By ZoE
Date: 20 July 1999

Coming Back

She smiles that half smile that he knows means she's not having a good time
but trying to be polite.
he hates that smile
thinks it's devious.
her lips shake and she reaches in her purse for some more white pills.
no one seems to notice except him.
He knows her in and out.
since the first time they fucked he knew that he understood her and she wasn't
as complex as they had thought.
Her cheeks pale as a snow flake, blonde hair dancing as she walks away, out the
door.
He says to himself, "It's okay, she'll be back like she always is." but this time when he gets home she's not in the bed holding her knees in that fetal
position that she sleeps in or writing with crayon on his newly painted walls
(partially out of anger/partially because she calls it art.) she isn't smoking her cigarette, legs crossed next to the screen door laughing at the birds, her laugh like a symphony of angels. even when she is smashing his dishes and threatening to smash his car, he loves her.
he feels like a child for continuing to love her.
this time he feels a knot in his stomach.
He knows she's not coming back.