by K. G. Duncan
Abby finished, opened her eyes, and felt the blood flush all the way up through her cheeks. Olivia was intensely staring back at her, her lips quivering and her eyes watering like she was about to burst into tears. Suddenly Olivia smiled, and thrust both her hands forward.
“Do me! Oh, do me now! I wanna see what you do. Do it to me! I wanna see how it feels.”
Abby brushed her hands aside as Olivia reached over trying to grab her arms. “Wait! It don’t work like that.”
Olivia, still smiling, rolled up the sleeves of her blouse, and reached out again. “What do you mean, it don’t work like that? You said all you need to do is touch someone, right?” She paused and placed her hand on her hip. “C’mon! Cuz if I’m not mistaken, you were doing something with me just a moment ago… Right? Right?” She leaned over saucily, forcing Abby to giggle and turn away. “C’mon! Let’s do this. Skin to skin.”
Abby stared up at her friend, standing there in front of her with both arms extended in over-the-top supplication. She couldn’t help but grin at Olivia’s infectious enthusiasm. She glanced sideways, then back at Olivia. “Well, I have a confession to make,” she said coyly. “I’ve already seen what you are. And what you are gonna do in this life. After my Momma Bea, you were one of the first people that I ever felt their soul-fire with.”
“What?” Olivia nearly exploded as she plopped down with an audible squish. “If that isn’t the coolest thing this side of a witch’s tit.” She was grinning unabashedly as she tucked her legs in under her Indian style. But then she looked over at Abby and frowned dramatically, pointing a finger. “But why would you keep something like that from me? Oh, my best, bestiest friend, and you’re keeping the secrets of my whole life from me?” She rolled her shoulders back and slowly raised her arms like a preacher in a sermon. “Oh, lord, please forgive her. She is so grievously unaware of the dire consequences of withholding her knowledge and her insights into the truer pathways of one particular person, her one and only best friend—namely, that would be me, Olivia Felicita Fist!” She clenched her raised hands into tight fists as she rose to her feet like an enraptured spirit. “She knows not the harm she has done, but there is still time for redemption!”
Olivia finished her speech and beamed down at Abby, who was giggling uncontrollably, before she managed to squeeze out an intelligible sentence.
“Felicita? Your middle name is Felicita?” She asked, still giggling.
Olivia lowered her fists and with great care and dignity, she began to soothe out the wrinkles of her blouse. “Yes,” she said testily. “It means “happiness,” kind of… I think… can’t you tell?” She shrugged and smiled down at Abby, but then she put her finger in Abby’s face. “Don’t you dare tell a single soul, you ol’ giggle farts. You know you owe me! And there is a cost!”
Olivia glanced around the little island briefly. She returned her stare to the now composed face of Abby. “Oh yes, you owe me. With interest. And you’re gonna tell me every last bit of my soul-fire’s story. Past, present and future! All this time, and I didn’t even know that I had my own little fortune-teller right here beside me!”
“Well, it’s a little more than that, actually.” Abby interrupted.
“Of course! Of course, but you are gonna have to explain it all to me again. You promise?”
Abby held Olivia’s gaze for just a few moments, then smiled. “Promise.”
Olivia beamed, hooted and cracked her knuckles, before turning to look around again. “But after I take a pee! Any recommendations for a desperate girl on this island?”
Abby chuckled again and pointed at the enormous willow tree in the center of the island. “Over there, behind old man Willow, and beyond just a bit. Follow your nose. You can’t miss it.”
“How delightful,” Olivia murmured with disgust before trotting off.
Abby sat quietly, enjoying a cool breeze that lit up from across the bayou. She closed her eyes and listened to the sounds of birds, the splash of water behind her and out in the middle of the lake—some creature stirring—then, the distant hum of a motor boat somewhere far away, and of course, to the noisy mutterings of Olivia as she scrabbled about in the brush to relieve herself.
