leroy cont.

he chuckled. last day of school he said. i swallowed. it had been some time since those days for me. leroy told me about a girl who rode his bus for nine years. her name was olivia wessler. but he called her rosie. that was her middle name and she liked it when he called her that. last week rosie invited him to her eighth grade graduation. he had never been invited to a graduation before. when he arrived at the school, there was rosie, waiting for him at the door. in his eyes, i could see how much that meant to him. there was a pause. the pump nozzle clicked. leroy returned the nozzle to its saddle and screwed on the cap. i rehearsed my next line. when leroy looked up again, out it came. leroy, could i take your picture? he looked surprised. i went on to ramble about the project i was doing…. and he gave me his gentle smile. it was going to be okay. we walked around the bus and leroy settled next to the door for the picture. i raised the camera and pushed the button. done. you sure you got my cap? leroy asked. i looked down at the camera and saw a beautiful shot of leroy's neck. i took a moment. could i tell leroy what happened? ask for another photo? he read my face and said, you can take another. i took two more shots, showed them to leroy. he smiled. he said he needed to get home so he could clean his bus. only then did i remember that i too was running late. i told leroy how much i enjoyed talking with him. i wished him a happy summer vacation. he tipped his hat, his vietnam veteran cap, and boarded his bus. i got in my car and drove away, forgetting completely that i was almost out of gas. 300 yards down the road i noticed that illuminated gas pump icon on my dashboard. this time it didn't matter. i knew i would make it.

today i found the lot where school busses live for the summer. i walked up and down the rows looking for leroy's bus. perhaps i found it. perhaps not. i raised my camera to the door of the bus to take a photo. the seat was empty. i thought of leroy. for a moment i wished i could hear him walking up behind me.