A Walk In the Park

“Are you crazy?”  Mars said this as if he really believed it, but I could tell by the look in his eyes that he was at the very least intrigued.  “It’s raining out there and it’s cold.”  He went to stand by the window and threw open the heavy khaki drapes.  Dust stirred and he coughed into his fist.  I approached to help him, though there was really nothing that I could do, but he waved me off, face red and eyes tearing up.  He removed a handkerchief from his pocket and held it up to his face.  After moment, he took a deep breath and stuffed the handkerchief back into his pocket, trying to hide the spots of blood he left behind and said, “It looks like all the water in the world is coming down right here, right now.”

“So what?  I don’t melt.  Do you?”

He smiled at this.  “You could catch a cold.”

“That’s a myth.  I am a doctor, remember?”  I could tell that he wanted to and I knew that he would.  He has never denied me anything.

We left without putting on our coats.  Soon the rain had soaked through our clothes.  The blue nylon of his shirt framed his pale thin limbs like a second skin.  He could see the shock of gray at my right temple through the thin white bandana that I wore, and he reached out to touch it.  “You know Miri,” he said, “people are watching us.  They think we’re crazy.”  A plume of vapor rose from his lips as he spoke and his teeth chattered a bit.

“Let them,” I said afraid even of my own abandon, surprised that I wasn’t cold.

We entered the park from its eastern entrance, the side with the pond full of brown and gray ducks.  They weren’t there today.  The coffee vender was there though, positioned near a cluster of concrete benches, calling for customers from beneath a red and white umbrella with the Higher Authority emblem on it.  We passed him and decided to stroll around the foot path, but we didn’t get very far.

“We should go back,” said Mars, his lips bright cyan against his white face.  “I’m freezing.”

I took one of his hands in mine, the thin fingers were stiff and rigid in my grasp and I started to feel guilty.  “Maybe we should get you a cup of that coffee on our way home.  It’ll help warm you up.”

Mars shook his head, “He doesn’t really sell coffee.”

I continued to hold his hand as we walked back toward the park entrance.  “But I saw the sign and I heard him say so.”

The cold quavering in Mar’s voice solidified when he said, “It’s just a cover, Miri, so the Higher Authority won’t know what he’s really doing.”

I stopped just outside the gate to look into his face.  “He’s selling diamond dust?”

Mars raised an eye brow, tilted his head to the side.  He took his hand from mine and stuffed it into his pocket.  He turned away from me and back in the direction of my apartment.

“But how do you know?” I said following him.

“Because he works for me.”

That’s when the chill set in.

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Written for Sunday Scribblings #249