Read Online Honey and Leonard by Mark Paul Smith - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Mark Paul Smith
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you're my star witness."
His face lightened up. His frown turned into a wry grin. Suddenly, the light bulb turned on in his troubled mind. He looked at Honey as she tried to talk him back into his own memory. Now, he knew what she was doing. Now, he knew what she'd been up to all along.
"You're about ten steps ahead of me," he said.
"Make that twenty," Honey laughed.
"No, I see what you're doing. We're taking this trip so you can prove I'm competent and so you can prove you would never try to hurt me."
"Well, at least now I know you're competent," Honey said. "I was beginning to think you thought we were just running away."
Leonard looked at her and realized he had never loved anyone so deeply. She could change in an instant from his favorite little girl into his most cherished lover. He loved her every incarnation. She kept him on his toes, emotionally, physically and intellectually. She gave herself to him unconditionally and would accept nothing less in return. The best thing about her was that she loved him with all her heart. That made him feel quite a bit better about who he was and what he was doing.
"I never ran away from anything in my life," Leonard said. "It just started looking like it was high time for me to take you to Paris. I didn't run away from that nursing home. I walked away. I made a choice. We made a choice. We chose love and we chose Paris, and now, here we are, together in Paris. It's magic, I tell you. It's pure magic."
"Take me dancing, you big, strong, beautiful man."
"Let's take a shower first. Paris can wait."
* * *
Honey and Leonard asked no directions at the hotel desk before floating out, hand in hand, onto the exciting streets of Paris. In two blocks they found themselves on the Champs-Elysees, marveling at the grand avenue and the sculptured walls of the buildings along the way. Stone carvings of human faces and fruits and lutes decorated every nook and cranny of the historic structures. Restaurants with outdoor seating seemed to be everywhere. The smell of pastry was in the air. Most of the cafés had all the chairs facing the street.
"Looks like theater seating," Leonard said. "Must be some kind of show going on."
"We're the show," Honey laughed as she took him in both her arms and pressed her face into his chest. "It's love on parade. Everybody wants to see that."
They passed a young couple dressed completely in black. They weren't arm in arm or even holding hands. They were much too Goth for any show of affection. Honey had to throw herself against Leonard to get him to stop staring.
"Did you see that girl?" he asked after they had passed. "She has rings all over her face, rings on her nose, rings on her lower lip and rings on both her eyebrows. She looks like a cannibal headhunter."
"That's the new thing," Honey said. "Kids don't just pierce their ears anymore. They pierce everything."
Leonard stopped dead in his tracks, horrified at the thought. "You mean all that jewelry was holes in her face?"
Honey nodded.
"How can she eat? How can she wash her face? My Lord, how can she blow her nose? Wouldn't everything come out the hole?"
Honey laughed.
"No, really, I'm not kidding. Did you see her? She had rings on her eyebrows. Big ones. They have to get in her eyes. Why would anyone do that?"
"They're just kids, sweetie. They're out to change the world. They do things to shock their parents. It's perfectly normal. We did it too. We had Benny Goodman and swing and the jitterbug and dance marathons."
"There's nothing normal about putting metal through holes in your face," Leonard snorted. "And I never did the jitterbug until after the war."
Honey grabbed both his hands and started dancing, pushing him away, then pulling him back, and then twirling completely around with one hand in the air. Leonard put his complaining aside and got caught up in the moment; spinning and strutting his own dance moves. In an instant, they felt young again, leading each other around an
His face lightened up. His frown turned into a wry grin. Suddenly, the light bulb turned on in his troubled mind. He looked at Honey as she tried to talk him back into his own memory. Now, he knew what she was doing. Now, he knew what she'd been up to all along.
"You're about ten steps ahead of me," he said.
"Make that twenty," Honey laughed.
"No, I see what you're doing. We're taking this trip so you can prove I'm competent and so you can prove you would never try to hurt me."
"Well, at least now I know you're competent," Honey said. "I was beginning to think you thought we were just running away."
Leonard looked at her and realized he had never loved anyone so deeply. She could change in an instant from his favorite little girl into his most cherished lover. He loved her every incarnation. She kept him on his toes, emotionally, physically and intellectually. She gave herself to him unconditionally and would accept nothing less in return. The best thing about her was that she loved him with all her heart. That made him feel quite a bit better about who he was and what he was doing.
"I never ran away from anything in my life," Leonard said. "It just started looking like it was high time for me to take you to Paris. I didn't run away from that nursing home. I walked away. I made a choice. We made a choice. We chose love and we chose Paris, and now, here we are, together in Paris. It's magic, I tell you. It's pure magic."
"Take me dancing, you big, strong, beautiful man."
"Let's take a shower first. Paris can wait."
* * *
Honey and Leonard asked no directions at the hotel desk before floating out, hand in hand, onto the exciting streets of Paris. In two blocks they found themselves on the Champs-Elysees, marveling at the grand avenue and the sculptured walls of the buildings along the way. Stone carvings of human faces and fruits and lutes decorated every nook and cranny of the historic structures. Restaurants with outdoor seating seemed to be everywhere. The smell of pastry was in the air. Most of the cafés had all the chairs facing the street.
"Looks like theater seating," Leonard said. "Must be some kind of show going on."
"We're the show," Honey laughed as she took him in both her arms and pressed her face into his chest. "It's love on parade. Everybody wants to see that."
They passed a young couple dressed completely in black. They weren't arm in arm or even holding hands. They were much too Goth for any show of affection. Honey had to throw herself against Leonard to get him to stop staring.
"Did you see that girl?" he asked after they had passed. "She has rings all over her face, rings on her nose, rings on her lower lip and rings on both her eyebrows. She looks like a cannibal headhunter."
"That's the new thing," Honey said. "Kids don't just pierce their ears anymore. They pierce everything."
Leonard stopped dead in his tracks, horrified at the thought. "You mean all that jewelry was holes in her face?"
Honey nodded.
"How can she eat? How can she wash her face? My Lord, how can she blow her nose? Wouldn't everything come out the hole?"
Honey laughed.
"No, really, I'm not kidding. Did you see her? She had rings on her eyebrows. Big ones. They have to get in her eyes. Why would anyone do that?"
"They're just kids, sweetie. They're out to change the world. They do things to shock their parents. It's perfectly normal. We did it too. We had Benny Goodman and swing and the jitterbug and dance marathons."
"There's nothing normal about putting metal through holes in your face," Leonard snorted. "And I never did the jitterbug until after the war."
Honey grabbed both his hands and started dancing, pushing him away, then pulling him back, and then twirling completely around with one hand in the air. Leonard put his complaining aside and got caught up in the moment; spinning and strutting his own dance moves. In an instant, they felt young again, leading each other around an
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