Dark Green
The ferocious honking of that nasty colored 2003 Honda Civic is what wakes me up this time. Dark green, how could anyone actually think to themselves; yes, I like this color. I reach for my watch to check the time, 1:35. Damn it’s too late to climb back into bed but slightly too early to get up. I reluctantly stroll into the bathroom. Damn it! I keep forgetting the toilet doesn't flush. I reach for my toothbrush and paste to kill two annoying birds with one stone. I reach for my shirt with the sown on emblem of fun, “Dave’s Carnival of Fun.”Not to mention the overly hormonal teens' last day of school for the week. Everyone except the local fair workers is excited for this weekend. Come one come all, all summer long, enjoy the experience of a lifetime! What a bunch of horsecrap, I mean I can’t complain because if people don’t come I don't make any money.
It’s 2:06 by the time I arrive, well at least I don’t exactly get paid hourly. I begin to inflate the balloons and tie them on the board when I see Bridgette out of the corner of my eye prancing towards me. I try to seem very busy, hoping she turns around and goes back to the booth she came from. But I have a feeling it won’t matter how busy I make myself, she comes all the same.
“Hey, have you heard about Randy, Priscilla's kid?”
“No, cause I have no interest in what Priscilla or her delinquent son is up to.”
“Well he died, Waldo. A drug overdose, she found him yesterday morning before her shift at the hotel.”
“Oh, I'm sorry, that was insensitive of me.”
e both stared off in silence. Then her senses came back and she continued on asking about what I am doing after work; something along the lines of getting drinks, even though she knows I don’t drink.
It’s 3:45 and this is when things start to pick up a bit.
“Can I have the pink elephant?” Exclaimed the 12 year-old kid. Isn’t this kid a little too old for a pink elephant, are they into like, oh god what are kids into these days? It proves how much I know about society nowadays. Just take the damn elephant.
“here you go sweetie.” I say. Of course I said none of this outloud, as her scrappy looking mother would have most definitely had a problem with it.
A few other 12 year olds come and go. It’s 4:56, and in just a few all the exhausted adults will be here. Sucking up the BS they have taken in all week and pushing it aside to enjoy some time at the fair.
Here they come, the real money makers. You would think it would be kids with their parents. But it’s not; it’s always those new couples, who are still in the proving phase. It’s fun to watch a guys pride as he tries to win not only the prize but the girl's heart. I once had a guy spend over 50 bucks to win his girl a pink elephant; what is it with pink elephants, I will never know. I felt kind of bad for him, and you can tell she did as well.
A distinguished gentleman and his lady come up to the booth, both whispering little secrets of jargon into each other's ears. They are probably no older than 25, and if I had to guess no more than 3 months into their relationship. He asks me for the 14 dart option, and as he prepares to throw them I catch a glimpse of her hair. The most euphoric strings of dark chocolate strands perfectly formed together upon her head. The best I had ever seen, touched, and loved. I lost her within the crown until...
“Hey, can I get the blue monkey, you want the blue monkey right babe?” the distinguished gentleman asked.
“Sorry, my bad, here you go,” I say as I reach to hand them their blue monkey.
Then I as look up to hand it to them she is there,
“Hey, Waldo.” said Esmerelda.
I look up and it's her. The one who holds something of mine. The couple leaves, I'm sure saying thank you but my sole attention is on that which is in front of me.
“Oh hey, what are you doing here?” I said.
“I mean it's the fair, and I am here with a few friends, and it's Friday,” said Esmerelda. Of course, I didn’t really care about the answer, I was just surprised to see her here, and naturally, this question is almost always the first to come up. I mean she is allowed to come to the fair, and come to my booth there is nothing wrong with that; at least that's what I tell myself.
“Oh, right, that makes sense,” I said. A few seconds go by of awkwardness then as she does so well, she shatters that with,
“So are you going to give me some darts?”
“Oh, yeah for sure,” I say as I reach for the bucket underneath the booth. Before she gets the chance to throw, her friends, or who I assume to be her friends come around her. They start fiddling with the darts, yet never throwing one. I would have understood what they were talking about if I was focused on it, but her face and expressions captivated me. The way her left dimple creeps in when she is mildly amused and gets bigger the more she opens up her soft face.
“ So how many do I have to hit to win, like what are the rules of the game,” says Esmerelda.
“Oh it's very simple, you just have to make a line containing four popped balloons, and diagonals don’t count,” I answer back. With that information, she launches the first dart and it connects on the top left corner. Pop
Pop. We head toward the ticket booth to grab our tickets as the sound of firecrackers goes off just ahead of us. I told her we should have come earlier and beat the traffic, but of course, her preparations were unmatched. It took her a little over two hours to get her ensemble all together. I can’t lie though, she looks stunning. The way the green blends so well with her caramel skin. The Darkish hew complements her hazel eyes. But she is looking a little too stunning, who is she trying to show off for, I am right here. She never wears something like this unless we are going to a big crowd event. Maybe I am getting a little paranoid.
“What do you want to do first?” I ask.
“I don’t know but let's get something to eat, I am starving,” Esmerelda replies.
