Love in Disguise

Tuesday, April 29 “Mary coming to see you today?” Kya asked shortly after her PM shift began. “No,” I said as I gathered my legal papers and a few other odds and ends together. “I told her not to bother putting herself out when I’m only going to be home tomorrow.” I sat down on my cot. “This is my last night on this miserable, hard cot.” “And my second to last,” Kya said with a smile as Rosa watched us, trying to guess what we might have been saying. Later on, Kya and I were seated at the table with Rosa in the shower once again. “I told her I’d write to her,” I said. Kya looked disappointed. “Oh, sweetie, I don’t know if that’s such a good idea considering what she may be involved in. You just never know.” I looked at Kya. To think of us together in the free world without limits or restrictions made my heart thump with anticipation and joy. To think of my never hearing from her again made it thump an entirely different rhythm. “Perhaps I’m taking a chance, but I trust what my gut tells me about her.” “Well,” said Kya, still looking dismayed, “you gotta do what you gotta do, I suppose.” I smiled weakly. Then I reached into the pocket of my shirt, pulled out a piece of paper, and handed it to her. “This is for you.” “What’s this?” “Something I sincerely hope you’ll use.” She unfolded the paper and saw that I had written my number and address on it. Then she looked up at me and smiled brightly. “I most certainly will use it. Thank you, my dear. I shall put it where I can’t lose it, though in my profession names, numbers, and addresses aren’t usually too hard to get.” She put it in her satchel. From there on out, I didn’t bring up the subject of us getting together that much at all. It was almost as if I was afraid that bringing it up would somehow jinx the outcome of things.