"Akamaz. Yet gheni. Ivixi me."
The little boy nodded and the two began to scan the marsh and the surrounding woodland for any intruder.
Ashley hunkered down so only her face poked above the waterline. Pond scum clung to her chin. It smelled rank. She fought to keep herself from gagging.
The man shuffled away, walking towards the trees. The boy approached the marsh, scanning the wall of bamboo for any movement.
Ashley held her breath. She didn't budge, certain that the boy would have no chance of spotting her. He stared in her general direction and then straight at her.
Their eyes locked on one another.
"Aluska sahbai!" The boy shouted. He drew a knife from his belt and jumped into the marsh thicket. "Yadowe conduita!"
Ashley bolted, knocking the bamboo out of her way, panting, kicking, trying to make it to deeper water. The marsh turned into a bog of thick muck and her feet became stuck. As she struggled to pull them out of the mud, the boy and man caught up to her.
"Please!" She put her hands in front of her face, cowering. "I was hungry! Don't hurt me!"
The man looked fearsome. A human skull was tattooed onto half of his face. The jaw bones of a giant, lion-like cat capped both of his shoulders. He reached back and handed a three pointed axe to the boy, gesturing to Ashley, goading the boy to use it.
"Yakuwa conduita Kaos. Diende Akamaz. Mete som."
The little boy raised the axe for a death blow.
Ashley cringed, expecting her skull to be crushed by its hammer point. She noticed strange markings on the boy's hand. All of his hand bones had been tattooed onto his skin like an anatomical model.
The man with the skeleton hand.
"Stop!" She screamed. "You know who I am! You - you protect me! Don't hurt me!"
The boy lowered the axe and stared at Ashley, mouth agape. At that moment, she shifted back to her bedroom.
5.
-Whanthral-
(Addiction)
Ashley walked up to Mr. Maletski's classroom. He was the art teacher at New Pawnee High, and Lucy was his favorite student. After classes were over, Lucy would spend several hours alone in his classroom, drawing, painting, or sculpting in clay.
Earlier in the day, she'd invited Ashley to join her there after school.
Ashley watched from the doorway as Lucy scribbled on canvas. She was painting with a stick of black charcoal, filling the art room with delicate scraping noises. Ashley walked over to her and stared down at her artwork.
"What are you drawing?"
Lucy put the finishing touches on a vase of flowers, fine tuning the edges of each petal, and deeply etching a dragon into the side of the vase. The charcoal ground down to dust on the thick paper.
"You can't tell? It's a vase. Like Van Gough's Sunflowers." Lucy glanced over at Ashley, playfully frowning. She reached up and ran her finger across Ashley's bottom eyelid, smearing it with charcoal dust.
Ashley dabbed her eye and stared at her blackened fingertip.
"Why'd you do that?"
"So you'll fit in at our lunch table." Lucy giggled. "Add some eyeliner and dark clothes and you'll look just like Jamie. I'll make you emo soon – you'll see."
Ashley grabbed a sheet of paper and a pack of colored pencils. She sat down opposite Lucy and began scribbling.
"I don't really know how to do makeup," She muttered, absorbing herself in her drawing. "At the Youth Center they never allowed me to have any. I'd use graphite from pencils – pen ink – that sort of stuff – but they made me wash it off. . .and it never looked pretty."
"Kayla won't teach you?"
"No. I don't think she's comfortable with who I am. I embarrass her."
"Then she's just insecure about herself. You're unique. I think individuality is beauty." Lucy smiled. She blew the excess dust off her canvas. "You should wear more makeup though. It will soften your face. Make you more feminine. I'll help you with it, sometime."
Both girls continued to draw, silently, for several minutes. Ashley worked at a quick, yet deliberate pace. Lucy finished her piece first and stood up, trying to see how her sketch looked from a distance.
"How'd you know I'm a boy?"
Lucy blushed at the question, but then laughed it off.
"You're passable, if that's what you mean. I couldn't tell just by looking at you. But I measured your body and spent a while looking at your face while we were in the car. I guess it was your bone structure. Makeup would help with that. That and you were so naive about clothes and fashion. A girl should know those things."
Ashley nodded but didn't look up.
"Have you thought about taking hormones?" Lucy walked over to the sink and washed the charcoal off her hands. "Or getting surgery?"
"They won't let me take hormones." Ashley's tongue involuntarily poked out of the corner of her mouth as she continued to draw. "They said hormones make you really emotional, and I'm already too unbalanced."
"Yup. Estrogen can suuuck. . . .at least you don't get periods."
Lucy towel dried her hands and then walked up behind Ashley, staring down at what she was drawing.
"Jesus."
"What?"
In just a few minutes, Ashley had sketched out a picture of a man and a woman in a marsh of yellow bamboo. The woman was huddled down in the water, wearing a gossamer dress. The man looked like a caveman. His face and limbs were riddled with tattoos, and his clothing was bleached bones and bear skins.
