Peter threw Kristi's mind out of whack. He was so damn persistent, but
just godly material in her mind. Her mind reveled in the fact that he came
by before the concert. That really got to her. Being cared about was a
strange and intoxicating feeling for her. Besides her family, she had no
one who actually treated her as a true friend. Peter did and that's what
has made all the difference in her life.
When she got up Monday morning to go to her Latin class, what she saw on her front step surprised her, but brought a smile to her lips. There was her 311 poster with a note attached:
To One Goober From Another.
That's all it said. She hadn't left her home at all last night or all that day. He must have brought it later in the day. Shaking her head, she said with a chuckle, "Peter Parker, you certainly are something else." She picked up the poster and brought it in her apartment. Deciding to put it up when she came back, she left her abode and locked the door.
Kristi took her normal seat in her class: fourth row in the sixth seat. There was nothing on the dry erase board. 'Are we learning something new?' she thought. 'No, the new material would be up there…'
Peter walked in the classroom and took his seat next to Kristi. "Good morning."
Kristi snapped out of her thoughts to look at Peter. His eyes seemed somewhat dull. "Good morning yourself." Peter attempted to stifle a yawn. "Rough night?"
"You could say that."
Thinking about happier things, she grinned for a moment. "Thanks for the poster."
Peter, who wasn't really paying attention, perked up. Once it registered what she said, he smiled back to her. "No problem." Lowering his head a moment to doodle in his notebook, he said calmly, "You owe me 8.50." He had a smile on his face so she would know he was joking.
With opened eyes, she exclaimed to him, "Why Peter! I do recall offering you money, but you refused to accept it. So, since I don't want to damage our friendship by pressuring you to accept it NOW, I believe me attempting to give you the money for a second time would be…wrong."
He laughed at her. "I love your logic."
She shrugged her shoulders. "I'm kinda fond of it myself."
"Okay ladies and gentlemen, this is probably the two words loved by all students alike: Pop Quiz."
A collective groan was shared around the room. "Well THIS is a pleasant surprise," Kristi said oozing sarcasm.
Peter leaned back in his seat shaking his head. A kid in front of them shook his blond hair. Scoffing he said, "Man, Dr. Mac just…just don't…" He couldn't find a word.
"QUIT," Kristi and Peter said in unison.
He turned around and looked at them. "Yeah!"
Kristi shook her head. "Well, if I get another paper cut from flipping through those 20-page tests of his, I'm suing."
The balding, sixty-year-old man glanced around his room. "Yes, I know you're groaning now, but there's a nice twist to this. I will go around the room, picking each student at random to conjugate a verb in whatever forms I tell you. You will have exactly 3 minutes and ten seconds to write them. After you do that, consider yourself dismissed. You will have to conjugate it on the board and give me the proper pronunciations."
Kristi smiled. This was going to be a cinch. "This isn't that bad."
The blonde boy mumbled, "It's hell if you don't have all the verbs memorized."
Peter patted him on the shoulder. "Yeah, but just be cool about it. You'll do fine."
The professor looked around the class. All he could see were people beginning to eye their notes. "The computer is going to randomly choose the students. The guinea pigs are…ah, Mr. Charles Preston, Miss Carrie Darryl, Mr. Brad Fontly, and Asia Michaels."
Every single one of them had a look of dread on their faces. Kristi leaned in and whispered to Peter. "They look like they're about to get their heads chopped off…"
Peter rubbed a hand over his face to wake himself up. "Oy."
"Charles, conjugate ârdeô/ârdêre in the present indicative, imperative, and future indicative. Carrie, conjugate cadô/cadere in imperfect indicative, imperative, and perfect indicative. Brad, conjugate cadô/cadere in future perfect indicative and present indicative. Asia, conjugate faveô/favêre in present indicative and pluperfect indicative." One of the boys widened his eyes in disbelief. There was no way he knew that. "Come, come now Brad. You have approximately 3 minutes left." Furrowing his green eyes inward, he concentrated on writing on the dry erase board.
It continued like this the entire period. Peter went with the second group and Kristi was left in her seat until the second to last group. Her wait was entirely too boring for her. "And how about…Miss Kristina Devun." Kristi's head perked up when she realized she had finally been called. "You will have nancîscor/nancîscî. Conjugate it in the imperative, perfect subjunctive, and present indicative." Kristi widened her eyes to wake herself up. She wrote quickly:
Active Sing. Active Plural
Imperative : nancíscere nancísciminí
Perfect subjunctive: na(n)ctus sim na(n)ctí símus
na(n)ctus sís na(n)ctí sítis
na(n)ctus sit na(n)ctí sint
Present Indicative: nancíscor nancíscimur
nancísceris (-re) nancíscminí
nancíscitur nancíscuntur
She placed the blue marker down and waited her turn to pronounce. When it was her turn, she said them quickly. After receiving a nod, signaling she was right, she began to erase her chart. "Very good Miss Devun. You can leave." She sighed relief. She was so happy to get out of that boring class.
Kristi walked outside with a big yawn. "I know you had to have been bored."
Kristi turned sharply to her left. It was Peter. She looked at him questioningly. "You waited?"
Getting up of off the ground he said with a stretch. "Yeah."
They began to walk. Glancing at her watch, she said surprised, "Pete, I was in there for about 30-minutes."
He shrugged his shoulders. "So? You would have waited for me…right?"
"Of course! I just didn't think you would."
He found himself beginning to grin. "Why?"
"Because…" Kristi thought for a moment and couldn't come up with a reason that wouldn't make her sound completely stupid. She said finally, with a laugh, "Because, I'm a special person who is slow on the uptake. I thought I told you that bit already?"
He shook his head and snapped his fingers. "Yep, you sure did. Slipped my mind completely." Readjusting his black Jan Sport book bag, he asked, "But anyway, remember that art exhibit I was telling you about?"
"You mean the one that you demanded that I go to?"
He nodded his head. "Yeah, that's the one."
Playing it sly, she said casually, "I recall you mentioning it."
"Well, I found out more about it. It's next Wednesday night. Not this Wednesday, but the next."
"Okay."
"Do you think you'll be busy that night?"
She thought for a moment. She was about to make the spider embryo…"Probably not. The only thing I'll be doing is working on my research, but I should be done with the hard part by…at least this Saturday."
"Alright. So you're game right?"
"Fa-sho."
He smiled at her saying. "Alrighty. You aren't going to stand me up are you?"
"I'll try not to. I have a busy schedule and all…I'll have to pencil you in," she said with sarcasm.
He punched her in the shoulder jokingly. "I feel so flattered that you would take the time to check."
"I'm sure you do. You ought to." A cold gust of wind went by quickly. "Ooooh, its cold. It's times like these that make me miss my hot Louisiana weather."
His face scrunched up. "Oh, yeah…I forgot to mention. The exhibit…it's outside."
Kristi nearly dropped her jaw. "Are you serious?"
"Yeah. On the Martin Memorial Park grounds."
She shook her head solemnly. "Boy…boy…"
"Well part of it is outside under an awning, and part of it is inside a pavilion."
"Well…I take it I'll only be seeing part of the exhibit."
"Why?"
"Because, Popsicle art is not my thing."
He chuckled slightly. "Well that's okay. Well actually, I take it back. I heard they change it up. Sometimes in the pavilion…sometimes outside, so I'm not to sure about it."
As the wind increased, Kristi tugged her coat tighter around herself. "What should I wear?"
"Something warm…just in case."
"Besides that."
"It's a 'no jeans/sneakers' thing."
"Man! That's the most comfortable stuff. It's interesting that artist would risk their work getting ruined by the elements."
"I'm sure there's probably some sort of covering over them. I heard it's really nice. Someone at the newspaper went there last year. They recommended it."
"Well…that's good." Looking down, she glimpsed at her watch. "Look, I gotta get going. I have to get in as much time as I can for my research."
"Aight…well, I'll see you later."
"Okay. Later Pete."
Once she reached her apartment, she went straight to her lab. This was a critical time for her. She spent all day Sunday separating an egg and "y" sperm. She wanted to wait a few hours to see if they merged yet. When she checked…everything was going well. There was so much to write…so many observations. She had to freeze images of the slides of the embryo in its different stages, write down observations, calculations, times, descriptions of images…there was just so much. It was a thrill, but also an exhausting one.
The rest of the week, Kristi was like a recluse. Peter was the first to notice, and he was probably the only one to notice. Since she never attracted attention to herself, it wasn't too hard to believe. They had missed three study sessions together. It wasn't big, but it was significant because it was often him having to cancel because of "business". Because of his personality, he understood. He knew what it was like to be immersed in something…research for her…crime for him.
