Carlo Reappears

I saw Carlo around at the shops, he must live locally, now there's a thing. He was on a scooter, one of those shiny silver ones. He had on tracky pants and a singlet and dark, sun glasses, which he lifted when he saw me. Cute. Smiling. Nervous. I couldn't help but look him up and down. He blushed and kind of looked away. Cute. He smiled broadly. I smiled and acknowledged him. Kept walking. I didn't turn around. Why would I? I hardly know him.

Wow. A school boy. No, I thought, as I walked on by. He's only seven years younger than me, at eighteen – legal school boy fantasies, who'd have thought.

I watched mums with their kids walking towards me. I wondered what they'd think about if they knew why I was smiling, what I was thinking about Carlo. One mother smiled so sweetly at me, I was already smiling, so I couldn't help but smile back. We held each other’s gaze momentarily.

I was kind of surprised at myself, because young guys weren’t really my thing. I liked guys my own age. Young guys were, um, how can I put it, kind of dumb. I like my partners to surprise me with the things they know, and the things they say, you know, make me think about things I wouldn’t normally think about, and that only really comes with a certain amount of maturity.

I couldn't get the smile off my face, though. 

Mat and I smoked pot after he’d finished work. I waited until we were nice and stoned before I broached the subject, well, thought of it, truthfully.

“An eighteen year old school boy,” I said. “Tried to pick me up in the park.”

“What?” he said. “When?”

“A week ago.”

“Where were you?”

“I was reading my book on the grass. It was a lovely day. And this eighteen year old kid appeared.”

“Seriously?”

“He was playing soccer on his own and he wanted me to play with him.”

“You must have misunderstood what he meant.”

“No, he asked if I’d play with him.”

“He meant soccer.”

“Yeah, I’m not so sure.”

“Oh, he must have.” Mat handed me back the joint. Mat screwed up his face in that adorable way that Mat screws up his face. “No.”

I puffed on the joint and handed it back to him. “I just saw him around the shops today. He must live around here.”

Mat puffed on the joint. “Are you serious about this guy?” He handed the joint back to me. 

“No,” I said. “It’s just a thing.” I shrugged. I handed the joint back to Mat.