That a kiss on the third vertebra down from the nape of her neck would make Cypress hum . . . a dance she would do with Leroy that night and many nights to come; a dance that began without a word of explanation, no questions, nothing hard, except the empty seats by the bar. The bite of cheap whiskey made sweet, as Leroy’s hands flew under her skirt to the edge of her clit, saying “Do you want me” when he could . . . because he couldn’t keep talking with his tongue in her ear, behind her ear, biting her scalp above her eye. And every time he said anything he’d move his fingers over the rose-red vulva, with Cypress wanting exactly where those fingers just left. He’d sigh, “How much,” and Cypress could feel lightning in her back, and he’d say, “That’s not enough,” and she thought, “Jesus, the man has no mercy.” But she was too glad to care about mercy; if she and this man could turn the Golden Onk into a sure enough Paradise, who’d take the time to tell them the bar was closing?

Cypress sat up slowly so she wouldn’t disturb Leroy, who was sleeping the sleep of an old tortoise on a deserted beach. She pulled her shoulders toward the wall, lifting his head over her legs, laying his face on her thigh, leaving his locks in a great fan from her knee to the fold in her hip where so much fire had leaped between them. There were too many things she wanted to do, all at once. To run her finger over her lips to rekindle where those sleeping lips had driven her to abandon; to figure if Leroy was simply perfect . . . or perverse; like he was sleeping now, like all he needed, he had. That nothing bothered him, because everything was fine.

“I wouldn’t believe any of it, if it hadn’t been me. I mean if I hadn’t been there, I’d say I was lyin.’ ” Cypress spoke softly while she curled the long braids round her wrists. “I guess I could be insulted . . . maybe I should be outraged.” She went on, now that she could put the last few days in some order. She liked to make lists: lists of what happened to her; lists of who loved her; lists of who hurt her; lists of things to wear; lists of surprises, and her time with Leroy was replete with surprises.

SURPRISE #1