"You drew that so fast." Lucy stammered. "And it's really good, too. Amazing."
"I used to draw all the time at the Youth Center." Ashley picked up a green pencil and began to add wisps of algae to the marsh's edge. "But whenever they found my drawings they'd take them away. . . .so I got good at drawing quickly."
"Why'd they take them away?"
"They said they weren't good for my recovery. That I was thinking too much about the things I drew. . . .Obsessing."
"That's crap," Lucy sniffed. "Juvie sounds awful. No drawing, no music, no choice in what you get to eat or wear. I wouldn't last long there. I'd hang myself with a bed sheet."
Ashley didn't respond.
Lucy leaned in closer. Her hair brushed against Ashley's shoulder.
"Where'd you get the idea for this?"
"A dream."
Lucy pointed at the woman squatting down in the marsh. Her facial expression was contorted. Fearful. She was cringing. Her dress was soaked, yet still looked light and airy.
"Who's she?"
"Ashna."
"Is she. . .like you?"
"Yeah."
"Is she afraid of that guy?" Lucy moved her finger onto the other figure. He was reaching his arm out to Ashna, offering her his hand.
"Sort of." Ashley squinted. "She – she doesn't understand him. She doesn't know what he wants from her, or what he is, so she's scared."
"What's his name?"
"I don't know. He is the man with the skeleton hand." Ashley used her pencil to trace a tattoo she had sketched onto his palm.
"The man with the skeleton hand," Lucy repeated. "Creepy. You're really good. The high school does an art show every December. You should enter something. Maybe this? You could win a hundred dollars."
Ashley put down her pencil and studied her drawing. Suddenly, she grabbed the paper and violently crinkled it into a ball.
"I draw for me." She tossed the paper into a wastebasket. "It helps calm me down. Keeps me focused. I don't want anyone judging it. It would be like they're judging me."
Lucy went wide-eyed, visibly taken aback that Ashley would so casually destroy her creation.
"What are you doing later tonight?"
"Nothing."
"Do you want to go to a party?"
"A party?" Ashley balked.
"Parties are fun – not scary," Lucy scolded her with a teasing tone. "Mike from our lunch table is friends with a major stoner, Bobby Weiss. Bobby's parents are always out somewhere on vacation, so he has their house t
o himself. He throws wicked parties every week. Come with me."
"I wasn't invited."
"I'm inviting you now. No one will care. It's not exclusive or anything. Just a bunch of high school kids drinking and hanging out. You don't have to drink if you don't want to. Just talk and show off that outfit I picked out for you. The pink turtle neck."
Ashley felt a pit forming in her stomach but nodded anyway.
"Okay. I have to be home by nine though, or my stepdad will be really angry."
***
Lucy picked Ashley up early in the evening and carefully wound her way through the cookie cutter developments of New Pawnee. She parked down the block from Bobby's house. His driveway and front yard were cluttered with cars. Before the girls got out, Lucy flipped on the dome light and motioned for Ashley to lean into her.
"What?"
"I'm going to do your makeup." Lucy reached into the glove box and pulled out a compact and pencil. "Nothing major. Just some foundation and eyeliner."
Ashley closed her eyes as Lucy powdered her face. It felt like she was being painted, except the paint didn't dry out her skin. The eyeliner pencil massaged her eyelids. Lucy quickly finished with the eyeliner and pulled out a miniscule brush for mascara, putting on a few finishing touches.
"See?" She pulled down the passenger makeup mirror so Ashley could see herself. "You look a lot better."
Ashley was shocked by her appearance. The foundation rounded out her cheeks and the eye makeup diverted attention from her forehead and jaw line. She looked feminine.
"You're really good at makeup."
"I've been practicing since I was six." Lucy opened the car door. "Like I said, I'll teach you sometime. But not tonight. Come on. You're my date."
Ashley followed Lucy up to the front door. Music blared from inside the house as well as a cacophony of high-pitched, giggly chatter. The girls didn't even knock before going in. The door was unlocked.
On the other side was a crowd of teenagers.
"Lucy!" A girl in the foyer hugged her the moment she walked in. She glanced over at Ashley. "Who's she?"
"That's Ashley. She's new in school. I'm showing her around. This is Debbie."
"Hi." Ashley shyly waved at the blond. She followed Lucy through the house as she said her hellos, slowly making her way to the kitchen.
Bobby Weiss's parents were rich. There were sculptures in every hallway of their house, sitting on high pedestals. Ashley was surprised no one had knocked them over, as everyone seemed to be drunk. The artwork was ultra-modern, geometric designs. Cubism done in clay and copper.
All the floors in the house were hardwood with beautiful oriental throw rugs. Ashley tripped over them as she followed Lucy deeper inside, still not used to walking in high wedges.
A little chow-chow greeted the girls as they zigzagged through the house. The dog sniffed Ashley's hand and then quickly scurried away with a fearful whimper.
