Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 149301 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 747(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 498(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149301 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 747(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 498(@300wpm)
He put on his gold and diamond Richard Mille watch. “I need Kage’s power and prowess, and I need control over him. He refuses to comply. So now, I must tighten the screws. The very thing he fears needs to rear its ugly head. I will make sure that it does, and when it does, I will be certain that it bites him where it hurts.”
Grabbing his black and red cowboy hat, he placed it tenderly over his long silver tresses, then winked at himself. “Now, time to head off to this wedding. What God joins together, let no man put asunder…”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
A Blue Jay’s Confession
…The following day
“And so, take this Blue Jay bird, for instance,” Poet said. They stood in his workroom after indulging in a scrumptious breakfast she’d prepared, though she’d claimed to be a terrible cook. Before that, she’d called Aunt Huni to let her know she wasn’t coming home yet and stayed overnight. They made love, woke up, then made love again because this was where she belonged. “Birds are different than stuffing say, a squirrel or White-Tailed deer.”
The bright ceiling light crowned the top of her head and her hands.
“How so?” He pressed his hands against the metal slate table, curling his fingers over the ridge.
“Well, see.” She tilted her head and pointed beneath one of the wings. “I typically remove all of the innards, skins and bones of mammals, but in birds, they must stay partially attached. The wings and the skull stay attached, too.”
“What material do you use to fill in the missin’ pieces?” He peered at the dead bird carcass that she’d meticulously preserved.
“I carve the parts I need out of soft wood.”
“Soft wood? Like cottonwood or white pine?”
“I prefer balsa wood.”
“Well, I’ll be damned.” He smiled as she pointed to a chunk of it in her tool case. “That makes sense. I ’spose you use like wire ’nd such for the rest? To pose it, right?”
“Exactly. Clay and wire.”
“So, do you do maintenance on these pieces in the museum, too? Do you take care of ’em after you finish all the work, bells and whistles?”
“Yeah, there’s a team of us, actually. For this bird, for instance, we’d check periodically, maybe every couple of months to ensure her wings are intact and not dried out, and nothin’ has fallen off or slid over into the wrong position.”
He crossed his arms and watched her work as ‘Old Barn,’ by Holy Ghost, played throughout the room. After a couple of minutes of her standing there and carefully wrapping wire around the wing, her precision like that of a skilled surgeon, she spoke on beat with the music, as if breaking into a song.
“You’re divorced. Been divorced for a long time, you said.”
“Mmm hmm. That’s right.”
“What happened?”
He kept his eye on her hands as he sucked his teeth. “So, we’ve circled back to this topic, I see. I promised you that I’d oblige. Well, do you want the detailed version, or the short and to the point one?”
She smiled at him, batted her eyes slowly, then went back to tending to her work.
“I don’t mind the detailed version. In fact, I much prefer it, as long as it’s the truth. I suppose in things like this, the truth is subjective, but I’m willin’ to take your word for it. The stage is yours.”
He rubbed his hands together, then crossed his arms, tucking his hands beneath his pits.
“Me ’nd my ex-wife met young. In our early twenties. Things went pretty fast.”
“Where’d y’all meet?”
“We met at a bar. Exchanged numbers, started hangin’ out. Got close. Then, one day, she came by my apartment and just never left.” He paused, scratching behind his ear. “Irrespective of my age and how fast things went, I believed she was the one. Contrary to what some folks say about me; I’m more of a monogamous sort of fellow. Just ’cause my recent years have shown me being, I suppose, a bit unrestrained, it’s not my preference. It’s only because I’ve had trouble findin’ someone suitable for me. I have desires I need met but…” He shrugged. “I don’t like playin’ the field. It gets old, fast.”
She nodded in understanding.
“Are you sayin’ that for me, or for you? You tryna convince me that you won’t run around on me?” she asked with a smirk.
“I suppose I am, but it’s the truth all the same.”
The things he did to Poet sexually he didn’t do with just anyone. It was reserved for the women he gave a damn about. Kage had allowed himself to be vulnerable with her. To express himself in a way he knew would connect them on a deeper level. He had what he surmised were kinks, and so did she. He liked to partake in what he called, ‘gentle sexual domination.’ She liked to receive it. He realized this from the moment he pushed her against the wall and stole a kiss in her kitchen. They were sexually compatible, and it made things all the sweeter.