Last Tango Before Katrina

Last Tango Before Katrina
 
    The miles showed on his face in burnt etchings of New Orleans sun. He sat at the same table every day, sipping coffee and staring out the window at the Algiers street scene. He seemed to be lost in a universe Kate couldn’t fathom. His world was beyond her reach, cloaked in the darkness of his inward gaze. Something about his remoteness beckoned her. She longed to breach his inner kingdom. But how could she penetrate this elusive creature? He made her think of some mythical beast, like a unicorn, who could never be captured.  
     Her hope is for him to intercept her pass. “Mr. you look like you could use some coffee. Here let me pour you some. Oops, I spilled a little on ya. I’ll wipe it off. Oh my. Sorry, my breasts brushed your face. My breasts have a mind of their own.  Hey, don’t get nervous. My name is Kate. I don’t bite. I’ve seen ya come in every day, but never properly introduced myself. Please excuse me for being too friendly.”  
     Like a true gentleman, he replies “That’s perfectly ok.”
     Emboldened, her words come. “May I ask your name, Sir? I don’t mean to pry.”  
     He tickles her funny bone with, “I’m nobody. Who are you? Are you nobody too?”  
     Kate grins like a possum eating a sweet potato. “Oh, you put a smile on my face. You took me back to high school. So you like Emily Dickinson? That’s one of my favorites by her. It’s simple and funny. I think Emily should’ve gotten out more; had some fun; maybe gotten laid. But then she might not have been who she was and we might not have had her wonderful poetry.”
     He looks like he just sucked on a lemon. “I like Emily just the way she was. She was an endearing prude.”
     She makes a recovery from having fumbled the ball. “Oh my, it sure is hot in here. I feel all sweaty. Please don’t mind me standing so close to you. So what about you? Do you like to have fun? Get laid?”
     Bless his heart he says, “Well, men like me don’t get laid. We are not of the privileged class as it  
were.”
     She can tell he is ticklish in an emotional way and so she says, “Now you have me giggling. You look so kissable. Can I kiss you? Just a cousin kiss on the cheek.” Nobody nods yes.
     “Darn I’ve done smeared lipstick all over your cheek. Here let me wipe it off. Oh no. I’ve just made a mess. I’m so sorry. Hey, can I tell you something? This is just between me and you. So I’ll whisper in your ear. I want to fuck you. Here I’ve written my phone number. For a good time call Kate. But please don’t spread it around. I don’t want a reputation. You look kinda dazed. But I see you’re putting my invitation in your wallet. Hey you know there may be a hurricane headed our way. Why don’t you ride it out with me in my place? It never floods and we can play Parcheesi.”
     He says, “Offers such as yours deserve due consideration.”  
     Kate watches his luscious ass disappear down the sidewalk. Soon it is closing time at the diner.
     Kate tells her girlfriend, “Sherri you and I have been friends since high school. Have you ever seen a guy with as luscious an ass as that man?”
     Sherri gives Kate a pep pat on the derriere just like a football player but unusual between women. “Girl I’m rooting for you. I wouldn’t mind screwing him myself. Maybe we can take turns.”
     “We’ll see about that. He may not come back.”  
     “I saw that look in his eyes. You got him hooked. Just don’t give him a heart attack.”
     Kate goes home and undresses. She draws a steaming tub of water and lies there soaking in blissful daydreams. The phone rings and she picks up the receiver from beside the tub. The caller ID says it is an unknown caller and she is about to hang up expecting a sales call. But her heart flutters at the prospect of that gorgeous stranger being the caller. She accepts the call and hears the soft almost feminine voice.
     “It’s me, nobody, from the diner. I was thinking we could get together and delve more into Emily Dickinson. This is starting to sound like a mother of all storms and no one should be alone in such a tempest.”
     She can’t tell whether her breasts are blushing from the bath or talking to this old dude while naked. “Where y’at cuz? Sorry, you remind me of my cousin. Come right over. It’s about time I got some mental stimulation in this Y’at town.”
     She rises from her bath like a Goddess from her ritual cleansing. She feels the dust of ages lifted from her middle-aged body. She passes the towel up between her legs luxuriating in the delicious sensation of a portent of things to come. There is a soft tapping on her door. Wrapped in her bathrobe she opens the door.  
     “Sorry, I’m not dressed. I just felt like lounging around. Come on in and get comfortable. Here let me take your jacket off. Stay awhile. Come hither. Sit here on the couch. I’ll sit in the easy chair over here. Don’t be shy. I’d love to hear your thoughts on Emily Dickinson.”