When the night of the art exhibit rolled around, he called her just to make sure she remembered.
Kristi was fiddling with her microscope when she heard the phone ringing. Adjusting her headset, she answered by tapping on the side of the headset to activate it. "Um…hello?" She was taking pictures of the embryo's stages. It was so hard to focus that lens…
"Kris…hey!
Kristi's brown eyes flew up. "Hey Pete. Sounds good to hear someone's voice." Sounded really good…
Peter was putting up some of his books. Cradling the phone with his cheek and shoulder, he said, "I would think so. Did you assign yourself to solitary confinement?"
She smirked. "Ha, ha. I can't mess up with this."
"I know. I'm just playing with you." Readjusting the phone, he continued. "I was just calling to make sure we were still on tonight for the art exhibit."
She pulled open a drawer to pull out another lens. She was practically beaming at the thought of going out. "Oh yes…I have that written in here so I wouldn't forget." That was her main highlight for the week. Going to school was nothing new, but at least she would see something new now. Her eyes were getting sick of seeing the same white walled room. She wasn't one for going places, but at this point, it was a Godsend.
"Good. I didn't want to go by myself because my friend decided to play Dr. Frankenstein in her laboratory."
She fished around the drawer ruefully. "Yeah, yeah, well, you know me. When are you coming over?" Pop! The lens flew out of the drawer and onto the floor. Sighing to herself, she bent down to pick it up…'where are you?' she mumbled as she glimpsed around the floor.
He glanced down at his Timex watch. "In about two hours. I should get there around 6:45, so…" Increasing the volume in his voice, he said jokingly, "Get out of that room!" What he heard on the other line was a swift crash. Aww man…what did he do now? "Are you okay over there?"
When he shouted, Kristi jerked her head up in surprise and hit the open drawer. She groaned into the phone. Rubbing her head, she said playfully, "Oh I'm fine. I'm just inflicting wounds on myself. Nothing new."
"What happened?"
Still rubbing her head, she said with a sigh, "Well actually, I'm minding my own business and getting a lens. I dropped it, bent down to pick it up, and the stupid drawer jumped out and bit me."
"Is the drawer really that stupid if YOU hit your head on it?"
"Hey now, you're treading on dangerous water buddy. And besides…I told you, it jumped out and bit me."
"Poor baby."
She got off of the cold tile floor. Placing the lens on the counter, she said pitifully, "Yes…I know."
Peter glimpsed back at his watch. "Well I'll let you go tend to your wound. I'll see you in a bit."
"Okay."
"Later Frankenstein."
"Bye Igor."
"Yes master..."
"Goober!" She heard him laugh before tapping the headset twice to hang up. It wasn't until that moment that Kristi realized that she was going somewhere with Peter. Making sure she was at a stopping point, she ran up the steps in her lab, threw the door open, and ran toward her room.
After taking a shower, she ran to her closet. Within an hour, not only was she a wreck, but so was her room. She threw clothes in and out of her closet. Her mind was spinning as out of control as her room looked. The sensible part of her mind reasoned that this wasn't a date. They were going as friends. They often went places as friends, nothing more. The crush side of her mind hoped otherwise. There was always a chance…then her sensible side would cut in and tell the other to shut up. This is how things were jinxed and loused up. She didn't want to see herself disappointed by getting her hopes up, so it was always her style to downplay everything. She'd be prepared either way and if she were wrong, she'd get a pleasant surprise.
She glimpsed at her frantic form in her full-length mirror. She laughed out loud at herself. She just laughed. Here she was, running around like a chicken with its head cut off in her indigo turtleneck and underwear. All she really wanted to do was find her full length skirt and instead, she was acting like a maniac. She smiled to herself and shook her head. "I need to calm down," she decided out loud. To take her mind off of things, she put on Just like Music by Erick Sermons featuring Marvin Gaye while looking for her skirt.
[Marvin Gaye]
Just like music, ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh, oh baby
Just like music
[Erick Sermon](Marvin Gaye)
To relax my mind, so I can be free,
And absorb the sound that keep me round,
Doing my thing constantly with no worries,
Peace to Keith Murray,
(Just like music).
To keep me flowing and keep me going,
And keep me growing,
To keep me from the E from knowing,
What happens out there is not my concern,
You wanna die, it's not my turn,
(Just like music).
To do something to me, like jump in the Mercedes,
On the highway doing over 80,
Without music baby (Ow, I'll go crazy) yeah,
(Just like music).
Make me call my homie on the phone,
Like there's something new out that got me in the zone,
Just that feeling… got me,
I wish music could adopt me.
(Just like music)….
"There it is," she said out loud. She waltzed over to her bed and found them sticking out under three shirts, two pairs of pants, and four skirts. She figured she tossed it out without really looking. Grabbing it from under the pile, she quickly stepped into it.
I got my music.
Turn on some music.
I got my music.
Turn on some music.
I got my music.
She was finally dressed and situated. Putting her curly tresses in a bun, she started to spin around on her heels and began to sing Marvin's part.
[Marvin Gaye]
Just like music.
Music is the soul of the man.
I got my music baby.
Music makes a happy day.
And music makes the clouds go by baby.
Your music keeps my tears inside my eyes.
(Just like music)
Your music makes me want to sing( Doo-bay Doo-bay).
Girl, music is a joy to bring.
(Just like music)
Hey, music is my heart and soul,
More precious than gold.
(Turn on some music. I got my music)
Happiness today is just a song away (It's a song).
Turn on some music. I got my music
I love your music baby.
She looked at her digital clock, and it read "6:28." He said he'd be at her place for about 6:45. Not wanting to break her neck sliding around in her shoes dancing, she decided to call her mother to find out what was up.
Kristi's parents met at a block party her mother's huge family often threw. The rest was history, so she was told. Her mother, Nina, is a 47-year old partner in her law firm Dean and MacMurray. She established herself firmly in the law profession at the age of 25. She soon met Kristi's father, Kenneth Devun, a successful and brilliant 26 year old who worked as an engineer who specialized in the development of chemical based medicines that helped the human brain. Kenneth inherited his Creole father's brains, looks, and his Brazilian mother's drive, and charm. Nina inherited her calculating mind and beauty from her Creole mother and her playfulness and open mind from her Cherokee father. This joining brought forth the complex person known as Kristina Marie Devun.
Kristi and her mother are particularly close. Her father's death, five years ago, brought the mother and daughter closer than ever before. Kristi considered herself blessed to have such a strong person like mother to keep her grounded, but even mommy had a breaking point. Devastated by her husband's early and abrupt death, she moved her and her daughter to New York four months later. His death took place in a chemical plant that was burned. It was always surrounded in mystery and foul play was always a factor roped in by the authorities because his body was never found, there were no remains, and the room, where her father was thought to be killed, burned because of arson. Nina, not wanting her daughter to know that her father could have possibly been murdered, told her daughter that they didn't have his body because it was burned, leaving no remains.
Kristi quickly pressed speed dial on her phone to reach her mother. She heard the sounds of Duke Ellington in the background. Yeah…she's home. "Hello?"
Kristi caught herself smiling when she heard her mother's voice. "Moman!" She often talked to her mom in a conversation of Creole and English.
Nina's teeth flashed with delight. " Cherie Bebe! Hello darling."
Kristi plopped down on her velvet blue sofa. Picking at one of the designs, she commented. "I'm just calling to check in."
Taking a sip of her red wine, she made herself comfortable on her leather sofa. "Check in with me? What, am I under curfew?"
She shook her head at her mother's antics. "How are you?"
She swallowed slowly. "Lot better now that I'm hearing your voice. I heard you got your in-home studies. Brava Bebe."
"I was about to tell you right now. How'd you find out?"
Sighing into the phone she said, "That charming man…um…Morris! Yes, that's it. Well, he called me. Spoke a mile a minute about how proud and excited he was for you. So of course, I naturally figured I would be getting your call, but I thought a lot sooner, Bebe. You're slacking."
"I can't ever catch up with you. You've got to much of a social life."
She placed her drink down on her coffee table. "Nenpòt!"
"It's true! I must have called you at least…I dunno how many times in the past two weeks. I left lots of messages with your secretary-"
Her mother rolled her dark chocolate eyes at that. "Ah, Mary…grrr…that femèl chen…"
"Mom!"
