“Not well,” her father answered. “Not at all well.”
***
Sally texted Alison after dinner to tell her about her harrowing chase with the dogs.
OMG! R u ok?
Not really, Sally thought.
Yes. Got inside before they could get me. Weird thing is when Dad went to check they were gone.
She tried to read Ms. Haversham’s assignment on volume, but she could not make herself focus on it.
Why weird?
Sally was confused at first. Why wouldn’t that be weird? Then she realized Alison didn’t understand the dogs had vanished.
They didn’t leave. They disappeared.
She got a quick reply:
:o
She had an equally fast response:
IKR?
She closed her science. She just couldn’t wrap her brain around it with all this going on.
I m really scared, Alison. It’s one thing to dream this stuff. But it was real today, and I almost died.
She got up and paced around her bedroom. She needed to relax, or she was never going to sleep tonight.
Ur not going to die. I promise.
Sally shook her head when she saw the reply. Alison didn’t know that. She wasn’t there today.
U don’t know that.
Once again, she got a reply almost immediately.
Yes, I do. I promise u won’t die.
Sally was about ask how she could be sure, when she got another text.
Ur strong. Believe in yourself. I know u feel weak and scared, but u will see. Ur stronger than u know, and u will b when the time comes.
Sally sighed. What was she supposed to do with those platitudes? Alison had been saying this stuff ever since their encounter with Madame Zelda. Sally had no idea what Alison had seen, and she refused to say. Asking her would only make her mad.
Sally wanted to cry. She was on her own.
***
Sally crested the hill on Parker Drive and saw one of Shakir’s giant dogs waiting for her. She swerved away from it into the middle of the road and started pedaling as fast as she could.
The dog gave chase. She could feel its hot breath on her back, hear its excited panting as it pursued her.
As she raced down the hill, four more dogs joined the chase, emerging from both sides of the road. She managed to stay ahead of them as she picked up speed going downhill, but she was going to run out of room soon. Once she got to the bottom, her advantage would disappear.
As she approached Jordan Avenue, she saw someone standing on the corner, watching. She swung wide, so she could make the turn and realized it was Mr. Pipich. He smiled and waved at her as she went by, the dogs hot on her trail.
She had to shift down to pedal through the woods. The uneven ground and many tree roots were too hard to negotiate at top speed. The dog pack had grown to eight, and they were gaining on her.
She pedaled harder and zoomed by Tommy’s dead body. His eyes were open lifelessly, and blood poured from multiple wounds that several more dogs were licking. When they saw Sally, they joined the chase.
Sally kept pedaling as hard she could, so she wouldn’t end up like Tommy. Seeing him strengthened her fear and her resolve.
She came upon Shakir kneeling over another body. She looked up and growled at Sally, and Sally saw the victim was her father. She turned her head fully to stare. This was the first time she’d dreamed of him. What was happening?
Her bike hit a tree root and sent her sailing. She crashed to the ground and tumbled forward, feeling every bruise as she went. She knew the dogs were gaining on her, so she wasted no time inspecting herself. She got up and started running.
Just ahead was Grandma’s house. She could see it clearly through the mist and the darkness. She could make it if she just pushed.
Running as hard as she could, she got to the door ahead of the dogs. She put her hand on the knob and discovered it was locked. No. This was just like what had happened to Tommy. She shook the knob, pounded on the door.
“Token please,” a voice said to her right.
She turned and saw Mr. Pipich, standing placidly in front of her with a giant smile on his face that was more of a leer. His teeth were enormous. He held out his hand.
“Token please,” he said again.
“But, I don’t have a token,” Sally said.
“Then you’re mine,” Mr. Pipich growled.
He transformed into Shakir and reached for her.
“Noooo!” Sally screamed as she woke up.
She sat straight up in bed. Once again, she was covered in sweat. The sheets were soaked. She shivered violently.
Why was Mr. Pipich in her dreams again? Why was he asking for a token? And what was Shakir doing to her father?
It all made some kind of terrible sense, but Sally could not puzzle it out. The madness frustrated her.
That was it. She couldn’t do this anymore. Tomorrow, she was going to find that coin. She’d put her head together with Alison, force her to tell Sally what she knew if need be. But she was going to find the coin, use it to purchase the key, and end this. She couldn’t stand being terrorized anymore.
Thirteen
Sally didn’t sleep well the rest of the night. Between the frightening images from the nightmare and her determination to finally solve this mystery and put the whole thing to rest, she found it difficult to settle down. Her mind raced, refusing to give away consciousness.
When her alarm went off in the morning, she felt a strange mixture of grogginess and exhilaration. She dragged herself to the bathroom, had a shower, and then went out to eat breakfast.
Her father sat at the kitchen table in his sleepwear, looking depressed. He was unshaven, unbathed, and he had a drink in his hand. Sally gaped at him. She knew her father drank too much, but she’d never seen him start this early!
“Dad, what are you doing?” she said. “You’re going to be late for work, and you can’t go in with alcohol on your breath.”
“I’m not going in,” he said, his voice flat and distant.
Sally’s heart picked up its pace. Something was wrong. Involuntarily, the image of Shakir kneeling over her father from her dream popped into her head.
