He sat alone at a crowded table. His hair and skin, which were once rich with pigment, were lightening from many hard years. His mind was in the past. He had been sentenced to ten years for second degree man-slaughter. It was now past thirty seven. Time was added for killing two men that wanted him in a bad way. In his mind he was at his sentencing.
He was of two standing. He was the only not white. His lawyer was next to him. The jury had fond him guilty of vehicular man-slaughter while intoxicated. As the gavel crashed, he jolted back to the noisy mess hall.
"I Promise" he said to her. "No I promise more" she fluttered back and rolled on top of him. The breeze was warm off the lake and the blanket saw the playful naked wrestling. Paper plates with half eaten noodle salad and two empty bottles of wine sat near by. A tree had been altered with a knife. It now had a heart with A M + J E inside it. The J E was going to be changed in month. The planed to elope just after her eighteenth birthday. She never saw another day.
He was back in his cell. With his head in his hands, he was back on that date. Some years on the anniversary of the day they were to be married he bulled past. Not this one. It's easy to die for someone, living without was much harder.
The ride home the lake was heavy with perfumed passion and music. Stanley Turrintine came out of the radio like a demi-god. On the big front seat hands and mouths found still lake wet skin. Then headlights flashed down the road like the cold steel of a switch-blade. The pair of lights swung from lane to lane. She found his hand, then his eyes. The moment lasted only seconds, and as he swerved out of the way of the other car they smashed into a tree. Killing her instantly.
The other driver was never even looked for. The jury thought it was a ploy, because he had no remorse. He never took the stand. He never told anyone what the promise was. They promised to out live each other.
�2003 Daniel J Harris