by J. Naomi Ay
Big Red
A Two Moons of Rehnor Novella
by
J. Naomi Ay
Published by Ayzenberg Inc
Copyright Ayzenberg, Inc. 2013
All Rights Reserved
010513
Cover Art by Amy Jambor
Photo Credit @Pixmac/Serge75 and @CanStockPhoto/rolffimages
Also by J. Naomi Ay
The Two Moons of Rehnor series
The Boy who Lit up the Sky (Book 1)
My Enemy's Son (Book 2)
Of Blood and Angels (Book 3)
Firestone Rings (Book 4)
The Days of the Golden Moons (Book 5)
Golden's Quest (Book 6)
Metamorphosis (Book 7)
Choices (Book 8)
The Beginning (Books 1- 3)
Mid Vita (Books 4 & 5)
Novella Collection
Lydia's Dance
Taner's Running Game
Meri
King of the Streets
Diridan's Daughter
Caissa's Favor
Space Doctor
Thad's Mistakes
Big Red
Journey to Rehnor series
The New Planet
Aran's Gift
Luci was big. Since her earliest memory, she was larger than every other girl in school and most of the boys. By the time she reached high school, she was well over two hundred pounds, possibly reaching three hundred although she refused to step on a scale. Luci's size was an anomaly in her family. Her father was of average height and build. Her mother, if anything, might have been considered petite. Luci's four younger brothers all took after their parents as did three of her younger sisters. Only one sibling, the youngest called 'Baby' even when she was well into adulthood, shared any similarity to Luci. Baby had bright ginger hair that exactly matched Luci's in color although Luci's was wildly frizzy while Baby's was smooth and straight. Baby also was tiny which contributed to the extended use of her nickname. However, it was Baby's presence and the trace of resemblance to Luci that made Luci believe she had not been adopted after all.
"That's silly, Luci," Luci's mother stated when before Baby's arrival, Luci had dared to voice that thought. She was then presented with a pic of Mother cuddling a large bundled blanket, a shock of bright red curls emerging from the top.
"You take after Great Grandfather Albert," Father always added as if taking after one's ancient male forebearer would somehow make her feel better. It did not. In fact, it made her feel much worse as Great-Grandfather Albert, as displayed in the pic above the fireplace, was an enormously round and portly fellow with a girth as wide as he was tall. How he managed to entrap Great-Grandmother Louise in to both marriage and the production of their fourteen offspring, was not only impossible to imagine, it upset Luci's stomach just to contemplate.
Luci had a pretty face. At least, everyone said so. They usually smiled when they did, although Luci was certain their smiles never extended fully to their eyes. Sometimes they shook their heads or clucked their tongues as they walked away. Often, they could be heard mumbling a phrase that sounded something like "If only she would lose a bit of weight."
Luci tried to. Honestly, she did. In fact, she recalled going on her first diet when only eight years old. The trick then was to avoid chips and sweets. Later on, she learned to avoid fats and carbs. She jogged in the afternoon and did crunches next to her bed at night, but nothing solved her fat storage dilemma. Eventually, she abandoned her quest for bodily reduction. What was the point of suffering when nothing good resulted? So, Luci continued to eat and her body continued to expand, the food filling an endless void only temporarily.
Luci was never popular in school. A girl of her size, and with a lisp and stutter besides, made an easy target for cruel youths to sling spit wads and verbal arrows. She grew a stiff spine, hidden somewhere beneath her well-padded back as school was only half of her problem. Home was as bad, if not worse.
Luci's father, a handsome man called Jorgan, was perpetually unemployed, but never due to his own fault. The economy was bad, or his back was hurting. Only women were being hired right now, or only men who were veterans. Always, there was an excuse, or perhaps it was just bum luck that sent Jorgan to the pub all day in order to commiserate with his equally unfortunate pals. He never forgot his family, though. Every night he would stop by the Good Sisters to collect something for their dinner. He waited in the queue with all others down on their luck to receive a portion of whatever was in stock.
"I've got some bread today," the Sister said, handing Jorgan half a loaf.
