“You do trust me with your heart, don’t you, Breeze? You must. You gave me your book.”
She gazed at him. It was true. She did.
“Then you must believe me!”
She ignored his comment, instead asking, “Joonie, why are you crying, my old friend?”
“You break my heart, Breeze. Clean in two.”
He simply stared down at her. How could he reach her? How could he convince her she was worth it all? Was there too big a price to pay for her love?
If there was anything he’d learned in the last decade of his life, it was that love was worth living for. He’d been given a precious gift at birth. A voice. Words. And he had used them his whole life long. First in essays at school. Then in raps on notebook paper. Finally, in songs set to a rhythm and flowing through music. But he’d learned that those words were empty if they didn’t touch someone’s heart.
Love was the glue that held the whole universe together. Love was what had connected Breeze to him long before he’d ever heard her name. Love was what was drawing them together now. But how did he communicate love?
He could kiss her, but that was the easy way out. And too many boys had already chased her simply for her kisses. They hadn’t loved her. They hadn’t desired her heart. They’d only wanted to use her body to slake their lust. And they’d damaged her precious soul when she had left them unsatisfied.
How had they done it? How had they hurt her? Words. The power of words. Life and death were contained in them. Blessing and cursing. They could create worlds. Or they could destroy them. It always came back to his voice. To his words. He was a wordsmith.
He had to take that power in his mouth now and wield it well…
But what words would reach her?
“Breeze.” He breathed her name.
He still had no words. How could he have no words? This was the most important moment of his life to speak. He always had words. Why were they fleeing from him now?
So he just let his heart overflow. He thought of her name. Breeze. A gentle breeze. No one knew where the wind came from or where it was going. But still it brought its gentle presence into his life when he most needed it. Just like her.
“Breeze,” he whispered her name again, then he paused before continuing, “You are so precious. Like your name.”
She was confused.
“What?”
“You’re a sweet breeze, a calming effect that quenches a deep thirst in my soul and cools a raging fire contained there.”
She stared at him. The man was a poet. She’d always known it, but now he had directed the power of his words at her alone. She felt the healing balm of those words flow over her and slide into her heart.
“You came into my life when I most needed you. I was so lost back then. I was so angry too.” He paused for a second, suddenly convinced of something; though, he wasn’t sure why. “You’ve prayed for me, haven’t you? How long have you been praying for me? As long as you’ve been writing to me? I can’t help but believe you’ve made a difference in my life, even before I knew you existed. Maybe your words somehow reach the God that doesn’t hear my prayers. Because I look at who I was back then, and then I examine who I am now. And I come to one inescapable conclusion: I am not the same. I’ve grown so much. Thank you, Breeze. You’ve changed my life.”
She could tell he truly believed it. She wasn’t so sure. She had prayed for him. A lot. Especially after she’d discovered his first mixtape. She’d felt his despair; she’d shared his sorrow; she’d recognized his anger. Her heart had broken, and from its center had overflowed all her love for him and all her desires for him in words she sent heavenward. She did believe that God heard her. So she’d been praying over Joonie all along.
She smiled. “You really believe that? That the God who doesn’t hear you heard me and answered?”
He shrugged his shoulders. He wasn’t so sure, but he did believe she’d had something to do with his changing. It couldn’t be a coincidence, could it? That a girl across the ocean had felt so connected to him. Surely her thoughts, her beliefs, yes, even her prayers, had made a difference to him.
“I believe it. I believe in you, Breeze. I believe you came into my life for a reason.”
“Be careful, Joonie. It almost sounds like you believe in a divine design for our lives.” She smiled as she teased him, but her heart was racing. This conversation was more important to her than she was letting on.
He grinned at her. “It’s good to see you smile. It makes my heart happy. Come, let’s walk some more. I want to show you more of my hometown.”
He reached for her hand, and she slid it along his palm. This time he intertwined their fingers.
Somehow, he knew this conversation wasn’t over.