Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2007 13:48:10 +0000 (GMT)
From: Nexis Pas <nexispas@yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: The Angel of Your Elbow

The Angel of Your Elbow

Nexis Pas

Copyright 2007. The author asserts the moral right to be identified as the
creator of this work.

nexispas@yahoo.co.uk


`I love the angel of your elbow.'

Dieter was kissing the inside of my right forearm. He had started at the
wrist and had slowly worked his way up to the elbow. The kisses were warm
and wet and wonderful. From time to time he paused to set me sentences to
translate into German. I moaned as he licked the inside of my elbow again.
He added extra tongue action this time. It was only with great discipline
that I returned to the subject at hand. Dieter's parents were arriving for
a visit in two weeks, and we were practicing German so that I could talk
with them and, we hoped, impress them. ` "Ich liebe den Engel des
Eckstueck." But I can't imagine any reason I would say that to your
parents, either of them.'

`That is not for my parents, but for me. In any case, this is der
Ellbogen. Das Eckstueck is the thing under the sink, the turn in the
pipes. And why did you say "Engel"?'

`But that's what you said. "I love the angel of your elbow." Angel ist
Engel, nicht wahr? Ich liebe den Engel des Ellbogen.'

Dieter pointed to my elbow. `This is not called the angel of the elbow?' He
traced the inside curve of my arm from the bicep down to the forearm. I
shook my head no in confusion. I couldn't think what word he might be
looking for. He flipped open the German-English dictionary that was lying
on my stomach and paged through it. The top corners of the book were
becoming dog-eared. We had put it to a lot of use in the two years we had
been together, more at first than now. We had made rapid progress in
communicating (not that we always needed all that many words, even in the
beginning), but there were still times when we needed Das Dudchen/The
Little Dude, as we had affectionately christened it.

`Here, look. The angel.' He held the book up in front of my face and
pointed to a word. I reached for the book. I didn't have my glasses on and
needed to bring it in close to read the entry. Dieter shamelessly took
advantage of my predicament to occupy himself elsewhere. He has the most
marvellous hands.

`Winkel. Angel.' It still didn't make any sense to me. I read the rest of
the entry, and finally the light bulb flashed. `Ah, it is a typo. "Angel"
should be "angle". G-l-e, not g-e-l. Like in geometry. But we would not
call it an angle in English. It doesn't really have a name, but some people
call it the "crook" of the elbow.'

Dieter stopped what he was doing and grinned at me. `Why would you call it
a criminal? Do you English do bad things with the angles of your elbows?'
His left eyebrow rose in a beguiling curve.

God, he is so sexy when he smiles. It's a wonder we find time to talk at
all. `Not crook, criminal, but crook as in "shepherd's crook".' I traced
the line of a crook on his stomach. `As in "by hook or by crook". Like a
candy cane, that curved part at the top.' I drew the shape in the air this
time so that he could see it. He rose up on one elbow and looked at me in
puzzlement as he worked it out.

`Ah, der Hirtenstab. So you have taught me a new word. From now on, I will
say "I love your criminal elbow".' He demonstrated how much he loved it as
well as some other parts of my body again.

After I had caught my breath and was able to speak again, I broached a
subject that had often occurred to me during our language lessons. `Dieter,
perhaps we should not get undressed before we practice German. And maybe we
should sit at the table instead of lying in bed? We always get distracted.'

`But this way you remember better. I reward you when you get it right and
then you remember your lessons.' The man has a devilish laugh. He nuzzled
my neck and stretched his arm under my neck and around my shoulders.
`Besides, I love the angel on my elbow.'

After that, one thing led to another, and that was the end of the German
lesson that evening.