by Travis McBee
“Since when have you been French?” he asked her and looked at her properly for the first time.
She was wearing an incredible red sundress which allowed a pair of long white legs, which were reaching down carefully to the ground, to be seen. Will realized it was the first time he had ever seen more skin than that around her hands and face, he decided quite quickly that he enjoyed seeing the delicate skin that was exposed on her legs and arms which hung so dainty by her side. Around her neck a pale chain of pure silver held a startling ruby the size of a nickel against her throat.
“I’m afraid she’s not French,” Will’s father said as he approached the scene, “Is that the vocor?” he added pointing towards the ruby around her neck.
“Wi, eet ees very uncomfortable. I eetch quite a bit whenever I speak,”
“Ah yes I guess they’ll figure that out soon enough, when I left they hadn’t even gotten the things to work properly yet so we can’t expect it to be perfect. I’m Steven by the way, Will’s father, and I take it you are the enchanting Abigail he has told me so much about?”
“Eet is a pleasure, but please call me Abby,” she said and attempted and nearly pulled off a pleasant little curtsey.
“Um…sorry to interrupt but Earth boy here could use a translation,” Will said turning from his father to his girlfriend
His father turned from exchanging a beaming smile with Abby and looked at Will who looked as confused as Jessica taking an SAT.
“Well Will since the beautiful Miss Abby here doesn’t speak English she has to wear that dandy little necklace which is called a vocor. It’s a neat little gadget that intercepts the commands her brain sends to the voice box, lips and tongue and translates them into English for her.”
“Sounds uncomfortable.” Will commented with a grimace as he imagined losing control of his face, “But why does she talk with a French accent?”
“Well it has been known to glitch from time to time and if she uses an accent people will be more apt to dismiss it, and I figured since you went to school in England a beautiful French girlfriend would look more, ah, interesting to your friends here,” His father explained with a guilty smile.
“So it was your idea?” Will asked with an indecipherable look on his face.
“Why yes, yes it was. Ingenious huh?” His father puffed out his chest looking proud.
“I worry about you sometimes pops,” Will said and laughed at his father.
“So how do you understand what we’re saying? Does it work in reverse?” He asked Abby.
“Oh seely boy,” She replied rubbing his face with the palm of her hand, “I ‘ave my lingus in steell,” She pointed toward her ear and Will thought he could glimpse the small flesh colored device deep in her ear.
Will grabbed her hand that was rubbing his face and laced his fingers through hers. He glanced at his dad who was smiling down at the two of them.
“Shall we go home?” His father asked.
“What about the pod?” Will asked staring at the silver glint of the space craft, “Kinda suspicious thing to have hanging around,”
“Oh yes! I almost forgot!” Abby squealed
She climbed back into the pod and reemerged with a suitcase which Will’s dad took from her and began to walk back to the car. Abby reached into the small purse, that Will noticed dangling around her shoulder for the first time, and extracted her micro. She pressed a finger to it and the pod hummed and took off into the air in a whirl of wind and a streak of light.
“Well let’s go,” Will said and started to walk across the field towards the car leading Abby by her hand.
“What ees zat zing?” Abby whispered into Will’s ear as she looked incredulously at the car when they drew near it.
“Ha-ha it’s a car, kind of like a pod,” Will replied stroking his thumb along hers as he held her hand.
“Ees eet safe?” She asked her eyes darting along the fast lines of the bright orange car.
“Eh, not when my father drives,” Will replied as absently as if talking about the weather.
Abby’s eyes widened in fear and Will pretended he didn’t notice as he helped her into the car. Unfortunately for Abby, Steven Haynes had picked up on the joke and decided to add a little of his own humor on the way home.
Chapter Sixteen
Food, friends, and food again
By the time the trio arrived at the modest house on Park Avenue, to find Will’s mother waiting on them, Abby was trembling with fear in the back seat, clutching Will’s arm for protection. When she felt the soft bump as the car came to a full stop she let out a frightened yelp and looked up at Will.
