endearment her way, but he realized that she had a point. He stood
up and paced. She watched him silently. At length he said, “I knew I
didn’t just marry you for your ass. I’m going to give Roy a call, put
him on top of this first thing tomorrow.”
What Morris didn’t know was that Roy had already been on top
of this. And her. And on the bottom. And just about everywhere in
between.
2. There You Are
Roy was still dreaming in the Undergrounds garden but now the sun
rose higher in the sky and pain came like hellfire, arcs of flame
shooting up from down below. The stitches cut ever deeper into his
early morning erection. He stumbled and hurled himself clothed into
the kungkum bath. It helped for a moment, but as the water softened
the wounds, the pain only grew worse.
“God fucking damn it!” he yelled. He had never been as divided
as he was at that moment. No man should loathe his genitals so much
as Roy did then. But the pain gradually subsided and he emerged
from the pit in a pique.
He walked out of the garden and back into the empty store.
Expecting to see aftermath left over from the night before, he was
amazed to find it spotless. Assuming Leona had taken care of it, he
shuffled over to the coffee machine to get started with the day, but
never made it there. Tripping, he found himself atop a homeless
person.
This was really too much. He didn’t mind taking care of the odd
stray cat or acquaintance but certainly did not want Undergrounds to
turn into a flophouse. Roy bent down to help the bum to his feet, but
stopped when he saw a long golden mane and eyes a similar color stir
from under the blanket. She turned over and propped herself up on
her elbows. Their faces were only inches apart. A drop of water
abandoned the tip of his nose and rolled down her cheek.
“I’m sorry,” Roy started.
“I’m sorry,” she said also, “I couldn’t sleep. I came back here to
clean. Then I became tired. So I slept.”
Roy certainly could not argue with that. A long time passed while
they regarded each other, unmoving from their spot on the floor
behind the counter.
ABYSSINIA
68
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