Nina's face scrunched up. "Well she is one! She never gave me all my messages, things weren't being handled, so I said to myself, 'Kont! She's got to go.'"
"Are things at work that bad?"
"Oh no Bebe. Things are lots better now that she's gone." She began to ramble on about a new case she begged to present in court, and how she won the jury over hands down. It was bragging basically, but she loved to hear her mother talk.
Just nodding her head, she threw in a couple of "Well that's good" and "Oh really" 's. Taking a deep breath, she asked carefully, "So how are you feeling?" Kristi often worried about her mother. If her mother was this active in work, it made her nervous. Her mother is in remission of Hodgkin's disease and though that was good news, doctors were known for not knowing the whole picture when it came to cancer.
Shrugging her shoulders, she said, "Ah…I'm okay. I had a headache not too long ago-"
Kristi began to worry for a moment. If something was wrong, her mother would handle it, but she is also very stubborn and most of the time, the stubbornness always wins out. "Mom, did you go to the doctor?"
"No Bebe, it was just simple headache. I promise. I popped some Tylenol and bam, it was gone."
"Are you su-"
"I am positive. So anyway, taking the spotlight off of me, what are you doing tonight?"
"I'm going to an art exhibit."
"The same one at the Memorial place?"
"I think so."
She nodded her head appreciatively. "Hmm…that's some good stuff."
"Yeah, I hope so, I'm tired of seeing boring things anyway."
She caught the thrill in her daughter's voice. With her, that could only mean one thing. "Hmm, well, from the sound of your voice, you're going with someone cause I see you smiling over here. Who is he?" She knew Kristina was not a big social person, so going somewhere by herself would not make her THIS excited.
"Why do you think it's a he?"
"Shouldn't I? I'm right aren't I?"
"Yeah...yeah…I'm going with Peter Parker."
"I remember you mentioning him once. Boyfriend now?"
"He's a guy SPACE friend." With a silent sigh, she said solemnly, "Nothing more."
Her mother laughed over the phone. "Na-uh! I heard that sigh. You like him, don't you? Don't you?" Kristi bit her lip. "Awww, my Bebe has a crush!"
She could just picture her mother aching to pinch her cheeks. "Would you quit that?"
"Embarrassed some? Do you have a rouji? I bet you do."
"I am not blushing."
"Uh huh…don't try to fool me, Kristina Marie Devun. Wow, he's got some effect. Well, is he cute?" She could hear her mother slapping her forehead. "What am I saying? Of course he is…I don't think you'd fall for a ugly guy."
Kristi dropped her jaw. "Mom…that's mean"
"I'm just stating facts dear. Most people don't fall for ugly folks."
"Well…I think he's cute."
"Is he a sèvo, hint hint…better be…hint hint, or is he an idyo?"
She just smiled at her mother. "He's smart. He's in a couple of my classes."
"Cha-ching, cha-ching!"
Kristi busted out laughing. "Mom…you are hilarious."
"Don't change the subject! You better rope him in! Now, is this date or dutch?"
"Dutch."
Nina's skeptical voice rang through the phone. "Are you…sure?"
"We are just friends."
"That doesn't matter. You're father and I were friends, until I boosted the dutch up to date. He was so shy. I think he got it from his Popa. Most Portuguese women are hot heads."
Continuing to pick at the design on her sofa, she said softly, "I'm not as bold as you."
"I see you got your passiveness not from me. Must be from your grandfather, skips a generation or something. Who knows Bebe? When is he supposed to come?"
"Well, he was supposed to be here in," she glanced at her watch and her shoulders fell. "Five minutes…ago."
Her mother shrugged her shoulders. "Well, there's traffic. Give him some time. Hold on, I have a beep."
"Okay."
Glimpsing at her call waiting caller id, she rolled her eyes in a scoff as she clicked over.
Kristi stayed on the line for about a minute before she heard her mother come back. "It's the firm. I swear they can't function without me. Well, should I click back over or what? I told them I was on the phone with an important client."
"I'm not your client."
"You're my Bebe…that's a lot more important than half of these bete folks we represent. So what, should I click back over?"
"You can go ahead."
"Call me if your friend doesn't come. I'll hunt him down and make him pull a Houdini and disappear. I can make it happen. Me and a couple of judges are cool. Honey, we'll never go behind bars."
"Bye Moman."
"Later Bebe." Click. Kristi glimpsed at her watch. 6:52…
Kristi sat on her sofa with her head lying against her hands. When she looked back to her watch, it was already 7:00, and Peter was not here. That was a long eight minutes. When the door finally buzzed, she nearly jumped out of her skin.
She ran for the door, stopped, and slid her way across the wooden floor, like she had so many times before. Before she opened the door, she shook her head at herself. 'You are such a freakin dork' she thought.
She opened the door swiftly with a smile on her face. Peter returned it. He was wearing a black jacket with a gray shirt on under it and black dress pants. He looked…scrumptious. "Hey! I was getting worried. I thought you stood me up."
"Oh no! Never. Traffic is horrible at this time of day. For a minute I thought I'd be road kill." 'Or hit a flying bullet,' he thought ruefully, thinking back to the hold up that kept him.
Her face grimaced at the thought. "That's not a good thought."
"Tell me about it. It's a jungle out there. Now that I've told you about my near death experience, are you ready to go?"
"Sure." She walked outside her apartment and locked the door.
Once they left her building, they walked four blocks to the Martin Memorial center. Peter handed the man the tickets. "You had to pay to get in this?"
"Yeah. Well no. One of the people I work with, the same one who recommended it, gave them to me."
"Hmmm." Once they entered the property, she was surprised by how beautiful it was. There were lights on the metal fences and on the fountains. The newly melted snow left the ground glistening in moisture. With the lights all around, it made the pavement seem as though it were covered with diamonds. There were numerous art works in glass cases surrounding the property. It was an art museum in a park.
They walked through the park, glancing at a few of the pieces. Some were extravagant and some were beautiful in their simplicity. "Who's your favorite artist?"
Kristi thought for a moment as she looked around. "I don't really have one. I normally go by the paintings, since they're on display and not the artists."
Seeing a waiter with a tray, he took two drinks. He sniffed it quickly. "I think this is okay." He took a quick sip. "It's Ginger Ale." He handed her the other glass.
"Thank you."
"No problem. Now, what's your favorite painting."
She slowly put the plastic glass to her lips. "I don't have one."
"You don't like choosing?"
Taking a sip, she said casually, "Well, besides that, I also like art for different reasons. It all depends on what mood I'm in or something like that."
Taking a quick sip, Peter asked, "What mood are you in now?"
She grinned at herself. "Paranoia stages."
"Why?"
She thought back to the instant of when she thought he wasn't coming. "I dunno. I'm just weird like that."
He glimpsed around until his eyes fell on one particular piece. "This one is you."
Kristi turned around to see what he was looking at. "Christina's World! Nice…but they misspelled it." Turning her head toward him, she asked curiously, "Why do you say that's me?"
Peter rocked on his heels as he stared at the picture. "Because...when I see this, I think of you. I think of you as that girl lying in the field trying to get away from everything, which would be the house," he said as he pointed out the brown object in the corner. "Her body is turned toward it though, and she's gazing at it almost longingly. It looks as though she's about to reach out toward it. She wants to be there, but perhaps she doesn't know how to get there or whether she has the strength to carry her there. But from the looks of it, she does. If there's that much longing, then she would do what she could do get there." Peter's mind began to drift again…M.J. He longed for her. It wasn't the strength he lacked; it was fear that carried him. There was always fear…if he looked passed that fear, he wouldn't be dealing with caring…he'd be dealing with selfishness. He could never tell what exactly it was that held him back. There was always a lingering doubt. Was it selfishness he feared or something more?
Kristi watched him in stupor. Her breath seemed to come in slowly, everything seemed slower. She could hear every word he said. His explanation was beautiful…it matched him. It was simple, yet it kept her captivated, just like he always could do. She heard him, yet, the only sense that was functioning perfectly was her sight.
Kristi saw his face change its shape. It was more distressful now. Finding her voice that she had previously lost, she spoke up. "I see you in this."
"How?"
