Tiger Lily

by Wende Dikec

  I answered the questions one at a time. “I thought he was a ghost, but he looks like a person. Just shadowy. Zoe can’t see him, but I can. He’s right here.” The Fortunas and Bambi looked to where I pointed.

  “Little Dom is there?” Uncle Johnny’s lip quivered. “In this room? This can’t be happening.”

  “I’m sorry, but this is why we need your help. We don’t understand what’s going on either. He is stuck somehow, and we need to fix him.”

  Uncle Johnny put his head in his hands. “We can’t help him.”

  I started to cry. Not a good thing. Zoe had put a great deal of eyeliner on me, and it was going to run all over my face.

  “Why not? You’re his family. You love him.”

  Uncle Johnny came to sit on the edge of my chair. “We want to help him, Lily, but we can’t. His spirit might be in this room, talking to you, but his body is lying in a hospital bed. He’s in a coma. He’s been like that for a month. There’s nothing anyone can do for him, even us.”

  “He isn’t dead.”

  Relief wash over me in a giant wave. Although a coma couldn’t exactly be considered good news, it was better than dead.

  “Told you so.” Nick gave me a small half smile, but he looked very pale and scared.

  I turned back to Uncle Johnny. “How did it happen?”

  He sighed. “Dom is my sister Maria’s boy. She got sick last year with cancer and they moved back so they could be closer to us.”

  My breath caught in my throat. “Did she...?” I couldn’t bring myself to say the words.

  Uncle Johnny shook his head, making the sign of the cross. “No, she’s fine. She’s in remission. Just really weak. Dom works here on weekends. He was driving home a few weeks ago on his motorcycle, and a drunk driver hit into him. The jerk took off, leaving Dom on the side of the road. I thought when you came in here tonight that you might know something about it.”

  “How bad is he?” I swallowed hard, and so did Nick.

  “He had on his helmet, thank goodness, or it could have been much worse. Physically, he’s not too bad, other than a broken leg and a few scrapes and bruises. Mentally, it’s a different story. He fell really hard, and they don’t know what damage may have been done to his brain.” Uncle Johnny shook his head sadly.

  “Well, his brain seems fine to me. He tutored me in calculus on Tuesday and I aced my quiz.”

  Uncle Danny strummed his guitar, smiling. “He always was a math whiz.” Uncle Danny appeared to be the kindest and gentlest rocker I’d ever seen. There was something so pure and innocent about him, like he had the spirit of a small child in his fifty-year old body.

  “I read about that accident. It was terrible.” Zoe stood up, a funny look on her face. “Wait. Your Nick is Dominick Fortuna?”

  I nodded, wondering why she hadn’t figured that out yet. I guessed that the combination of Josh’s hotness and the Fortuna brothers’ coolness had thrown her off a little this evening.

  “But he’s your sister’s son.” Zoe’s eyebrows drew together in confusion. “Why is his last name Fortuna?”

  “My parents weren’t married,” said Nick. “I don’t know my dad.”

  I explained this to Zoe, and Uncle Johnny and Uncle Danny nodded in agreement. “Maria is a nurse and a single mom. His dad didn’t hang around long enough to give him a last name, but it doesn’t matter,” said Uncle Johnny. “He’s a Fortuna through and through. He’s a great musician too. He goes to the School for the Performing Arts in Middleton.”

  “Let me guess....drums?” I asked.

  “Strings,” said Uncle Danny. “As in cello, violin, and viola, although cello is his favorite. That boy has skills.”

  “He’s a great guitarist, too,” said Zoe. “I’ve seen him perform here. Nick, you’re awesome.”

  “Uh, thanks.” Nick looked a little embarrassed at Zoe’s newfound adoration.

  “Do you know what this means, Lily?” Zoe grabbed me by the shoulders.

  “Nick is even cooler than I thought?”

  “Yes, but there’s something else too.” Zoe looked around the room, with a huge smile on her face. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

  “How do you know that?” asked Uncle Danny. “Is it a psychic thing? Because I’m totally not feeling it.”

  Zoe shook her head, and looked me dead in the eye. “I know because Nick’s last name is Fortuna. Fortuna means lucky in Italian. Nick is ‘Mr. Lucky.’ He is your destiny.”

