"What was the final straw?" he asked.
Again, Mary chose her words carefully. "I came home from school one day. Just like normal. She was in the kitchen chopping up some vegetables for dinner. I came behind her to kiss her on the cheek like I normally do. But I scared her. And when she saw me, she didn't recognize me. She started screaming, asking me how I broke into the apartment and stuff. She still had the knife she was chopping with." She paused.
Carter asked quietly, "What happened?"
Rather than answer with words, Mary reached up and pulled the collar of her shirt down a little, revealing a thin pink line just under her collarbone.
His eyes grew wide.
Mary replaced her collar. "She didn't cut anything important. A neighbor had heard the screaming and came to see what was going on. When he saw the blood and the knife, he got me out of the apartment and went next door to call 911. We had forgotten to make sure she had taken her medication that day. Mom took some time off of work to take care of her, but she was running out of vacation time. Then Ba said that she wanted to live at Agape so that we wouldn't have to look after her. Mom and I tried to talk her out of it, but she had made up her mind. A couple months later, she moved there, and we moved into the apartment where we're at now for the cheaper rent."
Carter stared at her for a moment. He looked off to the side, as if he was trying to remember something. "You never said anything to anyone at school."
She shrugged. "No one needed to know."
"But you were hurt."
"I don't like other people in my business."
He was quiet for a moment. "I understand now why you don't like instability. You have enough of it with the people you care about. You don't need more from others."
Neither of them spoke for the rest of the trip. A little while later, they came to the stop near Mary's apartment and got off.
"Well, thanks for coming along," Mary said. "And sorry about the thing at the café."
"No need to apologize," he said. "Thank you for inviting me."
"Have big plans for the weekend?" she asked.
He looked skyward. "There will be a meteor shower tonight."
"Really?" she asked. "Will it be early? The roof is a really great place to watch…uh, that is, if you want to watch it from there."
He kept looking up for a moment. Then he turned his eyes back to her. "I think I had better pass. But thank you."
"No problem," she said. "Well, I guess I'll see you at school."
"Mary?"
"Yes?"
"Was this evening…a date?"
She thought for a moment. "Um, I don't think so."
"Why not?"
She laughed. "People don't generally bring their grandmothers on dates."
"Oh," he said. "So it's a date if it were just you and me?"
"I guess."
"Then, can we go on a date?"
She wrinkled her brow. "Huh?"
"Can we go on a date?" he repeated.
"You mean…just you and me?"
He nodded.
A myriad of excuses suddenly shot through Mary's head. She had homework. But what if he didn't ask on a school night? She had a lot of homework. She had chores. She had to shave the cat. Did people even shave cats? She'd never had one, so she didn't know.
"When?" she finally managed.
"How about Saturday night?"
Wow, that soon.
"Uh…"
"You don't have to if you don't want to," he said.
"No! I mean, not that I don't want to." She took a deep breath. "But why?"
He smiled. "I like being around you."
"Other than at school?"
"Let me rephrase. I like being with you."
More excuses came to mind.
"Your silence is difficult to interpret," he said.
"Sorry, I'm just thinking of what I have to do. I was thinking of—" cleaning out the fridge. "Or, I think I have to—" refinish the kitchen cabinets. "What I mean is, I was planning to—" soundproof the ceiling against the little monsters and their obnoxious video games. Actually, that was a pretty good idea.
She sighed. "Never mind. Saturday's fine."
"Is that a yes?" he asked.
She chuckled. "Yes."
He beamed. "I will meet you here at seven o'clock."
"Sounds good," she said.
"Good night, Mary."
"Night, Carter."
She watched him walk down the street and disappear around the corner. Then she rocketed up to the apartment and looked online for the meteor shower. It was scheduled for 11:28 that evening with high visibility from North America. That gave her plenty of time to clean the dishes in the sink and take some laundry down to the machines. Mary then went to her room for her telescope, since she wanted to look at some of the planets in between watching the meteoroids. She also grabbed a jacket, since it was still a little cool outside.
As she rummaged through her closet, her hand found the pink áo dài. She pulled it out and unzipped its protective garment bag.
Ba had been one of the luckier ones when she fled Saigon. She had enough time to pack a few belongings, and she didn't have to spend any time in a refugee camp. Mary heard stories of how some people had nothing when they left, and how women were raped in the camps and on boats as they were trying to get to safety. Others, like Ba's family, didn't make it out at all when the Americans pulled out.
This pink dress was one of the few things that survived the trip to France and then to the States. It had traveled farther than Mary had in her life. That was the biggest reason why she kept it hidden in her closet. She didn't wear many dresses, but this was one of the few pieces linking her to her past. One day, when Ba passed away, it would be the only thing.
Mary zipped the garment bag shut and tucked the áo dài back into its safe place. Then she grabbed her telescope and headed for the roof.
Back to Table of Contents
- 14 -
Epiphany
"Mary? Sweetie, wake up."
Mary slowly opened her eyes.
Mom smiled. "Good morning."
Mary blinked. She noted the lack of a ceiling over her and the absence of a bed under her. She was still on the roof.
