Cemetery Street by John Zunski (free ebook reader for ipad .txt) 📕

still be alive.
“There you people are. I was worried I’d miss you.”
I resisted letting go of Shannie’s hand, she yanked hers from mine and extended it to the familiar stranger. “Hi,” Shannie said.
In front of us was the soldier who freight-trained Mulberry. “Sorry I’m late, I had to take care of some business, you know what I’m saying?” He took Shannie’s hand into his.
“You gotta do what you gotta do… Captain Gray,” Shannie said reading his nametag.
“Please, it’s Calvin, I hear enough of that Captain bullshit all day,” he said with a toothy smile. He introduced himself to me with a bone crushing handshake.
“Thank you for what you did back there.”
“Anytime,” Calvin’s smile faded. An uneasy silence fell between the three of us. Both Shannie and Calvin began. With an uneasy laugh, Shannie insisted Calvin begin first. “I couldn’t help overhearing that you’re Sergeant Lightman’s sister. I knew Lee, knew him good, he never mentioned nothing ‘bout a sister. Guess you never really know people as well as you think, you know what I’m saying?”
Shannie’s cheeks flushed. “Well, like, I’m not like a blood sister. Like we grew up together, we’re kinda best friends, he’s like a brother to me.”
Calvin pointed. “You’re the neighbor. Heard all about you. He spoke highly of you.”
Shannie looked at her feet.
I remained speechless. This was Shannie’s quest, she didn’t need my stupid remarks.
“Look, this ain’t going to be easy, you know what I’m saying?” Calvin said. “Let’s take a walk, maybe grab a pop or something.”
We walked along the mall. Calvin said his family was from Atlantic City, that he had a half-sister who lived there. “She’s keeping something I’m supposed to pass on to you. You see, Lee, he took a liking to writing, he was always scribbling his thoughts down. I used to give him lots of shit about it. And he’d say - if you knew how to do it, you’d be writing things down too.” There was a sad glimmer in Calvin’s eyes. “Anyway, he made me promise that if anything happened to him I’d see that his log would get to Ortolan. That’s what he called you. Never called you by your first name, just called you Ortolan. I never thought anything would happen to him - he was a survivor type, you know what I’m saying? Anyway, he gave me your address and all, but I lost it. So, I got my sister to help me find you. I knew he lived in a cemetery and all, once I got out, I was planning on driving up to Pennsylvania and delivering it personally.
“What happened?” Shannie asked.
A long sigh escaped Calvin Gray. He wiped sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.
“I want to know everything,” Shannie said.
Lights around Washington flickered on. Evening shadows darkened, grayness faded to black. All around us, pinpricks of light penetrated the humid murkiness. “Combat fatigue,” Calvin said.
“Combat fatigue?” I broke my silence. Shannie looked at me with a downcast stare, Undeterred I continued: “What do you mean combat fatigue? He wasn’t even close to combat. The Iraqis were 50 miles away. How could he have combat fatigue?”
“Shut up and listen, you may find out,” Shannie scolded.
“This oughta be good, just like the rest of this fucking trip. I can tell this is going to be a real winner, just like the rest of today! What the fuck? Why should it be any different from anything else; it’s been a fucking ten-bell year!”
“Excuse him,” Shannie apologized. “He’s taking it pretty hard.”
“Goddamn right I am!” I snapped. “I don’t want anymore closure. I’m sick of closure. Fuck closure! I’m sick of it all! Why can’t you let him lie? Why can’t you leave him alone? You can’t bring him back! Leave him the fuck alone!”

“Why did you come if you didn’t want to know?” Shannie asked breaking our silence. Until then, only the purr of Saphix’s engine kept me company as I drove home. It was close to midnight and we were on I-95 somewhere between Washington and Baltimore.
“I wanted to be with you,” I said.
“Really?” Shannie smiled.
“Really,” I answered.
“That’s sweet Just James. I didn’t think you liked being with me anymore,” Shannie curled her legs under herself on the passenger seat.
“Why would you think that?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” Shannie rested the side of her face upon the seat’s headrest. A short silence fell over us, permeated by the GTI’s hum. “I’m beat,” Shannie said. “It’s been a long day, lets get a room.”
“Really?” I asked.
“Really!” Shannie smiled, biting her lower lip.
My hand trembled as I slid the plastic key-card into the motel room’s lock. When the green light blinked, I opened the door and was smacked in the face by a wall of warm, musty air.
“Yuck,” Shannie said stepping into the room behind me. “Nothing like stale air.” She turned the air conditioner on high.
“Wanna a different room?” I asked.
“Nah. One room in a Seesh Mahal is as bad as the next. It’s not like we booked a suite at the Waldorf.”
“You sure?”
“As long as there’s no cock roaches,” she winked plopping herself down on the first bed. “And as long as they have hot water I’m sure. You know, there’s nothing like the feeling of when you first check into a room, the first twenty minutes or so, it’s like escape - there’s no pressure in the world.”
“I wouldn’t know,” I answered.
Shannie studied me a second before smacking the mattress at her sides. “Anywho, I’m dying for a shower. Alone!” she added noticing my eyes sparkle.

