Taboo

                                   Taboo
                                                                            Marty Livingston

    [She loved to skip, especially when she was wearing her black patent leather Mary Janes.  She was in a world of her own then, smiling, giggling, arms moving in rhythm with the rest of her skinny little body that had a magical connection to those happy feet.]*  She was delightful, enchanting and, most of all, taboo.

      First of all she was Tim’s cousin.  If that weren’t enough, she was only ten.  "A twelve year old should not want to be with his little cousin," Tim kept hearing.  The voices inside his head were sharp and insistent.  "A twelve year old should go out and play ball with boys his own age.  What is wrong with you?"

      That one was clearly his mother’s voice.  “Go out and play Timmy.  Go out and play with the boys.  Don’t hang around here reading books and taking my hand.”

      When he could shut down that critical witch, there was another voice inside.  "She is so full of fun.  I could skip along with her and pick up her rhythm.  I just want to be close to her, even just to talk to her."

      Tim sat on the porch every day and watched Dina skip around the yard.  She and her family were up from Carolina for a few weeks.  They had rented the apartment below the one Tim and his family stayed in on vacations.  She would come out of her apartment downstairs and skip up the hill.  She didn’t have a thought about anyone watching and just danced and skipped like an angel.

      One day Tim sat on the porch steps.  No way she can miss noticing me from here, he thought. 

      As Dina skipped by she turned her head slightly and smiled. 

      She likes my watching her, Tim thought.  Maybe tomorrow I can smile back.

        Tim was out there bright and early the next morning.  He waited.  It was a beautiful summer day.  Surely Dina will come out to play, he thought.

        He waited.  He waited for what seemed like an eternity.  Then she appeared.  She did a pirouette.  She stopped and smiled.  This time Tim had no doubt.  She is definitely smiling at me.  I have to say something.

      The best he could manage was, “Hi, my name is Tim.  I live upstairs.”

        “I know Tim.  You are my cousin.  I have seen you before.”

        Tim winced through a long silence.  He took a deep breath and smiled.  “I have been watching you dance and skip.  Then after another long pause he heard himself say, “I love the way you move.  It looks like you are so ‘in it.’  You know, like in sports when a player is so ‘in’ a groove.  It’s wonderful.  I think that you are wonderful.” 

    Wow, Tim thought to himself, I can’t believe I said that.  The witch inside scolded, “Now you’ve done it.  You are crossing the line.  Dina will probably run home and tell her mother what you are up to.”

      Dina didn’t run.  She smiled again and said, “Sometimes my mom takes me to the park and I see you playing baseball.  You can really hit.  I saw you belt a home run once.”

      Tim had no idea of where to go from there.  They stood in silence smiling at each other.  Somehow Dina ended up sitting on the porch.  “Can I get you a soda or something?” Tim asked. 

      “That would be swell.”

      “Okay, I’ll be right back.”

      Tim returned with two cans of root bear and a dish of vanilla ice cream. 

      “We can make floats,” Dina said with a laugh. 

        The morning was great from there.  Tim and Dina both went back to there own places for lunch.  Tim thought that it was hysterical that they made root beer floats and now he was floating. 

          He came to the lunch table and his mom greeted him warmly.  “Hi Tim.  How was your morning?  Did you get a lot of reading done?”

        “I suppose.”

        “What does that mean?”

        “I read a bit, okay?”

          “You don’t have to bite my head off.  I just asked how your morning was.  That’s all.”

        “My morning was fine.  I talked to Dina.”

        “Your cousin?”

        “Yes, I think she likes me.”

        “What?”

        “We had root beer floats.  It was fun.”

          “You should be getting your reading done or going out to practice baseball.  You want the summer to be productive. Don’t you?”

          “I suppose.”

          Dina and Tim became good friends.  It was great to have a cousin to like and talk with.  Years later, he thought about her when he dated other women.  He had fun with them and before long found himself married.  He loved his wife, but Dina always had a special place in his heart. 

        They didn’t spend much time together and then many years later they were both divorced and met at a family function.  Tim thought of asking her out.  He could feel his heart throbbing and the deep yearning inside him stirring.  The witch inside his head quickly yanked on his reins.  “Everyone will think that you are hitting on your cousin.” 

            They enjoyed a pleasant conversation and never talked again.

          *This piece was written as an exercise in response to a prompt from Emily Hanlon's book Writing Prompts.  © Emily Hanlon, Labyrinth Press, 2005. The material in brackets is the prompt.