Suddenly her back arched so high that he felt her spine might break. Her head fell back on a limp neck. Her hand threatened to shatter the cross, the wood trembling with the pressure of her grip. The man cried out as his hand became trapped in a furious grip. He surprised himself by trying to pull away. Then the man’s attention jerked as he realized what was happening, his attention instantly shifting to the Long Cool Woman as he relaxed his arms and ceased his attempts to flee.
The Long Cool Woman settled and turned towards him. She opened her eyes and cast an emerald-eyed gaze upon him, her words fast and low.
"¿Por qué has venido?” she asked.
Why have you come? Gibb translated to himself.
The man wiped his eyes with his free hand, and tilted his head as if he were speaking to his long lost. "Por qué te extrano."
Because I miss you.
"¿Por qué usted me molesta?" she snapped, her voice anything but loving.
Why do you bother me?
Undeterred by the anger, the man answered slowly, his heart and soul merging with every syllable. "Quisiera que usted estuviera aquí.”
I wish you were here, he said and Gibb felt every word.
The Long Cool Woman stared into the man's eyes as each of the assembled mourners held their breath, Gibb included. When she finally spoke, her voice slow and filled with passion, they exhaled and their breaths became an audible wind.
"Estoy aquí," came the words as if they belonged to the desert wind.
I am here, she said, as her hand went from gripping the man's hand to caressing his cheek.
The man sobbed once more, and then gulped as he swallowed heavy emotion. He cast his eyes to Hell for a moment, before he raised them and gazed into the eyes of the Long Cool Woman. "No. Me refiero a que desearia que estuviera viva," he sighed, a lifetime of need encompassed in those seven words.
No. I mean I wish you were alive.
The Long Cool Woman stared into the man's eyes, stroked his cheek one time, and then answered softly. "Desee la lluvia, desee la felicidad, pero no desee que Dios le devuelva lo que se ha llevado.”
Wish for rain, wish for happiness, but do not wish for God to return what he's already taken.
Roles reversed as her earlier anger became his. He frowned as he spat the words, "Entonces no quiero a Dios."
Then I don't want God.
"No digas eso! No sabes lo que dices," she hissed.
Don't say that. You can't mean that.
"Pero yo se, es a ti a quien amo," he said kissing the hand of the Long Cool Woman's as if it were his wife's. "Es a ti a quien siempre he amado.”
But I do. It's you I love. It's you that I've always loved.
"Entonces amame dejandome ir," she smiled sadly.
Then love me by letting me go.
"¿Qué?"
What?
"Dejame ir," she said, her voice little more than a sigh. "Estoy muerta, asi que dejame estar con Dios."
Let me go. I am dead, so let me be with God.
"No puedo." His own sigh merged seamlessly on the end of hers.
I can't.
She stared at him, then removed her hand from his embrace. She placed it on her lap and spoke through pursed lips. "Entonces eres un egoista."
Then you are selfish.
"Deseo solamente amarte," he pleaded, reaching out, but afraid to actually touch the Long Cool Woman, but desperate.
I only want to love you.
"Entonces amame y dejame ir," she said shaking her head.
Then love me and let me go.
"Te amo," he said, staring into her eyes.
I love you.
She turned and stared towards Heaven. She continued to shake her head slightly, until finally she was still.
"Te amo," he said once more, this time softer.
The Long Cool Woman smiled once, a ghost of love escaping, then closed her eyes. She returned to her coma, no longer a part of the living, nor longer a part of the dead, rather caught in the middle somewhere in the static of a neverland fugue.
The man stood slowly, his right hand holding the side of his face that she'd caressed. "Adiós, mi amor," he said, then he turned and pushed his way through the crowd. As he passed, his gaze momentarily met Gibb's and there was a cast about them that he recognized.
Acceptance.
Gibb watched the man stagger to the Cadillac. One of the bikers held open a door so the man could climb inside. Before the door shut, the man glanced one last time towards the Long