An Angel’s Kiss
I can scarcely recall the deafening thunder of the grenade that was cast bewteen us that night, its fiery heat, or its reflection in the deep wells of Patrick’s eyes as it cut a wall of burning air between us, rocketing stones, shards of glass, and shrapnel in all directions like bullets. Had I not obtained the fortune to be tripped by a rock, causing me to fall down a steep escarpment only seconds before, I would have faced its cloud of fire dead on. Instead, the Lord chose Patrick to experience that malignant fate. As I shielded my head from a shower of ramparts, I watched through watery eyes and blurred vision as Patrick fell to the ground, his head slamming into a small boulder and his eyes never leaving the bright planet he had only moments ago been observing. When the dust settled enough that I could make out his limp figure amongst the rubble, I lifted myself onto my feet and limped over to wear he lay, my right leg bleeding rather badly.
I collapsed next to him, the stones and rubble clunking about me, and, as anyone would do in such a situation, grabbed hold of him and began repeatedly saying his name, gasping for air. His gaze remained fixed on Venus, the brightest object in the sky that night, for the moon was nowhere to be found, his chest rising and falling rapidly, the bottom half of his body disseminated across the street in numerous pieces. I kept my gaze on his filthy, handsome face, his small nose, and his chapped lips. I almost wanted to laugh, because aside from the hemorrhage that now flowed from his left temple, he looked exactly as he had in our history class only a few weeks before; the same features, the gray eyes, the matted brown hair, except now he looked helpless, paltry, and the deep pallor of his face gave him a ghostly cantenance.
“David,” he whispered in a voice so raspy I could barely make out my own name. “David, I… I want you to tell my momma that I’m sorry I yelled at her before I left. I love her and I didn’t mean what I said to her, 'bout her caring too much.”
Hot, stinging tears that left clean streaks on my dirty cheeks escaped from my eyes, and my breaths were quick gasps as I replied, “I will, Pat, you know I will. Your momma knows you love her, nothin’ll change that, no matter what, ya hear? You’re gonna be all right.”
“All right?” Patrick upbraided, his eyes finally moving to me. “Look at me. I’m done. I’m spending my last few seconds in this life with you. I don’t want you lying to me.”
“I didn't mean now,” I breathed, holding his chest, my hands being stained by his blood. "I meant... soon."
“Cremate me, Dave,” he gasped after a long pause. “Let the fire finish its work.”
I nodded, knowing full well that he was going to be dumped into a ditch with a hundred other corpses.
“Do you think,” he began, his eyes returning to Venus, “Do you think… do you believe in God, Dave?”
“’Course I do,” I answered.
I can scarcely recall the deafening thunder of the grenade that was cast bewteen us that night, its fiery heat, or its reflection in the deep wells of Patrick’s eyes as it cut a wall of burning air between us, rocketing stones, shards of glass, and shrapnel in all directions like bullets. Had I not obtained the fortune to be tripped by a rock, causing me to fall down a steep escarpment only seconds before, I would have faced its cloud of fire dead on. Instead, the Lord chose Patrick to experience that malignant fate. As I shielded my head from a shower of ramparts, I watched through watery eyes and blurred vision as Patrick fell to the ground, his head slamming into a small boulder and his eyes never leaving the bright planet he had only moments ago been observing. When the dust settled enough that I could make out his limp figure amongst the rubble, I lifted myself onto my feet and limped over to wear he lay, my right leg bleeding rather badly.
I collapsed next to him, the stones and rubble clunking about me, and, as anyone would do in such a situation, grabbed hold of him and began repeatedly saying his name, gasping for air. His gaze remained fixed on Venus, the brightest object in the sky that night, for the moon was nowhere to be found, his chest rising and falling rapidly, the bottom half of his body disseminated across the street in numerous pieces. I kept my gaze on his filthy, handsome face, his small nose, and his chapped lips. I almost wanted to laugh, because aside from the hemorrhage that now flowed from his left temple, he looked exactly as he had in our history class only a few weeks before; the same features, the gray eyes, the matted brown hair, except now he looked helpless, paltry, and the deep pallor of his face gave him a ghostly cantenance.
