At this point, the wife, well she’s freaking out. She’s got no clue who this American hunk of a male is and what the hell he’s doing there, saying he’s in love with her etc.
The movie star, he pauses the film and walks over to investigate the ruckus.
He looks Adonis up and down, and he says, Who are you?
Adonis gives him the hard stare for a moment or two, and he says, I’m your wife’s lover, that’s who I am. All deep and growly.
Oh shit! This is even better than my new favourite soap opera. The movie star is quiet and the suspense is too much.
I compare Adonis and the movie star. Standing next to each other like that, Adonis has at least a two-head height advantage.
If I was a beautiful white woman like the movie star’s wife here, I know who I would choose.
I’d throw myself into Adonis’s big arms right there and then. Even if my husband wasn’t abusing me.
The movie star, he finally turns to his wife and he says, Do you know this man?
No playing, this guy is ice cold.
The wife says, Of course I don’t know him. I’ve never seen him in my life.
Right then, Adonis looks real hurt. He says, How could you say that in front of my face? After that night we shared together under the stars, devouring each other’s naked bodies like two starved animals?
Oh ho, Charles says. He’s improvising now.
For true, this is the best prank I have ever played on anyone in my life, ever.
F
ORTY
-T
WO
Window down, Charles lays his arm on the side of the car, steering with thumb and forefinger.
He says, Goodness, that was exhilarating. Wasn’t that exhilarating?
I say, Super exhilarating. Our man smashed it in there, no?
Charles says, Smashed it indeed. He says, I couldn’t have pulled this off without you. What a fantastic idea.
Splish, splash, splosh.
This thing we’ve done, are doing right now, it’s fun. Me and Charles, sharing a moment, and it’s like I’m finally bonding with someone the way I should have bonded with my dad.
I think about Other Me and how he just seems to belong. And in Charles’s car, after the adrenaline and the craziness of the prank we just pulled, I’m thinking maybe I’m starting to feel like that too.
Like this is the place for me.
I’m not gonna lie, I say. I thought the guy would have reacted a bit more—
Crazy?
Right.
(After Adonis got the door shut in his face, they just brushed their teeth and went to bed like normal. Backs to each other.)
Charles sticks his hand out the window, fingers spread out. He’s enjoying the feeling of the air against his skin.
He says, We’ve had a bigger impact on them than it seems. Trust me.
I watch Charles drive for a minute. The breeze plays with his white hair. He has the tiniest of smiles on his face.
Happy, shiny eyes. Less giddy, like he was at the bowling alley, more content.
No, satisfied.
He pushes a cassette into the car stereo, more of that dreamy French piano music.
I open my own window, get some of that cool night breeze. Outside, as the car moves slow with the traffic, bright neon flashes and blurs, up, up, up into the sky. Streets still thick.
I say, Debussy, right?
Right, Charles says. Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum.
He turns to me, points his finger at me. Played by Chia Chen though.
