The Words

by Ashley Jade

However, I want more than her pussy. I want every part, every piece, every goddamn inch of her.

“Please, honey. Everyone knows he’s a crackhead.” It’s not okay to hit a pregnant woman. “Quite frankly, I’m surprised he’s not dead yet.” A smirk twists her shiny pink lips and she shrugs. “Not to be a bitch, but the band will be much better off once he finally ODs.” Her eyes swivel to her baby daddy. “Memphis can be the lead singer then.” Oh hell no.

“The next time you talk shit about Phoenix or wish for him to overdose, it won’t be juice all over your face and shirt. It will be your blood.”

“Stay still. I’m trying to get this mark off you.” “What mark?” “I love you,” she says, although it comes out like a question rather than a statement. “I love you, too, but you’re being really weird right now.” “I meant the words on your back.” “What wo—” Oh. My. God. The room tilts, and it’s a struggle to draw air into my lungs.

“I’m going to have to kindly request that you fuck off,” Phoenix grunts, shocking the doctor, but not me because this is par for the course when it comes to him. “I’m staying.”

“Last I checked, they don’t make time machines.” “Too bad,” Storm states. “Maybe then I’d let you die instead of pulling your sorry ass out of that car.” He salutes me with his middle finger.

“You can continue,” I tell the workers, despite Lennon’s sobbing. Pulling her into my arms, I do the only thing I can think of. I start singing “Let It Be” by The Beatles. And I don’t stop. Not until after her father’s casket has been lowered into the ground, his grave has been filled with the earth, the workers have left… And Lennon decides it’s finally time to go.

Head buried beneath the blankets, her hand blindly roots around the tray. Bypassing the sandwich and banana, she settles on the granola bar. I breathe a sigh of relief because we’re making progress. “Thank you.” I’m halfway to the door when something strikes the back of my head. I don’t even have to look to know it was the granola bar.

Music sets my soul on fire, but she makes my heart beat.

“Don’t you get that we’re not something you can throw away or end? I don’t care if you stay in this fucking bed for the rest of your life and cry every goddamn day. I’m not leaving you.” Because I’d rather be miserable with her than happy with anyone else.

“That’s it. I wanna be you when I grow up.”

Surging into me, his mouth settles over my ear. “Beg to cream this cock.”

“I know you got your stubbornness from your dad, but you also got your strength from him.” She visibly swallows. “I don’t feel all that strong lately.” She is, though. She’s the strongest person I know. “I bet your dad didn’t feel strong after your mom died, either.” I gesture to the piano. “But he still created.”

“But someone way smarter than I am once told me that my mistakes didn’t define who I was…it’s what I do after that did.” I tip her chin. “Don’t let your grief define you, Lennon. Don’t let his death be the end of him, because the greatest thing he ever did is still here. And he wouldn’t want her spending the rest of her life mourning him. He’d want her to live.”