The Feet of God

124 - HEAVEN SENT

I asked Crespo where he met my sister.

“I met Fiona at a small club outside Tampa.”

“Baby,” I corrected.  “My sister’s name is Baby.”

“Of course, Baby.  I found out Baby danced there for a living.  But I had something better to offer her.”

“What?”

“Me.”

I braced myself for whatever came up next.

“We fell in love over rum drinks at The Palmetto Club.”

“Well, she has a way of playing on the ol’ heartstrings,” I added, “that’s for sure.”

“Baby was irresistible.  I followed my urges and I escorted her to The Tempest.  We spent a night in each other’s company, a night of passion.”  He eyed me, “But as you’re her brother, I won’t divulge such intimate details.”

“I’m appreciative.”

Crespo closed his eyes.  He didn’t say another word for a long time, and I wasn’t gonna interrupt him.  Finally, he spoke up again.  “She was gone in the morning.”

“Gone?  Just like that?”

“Yes, unfortunately, just like that.  My love had disappeared, and I do not know why.”

(Maybe Crespo was a bum lay, and she just dumped him?  Maybe she woke up and thought he was coyote ugly.  Who knows?  All I knew was, I wasn’t gonna go into it.)

Crespo continued, “My heart was broken.  Since that time my life has been a pilgrimage back to her loving arms, her warm inner loins, her…” he stopped himself.  “I apologize.”

“That’s okay.”

“I want to possess her again.  I need her love.”

“I can understand.”

“As I mentioned to you earlier, there was a Seminole elder who was reputed to be a great seer, and I visited him.  He told me southwest Florida was where her spirit was.  He said that although she was there, she was really here,” Crespo pointed to his own heart.  “And if I follow my heart, I will find her.”

“Wow, I got pretty much the same advice, only mostly from phantoms and ghosts.”

“Indeed,” Crespo responded.

“Well, it seems to me like more’n a coincidence that we meet up,” I offered.

“My thinking exactly,” Crespo stroked his white beard.  “Once I saw Baby’s picture posted at that bar in Punta Gordita, I knew I was on a true course.”

“I’m glad it worked out.  That’s why I put Baby’s photo there in the first place, hoping someone’d recognize her.”

“And then to run into her brother right after that?”  Crespo’s eyes bored in.  “It was as if you were a fateful sign for me, a fortuitous omen.  And I got lucky.”

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