“Ees eet over?” she asked him with her eyes opened wide
“Yes babe,” He said smiling at her.
“Good,” She sighed and when Will folded the seat down for her she clambered out as quick as a cat, “Zat zing ees a deaf trap,”
“I agree with you honey,” A sweet voice said from behind them.
Will turned around and saw his mother walking nimbly down the front path. She had already changed out of her smart business suite and was instead wearing a green sundress that clashed with Abby’s red one to make Will feel like Christmas had found its way into July.
“Mom Abby, Abby mom,” Will said making the rather pointless introduction
“It’s good to meet you dear,” His mom chimed happily at Abby, “I hope my husband didn’t scare you too badly,” she added casting a sideways glare at Steven who was carrying Abby’s suitcase into the house.
“Not too bad,” Abby lied flashing a small smile.
“Well I’m glad to see that the vocor works although I just do not understand why Steven insisted on a French accent.” Will’s mom said glancing at the ruby that hung around Abby’s neck.
Will’s mom turned him and said, “You left this here,” she held up his cell phone, “It’s been going crazy I think you should reply to some of your friends,”
She handed the phone to Will and the three of them followed Steven into the house. Will flipped his phone open and saw he had five missed calls and thirteen unread text messages.
“What ees zat?” Abby asked looking at the phone
“It’s called a cell phone, it’s a lot like a micro,” Will told her as he examined his inbox, “Would you like to meet one of my friends? He seems really desperate to talk to me.”
“Sure,” she replied smiling, “I want to meet all of your friends and see theese planeet of yours.”
She smiled and grabbed Will’s hand again. Will glanced around the street and seeing it deserted leaned down and kissed Abby lightly.
“I saw that,” Will’s father chuckled from the doorway and Abby blushed to a red as deep as her dress.
* * *
“Dude you didn’t tell me she was French!” Mike whispered to him as they watched Abby skirt along the edge of the room toward the bathroom, “You also didn’t say she was coming. You are turning into one mysterious man.”
Will finished the gulp of cola he had been drinking and set the glass down.
“Yeah well I’m sorry. I forget how much you don’t know and I didn’t know she was coming, she surprised me,”
They were sitting in Lee’s karts and Arcade huddled up around the remains of what, twenty minutes ago, had been a delicious pizza. Will enjoyed having pizza for the second time in as many nights and he could tell that Abby had thoroughly approved of Earth food so far by the light that went on in her eyes at the first bite.
They had met up with Mike thirty minutes ago and Will had made the introduction between the two. He had come close to laughing at Mike’s overloaded reaction. Mike had never met anyone from farther away than Birmingham except for Will’s parents and even then he didn’t know just how far away they were from.
“So what do you think of her?” Will asked seriously.
“She’s pretty darn cool,” Mike replied with a smile, “Not as pretty as you made out but she’s definitely cute. I approve of her man,” He adde
d hurriedly after seeing Will’s eyes drop in what could have been anger.
“What do your parents think of her?” Mike asked
“They seem to like her so far,” Will answered taking a sip from the cold soda that sat in front of him, “They haven’t really been around her that much yet though,” he added.
Mike was going to ask another question and judging by how he fell silent when he saw Abby returning Will guessed it was about her.
Abby walked back in her usual graceful saunter but her head kept turning to allow her eyes to investigate the rather bland and ordinary room that was the dining room of Lee’s. Her face bore an expression of curiosity and amazement that was seldom seen on the face of anybody past the age of three. Mike noticed her overt curiosity and smiled at her when she retook her seat.
“Not have many places like this in France?” he asked her with a smile
“Wha- oh no!” She returned, “I ‘ave never seen anything like this. It ees amazing!”
“I don’t think it’s quite worthy of the term amazing,” Mike laughed looking around the crowded dump, “Where do yall hang out where you’re from?” he added
Abby’s mouth began to bob up and down in a fair imitation of a goldfish as she tried to come up with an answer to his question. She wasn’t from France after all and Mike probably knew French culture ten times as well as she did. Will saw his girlfriend’s plight and interceded.
