TEETHING
By
Daniel Skye
It was the first traffic jam in the
history of Greenville. A minivan had swerved into oncoming traffic and its side
was clipped by a milk truck. The cops had the only main road in town blocked
until the wreckage was clear.
Stuck
under the blistering August sun in her convertible, Bonnie Wheeler decided to
take a detour. Driving through the back-roads of town, she saw a yellow sign
poking up from someone’s lawn that implored her to drive as if her own children
lived in that neighborhood. Bonnie shrugged and thought to herself, What if I don’t have any children?
Her friends–all of them in their late
thirties and married with children–could identify more. “You don’t understand,”
her friends would lecture. “You’re not a mother yet. You don’t know what it’s
like to have kids.” And some days Bonnie couldn’t help but thank the good Lord
for that fact. But her perspective was about to change.
One
night, towards the end of summer, Bonnie met a handsome stranger in the darkest
corner of the grimiest watering hole in Greenville. She subtly inspected his
fingers for a wedding band, or some kind of mark or tan line that would
indicate one. Through this sneaky tactic, Bonnie was able to confirm this man
was definitely on the market.
Bonnie had tried her luck with all the
single men of Greenville, but still couldn’t find Mr. Right. But that tingle
running through her body said luck was on her side that evening.
He wasn’t a regular. Bonnie knew all
the bar flies that frequented Joker’s Pub. And this guy stuck out like the
proverbial sore thumb amongst the other drunken slobs that serve as the bars
clientele.
He introduced himself as Max. No last
name, which didn’t strike Bonnie as odd because she was lost in his dark eyes. Bonnie
had spent a few short hours with this man, but she already had wedding bells
chiming in her head. Max was an out-of-towner, claimed to be from Tampa. He was
only in town on business.
“What kind of business do you have out
here in Greenville?” she asked.
“I’m just following orders from my
company. Got to spread our product around.” Handsome as Max was, he seemed a
tad bit shy about his teeth. He had this annoying habit of cupping his hand
over his mouth when he spoke. “Who knows? Maybe fate brought me here. To
Greenville, to this bar. Do you believe in fate?”
“I
do,” she smiled, her green eyes shining with affection.
“Well
maybe fate brought me here to meet you, Bonnie.” That was the line that
cemented her plans for the evening.
By last call, they were back at
Bonnie’s place. What ensued was a steamy night of lust and burning passion that
Bonnie fooled herself into thinking was genuine love.
The next morning, Bonnie awoke and
rolled over to an empty bed. Max was gone. No number, no note, no nothing. She
had never felt so used in all her life.
What shocked her friends the most was
she continued to pursue him. She called every hotel, motel, and apartment
building in town. She checked the shelters and soups kitchens, called every
hospital and police station in a thirty mile radius. Bonnie even went as far as
to hire a private detective in Florida to track Max down. But he wasn’t in
Tampa. Wherever Max was, he didn’t want to be found.
Her friends encouraged her to let it
go, to move on. They couldn’t see what she felt. Bonnie was in love. She wanted
him, needed him in her life. What Bonnie couldn’t accept was that true love is
not always mutual. It’s usually unrequited.
Eight and a half months later, Bonnie
was carrying Max’s child. Her belly swelled and bloated like wood exposed to
constant moisture and even her maternity clothes seemed tight. Her back ached
and the cramps made her not want to leave the bed every morning. But her desire
for Max had not faded. She still thought about that night, about waking up the
next morning alone, about that embarrassing hickey that she had to cover with
makeup.
It was a Friday in early May when her
water broke suddenly. She was at the mall with her friend Julie to shop for
baby clothes and satisfy her latest craving for hot chocolate. She really
wanted yogurt, but the yogurt had become too much for her unusually sensitive
teeth. Since the pregnancy, a lot of things about her body had changed. She
wore dark-lensed glasses outside to protect her eyes from the sun, as the light
was now blinding to her.
Julie escorted her to the nearest exit
and pulled her car up. Bonnie spent the first six hours in intense labor,
breathing heavily and sucking on ice chips. Her screams were so agonizing that
Julie couldn’t stick around to watch. By the last two hours, Bonnie was ready
to perform the delivery herself. She just wanted that little bugger out of her
already. Doctor Meyers was summoned when it was time.
“You’re doing great,” Meyers
encouraged her. “Keep pushing Bonnie.”
Bonnie wailed as she pushed with all
her might. The pain was more extreme than her friends led her to believe. It
felt like squeezing a huge fridge through a narrow doorway.
“That’s it, Bonnie,” Meyers continued.
“Keep pushing. Just a little more. You’re doing fine.”
Bonnie dug her nails into the mattress
and pushed harder, the pain growing more unbearable with each passing second.
“Almost there, Bonnie,” Meyers
shouted. “I can see the head now. It’s a boy! I can see… fangs?”
Doctor Meyers swallowed the air and
all Bonnie could see was the white of his eyes as they rolled in the back of
his head. A nurse tried to catch him as he tumbled to the floor and a soft pink
lump slid from his mouth. Meyers had bit down on his tongue when he fainted,
and severed the tip.
One of the nurses covered her eyes as
she snipped the umbilical cord and wrapped the baby in a crisp blue blanket.
The nurse passed the baby along to Bonnie and tended to a fallen Meyers. A
second panicked nurse was already phoning for help.
Bonnie marveled at her beautiful new
baby. All her friends were going to be so jealous. She was pleased to see the
boy had Max’s dark eyes, and his sharp teeth. The only problem now was figuring
out how she was going to breastfeed.
Cradling that baby in her arms, she
realized it was a mutual attraction between her and Max. He had chosen her to
bear his seed, to help carry out his legacy.
It was love at first bite.
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