When the girls entered the living room, Ashley smelled something pungent. She scanned the area and saw the redhead from David's car and two other boys sitting on the couch, smoking from a glass bong. The glasswork was very pretty. Intricate swirls of blue, red, and yellow snaked up its sides. The redhead leaned forward and exhaled a cloud of blue-grey smoke. While his mouth was open, Ashley could see a whanthral wiggling on his tongue.
Whanthrals made Ashley gag. Plumb-sized leeches that clung to the inside of the mouth, they had no eyes, limbs, or color, only a small mouth full of spiky, microscopic suckers.
"That's Bobby," Lucy pointed to the redhead before ushering Ashley into the kitchen. She went up to the refrigerator and opened it.
Ashley continued to study the house. The kitchen had a breakfast nook, and four boys were sitting there, playing cards. There was a pile of blue and white chips in the center of the table.
A pair of girls were standing behind them, watching the game. Someone brushed his way past them, walking toward Lucy.
Ashley recognized him from before.
Nick.
"Here." Lucy tried to hand Ashley a beer behind her back.
"I don't want to drink. I'm on too many meds." Ashley swallowed her spit. "They could have some weird reaction."
"I'll take it." Nick mischievously snatched the bottle from her. He twisted the cap off and flicked it onto the kitchen counter.
"Hey, Nick." Lucy smiled. "That's-"
"Ashley." Nick didn't let her finish. "We met before. Dave gave 'er a ride to school. Kayla's sister."
Ashley nodded.
"Where's Kayla?" Nick took a gulp of the beer. "I'm surprised she didn't come out. She's always here for Bobby's parties."
"I dunno." Ashley shrugged. "We don't really talk to each other."
"Why's that?"
Lucy stepped away. Ashley went to follow her, like her puppy, but Lucy stopped her with a head shake.
"I'm just going to the bathroom. I'll be back." Lucy tittered. "Blend in. Have fun. It's a party, Ashley."
Ashley watched Lucy disappear around a corner. She felt like she'd been cast adrift. She bit down on her tongue. Crestfallen.
"Why don't you en' Kayla talk?" Nick repeated.
"Umm." Ashley turned back to him. His breath smelled ripe and rottenly sweet. "We just never really got along. We're a lot different. She grew up without me, mostly."
Nick played with the silver chain hanging around his neck, interlacing it in his fingers. "Tha's cool. Bobby and I are neighbors. How'd yah know him?"
"I don't. Lucy invited me here. I don't know anyone."
"Lucy's a cool girl. Really dark though. She's into some weird shit." Nick giggled. He swayed a little. "I never gotta ask you before – wuz juvie like?'
"Bad." Ashley's voice crackled like falling gravel. "It was awful."
"Really?" Nick leaned back against the fridge. Ashley realized he was drunk. His face was red and sweaty. "I thought girl-juvie would be like boarding school. Pillow fights and teaching each other how to kiss and do makeup."
"The fights were real." Ashley pointed to a white scar on the right side of her jaw, holding her chin up so it was visible. "See that? I got my jaw broken."
"Shit!" Nick's eyes bugged out. He examined the scar closely. "Did you get into a lot of fights?"
"In the beginning."
"Gotta prove yourself. Beat bitches up." Nick giggled again. He went to take another sip of his beer but then offered it to Ashley instead. "Yah sure you don't want any? Have one. It's a party."
"No. I'm on medication and-"
"Have yah ever drank before?"
"No."
"Then take a sip, just for the taste." Nick, again, offered the bottle. "The experience."
Ashley reluctantly took the beer. It was piss yellow. She took a very shallow sip. Bubbles tingled on her tongue. The beer had the feel of soda, but was overwhelmingly bitter.
"It's awful." She handed it back to him.
"You gotta get used to it. Eventually ya'll like it. On game days, my dad and older brothers can go through like a whole case in an hour."
Ashley scanned the hallway, still waiting for Lucy to return. She felt ditched, but was at least having a conversation with someone, instead of standing in a corner by herself.
"Do you play poker?" Nick motioned to the boys sitting at the breakfast nook. "I called the next game. You can play with me. Advise me."
Ashley sunk inside of herself. She really wanted to track Lucy down but thought that would look pathetic.
"I don't know how to play poker."
Nick put his hand on Ashley's arm. She instinctively tensed. His hand was sweaty and unnaturally warm. She wanted to pull away at first, but the physical contact was strangely comforting. He began to caress her skin, tickling her elbow.
"You're really, really shy." He stared into her eyes. "That's cool you came out tonight, and that you're trying new things. . .like beer. Most shy girls are really narrow minded. Prissy. But I like you. You're different."
"Thanks." Ashley r
eached up and nervously twirled her hair. "This – this is my first party."
"I can tell." Nick leaned in even closer, so they were almost touching noses. He let go of Ashley's arm and put his hand on the side of her waist, poking a finger through her belt loop. "I bet ya've never been kissed either."
The Book of the Nine Ides Page 5