“David,” he whispered in a voice so raspy I could barely make out my own name. “David, I… I want you to tell my momma that I’m sorry I yelled at her before I left. I love her and I didn’t mean what I said to her, 'bout her caring too much.”
Hot, stinging tears that left clean streaks on my dirty cheeks escaped from my eyes, and my breaths were quick gasps as I replied, “I will, Pat, you know I will. Your momma knows you love her, nothin’ll change that, no matter what, ya hear? You’re gonna be all right.”
“All right?” Patrick upbraided, his eyes finally moving to me. “Look at me. I’m done. I’m spending my last few seconds in this life with you. I don’t want you lying to me.”
“I didn't mean now,” I breathed, holding his chest, my hands being stained by his blood. "I meant... soon."
“Cremate me, Dave,” he gasped after a long pause. “Let the fire finish its work.”
I nodded, knowing full well that he was going to be dumped into a ditch with a hundred other corpses.
“Do you think,” he began, his eyes returning to Venus, “Do you think… do you believe in God, Dave?”
“’Course I do,” I answered.
“Do you think he’s gotta place for me in Heaven, all nice and happy?”
“I know he does, Pat, I know it,” I answered, sobbing. “You’ll be whole, and comfortable, and satisfied. And your daddy’ll be there waiting for ya.”
“I… wish I wasn’t going there, Dave,” he cried, his voice getting louder as tears washed his face as well. It was as if they were purifying him, as if he were already crossing into the light of the Lord. His eyes appeared brighter than usual, as if the fire of the grenade was still burning away. “I don’t wanna go yet. I don’t want it to be my time. I never got to see the ocean. I never told a woman I loved her. Oh Dave, if I could do it all again, right now, I’d take back every bad thing I said to my mamma. Oh mamma, don’t cry for me. Don’t weep, don’t mourn. Be happy that I’m with my daddy again. We’ll go fishin’, just like we always did on the weekends when I wasn’t in school. We’ll toss the ball like he always wanted to do, even though I never wanted to. Oh, it was all he wanted, I just didn’t wanna. I’m sorry Daddy, I’m sorry…”
He trailed off, Venus glowing in his pupils, his face shining from a combination of tears and his own blood. His cheeks seemed so much thinner than normal, so gaunt and hollow, and his chest continued to undulate like a swift sea.
Finally, he looked at me again. “Oh, Davey,” he gasped. “Love your momma, respect your daddy, and tell a woman you love her. See the ocean for me, go there with her some day, and think of me.”
I nodded, sobbing harder than ever, my hands shining red from his blood.
He looked back at Venus for a moment, and then he grabbed hold of my chest and pulled me so close to him that I could see each hair that made up his eyebrows. “Listen to the wind… and hear every angel’s whisper… and..." He stared off into space for a moment, and then looked back at me for a final time. "...and stand in the rain… so that I can make each raindrop… an angel’s kiss.” For a moment, it was as if I saw a flash in his pupils, and then his grip loosened from my shirt, he eyes went back to Venus, and he became still.
For a long time, I laid there with him, promising to him and to myself that I would fulfill his wishes, tacitly and honestly. I looked up at Venus just as he had done, trying to remember the little anecdote he’d been telling me just before the flash of the explosive. I couldn’t even begin to recall what it was about.
Thunder rumbled overhead, and black clouds slowly covered the bright planet above me. Raindrops began to pelt my face, cleaning my cheeks completely, and washing my leg so that the blood was gone, revealing a very minute cut just below my knee, and alleviating the pain. I sat there for as long a time as I’ve sat anywhere, the gunfire, explosives, and screams echoing in the distance until they didn’t exist anymore, and I let my body soak in the rain, each drop, I knew, an angel’s kiss.
