Canciónes de Amor

Though you held me long and tight,

You never let me stay the night.

Now you’re gone, and missing you is doing me no good.

Still, I think about you more than I should.

Miguel strummed the song’s sad final notes. His hand floated away slowly from the guitar strings. He looked up to see his friends smiling at him warmly, indulgently. He said, eyebrow cocked, “Gonna be a big hit.”

Everyone laughed. Anise held his hand and said, “It’s not half bad, sweetie. The melody’s beautiful, anyway. Keep at it.”

Katie said, “Keep playing, won’t you, Miguel? Another slow one?” She and Evan had been slow dancing just inside the circle of light cast by the bonfire. Her head still rested on Evan’s chest.

Miguel smiled. Anise let his hand go and he began plucking a delicate canción de amor. Indifferent he may have been as a lyricist, his fingers were magic on the guitar, a bequeathment from his Cuban uncles. The melancholy strain rose into the night, rendering them all momentarily still.

Katie held Evan even more tightly around the waist. They resumed shuffling from side to side.

They were eight friends on the beach on the last night of their camping trip, staying close to the fire to keep away the briny chill from the ocean.

Matt took a swig from his bottle, stood up, and extended his hand to Anise. “May I?”

She looked up at him with suspicion. “You’re not going to try anything funny, are you?”

Matt said, thickening his Southern drawl, “No, ma’am. You learned me my lesson good and proper last time.” He took her hand, got her to her feet, and drew her to him – but not too close. He led her in a stiff, exaggerated box step: forward, to the right, backward, to the left. She laughed and softened in his arms.

Katie said, “I am so tired, I could sleep for days. My thighs really ache.”

Hoots and laughter erupted from the group. Gina called out from where she lay on Maggie’s lap, “That’s what happens when you two keep ducking in the bushes.”

Evan blushed. Katie wrinkled her nose at her mockers. “From the hike, you evil people.”

“All right,” Matt said, releasing Anise and making a small bow to her. He took the guitar from Miguel. “Mike, ol’ buddy, ain’t no one can make a guitar weep like you, but it’s time to SHAKE IT UP. With a little song called ‘One Bourbon, One Scotch, One BEER.’”

Matt slapped the strings, then launched into the hard-driving rhythm of the song’s intro. Everyone began whooping and laughing. Anise pulled Gina up from Maggie. Miguel got up and raised his eyebrows to Maggie, who smiled and shook her head. He nodded and joined the dancers kicking up the sand.

Maggie looked at Sam, the only other person still sitting. She went to him, wine cooler in hand. “I don’t suppose you want to dance, Sammy?”

Sam smiled. “No.”

She sat beside him. “You okay?”

“Oh, yeah.” He paused. “It was a really good day.”

She smiled. “Yeah, it was. A wonderful weekend.”

He watched the others swaying and jumping to Matt’s off-key croaking. He felt such love for them all at that moment that his heart edged towards breaking.

“What’s wrong, Sam?” she asked.

He glanced at her, wincing, embarrassed. He nodded at the others; she followed his gaze. He said, “Look at them dancing. Isn’t it a shame we have to die?”

She peered at his face glowing in the firelight. She took his hand. “Yeah. It is.”

(March 2012)