I lay on the bed for fifteen minutes waiting for her to arrive. In the meantime, I looked out the window, listening to the voices from the restaurant and bars below. Thoughts of Russel came to mind, when he would be on the island again, how we would catch up. Thoughts of Ike, too. How he had been since leaving the pool business, or since I had moved out of his house. I drifted to thinking about that one party Russel threw at the University of Delaware, when our gay friend Maurice showed his dick to a room full of girls and they all laughed and took pictures, and I had thought, ‘insane he just got away with that’. Was it because he was gay? Then I realized that in
some places at some times, with the right people in the right mood, some things can just happen and it’s okay. I could have flashed myself at that party, I thought, and everyone would
have loved it. Not because it was me or because I was flashing, but because it was the trajectory of the night. Then I thought of myself in court explaining to the female judge, ‘your honor, you weren’t there! It was the trajectory! The trajectory!’ and getting sent away. I missed Russel. I missed Ike. I missed a lot of people.
Nick Denardi 