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I look down atfor the first time that what's she's said is true On ht, some black and some white The white ones have the black cowed On e white wing and one huge black loo

Yin and yang The duality of the world and what's inside us

Sandy is perceptive enough to see so that I didn't even realize about me, and in just that one observation, she's stripped me down to my barest parts

"Just pictures I liked from the book at the tattoo shop," I dish she doesn't believe ht Each of the tattoos on n I created Someone else did the work, but they were always based on my inspiration

"Chosen by you," she says softly "So, which are you, Greg The dark or the light?"

"We're all made up of both, Sandy"

"We are" She draws her lip under her upper teeth as though she's thinking and holding so back at the same time

"Our s that have hurt us or made decisions that have hurt someone else" Sandy's eyes drift closed, and after a while, when she opens the her by the chin "What are you thinking about?"

"Some mistakes can never be undone"

I nod "There's plenty in my past that I'd erase if I could"

"But then you wouldn't be you" She touches my eyebrow and trails lower over the scruff on my cheek "You wouldn't be able to see the world the way you do You wouldn't touch people the way you do"

"You like the way I touch?"

She nods "You touch ood and the bad, and none of it , our bodies joining The sweat and the slickness"

It's been a long time since I had a lump in my throat Maybe two decades since the last time my dad beat me, and I was too small to retaliate Sandy's words burn in er on exactly hoas to be with her

For the time it took us to fuck, her touch sank deeper than I could ever have predicted She's the angel, and I'ht; two sides of a coin that I want to polish and slide into

"You're irl I'll share you with my boys, but you're ain"