Marv's smile and the giant glass tears on his face are two of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.
I don't sleep that night--the day of the swings.
With each passing moment, I see Marv pushing that girl into the air, or I see him walking back with her, hand in hand. Close to midnight, I hear Marv's voice at the door. When I open it, he stands there, looking exactly how he feels.
"Come out," he says, and when I do, my friend Marvin Harris hugs me. He hugs me so hard that I can smell him and taste the joy that leaks from inside him.
So Ritchie and Marv are done. I've delivered those messages as best I can.
Now there's only one left.
Audrey.
I don't want to waste time. I've come so far since the holdup. I've plowed through eleven messages, and this is the last of them. The most important one.
The next night I go straight to Audrey's place and watch. For a while, I expect Daryl and Keith to show up again, but they don't. I know what I'm doing, and whenever that's the case, I seem to be left alone.
I don't sit exactly across from Audrey's place, but in a small park a bit further down her street. It's a new playground. All plastic and small. The grass is trimmed and neat.
Her town house is in one of those complexes with about eight or nine other places. They all seem stapled together. The cars are parked out front in rows.
I go there three nights. Each time, Simon shows up, but he never sees me camped out in the park. He has his mind firmly on Audrey and what they're going to do. Even from the distance of the park, I can see the desire on him as he drives in.
Once he's inside, I walk closer, to the letter boxes, and look.
They eat.
They have sex.
They drink.
They have more sex.
The sound of it slides under the door as I stand there, remembering the conversation I had with Simon at Christmas when he picked me up at Milla's.
I know what I have to give to Audrey.
Audrey doesn't love anyone.
She refuses.
But she loves me.
She loves me, and for one moment in time, she needs to allow it. She needs to hold it. Know it completely. Just once.
All three nights, I stay till morning. Simon leaves before the sun comes up. He must be rostered on for early morning in the city.
On the third night, I think it.
Tomorrow.
Yes.
I'll do it tomorrow.
Just before I head over to Audrey's place the next night, Marv's at my front door again, this time with a question.
I walk out, and he refuses to follow me.