"I've got nine kids at home," Jorgan sighed sadly. "The eldest will eat enough for four. Can you not spare me an extra loaf or two? Perhaps, you got a bit of cheese or some jam?" He gazed at the sister, a sad and pathetic smile upon his face, locking her eyes with his own. Jorgan knew his smoky brown eyes were his best feature, of those that the public could see. His greatest asset would undoubtedly send the guileless Sister into a faint. This, he saved for his wife and any number of girlfriends to discover in private when he unzipped his trousers and let it unfurl. He was proud of his member, as it never ceased to perform, no matter how many times a day he requested of it. The fact that it had produced nine legitimate children, and an untold number of illegitimate, never bothered him in the least. After all, the government was there to provide for these many mouths, and if not them, the Good Sisters were always willing to feed.
While Jorgan was drinking and carousing in the evening, Luci's mother, Renie was lying in her bed. It wasn't much of a bed, actually. It was more of a pull-out sofa that encompassed the one living room in the small rental house in which they lived. Renie was often indisposed with the malaise which caused her head to throb at the slightest noise and bit of light. Having nine children, all under the age of twelve, made the quiet and solitude she craved nearly impossible. While Luci was at school, Renie dragged herself to her feet and made an effort at straightening the house or washing a dish. She chattered with the younger ones and sat in a chair while they played on the floor, rousing to her feet only when the toilet was required. As soon as Luci returned for the day, Renie headed straight back to her bed leaving her daughter to usher all of the children outside whereupon they ran around the adjacent forest until nightfall. Luci was responsible for preparing the eventual dinner that Jorgan produced and if he failed to show up, devise something else for consumption by ten hungry mouths. She became quite proficient at combining pasta with condiments or boiling tired and wrinkled vegetables with milk. A few sprinkles of curly noodle and suddenly, there was a soup. Gourmet, it wasn't, but as nourishment, it sufficed.
How then, on such a diet, did Luci manage to outweigh four siblings put together? Her primary caloric intake occurred on the weekends when the family trounced off to attend church. Afterward, all were invited to a dinner where the poor were fed the roastings and bakings of those more fortunate than themselves. This night, Luci was encouraged to gorge on everything available and gorge she did, enough to last her an entire week.
There was a boy at the weekly church banquet that met Luci's appetite bite for bite and together they were always the last to set their plates aside. Vinz was the same age as Luci. In fact, she had seen him in her class although she had never spoken a word to him. Neither did she intend to as the poor lad was even more of a pariah than herself. Vinz was half a head shorter with greasy unwashed black hair that hung in loose tendrils down his back. His nose was perpetually dripping, and his clothes were always ragged and filthy. Despite the many attempts by the church ladies to see him dressed properly, within a week or two, their new offerings were once again in rags.
Vinz had a
stutter even worse than Luci's. To make himself understood, it required tremendous effort, which usually ended with Vinz in a sweat, refusing to speak anymore. Some whispered that Vinz was a Karut, if not entirely then at least half as his mother was a pale blonde woman, and his father was unknown. Vinz's beginning may have started in the alley behind a bar, or a toss between filthy sheets in a drunken tryst with a stranger. Never the less, poor Vinz was here and hungry although the food seemed to melt off his skinny frame as quickly as it glued itself to Luci's.
Vinz attempted, once or twice, to communicate with Luci. He set himself down at her solitary table to share lunch and then, followed her home from school. His own humble abode was a shack three doors down her street. The front porch had collapsed while vines climbed up through the broken floor boards and circled the windows. The front door was splintered and cracked, the lock broken. Only the wood, swollen from the useless dripping gutters, served to keep it closed. Inside, it was even worse as the floor was covered in spilt food and dirt. A single sofa adorned the front room, stuffing coming from it, and during the daylight hours Vinz's mother lay stretched out upon it. Her hand lay limp on the floor, her twisted hair obscured her face. Her loud snores echoed across the room reassuring Vinz she was still alive.
Each night, Vinz's mother roused herself and departed for the town where she spent the hours until morning perched on a bar stool, multiple beers at her disposal. After earning a few pennies in the Universe's oldest profession, she remained there until well into the dawn hours whereupon she once again stumbled back to her couch. Each morning before he left, Vinz would gently remove her shoes and rearrange the pillow beneath her head before heading off to school to endure merciless taunts.