“Why not,” she asked.
“Because I don’t have a job anymore.”
He didn’t look at her. He stared straight ahead. There was no emotion in his voice. He sipped his drink.
“What?” she said, unable to think of any other response.
“They called this morning,” he said, still not looking at her. “They told me it had been heading this way for some time. Said I wasn’t really pulling my weight. When I brought Tommy in yesterday, that was the final straw. I couldn’t get anything done with him there. They felt it was time for us to go in different directions.”
Sally’s jaw hung open. He got fired because of Tommy?
“They can’t do that!” she said.
“Sure they can,” her father said, his voice still dull. “Who’s going to stop them? They’ll just claim I was doing a bad job. And they’ll be right.”
Sally gazed on him in horror. He was defeated. He’d been depressed for a long time – ever since Mom left – but this was worse. He had totally given away all hope for anything.
“Don’t worry, Dad,” she said. “It’ll be okay. I’m going to fix this.”
He turned and looked at her for the first time. Incredulity and confusion gripped his face.
“How?” he said.
By defeating Shakir. She was going to find the coin, buy the key, and use it to change her destiny. Seeing Tommy and her father in her dreams convinced her this was all connected to the sinister wolf-woman somehow. Sally was going to beat her. She was going to drive her out of their lives. Then things were going to get better.
“You’ll see,” she said.
***
She left early for school. She wanted to have plenty of time to talk to Alison before class.
Her throa
t tightened as she neared the top of the hill on Parker Drive, but there was no dog waiting for her. She gasped with relief and coasted down the backside.
Sally locked up her bike and went to Alison’s locker to wait for her. Alison looked surprised when she got there.
“Holy crap, you got here really early today,” Alison said.
“My dad lost his job,” Sally said.
“What!”
“They called this morning to tell him not to come in.”
“Oh, my god, Sally,” Alison said. “What are you gonna do?”
“We’ve got to find that stupid key,” Sally said. “Madame Zelda told me I can change my destiny with it. Well, I’m gonna change my dad’s destiny too.”
“How do you know you can do that,” Alison asked. “Zelda didn’t tell you that.”
“Well, right now, my destiny is to be the daughter of a man who lost his job,” Sally said. “So I’m gonna change that.”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean making your life better will fix your dad’s,” Alison countered.
“Look,” Sally said, taking a step forward. “Are you on my side or not?”
“Of course I am!”
“Then I don’t want to hear what I can’t do,” Sally said. “I’m fixing this. You can help me, or you can get out of my way.”
Alison looked shocked, but Sally didn’t care. She was well past tired of being pushed around. Whether it was Shakir terrorizing her, Molly bullying her, or Alison not helping enough, she wasn’t taking anyone’s shit anymore.
Alison got her books and then accompanied Sally to her locker. Sally was relieved to see there was no smiley face or other harbinger of her doom on its door today.
“Where’s Brian,” Alison asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, he stops by almost every morning,” Alison said suggestively. “I’m surprised we haven’t seen him yet.”
“Oh, I bet he’ll make an appearance,” Sally said.
“Why?” Alison said, staring at Sally with an inquisitorial look. “What happened yesterday you haven’t told me about?”
“Oh,” Sally said casually, “he kissed me.”
“What! Vous petite salope! You didn’t tell me this last night! What happened?”
“Well, he wanted insight into the ballroom scene, cuz he didn’t get how Romeo could fall so quickly for Juliet when he is supposed to be hung up over this other woman,” Sally explained. “I gave him some advice he liked, and I thought that would be the end of it.
“But then he’s all like, ‘Does it make you nervous we have to kiss?’ And I’m like, ‘No.’”
“Liar.”
“I really wasn’t,” Sally said. “You’ve made it into this big thing, but I only ever thought about it when you brought it up.”
“Uh-huh.”
Alison’s tone suggested she didn’t believe her. Sally ignored it.
“So anyway, rehearsal started, and everything was normal,” Sally said. “So then he walked me to my bike, and as I’m unlocking it, he brings it up again. And he’s saying maybe we should practice, so that, if we’re no good at it, we’ll have time to fix it before the show opens.”
“OMG!” Alison said.
“So of course, I was like, ‘Okay. If you want to.’”
Sally grinned to herself. She felt guilty about acting as though she had been more confident than she was. But it was more fun to tell it this way.
“So?” Alison prodded. “How was it?”
Sally didn’t answer at first. She couldn’t quite admit this and look Alison in the eye. She blushed and examined the floor.
“It was the most wonderful thing ever,” Sally said.
Alison squealed at the top of her lungs. She jumped up and down as she hugged her books to her chest.
“Oh, Sally, that’s incredible,” she said. “I’m so happy for you!”
Sally blushed. It was hard to believe anything that amazing could happen to her, especially with everything else that was going on.
“Hey, Sal,” Brian called out as he approached.
Sally couldn’t help but grin more broadly. Brian’s arrival was perfectly timed.
“What’s happenin’, ladies?” he said as he leaned against the locker wall.
“Nothing,” Sally said. “What’s up with you?”
“Just checkin’ on my favorite girls before class,” he answered.
