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Show Motherlunge a novel 207 "No, no, no," he laughed, putting me aside. "Hand him over. Daddy's little action item!" He lifted Xavier off Pavia's body and held him high overhead. Xavier squealed and a silver exclamation point fell from his open mouth onto Jack's forehead. Eli and I decided to go back to his apartment that night. Walking toward the subway with nothing but my backpack-that is, without Xavier and his dry goods and transport devices-I felt oddly light and vulnerable, like a blown-out egg. With both arms I hugged Eli around his waist. I lurched sideways beside him, then gave that up. He put his arm around me. He kissed my cheek for half a block, his nose moving up and down against my cheekbone as we went. It was a beautiful night, warm and quiet except for the noise of a domestic dispute-You fucking always do this to me!-sifting down from the top floor of a building across the street. "Hey," I said. "Hey," Eli answered back. I dropped back behind him and began to kick the soles of his shoes forward as we went. "Why"-"did"-"you"-"want"-"me"-"back?" Eli's legs jerked forward like a marionette's as I kicked his shoes. "Knock it off," he said. I surged forward and lifted his arm back across my shoulders. He didn't say anything else for a while. We walked on for another block, shadows from the buildings rolling over us. |