That vegan girl ...Part 2 by johnjgeddes

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· @johnjgeddes · (edited)
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That vegan girl ...Part 2
<br><br><center>https://s29.postimg.org/i0v750oyv/23738036040_0da41e4d34.jpg</center>

<br><br><center>*He settles back with a small handful of cashews; dry-roasted, they have a little acid sting to them, the tang of poison that he likes.* 
― John Updike, Rabbit at Rest</center>


<br><br>I'm a cattleman's son in love with a vegan girl my dad thinks is a witch. 

To make matters worse, I've offended her somehow and she walloped me on the jaw—*Ouch*!

My jaw is aching, my ego's bruised and I should be angry, but all I'm doing is brooding like that wild turkey she defended and  wondering if I still have a chance.

Yeah, I know—pretty pathetic.

<br><br>It’s Friday night and the college crowd is at Sweetwater’s for drinks. I’m sitting nursing a whiskey sour and feeling miserable.

“How’s the jaw, cowboy?”

I look up and it’s her—she’s in sweater and jeans and still looks like she just stepped off the pages of Vogue. I’m under no illusions now.

<br><br>“Jaw’s fine—my dignity’s been better.”

“Can I buy you a drink to make up for that?”

I shake my head. “No, but you can join me if you wish.”

<br><br>She sits down, an amused look on her face. The waitress drops another whiskey sour and Claire orders a Cab Sav.

“I’m sorry I slapped you,” she says.

“That’s okay—it didn’t hurt much.”

<br><br>She tilts my chin to the light and sees some yellow bruising along my jaw line.

She looks concerned. “Hey, I’m really sorry—I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“I’m not hurt,” I say defiantly.

“You’re not, huh? I guess that bruising’s from an old wound. A cow kick you?”

“Maybe.”

<br><br>She gives me a sly grin.

“ Say, you’re not enrolled in the vet college like I thought. I hear you’re taking undergrad English.”

“That’s right.”

“I think I was mistaken about you. Was that man who shouted at me your father?”

I nod and sip my drink.

<br><br>“He’s a scary man.”

“You’re not mistaken about that.”

“What would he say if he knew you were having a drink with me?”

“I don’t think you’d like to know.”

“Maybe I should go.”

<br><br>She goes to reach for her leather bag purse and I grab her forearm,  look her dead in the eye and say, “I’m not my dad.”

She lets go of her bag and sits back down.

“Are you really a witch?”

“Does it matter?”

I shrug.

<br><br>“Why are you taking English?”

“I like to write. I want to be an author.”

“What kind of things do you write?”

“Poems mostly—although, I’d like to try my hand at writing novels.”

“A poet, huh?” She eyes me critically. “You got any samples of your work?”

<br><br>As I said before, I write reams and reams, but all about her. One or two poems, I carry around folded inside my wallet for safekeeping.

I take out my wallet, unfold the page, smooth it out and hand it to her.

She pauses on one line. *Your eyes are silent midnight rain falling in the woods.*

<br><br>“That line is lovely, Brent. Is the girl you wrote that for as beautiful as that line suggests?”

“She is,” I whisper.

“Do you go out with her?”

“No. She and I are from different worlds.”

“Ah, so a poem of unrequited love.”

“More hidden love,” I guess.

<br><br>She looks off through the window at the Moon sailing free in the night sky. She’s got this far away look in her eyes.

“You know, I never knew a guy who could write a poem like that for me. Most guys tell me I’m beautiful and then, they’ve exhausted their store of words.”

I nod. I’m sure she’s used to guys who tell her they love her, when all they really care about are her looks.

<br><br>And am I any different—what do I know about her as a person?

“You must really know this girl to write about her so intimately.”

She stares at me, watching my reaction

<br><br>I shake my head. “I’m no different from the guys you described—I worship this girl from afar, but we’ve hardly even spoken.”

“That’s so romantic—you don’t know her and yet you write these lovely poems —poems she’ll probably never see. It’s kind of a waste, in a way.”

“It’s a tragedy, I guess.”

<br><br>She stops talking and stares at me. “I’m not a witch, you know.”

“I didn’t think you were.”

“I’m a bit bohemian and a vegan—for ethical reasons—I love animals.”

“So do I.”

“But you eat meat.”

“I don’t—at least, I haven’t since I left home and went to college.”

But what about the breaks—when you go home? I mean, your dad’s head of the Cattleman’s Association.”

“I believe in the Paris exception—you know, you find yourself trapped in a fancy restaurant with no vegan dishes, so you eat what you have to.”

<br><br>“You’re an interesting guy, Brent.”

I shrug. Whatever she really means, I have no idea—but she stays—and when I ask her out, at the end of the evening, she says yes.

Maybe I no longer have to worship from afar—Now that  she’s read her poem—I might even get up the nerve to tell her it’s hers.

Claire is unforgettable and she does pack a wallop. I may be out of my league.

…but I love her.

<br><br><center>© 2017, John J Geddes. All rights reserved</center>

<br><br><center>https://goo.gl/images/JhHokb</center>
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vote details (43)
@sheme ·
wow!
That's amazing
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@johnjgeddes ·
thank you, @sheme
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@mgaft1 ·
ah... so sentimental, so ephemeral!  It's time for you tell your dad "Get a life!"
***
Nice word usage.   Keep up the good work!
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@johnjgeddes ·
ha ha, thank you so much, @mgaft1
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