"The same way you see me. You long for certain things so dearly, it's blinding. You have such a strong love and a strong passion for things that, it blinds you. Passion blinds everyone, but yours is a different passion." His was M.J…she could see it in his eyes… "You want something, you can feel it, you can touch it, but it's all out of your grasp. That's how I think this girl sees that house. While lying in that massive field of hay, she sees what could be her house. She can see it, she can smell it, and she can probably even taste the old wood. The field is only a visual hurdle. The deeper hurdle is her reluctance and knowing. She could go there, but at what costs? Besides, you have to remember, she went away from that house for a reason." For a moment, she felt nothing but jealousy. She figured it was good to have such a deep emotion for someone, but as selfish as she saw herself, she could only reason that her problem is that the emotion is not for her
"What if it was taken from you…you had no control over it at all?"
"I think that all things happen for a reason. The house is there now. But she still lies there, not moving toward it, but just there in that field. She knows she can't go to it because maybe, it was never her's to want, but someone else's. The far better prize is often thought to be the one we can't have…it may just be lust…She doesn't kill herself because then she can't ever have it and it would be gone. I think she likes having that house in her sights instead of it disappearing with her death."
Peter turned to Kris for a moment. His deep ones were staring intently at her much darker ones. She read straight through him and he could feel it. It felt as though her eyes read through every feeling he owned. He began to speak to her, but he was more or less talking to himself. "Everyone has a hidden strength. There's something in all of us that keeps us going."
Almost mesmerized, she said softly, "Our drive."
He nodded his head slowly. "Yeah. That house is her drive."
Kris was almost talking in a whisper. "Does she love it?'
Peter's eyes closed for a moment. "She's not sure…everything is clouded in with the dirt and dry grass that's around her. Everything keeps getting so clouded…"
"Is it possible that all that's clouding her vision is…protecting her?"
"From what?"
"From getting hurt? Not only what she loves, but…her?"
He opened his eyes slowly. Slowly, they made their way toward Kristi's. "Maybe."
There was so much reluctance in his eyes to believe in loving M.J., that now, he was seeing the nature of his true doubt. Kristi slowly tore her eyes from his and back toward the painting. "Do you think she could love another?"
He looked back to the painting. "There's always that chance. Most blessings are in disguise…"
"Or in hiding…they just need to be found." She could have smacked herself for that. This wasn't about her…it was about helping him…helping him get over this…grief. This thing was tearing him apart, but now it seems, that over time, those open wounds that seemed so evident to the world, were now healing. Kristi felt herself exhale. It felt as though she held her breath that entire moment. It was weird for her. It was almost as though…they shared something. They shared that painting…their feelings and emotions all because of paint on paper.
Peter looked back to her. "Thank you."
She was breathless for some moment. "What for?"
"Just for being a friend. One thing this girl may lack, is that she doesn't have a friend to help her."
Kristi's shoulder's drooped. "Yeah…"
Just then, Peter's spider sense went off. 'Not now…' he thought. He looked toward Kristi. She was still in a daze at the picture. Making up something real quick, he tapped her on her shoulder.
Kristi, who was completely oblivious to what was around her, turned around quickly to the source of the tapping. Unfortunately, she turned a bit too quickly. She covered her mouth in dismay. She spilt the rest of her Ginger Ale on Peter's shirt. She tried desperately to wipe some of it off. "I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry."
He chuckled nervously for a moment. He could only laugh at his luck. "That's okay. I'll just go find a restroom to wipe this off with."
"I'm so sorry."
"Kris, don't worry about it." With that, he jogged off toward the Memorial building.
Kristi began to glance at a statue when she heard someone yell, "Somebody catch him!" she turned around quickly only to find that she was in the direct path of someone obviously in a hurry. Not waiting for her to move, the man in black pushed her roughly to the ground and ran toward an exit. Soon following him was another man dressed in black, holding a statue of some sort just like the first guy.
Caught in the confusion, Kristi got up slowly and looked toward the sky. "Look its Spider-Man!" someone yelled. The red and blue figure jumped from tree to tree, chasing the thieves.
He swooped down on the first man, knocking him off his feet. He noticed how the man attempted to land on his back so not to damage the statue. He shook his head at him in sarcasm. "I didn't think most crooks had a thing for art." The man placed the statue down and lunged toward him. Spider- Man calmly moved out of the way while holding his foot out. The thief fell forward onto the pavement. Spider-Man shook his head once more. "Look at this." He picked him up calmly and stared him dead in the face. "I figured you to be a Van Gogh type of person myself."
The man attempted to kick Spider-Man, but he was to fast for him. Grunting, he said angrily, "Web head! What you want?" Dodging the man's flailing legs, Spider-Man threw him away from himself, leaving the man hitting a Maple tree.
"That beautiful bust of yourself." Staring at the statue of Medusa, he said quickly, "My, my, that's a perfect image!" Seconds later, Spider- Man's senses went off immediately. He spun around quickly, preparing himself to fight. The man that was now charging him, held a gun out while running toward him. Spider-Man did a somersault over him and kicked him from behind. "Artistically challenged guy…snatch and runs are so outdated."
Flying forward because of the impact, the second thief dropped the statue and the gun. Using quick reflexes, Spider-Man shot out some webbing to catch both. "No respect for the art of today." Spider-Man grabbed the other statue and placed them down on the ground together. Seeing the guards coming toward him, he commented, "Well…I guess that's my cue to exit." And with that, he jumped to a nearby Oak tree and out of sight.
Kristi saw the whole thing. She had never seen him in person, but now that she had…she could see why so many people talked about him.
Kristi was still in a daze when Peter came back. Still wiping his shirt, he said quickly, "Ya know…I didn't think Ginger Ale would stain like this."
Kristi spun around to face him. "Peter you missed it!"
An eyebrow went up in suspicion. "Missed what?"
"Spider-Man was here!"
He widened his eyes. "Really? Was there a robbery?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "An attempted one. I'm sorry I got that stuff all over your shirt. You missed him."
"It's not ALL over my shirt. I got most of it off and besides, I take pictures of him all the time for the Daily Bugle."
"Oh, well, I guess you didn't miss much then."
"Na." They walked through the park some more, looking at more art pieces. The entire time they were there, something kept bugging Peter. Something in him found it interesting about her interest in Spider-Man. It ate at him the entire time they were at the exhibit. Peter began to think some. 'She seemed awfully intrigued by him coming.'
While walking her home, for some odd reason, he wanted to know what she thought about Spider-Man. To him, it almost sounded as though he wanted her approval. Just out of curiosity, he turned to Kris. Biting his bottom lip, he asked casually, "So, what do you think about Spider-Man?"
Kristi was caught off guard. The whole Spider-Man thing happened a good hour ago. "AS what?"
He put his hands in his pockets. "I dunno. That's why I'm asking."
She thought for a moment. "Well, I think he's someone special. He's got a lot on his shoulders I would think. I couldn't imagine being able to do all the stuff he does. It's incredible and captivating. He reminded me of a picture actually, art in motion."
He smiled for a moment. "How so?"
"Well, I guess everyone is art in motion really, but he's different, because he gets dissed and dismissed but he does what he does anyway. That's beautiful. He must have a strong mind to surpass all the negative things that get thrown his way."
"I'm sure the people he helps is his reward."
She nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah. The way he does things is fascinating. His presence is such a powerful force. So many people would walk away from things like this. He doesn't. That's what's cool about him."
"You really thought about that huh?"
"Not really. I just said what I thought at that moment. Spontaneity is my thing. Gives things a sense of zest."
"You make it sound like a seasoning."
Dramatically, she exclaimed, "Spice of Life!"
"Nice words."
Sighing, she said matter-of-factly, "It's amazing what Roget could do for your vocab." It was quiet after that for the next five minutes. As they passed the coffee shop that was across the street from her apartment, she asked, "Well, would you like to go for coffee?"
Peter glimpsed at his watch. "I'd like to, but I can't. I have to go in early for the Bugle to help get the Friday edition out. There are so many people coming down with stuff that I was ordered to come in, in case there's a shortage."
She eyed him skeptically. "Ordered?"
"You don't know Mr. Jameson. He doesn't ask, he tells."
She walked onto her building steps. "Someone needs to get his attitude in check." The cool air blew quickly, and she tightened her jacket around herself.
"Well, I certainly don't have the guts to attempt to. I kind of like the whole breathing on my own thing."
Looking downward, she began to rock on her heels. "Well…I'll see you later then."
He nodded his head slowly. Thinking quickly, he asked, "Do you want me to walk you up?"
She smiled at his gesture. Looking up, she shook her head. "No, that's okay. I'll be fine."
He smiled slightly. "Are you sure?"
She had to turn away from his smile. It was just…so sweet looking. "Well I'll see you later. Are we still gonna review?"
"I'll call you if I get out of the Bugle early."
