by Greg Dragon
Aniya giggled, but didn’t back away, as if his awkwardness was the sweetest thing. “I’d eat you alive. You sure about this?” she asked, and he nodded slowly, begging her mentally to let him in.
Their lips met, and his hand found her waist as he tried his best to kiss the way he thought a woman wanted to be kissed. A gentle peck here, a suckling of the lips. Their tongues touched—but not too much, as he let her lead him through it. As they got into it he realized that Aniya liked to kiss, and it wracked his mind and made him wonder if he should do even more.
His hand touched her soft stomach and worked their way up to her breasts. He couldn’t breathe. This was so unexpected. But then her hands came up to stop him. “That was hot,” she whispered, “but let’s finish the movie. I’m not going anywhere, are you?”
“N-no,” he managed, his hopes slipping away. He could feel the wetness in the front of his pants and his heart was beating like the bass in one of Jovan’s hip hop songs.
They finished the movie and then another with Aniya resting in his arms. He couldn’t concentrate, as his mind was running a marathon. How am I here? he wondered. Was I just making out with her? Why didn’t she let me finish what we started?
He sniffed her wild purple hair, and it was sweet and intoxicating, and he kept on wondering what it was that had made him get this lucky.
“Tau,” Aniya purred as the credits from A Clockwork Orange rolled. “It’s almost seven, and I’m sleepy, so ...”
“Yeah, yeah, of course Ann—”
“It’s Annie, Tau. You can call me, Annie. You have my number, so holler at me tomorrow. Maybe we can go into the city, or…” She yawned like a lioness, then covered her mouth and smiled as if embarrassed. “You’re a good kisser, do you know that?” she said, and he felt a tingling sensation take over the top of his head.
“Thanks,” he said, feeling larger than life. “I’ll call you tomorrow, after I get up. We can figure out something to do.”
The walk back to the stairs leading down to his floor was a surreal journey of reminiscing. It was the aftermath of experiencing so much excitement and disappointment all within a short span of time. He walked past a dark figure as he descended the stairs and didn’t think to find it odd being that he was so distracted.
Jovan was not home but his computer was still on, and so was the holographic image of the city, with tiny dots moving around everywhere. He slipped into his room and locked the door, then collapsed backwards onto his bed. He reached into his pants, trying to recall the last few hours, and once he was finished, he was asleep in a matter of minutes.
When he awoke it was 1:13 PM in the afternoon, and his phone was vibrating inside of his pocket. Pulling it out, he saw that it was Aniya with a text message requesting that he come up to meet her as soon as he got up. Tau sent a reply that he would be right up there, and quickly showered and got dressed.
Where was Jovan? It was unlike his roommate to be away from his computer for so long, and he hadn’t even bothered to text him.
Tau walked over to the computer and as he scanned the scummy old mechanical keyboard, he noticed that there was a digital sticky note hanging in the corner of the screen. The message read: “War boy. I knew your nosy ass would be over here looking at my screen. Guess what? I cracked it, homie. I got you paid. Just go get your breakfast from the regular spot.”
The regular spot? Tau was a creature of routine, but this wasn’t something he was proud of. Jovan often joked that he could always know where he was and what he was doing at any time of the day.
Breakfast was normally a protein bar, stored inside the refrigerator. So he walked into the kitchen and opened the door, then froze when he saw a row of bricks. Each was a shrink-wrapped stack of paper currency. It was money from the UKC codes. Jovan had found a way to cash them in.
Tau wasn’t sure how he had done it, or where he was now after the fact. This was more money than he had ever seen in his life, and it was his, for what? For opening that garage door. He grabbed the cold plastic bricks and took them to his room, where he unlocked his safe and stacked them neatly inside.
His hands were shaking. This was too much … A night with Aniya, and now he was rich? Something bad was bound to happen. It was one thing to rob people who wouldn’t miss the money, but it was entirely something different when you were able to spend the cash.
Tau felt guilty. The line had been crossed. He was now a burglar who had a lucky night, and since luck was fleeting, he could be arrested before the day was over!
No, that was paranoia. Jovan was careful—wasn’t he? When it was all put away he grabbed several bills and stuffed them into the front pocket of his jeans. He refused to let fear stop him from leaving his apartment, though every instinct told him to go into hiding.
He hid the safe as best he could and whispered a silent prayer, then rushed outside to find the stairs that would lead up to Aniya.
5 | Masks Off
They sat on the T next to one another, Tau leaning forward, scrolling through his phone, and Aniya with her eyes closed, leaning back with her hands resting on her lap. She was in a blue dress with short black boots and her buds pulsed a cobalt light in her ears.
