Rock and Roll Fantasy

 

Ran into Bonnie Raitt the other day at the King Soopers. She was browsing the leeks and chard. 

I tried not to gawk, but I couldn't help it and she noticed.

"Hey there," she said. 

"Hey."

"You doin' anything later?" She asked.

 Bonnie's been around quite a while, and she knows a thing or two about how to talk to a man. It was clear where she was going with this. I am not a spring chicken, but damn... she's got at least 20 years on me. 

"Uhh.. I gotta snake out my sewer line," I said, looking for something to look at other than her. "Something stuck tight in there and it's a real mess."

"Probably tampons," I added.

Bonnie raised an auburn eyebrow, flicked aside that strand of gray hair that always caught my eye.

"Ok, then. You have fun with that," she said, and turned her attention to a bunch of collard greens in her hand.

"So... whatchu making with all those veggies?" I asked.

"Oh, I don't cook," she said without looking up. "My cousin asked me to bring a side dish.'

She reached for another bunch of collards.

'I can make a guitar orgasm in front of a thousand people,' she added with a sigh, 'but I have no idea how to make a god-damned side dish.'

I tossed a plastic container of Sabra brand hummus into her cart. 

"Use that," I said, "You don't need those collards. Everyone loves hummus." 

I handed her a packet of flatbread. "That'll do the trick. Plus, you don't have to cook a thing."

She reached for the flatbread. 

Time expanded, right there in the King Soopers produce section, her and I holding a packet of flatbread between us -- just a country girl and suburban boy looking for some fun, spinning Round and Round, up and down. Bonnie's gaze shifted to my face. 

 

"You want to go back in time with me?"

Bonnie's been around quite a while. She's old enough to be my mother, but I've never been able to get her out of my mind. Since Bluebird, one thing has always been true: she does not fuck around with my heart. 

One other thing: If anyone could travel time, Bonnie Raitt could.

"How far back?"

"I think you'd enjoy the early 70's," she said, and for the first time, she unleashed that reverb smile and those 50-watt dimples. And those caramel candy eyes.

 "Shucks," I stammered. "I'd just be a kid."

"We can work through that," she said.

 "Can I stay with you there?"

"Aw honey," she said, stifling an involuntary laugh. "Not a chance. You'll just be there for an hour, maybe two."