Cemetery Drive

Life was passing me by pretty normally, and by that I mean Frank and I saw each other quite frequently. He had been living in Belleville since January, so for the last five months my life had a steady rhythm to it; we would see each other at school. Sitting together in my car at lunch, smoking cigarettes, listening to music, and sharing the occasional joint; we would go out to the cemetery and get drunk together at least once a week, looking out over Belleville and sharing our thoughts with each other.

He also came to the stables with me almost every Saturday; I would pick him up at his place and we would make the drive out there, muck out Spartan’s stall and then go for a ride.
It took him awhile before he was comfortable enough not to be led around the arena by me, and even longer to go faster than a fast walk.

I didn’t know how he did it, I lived for the rush I felt when Spartan and I galloped around the arena or through a field, but he seemed quite content with just walking him around in circles.

It was a warm and sunny afternoon in May and I was trying to teach Frank how to transition from a trot to a canter, it wasn’t working out too well to say the least.

“You have to relax your hands, and don’t lean forward so much. Yeah like that. No not that far back! Ah! Here let me show you.”

I let out an exasperated sigh as Frank dismounted off of Spartan.

“I can’t do this Nicole! Walking in circles is one thing, but this! This is way too technical for me. I give up!”

I looked over at him, giving him a death glare.

“Frank, you’re doing a good job, but you think too much about it. Just relax and let Spartan do the work for you.”

I got on Spartan, and showed Frank how to properly transition. It was so simple to me; I mean I had been doing this since I was 7.

I rode over to Frank and got off.

“See? Not so bad.”

I went to hand him the reins, but he just kept staring at the ground.

“I think I’m done for today Nicole. I’ll just watch.”

He turned around and started walking towards the fence; I followed close behind him, until I as able to catch up and grab his arm.

“Frank please don’t walk away.”

He stopped and turned to face me, giving me an ‘I’m listening’ look.

“Do you trust me?” I asked, already knowing his answer.

“Of course I do, why wouldn’t I?”

“Then get back on.”

He rolled his eyes at me, but followed my order. He had lost that battle a few too many times before.

“Okay now I want you to sit behind the saddle.”

He looked at me with a quizzical look.

“Frank, just do it. Please.”

He pushed himself back, and crossed his arms.

“Nicole I have no idea what you’re…”

I didn’t give him time to finish his sentence before I hopped up into the saddle too.

“What are you doing? Nicole?”

“Frank hang on or you're going to fly off.”

I nudged Spartan into a fast walk, as I felt Frank grab onto my hips. I reached down and grabbed his hand, holding onto it, know he would need it.

“You ready?”

“Nic, I still have no idea what we are doing.”

By now we had exited the arena and were trotting through a grassy field with riding paths cutting through it.

“I’m showing you what you're missing out on.”

And with that I pushed my heels into Spartan’s side, signalling him to canter. We took off running through the field, Frank gripping my hand until he found his balance.

We rode around the field all afternoon, sometimes I was sitting in the front, and sometimes Frank was, but regardless he was progressing. I was actually quite proud of him to be honest.

We decided to give Spartan a rest and found a shady spot under a tree to sit in the grass and smoke a few cigarettes.

“Have fun?”

I asked taking a drag. I don’t know why I asked, his smile was beaming.

“Thanks Nicole.”

He said as he scooted closer to me, so our shoulders were touching. It suddenly felt almost awkward, but a good kind of awkward. I mean we had sat beside each other before; we’ve hugged, held hands. He was holding onto my hips just an hour ago, but for some reason this felt different. There was an electrical charge between us; I was praying he couldn’t feel it though. We were friends, good friends and I didn’t want anything screwing it up.

I looked over at him, and found he was looking directly at me.

“What Frank?”

He shrugged but didn’t say anything, just adjusted his position so he was facing me more. I brushed it off and concentrated on my smoke, watching as it burned, expelling toxic fumes into the fresh spring air. I could feel him watching me, calculating my next move. I went to say something when I felt him grab my hand, silencing me.

I looked up into his hazel eyes, before taking the last drag off my smoke, flicking it away from us, exhaling away from him.

He reached out and touched my cheek, turning my face back to his, locking our eyes together.

He caressed my cheek before licking his lips and leaning closer to me.


“Frank, I don’t…”

I couldn't finish my sentence for our noses were touching.

We stayed that way a moment before we both leaned forward closing the space between us.

His lips were soft and his kiss was gentle.

We broke apart, breathless, trying to compose ourselves. My lips were suddenly very sensitive;
they felt cold and bare without his to warm them.

“Sorry, I don’t know…”

I cut him off by wrapping my arms around his neck, bringing his lips crashing back into mine.

This one was different from the last; it had a slight urgency to it, but was still gentle. He placed a hand on the back of my neck bringing our bodies closer, leaning into me until I felt the grass under my back. We ended the kiss and stayed silent, laying side by side in the grass in the shade under a tree.

We stayed that way a while, before getting up, grabbing Spartan and walking back to the stable hand in hand.

It started raining as soon as we got to the car, lightly at first and then pouring in a matter of minutes. We had been silent since we left the field, and I wasn’t sure if it was a comfortable silence or not. We pulled onto the main road and I decided I need a drink or ten, so I pulled into the cemetery and parked in our usual spot.

I sat in the car for a minute waiting for Frank to say something, when he didn’t I got out to go to the trunk and grab a bottle of Jameson.

Over the sound of the rain I didn’t hear Frank get out of the car, but he was standing there when I turned around. He grabbed my waist and brought his lips down upon mine once again. I dropped the bottle on the ground and placed my hands on his neck. He broke the kiss after what felt like hours only to grab the liquor bottle off of the ground and pull me into the back seat of my car, where his lips attacked mine once again.

Notes