Page 60 of The Last Man on Earth
She nods. “Let me know if I can help.” She stares at the fire, her skin glowing orange in the light. “I hope it rains soon. I think I’m getting dehydrated. We should take it easy tomorrow.”
“I’ll try. But now that I been inside you…” I trail off with a smile. “I don’t know if I can.”
She rolls her eyes.
“I got a question,” I say. “If you as dehydrated as you claim, how was your pussy so wet?”
She bursts out laughing. “Stop. I’m serious. You can die from dehydration.”
That stops me. “I know that. I toldyouthat, remember? But I’ma go out tomorrow and look for fresh water.”
“Hopefully you don’t have to.”
I nod, but I’m not sure. The sky’s been bone dry for days.
I stare into the fire, my eyes burning from the heat. “Tell me about your family. Where your people from?”
She smiles. “How far back are we talking? Because my daddy’s side goes back to Tallahassee. Generations. My mother’s people are from Detroit by way of Jackson, Mississippi.”
“That’s dope. You a country girl.”
“Yeah.”
“Y’all close?”
She nods, eyes fixed on the fire. “I’m closer to my mom than my dad. Not in a bad way. My daddy’s just…quiet. A hardworking man who takes care of his family, and not much else. My mom’s the outgoing one. And my sister…” she trails off. “You know how twins are. We’re almost the same person.”
“Why’d you hesitate?”
She shrugs. “Just…something I’ve been thinking about lately. Out here, there’s a lot of time for a lot of thinking.”
“You ain’t lyin’,” I agree. “What’d you come up with?”
“That I might be a little…jealous of her. Just a little.”
“For what?”
“She has everything,” she says. “A husband who loves her. Kids. A big pretty house. Meanwhile, I’m thirty-seven years old and living out of a suitcase. And don’t get me wrong, I love my life, but sometimes I wonder if I…missed my window.”
“It can still happen. I don’t think it’s ever too late. For anything. You goin’ back to school, right?”
“Maybe.” She sighs. “The thing is, I don’t really need to go back. I already have a master’s degree.”
“I’m confused.”
She chuckles. “There’s a segment of our community that collects degrees like trophies and goes back to school when we’re bored. I’m one of those, I fear.”
“What’s wrong with that? Sounds like you enjoy it.”
“I guess.” She sighs softly. “My life is so peaceful. I enjoy it, I really do. But sometimes…I get to thinking about what it wouldfeel like to share it with somebody. Somebodygenuine,”she adds.
“Well, maybe you’d meet somebody if you stopped flying all over the world. Sit down somewhere and look around. You might actually see somebody.”
She looks up at me. I don’t know who leans in first. Maybe both of us. But our lips meet. The kiss is slow and steady, at least in the beginning. Then she opens her mouth and lets me in. I taste her. Breathe her. Lose myself in her.
She pulls back. “I don’t think this platform can handle too much movement.”
“It’s all good,” I murmur, brushing my thumb along her jaw. “We ain’t gotta move.”
