“Stacey.I’m not an idiot.I know you’ve been worried about me.I know this was something to help spark me up again, and to be honest, I appreciate the effort.But can’t you see?I’m withering away without you, Stacey.You and I made love.But what did it mean to you?”
“Al,” I said.
“I’m not done talking,” he said, and he pushed himself up from his chair.His legs swayed.“That little girl.She was right.I have been in a so-called ‘funk.’I’ve been depressed, Stacey.You know why?Because you shared yourself with me.And then you pulled away.”
“Where is this coming from?”I asked.
“I’m a man and you’re a woman, Stacey,” he said.“Yes, I’m a priest.But I have needs.It may have been awkward between us.I’ve tried—hard—not to overstep my boundaries.But I can only hold back my true self for so long.Don’t you understand, Stacey?You don’t see me as a sexual figure at all.You just view me as some sort of… I don’t know.Father figure.Did you sleep with me out of pity?”
“Al,” I said.“It’s not that simple.We shared time together because I love and respect you.So what if I view you as someone capable of being a father figure?That doesn’t diminish your sexuality in my eyes.And you know.I can’t change our relationship or our dynamic, especially if you don’t tell me how you’re feeling.”
“Then why not tell me this?Why pull away like you did?”
“What else was I supposed to do?There was so much that happened between then and now.The zombies.The coffee.Chicago being nearly destroyed.I mean.You’re even a Priest.How was I supposed to know that what we had wasn’t a mistake?I thought you regretted it, and you were giving me space.”
A look of understanding came over his face, and he sat on the bed, shoulders relaxed.
“How could I regret growing closer with you?”Al asked.“If I regretted anything, it was that I had to share your beauty and determination with the others.Stacey.I know I’ve been withdrawn.But for so long I’ve been alone.I’m terrified of losing someone I love again.Perhaps this was all a big misunderstanding.I subtlety opened a gap between us, to push you just far enough away.So I wouldn’t have to feel your rejection.And yet.Here I am.A wilted moonblossom anyway, deprived of the soft glow of the moon’s glistening light and thirsting for it.”
I closed my eyes and sat next to him on the bed.Our hands met in the middle.There was an electric shock from his touch, and he groaned.
I opened my eyes, and then suddenly—he was back again.His face vibrant, his countenance appealingly pale, even the color of his hair darker.
“I feel like you’re a missing part of me,” he said.
He moved forward to me, kissing me and leaning me back on the bed.I pushed against him, panting.His kiss was even more electric than I remembered—hot and hungry, with the same punch of desperation from before, tinged with the ancient knowledge of human carnal instinct.
“We’re—Al—come on, stop for a second.We’re actually in danger here,” I said.
“I know,” he said.He kissed me again, his tongue slipping in my mouth, and I lost myself in his embrace.Questing fingers stroked my flesh—slipping over the curves of my body, spreading me wide.He slipped down like a snake, enticing me, seducing me, sending me through wave upon wave of pleasure.We flipped, turning, new positions opening up.At one point, I stared at a porcelain doll staring at me and questioned what I was doing with my life, and why even though this was the worst place I’ve ever had sex in my life, it was one of the best lays I’ve ever had.
I moaned—too loud—as the waves of pleasure crescendoed up in me, and then we heard booming footsteps from the hallway.
“Get dressed and go to the window,” Brother Al said.
“What?”I asked.
“Get.Dressed,” he snapped, standing and making himself presentable.
I started to pull my clothes back on, and then I heard Carol Anne’s voice from the hallway.
“No, don’t—I let them stay there, Aunt Patti?—”
The door banged.
“Who’s in there?”I heard a hoarse voice bellow.
“Nobody,” Brother Al said.
There was another thump, and the door swung open.The overhead light illuminated the flickering side of a cleaver, and Aunt Patti stomped into the room, fire in her eyes.
“I heard y’all in here,” she said.“In my crafts room.Fuckin’.”She said this last word like a curse, banging the wall with her fist.Plaster fell from the ceiling.
“Yes, that’s accurate,” Brother Al said.
“In front of my babies?”Aunt Patti asked.
“These dolls, you mean?”Brother Al asked.
