Of Thorns and Lightning

by Fiona Price

  "Hey! Aren't you bright-eyed and bushy-tailed this morning.”? Peter greeted, getting a smile out of Maize.

  "Yeah, I guess so. I was looking at old pictures of us last night, and it put me in a good mood. It made up for yesterday. It reminded me of all the good, and that we're friends above all things." Maize responded.

  "I haven't seen those pictures in forever! We'll have to look back and go to all those places again! I'm free this weekend, how about you guys?" Meaghan asked.

  "It's not like I'm going to another planet, Meaghan. I'm free." Maize responded, taking a bite out of her fruit.

  "Peter?"

  "I'm down, I don't have any special Spider plans."

  "Then it's set! We can go to that club in Harlem-" Meaghan began before they ran into trouble. Ariel, the new Diana, was passing by their table at that instant.

  "Hey guys! Did I hear something about going to a club, because if so I'm so down! When and where?" She asked. Maize tried to respond before getting interrupted again.

  "Well actually, it's just going to be me and-"

  Angelina came up to their table, and she seemed to have completely forgotten about the gym incident the day before.

  "I heard something about a party! I'm in, when are we all going? I think it'll be fun if we all go clubbing together!"

  "This was kind of just between us-" Meaghan tried to stress, but it seemed like no use. Angelina called over her shoulder for Talia.

  "Hey Tal! We're going clubbing together, you in?"

  "Yeah, why not? I need a break from being here all day, every day."

  Maize let her head drop to the table, rattling the silverware. What started out being three friends emotionally reconnecting with each other for a weekend ended up being an entire mini-Gods outing. That was the last thing the three of them wanted, considering Maize's complicated history between her and all of them.

  "Well, I guess we should invite the rest and then all go out this weekend! We're going to have so much fun!" Ariel exclaimed. Maize halfheartedly tried to agree, since she knew that it would be the exact opposite.

  Saturday afternoon, Meaghan and Maize were getting ready together, but Maize was having second thoughts.

  "I really wanted this to be just us, you know? And I want to go to be with you and Peter, so I don't want to back out of this, and I'd be the only one not going. But it defeats the point of having a weekend to ourselves, just us three again."

  "We can always have another weekend. We will plan it in secret, so nobody knows. I know you don't want us to have another one because today was just supposed to be us, but it turned into something much different and more complicated, so we should let this one be and try again." Meaghan spoke as she did her hair, which motivated Maize to get on her dress and get ready.

  "You're right. I hate to agree with Talia, but I too need to get out of this place for a little bit. Even though I'm not avoiding her, we won't have to see each other all night." Maize rationalized as she slipped on her red dress with a subtle gold zipper down the front and her Steve Madden Gonzo heels. She had put her hair in braids earlier that day and she took them out to leave her hair in gorgeous waves. She did some makeup to accompany her look, and it wasn't long before they were both ready to hit the town.

  The rest of their crew had congregated in the first floor living room that was located by the main entrance to the compound. Meaghan wore a navy blue minidress that looked like it was two pieces, but there was a sheer section around her waist that connected the top to the skirt. There were sheer sections of the dress around her shoulders, which made the lace detailing stand out even more. Maize and Meaghan were completely confident in their outfits, ready to paint the town red. Though their company wasn't ideal, the three of them still got to spend some time together as they rode in Maize's old Saab hatchback into Harlem. The rest of them carpooled in a Jeep Compass and they all gathered together at the club.

  Maize, Meaghan and Peter arrived first and reserved their places in the line to get into the club. When the others arrived, they pushed their way to meet the three because they were further up, which made all of the other people waiting very upset. Maize knew that this was just one inconvenience, but it would start a domino effect that would set the tone for the rest of the night. It continued with Ariel, Talia, Angelina and Jordie all meeting people in line they clicked with and were heavily flirting with. Maize got a sinking feeling in her stomach seeing Jordie flirt with another girl, because out of everyone she didn't know, he was the nicest to her and they seemed to have a touch of chemistry. Little did Maize know, Peter picked up on this but looked away, he didn't want to get caught in the middle of a love triangle. He didn't want to let Maize in on his thoughts; he himself didn't want to face them.

  When the group got to the front of the line, the three girls and Jordie pushed ahead to gain admittance with their new, albeit temporary interests. The bouncer then let two more people in that happened to be Peter and Meaghan, though they tried to protest in the few transitional seconds between the bouncer and the door.

  "No, wait, we're a group, the three of us!" Peter protested, though he was getting quickly pushed towards the other Gods who just crossed through the doorway.

  "It's just one more person, let her in too!" Meaghan objected.

  "If you're all a group, the three of you can go to the back of the line! No, don't want to? Then you two go!" The bouncer threatened, making sure Meaghan and Peter got through the doors. Maize was upset, but the night continued to take a fast turn downhill.

