Perspectives from a Child of the Americas

Some things just sneak up on you, slither in between undusted crevices and just settle down.  They harden. They  solidify and become part of the baseboard, if too much times go by. And in retrospect, Simone realized that might just have been her case.  Her busyness did not stop loneliness. It just stopped her from acknowledging it. But, whether or not she acknowledged it, it slithered,  it hardened, it shacked up like a lazy house guest whose vacation went into the ambiguous territory from temporary to something more permanent.

It’s those undusted places that are home to the trickiest emotions.

So, when Simone found herself enwrapped in an ex-lover’s friends arms dancing breath to breath in a dark zouk club on an even darker side street, she found herself confused at the fruition of events. “He’s a good dancer. Good dancers are hard to find, that’s all,” she spoke into the ear of a friend overlooking the two dance on an electric blue dance floor.  “He likes you, she said.” Simone laughed. “Girl, his tipsiness likes me.” “Sure,” her friend smirked back at her.

Simone returned to the dance floor giving only a second of consideration to the charges against him. One second before the right song, the right moment called them both back to swaying in a space where the electric blue light could not reach. Malik’s breath was so close to the base of her neck it would have been impossible to think sensibly. “Damn, he is a good dancer, she thought to herself.”

The electric blue rapidly gave way to a library yellow. The DJ professed that he was playing the last song of the night. Who knew? Nirvana was actually just a temporary state created by the right mix of rum, breath, music and a beautiful brownskin man that could dance to any beat.

Night over.

Malik slipped his usual smile and put his usual laidback demeanor into motion.  But for the first time, Simone realized, he wasn’t just an acquaintance she had known through a former lover. He he was a striking man, with an easy smile, an easy charm, and an easy elegance of movement that was rare.

“Good night, Malik.” Even his name sounded like she was saying “thank you.”

“Good night, Simone.”

That night was an entry way.

He was beautiful.  Why hadn’t she noticed it before? He was fun to be around. Why hadn’t she noticed it before?

He was passionate, yet a gentleman. Why hadn’t she noticed it before?

Probably because he was taken, a long distance girlfriend living in New Orleans.

Slithering loneliness must have crept in .  But, it didn’t matter. It was just a night of dancing anyway.

The blue light ceased, the music stopped, nirvana proved temporary.