Hadrian's Wall

by Felicia Jensen

  I winced.

  Later on came the representation of a god named Loki. I looked in detail for that exotic figure: his contemptuous attitude, challenging, he was crowned with a sneer. He was dressed in green, various shades of green...much like a Venetian harlequin, but not all the illustrations show him so... so...soft.

  (...) Loki was connected to fire, magic, the betrayal, and all kinds of evil. He could be described as a complex and Machiavellian creature, as he might be tilted to aid someone in need of his help, as well as cause someone’s downfall. (...) As a volatile “transmutable” he had fun fooling many gods and men. (...)

  (...) Loki had three children: Jormungand, Fenris and Hela. While Jormungand took the form of a dangerous snake, his brother, Fenris, was transformed into a grotesque wolf. Hela, on the other hand, had powers almost as complex as those of her father. For this reason, she would become mistress of Helheim. (...) For Christians, Helheim had the meaning closer to “hell” in pagan culture, properly indicating the address of sinners. (...) Helheim received the dead, except for the brave warriors who died in combat. For them a piece of heaven called Valhalla was reserved, to which they were conducted by the hands of the Valkyries.

  From what I understand, every somber bore the mark of a curse or fate. (...) As a serpent, Jormungand was destined to cover the earth with his poison before biting off his own tail. (...) Hela found her favorite weapons against civilization in the form of natural disasters and her own human frailties. She was condemned to live alone, as a hybrid: half beautiful woman, half rotting corpse. She provoked horror in those who discovered the other side of her sad character.

  So, Hela was the female version of Two Face from Batman?

  And the wolf...what happened to him? One text mentioned something about persecution and dispute. I had no patience to read the rest. My vision was beginning to blur and my eyes felt grainy, as if there was sand in them. For me, searching the Internet worked like a sleeping pill.

  I yawned once, twice, three times...but still I resisted stopping. Stubbornly, I returned to the previous page and located Greco-Roman mythology—the most referenced in films, TV series, and comics.

  I decided to click on the Greek first. There were many names associated with somber creatures; however, the god of darkness and shadows par excellence was called Erebus, the son of Chaos.

  Well...Chaos. That explains everything, right? Wrong. Chaos had a different meaning to the ancients—nothing to do with disturbance of order, breakdown, or cosmic mess. For the Greeks, Chaos represented “the nothingness from which everything derived.”

  (...) Erebus has been confused with Hades, the famous lord of the depths. (...) In this section, came a long list of gods related to his figure. With so many children, brothers, and nephews, his family was almost an...institution. Just like the Corleones or the Sopranos...or the Cahills.

  Dark gods? Gangsters? Oh Jonathan and his ridiculous conversation about Giuseppe Valenciano had activated my delirious and sleepy mind. I yawned again. Well, I preferred the Mafia. In fact, anything was better than Count Dracula and its toothy and bloody derivatives.

  Definitely repulsive!

  (...) In addition to personifying the darkness, Erebus was known as one of the primordial gods. (..) After all, what does “primordial god” mean? Soon I saw a list of primordial gods, but I don’t get it. Would “primordial” mean the first gods of the pantheon?

  Hmmm... Too complicated for my mind. I clicked on the mouse and in the blink of an eye, I found myself among the Roman gods. The majority had a correlation in Greek mythology. Zeus becomes Jupiter, Aphrodite becomes Venus, Neptune becomes Poseidon, Ares becomes Mars, and so on.

  Among them, Mars seemed the best example of a dark and turbulent god, since he commands the wars. Indeed, the wars are his food and he takes almost obscene pleasure of the bloodshed and atrocities committed during them. I didn’t need to read more because I know him very well from the ancient comics of Wonder Woman.

  Well, what else I could expect after the violent and sexy god of war? Oh, yes...Bacchus. The famous bacchanals derived from his name... The following text mentioned something about them: (...) The bacchanals were secret parties, which became a controversial fashion event in Rome. At first only women participated. The bacchanals were surrounded by scandal, since women took the opportunity to escape from the social and sexual control that was charged to them by the rigid Roman society. (...)