Really that's the first thing she wants to do. She knows this food is expensive, she can be so selfish at times.
“All right then, what do you want?” I said
She sensed the tone in my voice but didn’t give one of her sly remarks. 23.76, damn those wings were a lot. We head to the plethora of games, first the ring toss, then the milk-bottle knockdown. To top it off she tried her luck at the Bust-a-balloon; she actually one something this time, a pink elephant. As she is receiving her prize, I rummage through my pockets and pull out, lint a nickel, and three more tickets, damn it! She decided it was time for some rides.
“ It’s almost 10:00, we won’t have enough time for some rides.” I point out.
“Alright we can just go on one, how about the Ferris wheel?” She replies. After some deliberation, I knew her mind was made up.
“I know you don’t care for rides anymore, but on the top, there is a gorgeous view of the canal connecting with the lake,” She said.
With perspiring palms, she leads the way to what I hoped would be a long line. I know how short her attention span is, maybe she wouldn’t care for this 3 ticket ride after she sees the line. As we get closer, there is no long line in sight, damn. I tried to persuade her to do something else, maybe something that didn’t cost 3 tickets.
“What about go-kart racing?” I ask.
“I mean we can after, but I don’t think that there will be enough time. You said they close at 10:00.” She says, as she looks at her watch, showing me the time; 9:40. I don’t doubt the view is beautiful, who could refute what she calls beautiful? But does it have to cost 3 tickets? As we inch closer I feel the pride set in, as it confides in my chest and throat, making it difficult to breathe. I go to give the ride operator my remaining tickets, stretching out my damp hand.
“Here, go on without me, those wings really did a number on me,” I say, although it didn’t really sound all that convincing.
“What, no! You're fine, let’s go!” She yells as she gestures me forward.
That’s it I guess, it can’t be helped anymore.
“I don’t have enough tickets for the both of us!” I shout. The pride has been engulfed, as shame now begins creeping in and taking its place. Silence pervades as I continue looking somewhere else; anywhere else is better than looking at her disappointed face. It felt like an eternity, but probably only seconds for the ride operator, who was awkwardly standing there trying to mind his own business.
Finally, she said something,
“Why didn’t you say something? I wouldn’t have asked if I knew we didn’t have enough.”
“Asked? You hardly asked, but made up your mind that this was the ride you wanted to go on '' As I pointed to the circular tower above us.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” She says, as her face starts to slightly twitch, as I struck a nerve.
“Nothing! And really what kind of guy tells his girl that, oh, hey I’m a broke idiot and I can’t afford some stupid ride!” I say.
“What are we 16 again, that your afraid I won’t like you anymore and break up with you because you can’t afford some dumb ride?”
“No, but you don’t really give time for me to tell you these things, as you already made up your mind.”
“Oh, so all of this is my fault now? I can’t believe you sometimes. You know you don’t have to be so damn prideful all the time and just tell me things. No, instead you wanna keep it in, and blame everyone but yourself!.”
Wow it’s like she doesn’t hear a word I said, I try to tell her things, but she is always caught up in her own perfect world that I can never reach.
“I guess it can’t be helped,” I answer.
“What?” She says with the fiery blaze in her hazelnut eyes.
“Nothing, let's go home,” I said. She massages her forehead, and then out from under her hand trickles down clearness that is small and easy to miss, but it caught my eye as it ran down her face. I hate it when she cries.
We didn’t talk on the ride home, nor when we got home; there was a silent agreement that I was to sleep on the couch tonight. I couldn’t fall asleep, so I decided to flip through the tv to pass the time. Cops the tv show was on and it was a young officer, probably just a little older than me. He is chasing someone, though I can’t see who it is as they are in a high-speed car chase through a neighborhood. I make out the suspect's car, a dark green Ford Taurus. I immediately start to lose interest, then the suspect's tires blow out. Pop
Pop. 4 in a row. I give away my last prize as people start to head towards their cars. I check the time, 9:40. Damn, time flew by fast. I know I always get yelled at for packing up early, but I guess it can’t be helped. As I am walking to my car I see her. I should go talk to her, um maybe not. As I am going back and forth with myself, for some reason she turns around in the middle of her conversation and sees an idiot swaying back and forth muttering to himself. I look up and see her walking toward me.
“Hey, I thought they closed at 10:00, you must have gotten off early huh?” She asked.
“You could say that. So what are you about to get into?” I replied
“Oh um, my friends are trying to take me to this bar on 23rd street. I think it just recently opened.”
“Oh, Charlie’s, yea that place is great,” I said, even though I had never even been to that place; but I think she knew that as well but decided to leave my lie be. Awkward silence begins to feel the void of space between us, but I can sense with her hazelnut eyes that she wants me to ask her something. I take the bait and ask her, “ Would you want to maybe go for a walk down by the river.”
Her eyes shift to the river, back to me, then to her friends. “ Oh, yea your friends, never mind forgetting I said anything I....”
“No, sure I’ll go, just give me one moment,” She says as she walks back to her friends. After some deliberation, they all get into the car and drive off, without her.