Nodding her head, she responded, "Okay. Later."
"Later Kris." He watched her walk up the steps slowly. Once the door closed, he stuck his hands in his pockets and walked home.
Note: Don't forget to review please!
When she got up Monday morning to go to her Latin class, what she saw on her front step surprised her, but brought a smile to her lips. There was her 311 poster with a note attached:
To One Goober From Another.
That's all it said. She hadn't left her home at all last night or all that day. He must have brought it later in the day. Shaking her head, she said with a chuckle, "Peter Parker, you certainly are something else." She picked up the poster and brought it in her apartment. Deciding to put it up when she came back, she left her abode and locked the door.
Kristi took her normal seat in her class: fourth row in the sixth seat. There was nothing on the dry erase board. 'Are we learning something new?' she thought. 'No, the new material would be up there…'
Peter walked in the classroom and took his seat next to Kristi. "Good morning."
Kristi snapped out of her thoughts to look at Peter. His eyes seemed somewhat dull. "Good morning yourself." Peter attempted to stifle a yawn. "Rough night?"
"You could say that."
Thinking about happier things, she grinned for a moment. "Thanks for the poster."
Peter, who wasn't really paying attention, perked up. Once it registered what she said, he smiled back to her. "No problem." Lowering his head a moment to doodle in his notebook, he said calmly, "You owe me 8.50." He had a smile on his face so she would know he was joking.
With opened eyes, she exclaimed to him, "Why Peter! I do recall offering you money, but you refused to accept it. So, since I don't want to damage our friendship by pressuring you to accept it NOW, I believe me attempting to give you the money for a second time would be…wrong."
He laughed at her. "I love your logic."
She shrugged her shoulders. "I'm kinda fond of it myself."
"Okay ladies and gentlemen, this is probably the two words loved by all students alike: Pop Quiz."
A collective groan was shared around the room. "Well THIS is a pleasant surprise," Kristi said oozing sarcasm.
Peter leaned back in his seat shaking his head. A kid in front of them shook his blond hair. Scoffing he said, "Man, Dr. Mac just…just don't…" He couldn't find a word.
"QUIT," Kristi and Peter said in unison.
He turned around and looked at them. "Yeah!"
Kristi shook her head. "Well, if I get another paper cut from flipping through those 20-page tests of his, I'm suing."
The balding, sixty-year-old man glanced around his room. "Yes, I know you're groaning now, but there's a nice twist to this. I will go around the room, picking each student at random to conjugate a verb in whatever forms I tell you. You will have exactly 3 minutes and ten seconds to write them. After you do that, consider yourself dismissed. You will have to conjugate it on the board and give me the proper pronunciations."
Kristi smiled. This was going to be a cinch. "This isn't that bad."
The blonde boy mumbled, "It's hell if you don't have all the verbs memorized."
Peter patted him on the shoulder. "Yeah, but just be cool about it. You'll do fine."
The professor looked around the class. All he could see were people beginning to eye their notes. "The computer is going to randomly choose the students. The guinea pigs are…ah, Mr. Charles Preston, Miss Carrie Darryl, Mr. Brad Fontly, and Asia Michaels."
Every single one of them had a look of dread on their faces. Kristi leaned in and whispered to Peter. "They look like they're about to get their heads chopped off…"
Peter rubbed a hand over his face to wake himself up. "Oy."
"Charles, conjugate ârdeô/ârdêre in the present indicative, imperative, and future indicative. Carrie, conjugate cadô/cadere in imperfect indicative, imperative, and perfect indicative. Brad, conjugate cadô/cadere in future perfect indicative and present indicative. Asia, conjugate faveô/favêre in present indicative and pluperfect indicative." One of the boys widened his eyes in disbelief. There was no way he knew that. "Come, come now Brad. You have approximately 3 minutes left." Furrowing his green eyes inward, he concentrated on writing on the dry erase board.
It continued like this the entire period. Peter went with the second group and Kristi was left in her seat until the second to last group. Her wait was entirely too boring for her. "And how about…Miss Kristina Devun." Kristi's head perked up when she realized she had finally been called. "You will have nancîscor/nancîscî. Conjugate it in the imperative, perfect subjunctive, and present indicative." Kristi widened her eyes to wake herself up. She wrote quickly:
Active Sing. Active Plural
Imperative : nancíscere nancísciminí
Perfect subjunctive: na(n)ctus sim na(n)ctí símus
na(n)ctus sís na(n)ctí sítis
na(n)ctus sit na(n)ctí sint
Present Indicative: nancíscor nancíscimur
nancísceris (-re) nancíscminí
nancíscitur nancíscuntur
She placed the blue marker down and waited her turn to pronounce. When it was her turn, she said them quickly. After receiving a nod, signaling she was right, she began to erase her chart. "Very good Miss Devun. You can leave." She sighed relief. She was so happy to get out of that boring class.
Kristi walked outside with a big yawn. "I know you had to have been bored."
Kristi turned sharply to her left. It was Peter. She looked at him questioningly. "You waited?"
Getting up of off the ground he said with a stretch. "Yeah."
They began to walk. Glancing at her watch, she said surprised, "Pete, I was in there for about 30-minutes."
He shrugged his shoulders. "So? You would have waited for me…right?"
"Of course! I just didn't think you would."
He found himself beginning to grin. "Why?"
"Because…" Kristi thought for a moment and couldn't come up with a reason that wouldn't make her sound completely stupid. She said finally, with a laugh, "Because, I'm a special person who is slow on the uptake. I thought I told you that bit already?"
He shook his head and snapped his fingers. "Yep, you sure did. Slipped my mind completely." Readjusting his black Jan Sport book bag, he asked, "But anyway, remember that art exhibit I was telling you about?"
"You mean the one that you demanded that I go to?"
He nodded his head. "Yeah, that's the one."
Playing it sly, she said casually, "I recall you mentioning it."
"Well, I found out more about it. It's next Wednesday night. Not this Wednesday, but the next."
"Okay."
"Do you think you'll be busy that night?"
She thought for a moment. She was about to make the spider embryo…"Probably not. The only thing I'll be doing is working on my research, but I should be done with the hard part by…at least this Saturday."
"Alright. So you're game right?"
"Fa-sho."
He smiled at her saying. "Alrighty. You aren't going to stand me up are you?"
"I'll try not to. I have a busy schedule and all…I'll have to pencil you in," she said with sarcasm.
He punched her in the shoulder jokingly. "I feel so flattered that you would take the time to check."
"I'm sure you do. You ought to." A cold gust of wind went by quickly. "Ooooh, its cold. It's times like these that make me miss my hot Louisiana weather."
His face scrunched up. "Oh, yeah…I forgot to mention. The exhibit…it's outside."
Kristi nearly dropped her jaw. "Are you serious?"
"Yeah. On the Martin Memorial Park grounds."
She shook her head solemnly. "Boy…boy…"
"Well part of it is outside under an awning, and part of it is inside a pavilion."
"Well…I take it I'll only be seeing part of the exhibit."
"Why?"
"Because, Popsicle art is not my thing."
He chuckled slightly. "Well that's okay. Well actually, I take it back. I heard they change it up. Sometimes in the pavilion…sometimes outside, so I'm not to sure about it."
As the wind increased, Kristi tugged her coat tighter around herself. "What should I wear?"
"Something warm…just in case."
"Besides that."
"It's a 'no jeans/sneakers' thing."
"Man! That's the most comfortable stuff. It's interesting that artist would risk their work getting ruined by the elements."
"I'm sure there's probably some sort of covering over them. I heard it's really nice. Someone at the newspaper went there last year. They recommended it."
"Well…that's good." Looking down, she glimpsed at her watch. "Look, I gotta get going. I have to get in as much time as I can for my research."
"Aight…well, I'll see you later."
"Okay. Later Pete."
Once she reached her apartment, she went straight to her lab. This was a critical time for her. She spent all day Sunday separating an egg and "y" sperm. She wanted to wait a few hours to see if they merged yet. When she checked…everything was going well. There was so much to write…so many observations. She had to freeze images of the slides of the embryo in its different stages, write down observations, calculations, times, descriptions of images…there was just so much. It was a thrill, but also an exhausting one.
The rest of the week, Kristi was like a recluse. Peter was the first to notice, and he was probably the only one to notice. Since she never attracted attention to herself, it wasn't too hard to believe. They had missed three study sessions together. It wasn't big, but it was significant because it was often him having to cancel because of "business". Because of his personality, he understood. He knew what it was like to be immersed in something…research for her…crime for him.