Tau hated that light but couldn’t bring himself to mention it, so he leaned forward as much as possible in order to avoid it. Something about that pulsing made him think he was being recorded as the latest contestant on Dating a Loser. It was absurd, he knew, but so was Aniya hanging out with him. But self-doubt was a disease, of this he was quite convinced, so he avoided the light and focused instead on her leg that was pressed up against his thigh.
He was hoping that they would resume their kissing once they were back inside her apartment. He had tried at the mall when they stopped for some coffee. When Aniya had realized what he was doing, she danced away like a skillful martial artist. The move had shocked him. She had been so friendly the night before, but he chalked it up to her not liking public displays of affection.
His phone beeped and he gestured with his thumb, unlocking the interface as quickly as he could before pulling up the list of recent messages. One day inside the elevator, he snuck a photo of Aniya and began to use it as his login screen. His password was everything that he loved about her face, a touch on each of her eyes, then a circular motion around her face and mouth. If she knew about it she would probably freak out, so he kept his phone in his pocket at all times.
There were a few messages from Aniya that he kept from the morning and one from Jovan saying that he would be staying by “his girl.” His girl? Who was his girl? Jovan didn’t have a girl, did he? Not unless he paid for her using the money. That made sense for Jovan, though. It was definitely something he would do. Though with his crushing on Widget, he would more likely be hanging out with her.
He thought about Widget, all small and cute, and then there was Jovan, the biggest nerd he knew. “That’s one porno I’m not watching,” he mumbled, feeling a smile growing at the corners of his mouth.
“What?” Aniya moaned, removing her buds.
Tau quickly put away his phone and looked over into her bloodshot eyes. “You didn’t sleep last night, did you, Annie?”
“Hmm, you wore me out, tiger,” she teased. Tau took offense, and his mind went into overdrive. She plays the tease and now it’s a joke? That was the jab, wasn’t it? The indication that I failed her little test. I was in the apartment of this smoking hot girl and barely swung the bat to make it to first base. “I’d eat you alive.” Wasn’t that what she said? He felt like an amateur at an audition.
“There’s more where that came from,” he said, refusing to allow her the last laugh. “You had better get some rest. Round two is coming.”
Aniya’s face flushed, and then she burst out laughing. It was a pretty sort of laugh, the kind that was pleasing to the ear, and it took everything within him not to join in. “Okay, Tau. That was pretty good.” Then she went back to pretending to sleep.
&nbs
p; When they got on the elevator, Aniya punched in twenty-one, but Tau didn’t bother to put in his floor. She stood at the panel for a while with her head lowered, then glanced over at him expectantly.
“Mind if I come up?” he said. ”Just for a few minutes. I have something to tell you, and I’ve been waiting all day.”
She gave him a curious look and then nodded her head. “For a few minutes,” she repeated, her eyes betraying a bit of mistrust and a hint of something else. Was she worried?
The elevators stopped on the seventh floor and an elderly Hispanic couple stepped in. The old man was impressive in his Guayabera shirt and khaki pants. They were the type of couple who were dirt poor but one couldn’t tell from appearances.
“Going up?” Tau said, and the old man waved him off before stepping out. His wife turned and said something sharp to him in Spanish, but as the door closed he inclined his hat and gave Tau a wink.
When they got inside the apartment, Aniya’s phone rang, and she pulled it from her purse which she dropped on the dinner table. The expensive bag made a loud noise as if it contained something heavy. Tau looked at it, and then at Aniya, who gestured to him that it wouldn’t take long and excused herself to her bedroom before closing the door.
While Tau waited for her to finish, he decided to explore her apartment—not to be nosy, mind you—but to learn a little more about the woman who had his heart. She was a neat freak and loved art, but that was just the surface. He wanted more of who she was and he hoped that her apartment would give him just that.
He slid into her kitchen, smiling at the neat row of spices that hung from the cupboard. He then stopped to study the magnets that were on her refrigerator. They were all framed photos of Aniya and her family. This was a different person, this family version of Aniya. She was all dimpled smiles and happiness, which made him wonder when the change had occurred and this sexy, sarcastic version had emerged.
In one photo there was an eleven-year-old Aniya, posing with her father and a rifle. They were in front of a forest with trees whose leaves were reds and oranges. Another shot showed her at graduation in front of a large red brick university.