"Oh crap!"
"Whoa, whoa!" Mom said. "It's all right! You're not late. You still have time to get ready before school."
Mary stared at her for a moment. Then she slumped back onto the lounge chair.
"Star gazing again?" Mom asked.
"There was a meteor shower," Mary said. "I was just going to watch it a little bit, but I must've fallen asleep."
"Not the first time," Mom said. "How was the art show?"
"It was great!" Mary described Ben's sculpture, as well as some of the other works there. "It was really something. I wish you could've come."
"I'll try to catch the next one," Mom said. "Did you go shopping, too?"
"Shopping?" Mary asked. "No, because Ba and I went a few days ago. I already returned the stuff like usual. Is there something wrong with the bank statement?"
"No," she said. "But I found this in your room."
Mom held up Carter's black sweater.
Mary didn't say anything. She had forgotten to give it back to him. When she got home last night, she had left it lying on her bed.
"Who's is it?" Mom asked.
Mary reached for it. "No one's."
Mom snatched it back. "Who's. Is. It."
The stern look in her eyes made Mary feel like she was six years old again. She folded her hands in her lap. "Carter's."
"Maxwell?"
She nodded. "He went with me and Ba yesterday. He wasn't doing anything and we had the extra ticket, so I asked if he wanted to come."
"Mary," Mom started, "I know we've talked about guys before."
Mary sighed and jumped up from the lounge chair. She grabbed her scope and headed for the door.
"I'm just saying that I made a lot of mistakes when I was young," Mom
said. "And I don't want you to get hurt."
"Mom, I'm not going to make out with a guy right in front of Ba," she said. "Besides, it's not like that."
"Then what is it like?" Mom chased her down to the apartment. "Are you seeing him again?"
"I see him at school all the time."
"You know what I mean!"
Mary nearly threw her scope onto the floor. Why was she feeling defensive suddenly? Probably because she was seeing him again. "Saturday," she said.
"It's not like that, huh?" Mom said. "Isn't he the guy who was caught having sex with his girlfriend in one of the orchestra practice rooms last year?"
"That was a rumor," Mary said. And Mom actually hadn't heard it from Mary. It went through the grapevine of other parents who heard it from their own kids. It was quite the scandal. "And I think that was, like, three girlfriends ago. He's unattached now."
"How convenient," Mom said. "That certainly makes him citizen of the year."
Mary turned to her. "Look, I know what people think of him. What I thought of him. But…he's different now. Ever since the accident, he's changed. He's kind. He broke up with Laci because he said that was the best for her. And he doesn't hang around his sleazy friends anymore. He's really different. And Ba likes him. Aren't you the one who told me that Ba had always been a good judge of people's character?"
Mom crossed her arms. "I want to meet him."
"The hospital didn't count?"
"I want to meet him when he's conscious," she said. "Bring him by work on Saturday."
"I can't do that," Mary said.
"Bring him by or you'll have to postpone seeing him until I can go with you. It's only fair, since Ba got to meet him already." Mom dangled the sweater from her index finger.
Mary stared at her. She'd never had to deal with her mother like this before. And she didn't realize how angry she was until she saw the sweater again. Mary snatched it back. "We'll be there."
"I'll be waiting."
Mom went to bed, and Mary got ready for school. It was still pretty early, but being in the apartment with her mother seemed difficult this morning, even if she was asleep. So, Mary skipped breakfast and headed out. She meandered over to a nearby park, where she could still get to the bus stop on time, and sat on a bench. People were out jogging or walking their dogs. A pair of elderly men sat at a table playing chess.
Mary pulled out her sketchbook and started drawing whatever came across her path. Her mind wondered as her pencil moved. Why had she put up such a fuss with Mom? It's not like she had done anything wrong. But then again, it was Mom who started the nastiness.
Of course, Mary should've known that Mom would react that way. She had made some mistakes and hooked up with some bad people. It was only natural that she wanted to keep Mary from doing the same.
But Mary wasn't like that. She knew that every single choice had consequences. Even Mom admitted once that she was much more mature than she was at her age.
The pencil lead broke. Mary stared at her drawing and realized that she had put a black sweater on one of the men, when he was actually wearing a beige one. Frustrated, she brushed away the broken lead, causing a gray line to streak across the page.
Last night, Carter had said that he enjoyed being with her. Possessed or not, as much as she hated to admit it, Mary was starting to like being with him, too.
Back to Table of Contents
- 15 -
Sci-Tech
Carter wasn't at school the next day. Mary wondered if he was okay, but no one talked about him in the hallways anymore. Since he hadn't done anything scandalous for a while, he was old news, and people had already moved on to the next juicy bit of gossip.
In the afternoon, Mary had brought a change of regular clothes and grabbed the bus to the university. She'd been there once before to see a play with Ba and Mom. It was Pinocchio, but really different from the Disney movie. Mary remembered loving the elaborate sets and costumes.
She walked around the campus for a bit before asking a pair of college kids where the science and technology building was.
