CAYMAN SUMMER (Taken by Storm) (29 page)

Leesie signs off with Kim. We sit out on the back porch holding each other—not talking or even making out. Just being.

That’s all I really want.

To just be.

With her.

Chapter 32

THE PLAN

LEESIE HUNT CHATSPOT LOG / 07/06 5:30 PM

liv2div says:
hey babe, it’s me…I borrowed Alex’s computer.

Leesie327 says:
Does this mean you aren’t coming over tonight?

liv2div says:
I have to teach…last minute

Leesie327 says:
We missed you at church yesterday.

liv2div says:
I missed going.

Leesie327 says:
Really?

liv2div says:
don’t get mad…I’ve been reading the Book of Mormon without you

Leesie327 says:
That’s amazing! Read as much as you want.

liv2div says:
I got to the part where an angel stopped that rebellious guy and his friends and told them to change their evil ways…I feel kind of like that

Leesie327 says:
I never said you were evil.

liv2div says:
who says you’re the angel?

Leesie327 says:
I forgot what a snot you are when we chat.

liv2div says:
how’d you get to church?

Leesie327 says:
Junior has a vintage VW bus.

liv2div says:
whoa, classy wheels

Leesie327 says:
He got it back from a friend on Saturday. I helped him scrub it this morning, but it still smells like pot.

liv2div says:
how do you know what pot smells like?

Leesie327 says:
Today was an education.

liv2div says:
So, babe, what do you want to do now that Jaz doesn’t need you?

Leesie327 says:
She still needs me—lots. I’m going to help with the fish shack, too.

liv2div says:
how long?

Leesie327 says:
Until you’re done here, I guess.

liv2div says:
And then I can take you home?

Leesie327 says:
Yeah. For sure. Let’s go so there’s plenty of time before school starts.

liv2div says:
time for what?

Leesie327 says:
To see my parents and Stephie. Visit Gram, and um

liv2div says:
spill it…what else?

Leesie327 says:
Maybe enough time to have a quiet wedding in the backyard?

liv2div says:
What if I got baptized? Would there be time for a wedding in the temple?

L
eesie327 says:
Excuse me. My heart stopped beating. Did you really say that?

liv2div says:
it doesn’t seem impossible anymore

Leesie327 says:
Listen, I’d love to have you get baptized that soon, but I don’t want to rush you. Take your time. You have to be a member for a year before you can go to the temple.

liv2div says:
A whole year? That’s a new one. I thought all I had to do was get baptized.

Leesie327 says:
Baptism is a huge step. Don’t do it until you’re totally ready. But marry me before we move down to Provo.

liv2div says:
is there anything you want to tell me before we get married? maybe about the accident?

Leesie327 says:
No. You know everything.

liv2div says:
are you sure?

Leesie327 says:
You’re not getting out of marrying me. You promised.

liv2div says:
what if I decide not to get baptized?

Leesie327 says:
It won’t make me love you less. I’ll respect your decision and pray you’ll change your heart.

liv2div says:
if you start praying, I won’t stand a chance!

Leesie327 says:
So I can tell my mom to start planning a wedding?

liv2div says:
no…don’t do that

Leesie327 says:
Please, Michael. I’ve got your diamond on my finger. End of the summer. You promised.

liv2div says:
in the backyard? even if I’m not a Mormon?

Leesie327 says:
If we’re married, we can have our own apartment, no more saying good-bye every night, and we can—24/7, remember?

liv2div says:
I know

Leesie327 says:
Don’t you want that?

liv2div says:
I forgot how sex-crazed you get when we chat

Leesie327 says:
It’s easier to bring it up when you’re not breathing down my neck.

liv2div says:
I make you nervous?

Leesie327 says:
Duh. Always have. We gotta get married.

liv2div says:
let me think about it

Leesie327 says:
You’re not getting out of it.

liv2div says:
what am I supposed to do in Provo?

