Sometime during the wee hours of the morning, we decided to head home. Eva and Gabriel begged us to stay, but with a house full of people, we decided we wanted a bed to sleep in instead of a sleeping bag.
I had one too many strawberry beers, Brando the same, minus the strawberries, and Guido became our designated driver. Lou matched my stride, and her face glowed almost red in the hot night air. Guido had to keep a firm grip on her so she wouldn’t stumble in the darkness.
Life was a drug, and the earth’s spinning was the rollercoaster ride after too much. I was high on air, love, and alcohol.
Brando swooped me up, bringing me close to his chest.
“Weeee,” I said, lifting my arms, really feeling the spin of the earth around me. Could a body be made of helium? If I put my mind to it, perhaps I could fly.
He set me down before he opened my door, and I stared up at him with hooded eyes. The world had long ago turned soft, and he came in and kissed me with a mouth so delicious that I moaned. His lips were the only soft about him.
“One word,” I breathed out. “Give me one word.”
Sometimes we played this game—either him or I would ask for one word to encompass the moment we were in. One word was easier for him than a few. He could express himself without being overwhelmed.
“Brama,” he said, pressing me harder into the car door.
Crave or lust, he had said. The noise I made translated my approval of this response.
“You are so drunk, baby. But you still owe me a word.”
He stopped kissing me, stopped touching me in the sensitive places that Ilustedfor him to keep exploring.
“Brama,” I agreed, blowing out a rush of air. He inhaled, breathing me in. I wondered if the air between us was not made of helium, but for the crave we both had for each other. It throbbed, a deprived pulse between us.
He accused me of being a cheat in Italian, and we both erupted into laughter. Reaching behind me, he opened the door, and I slid into the back seat. I didn’t stay separated from him for long.
“Come, Medusa,” he said, opening his arms for me.
I climbed over his lap, straddling him in the back seat. My hair was practically on fire from the humidity, thick and wavy, creating a halo around my head.
He lifted up, reached in his back pocket, and pulled out the black rubber strip I had caught earlier. He dangled it close to a wild strand of my hair. I went to snatch it from him, but he was too quick.
He lifted his brows, wiggling them a bit. “You want your catch?”
“I want you.” Our hands came together, the rubber between them, and we started to kiss again.
Guido cleared his throat. “We should get—It is dark…”
Brando sighed and pulled me off of him, like a suction fish. “Strap in. Guido’s right, we need to get going. It’s not safe to sit in the dark.”
After strapping in, I wiggled the rubber strip at Guido’s head. “Check out this prize winner. I caught that, all by myself. It put up a good fight too!”
Lou and Brando started to laugh. Guido shook his head and turned the radio on, getting comfortable for the two-hour ride home.
He wasn’t being himself tonight. In fact, in general, he had become almost sour since he had met Lou. I glanced between him and Brando as they discussed the weather. Brando said he smelled rain in the air. Guido said the news confirmed the suspicion.
It wasn’t the news that had captured my attention though—it was the change in Guido after he had met Lou. He had always been a man, but he used to have more of a sense of humor. When times were easier for us, Brando reclaimed some of that nature too, but it was harder to pry it from him when we were under siege.
Still, there was more to it than that. It was almost as if love hardened them and made them take the world more seriously. I didn’t know if I liked it or not. Other women who had been in their lives had easier access, but we—the wives—rejoiced when we cracked the code that continually changed.
I told Guido what I had been thinking, and he shrugged. “The others did not matter. When you are in love, the entire world is a battlefield.”
“That is sort of romantic,” I said. “But not good enough.”
“Amen,” Lou said, lifting her hand in a preach manner. Eunice had taken her to church not long ago.
The two men shook their heads—we were beyond understanding to them.