Luci, lost in her own world, never concerned herself with poor Vinz until the church Sunday dinner when she perceived his absence. It wasn't his empty chair that caught her attention, however. It was the abundance of chocolate pudding which remained after her dessert. With seven bowls still lined up on the kitchen counter when there should have been none, Luci realized the boy had been missing all dinner long. Her curiosity piqued, and as the evening was still light, instead of accompanying her siblings home, she continued down the street. Cautiously, she approached Vinz's dilapidated shack and tip toeing on her large feet, she crept into his yard. She put a foot up on the porch whereupon a board creaked before it splintered. Still not deterred, she inched toward the door. It was hanging open enough that Luci could poke her entire head in which she did so before promptly removing it back out. Not believing what she had seen, Luci ventured her head in again, and this time studied the filthy room and the couch bleeding stuffing. On the small table, there was a plate as well as a rat eating what remained. Its long tail slithered across the table under which his family members played. Across the room, there was another door which opened as Luci stared. Emerging from within was Vinz and his appearance made Luci scream. That rat abandoned his plate and scurried down the table leg and into the wall as Vinz screamed, as well, equally frightened by Luci.
"What are you doing here?" He demanded, or at least, that is what Luci thought he had said. Between his stutterings and lisps, and the frantic pounding of her heart, it was difficult for her to decipher his words. Luci's first inclination was to immediately turn around and depart. She had enough tribulations in her own life. She certainly didn't need to add his to her mix. Luci was a good soul, though, and her second inclination won out, which was to insist the boy return home with her where she sat him down and tidied up his wounds. They were alone in the kitchen when she did this, except for Baby, who unlike the others had stayed inside as the howling of the coyotes in the twilit forest frightened her. Baby found Vinz fascinating, especially the deep purple bruises below his eyes and the great yellow bump that emerged from his forehead like a giant horn.
"Are you a unicorn?" Baby asked, holding her finger up to the contusion.
"Hush, Baby," Luci snapped as she dabbed at Vinz's swollen lip. Baby, being the baby, never had to hush for anyone before. Her every word was cherished, her every breath adored, and so Luci's admonition was promptly ignored.
"Why is your face so many colors?" She continued as Luci rinsed her cloth in cold water, and then returning to Vinz's side again, she bid him place it on his eyes. Vinz mumbled his thanks and then said something unintelligible. Baby appeared able to translate it, for she laughed as if it were funny.
When Vinz's face was more or less cleaned up, although it would take weeks to return to normal, Luci insisted he remain at their house. Clearly, his own was not entirely safe, on top of being toxic as far as cleanliness was concerned. Luci wondered who had struck the boy like this and what purpose it served. He was already quite ugly, even before acquiring this new horn. It was well known in town, even by the children, what Vinz's mother did to earn her living wage. It could have been anyone of the drunken men who availed themselves of her service. Luci found her heart growing ever more sympathetic to the lad. She resolved to be kinder to him, should she ever meet him on the street. In fact, she went so far as to allow him to sit at her school lunch table and politely smiled periodically at his chattering although she still didn't understand a word.
By the advent of summertime, Luci was permitting Vinz to accompany her home from school. He trotted along after her like a puppy, ever so pleased to be gifted with a few moments in her presence. At her gate, she cheerily waved him goodbye, but he persisted in waiting, his dark eyes seeking her approval, if not love. Once or twice, she invited him in to play with Baby until Jorgan caught sight of the boy. Vinz bolted from the table or floor or wherever he might have been standing and flew out the door as if he had grown wings. Luci wondered briefly about this fear of her father but chalked it up to the boy's shyness. It never once crossed her mind that Jorgan and Vinz might have been prior acquaintances. A pious church-going man like Jorgan would never dream of associating with a woman like Vinz's mother.
Vinz continued to hang around Luci's house throughout the summer as Jorgan was rarely present. Luci grew to expect the boy's appearance just after dawn, and began to count upon him to entertain Baby while she cleaned and cooked for the others. Renie seemed to welcome the boy's presence, as well. He ate little and kept her own children occupied so that even less of her attention was required. Occasionally, the boy would appear with a fresh bruise or weeping cut, a flimsy excuse about tripping or a kitchen knife mishandled.