  A Renaissance painting showed the scene of a banquet served by half-naked slaves, where languid ladies stretched upon colorful cushions, drinking wine. Around them, men and women were talking in an intimacy scene. Warm colors suggest passion; in the background, two yellow eyes behind the mist hovered over the subtle outline of a tall, athletic body. Would it be the shadow of Bacchus, contemplating the party in his honor?

  I clicked on the command bar and returned to the home page, where there were several links. So I decided to take a leap into the age of the pharaohs.

  (...) Known jackal-headed god, Anubis, was banished by Seth, when Seth was discovered that he was not Anubis’ real father, but actually Seth’s brother, Osiris, is the father. Seth hated everything that Osiris represented and had, especially the qualities of leadership which Anubis had inherited, so Anubis was summarily dispatched to the underworld. (...)

  Orgies, murder, intrigue. Who said that ancient people didn’t watch television?

  (...) Doomed to roam the dark and lonely places of the realm between life and death, Anubis did something positive with his unfortunate legacy: he became the guide of souls and responsible for weighing their hearts in the court of Osiris. (...)

  But the hot Seth became the typical serial killer—those nasty guys for whom you don’t feel any sympathy. Brad Pitt in Kalifornia or Woody Harrelson in Natural Born Killers. Hmm... even Robert DeNiro in Cape Fear.

  But never like Dr. Lecter or Mr. Brooks...

  Seth was thinking about a trap for his brother, inviting him to a banquet held in his honor, so he could find a way to put him in a sarcophagus. From what I understand, Osiris would “petrify” inside it. Not content with this, Seth would flense his brother into many pieces to be scattered throughout Egypt.

  Unfortunately, along with Mars, Seth was the closest I found to a description of somber people. In some cases, he appeared as himself—a redesigned Mars. In others, the authors said that he was the inspiration for the description of Lucifer (because of the ram’s head).

  Wow! How did I end up in these matters? Enough!

  I closed the program, knowing that in relation to vampires and somber, I was still at square one. Perhaps, my situation was worse than square one because every time I researched it, I found even more disturbing aspects. I needed to recognize that the dark gods, with their dark underworlds—so full of treachery—had characteristics as implausible as the vampire.

  Barely containing another yawn, I was overcome with fatigue. I turned off the computer.

  26

  A DINOSAUR WITH FOUR WHEELS

  The day dawned cold but the temperature soon began to rise in proportion to the rise of the king star on the horizon. That would be another day of hell... Automatically, I saw in my mind the ghastly world of Hela and I carefully corrected myself: No infernal from hell, but from heat. If the “book of invocations” that I’d found in the Internet was correct, I had to be very careful with the words spoken or thought, especially in the case of the dark gods...or somber.

  My first weekend free of “lab coats” in Hadrian’s Wall passed without incident—a quiet one compared to the chaotic Friday. It helped me put things, especially ideas in place. Then came Monday and now the routine would start, so I had to watch out and keep my feet on the ground. Come what may... whatever.

  Holding the drawing board bag with one hand and my ultra-stylish handle bag in the other, I headed to the cafeteria ready for anything—or so I thought. When I arrived, however, I realized that I’m not the big deal I thought I was on Friday because no o
ne paid any attention to me at all.

  The place was packed, but quiet as a tomb. Many people looked like they were terribly hung over. The sound of cutlery and crockery clinking provoked grimaces of pain from those who had partied too hard all weekend. You’d have thought they were hearing a marching band! Their discomfort served as a shield—no one seemed to notice the arrival of the “new girl.”

  I sat between Delilah and Abby, who seemed as bad off as the others, even though their hangovers were already “cured” so to speak, but they still had long faces and soon I would learn why. Naturally, the two girls were lamenting for similar reasons. Delilah was depressed about not having drawn Stephen’s attention as she had hoped, but what did she expect? Instant results? I wondered if I should have told her that I saw him in the BP that night and he seemed so upset; however, she might interpret that as an unconditional surrender on his part, which is absolutely not true. Much more water would still have flow under the bridge before Stephen would take the first step. It’s possible that Stephen doesn’t feel the same about Delilah as she feels about him, which is why he isn’t making a move.