When the night of the art exhibit rolled around, he called her just to make sure she remembered.
Kristi was fiddling with her microscope when she heard the phone ringing. Adjusting her headset, she answered by tapping on the side of the headset to activate it. "Um…hello?" She was taking pictures of the embryo's stages. It was so hard to focus that lens…
"Kris…hey!
Kristi's brown eyes flew up. "Hey Pete. Sounds good to hear someone's voice." Sounded really good…
Peter was putting up some of his books. Cradling the phone with his cheek and shoulder, he said, "I would think so. Did you assign yourself to solitary confinement?"
She smirked. "Ha, ha. I can't mess up with this."
"I know. I'm just playing with you." Readjusting the phone, he continued. "I was just calling to make sure we were still on tonight for the art exhibit."
She pulled open a drawer to pull out another lens. She was practically beaming at the thought of going out. "Oh yes…I have that written in here so I wouldn't forget." That was her main highlight for the week. Going to school was nothing new, but at least she would see something new now. Her eyes were getting sick of seeing the same white walled room. She wasn't one for going places, but at this point, it was a Godsend.
"Good. I didn't want to go by myself because my friend decided to play Dr. Frankenstein in her laboratory."
She fished around the drawer ruefully. "Yeah, yeah, well, you know me. When are you coming over?" Pop! The lens flew out of the drawer and onto the floor. Sighing to herself, she bent down to pick it up…'where are you?' she mumbled as she glimpsed around the floor.
He glanced down at his Timex watch. "In about two hours. I should get there around 6:45, so…" Increasing the volume in his voice, he said jokingly, "Get out of that room!" What he heard on the other line was a swift crash. Aww man…what did he do now? "Are you okay over there?"
When he shouted, Kristi jerked her head up in surprise and hit the open drawer. She groaned into the phone. Rubbing her head, she said playfully, "Oh I'm fine. I'm just inflicting wounds on myself. Nothing new."
"What happened?"
Still rubbing her head, she said with a sigh, "Well actually, I'm minding my own business and getting a lens. I dropped it, bent down to pick it up, and the stupid drawer jumped out and bit me."
"Is the drawer really that stupid if YOU hit your head on it?"
"Hey now, you're treading on dangerous water buddy. And besides…I told you, it jumped out and bit me."
"Poor baby."
She got off of the cold tile floor. Placing the lens on the counter, she said pitifully, "Yes…I know."
Peter glimpsed back at his watch. "Well I'll let you go tend to your wound. I'll see you in a bit."
"Okay."
"Later Frankenstein."
"Bye Igor."
"Yes master..."
"Goober!" She heard him laugh before tapping the headset twice to hang up. It wasn't until that moment that Kristi realized that she was going somewhere with Peter. Making sure she was at a stopping point, she ran up the steps in her lab, threw the door open, and ran toward her room.
After taking a shower, she ran to her closet. Within an hour, not only was she a wreck, but so was her room. She threw clothes in and out of her closet. Her mind was spinning as out of control as her room looked. The sensible part of her mind reasoned that this wasn't a date. They were going as friends. They often went places as friends, nothing more. The crush side of her mind hoped otherwise. There was always a chance…then her sensible side would cut in and tell the other to shut up. This is how things were jinxed and loused up. She didn't want to see herself disappointed by getting her hopes up, so it was always her style to downplay everything. She'd be prepared either way and if she were wrong, she'd get a pleasant surprise.
She glimpsed at her frantic form in her full-length mirror. She laughed out loud at herself. She just laughed. Here she was, running around like a chicken with its head cut off in her indigo turtleneck and underwear. All she really wanted to do was find her full length skirt and instead, she was acting like a maniac. She smiled to herself and shook her head. "I need to calm down," she decided out loud. To take her mind off of things, she put on Just like Music by Erick Sermons featuring Marvin Gaye while looking for her skirt.
[Marvin Gaye]
Just like music, ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh, oh baby
Just like music
[Erick Sermon](Marvin Gaye)
To relax my mind, so I can be free,
And absorb the sound that keep me round,
Doing my thing constantly with no worries,
Peace to Keith Murray,
(Just like music).
To keep me flowing and keep me going,
And keep me growing,
To keep me from the E from knowing,
What happens out there is not my concern,
You wanna die, it's not my turn,
(Just like music).
To do something to me, like jump in the Mercedes,
On the highway doing over 80,
Without music baby (Ow, I'll go crazy) yeah,
(Just like music).
Make me call my homie on the phone,
Like there's something new out that got me in the zone,
Just that feeling… got me,
I wish music could adopt me.
(Just like music)….
"There it is," she said out loud. She waltzed over to her bed and found them sticking out under three shirts, two pairs of pants, and four skirts. She figured she tossed it out without really looking. Grabbing it from under the pile, she quickly stepped into it.
I got my music.
Turn on some music.
I got my music.
Turn on some music.
I got my music.
She was finally dressed and situated. Putting her curly tresses in a bun, she started to spin around on her heels and began to sing Marvin's part.
[Marvin Gaye]
Just like music.
Music is the soul of the man.
I got my music baby.
Music makes a happy day.
And music makes the clouds go by baby.
Your music keeps my tears inside my eyes.
(Just like music)
Your music makes me want to sing( Doo-bay Doo-bay).
Girl, music is a joy to bring.
(Just like music)
Hey, music is my heart and soul,
More precious than gold.
(Turn on some music. I got my music)
Happiness today is just a song away (It's a song).
Turn on some music. I got my music
I love your music baby.
She looked at her digital clock, and it read "6:28." He said he'd be at her place for about 6:45. Not wanting to break her neck sliding around in her shoes dancing, she decided to call her mother to find out what was up.
Kristi's parents met at a block party her mother's huge family often threw. The rest was history, so she was told. Her mother, Nina, is a 47-year old partner in her law firm Dean and MacMurray. She established herself firmly in the law profession at the age of 25. She soon met Kristi's father, Kenneth Devun, a successful and brilliant 26 year old who worked as an engineer who specialized in the development of chemical based medicines that helped the human brain. Kenneth inherited his Creole father's brains, looks, and his Brazilian mother's drive, and charm. Nina inherited her calculating mind and beauty from her Creole mother and her playfulness and open mind from her Cherokee father. This joining brought forth the complex person known as Kristina Marie Devun.
Kristi and her mother are particularly close. Her father's death, five years ago, brought the mother and daughter closer than ever before. Kristi considered herself blessed to have such a strong person like mother to keep her grounded, but even mommy had a breaking point. Devastated by her husband's early and abrupt death, she moved her and her daughter to New York four months later. His death took place in a chemical plant that was burned. It was always surrounded in mystery and foul play was always a factor roped in by the authorities because his body was never found, there were no remains, and the room, where her father was thought to be killed, burned because of arson. Nina, not wanting her daughter to know that her father could have possibly been murdered, told her daughter that they didn't have his body because it was burned, leaving no remains.
Kristi quickly pressed speed dial on her phone to reach her mother. She heard the sounds of Duke Ellington in the background. Yeah…she's home. "Hello?"
Kristi caught herself smiling when she heard her mother's voice. "Moman!" She often talked to her mom in a conversation of Creole and English.
Nina's teeth flashed with delight. " Cherie Bebe! Hello darling."
Kristi plopped down on her velvet blue sofa. Picking at one of the designs, she commented. "I'm just calling to check in."
Taking a sip of her red wine, she made herself comfortable on her leather sofa. "Check in with me? What, am I under curfew?"
She shook her head at her mother's antics. "How are you?"
She swallowed slowly. "Lot better now that I'm hearing your voice. I heard you got your in-home studies. Brava Bebe."
"I was about to tell you right now. How'd you find out?"
Sighing into the phone she said, "That charming man…um…Morris! Yes, that's it. Well, he called me. Spoke a mile a minute about how proud and excited he was for you. So of course, I naturally figured I would be getting your call, but I thought a lot sooner, Bebe. You're slacking."
"I can't ever catch up with you. You've got to much of a social life."
She placed her drink down on her coffee table. "Nenpòt!"
"It's true! I must have called you at least…I dunno how many times in the past two weeks. I left lots of messages with your secretary-"
Her mother rolled her dark chocolate eyes at that. "Ah, Mary…grrr…that femèl chen…"
"Mom!"
Nina's face scrunched up. "Well she is one! She never gave me all my messages, things weren't being handled, so I said to myself, 'Kont! She's got to go.'"
"Are things at work that bad?"