Favorite girls? He liked Alison just as well? Jealousy crashed through Sally. She’d thought the practice kiss meant something. Maybe she was wrong, though. Maybe it really was just practice.
“You’re so full of it, Brian,” Alison said. “You know you’re only here to see Sally.”
Brian looked embarrassed. He pushed off the wall and put his hands up defensively.
“No, no,” he protested. “I like you too.”
Sally glared at him. He saw it and took a step backwards.
“It’s just that, ya know, I know Sally better and . . .” He tried to come up with something and got nothing.
“Yeah, you like me okay,” Alison said, “but it’s Sally’s locker you stop by in the mornings.”
Brian continued to look embarrassed. Sally watched him try to come up with a reply. His mind was still firing blanks. It was awfully cute, despite the fact that she was mad at him.
“So what are you really doing here?” Sally said.
She smiled at the trap she’d set for him. If he answered, he had to admit he wasn’t here to see his two favorite girls. If he didn’t, he had to come up with another lame excuse about who he liked and how. It was a little cruel, but he’d pissed her off, and once again, she was through taking people’s shit.
“Well,” he admitted, “I was sort of hoping you could help me with the garden scene after school.”
“Wherefore art thou, Romeo?” she quoted.
“In deep doo-doo and trying to get out,” Brian quipped.
Sally laughed. Whatever else he was, Brian was still insanely cute.
“It’s a date,” Sally said. “See you after school.”
His broad, white-teethed smile returned immediately. He started off down the hall.
“See you ladies later,” he said. “I’ve gotta get to homeroom and brush up on my current events. It’s Wednesday.”
“Oh, shit,” Sally said. “I forgot it was current events day in social studies!”
“Relax,” Alison said. “I watched the news last night. I’ll catch you up in homeroom.”
“Thank God,” Sally said. “I could not handle another failure in Mr. Frank’s class.”
They hurried off to homeroom, so they’d have plenty of time to study.
***
Sally listened with fascination as Mr. Pipich read William Blake’s “The Tyger” aloud.
“When the stars threw down their spears / And water’d heaven with their tears: / Did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the Lamb make thee? Tyger, Tyger, burning bright, In the forests of the night: What immortal hand or eye / Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?”
Mr. Pipich fell silent. He said nothing at first, taking his customary dramatic pause.
“Now let’s consider something important here,” Mr. Pipich said. “This poem is part of the larger work, Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Every poem in ‘Songs of Innocence’ has a mirror poem in ‘Songs of Experience.’ So this poem has to have a match from ‘Songs of Innocence.’ Anyone want to guess what it is?”
Sally flipped through her table of contents and found the answer right away. She raised her hand.
“Yes, Sally,” Mr. Pipich said, calling on her.
“‘The Lamb?’” she said.
“Very good,” he said. “It is ‘The Lamb.’ So let’s take a look at it.” He waited for them to turn pages. “‘Little Lamb, who made thee?’ Blake writes. And when he gives the answer, he writes, ‘He is meek & he is mild.’
“But if we look at ‘The Tyger,’ we see Blake ask, ‘Did he who made the
Lamb make thee?’ Now that seems a significant question, wouldn’t you agree?”
No one answered. Mr. Pipich gazed over the class.
“Anyone want to venture a guess as to why?”
There was another pause. Brad Wesley raised his hand.
“Yes, Brad.”
“Because it’s God?” Brad said.
“Yes!” Mr. Pipich said. “Very good, Brad.
“So in ‘The Lamb,’ Blake claims it was God who made the lamb, and in ‘The Tyger,’ he asks if it could be the same creator. Blake can’t understand how the same God who made the gentle lamb could also have made the fierce tiger.
“Moreover, he writes, ‘What immortal hand or eye / Dare frame thy fearful symmetry.’ So he seems to be questioning God, doesn’t he?”
There were a smattering of nods. Not everyone wanted to commit.
Sally understood, though. Being menaced by Shakir and bullied by Molly was enough to make her doubt God’s benevolence.
“Now, let’s look at one more thing,” Mr. Pipich said. “‘The Lamb’ is a Song of Innocence. ‘The Tyger’ is a Song of Experience. Experience frequently destroys innocence, right? We grow up and find out the things we believed as children are not necessarily true. So in ‘The Tyger,’ Blake seems to be suggesting that God is not meek and mild as he’s often portrayed.”
The bell rang, interrupting Mr. Pipich’s point. The class got up as one.
“Okay, we’ll pick it up here tomorrow,” Mr. Pipich called. “Meanwhile, don’t forget your topics for your papers are due Friday. Make sure you’re working on those.”
Sally started to head for the door. Mr. Pipich caught her eye and signaled for her to come over to his desk.
Shit, she thought. What was this about?
She shuffled over to his desk. He put down his textbook and sat.
“Hey, I just wanted to see how you were doing,” he said.
“I’m fine,” she said, as though his question made no sense.
“Are you sure?” he said. “You were pretty upset the other day in rehearsal, and pretty evasive afterwards. I want to make sure everything is all right, especially at home.”
Little Red Riding Hoodie: A Modern Fairy Tale Page 16