  There was Delilah, looking like she’s dying... and a glass of AlkaSeltzer on hand, courtesy of David Martin—without doubt one of the most thoughtful guys I’ve ever met; always helping friends...the kind of guy who can be trusted. I had an extra reason to thank him—even though he may not have done so intentionally, I am convinced that he saved me from something terrible on the trail en route to Joe Verano’s party.

  “I hate AlkaSeltzer,” Delilah grumbled.

  “But you said you had heartburn,” Abby responded.

  The two of them looked at me. What? My opinion was being requested? I shrugged.

  “Hurry up! Drink it all,” I encouraged her.

  She grimaced, but drank.

  “What was that happened on Saturday night to leave you so down-in-the-dumps the whole weekend?” David asked, curious.

  “Nothing. I played snooker, I got a little tipsy, and then I came back with the guys. By the way...what’s up with you and Nik, Abbs?” Delilah smiled, pointing to Abby with the empty glass in her hand.

  Abby turned red as a tomato. She was embarrassed and upset because since she danced with Nik, Dwayne hadn’t said a word to her. He left the BP later with Violet. No one saw them again until this morning when they came into the cafeteria together. O-oh! Bad sign! Since then, Dwayne has blatantly ignored Abby

  Well, I suggested to Nik that he dance with Abby, but I didn’t suggest that their bodies melt against each other on the dance floor.

  I rolled my eyes. Dwayne, of course, would behave himself like a guy who had his “male pride” wounded. I took a quick peek around me. I didn’t spot anyone, which meant he had already left, but Violet was still at the table. This is a good sign!

  I saw Nik sitting with Sally Benson’s group. She waved to me and I waved back, somewhat mechanically. The gesture caught Nik’s attention. He smiled at me and raised his “Greek eyebrow.” He balled his fists and pointed his index fingers in my direction as if to say: ‘You owe me one.’

  “I think I’ll look for Dwayne,” I heard Abby comment. “I’ll beg and grovel...if he still wants me, that is.”

  “No way!” I said, turning to her. “You’ve got to stand firm. If you start chasing him, Dwayne will never respect you. Every dispute, every impasse, he’ll wait for you to cave first because he knows you will. He’ll know that all it takes is to treat you with a bit of contempt until you do whatever he wants. Is that the kind of relationship you want?”

  “Mel’s right,” Delilah said quietly from behind her arms. Her elbows were resting on the table and her hands were pressed against her forehead.

  Abby stared at her with astonishment, obviously wondering if she really was endorsing the words of the “dull” girl. I smiled involuntarily.

  “It will be difficult,” Abby finally said, with reluctance.

  It was obvious she didn’t want my advice and resented Delilah’s affirmation of it. The poor girl had no idea that Delilah and I were sharing a great secret.

  “Try to hold on,” I said, using a lighter tone, pretending not to notice her grim face. “He wouldn’t ignore you if jealousy wasn’t eating him alive.”

  Her face suddenly lit up. “You think?”

  I shrugged. “Sure!”

  I stared at my plate to hide my expression. A virgin girl, whose whole life was created from what she saw on television, you doesn’t know how to give or receive affection, was giving love advice to girls much more detached than me... How absurd! I wanted to laugh out loud.

  What’s worse was that they were taking what I said seriously! Oh, if they knew my sad reality…

  * * *

  After breakfast, I accompanied Delilah and Abby to the bus stop. The girls wanted to show me the best place to get off the bus, inside the campus.

  “Next time, you cannot get lost,” Abby said. “The Uwall bus usually stops in front of the store where they sell ornamental plants.

  Plants? That reminded me of Keira’s pansies...

  While we waiting, Delilah tried to update me on things she thought important: Artists who have excelled in the fashion world recently, winter collections that caused a media sensation, even the results of a reality show with fashion designers. Honestly, I didn’t understand how they could lay out the trends for winter before autumn arrived.