One day in late summer, Luci, Vinz, and Baby were sitting on the porch shelling peas. Luci was actually the only one accomplishing any shelling while Vinz and Baby were engaged in a game of tossing empty pods at each other's heads. Baby was laughing uproariously, so much so, she ended up wetting her pants.
"Oh, Baby!" Luci snapped. "All your clean pants are still drying on the line. You'll have to sit in those wet ones for the rest of the day." Naturally, Baby started crying as she inevitably did whenever Luci was cross. Despite her wetness and rancid smell, Vinz picked up Baby and proceeded to carry her about the lawn upon his back. "Oh Vinz," Luci sighed. "Now, you're destroying your own shirt."
"It doesn't matter," Vinz replied and with his bouncing sent Baby into spasms of laughter. "Do you want to go pick berries?"
"Oh, yes!" Baby cried while Luci finished up the last of the peas. "Berry. Baby want berry!" Even though Baby was now four, she continued to speak as if she were two. Luci rolled her eyes as she rose to her feet. Baby's coquettishness with Vinz bothered her, although she couldn't reason exactly why. Certainly, she had no interest in Vinz, even now when she somewhat understood what he said. If he ceased to visit her forever tomorrow, she might be overly relieved. On the other hand, she was pleased to have a young man's attention, even if he were just Vinz.
"Have you finished the laundry, Luci?" Renie called from the couch. The vid was on broadcasting the news. It was an old vid, and the reception was very poor, such that picture was always grainy and the colors were distorted. A pink woman with green hair was speaking, her face framed in th
e box. In reality, her hair was blonde and her skin golden toned. Luci enjoyed the oddly colored images, imagining the news presenters as aliens instead of ordinary Rehnorians like her. Now, the woman's image cut away to a pic of a baby. He too had pink skin but with a shock of black hair that stood up on his head. He was wrapped in a blanket with an Imperial crest embroidered along the front. Her first thought was that he looked a bit like Vinz. No. Now, that she looked closer, he was much prettier than Vinz ever could have been.
"The laundry, Luci?" Renie reminded. She was lighting a cig as she leaned upon the couch. Her voice had grown husky from all the smoking, and her skin had taken on a grayish tone.
"It's still drying, Mother." Luci moved closer to peer at the vid. "I'll fold it when it's done. Who is that baby?"
Renie sniffed and exhaled a noxious cloud of smoke into the small dark room. The blinds were drawn as usual. Only a hint of midafternoon sun emerged from between the broken slats. "It's the Crown Prince, the Karut one, the one who has supposedly been dead. Apparently, he's not anymore." She snorted and then lapsed into a fit of coughs before taking another long drag on her cig and speaking again. "He's come back to life, more or less, and tonight, we shall be able to see him. The first thing he'll want to do is pick a bride. Luci, you had better fetch your best dress and fix your hair." Renie thought this terribly funny and again declined into a coughing, laughing fit. Luci sought to remind her mother that she was only twelve years old, but realized her age would never be the deciding factor.
As she left the house with three small bowls for picking berries, Luci imagined herself meeting the Crown Prince. She'd arrive at the Palace of Mishnah on the other side of the continent like a great dignitary, greeted by thousands. As long as she was fantasizing, she decided to make it a good one, picturing herself with a slim and svelte body. Her breasts would be firm and buoyantly perky instead of soft folds composed primarily of baby fat. Her hair would be a thick and luxurious wave of strawberry blonde tresses that would move as if they were all fastened together. She'd be wearing a fabulous gown of blue watered silk that rustled as she walked, a small matching cape drifting from her shoulders down her back. It would be custom made just for her. In fact, she might even have to be sewn into it, instead of dressed in someone's granny's old skirt. Now, her shoes, she considered, should be tall but not too high, as she was already a girl of substantial height. The heels would be pointy and the front open toed so that she might show off her magnificent pedicure. She'd have just the right amount of jewels, not too few and not too many. This way, there would be ample reason for the Crown Prince to gift her more. Yes, Luci had it all planned out as she wandered down the street, Vinz and Baby trotting along beside her to the huckleberry patch.
