It was late in the day, and Jonah was off doing - something. I was straightening up a little around camp, and I picked up his jacket. I sat down on the ground, hugging it, feeling really good about him and us and everything.
There was a crackling sound as I crushed the pocket, holding the jacket close.
I opened it, and there was a folded paper inside. It looked old and worn.
Hmmm. My mother's famous words echoed in my ears about respecting other people's privacy. Of course, she had blatantly and self-righteously broken those rules by going through some of my things when I was a teenager, but they were still emblazoned on my brain.
But Jonah was my lover. He was becoming my best friend (sorry, Margaret - he'll never replace you - you know what I mean). And I didn't even know if he cared if I looked. It was probably just a receipt or something. And if it turned out to be something else - something private - I didn't have to tell him I'd seen it.
So I took it between my thumb and forefinger, and unfolded it.
It was a poem, almost unreadable in the creases, but I could make it out.
she drops her rose red petals behind her and i collect them one by one in her wake wake up i'm dreaming it won't be long now i curl up into her womb sucking sucking sucking she turns me inside out and i'm bleeding bleeding bleeding i die in the rain dripping dripping dripping melting into the river that gushes out of her womb then i'm gone
I sat, a little stunned. I folded it up carefully, and put it back in.
Why was it there? Did he bring it to share with me, or did he just carry it around all the time? Was it about me? The dream goddess? His mother? Someone else? The paper looked like it had been written a long time ago; or if it had been written recently, it had gone through rain, or a lot of foldings and unfoldings, or something.
Well, I felt guilty for looking at something that was so obviously private, but I also felt glad I had seen it. It was another clue to this enigmatic person that I was falling in love with more all the time. He was deep, and I loved that.
I didn't know what the poem meant. I didn't know if it was a celebration, or a lament. I didn't know if he knew what it meant. But that was just the point. Jonah was so intriguing because he was enigmatic. I could never peg him. There was always an unexpected turn, a mystery to him.
But the mysteries weren't frightening, I was beginning to discover. The surprises were usually good ones, and it seemed that at the bottom of most things was this sweetness that was really rare in this world.
* * * *
Jonah made dinner again that night, and it was even better than the first one, though we didn't make love to it. He stewed the meat with the vegetables this time, cooked it longer, and it was more tender.
I felt sad to think we would have to go home tomorrow. I said so to Jonah.
"Then don't go," he returned.
"But I planned to return tomorrow, and I told Paul so in the note," I argued.
"So? Does Paul need you for something?"
"Well, no. In fact, he'll probably bring Kira home for the weekend again, and they'd probably be just as happy to have the house to themselves."
"So, what's the problem?"