  "Wait!! You're all just going to leave me?!" Maize called to the group, letting it sink in.

  "Yeah, sorry Maize. Too bad! I'm sure you'll get in eventually!" Angelina taunted from inside the door of the club. They laughed. Maize already felt as if her night was ruined; it was supposed to be her, Meaghan and Peter, but it took an unexpected turn that left her behind in the dust. What was intended to cheer her up just brought her back down again. Then the rain started to pour on her and all of the other people waiting outside the club. The clouds were threatening and heavy, just one more bad omen to top off the shit sundae.

  It was a while before Maize finally made it into the club, though she was relieved that she made it in at all. The dim hallways and neon lights greeted her as she ascended the stairs to the main club where there was extremely loud trap music playing, and she couldn't see her friends anywhere. The mysterious stains on the flooring and the unidentifiable smells greeted her; the club was just like she remembered it. But now, she would have a bad memory attached to it.

  Eventually she ran into Peter and Meaghan, and they were pleased to see her, but Peter was already tipsy. Meaghan didn't drink and didn't ever plan on it, but she was still having a good time. The two were grateful over anything to finally have found Maize.

  "Let's go dance! Shake off the bad stuff, okay?" Meaghan suggested as she dragged Maize to the dance floor. Peter followed, handing Maize a plastic cup full of shitty, cheap beer. Maize drank it anyway.

  For a few hours, they had managed to have a great time by themselves, dancing and letting go of all the negatives. They had become their old selves again; Maize grateful she had friends that listened to her feelings and cared about her. This was just what she needed, a reminder that her old life wasn't gone forever. Life hadn't changed the game up completely on her. She was, in the simplest terms... happy.

  Until she ran into Angelina, Ariel and Talia as well as their beaus, at least for the night. Maize couldn't tell if they were wasted or not, but it wasn't as if it made any difference. Their words still hurt just as much as they normally would have.

  "Maize, I can't believe you made it in! You should really consider leaving, though, because we were having a Hella good time without you, and your kind of ruining my whole vibe!" Angelina spoke over the loud music.

  "Yeah! I agree! Now I'm kind of feeling the buzzkill." Ariel hopped on.

  "Maize, it's so clear to me now that you can't take a hint. We left you out there
on purpose! We don't want you here with us. We just had to invite you so William wouldn't yell at me again and so we wouldn't get in trouble." Talia said.

  "This was my idea! I didn't even invite you! You just decided to invite yourselves and ruin my own time with my own friends. Invite me?! You've got to be fucking kidding me!" Maize defended, getting heated.

  "Whatever, your opinion doesn't matter to me. None of us like you, Maize, and we thought that message was painfully clear. You're weird and you get special treatment. You're not like us, and you never will be. You're not a God, Maize. You're a sensitive, whiny bitch, and that's all you'll ever be. Go the hell home, Maize." Talia spat venomously. Maize didn't know what to do. She looked around the room and saw Jordie watching the whole thing unfold and hiding behind his glass, not saying anything. Peter and Meaghan didn't say anything, they didn't know what to say.

  Maize didn't care about any of them at the moment. She ran out of the club into the pouring rain, finding her car and leaving every fucking person in that god damn club behind. She dumped her woes in Harlem, and didn't give a shit about them as she ran away. She didn't give one shit anymore. If those were the games the people who were supposed to be her team played, she was going to play them right back, and she wasn't going to fight fairly. Why should she when they weren't? It wasn't the time to play fair, fuck what the Thor side of her wanted. It was time to get her hands dirty.

  Bronx Blues

  "Go the hell home, Maize. We don't want you here, we just had to invite you so we wouldn't get in trouble."

  ♦️

  Maize was lost.

  She lived in the city for her entire life and didn't ever lose her way. She knew the streets and the local routes like the back of her hand. Now, she looked around and knew exactly where she was, but none of it seemed familiar to her. She felt like a foreigner in her own home.

  She lost her sense of direction, not on the road but in her life.

  Somewhere along the line she had misplaced herself and didn't know how to find herself again.

  Then her car gave out a final cough and sputtered to its death in the middle of the highway. It was an eerie scene; a deserted road illuminated by dim streetlights further down the highway next to Co-op City in the Bronx. She couldn't even see the buildings; the fog was so heavy and thick.

  Frantically, she tried everything she could to get her engine started again. The electrics were still working, and she put on her hazard lights so no one would rear-end her while she attempted to problem solve. She used every trick in the book, but no quick fix seemed to work and exist to bring her Saab back to life just for a moment. She shifted into neutral and got out of the car, the headlights of the oncoming cars blinding her in the dead of the night. Their beams reflected off the shiny, wet road and through the rain and fog but then eventually faded into the distance, leaving her to realize she was alone.