“I hear there is a great spot by the bridge, where you can see the moon reflecting off the water.” As we were walking, a group of kids no older than 10 was running around with firecrackers. Pop, Pop, Pop.
The sunshine radiated off her butterscotch skin. She told me to pick her up at 5:30. I arrived a little earlier in order to gather myself. I check my pockets one more time, making sure I have enough. Whatever she wants I tell myself. Hopefully, 50 bucks can buy me that. I hear the screen door swing open, here she comes, oh man, that green goes so well with her hair, skin, and everything else she has going on. The dark shade compliments her hair more importantly so well. She catches me staring and I immediately look away.
“Hey.” She said
“Hey,” I say back. Should I tell her she looks good, is that weird. Screw it, I go for it anyway.
“I like your dress, you look really nice,” I said. Redness slightly creeps under her cheeks.
“Thank you, you look nice as well.”
The traffic and parking were a nightmare. But it's too late to back out now. If I was with anyone else, it just might have gotten the better of me, but for her anything. We find a spot and find ourselves in the fair.
“What do you want to do first?” I asked.
“I don’t know, but I’m starving. Let's get something to eat.” She said.
“Ok, what are you thinking?” I replied
“Wings!” She said.
She was not the best at Carnival games, but that did not dampen her joy. She finally wins at Bust-a-Balloon. She wanted a pink elephant, but they didn’t have anymore, so she settled for a blue giraffe. She turns around after receiving her prize, “ So rides now?”
“For sure, I think we have time for some.” I checked the time, 9:25.
We first try out the Wave Swinger. It was a little too much for me, but she looked like she enjoyed herself. 9:45.
“Let's see if we can make the Ferris Wheel.” She said. I agree, and we started walking until we saw the elongated line. She thought about it for a minute but decided she is fine without the Ferris wheel in her life. We called it a day.
“I had a lot of fun.” She said
“I am glad you had fun, I had a lot of fun as well,” I replied. Fireworks blast into the sky behind me. I catch them in the reflections of her eyes. I could watch those fireworks from this view forever. Pop, Pop, Pop.
Our feet make the first few noises, as we slowly traverse the path.
“So what are you up to these days?” I asked
“I am a content manager at Apple.” She replied
Oh, wow, I don’t know much about content management but that sounds like an important job.”
“Yea, it is, but it comes with its challenges. It can get really busy and hectic at times. That's kind of the reason I'm back here.” She said.
“Sure, sure, it sounds like that job can really take a toll on anyone including you,” I said. She snickers in agreement.
“Anyways, what about you? What are you doing nowadays?” She asked
“Oh, nothing really. I mean you saw it, I just work here that's all.” I said. She was about to follow up but I kept on going. “ But I am doing some writing.”
“Really that's awesome.” She replied
“Yea, I actually submitted some work and am waiting for a reply,” I said
“That's really great, I am proud of you. Maybe I can read some of your work sometime, what do you write?” She asked
“Mostly Fiction, some poems here and there,” I replied. After that answer, I could tell the formalities were over. Quick questions and answers to not seem desperate, but to get to the truth of the matter.
“So what happened?” I blurted out. At first, I thought she didn’t get the question, but she replied,
“We grew up, Waldo.” I’ve been dreading this answer for the longest answer, but I needed to hear it.
“I don’t regret anything that happened. Meeting you, falling in love, all of it.” She said
“Me neither.” I replied
“But you had to figure, we were just going different ways. I was happy that paths converged if only for a long moment in time.” She continued.
“I mean, I just hoped, deep down, that that wasn’t true,” I replied
“We were just kids, Waldo, we didn’t know any better. We were too immature to realize that it wouldn’t last forever.” She said. We arrived at the spot near the bridge. We look across the reflection of the moon rippling across the waters.
“I knew it wouldn't last, but I just thought, that maybe that's what couples are. We fight, makeup, and continue on.” I said.
“That's the thing, we never fought. We had two fights really, the one at your Grandma’s and the last one being right at this fair.” She said as she gestured toward the Ferris wheel. Damn, she’s right, I guess we just kept things close to the chest until they became too heavy to carry. The silence came again, but this time it wasn’t awkward. We sat there on the bench staring out unto the moonlit canal.
“I will always love you. How I do. You were the best thing that ever happened to me. I’ve had some of the best moments of my life with you.” I said.
“I will always love you too. Thank you for this.” She said as she turned and looked as we locked eyes. Tears coming down each of our faces.
We walked back shortly after. I gave her a ride home, to where she was staying. Before she got out, she said to me,
“You're wrong about one thing.”
“Really what's that?” I replied
“I was just a chapter in your story, the best is yet to come for you, I truly believe that.” She said
“Thank you, for everything,” I replied. She nods and we part ways again. But this time, those feelings of animosity and disgust were not present. Thankfulness and gratitude took their place.
I get back to my apartment at exactly 12:00. As I begin to head up the stairs I catch a glimpse of that all too common 2003 Honda Civic; dark green. The color honestly doesn’t look that bad at night. I kind of like Dark Green.
