Flesh and Bone and Water by Luiza Sauma

Author:Luiza Sauma
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scribner

Helping Luana with the laundry, then listening to music, became a regular occurrence. She didn’t need my help—in fact, I slowed her down—but she didn’t refuse it either. It could be a Wednesday evening, when Rita had taken Thiago to one of his many activities, and my father was working late. It could be a Saturday morning, when I wasn’t needed at the surgery, or a Sunday, when it wasn’t her day off. Rita would go to the market and occasionally take Thiago. Sometimes I would encourage him to accompany her, telling him that I’d seen a man selling puppies on the street, or I’d give him money for ice cream.

One Saturday, everything fell into place. My father was working, Rita was shopping, and Thiago was at his football club, so I went and found Luana in the laundry area at the back of the kitchen, with her basket of clean clothes.

“Thiago’s clothes,” she said.

“Good. I can’t say I enjoyed hanging up my dad’s underwear last week.”

She laughed that sweet donkey laugh and brought down the rack. I took an item from the basket—Thiago’s Superman pajama top—shook it, and pinned it up. She took the matching trousers and hung them up too. We carried on like this, quick and silent, going through the basket. Even now, I can still smell the soap, its faint coconut scent. The damp coolness of the laundry, hovering above us. Her brown arms picking and pinning, with elegant grace. The view outside the window, of concrete buildings, humming with life, and dark mountains beyond. Soon only a single sock was left in the basket. We looked at each other and reached for it at the same time. Our hands touched lightly, a thumb to a finger, but we didn’t move away. Just stayed there, feeling that small bit of skin. Then I was holding her hand. It was as if our hands had their own objective, which we could only follow.

Luana turned towards me, and I towards her. A light sweat on her skin. Those green eyes. Damp laundry. My pulse was beating in every part of my body, from my eyes to my penis to my toes. Fear as well as excitement. I touched her lips with mine. Luana smelled of coconut soap and sweat, and faint perfume. A hot ray of sunshine from the open window scorched the back of my neck, until Luana covered it with her hand, pulling me closer to her, so that she could feel my erection against her stomach.

She pulled away. “What are we doing? We shouldn’t do this.”

“I know.”

We kissed again, for several minutes, until my lips felt raw.

She put a hand on my chest and pushed me away. “That’s enough. This is weird.”

“I know.” What else could I say but I know, I know, I know.

“I’m sorry, André.”

“I’m not sorry.” I tugged at her sleeve.

“We can’t be together.”

I wasn’t intending on being together. Not then, anyway. I was on the cusp of my eighteenth birthday, kissing the most beautiful girl I had ever seen.

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