Angelia
I was 28.
Mike looked under the old Valient's hood. "This thing is on its last leg," he said, "try to fix it, Angelia can't afford a new one, I'll try to find a used transmission somewhere that we can get for cheap."
Angelia was a proud woman; she certainly wouldn't accept help from me. We had had our run-ins when I bought the supplies to fix up her extra rental unit, and she didn't have the money to reimburse me at the time.
"DO NOT, buy stuff to fix this place up unless I approve it first! UNDERSTOOD?"
"Yes, ma'am!" I answered, "I'm not worried about payback, and I do know where you live." I said.
She had been walking away but turned on her heel and spewing Spanish got right up under my nose and pointed her finger in my face.
She didn't say a word, just shook that finger and gritted her teeth and walked away grumbling under her breath.
A guy pulled up to the shop about noon in a sweet Chevrolet Camaro and walked into the office to talk to Mike. He and Mike came out to the bay I was working in, and Mike asked me to give the Camaro a thorough look over. The car was a donation to a local scout troop, and they planned to raffle it off next week.
I looked the vehicle over, and as I suspected, it was in great shape. All that was needed were some new hoses and V-belts, and it would be good to go.
Later that afternoon when the gentleman came back he opened the passenger door and placed a box inside. When he came out of the office, I was waiting for him in the parking lot to hand him the keys.
"You're raffling this off? I asked throwing my chin toward the Camaro.
"Yeah, $5.00 a ticket, you want to buy some? I just picked them up from the printers."
"Yeah, I would," I said.
The man reached into the window and pulled a book of tickets out of the box. How many can I put you down for, young fella? He asks.
"All of them!"
"What?"
"I want all of them," I said, "unless it's illegal."
"Well, no, I don't think it is, but......"
"Look Mr. I want to buy them all, and you'll have plenty of time to hold your raffle anyway if my check bounces, but there are a few conditions."
I told him I wanted to buy a friend a car but she was too proud to accept charity, and this would be the ideal way to get her one without her knowing it. He had to swear never to tell anyone. This deal had to be between us, and I would only give him back one of the tickets with her name on it. At the time of the drawing, he would call her up and tell her she had won.
I wrote the man a check for the entire box of tickets, picked a book randomly and filled out the form and handed it back to him.
"You know you are paying twice what this vehicle is worth don't you?"
"Yes, sir, but this is the only way I know how to help both her and your Boy Scouts."
That evening, when I saw Angelia, I told her I bought a raffle ticket for the car in her name. She grumbled about me buying stuff that she had to repay me for and said she would never have gambled on a raffle anyway.
"Angelia, it's for a good cause and if you don't want to pay the five bucks then its a gift!"
She was having none of that, and fished a fiver out of her purse and handed it to me.
"Good luck!," I said as I closed the door to my apartment.
The nightmares started soon after I moved to Kansas, and they followed me to Reno. The common theme was either Gail or the old man in a hopeless situation where I couldn't save them. I'd wake myself up screaming and stare up at the ceiling the rest of the night.
Mike noticed the change in me and wondered if there was anything he could do. No, only a severe case of insomnia I told him, but I could handle it.
Angelia saw the difference in my personality too and asked me several times why I seemed so down. I blew it off, but she started insisting that I must have supper at her place and tried to coax the reason for the depression from me. I told her it was something I could handle on my own, but I saw the concern in her eyes.
It was Friday afternoon when Angelia called the shop and asked Mike if he would come tow her car into the shop again, it had stalled on her at a house she was showing, and she needed a wrecker. Mike tossed me the keys and told me the address.
When I arrived, Angelia was sitting on the curb with her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands.
"Someone called for a cab?" I asked through the open window.
She was very quiet during the ride back, and I thought I glimpsed her eyes watering. She sat up straight and sniffed and wiped the wetness from her cheeks.
"Marty, I may need to borrow your truck next week, at least until I get the car fixed, do you mind?"
"You know I don't, girl, anything for you."
She smiled and patted my arm, "Thanks," she said.
I spent a sleepless night with my memories and had dozed off at the breakfast table when I was startled by pounding on my front door.
When I opened it, Angelia threw herself into my arms and kissed me on the cheek.
"Marty! I won! I won! The ticket you bought me won the car!"
I tried to match her excitement but failed miserably. "That's wonderful," I said.
"You look terrible, did you get any sleep?"
"Some," I lied.
I took Angelia to pick up her new car and winked at the guy when he handed over the keys and the title.
When we arrived back at the triplex, she told me she was hosting supper that evening, and I'd better be there.
I didn't know why but it seemed nothing mattered anymore, I should have been happy for Angelia, but even her excitement couldn't bring me out of my despair.
At 6:30 PM I was washed and shaved and in clean clothes. I knocked on Angelia's door, and she opened it with a smile I hadn't seen for some time. She was still excited about her new car, and it was hard not to share in her enthusiasm.
We ate roast beef and drank red wine, and I listened while she babbled on about how her luck must be changing and how she wanted to drag her old car down to the junkyard and watch them crush it.
We played Gin Rummy and watched a movie on television until almost 11 PM. I was stacking dishes on the coffee table when she jumped up and said, "I almost forgot!"
She reached into a bag beside her chair and brought out a little heart-shaped box of chocolates and handed it to me.
"Happy Valentine's Day Martin!"
It was February 14th, the day I had lost my soul mate, and I had forgotten.
I broke down, sitting there hunched forward on her green couch with my hands hanging over my knees I sobbed like a child.
"Oh, honey! What's wrong? What's wrong Marty?"
It took awhile, but I was able to tell her about losing Gail on Valentine's day.
She stood up and took my head in her arms and rocked me while I sobbed against her waist.
After a while, she sighed and leaned back to cup my face in her hands.
"Come on," she said, "we are going to fix you."
Then she did the most remarkable thing. She smoothed the hair away from my forehead and touched my cheek just like Gail used to do. It was like, for just that instance, Gail had possessed her body and tried to comfort me.
I was stunned, but somehow I followed her to her bedroom, and she helped me out of my clothes.
Angelia held me close to her breast and stroked my hair. She offered me the gift of her body, and I took comfort there.
I felt her warm breath on my ear, and her gentle hand tickled the short hairs at the base of my neck. She opened her legs to me and rose up to match my slow thrust.
I don't know why, but as my climax heightened it felt like all the sorrow and grief I held inside gathered, and with one final push all my cares left my body and with each pulse of pleasure they passed into her. But instead of keeping them to herself, she let them disperse into the love given back to me.
Angelia held me for a long time. Her hand passed down my spine and over my buttocks, and I fell asleep, content to feel her touch on my bare skin.
When I woke, the sky held a glow that hinted of dawn. My head nestled on Angelia's bosom and I suckled at her breast. She awoke with a pleasured moan and gathered me into her arms to received me again. Afterward, I slept.
I don't know what happened, but after that night I was able to let Gail and the old man go. It felt like she had been there to reassure me that all was well and I could move on without her. The love I felt that night healed me, and I had no more nightmares.
Angelia never touched me the way Gail had again, and I'd like to think that was Gail's way of letting me know everything would be alright.
Of course, we slept together a few times afterward, but the magic was gone.
Angelia told me she loved me, but we were from different worlds and not meant to be together. I had to agree.
I was back in Kansas by summer.
I called Angelia in August and found out that a fancy law firm had contacted her to see if she would consider managing five properties of townhouses and condominiums. The job offered an excellent salary with a retirement plan and medical and dental benefits.
"Imagine that!" I said. I shared her joy and promised to visit her when I could.
CARRY ON!