Leesie327 says:
That’s your problem.

liv2div says:
maybe I want to come back to Cayman and work or go somewhere else

Leesie327 says:
You need to go to college. You could go to the U or UVU.

liv2div says:
and study what?

Leesie327 says:
I don’t care. Our kids need an educated father.

liv2div says:
KIDS!

Leesie327 says:
Uh-huh. Three girls and two boys.

liv2div says:
FIVE?

Leesie327 says:
Don’t you want kids?

liv2div says:
Yeah. I do.

Leesie327 says:
I’m starting young. We can have lots.

liv2div says:
We’re just 19.

Leesie327 says:
I’m almost twenty.

liv2div says:
not…maybe we should wait that year

Leesie327 says:
No. No way. You’ll take off. Leave me again. I’ll lose you.

liv2div says:
thanks for the vote of confidence, babe…I’ll stay in Provo…I won’t let you out of my sight

Leesie327 says:
But that puts all kinds of pressure on you to get baptized right away. I won’t do that to you.

liv2div says:
you aren’t doing it…I am…you really want to be a mom at twenty?

Leesie327 says:
So we’ll wait a couple years on the kids. Let’s still get married. The backyard will be full of flowers in August.

liv2div says:
and what will you tell those kids of ours when they want to do that instead of hang on for the temple?

Leesie327 says:
That their father drove me crazy every time he walked into a room, and we’d suffered long enough.

liv2div says:
you just want my body?

Leesie327 says:
Uh-huh.

liv2div says:
aren’t you the girl who taught me we came to earth to be tested?

Leesie327 says:
That’s not fair. You’re too good a student.

liv2div says:
get used to it, babe

Leesie327 says:
So we wait? Crap. What do we do next?

liv2div says:
I guess we better call the missionaries…if I’m going to do this, let’s do it

LEESIE’S MOST PRIVATE CHAPBOOK
POEM #100, DISCUSSIONS

The next time

Michael pulls up

in front of Jaz’s hopping fish shack

and I flurry out to meet him,

I’m shy—

to touch his hand,

to kiss his lips,

to tell him the requested

missionaries, sufficiently stuffed

with fish soaked in buttermilk,

breaded with Jaz’s secret recipe

and fried to perfection by Junior,

wait on the porch.

Michael’s different—strange to me—

I no longer lead, guide, walk beside.

He’s taken control of his destiny

and mine. I worry he’ll bring up

the accident again like he did online.

He kisses me instead.

His lips taste familiar

as we linger at the roadside

reconnecting after five days apart.

“Are we going to do this?” His

whisper stirs my hair.

I nod—find his lips again.

“What was that for?”

“In case you never kiss me again.”

My face gets hot. “Remember?”

A phantom from his last

missionary encounter rises

menacing between us.

He wafts it away with a wave

of his hand, strong and tan,

that cups my chin.

“That’s not going to happen—

Those guys were right.

I didn’t have ears.”

He holds my hand

and pulls me along the path

to meet the two smiling elders

who know him from church.

Guys his age—humble, excited to teach.

Michael reflects their energy,

listens, nods, accepts, believes.

At the end, he says the prayer when they ask.

“Dear Heavenly Father”—

his voice tender, full of love—

“Thank you—thee—for opening

my eyes and giving me

Leesie to fill my heart.”

I join his “amen,” in the name

of Jesus Christ, and offer my own

silent thank you, in awe of the man

beside me who shakes

the missionaries hands, makes

the next appointment, sees them off,

then reaches for my hand

and brings it to his lips,

kissing, one by one, the nail prints

he left so long ago when he showed

me his wounds and I tried to anoint them

with the only balm I knew.

He pulls me into his arms,

kisses me like I’m

a daughter of God.

And my brimming

heart knows

he’s ready to be

a son.

Chapter 33

COMMITTAL

MICHAEL’S DIVE LOG – VOLUME 10

Dive Buddy:
Leesie and the elders

Date:
07/26

Dive #:
--

Location:
Grand Cayman

Dive Site:
Jaz’s porch

Weather Condition:
muggy