Page of Cups [Reversed]

A Flophouse—EVENING

I am trying to fix the ice maker in the hallway when I spot Andrea, wandering the corridors looking for me. Hoping to bump into me.

“Hi.”

“Bonsoir, Frank.”

“Listen, if we’re going to do this let’s go inside.”

“Oui.”

I take her to my room. She is talking.

“I was thinking about how close we were in old times.” She squeezes my arm. “Thinking about it. It makes me smile. I wanted to find you.”

“It makes me depressed.”

“Oh, Piteaux! Don’t say that.”

“I can't wait till I die”

She ignores it I go on.

“Listen,” I say, “Thinking about wasting ten years trying to have a life with you is really making me sad right now. I want to kill myself. But at the very least I am going to bed to cry and never move again if possible.”

I head to the cot. She follows, climbs in with me. She doesn’t try to cuddle or spoon, just sits. And, as a compromise, she puts her little feet on me. She continues to talk. I color in her toes with a purple marker. She complains a little. I say I would just color the nails but they are so tiny, she doesn't even really have a cuticle.