against mine.

Suddenly, I realize what he finds so intriguing. I feel my eyes widen.

“You don’t happen to have cousins named Coy and Vance, do you?” I ask with a smile.

“I see you are up on your Dukes of Hazard trivia,” he says.

“I am. How about you?”

“If I didn’t have that meeting with your brother, I’d take you to the Boar’s Nest and we could talk it over,” he says, leaning closer to me.

A lock of his hair falls across his face. I realize that I can smell his shampoo. Unconsciously, I take a deeper breath. He leans back to look at my face as he flashes me a hopeful smile.

“Maybe I can have a raincheck?”

“Of course,” I can feel my cheeks taking on more color.

“It was nice meeting you,” he says as he turns to the door behind him and turns the handle.

As the door opens, the world seems to waver and shift. I feel my legs growing weak beneath me. I reach out for the wall. I stare at my hands in surprise. The fingers seem longer and more slender than they were a moment ago. The skin hangs loosely, wrinkled and spotted. Even the wall has changed from a bright yellow to beige speckled with flecks of gray and blue. I look to Beau for answers.

“What is happening?” I ask in a hoarse voice I barely recognize as my own.

“It’s okay, Daisy.”

His voice sounds as old as mine. I look up at him and see that his dark hair has turned gray. His eyes, however, remain the same. They are blue and beautiful and worried. He reaches out his arms to pull me close. At first, I try to pull away but as his arms wrap around me, they feel familiar. I feel reassured and protected with a single touch, so I allow him to keep holding me to him.

“It’s okay,” he says again.

He leans into me holding his lips close to my ear and whispering these same words over and over until I finally relax. I can feel the warmth of his body seeping into me. It makes me feel comforted and safe. I breathe his scent deep into my lungs. It is the same scent from that first meeting. I am not sure why this surprises me. It was only seconds ago that we met.

“Would you like to come inside?” He says this softly, breaking the flow of my confusion.

I nod my head, holding onto his arm as he pushes a few buttons above the door handle. We enter a small, cozy living room. I recognize the quilt draped across the loveseat as one of the first I ever made. I look at Beau questioningly. His response is a smile as he guides me to the loveseat. He gently kneels next to me and takes off my shoes before helping me lift my legs up onto the ottoman in front of it. Then he gently tucks the quilt around me. All of this is done in silence.

I am still amazed that I do not feel I should fight him. It still feels like this is meant to be. It is almost as if I remember so many nights like this. He steps back to look at me.

“Are you comfortable?”

“Yes,” I am surprised again by the rasp of my own voice.

“Good. Call out if you need me. I’ll be just in the other room,” he says, smiling down at me.

I smile back at him, but all I can do is nod. I can already feel my head sinking into the pillow he has gently tucked under my head. I listen calmly as he pads across the floor to the kitchen. That is when I realize that a phone has been quietly ringing. I hear his voice softly floating over me as my eyes close.

“Yes, Luke. I know… I think she is getting worse… Yeah, she barely remembers me… I can’t do that… I love her.”

This last sentence gets through to me. I hear my own voice responding to him though I barely realized I had meant to speak. My voice comes out loudly, meant to be heard.

“I love you, too.”

I am so surprised by the sound of my own voice that I jump a little. Something falls from the table next to the loveseat and crashes to the floor.

“I have to go, Luke. We’ll talk later.”

I hear the phone click into the cradle. Then Beau’s footsteps shuffle back toward me, faster than before. He sinks down on his knees next to me. I open my eyes. He is reaching toward me, but he stops as my eyelashes flutter. I reach out to take his hand and guide it to my face. I can feel his arm shaking.

“I don’t want to forget,” I say.

“I know, my love,” he says.

“But I am forgetting,” I say as my eyes begin to tingle.

“It’s okay. I’ll remember for both of us,” his voice comes softly through my confusion.

I can feel his lips touching mine. They move to my cheek, kissing away the tears. His arms are around me, cradling me close as the darkness comes and I sleep. I dream again of the day we met. It feels like it was moments ago, but even in my confusion, I know my mind has just deleted the years in between. So here I rest without the middle. I only have the beginning and the end. And through it all, I have this man who fate meant for me.