“Ever ridden a go-kart Abby?” He asked her.
“A what?” she asked squinting her eyes together in an expression of adorable befuddlement.
Will grinned at Mike who smiled and rubbed his hands together menacingly.
“Weell! Please slow down! Zis zing scares me!” Abby cried out as Will ripped the small cart around a turn and shot down the straight away like a cork from a bottle.
Abby was riding shotgun in one of the two seater go-karts that Lee’s managed to procure a few summer previous. They were highly sought after by the teenagers since they were brand new and easily the fastest carts on the track. Abby’s dark red hair was crammed into one of the absurdly yellow helmets that were available at the little dock where they boarded the cart, and her hands were clinging white knuckled to the small handle that was fastened to the wall of the small vehicle.
Next to them Mike was pattering along in one of the smoky relics that made up the majority of the small fleet of go-karts. Will glanced over at Mike who was grinning maliciously. Mike jerked the wheel of his ride as hard as he could and slammed it into the side of Will and Abby’s cart. Abby let loose a comical scream that could have been mistaken for the squeal of an infant and clung even more desperately to the handle beside her.
Will goosed the accelerator and the black and yellow go-kart thundered down the track passing Mike with ease. Up ahead the bored worker who had waved a green flag to start their race was now halfheartedly waving a tattered checkered flag that looked like it might have been made from the remains of an old table cloth.
Will streaked over the black line that had been spray painted onto the concrete of the racetrack where the teenager was lazily waving the flag.
“Alright we won Abby!” he said smiling over at Abby who was still clutching the handle in fear.
She leaned close to Will and for a second he thought he was going to kiss him, instead she whispered in his ear, “I ‘ate your Earth machines,”
Will laughed and pulled the Earth machine into the alcove which was bordered on the right side by a wooden deck that appeared to be rotting away in multiple places. He pulled to a stop and waited for the traditional bumps as the racers behind him failed to utilize their brakes. They came without fail and Abby, who had not been expecting them, yelped in alarm as she had done for most of her ride in gas powered machines.
Will unfastened his seat belt and waited for Abby to do the same so that they could exit through the right side. Abby however was struggling mightily in removing the little silver hands that held her securely to her seat. She was muttering frantically under her breath and trying to force the two ends of the seat belt apart without bothering with the latch at all.
“Here babe,” Will said and reached across and liberated her from her constraints with a casual tug on the latch.
“Zanks,” Abby muttered before flinging herself out of the go-kart and onto the decaying deck. Will pounced out after her feeling mildly amused and extremely happy.
“How’d you like that bump I gave you?” Mike called out as he exited his ride which was parked three back.
“I’ve seen better,” Will laughed back
“Zat was mean! I could ‘ave been ‘urt,” Abby pouted at him.
She had removed the cheap helmet and her dark red hair streamed past her shoulders and caught the cheap light of the fluorescent bulbs over head. Her knees were swaying back and forth as if they could barely support her weight and her lips were pursed together like a genuinely pissed off French woman.
“Sorry Abby,” Mike said kindly with a smile, “Just had to give you the full American experience.”
“It is okay. Just no more go-karts or scary zings anymore?” She looked at Will who smiled and nodded then at Mike who did the same.
Mike glanced down at his watch as they approached the main building and sighed, “I’ve got to go. Mom said not to stay out too late. I have to be back before she finishes amazing race.” He grimaced.
Will glanced at his watch and replied hastily, “Yeah us too, see ya around man.”
“See ya.”
* * *
Will and Abby walked back to Will’s house without saying much of anything. They held hands and Abby stared at the moon which was shining as full and bright as a spot light over head.
“Eet ees beautiful,” She whispered softy, “I wish we ‘ad a moon,”
“Yeah it’s pretty cool isn’t it?” Will replied glancing up at a sight he had taken for granted his entire life.
