There really was a trick to it; you just had to know where to put your feet. All safe at the bottom of the chasm, I held the door for Brigid as she got gloves and a mask.
“Letting the ghosts in?” Ola asked.
“Not quite.”
“This is amazing!” Brigid marveled, gazing about the deceptively large shop.
“Bigger on the inside, jellybean,” Ola said.
“Why do you call me that?” Briged asked.
“Your hair,” Ola said.
“My hair?”
“Bright red. Look like strawberry jellybean.”
“Or raspberry,” I pointed out.
“Jelly-been!” Polly exclaimed, clapping.
“I thought I would try something new.”
“It looks really good,” I said.
“Agreed,” Ola opined.
“Oh, I’m sorry, and you are?”
“Ola Hallegrim, Brigid McHaggis. Brigid, this is Ola, my dear friend and the best music vendor in the state.”
“Stop, you make me blush.”
“I speak only the truth.”
“Which can be biggest problem.”
“Agreed,” Brigid concurred.
Splitting up, and staying at least six feet away from each other, we perused the finely crafted racks. Brigid was mostly just amazed that such places still existed.
“I would like to play some of these if I had a record player.”
“That’s always useful.”
“Yuth-ful,” Polly parroted.
“She learns fast,” Ola called from behind the counter.
“Oh, you have no idea. I have my own narration when going through the park. She knows lots of words but her favorite is ‘birdie.’”
“Birdie?” Polly asked, looking up at the ceiling.
“Not here, honey.”
“Oh,” Polly said, sounding genuinely disappointed.
The scene was somewhat sullied by the arrival of the Death Bringers. My own term for people who recklessly went out, taking no notice of the social distancing measures, and didn’t seem to even consider any protective measures, such as masks or gloves, like those Ola insisted on.
“Get on mask and glove or get out,” Ola ordered.
“Says who, Helga?” the lead prick demanded.
“Me and Louis,” Ola said, putting a Louisville Slugger down on the counter.
They were clearly shaken but not about to back down. The “bro code” forbade it. She was just a girl, to them, after all.
“Who are you going to get to swing it?”
“Me.”
All heads turned as one as Ola tossed me the bat. The Death Bringers held their ground as I approached, machismo and stupidity gluing them in place.
The lead Death Bringer tried his best, even turning slightly before he swung his punch. I barely felt it. It would take a lot more than that to bring me down.
“My turn,” I said, leaning down several inches so we were eye to eye, the slugger resting casually on my shoulder.
They nearly crawled over each other trying to get back to the rickety old stairs and up into the empty sun-dappled streets.
“Was it something I said?”
Chapter Five - Brigid
I could have fucked him right there on the floor of the record store. I really thought he was going to be a fling, just a bit of fun, but my feelings were telling me something quite different.
He was so funny and sexy I could already barely stand it. The fact that he was also protective and really good with Polly was the absolute clincher. I hadn’t even managed to go on a date since my ex walked out, most guys running a mile when they found out I was a single mom. It was as if some of them thought I was wearing a sign saying “damaged goods” from that point on.
I was still buzzing when I got home, Polly already fast asleep from all the excitement. I still didn’t know exactly what Leif’s intentions were, but I certainly knew what I wanted them to be if I had any say in it. Preferably to go straight into the bedroom when the lockdown was over. His or mine, it really made no difference.
“Liff?” Polly asked, as I put her in her crib.
“He’s gone, honey.”
“Oh,” she said, taking it better than I might have expected.
She really was quite mature for her age.
Singing Polly to sleep with folk songs so old no one knows who wrote them originally, I slipped out of the nursery and went into the kitchen, feeling the urge to strip down to nothing. Suddenly I knew what the poets were talking about when they described ‘fire on her skin.’
Forgoing water or even juice, I went straight for the wine again, promising myself I would pay Meegan back, not even caring if she gave me shit for drinking it. I had nerves to quell, and in that moment, it wasn’t important in my eyes.
The sweet fermented grapes hit the back of my throat with a burn, almost making me moan with pleasure and relief. I wanted so much to play with myself, but somehow it didn’t feel right doing it without Leif’s permission and guidance. After all, he was the one who made me feel this way.
Not that I really thought he would care. He didn’t strike me as the controlling type. He just seemed to understand me so well, given that what happened on video chat was as far as I had ever really gone with indulging my submissive nature. At least, with a partner that actually knew what it was that I was doing. Leif was gentle and had known what I wanted.
Meegan was gone by the next morning, even though she had come in late the night before. I often wondered when she even slept.
I had heard rumors of medical professionals crashing in break rooms, or even in empty ward beds between shifts. One of the many reasons I would never be heard complaining about being in lockdown. I knew that it could be so much worse.
Polly was calling for me. Quiet but clear, even through the door that separated us. I went to get her up.
“What would you like for breakfast?” I asked, getting Polly into her highchair.
“Baby thakths!”
Realizing she had said “baby shakes” and not “baby cakes,” I tried to fathom how I could whip up such a concoction. Meegan had a blender, of course. She basically subsisted on a liquid diet, cooked food taking time and energy she just didn’t have.
What Leif had actually put into his special smoothie to get her to drink it down so fast, I hadn’t the foggiest. I decided to wing it, grabbing bananas and whatever fruits I could find and shoving them in the blender, hoping the result would pass Polly’s taste test.
“Yummy!” she exclaimed, declaring her approval. Rarely had I ever been so relieved.
Bellies full, we went for a walk. It was healthy for both of us - exercise for me and additions to her vocabulary for Polly. Most of the urban wildlife was pretty tame. I could only hope it would be a good long while before she had occasion to learn the word “skunk.”
I thought I was dreaming. There was no way he was actually there. Riding his bike. Dressed much the same as he had been before, except with a much less scary shirt. He smiled at us almost as though he had been expecting to see us.
“Liff!” Polly rejoiced with all her little soul.
“Fancy meeting you here,” Leif said, hopping down off his bike, remaining a good six feet back.
I had only known him for a few days, but I wanted to run to him. To hold him and kiss him and feel his warmth against me. But I didn’t.