Wait for It

by Mariana Zapata

My grandma had told me once you couldn’t make someone love you or even like you, but you could sure as hell make someone put up with you.

“She wouldn’t be my first, but she’d be the only one who ever mattered. I think she could wait for the time to be right. I’d make sure she never regretted it.”

“It’s like you’re purposely trying to get me to love you, Dallas. I swear to God. You don’t even want me to stick my hand down your pants. You want me to want it all,” I laughed,

You can love me, but that doesn’t have to mean anything, Dallas. What do you want from me?” “Everything.”

“I want you. I want your smile. Your hugs. Your love. I want your happiness.” He paused. “Every single thing.”

“I gave it to you a long time ago, Diana. In little pieces and then bigger pieces, and the next thing I knew, I didn’t have anything left in me, so I hope it’s enough.”

“I always thought you looked like mine, but you sure do fucking feel like you’re mine, too,”

“I’m not rich and I’m not good-looking, but I could make you happy. We could make our own patched-up family.”

All I could think about as I stood there was that sometimes life gave you a tragedy that burned everything you knew to the ground and changed you completely. But somehow, if you really wanted to, you could learn how to hold your breath as you made your way through the smoke left in its wake, and you could keep going. And sometimes, sometimes, you could grow something beautiful from the ashes that were left behind. If you were lucky.