410
PARTISAN REVIEW
she would bestow her favors on every groom, then lull them to sleep
on her belly, a she-wolf with her cubs. Just as the Christ
gave His body and His blood-
so she went on, until Thomas and Johan, on either side, sealed her lips.
Rico was last, feeling for her warm soft conch and missing. Her hands
slid down and guided him. He lingered inside for an eternity,
holding back, not thrusting, mastering the surge lest it end
like a fleeting dream. Wherefore the woman Maria was filled with
tenderness
as waters cover the sea. As though seized with labor pains,
she clenched him lightly, with descending and ascending contractions:
suckling him and being suckled to the very last.
Refuge
Dita is at the door. On her slender back a mountain of a backpack
with another bundle tied to it, clutching some plastic bags
and a handbag: she is seeking refuge, for a couple of days,
a week at most, if it's not an imposition. She's ended up with no flat
and no money, all her savings and everything gone; she found
some kind of producer, got taken for a ride. But why are you standing
in the doorway? You'll fall over. Come inside. Then you can
tell me all about it. We'll have a think. We'll get you out of this mess.
She gulped down a soft drink. Undressed. Took a shower. For a moment
she embarrassed him when she emerged wrapped in a towel from mid-breast
to thigh. She stood in front of him
in the kitchen and told him in detail how she had got stung.
And her parents were abroad and their flat was let, she had simply
nowhere
to turn. It was no good his staring down at the floor:
the sight of her naked feet
sets his heart at odds with his body.
Rico's room is yours from now on. It's empty
anyway. Here is the bedding. That's the air-conditioning. His wardrobe
isn't
too tidy, but there's some room. I'll bring you a cold drink in a minute.
