Stepping Up Read Online Free PDF

don’t know what he means exactly, but the people I do see
look the other way when they see Jimmy.  Maybe the rumors are true. Maybe some
girl did help Jimmy with some heinous deeds in the  past. It just wasn’t me. It
couldn’t have been.  Could it?
    After passing through the park unmolested, we continue down
Third street to his building.  He’s fortunate enough to have a flat that opens
onto the street.  Opening the door to his apartment, he says,  “Now, I ask one
great favor of you:  I will sleep on the couch.  I want you to take the bed. I
insist.”  I hear a loud squawk as the door opens, and then I see Jimmy’s bird
flap its wings in the cage.  He swears it’s a hawk.  I don’t think it’s big
enough, but it is a raptor—that’s evident by its talons and beak.  The cage is
very large, easily ten feet long, four feet wide and from the floor to the
ceiling.
    “Jimmy…I can’t. This is your place, you take the bed.”  I
follow him into the apartment. 
    “Pshaw, tut, tosh, piffle and tommyrot!” As he speaks, Jimmy
opens a small box beside the bird’s cage.  He lifts a mouse out and tosses it
into the cage.  The terrified mouse scurries a bit.  The bird watches it then
swoops down, catching the prey on the first go. There is a water bowl in the
cage but no food dish.  This animal doesn’t want to be fed.  It wants to hunt. 
I suppose Jimmy is accommodating it as best he can.  The mouse’s bones make for
a crunchy meal.
    I prepare to argue some more.  After wiping his hands with a
sani-wipe, he silences me with a finger on my lips. “I have wanted to say for
years that I got Sonia MacTaggert into my bed.  Your morals and my ethics
forbade pursuit of fornication.” That’s not entirely accurate.  Jimmy
apparently has a very high opinion of me.  Hopefully, one day I’ll be able to
live up to it.  But I don’t think now is the time to tell him of my tarnished
past.  “And since matrimony appears out of the question and you are leaving me
tomorrow, this is apparently my last opportunity.  Therefore, when I say you
were between my sheets, and I will, have no doubt of that, it will be true. 
Off with you! If you wish, I have some oversized tee shirts.  Second drawer
from the top, center. I’m going to take a shower.”
    He closes the door to the bathroom behind him.  I soon hear
the water running and then I hear Jimmy singing, at least I hope it’s singing. 
It’s probably not the key the composer had in mind, but what the heck, it’s not
like he’s selling tickets.  I find the indicated drawer and quickly shed my own
clothes, then slip a copy of a Rams jersey over my head.  It comes down to just
above my knee. I’m not an exhibitionist, but I do decide on the “commando”
route.  I’m not as certain of tonight’s outcome as Jimmy appears to be.
    I walk into the living area and turn on some music:
whichever station Jimmy has it set to is bound to be good.  The indicator lights
say it’s a recording.  Good, no commercials. It’s soft, melodic—so Jimmy and so
not Jimmy at the same time.
    “So, you’ve not only raided my wardrobe, but my tunage as
well? Is nothing sacred?” He has the back of his right hand to his angled head,
his left sweeping behind him.  What a drama queen.  I didn’t see him carry them
into the shower but he has traded jeans and Rugby shirt for gym shorts and tee
shirt.
    “Dance with me, Jimmy.”
    “As though there could be another outcome.”  He takes me in
his arms and we move together to the soft jazz coming from the stereo system. 
Time passes unnoticed while we dance; the songs segue into one another but we
don’t part.  If anything, Jimmy’s hand on my waist pulls me closer to him.  I
break contact with his left hand and wrap my arms around his neck; he in turn
encircles my waist with both of his.  I crane my head up and meet his gaze. 
Our lips touch for the briefest of moments.  He pulls away from me. I can