"Oh no Bebe. Things are lots better now that she's gone." She began to ramble on about a new case she begged to present in court, and how she won the jury over hands down. It was bragging basically, but she loved to hear her mother talk.
Just nodding her head, she threw in a couple of "Well that's good" and "Oh really" 's. Taking a deep breath, she asked carefully, "So how are you feeling?" Kristi often worried about her mother. If her mother was this active in work, it made her nervous. Her mother is in remission of Hodgkin's disease and though that was good news, doctors were known for not knowing the whole picture when it came to cancer.
Shrugging her shoulders, she said, "Ah…I'm okay. I had a headache not too long ago-"
Kristi began to worry for a moment. If something was wrong, her mother would handle it, but she is also very stubborn and most of the time, the stubbornness always wins out. "Mom, did you go to the doctor?"
"No Bebe, it was just simple headache. I promise. I popped some Tylenol and bam, it was gone."
"Are you su-"
"I am positive. So anyway, taking the spotlight off of me, what are you doing tonight?"
"I'm going to an art exhibit."
"The same one at the Memorial place?"
"I think so."
She nodded her head appreciatively. "Hmm…that's some good stuff."
"Yeah, I hope so, I'm tired of seeing boring things anyway."
She caught the thrill in her daughter's voice. With her, that could only mean one thing. "Hmm, well, from the sound of your voice, you're going with someone cause I see you smiling over here. Who is he?" She knew Kristina was not a big social person, so going somewhere by herself would not make her THIS excited.
"Why do you think it's a he?"
"Shouldn't I? I'm right aren't I?"
"Yeah...yeah…I'm going with Peter Parker."
"I remember you mentioning him once. Boyfriend now?"
"He's a guy SPACE friend." With a silent sigh, she said solemnly, "Nothing more."
Her mother laughed over the phone. "Na-uh! I heard that sigh. You like him, don't you? Don't you?" Kristi bit her lip. "Awww, my Bebe has a crush!"
She could just picture her mother aching to pinch her cheeks. "Would you quit that?"
"Embarrassed some? Do you have a rouji? I bet you do."
"I am not blushing."
"Uh huh…don't try to fool me, Kristina Marie Devun. Wow, he's got some effect. Well, is he cute?" She could hear her mother slapping her forehead. "What am I saying? Of course he is…I don't think you'd fall for a ugly guy."
Kristi dropped her jaw. "Mom…that's mean"
"I'm just stating facts dear. Most people don't fall for ugly folks."
"Well…I think he's cute."
"Is he a sèvo, hint hint…better be…hint hint, or is he an idyo?"
She just smiled at her mother. "He's smart. He's in a couple of my classes."
"Cha-ching, cha-ching!"
Kristi busted out laughing. "Mom…you are hilarious."
"Don't change the subject! You better rope him in! Now, is this date or dutch?"
"Dutch."
Nina's skeptical voice rang through the phone. "Are you…sure?"
"We are just friends."
"That doesn't matter. You're father and I were friends, until I boosted the dutch up to date. He was so shy. I think he got it from his Popa. Most Portuguese women are hot heads."
Continuing to pick at the design on her sofa, she said softly, "I'm not as bold as you."
"I see you got your passiveness not from me. Must be from your grandfather, skips a generation or something. Who knows Bebe? When is he supposed to come?"
"Well, he was supposed to be here in," she glanced at her watch and her shoulders fell. "Five minutes…ago."
Her mother shrugged her shoulders. "Well, there's traffic. Give him some time. Hold on, I have a beep."
"Okay."
Glimpsing at her call waiting caller id, she rolled her eyes in a scoff as she clicked over.
Kristi stayed on the line for about a minute before she heard her mother come back. "It's the firm. I swear they can't function without me. Well, should I click back over or what? I told them I was on the phone with an important client."
"I'm not your client."
"You're my Bebe…that's a lot more important than half of these bete folks we represent. So what, should I click back over?"
"You can go ahead."
"Call me if your friend doesn't come. I'll hunt him down and make him pull a Houdini and disappear. I can make it happen. Me and a couple of judges are cool. Honey, we'll never go behind bars."
"Bye Moman."
"Later Bebe." Click. Kristi glimpsed at her watch. 6:52…
Kristi sat on her sofa with her head lying against her hands. When she looked back to her watch, it was already 7:00, and Peter was not here. That was a long eight minutes. When the door finally buzzed, she nearly jumped out of her skin.
She ran for the door, stopped, and slid her way across the wooden floor, like she had so many times before. Before she opened the door, she shook her head at herself. 'You are such a freakin dork' she thought.
She opened the door swiftly with a smile on her face. Peter returned it. He was wearing a black jacket with a gray shirt on under it and black dress pants. He looked…scrumptious. "Hey! I was getting worried. I thought you stood me up."
"Oh no! Never. Traffic is horrible at this time of day. For a minute I thought I'd be road kill." 'Or hit a flying bullet,' he thought ruefully, thinking back to the hold up that kept him.
Her face grimaced at the thought. "That's not a good thought."
"Tell me about it. It's a jungle out there. Now that I've told you about my near death experience, are you ready to go?"
"Sure." She walked outside her apartment and locked the door.
Once they left her building, they walked four blocks to the Martin Memorial center. Peter handed the man the tickets. "You had to pay to get in this?"
"Yeah. Well no. One of the people I work with, the same one who recommended it, gave them to me."
"Hmmm." Once they entered the property, she was surprised by how beautiful it was. There were lights on the metal fences and on the fountains. The newly melted snow left the ground glistening in moisture. With the lights all around, it made the pavement seem as though it were covered with diamonds. There were numerous art works in glass cases surrounding the property. It was an art museum in a park.
They walked through the park, glancing at a few of the pieces. Some were extravagant and some were beautiful in their simplicity. "Who's your favorite artist?"
Kristi thought for a moment as she looked around. "I don't really have one. I normally go by the paintings, since they're on display and not the artists."
Seeing a waiter with a tray, he took two drinks. He sniffed it quickly. "I think this is okay." He took a quick sip. "It's Ginger Ale." He handed her the other glass.
"Thank you."
"No problem. Now, what's your favorite painting."
She slowly put the plastic glass to her lips. "I don't have one."
"You don't like choosing?"
Taking a sip, she said casually, "Well, besides that, I also like art for different reasons. It all depends on what mood I'm in or something like that."
Taking a quick sip, Peter asked, "What mood are you in now?"
She grinned at herself. "Paranoia stages."
"Why?"
She thought back to the instant of when she thought he wasn't coming. "I dunno. I'm just weird like that."
He glimpsed around until his eyes fell on one particular piece. "This one is you."
Kristi turned around to see what he was looking at. "Christina's World! Nice…but they misspelled it." Turning her head toward him, she asked curiously, "Why do you say that's me?"
Peter rocked on his heels as he stared at the picture. "Because...when I see this, I think of you. I think of you as that girl lying in the field trying to get away from everything, which would be the house," he said as he pointed out the brown object in the corner. "Her body is turned toward it though, and she's gazing at it almost longingly. It looks as though she's about to reach out toward it. She wants to be there, but perhaps she doesn't know how to get there or whether she has the strength to carry her there. But from the looks of it, she does. If there's that much longing, then she would do what she could do get there." Peter's mind began to drift again…M.J. He longed for her. It wasn't the strength he lacked; it was fear that carried him. There was always fear…if he looked passed that fear, he wouldn't be dealing with caring…he'd be dealing with selfishness. He could never tell what exactly it was that held him back. There was always a lingering doubt. Was it selfishness he feared or something more?
Kristi watched him in stupor. Her breath seemed to come in slowly, everything seemed slower. She could hear every word he said. His explanation was beautiful…it matched him. It was simple, yet it kept her captivated, just like he always could do. She heard him, yet, the only sense that was functioning perfectly was her sight.
Kristi saw his face change its shape. It was more distressful now. Finding her voice that she had previously lost, she spoke up. "I see you in this."
"How?"
"The same way you see me. You long for certain things so dearly, it's blinding. You have such a strong love and a strong passion for things that, it blinds you. Passion blinds everyone, but yours is a different passion." His was M.J…she could see it in his eyes… "You want something, you can feel it, you can touch it, but it's all out of your grasp. That's how I think this girl sees that house. While lying in that massive field of hay, she sees what could be her house. She can see it, she can smell it, and she can probably even taste the old wood. The field is only a visual hurdle. The deeper hurdle is her reluctance and knowing. She could go there, but at what costs? Besides, you have to remember, she went away from that house for a reason." For a moment, she felt nothing but jealousy. She figured it was good to have such a deep emotion for someone, but as selfish as she saw herself, she could only reason that her problem is that the emotion is not for her
"What if it was taken from you…you had no control over it at all?"
