DJ

He delivered pizza, hummus and wraps on his bicycle.

I served cappuccinos, lattes and cafe au laits on Frenchmen.

The first time round, I didn't notice much aside from the fact that my wrap tasted a little extra special. The second time round, I noticed a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

The third time round, I was hoping he would be the one to deliver my wrap. It was in that moment I knew I had a little crush.

He was flirty enough, so maybe he liked me too. But in service, we're all flirty, it comes with the job. If your customers don't think you're a little sweet on them, you ain't doing it right. Sooooo...did he really like me or was he just good at his job?

Ugh!

We fell into an easy banter, laughed and shared service industry war stories.

I was blown away by his vocabulary. He had an ability to pull words I'd never heard used in real life out of thin air. Driving a point, story or idea home perfectly. Sometimes it was a word I didn't even know, but the context in which he used it, made the definition clear. I later learned that he was the guy that actually read the dictionary, ha! And when it wasn't the dictionary, it was non-fiction or Russian novelists.

Oh, and he was a drummer!

I mean...c'mon. I didn't stand a chance.

The band was Mexico 1910, on par with Explosions in the Sky and God Speed You! Black Emperor. Their music pierced my soul. I knew the moment I heard it, I'd heard it a thousand times before

(in another life, another time).

So you can see why I needed this man, this drummer, this wordsmith, this bicycle deliverer of wraps to like me. And luckily, for me, he did.

One day I was like, "I always hope you're the one who delivers my wrap."

And he was like, "whenever I see your name on the ticket, I make sure that I get to make the delivery."

Swoon

Twinkle

Swoon

(fade to black)

Our love was fast and furious, hot and heavy, bright and light. We danced, we sang, we made silly jokes and nicknames. We drank, we smoked, we romped around the Quarter like kids on holiday without our parents. We rented a yellow pickup truck and drove the back roads to South Beach, Miami. Unfazed by the sidelong stares and obvious discomfort many had with a wily white man and a bold black woman traveling like it was nothing through the deep South.

We were in love.

I had visions of us growing old together.

I had visions of us old together.

I knew this shared life was our future.

We were pregnant in less than six months.

(whoopsies)

I wanted to at least consider terminating. Not because he wasn't someone I would want to have a child with, but because I already had one. He was five, he was lovely and he hadn't even met D yet because we were still so new.

AND

We were still so new!

He didn't want to consider terminating at all. He'd been through that before and was emotionally unable to go through it again.

He owned a house in the Treme, it was in a great school district for H, my kiddo. We could move in, be a family. There was time to prepare. We loved each other. We could do it. He knew we could.

We were in love.

a little musical fodder

• Where You'll Find Me Now - Neutral Milk Hotel

• Fancy Claps - Wolf Parade