  Since I knew nothing about it...the conversation was unilateral (limited to the two of them since Abby speaks the same language as Delilah). For my part, I said “Uh-huh” or “ah, I see” once in a while.

  The bus stop was filling up with people. Most were students on their way to classes. I saw some future “lab coats” among them, but no sign of Gibbs. I didn’t see Spencer or any of Sally’s group. As compensation, David joined us. No sooner had he said “Hello,” when we heard the muffled sound of an engine from a distance. Soon, the famous Uwall bus turned the corner.

  My first impression was that I was seeing a “dinosaur with four wheels” heading our way. Immediately, I associated it to the final scene in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. (“Oh, yeah! Oh, yeah!”) But the bus body was much bigger than a common school bus—painted red with yellow stripes on both sides. The driver parked along the curb and the people got in line. The freshmen who got aboard handed the driver a kind of ticket. I had no ticket, so I’d be the first to pay with cash.

  When my turn came, I quietly asked the fare. I glanced furtively behind me and groaned. There was still a long line waiting to climb aboard. The driver told me the fare. Luckily, I had money, paid him, and I didn’t hold up the line very long.

  Delilah waved frantically from the back of the bus. It had to be the background! With a sigh, I made my way along the aisle, all the while being analyzed by the prying eyes of other passengers. (Oh, yeah! Oh, yeah!)

  The Uwall bus was moving, turning at the next corner.

  “I think you’d better go to the Student Support Services office and fill out a form to buy a discounted bus pass,” she whispered, probably not wanting to draw the attention of others to the fact that I was the new kid on the block.

  As if everyone already didn’t already know.

  “We’re leaving the town,” she revealed in whispers. “The university is in the valley.”

  Abby, who was sitting with David in the seat in front of us, turned around and said, “The bus will pick up more students along the way.”

  Indeed, the door opened again, admitting two giggling girls who stumbled down the aisle—Violet and Janice.

  Abby stiffened when Violet saw us. We waited for her next step. Abby was probably hoping that she wouldn’t sit near us. As if she knew was Abby was thinking, Violet nodded coolly, but didn’t approach us. She sat in one of the front seats, followed by her faithful squire, Janice. The two girl soon began whispering—talking about us—and Delilah put her hand on Abby’s shoulder.

  “What did I miss?” I asked quietly.

  “
Oh, nothing at all, except that Violet is one of the most venomous girls I’ve ever had the displeasure of knowing. She declared war on us last Saturday. I always suspected that sooner or later, she’d show her claws. When she began to play Preston’s confidante—so helpful and so gentle, it was obvious to me that she was trying to make points. You saw it ... the first day you arrived at McPherson House. Preston was just starting to go out with Abby and then suddenly everything changed, as if someone had done something to split them up.”

  “Delilah, please!” Abby protested, embarrassed.

  David turned to me, deciding to change the course of the conversation. “Since this is the first time you’ve traveled by Uwall bus, we’ll introduce you to the regulars of the cheapest means of transport here. We have two basic groups: the “undercover poories” and the “far from the money” guys! I mean, not counting our friend Delilah, the tissues heiress from Michigan.” In response, she stuck out her tongue. “Mmm...see those sleepers back there?”

  I turned and saw two boys in white, sprawled across the last seat, sound asleep.

  “They’re second-year nursing students.”

  Sophomores.

  “They just got off duty at the hospital and they’re going straight to class. For your information, the bus passes through Caledonia, before it arrives at McPherson House.”

  “Oh,” I said.

  “Someone dubbed them ‘The Sleeping Beauties’ because they’re always snoring when we board the bus.” He laughed. I couldn’t resist, so I laughed too.

  He then subtly indicated some “lab coats” sitting across the aisle.

  “Those are not ‘undercover poories’—but they are definitely ‘far from the money.’”

  Immediately I thought about Gibbs, but I dared not ask about him. David then said something about some guys, Asian exchange students, who were seated ahead. Behind them, David pointed out two couples who attended the Performing Arts; next down the aisle were people from “first class” with Expertise in Chemical Analysis; and then closer to us, the freshmen of Law.