"Sci-Tech?" one of the girls said. "It's that big ugly building over there."
Mary looked where she pointed and saw a pimple of a concrete structure that was all age and no charm. "That's it?"
"Yeah. Piece of crap, huh?" the girl said. "You'd think something we call 'Sci-Tech' would be shiny and have lots of windows and stuff. But all the money went to building the new football stadium."
"Which isn't even complete, because the money ran out," her friend said. "The fine arts building is garbage, too."
"Well, thanks for your help," Mary said, and she left them.
The inside of Sci-Tech was about as ugly as the outside, with cracking linoleum floors and snot yellow walls. The halls were narrow, the ceilings low, and the fluorescent lights hummed. Sci-Tech was also a maze. There were no helpful signs anywhere, and Mary wondered about aimlessly for a while. As she was meandering down a hall, she heard singing. She followed the voice until she happened on a janitor emptying out a trash bin.
"Excuse me?" she asked. "Can you help me?"
The janitor stopped singing and looked at her. "I can try. What do you need?"
Mary studied him for a moment—his tied back hair, his cleaning uniform, and the red athletic wristbands on his hands. For some reason, he seemed familiar. "Have I seen you before?" she asked.
He chuckled. "Probably. I'm around this place a lot."
"No, I mean I'm not a student here. I'm actually looking for someone. I just had this weird thought that…" She was sure she'd never met him until now. But there was just something about him. She just couldn't put her finger on it. "Sorry. I'm not making any sense."
He chuckled again. "It's all right. I have that kind of face. Anyway, who were you looking for? Student or teacher?"
"I don't know," she said, taking out a piece of paper from her pocket and reading the note she had written on it. "His name is Drew, and I think he works in the astronomy department."
"I know where that is. It's on the second floor. I'm on my way up there, so you can follow me." He finished with the trash bin and began pushing his cleaning cart down the hall. "I'm Josh, by the way."
"Mary," she said.
"Nice to meet you. Do you go to another college?"
She shook her head. "Not yet. I'm still in high school."
"I see," he said. "An artsy type, aren't you?"
"How did you know?" she asked.
"You've got a creative air about you," he said. "And some paint on your arm."
Mary twisted her elbow around and saw that she had a little blue and white paint on it. "Oh, thanks." She licked her hand and tried to rub it off.
"Here, this works better." Josh sprayed her arm with some window cleaner and gave her a towel to wipe it off.
They boarded the ancient elevator. It made some loud creaks and groans, and Mary questioned for a moment whether it would make it safely. Fortunately it did, and she followed Josh and his cart out. They passed through another maze of hallways before coming to an unimpressive door marked "Astronomy."
"Here you are," Josh said. "Anything else?"
Mary shook her head. "Thanks for your help."
"My pleasure. Take care," he said and moved on down the hall.
The Astronomy door led into a room stuffed with equipment. A few people sat at various stations, focused intently on their work.
"Um, is there someone named Drew here?" she asked.
A pimply guy, with a shirt that screamed "BAZINGA" on the front, looked up at her. "I'm Drew. What's up?"
Mary walked over to him. "I wanted to ask you about alien possessions."
The other people in the room raised their eyebrows.
Drew stared at her for a moment before laughing uneasily. "I don't think I can tell you much. This is a university lab. We don't do that kind of stuff here."
Mary looked at the piece of paper with her notes. "Aren't you JediMasterDrew89 o
n some of the online forums about aliens and—"
"Ooookay," he said quickly. "I think you and I need to step into the office for a minute." Drew got up from his station and ushered her into a cramped little room that looked like it was being used mostly for storage. "Are you crazy?" he hissed. "How did you find me?"
"I saw your posts on some forums," she said. "You got into some flame wars, and you said once that you were a scientist at the university, so you should know what you were talking about. You had an old profile link to your undergrad page. That's how I found you."
Drew sighed. "I thought I'd deleted all those links. Guess there was still one out there."
"Are you a scientist?" she asked.
"Sorta," he said. "I'm a grad student. I have a double major in biomedical and astronomy, and now I'm working on my masters in astrophysics. But I don't broadcast to everyone that I do research into extraterrestrials and conspiracies on the side. People would laugh at me."
"I see," she said. "I'm sorry. I guess I shouldn't have blurted out stuff in there. But the thing is…well, can I just tell you why I'm here?"
Mary recounted what happened since the accident and how Carter had changed. Drew listened intently, and he laughed when she told him about the salt and holy water not working. When she was finished, he leaned against a cluttered table and took off his glasses to rub his eyes. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were screwing with me."
"I'm not!" she said. "If Carter is being possessed by an alien, I want to know what it would take to get rid of it."
Drew stared at her for a long time. At last, he put on his glasses again and sighed. "Look, the first thing to do is figure out if he's even possessed. I'd need a blood sample. Can you bring him here some time? Or have him go to a clinic?"
She shook her head. Taking Carter to church was one thing. She could use the choir thing that Father Cohen talked about as a cover. She didn't have any excuses for getting blood from him without raising suspicions.
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