"I think that all things happen for a reason. The house is there now. But she still lies there, not moving toward it, but just there in that field. She knows she can't go to it because maybe, it was never her's to want, but someone else's. The far better prize is often thought to be the one we can't have…it may just be lust…She doesn't kill herself because then she can't ever have it and it would be gone. I think she likes having that house in her sights instead of it disappearing with her death."
Peter turned to Kris for a moment. His deep ones were staring intently at her much darker ones. She read straight through him and he could feel it. It felt as though her eyes read through every feeling he owned. He began to speak to her, but he was more or less talking to himself. "Everyone has a hidden strength. There's something in all of us that keeps us going."
Almost mesmerized, she said softly, "Our drive."
He nodded his head slowly. "Yeah. That house is her drive."
Kris was almost talking in a whisper. "Does she love it?'
Peter's eyes closed for a moment. "She's not sure…everything is clouded in with the dirt and dry grass that's around her. Everything keeps getting so clouded…"
"Is it possible that all that's clouding her vision is…protecting her?"
"From what?"
"From getting hurt? Not only what she loves, but…her?"
He opened his eyes slowly. Slowly, they made their way toward Kristi's. "Maybe."
There was so much reluctance in his eyes to believe in loving M.J., that now, he was seeing the nature of his true doubt. Kristi slowly tore her eyes from his and back toward the painting. "Do you think she could love another?"
He looked back to the painting. "There's always that chance. Most blessings are in disguise…"
"Or in hiding…they just need to be found." She could have smacked herself for that. This wasn't about her…it was about helping him…helping him get over this…grief. This thing was tearing him apart, but now it seems, that over time, those open wounds that seemed so evident to the world, were now healing. Kristi felt herself exhale. It felt as though she held her breath that entire moment. It was weird for her. It was almost as though…they shared something. They shared that painting…their feelings and emotions all because of paint on paper.
Peter looked back to her. "Thank you."
She was breathless for some moment. "What for?"
"Just for being a friend. One thing this girl may lack, is that she doesn't have a friend to help her."
Kristi's shoulder's drooped. "Yeah…"
Just then, Peter's spider sense went off. 'Not now…' he thought. He looked toward Kristi. She was still in a daze at the picture. Making up something real quick, he tapped her on her shoulder.
Kristi, who was completely oblivious to what was around her, turned around quickly to the source of the tapping. Unfortunately, she turned a bit too quickly. She covered her mouth in dismay. She spilt the rest of her Ginger Ale on Peter's shirt. She tried desperately to wipe some of it off. "I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry."
He chuckled nervously for a moment. He could only laugh at his luck. "That's okay. I'll just go find a restroom to wipe this off with."
"I'm so sorry."
"Kris, don't worry about it." With that, he jogged off toward the Memorial building.
Kristi began to glance at a statue when she heard someone yell, "Somebody catch him!" she turned around quickly only to find that she was in the direct path of someone obviously in a hurry. Not waiting for her to move, the man in black pushed her roughly to the ground and ran toward an exit. Soon following him was another man dressed in black, holding a statue of some sort just like the first guy.
Caught in the confusion, Kristi got up slowly and looked toward the sky. "Look its Spider-Man!" someone yelled. The red and blue figure jumped from tree to tree, chasing the thieves.
He swooped down on the first man, knocking him off his feet. He noticed how the man attempted to land on his back so not to damage the statue. He shook his head at him in sarcasm. "I didn't think most crooks had a thing for art." The man placed the statue down and lunged toward him. Spider- Man calmly moved out of the way while holding his foot out. The thief fell forward onto the pavement. Spider-Man shook his head once more. "Look at this." He picked him up calmly and stared him dead in the face. "I figured you to be a Van Gogh type of person myself."
The man attempted to kick Spider-Man, but he was to fast for him. Grunting, he said angrily, "Web head! What you want?" Dodging the man's flailing legs, Spider-Man threw him away from himself, leaving the man hitting a Maple tree.
"That beautiful bust of yourself." Staring at the statue of Medusa, he said quickly, "My, my, that's a perfect image!" Seconds later, Spider- Man's senses went off immediately. He spun around quickly, preparing himself to fight. The man that was now charging him, held a gun out while running toward him. Spider-Man did a somersault over him and kicked him from behind. "Artistically challenged guy…snatch and runs are so outdated."
Flying forward because of the impact, the second thief dropped the statue and the gun. Using quick reflexes, Spider-Man shot out some webbing to catch both. "No respect for the art of today." Spider-Man grabbed the other statue and placed them down on the ground together. Seeing the guards coming toward him, he commented, "Well…I guess that's my cue to exit." And with that, he jumped to a nearby Oak tree and out of sight.
Kristi saw the whole thing. She had never seen him in person, but now that she had…she could see why so many people talked about him.
Kristi was still in a daze when Peter came back. Still wiping his shirt, he said quickly, "Ya know…I didn't think Ginger Ale would stain like this."
Kristi spun around to face him. "Peter you missed it!"
An eyebrow went up in suspicion. "Missed what?"
"Spider-Man was here!"
He widened his eyes. "Really? Was there a robbery?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "An attempted one. I'm sorry I got that stuff all over your shirt. You missed him."
"It's not ALL over my shirt. I got most of it off and besides, I take pictures of him all the time for the Daily Bugle."
"Oh, well, I guess you didn't miss much then."
"Na." They walked through the park some more, looking at more art pieces. The entire time they were there, something kept bugging Peter. Something in him found it interesting about her interest in Spider-Man. It ate at him the entire time they were at the exhibit. Peter began to think some. 'She seemed awfully intrigued by him coming.'
While walking her home, for some odd reason, he wanted to know what she thought about Spider-Man. To him, it almost sounded as though he wanted her approval. Just out of curiosity, he turned to Kris. Biting his bottom lip, he asked casually, "So, what do you think about Spider-Man?"
Kristi was caught off guard. The whole Spider-Man thing happened a good hour ago. "AS what?"
He put his hands in his pockets. "I dunno. That's why I'm asking."
She thought for a moment. "Well, I think he's someone special. He's got a lot on his shoulders I would think. I couldn't imagine being able to do all the stuff he does. It's incredible and captivating. He reminded me of a picture actually, art in motion."
He smiled for a moment. "How so?"
"Well, I guess everyone is art in motion really, but he's different, because he gets dissed and dismissed but he does what he does anyway. That's beautiful. He must have a strong mind to surpass all the negative things that get thrown his way."
"I'm sure the people he helps is his reward."
She nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah. The way he does things is fascinating. His presence is such a powerful force. So many people would walk away from things like this. He doesn't. That's what's cool about him."
"You really thought about that huh?"
"Not really. I just said what I thought at that moment. Spontaneity is my thing. Gives things a sense of zest."
"You make it sound like a seasoning."
Dramatically, she exclaimed, "Spice of Life!"
"Nice words."
Sighing, she said matter-of-factly, "It's amazing what Roget could do for your vocab." It was quiet after that for the next five minutes. As they passed the coffee shop that was across the street from her apartment, she asked, "Well, would you like to go for coffee?"
Peter glimpsed at his watch. "I'd like to, but I can't. I have to go in early for the Bugle to help get the Friday edition out. There are so many people coming down with stuff that I was ordered to come in, in case there's a shortage."
She eyed him skeptically. "Ordered?"
"You don't know Mr. Jameson. He doesn't ask, he tells."
She walked onto her building steps. "Someone needs to get his attitude in check." The cool air blew quickly, and she tightened her jacket around herself.
"Well, I certainly don't have the guts to attempt to. I kind of like the whole breathing on my own thing."
Looking downward, she began to rock on her heels. "Well…I'll see you later then."
He nodded his head slowly. Thinking quickly, he asked, "Do you want me to walk you up?"
She smiled at his gesture. Looking up, she shook her head. "No, that's okay. I'll be fine."
He smiled slightly. "Are you sure?"
She had to turn away from his smile. It was just…so sweet looking. "Well I'll see you later. Are we still gonna review?"
"I'll call you if I get out of the Bugle early."
Nodding her head, she responded, "Okay. Later."
"Later Kris." He watched her walk up the steps slowly. Once the door closed, he stuck his hands in his pockets and walked home.
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