  “A dog, in desperation, will leap over a wall.”

  Chinese Proverb

  Chapter Fourteen

  Uncle Johnny scratched his chin and shook his head. “We still have one little problem, ladies. Why is Dominick’s spirit or essence or whatever here? Why isn’t he in his body?”

  I stood up and put my hands on my hips. I caught a glimpse of myself in one of the mirrors in the dressing room and nearly gasped in shock. No longer little Lily Madison of Mockingbird Lane, I was Tiger Lily. Powerful, strong, and just a bit like a dominatrix. Kind of scary too.

  “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out. I need to get out of these clothes, and then I’ll meet you at the hospital.”

  “We’ll have to wait until tomorrow, sweetness. Visiting hours start at 10:30. I’ll call my sister and meet you then. Are you sure about this, Lily? Do you really think we can help him?” I could see the faintest glimmer of hope in Uncle Johnny’s eyes.

  Nick stood right beside me with his hands shoved deep into his pockets. When I looked in the mirror, though, I couldn’t see him. Disconcerting, but in a hospital room somewhere, he had a body, and he was my destiny. We just had to get his spirit to go back inside that body, and then we’d be all set.

  “We’re getting close. I can feel it,” I said. Zoe nodded, determination shining in her eyes. Josh, Mr. Wan, and Mrs. Chang would help us too. Even Blobby seemed to bounce in encouragement. Not exactly the dream team, but good enough. “We can do this. We’ll meet you guys tomorrow at the hospital. Now, as the Fortuna brothers would say, let’s rock and roll.”

  Uncle Johnny and Uncle Danny shook their heads. “Even in that outfit, you can’t get away with that one, kitten,” said Uncle Danny.

  “Oh, yes, I can,” I said, and then sauntered out of the room. Something about wearing tight, black leather pants gave a girl confidence. I’d never sauntered in my life.

  It was almost two a.m. by the time we piled into my car and headed home, quiet, tired, and subdued. Zoe started snoozing in the backseat with Blobby on her lap. I should have been exhausted, but I felt wide awake, torn between excitement at seeing Nick’s actual physical form tomorrow and dread because I knew his spirit wasn’t in it.

  “It’s going to be okay, Lil,” he said softly.

  “You’re a mind reader now?” I couldn’t look at him. I kept my hands firmly on the steering wheel, and my eyes on the road. It was after midnight, and I hadn’t turned eighteen yet. If I got pulled over, it could mean trouble. Our town had a twelve o’clock curfew for anyone underage.

  “You face is pretty easy to read.”

  “I’m an open book? No mystery at all?” I wrinkled my nose at him.

  “I didn’t say that. There’s still a lot I need to know, like what your skin feels like when I touch it. What you lips taste like when I kiss them. How your body fits against mine when I hold you.”

  Nick’s eyes sparkled with as much heat and desire as his words. No one had ever talked to me like that. No one had ever looked at me like that. I almost drove right off the road. I swerved the car to right it just in time.

  “Whoa, Nelly. What are you doing?” Zoe seemed fully awake now.

  “Sorry. Nick just...distracted me. Zoe, are you sure it’s okay that you’re out this late? My parents would be freaking out right now.”

  “Mine are extremely unconcerned. As long as I don’t go to jail or get pregnant, I can basically do whatever I want.”

  I could hear the thin strain of sadness under her bravado. �
��I’m sure it’s because they trust you.”

  Zoe shrugged. “Or it’s because they don’t care. Either way, a curfew isn’t really an issue for me.”

  “Consider yourself lucky.” I’d never had a reason to break curfew before, and I knew I hadn’t done anything wrong, but I still felt guilty. The work of my mother, who relentlessly instilled guilt in all things. “Thanks for helping us tonight.”

  “It wasn’t completely awful.” Zoe’s eyes went to the window, and I knew she was thinking about Josh.

  “He likes you, you know.”

  “Who?” I could see her face in the rear view mirror, all blue-eyed innocence.

  “Playing dumb. That means she likes him too.” I gave Nick a questioning look, and he just shrugged. “Just saying.”

  I leaned forward, hugging the wheel. “I think you know who, Zoe, and I think you like him too.”

