I was with Karen in Hawaii, laying on black rock watching the blue waves under the sun. She was wearing a yellow bikini. Well, actually the top was stuffed between her boots next to her backpack. She was laying face down & the bottom of the suit was kinda scrunched up. She opened her eyes & told me, "Don't Gawk."
I remembered why I like her so much. We've been friends for years, & we can spend hours together without saying one word. In the middle of a crowded bar, overhearing an asshole talk about how two women should not be allowed to raise a kid, Karen can say a couple words like, "What gives you...", & she knows I'll know exactly what she's talking about. & we know noone else will know what the hell we're talking about. In this example, she's referring to the young pimp in the movie Streetwise. He was talking w/ a minister who was asking for donations to start a homeless shelter. When the preacher admitted that yes, there would be a seperate shelter for the men & the women, the young pimp said, "You're asking for money in the name of helping us, but then tell us we can't have our woman with us. What gives you the audacity to ask for money to help, & then dictate the kind of help we get?"
Karen & I are both at points of change in our lives. We could risk our friendship to become even closer. But first, I have to come clean w/ her about Fuscia. Fuscia, what a name - a fucking color. Like naming yourself after a dinosaur or some shit. But everyone loves Fuscia, & the consensus is that he could have no other name. Him & I sorta dated for about a year, & it was one of the few things I had never told Karen about. Near the end, we visited Karen in Austin. You're at the end of a relationship, right, & you can barely spend 3 minutes in a room w/ them, so what do you do? Take a 10 day trip to Austin. In August. During a 110 degree heatwave.
"Hey," I say, & Karen opens her eyes. "Remember when Fuscia & I visited Austin?"
Yeah, she smiles, can you believe he fucked Tracy's 17 year old cousin during that party?
That son of a bitch, I think, sure we were breaking up & we weren't even really together anyway... I remember taking shroooms w/ Karen at that party & not seeing Fuscia until the next morning.
What? I say to Karen.
Her 17 year old cousin, Karen laughs, the one who kept giving everyone crabs. He did her on the roof during the party.
Oh yeah, I say, that one. The clouds look like they're smeared on the horizon, & i close my eyes & lay back down. So that explains the crabs, I think.
Karen pokes my ribs with both hands. I burst out laughing until I get her wrists in my grip. "I command you," I say in a deep robotic voice. She's laughing too, & says, "You broke my meditation, so you better tell me what you were going to say."
"I was just thinking," I say, "that taking bubble bath alone is like wearing a condom when you masturbate." When she stops laughing, I say, "I really liked it when I visited Austin, what do you think about me moving there?"