     He looks at her with a soft fire in his eyes, like a preacher man ready to save her soul. “I hope I’m not being too nosey, but why do you think Emily Dickinson didn’t have enough fun?”  
     “Oh, I was just sort of joking. Emily has the right to be herself just like everybody else. I just know I’d go crazy without a good screw once in a while. Hey, my robe keeps slipping. I’m sorry to be exposing myself to you. But maybe you don’t mind? You look like you don’t. You’re staring at my nipple. But I don’t mind at all.”
     When he says, “I’m not offended by nudity. There is nothing obscene about nakedness,” she discovers that he isn’t your everyday missionary.  
     “Listen, dude, it’s fine with me if you want to call yourself nobody and act like some kinda holy man or something. But I bet if I made you crawl to me on your hands and knees to earn my permission to make love, you’d obey. In fact, I think if I were to take off this robe you’d give up without much fight. I’ll just take my robe off now. In fact, I’ll even spread my legs. You seem to be studying me with those eyes. What do you see?”
     “I’m tongue-tied.”
     Kate’s robe casually falls completely open as if by accident. “Let’s see if we can get that tongue untied.”  
     “I see a woman whom I’d like to get to know. I’d like to dive into the caverns of your heart and touch the treasures within. Within your eyes, I see myriad worlds waiting to be explored. Your emerald pools bewitch me. Your face glows with burgundy love.”
     Kate gathers her terrycloth and cinches the belt. “That has to be the best line any man has given me. And I can tell you’re for real.  I love to dance. Would you join me in a nice slow dance to Patsy Cline? It will be our last dance before the tempest. Her name is Katrina and she is a mean bitch. If she blows the roof off this place let’s cut a rug for as long as we can. Just one little request I have. Can I stay naked? You can keep your clothes on. I’d just like it that way.”
     Like a true southern gentleman, he says, “Such an invitation I would be foolish to refuse.”
     “May I ask what your real name is?”
     His deep male tone disarms her, “Lancelot.”  
     “Sir Lancelot I love your name. To cut a rug with a knight is the ultimate thrill.”
     “Oh, I’m not really a knight in shining armor. I’m more like a knight in rusty armor.”
     “Either way’s ok with me Lancelot. Oh, you do know how to dance. I love it nice and slow like this. You’ve stolen my heart, good sir.”
     “You’re the first woman who’s ever been sweet on me. I’m touched by your kindness.”
     “I’m just happy to feel your hands on me. I waited all day for that. You really made me feel special. I offered you my body but you gave this ole gal a night of romance. I’m glad we didn’t jump in the sack right off. You treated me like a woman.”
     “Maybe we were meant to help each other. I’ve been a recluse most of my life.”
     “Darling you have no need to hide in your shell. The moment I laid eyes upon you I knew there was a passionate man beneath that ‘don’t bother me’ exterior. Oh, you dipped me. My heart flutters when you do that.”
     “Honey when you flirted with me at the restaurant I knew you were looking for more than sex.”  
     “How did you know?”
     “Because no woman is interested in me for sex. There had to be more to it. I’m not a GQ model.”
     “I love men who look rough around the edges. And the way you carried yourself, so dignified, made me fall for you. You have an exotic quality which I just can’t put to words.”
     “I’ve been called nerdy and crazy, but never exotic.”  
     “Oh but you are strange in a way that makes my pulse race.  I mean it as a compliment.”
     “Exotic is a lovely word. Coming from the lips of genuine woman it means a lot to me.”  
     “Oh, I could dance all night to your tune. Let’s retire to the kitchen and talk. I make an awesome cup of coffee. Come on join me for some brew. If you don’t mind I’ll stay in the nude. I like how you look at me when I’m naked.”  
     “I could look at you all night. I’d love to. Coffee is my passion.”
     “I hope I’ll be your passion one day.” He dips her and she feels like she is falling from a great height.       
     “My heart stirs at your words.”
     “Say Mr., have you ever thought of getting married?”
     “Not until tonight.”
     “When I get old and wrinkled, will you still embrace me as tight as you did this evening?”
     “Let’s just see where the dance takes us.”
     “Emily couldn’t have said it better.”
     “You must feel secure to ride the eye of a cat five with a stranger over coffee.”  
     “I won’t let Katrina take advantage of my worry. And a man who knows Emily is no stranger to me. Oh my, the power went out. We are in the dark. Let’s light a candle and go to bed. No devil woman can touch the sanctity of a couple making love.”