  Zoe bit her lip. “It wouldn’t work. Can you imagine me hanging out with him and his friends? They would hate me on sight.”

  I felt really sad for her all of a sudden, because I knew she was right. I’d judged her before I knew her, and so would they. “But you had fun with us tonight.”

  She frowned. “You guys are okay, I guess. You just don’t realize what it’s like, but I guess you’ll get a taste of it when Nick is back in solid form.”

  I hadn’t thought about that. I’d gotten used to the way Nick looked, his tattoos and his clothing, but it would still be a shock for my parents and my friends. I’m sure his buddies wouldn’t be delighted with me, either, but he was worth the trouble.

  I met Nick’s eyes across the seat. “If you care about someone enough, none of that matters.”

  Lily Madison, the girl who never rocked the boat, never made waves, never created problems, was willing to do whatever it took just to be with a boy. A sobering thought.

  I felt a little distracted as we pulled onto Mockingbird Lane, so it took a few minutes for my mind to register the fact that all the lights in my house were on and my parents’ cars were in the driveway.

  “Uh, oh,” I said as they burst out of the front door and marched up the driveway.

  “Understatement of the year.” Nick winked at me. “It could be worse, princess.”

  “How?” My dad’s face had turned so red it nearly looked purple.

  “At least they can’t see me in the car. You dad would have a heart attack for sure.” Nick glanced at my boobs popping out of my bustier. “But I think things are bad enough.”

  My parents let Zoe go home, but I endured a complete interrogation in our formal living room while sitting on an antique sofa covered in champagne colored silk. It was hard to sit comfortably on that sofa, and even harder in skin-tight leather. I kept sliding off.

  Nick sat down next to me for moral support. Blobby bounced back and forth between my parents, snuggling against my mom and sitting on my dad’s shoulders. It proved extremely distracting and made it hard to focus on what my parents were saying.

  “When Mrs. Petties called, and the neighbors, and then Jess and Maura’s parents, I couldn’t believe it. Then we come home to find you like this. Are you on drugs?”

  My mother had quite the network of spies in place. She tapped the toe of her ivory colored pump against the oriental carpet on the floor. Her strawberry blonde hair, pulled into its usual chignon, looked a bit disheveled. They’d probably been sitting here for hours, worried that I may have accidently driven into Lake Eugene again. I hadn’t checked my cell phone, but I probably had about a hundred messages from the parental units, and they certainly hadn’t expected me to come home looking like a biker chick. My mother looked nothing like a biker chick. She wore Yves St. Laurent and an extremely peeved expression.

  I shook my head, my long, dangly earrings banging into my cheeks. “Of course I’m not on drugs.”

  My dad, still in his golfing clothes, had a very hard time looking at me. He kept his eyes at a point somewhere above my head as he ran a distracted hand through his short, brown hair. When he glanced at the bustier, he cringed, grabbed his martini glass, and chugged the contents down.

  “Are you a prostitute?”

  My mother and I both answered at the same time. “No!” Nick found it very hard not to laugh.

  My mother grabbed a cardigan from our hall closet and handed it to me. “Cover up and explain yourself.”

  I pulled on the sweater and buttoned it up to my chin. After that, my father looked slightly better. He poured himself another martini and then slumped down into a chair and stared at me.

  “What’s going on, Lily?” he asked.

  I sighed. There was so much to explain. My parents would never understand the ghosts and Nick and everything else. I decided to keep it simple. Not exactly lying, but not burdening them with the whole truth either.

  “I went to an Under Twenty One dance party at The Zone tonight. We saw the Fortuna Brothers perform and just lost track of time. We dressed up like this for fun. As a joke. I’m sorry.”

  “The Fortuna Brothers?” My dad looked confused, but not my mother.

  “You remember them—Johnny, Danny, Tony, Frank and Beetle. They were really popular around here when we were in high school. I saw them in concert...a few times.”

  My mom actually blushed. I turned to Nick, whose shoulders shook in silent laughter. I had trouble containing it myself.

  “Mom, were you a groupie?” As soon as I said it, Nick started laughing out loud. I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from giggling.

  My mom patted her hair, looking completely embarrassed. “I wouldn’t say groupie...”

