Locket

For what’s it’s worth, the woman in the locket is not my grandmother or great-grandmother, but instead a woman I made, as in created from scratch in my laboratory, then brought to life so she could one day end up as the woman whose picture is in this locket. When you don’t have the ability to find women like her on your own but do have the scientific knowledge—genius, dare I say—eventually, you’re going to stitch her together by design, the woman of your dreams, the woman who eventually becomes the woman in your locket. It starts off with you watching the other kind of person, the kind of person who finds their own locket woman, the pretty kind of person with personality and panache, and you watch that kind of person for a good, long stretch of your life, sitting, suffering, so many stifled days and nights of wanting, wishing, days and nights alone with those thoughts, thoughts like Why him? and Why not me? and Why is the world so unfair? and What can I do to shift the balance of power between the haves and have-nots in the great game of love? because you’re the type of person who turns losses into victories, failures into successes, and apparently, parts of various delectable women into one woman, the type of woman who appreciates your abilities, who’s grateful for the gift you’ve given her, the type of loyal, loving woman who lasts forever, at least inside a locket. Am I proud of the lengths I went through to bring this woman to life, the grave-robbing, the identity-stealing, the so-called murdering—which, because I’ve been careful, I’d like to see them prove—what I’d argue was the means to an end, acceptable losses, collateral damage, sacrifices for the greater good? No, I’m not proud. What you should be asking instead is what happened to said woman, why she’s not by my side tonight, why she now exists merely as a photo in a locket, what flaw there was in my design … then ask why I’m talking to you now, why I keep eyeing your perfect arms, running my fingers across your silky skin, asking you about your moisturizing routines, why I’ve bought so many drinks, and why we’ll soon head to my place, making sure no one has seen us together, and no one sees us leave.