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☼ ○ ▬
Ana and I are waking up with plans to go to church. I notice seven or ten baby cockroaches sitting on the chest of her shirt.
Me: "There's cockroaches on your shirt!"
She isn't as alarmed as I am. I start to notice a few creepy crawlies on my legs and arms. I start scolding her for not vacuuming the floor regularly and especially for not picking all the crumbs underneath the blankets, which was shown the night before.
Me: "Crumbs attract bugs, Ana! You've got to vacuum all the time."
My critical charade makes Ana upset—she doesn't like being told what to do. Her mom enters the room at some point to wash a pillow in the bathroom—I don't have a clue why. I get frustrated because I can't finish what I'm saying with her around. But I do anyway.
Me: "What I was going to say is...I didn't mean to egg you on and harp on you like that. I just...I just want to survive together with you!"
I stand her up and we embrace. I run into the bathroom to take a shower. There's a struggle getting the showerhead to stop spraying all over the bathroom. I get angry and break the showerhead with my bare hands. Water soaks everything, even the towel I was going to use. Ana checks in to see what all the commotion is about.
I assure her, "It's fine! Everything's fine!"
▬ ○ ☼
*
Waking up around 11ish a.m. next to Ana. She had gotten up earlier and played guitar out on the porch but lied down next to me about an hour ago.
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She drives us to Handsome Biscuit, a local Norfolk café that is all the rage nowadays. I've yet to taste anything from here. It's a crowded little joint. I settled on the Shorty: Over Easy Egg and Cheese on a Sweet Potato Biscuit with a hefty serving of Hash Brown Krisp and a Pineapple Aguafresca (house soda).
*
Afterwards, we hit up Thrift Store City for some serious thrifting – it's the kind of thrift store that you could spend hours upon hours browsing – the biggest collection I've ever seen in one store – walking away empty-handed is impossible.
I know Ana is happy that I'm here with her in Norfolk, and the fact that we're spending time together during the day when the sunlight is out is another plus. The majority of our hangouts happen at night.
Back at her place we freshen our bodies with some Honey Green Tea and Mango then sing some songs together in the kitchen.
I depart around 4:30 and head to the Rec Center for basketball. Ana comes too to do her own workout.
Back at my place we sex each other up in the bedroom. For one, it's been too long since the last time. For two, she's stopped taking her birth control pills and her body is gradually returning to normal again, meaning no perpetual bleeding.
After she leaves for the night I chow down on Leftover Lentils with Baby Broccoli, Carrots, and Quinoa. Then taking care of a list of things I need to prepare for my work weekend like cutting fruit, prepping meals, and making granola bars. The house is quiet and I'm all alone, a rarity that I cherish. But of course I know this won't last forever. At around 2:30 a.m. the cavalry, lead by Peter Panthony, marches in through the door. They enjoyed a daytrip to Richmond and still seem to be high on themselves—hooting and hollering in the backyard—purposefully breaking things.
Ana texted me earlier, "You treat me so well, and you always make me feel special. I love you so much! I hope that you can see that when I look into your eyes. Thank you for everything. EVERYTHING!!"
Sleep 3:30 a.m.
* Images by Ana.
† Images by me.
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