The air cool on his unbundled body. He wants to cry out and say no, but more than that, he wants someone else to know his body is real too. First is Ah Lum's hand, then his mouth. Richard grips the ladder and participates by only his presence. He looks up through the heart shaped leaves and to the flat blue sky.
Bees hum at the open wound on a yellowed pear.
Afterwards, Richard knows, he will wish it was all a dream, or a stumbling mid-afternoon thought. He ejaculates into the grass. Richard can't meet Ah Lum's eyes. He buckles his pants, then pulls the ladder shut. Help me carry this he says.