Even Unto A Child

Even Unto a Child

She was only fifteen

Sometimes she would sit in the same row as my idiot friends and I

One Sunday she showed me a growth through her shirt that had sprung up over night

I went to see her in the hospital

My father was the preacher, it was expected

Her mother had been sitting with her and quietly left when I came in

We were alone

She held her hand out and said “come closer”

“Closer”, she said, “Come closer”

I stood by her bed and held her hand

She pulled me in and kissed me

“My mother helped, I’m clean” she said

She pulled me down next to her

I looked at her questioningly

“Closer”, she said

She held me tight

I held her as a lover would

Two became one

Skin on skin

Even after, I held her

I held her tight

Perhaps in that moment I loved her

For that moment

I know with all my heart I wanted her to live

Three days later she succumbed

The cancer or the drugs

Her body gave up the fight

I went to the funeral

My father was the preacher, it was expected

I sat on in the back row with my idiot friends

After the service we stood as her parents left

Her mother paused at my side

Her tired hand gently touched my cheek

She leaned over and kissed my other cheek

Whispered in my ear “Thank you”

Dumbly, I nodded

I didn’t know what else to do

I was only seventeen