I laid on the bed closest to the bathroom, listening to the water dance over Shannie’s body. Its sound danced with the slap of runoff upon the shower’s floor. I closed my eyes, imagining myself a drop of water, running down the side of her neck, along her chest, rising over the corner of a breast before falling between them. I fell into a light sleep picturing myself evaporating in her body’s heat.
“Just James,” Shannie whispered leaning over me, her breath tickling my nose. “Your turn.” A drop of water from her dangling mane fell upon my lips; my tongue immediately captured it. I savored its taste.
Towel clad, Shannie bounced off the bed and stood in front of the mirror running her hands through her hair: “I can’t believe how naked I feel without my hairdryer.”
“I can’t believe how naked you’d feel under that towel,” I said stumbling out of bed. In the mirror, Shannie’s eyes followed me into the bathroom.
Goosebumps exploded over my body as I stepped out of the shower into the cold dark room. Except for the rattle of the air conditioner, a sound wasn’t to be heard. Shannie was asleep. Disappointed, I stumbled towards my bed, never imagining when I got there I’d find years of late night wishes staring up at me. Wordlessly, Shannie pulled away the covers, inviting me to join her.
In the darkness, I studied the outline of Shannie’s nakedness, struggling to make out once familiar details. In front of me was not the bud of the girl I remembered from that summer afternoon, but the blossom of a woman I loved.
My head spun as I climbed into bed. I fell into her softness. Her arms pulled my chest to hers. The warm silkiness of her legs intertwined with mine. Cold air and fingernails raked my back. Her lips found my shoulder while somehow she wrapped the cover around us. Beneath the bed spun. I drew a breath to utter silly words, a finger brushed over my lips, silencing them.
I drew her finger into my mouth, tasting its sweetness, garnering her like the first sip of fine wine - a vintage I watched each and every day for years. I gazed into her eyes, she bit her lower lip.
I moved on to a second, then a third, taking each of Shannie’s fingers into my mouth, kissing and sucking them, before running my tongue between them, darting it against her softness at their base. A soft sigh escaped her lips. My tongue found its way to her palm, tracing its lines before taking it into my hand and raising it against the bed above her head. Desperately I wanted to kiss the lips that for years have been denied; I hesitated, hovering, I wanted to torment her with desire.
With my free hand I ran a finger over her eyebrows. Beneath me, Shannie lay with her eyes closed, her lips parted. I drew my lips to her forehead, kissing it. I ran my fingers down her side. With a giggle, she arched her hips as my hands raced along them. Her eyes flew open, beaming like jewels in the darkness. We locked in a passionate stare. Like so many times before, Shannie worked her will upon me. She willed my lips to hers. Our lips met. Holding mine with hers, pinching first my upper lip and than lower one between hers, she explored me. Their heat melting mine, I faded into her softness.
Rolling me onto my back Shannie straddled my stomach, her lips wandering down my neck. Somehow, as her lips sauntered lower, she dangled her hair across my face. I gasped at the sensation. Looking up, Shannie smiled. Taking my hand, she guided it to my chest, making me feel my heart. It raced. I was about to utter something senseless, she again placed a finger over my lips, hushing me.
I thrust my hips forward, desperately seeking hers, only to be frustrated as she quickly moved away. Throbbing like never before, I worried that our night would end before we started, typical of me, worrying about too much of a good thing.
Rolling onto her side, Shannie’s eyes guided my lips to hers. As they met, our passion for each other found its voice with our heavy breathing. Wrapping her arms around my neck and back, Shannie squeezed me tightly against her. I gasped as her breasts pressed against my chest, their soft firmness tickling me. My hand meandered downward, stopping briefly to explore the small of her back before moving beyond. Her cheeks, soft and firm, filled my palm.
I ran a hand up between us, taking a breast between my thumb and forefinger, pinching it gently. Shannie broke off our kiss with a gasp and leaned into me. Kissing her forehead I rolled Shannie onto her back. Cupping her breast, my mouth worked down her neck toward its prize. Having waited so long to taste them, my mouth savored every second. My tongue danced around one and then her other nipple; a cry escaped Shannie’s lips. Beneath me, her hips danced against my stomach.
I moved lower, my tongue tracing its way along her abdomen into her bellybutton. As always, when Shannie makes the rules she breaks them. Speaking softly, raspy, she said: “Make love to me.”
I looked up at her, smiled and moved my tongue lower. “No,” Shannie said grabbing a handful of my hair. “I want you to give me what no one else has. I want you to make love with me.”
Who was I to argue? I moved upward, running my tongue up the soft swell of a breast and over a nipple, lingering briefly before finding her lips. With her help, I slipped inside. A gasp escaped her lips as her head fell back upon a pillow of her wild, sprawling hair. Below, she gripped me, her softness tugging at me, pulling me deeper, as if she could pull my heart into her. Eyes closed, Shannie lay biting her lower lip, her breasts quivering between us. Without warning, my limb’s tingled; my head lightened. I felt like an