2 I See You

2

i see you

2007

Danielle

We’ve been doing renovations on the house for what feels like forever, but I can’t stop thinking about how beautiful it will be when it’s finished. I’m proud we’re doing it all on our own. After we got married and bought the house, we had less than a hundred dollars in the bank but Alex was determined and so was I.

The day the agent gave us the keys, Alex said to me, “We’ve got this, Dani. We’ll figure it out and do it on our own.” That’s what I love about him. He just gets it done.

Now we’re almost there. We just scraped the popcorn off the ceiling in the kitchen and the wall started crumbling so we had to pay for new drywall on a credit card. No money for a hotel or even a campsite so I’m sleeping on a mattress in the garage. It’s cold and dirty in here. I’ve pulled the string of my hoody so only my eyes and nose are exposed, hoping my breath will warm me up. I’m in a sleeping bag on a dilapidated mattress on the floor of a garage built in 1908 but I just can’t stop imagining the house completed and how happy we will be, so I’m still smiling…internally anyway.

Alex is at the side door, about to come and get into “bed.” He’s looking at me and smiling. “You are so cute,” he says. “Such a trooper.”

“Get your ass in here, I’m freezing.”

He looks to his left and casually walks behind where I’m lying, then hurriedly grabs a bucket.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

“Nothing.” He sounds panicked.

“Tell me!” I’m looking back at him now. The bucket is on the floor upside down behind him.

He’s standing with his hands on his hips, looking a bit disheveled. “I’m about to get in there with you, so get ready.”

“What did you just do with the bucket?”

“Nothing,” he says. I start to get up to look at it. “No, Dani, don’t.”

“What is it?” Now I’m panicked. “Is it a spider? What is it?”

“No, it’s not a spider, Dani. Just lie down.”

“Tell me,” I demand.

“It’s like a little June bug.”

“Liar! You used that name because it sounds cute. But I know it’s not cute, and now my imagination is going wild. What is under there?”

“It’s a little roach.”

“Why didn’t you step on it if it’s so little?”

I start to get up. “Okay,” he says. “It’s a big roach. I’m going to get it outta here, okay?”

I watch most of the spectacle. Imagine a man trying his damnedest to collect an apocalyptic-sized roach into a dustpan to then re-home it .

“Are you kidding, Alex. Kill it! That thing is gigantic. It’s had a long life. It’s probably at least two thousand years old.”

Deciding not to look, I bury my head in the covers and remind myself that living in the garage is only temporary.

It’s been a minute. I know he’s gotten rid of it. He’s bringing the record player in. He puts on Fleetwood Mac, “Everywhere,” and starts to strip down to his boxers. I’m watching him and laughing inside. He’s trying so hard to make this situation pleasant. He mouths the lyrics, “I wanna be with you everywhere, ” while simultaneously pointing at me.

Once he’s in bed he says, “It’s true, Dani. I want to be with you everywhere. Even a roach-infested garage.”

I perk up. “Infested?”

“No, just one really old guy, and I put him out to pasture.”

“Not funny,” I say.

He laughs then pulls me onto his chest, wrapping his arms around me. I relax. I’m dozing off. Everything is exactly the way it should be. I need to remember to write a note on the Fleetwood Mac album sleeve that Alex couldn’t kill a cockroach…and that I’m starting to think it’s the sexiest thing ever.