Katarina stepped out on to the street. As the evening air grew heavier, the sun was losing its last fleeting attempt to stay in the sky. The orange glow seemed to set the windshields of the parked cars on fire. As the blaze led her down the hill, each step she took ignited another reflection. When at last Katarina reached the base of the hill, the glare had subsided and seeped into horizon. Turning the corner, the dusk embraced her as an old friend. She inhaled the stiff evening air. It was getting cooler finally. The heat of the long day had relinquished its hold on the city. The sun was in exile.
She had taken this walk almost every evening for the past few weeks. She strolled casually, pretending to notice the carefully manicured lawns and flowering trees that the occupants had put into place. Moss lined each strategically selected variety of vegetation, and smooth white stones and small picketed fences outlined each gardener's labor. Her gaze wandered aimlessly from house to house and into the star-less night sky. As Katarina rounded the corner onto the next block, her attentions focused. Two more houses and she would be in his sight. Already she could feel his presence and hear the slow shrieking sound of the porch swing he would be sitting on.
He had been there every evening, just as this one. His feet rested on the railing of the rusty swing and a beer can wedged securely in his right hand. His somber, gray house in dull contrast to the freshly painted homes that lined the block. He was predictably bare- chested and the bottoms of his feet confessed he did not often wear shoes. He sucked at the almost expired beer, then tossed it to the corner of the porch. It joined a pair of previously discarded cans. As he crouched to grab another beer, he noticed Katarina. He took a deep breath and pushed his sun-bleached hair from his eyes. She was still a few houses away. He was sure the girl would pass as she had on previous nights.
Her long, auburn hair glowed under each street light she passed under, but it was not her hair that caught his eye. Her skin was pale, very pale. As he watched her petite frame drawing closer, it seemed that her skin absorbed the milky light of the street lamps. She wore a spaghetti string blouse that fell loosely across her abdomen but hugged her quite snugly just above. Stretching his bronzed arms out in front of him, he admired his own recently acquired tan. Katarina was in front of his house now, pretending not to notice his stare. She stopped, pulled a crushed pack of cigarettes from her back pocket and patted her hips and buttocks for a lighter. This was his chance.
He grabbed a pack of matches from the railing of the porch and leaned back casually into the swing. "Hey babe," he called to her slowly and struck one of the matches with his index finger sending it over the railing, halfway between himself and where Katarina stood on the sidewalk. She jumped as though noticing him for the first time. "Need a light babe?" he rolled softly. She noticed the southern drawl in his voice.
"Why thank you sir," she mimicked back at him playfully. He smiled and held out the matches for her to retrieve. Katarina approached the porch cautiously, like a small child taught not to talk to strangers. His smile widened to a grin.
She stepped up onto the porch in one step, by-passing the weathered stairs that did not look safe to her. Tossing her dark hair over her shoulder, she put the cigarette in her mouth still looking down as if cautious. He snatched the cigarette from between her lips in one sweeping gesture and placed it in his own and lit it. He took a deep drag and handed it back to her, watching her cleavage as she bent closer to him to retrieve it. Katarina hesitated as if momentarily startled, then reached down and took the cigarette from his hand. He smiled again, allowing the smoke to escape through his teeth.
He gazed at her from beneath his blond hair, which was once again in his eyes. "Have a seat babe, I ain't gonna bite ya."
It was too much for her; she let out a laugh. "Oh no I have to get going, it's getting dark" she said, her eyes moving down to a wrist which had no watch, "Thanks for the light though."
"Come on honey, just one beer, it's still early" he rattled. His drawl thickening from the previously consumed cans.
"Well" she said, leaning back against the railing
"So what's your name?" he asked, as he cracked open the beer and handed it to his guest.
"Katarina" the girl answered quietly. No response, her answer was secondary to the view he now had of her legs crossed tightly and leading his focus up to her curving, firm ass against his porch railing.
"Babe" he repeated, almost inaudibly.
His eyes moved up her thighs, wishing her skirt was shorter or absent completely. He hated small talk, and now that she was on his porch he hoped he could get her inside. He couldn't do what he wanted to out here and risk waking up the old women that lived next door. His eyes lurched up to the neighbor’s house, then back to the girl’s milky white limbs.
"Nice" he said, pretending to react to her name, "So babe, how's about sucking that inside? The beer, I mean. It's getting cool out."
She opened her brown eyes wide.
"No I umm, I should really go."
