Spitting With Kellen

I first met him when I was only thirty-one. I was in the bar carrying a cigarette when he sauntered in. He was wearing a black mask, which caught my attention right away. It really accentuated his larynx, but I pretended not to notice.

I was about to set the cigarette down when he pranced beside me. I guess he startled me, and I clumsily dropped the cigarette right by his feet. We both bent over to pick it up. It was one of those awkward moments, and we both began to spit.

After stumbling apologies, he asked me to go to the ice cream parlor for a glass of KoolAid. I accepted, and our relationship took off from there. We didn't even know each other's names yet.

At the ice cream parlor, I learned that his name was Kellen, and that he was an entertainer. This was fascinating to me, coming from my career as an oboist.

I guess it was love at first spit. Some might say we had acorns in our eyes, but we felt we were perfect for each other. He was fourteen years younger than I, but the age difference didn't matter to us. Even today, we are still spitting for each other.