  Within the time she got out of the car to push it to the shoulder, the pouring rain had soaked through all of her layers of clothing and the sky showed no sign of the rain easing up any time soon. In fact, it seemed to fall even harder and heavier by the passing minutes. She regretted even going to the party in the first place because she was chilled right to the bone. Her thin and arguably minimal outfit wasn't ideal for the weather because there really wasn't anything to keep her warm.

  Maize popped the hood of her car and put her umbrella underneath it to hold up the hood since the pole had been long broken. She took as much refuge as she could underneath the hood, but it was too dark for her to see anything. Her phone was resting inside the cup holder, but it didn't have a waterproof case on it and the rain would ruin it in moments. She reached under the driver's seat and lifted the lever for the trunk, and she rummaged around for her emergency kit that hadn't been touched since Ann had convinced her to put a flashlight and batteries in it as well as carry some band aids. Never had she thanked her mother more than in that moment, and she sent a silent prayer up to God for that.

  Maize didn't know what to expect when she looked under the hood of the car. She wasn't an expert on engines by any means; her abilities ranged from identifying the battery and the engine block, and that was exactly the end of it. She didn't know what she was looking for. She didn't know how to fix any of the problems that were running through her mind.

  The battery was fine since the lights still worked, but the engine wouldn't turn over. It didn't even sputter or cough when she tried. A tow truck at this hour would be impossible to get and no one was going to be awake or would wake up when she called them. She was completely and utterly alone, on the interstate, in the Bronx, by herself on a Saturday night at 3 in the morning in the pouring rain.

  Her lip quivered and a hot tear rolled down her face, mixed in with the raindrops.

  Maize hadn't cried in as long as she could remember. She didn't cry in front of anybody, she didn't cry alone. She got emotional but didn't ever deal with her emotions, and suppressed them when she had no one to talk to about them. She thought her strength rested in her near inability to cry.

  But this seemed like the appropriate situation to let it all go.

  Knowing there was nothing she could do, she bit her lip and removed the umbrella and slowly closed the hood of the car. She gave it a solid slam to make sure it was completely down, and her hands remained on the hood of the car as she leaned over and cried. Her stringy wet hair fell in front of her face and stuck to her skin and clothes which were plastered to her body from the water. She began to shiver, but couldn't remove herself from her position to sit in the car where it was still relatively warm, and more importantly, dry.

  She could call the police and ask for help. She could try a tow truck, but she knew she'd have to wait at least two hours until morning broke for nearly any service. She could call, she could wait in her car where it was dry. That was the logical thing to do. Still, yet, she couldn't. She couldn't even bring herself to try.

  The road was quiet most of the time. Eventually, a pocket of vehicles would pass her, but then it was deserted. Trucks came and went. But one driver stayed. On her way to look at the car and investigate who had come to her rescue, the heel of her shoe got stuck in the storm drain grate on the shoulder, twisting her ankle in the process. She managed to jimmy her shoe out, so she was free, letting her attention turn back to the car.

  Their LED headlights shaped like eyes with eyeliner cut through the fog like a hot knife in butter. They put their hazards on as well and slowly came to a stop at the side of the road behind Maize's car. The driver stepped out first with an umbrella and he followed, neither one able to see the other person. Maize flicked the knife attachment on her Swiss Army knife keychain out and kept it close until she analyzed the driver and the car.

  It was a black Audi R8. William Townsend had one of those.

  "Hey, do you need some help?" The driver called out, though cautious, and his voice was recognized immediately by Maize.

  It was William.

  As he approached, he realized the beaten-down figure with their hair covering her face was Maize. He rushed to her side, holding the umbrella over her head.

  "Maize! What the hell are you doing out here?! Are you okay?!"

  "I can ask you the same thing!" She exclaimed, startled to actually see him on the side of the road completely by chance.

  "I left before you guys to go to that Townsend Industries meeting with a bunch of my investors and shit! I'm more worried about you! Especially because I was completely unaware of this plan of yours to go wild and find yourself in the Bronx in the middle of the night but here you are, potentially in danger!"

  "I'm sorry, Mr. Townsend, it didn't turn out like I planned." Maize apologized to him formally. She didn't sense that now was the time to use his first name only, she thought that was only reserved for the good times, when she would dare to go as far and call them friends. She got the message that he too was angry and upset with her, just like everybody else.

  "What didn't turn out like you p
lanned? What happened? Why are you here? Listen, I probably won't even be mad, I just want to make sure you're safe. That's all I care about, and being here, especially by yourself on a night like this isn't safe." He questioned, his dad instincts kicking in.

  "The guys are at this club in Harlem where Meaghan, Peter and I used to go but I left early because I just needed to get home and my car," she began, sobbing. She didn't go into detail about the actual events of the night, and she white lied about leaving early. That wasn't exactly the truth, and she knew it. William knew that there was much more to the story. She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath.

  "My car won't start, and I don't know what to do, William. It won't turn over, and it just won't run, and cars are supposed to run!" She said, frustrated and exasperated.