  “Iris, could we stop talking about your own teenage hijinks and discuss the issue at hand? Lily Anne Madison. You broke curfew and went out dressed like a...” He studied my outfit, including the dog collar, and tried to find words to describe it. He couldn’t. “The point is, you are now grounded. For one month.”

  I opened my mouth to protest, but he held up a hand to stop me. “No room for negotiation or compromise. You will go to school and come home. That’s final. I can’t believe you would do this to us, especially at this time of the year.”

  I had to get rid of a ghost, close the porthole, and find a way to get Nick to go back into his body. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day. I had no time to be grounded. I looked down at my hands and inspiration struck.

  “But what about my appointment with Mr. Wan?” I held up my hands so that they could see my black fingernails. Mother shuddered.

  “You may go to your appointment, but that’s it. You’ll come straight home afterward.”

  “Of course.” I said, telling an outright lie. I was not going to come home after Mr. Wan. I had to go to the hospital to see Nick, or rather, Nick’s body. My parents bought it, though. I’d never lied to them before, so they were incapable of detecting it.

  “Now march yourself up to bed young lady, this minute.” My dad stared at his empty martini glass longingly. I had a feeling he’d be drinking a few more this evening, and I suspected my mother would be joining him. With any luck, they’d sleep in late and I could head off to Mr. Wan’s without having to lie to them again.

  I got to my appointment ten minutes early the next morning. My parents were nowhere to be seen when I left the house. I glanced at my watch. I had an hour and a half before I had to meet the Fortunas at the hospital. Nick came into Wan Fine Lady with me, and Blobby floated just over his head.

  Mr. Wan gasped when he saw my hands. “Black? This is awful. What were you thinking?”

  He immediately set about to remove the black nail polish and massage my hands and feet. It felt really good. I took a deep breath and relaxed. Nick walked around the shop, looking at the Chinese calligraphy paintings on the walls. Blobby sailed around with him.

  “Today I think you are ready to try something new. I have just the thing.” Mr. Wan pulled out a bottle of nail polish in a rich mauve. “It’s called Eiffel for You. I think you will like it.”

  I
’d never used anything quite this purple before, but it suited me. I had on a soft white blouse tucked into a skirt only a shade or two darker than the nail polish. I wore the necklace from Mrs. Chang tucked between my breasts, and a loose, beaded gold belt hanging around my hips. I’d pulled my hair back with a purple ribbon and tied it at the nape of my neck. I’d also slipped on a pair of Mary Janes in the same color as my skirt. A slightly bohemian look for me, but a far cry from how I’d looked last night. My only make-up was a tiny bit of mascara and some lip-gloss.

  When Nick had seen me this morning after I’d dressed, he’d just said, “There’s my girl.” It made my heart sing. He liked the way I looked in my own clothes, although I think he secretly enjoyed the leather too. He came back to sit with me as Mr. Wan finished up.

  “I talked to my friends about you.” Mr. Wan looked up from painting my nails. “I think I have some information that might help that boy we talked about.”

  I leaned forward. “What is it?”

  He paused just a second before reaching for my hand and putting on the second coat. “They think all this is interconnected. Karma made you fall in that lake and die, karma made all those ghosts follow you back, and karma brought this boy to you too. This is your fate. Your destiny.”

  I looked at Nick and swallowed hard. My destiny. I knew it. I also knew I had to fight for him. “Mr. Wan, I think I may have met the soul reaper.” I told him about what had happened to me, the way it had held me down and the way Blobby had saved me. I also told him about Nick.

  “That means your little ghost has a reason for being here still. You have to learn that reason, and find a way to help it go back. But you have to take care of the soul reaper too.”

  “What can I do?”

  Mr. Wan wrote something on a small piece of paper. “First things first, buy this from Mrs. Chang. It will help you get rid of the soul reaper.”

  I squinted at the Chinese writing. “What is it? A magical formula?”

  Mr. Wan shook his head. “No, a candle. It smells like poop. It smells so bad the ghost will want to run away. Even a soul reaper can’t stand the smell of this. But, be careful, Tiger Lily. The soul reaper will not leave without a fight, and it might try to take someone back with it.”