They didn’t talk again for the rest of the short walk to the house on Park Avenue and they turned up the path to the house which was casting long shafts of light onto the green lawn from the living room windows. Will tried the door when he got up to it and wasn’t surprised to find it unlocked. He depressed the catch and pushed the door open to the gentle embrace of the cool air-conditioned atmosphere of the house.
“Will is that you?” His mom called from the living room
“No mom, just some burglar about to rob you,”
“Oh very funny,” His mom replied as he pulled the door closed after following Abby through.
“Come in here dear,” His mom called again.
Will walked into the living room still holding Abby’s hand and feeling like a million bucks. His dad was relaxing in his recliner watching the evening news and his mother was reading one of those gossip magazines, that are so popular amongst middle age women, from the comfort of the opposite chair. Will plopped down on the couch next to Abby and leaned back with a gratuitous sigh of relief as the days adventures began to weight on him in massive bouts of sleepiness.
“How was your day?” His mom asked smiling as she laid the magazine in her lap.
“Oh eet was amazing!” Abby replied excitedly, “Will ‘as such nice friends although I do not care for zeese go-karts.”
Will’s mom glared at him lowering her head so that he was looking at the top of her head mostly.
“You took her on those death traps?” She asked him in a ‘why would you do such a thing’ tone.
“Yep! She loved them too, didn’t ya Abby?” Will said brightly looking towards at Abby who couldn’t help but smile at his infectious humor.
“No, but I am glad that I deed ride zem. My brother will be so jealous when ee ‘ears.”
“Well I’m glad he didn’t scare you too badly,” His mother said dissolving her face that usually foretold a solid scolding, “By the way Will, what do you want for your birthday?” she added turning to look at him once again.
“My birthday! Wow I almost forgot abou
t that.” Will replied in amazement at his amnesia over such an important event, “Um I don’t know. I can’t really take anything with me can I?”
“We’ll think of something if you don’t want anything specific then.” She replied quickly, “Now off to bed you two it’s late. Abby you’ll be staying in the guest room Will will show you where it is.”
“Zank you Mizzes Haynes,” Abby replied with a smile and a yawn.
“Night yall,” Will yawned to his parents as Abby’s had infected him.
“Good night.”
“Night.”
Will stood up and walked out of the room closely followed by Abby. He led her down the dimly lit hall and pointed her through the door of the guest room whose light he ignited with a flick of the light switch.
“Zanks Will,” She chimed and kissed him lightly.
“Good night Abby,” he said with lips still tingling from the kiss.
“Night night,” She replied and kissed him again.
Will didn’t have any troubles going to sleep that night and within seconds of laying his head on the pillow his mind drifted away. It didn’t drift far though because the object of his fascination was only yards away. As far as Will was concerned though, that was still entirely too far.
* * *
Those slow summer days were happy ones for Will and the most amazing of Abby’s short life. They spent the days meandering around the town picking out something new for Abby to experience each day. One day they went bowling, and Abby enjoyed it immensely although she laughed hysterically at the premise of the game when Will first explained it to her. He even drug her down to the Gatehouse Theater and they sat through a cheesy alien movie. She began laughing hysterically when the first little green Martian showed up and didn’t stop until they had made it outside. Whenever they were out Will would introduce her to any of his friends that they came across and the general consensus among them was that Abby was pretty darn cool.
That was a feeling that wasn’t unanimously felt however because on their third day together they were eating lunch in the crowded park when who should show up but Jessica Hawk. Jessica didn’t take too kindly to Will’s earlier rejection of her and seeing him with another girl set her over the edge like a bull stuck in a red curtain factory. She raged and screamed and used several choice expletives against Abby who remained unfazed by the event. Eventually the two were forced to abdicate the park and even then Jessica attempted to follow them until a group of Will’s friends converged on her and shepherded her away. Abby had broken down into laughter at the sighting of Will’s ex and didn’t even bother to think about being either threatened or jealous. Who could be threatened or jealous of a raving lunatic after all?
