Dev Dreams, Volume One Read Online Free PDF Page B

out of things to talk
about or the mood of the gentle, soft music had reached him. It
didn’t matter; at least he was finally quiet.
    The Rhumba, the slowest and softest of all
Latin dances. Mariann moved from her center, her ribs going
forward, then her hips, followed by her knees, her toe, her heel.
Slow, sensual, her head up, the arm Charles wasn’t holding moved in
rhythm, twisting in the air.
    Then Charles raised his arm, pushed her hand
and Mariann began to spin. As the room went by faster and faster
Mariann tried, as she often did, to imagine that the hand holding
hers was Kevin’s. Suddenly Charles’s hand snapped up and Mariann
jerked to a stop, lost her balance, and fell to the fake wood
floor.
    “Geez, I’m real sorry, Mari.”
    “Damn it.” Mariann stood up, brushing off her
skirt.
    Then she noticed over his shoulder, just
inside the door, a man with short-cut black hair sitting on a sleek
black wheelchair. Charles tried to take her hand again, but Mariann
wasn’t paying attention to him.
    “Are you looking for something?” One of the
other dancers asked the man.
    Mariann took one step forward from the dance
floor toward him. He rolled gracefully forward to meet her. He
raised one eyebrow.
    A voice said, “Mari, what is going on?” She
didn’t know who had spoken. She didn’t care.
    “Hello,” he said.
    “Hello,” she said.
    He held out one hand. Mariann knew everyone
was looking at them; but then, looking just at his hand, everything
in the background vanished. There was only she, this man, and a
gentle Rhumba.
    She put her slender fingers in his and his
hand almost swallowed hers. They were in the center of the dance
floor; in the center of the universe. Expertly his hand shot
forward and her long legs snapped together, twisted, and one came
forward in a beautiful arc. Her hips moved as she walked around
him, then both his hands covered her hips and, as she came forward
to him, she bent her knees and he lifted her into the air. Her arms
ran down his like intertwined threads. Her legs split above his
head, and then he lowered her down behind his back. She grabbed his
shoulder and pivoted him to her. They danced across the floor
holding both hands between them. She danced backwards, zig-zaging
him with her. His shoulder blades curved the same way as the center
of her body.
    Half way back across the floor, in the dim
light he held onto her hands and she used him to lift herself off
the ground. Her knees came up and his arms lowered her onto his
lap. Their hands in perfect synchrony, both touched his wheels and,
as one body, they began to spin. His wheels sparkled and her red
hair glowed, creating a cylinder of brightness in the middle of the
dark room.
    As the spin slowed, Mariann uncurled and her
body stretched over his legs. His strong arms held onto her. The
wheelchair came to a gentle stop and Mariann twisted across to land
beside him on her knees.
    The song ended. Her breath and his were the
only sounds. She stood up and pushed red curls out of her face,
wiping aside sweat. She stood beside Kevin and they faced the
entire studio. No one moved. They just stared. Mariann felt Kevin’s
hand squeeze hers. A new song came on the stereo, but no one
danced. Finally Mariann smiled and said, “Everyone, this is Kevin,
my husband.”
     
     
    Home Country
    (Also available online at http://paradevo.net/simplemachinesforum/index.php?topic=60.0 )
     
    Priyanka spent most of the flight from
Bangalore to Boston, stopover in Germany, silently observing the
people around her. She had never been on a plane before and she
didn't know anyone, but she had learned that if she stayed quiet
she could figure out what to do. There were plenty of movies in
Hindi and she brought a book, but she found the people much more
interesting.
    The man on her right was taking notes while
reading a Bible. In the row ahead was a couple with a small boy.
The girl she presumed to be the mother was very young, probably
younger than