Luisa’s Story: Zombie love

We used to call him Gary during the day, because his beautiful, colorless, eyes were inert and cruel until closing time at the winery. It was then that Greg emerged, his whole affect swelling and softening, and his gorgeous, snaggly teeth showing to the gums. He was incredibly loud, and never breathed through his nose.One night we ended up in a delirious tangle on the ground of a children’s park. And then, somehow, we dated for two years.Gary got wasted at a winery event and had to be hidden from management in a walk-in refrigerator. He ate all the roast beef in the interim. Gary woke me up with the incandescent sound of his urine splashing against the corner of our bedroom. This was echoed, a year later, by the splashing of his urine stream on a full sink of dirty dishes when I took too long in the bathroom. Gary hated waiting. Greg called me lolo and told me I would have the most beautiful daughters. Greg loved how my top lip formed into a little beak when I was perplexed. Greg introduced me as the best thing that had ever happened to him. Greg’s skin never lost that sweet scent of puppies and infants. Greg drove me around wine country with the top of his 1986 Saab rolled down and gangster rap blasting and made me feel as if the sunshine was actually invading my bones. Oh but Gary, Gary, never left us alone. Gary missed his flights because he was hung over, and I’d have to pick him up and drive him hundreds of miles to his accounting job. Gary hated vegetables and newspapers. I was always shocked at how easily he could become furious with me.

Once, I poured a Snapple over ice cubes, and he called me lazy for not putting it in the fridge and waiting. He got really irritable if I didn’t have sex with him daily. Blowjobs were insufficient. Eventually his penis ripped my vaginal opening and I got a two week rest to heal.But in the end, Gary knew best. On Halloween, Gary and I were dressed as zombies. He ran into some friends and didn’t want to take the last train to the bay, so I went alone. I missed it, and called him to come with me on the terrifying transbay bus. He didn’t want to. He wanted to stay and drink some more. He wanted to be surrounded by people who made him feel like he was a good person. He yelled in his best undead voice, “I am BREAKING UP with you! And my darlings, I accepted.