While a white woman sways the child she worked so hard for, moisture gathers on the child's beak before evaporating in the searing heat that is the Los Angeles summer. The woman wears black, her child outfitted in the pink, blue, and white uniforms sold at Babies 'r' Us.
Helen follows her instinct, and parks the car. The project of integrating the limbic, nervous, and muscular systems with the tiny brain has begun, as the baby's hands flop and legs flail. Its a wonder it can happen at all.
Cars follow each other on the concrete spaces, elevated or level with the sea. This one trails to the ocean, and this particular one is the fastest way to get there.
"Hey."
"Where are you? Are you almost here?"
"Yes, in a way." Helen looks again at the parking lot around her, sighing at her choice.
"They're so much traffic! I forgot it was like this."
"Yeah, but it'll be worth it, I've got so much food for you! And after you eat some, [baby] will enjoy it too!"
"In this heat, I need to keep feeding him!"
"I can't wait to see you." Selina had decided that excitement would come spewing out in more explicit ways now.
"Yeah, me...too." Excitement comes to Helen rarely.
"Um, so how was the ride? Where did you end up staying last night?"
Helen shifted in her bucket seat, arching her back, tensing the muscles around her clavicle, her silhouette growing starker.
"I went to Nic's house. It was not what I expected or what I remember."
---
"So how long did it take to get here?" She scrambled her jacket off, in a kind of way to maintain its creases.
"Not too long, a few hours." He looked at her with a crinkle in her eyes.
"That's great. Um, so here is where you can sleep." He pointed to a sofa that she figured would turn into a bed.
"Does that turn into a bed? Besides...why don't we catch up a little." Her hesitation was easy to imagine, the scene as trivial as it is common.
Helen follows her instinct, and parks the car. The project of integrating the limbic, nervous, and muscular systems with the tiny brain has begun, as the baby's hands flop and legs flail. Its a wonder it can happen at all.
Cars follow each other on the concrete spaces, elevated or level with the sea. This one trails to the ocean, and this particular one is the fastest way to get there.
"Hey."
"Where are you? Are you almost here?"
"Yes, in a way." Helen looks again at the parking lot around her, sighing at her choice.
"They're so much traffic! I forgot it was like this."
"Yeah, but it'll be worth it, I've got so much food for you! And after you eat some, [baby] will enjoy it too!"
"In this heat, I need to keep feeding him!"
"I can't wait to see you." Selina had decided that excitement would come spewing out in more explicit ways now.
"Yeah, me...too." Excitement comes to Helen rarely.
"Um, so how was the ride? Where did you end up staying last night?"
Helen shifted in her bucket seat, arching her back, tensing the muscles around her clavicle, her silhouette growing starker.
"I went to Nic's house. It was not what I expected or what I remember."
---
"So how long did it take to get here?" She scrambled her jacket off, in a kind of way to maintain its creases.
"Not too long, a few hours." He looked at her with a crinkle in her eyes.
"That's great. Um, so here is where you can sleep." He pointed to a sofa that she figured would turn into a bed.
"Does that turn into a bed? Besides...why don't we catch up a little." Her hesitation was easy to imagine, the scene as trivial as it is common.