“Old man Willow, my ass!” Olivia’s monologue was in full swing. “Is that a hornet’s nest up in that tree? Jeez-uz… this is disgusting back here… You wouldn’t happen to have any toilet paper? How on earth did you find this island? Are we in unchartered lands? Did you fly here in your dragon form? I think we are completely off the grid… Does anybody else even know that this is here? Why you never take me here before? This is so cool! Keeping a secret like this from me is a capital offense. I bet your momma don’t even know about…”
Olivia cut herself off mid-sentence as she rounded the trunk of the tree. Abby opened her eyes to see her friend standing beneath the Willow tree staring directly at her, slack-jawed and open-mouthed, a look of horror on her face.
Abby was sitting on the shore of the island, her back to the water, with three rather large alligators coiled up around her. Abby was smiling and absently stroking one of the gators under its chin as two more even bigger gators emerged from the water and slowly padded up to Abby. They jostled with the other gators a bit before settling in and around Abby. All five gators wrapped themselves around Abby more tightly, almost protectively, as Abby continued to sit there completely unalarmed, like she didn’t have a care in the world. Just sunbathing on the sandy beach—nothing strange to see here.
“Um, I don’t want to alarm you,” Olivia began, “but I do believe we have some visitors?”
Abby glanced down at the gators, happily knotted around her, and then she smiled. “Well, now! Where did y’all come from?” She glanced back at Olivia and had to laugh at the shocked expression on her face.
“Don’t worry,” Abby purred as she glanced down and stroked another gator on its belly. The reptile opened its mouth and moaned in what appeared to be alligator rapture. “This is all part of what I need to show you. I have met these fellas before. They would never hurt me. Come on down, I will introduce you!”
“You’ve got to be kidding!” Olivia exclaimed not budging from her spot.
“Well, actually, they might take a liking to you in a way that may not end too well for you.”
“Yeah, like maybe I wind up as their supper?” Olivia did not look amused.
Abby sighed and breathed in deeply. She gave one of the gators one last stroke before suddenly rising and clapping her hands. “Off! Off you go!” She pointed to the water, and the gators immediately roused from their stupor and quickly waddled away, splashing loudly into the green water, submerging and within a few moments completely disappearing. Several moments went by, and the two girls watched as the surface of the water rippled, then slowly returned to stillness.
Olivia still hadn’t moved from her spot as Abby turned and walked up beside her, smiling. “You know,” Olivia murmured, “a normal person would just get some puppies or a kitten.” She glanced briefly at Abby before exhaling loudly through pursed lips. “I do believe I have seen it all, now. Would you care to explain what just happened?”
“Reptilian mind,” Abby began somewhat sardonically. “You need to access the older part of your brain, the stem of your medulla oblongata,” Abby pointed at the back of her neck, “which is the only part of your brain old enough to speak alligator.” She grinned at Olivia. “It’s a base frequency thing. I can’t really explain how it works other than it’s the dragon part of me that does it, kind of, automatically.”
“Yeah, ri-i-i-i-ight,” Olivia walked over to the side of the boat and began looking around, searching the ground. “I think maybe we should head back. It’s getting late, and my fortune can wait for another time.” Olivia stopped and put her hands on her hips in exasperation. “I can’t seem to find my shoes.”
Abby chortled. “We left them back at the launch, du
mmy. With the spiders and the snakes.” She walked down to the boat and grabbed it firmly, turning it around and then towing it out into the water.
Olivia stood on the shore, casting her eyes about apprehensively at what, at least in her mind, was only deceptively calm water.
“Oh, lan’ sakes, Olivia!” Abby exclaimed as she shook the boat and laughed. “You are the bravest person I know. I always believed you weren’t afraid of anything.” She paused to smile sympathetically at Olivia, who scowled back at her. “The gators are gone. I promise.”
“I ain’t afraid of no gators,” Olivia muttered indignantly. “I just gotta wrap my head around the fact that my best friend is a dragon fortune-teller who communes with primordial reptiles.” She glared back at Abby before cracking a begrudging smile. “A love fest with gators was not a planned part of my fortune telling session. You gotta give a girl time for things to sink in.” She strode out into the water and clambered awkwardly but very quickly into the boat. Abby followed much more nimbly and sat at the back where she pushed off the shore with her paddle.
They began to row, Olivia with a sense of purpose that had been lacking before. Abby dug in her feet and endeavored to keep up the pace. Quietly she guided the small craft through the wall of river rushes and back out into the main course way of the bayou. After a few minutes, and in between strokes, Olivia spoke.
“Okay. Just to let you know. You aren’t off the hook. We’re coming back to your island, were gonna sit down under that willow tree, and you’re gonna tell me my fortune. You absolutely cannot keep something like this from me! Only no gators this time! Deal?”
Abby laughed, and answered sincerely, “Deal!” They rowed silently all the way back to the dock and their bicycles and their soggy, sand-filled shoes.
Of course, there are children who don’t fit neatly into any of the universal categories that Abby had exhaustively and breathlessly been explaining to Olivia on the day of their little trip through the bayou. They are the outliers, the human anomalies. And for the rest of the weekend and into the next week, Olivia was thinking to herself that Abby did indeed belong to this last group. Her friend was an outlier, a rare individual that you don’t meet just any old day. And she was a true friend. Olivia realized that now, more than ever, she was going to fiercely protect Abby from the harm and enmity of others. That was and always had been her role, and she was more inclined than ever before to pursue her purpose with an even deeper resolve.
She wouldn’t have to wait long.
What happened on the island was only the first thing. There was a second event that was related to the first, only this time it could not be kept from the prying minds of others. And even though Abby insisted otherwise, Olivia knew that it was all her fault.
It was the following Wednesday, and the whole sixth grade—all two classes—were on a field trip in New Orleans at some World War II history museum. At any rate, the classes were having lunch a few blocks away at Popeye’s Louisiana Chicken on St Charles Street before heading on over in the afternoon for the Japanese half of the museum—they had spent the morning in the German half of the war display, and Abby was happily chirping at some of the girls about the schematics and the random, wanton destruction of German V2 rockets when Princess Julia arrived at her table, entourage in tow.
“What do you think you are doing?” The exaggerated, drawling tones of Julia’s question caused Abby to pause mid-sentence and glance over at Julia. The Princess was standing there, looking very preppy in Abercrombie and Fitch, hand on hip, with four of her minions flanking her, their faces a mirror of Julia’s disdain.
“Well, bless your heart,” Abby called out, looking Julia up and down and calmly taking in her escort. “If it isn’t our beloved princess. Her court in tow. Oh, Julia, would you care to learn more about the V2 rocket’s habit of audibly clicking before silently falling to reign untold death and fiery horror upon those hapless Londoners who scrambled to take cover below?”
“I said,” Julia repeated more emphatically, “What do you think you are doing? You don’t sit here at this table. You don’t sit at any table unless I approve of it.”
“Now look here!” Olivia, who had been sitting next to Abby, began to stand up. “I don’t think you realize just how annoying your royal highness act has become…” A firm and heavy hand pressed down on Olivia’s shoulder, forcing her to sit back down heavily. She glanced back to see the hulking form of Balt Luster standing over her, a cruel smile playing at the corners of his lips.
“Oh yes,” Julia continued. “I did anticipate your intervention, Miss Fist.” She glanced back at Abby and grinned brazenly. “And contrary to Miss Rubideaux’s intimations, I too pay attention to the historical presentations, and I understand the value of a strong and capable ally.” She nodded at Balt, who seized Olivia by the torso and suddenly dragged her away from the table in a crushing bear-hug. Olivia yelped and struggled, but quickly ceased when she realized how strong Balt was. Her arms were pinned at her side, her feet dangled above the ground, and his clasping arms did not budge an inch. She could feel his hot breath on the back of her neck, and she shuddered in revulsion, ashamed that she had been so easily ambushed and subdued.
She opened her mouth to holler, “You are making a big mistake, Julia. I wouldn’t mess with Abby. She’s got superpowers that will bring all the gators of the bayou down upon you. That’s right! I have witnessed it myself, and you are gonna wake the dragon and behold its wrath!” Olivia paused to breathe in the sudden silence that was the effect of her pronouncement. “You know what? On second thought, you just go right on ahead because I would love to see you get what’s coming to you!”
Abby was frantically shaking her head, trying to stop Olivia from blurting out anything more. There was a heavy silence, broken by a few sniggers of the surrounding kids. Julia was observantly taking in every one of these details, and with one last triumphant look toward Abby, she turned and nodded to Stacy, one of her sycophantic minions. Olivia was just about to launch into another very public broo-haha when Stacy quickly stepped up and clamped her hand over Olivia’s mouth, then two other girls moved in and quickly gagged her with a bright purple sash. Stacy yelped and glared dangerously back at Olivia, who had bitten her in the brief struggle. It was the only proof that Olivia had not gone down quietly before her quick and efficient incapacitation.
“There now, see?” Julia purred and glided over to stand before Abby. “Oblivia, as usual, is oblivious, and her wild ramblings have been silenced. Thank god for that!” She turned and beamed at the crowd, many of whom were chuckling. She stepped back in front of Abby and flipped a stray strand of hair from her face. “Your champion cannot help you now.” She snapped her fingers and plastic mustard and catsup bottles were quickly placed into her hands. She eyed Abby appraisingly, one eyebrow lifted in mock scorn. Abby could feel other girls move in behind her. She was trapped in her seat at the little round table.
As all of this transpired, the other kids had silently and almost instantly removed themselves from the nearby tables, and now Abby was alone, still seated and staring up at the face of Julia and her minions. She glanced around and could see the other children forming a ring around the tables. There were no teachers, no adults present. They were seated in a patio pavilion separated from the sidewalk and any passing pedestrians by a cement wall. As usual, Julia had picked her moment to strike well.
Julia stepped forward and raised the mustard bottle. She cocked her head to the side and smiled. “Hmm,” she began. “It seems our little star has risen to find herself in company above her true station in life.” She leaned in as hands behind Abby grabbed her arms and pulled her back tight against her chair. Another pair of hands firmly pressed down on her shoulders. “Wake the dragon?” Julia continued. “I think we’d all like to see that.” Someone in the crowd snickered.
“But I do believe this little dragon has been acting like a hot dog—showing off
and putting on airs. It has been so unlike you, Abby Jaybird!” Julia’s smile widened unpleasantly into more of a snarl. “I just don’t know what’s gotten into you, hot dog.”
A muffled tirade exploded from Olivia, words that cannot be repeated in decent company.
“I’m sorry, Oblivia? You were saying?” Julia glided over to the still gagged Olivia, who glared back at her. “Maybe we should start with you? You look like a hot dog, too. And every hot dog needs some dressing!”
Julia uncapped the mustard and squeezed a long, solid stream on to Olivia’s head. There was laughter from some of Julia’s minions, but most of the crowd looked on silently. Balt, who held the now-squirming Olivia tight, set his mouth into a grimace or maybe a smile? Hard to tell the difference.
Julia uncapped the catsup and glanced back at Abby, who sat perfectly still, pinned down by several arms, her eyes shooting darts back at their tormentor.
“Now, you know,” Julia began, almost casually, “there will not be any adults for quite a bit. You see, Suzie, one of my oldest and dearest friends, is off,” and here Julia paused to make finger quotes as best she could around her condiment bottles, “getting sick.” Several more children laughed and nodded their heads knowingly.
“I’m afraid,” Julia continued, drinking in the eager attention of the other children, who stood riveted in the large ring around the tables, “That poor Ms. Cottrell and that awful Miss Trudy are completely occupied attending to our sweet Suzie. She is such a peach! Did you know that she can vomit on command? Such a handy little talent, don’t you think? Such a mess that will need to be cleaned up. It will take an awful lot of time, don’t you think?”