All eleven of the photos had her doing things with family, but it was the difference in her face that struck Tau as odd. Did she lose her parents during the craziness, the same way I had? The event had changed him, so he could definitely see how it could change her. Still, a part of him wanted to meet this other Aniya, this fun-loving girl he was seeing in the photos.
A noise made him jump up suddenly, ready to explain himself, but it was Aniya’s purse—it had slipped from the table—and some of its contents were now on the floor. He wanted to go over there to see what had fallen out, but if Aniya came out and saw him next to it, she would assume that he was snooping.
It had been well over thirty minutes since she’d taken that call, and he was beginning to wonder if this was her way of telling him to go. This wouldn’t be the first time a woman had dismissed him by avoiding his presence, and he had half-expected it anyway.
He walked over to the closed bedroom door and leaned in close. There was no sound coming from inside so he put his ear against it.
“Hey, Ann you in there?” he said. “I think I’m gonna take off.”
“I’m sorry, Tau. Can I call you later?” she said.
“Yeah, of course,” he replied, and made to go. “Oh! By the way. Your purse fell off the table—”
“That old thing? Don’t worry about it, Tau. I’ll clean the mess up later.”
“Uh, okay. Well, I’ll see you later,” he said before walking away like her humbled servant. The feeling he had was one that he dreaded more than anything else in his life. He felt dismissed and unimportant, like a lackey of some sort.
As he neared the door he looked over at the purse and his curiosity got the better of him. He walked to the table and looked down at its contents, and a look of confusion came over his face. On the floor was a fosgun pistol, the older kind, the kind that would easily get you a life’s sentence. Guns needed tracers, they needed to be in the system. It was the only way that the government could maintain the 2nd Amendment while keeping the United States safe.
A gun like the one he stared at was the worst thing a citizen could own. Even he could get ten years for not reporting it immediately. What would Annie need with a weapon this hot? he thought, then his mind went back to the photo where she and her dad were holding rifles.
Maybe she’s a bit of a fosgun nut, he thought. There was something about that explanation which could be considered hot. A sexy, gun-toting pixie who had good taste in movies. It definitely would be attractive if this was fiction, but in reality no one would risk owning a fosgun if they weren’t intending on using it.
He was so focused on the weapon that he hadn’t heard her exit the bedroom. She was at the front door, watching him, and waiting somewhat menacingly. He literally jumped when he saw her there, then backed into the wall and stopped himself.
“Why do you need this, Ann?” he asked, pointing down at the gun.
“I don’t need to explain myself to you, Tau,” she said, folding her arms defensively. “Just tell me that you’re gonna be cool about this and we can keep hanging out. I know what it looks like, but it keeps me safe, okay?”
“Have you used this gun, Ann? Have you killed anyone?” Tau pressed, and a wicked smile made the once flawless features of Aniya’s face turn into a devil’s mask. She dismissed him with a glance, then walked over to collect the weapon. It was a small, snub-nosed revolver, though it looked like a cannon in her tiny hands.
“If you ever see one of these again,” she said as she secured it in the small of her back. “Don’t ask the owner that ridiculous question. You’re so fucking careless, you know that? The whole lot of you. If you knew the favor I did you having you over last night, you’d get on your fucking knees and kiss my feet.”
“What do you mean by that?” Tau asked as all of his hopes fell to shambles. He tried to think about the night before when she invited him up. It was the last time he had seen Jovan, and she had received a phone call prior to it all. Ironically it was another phone call that reverted her back into this hostility. Was she a puppet? Was he being pranked? Why had Jovan disappeared all of a sudden?
“Is my friend dead?” he asked, expecting the worst as he stared down at the carpet.
“How would I know? Don’t you have your phone? Pick it up and call someone.”
“You said that I’m lucky, that I’d kiss your feet”—as if I wouldn’t do that anyway—”so I assume it has something to do with Jovan,” he said.
Aniya sighed, then gestured towards one of the four chairs around the table. Tau took the chair she offered but kept his eyes low. The change had made him frightened of Aniya but he didn’t want her to know.
“Do I scare you, Tau?” She asked but he shook his head, no. “What do you think I do for a living?”
“Bartender?” he said.
“Bartender? That’s what you think? A bartender? Why a bartender?”
“I don’t know. You kinda have this style about you, and with the creeps at bars it would explain the gun.” He stopped himself to catch his breath, trying to search his memory for a clue. “Who are you really, Aniya? Cause I have no idea. I just really, really like you and I don’t want to mess this up.”
Aniya’s face softened as if she pitied him, and she rubbed her forehead with the heel of her palm. “Look, Tau, you’re sweet, it’s the reason you’re still in my place, but the losers you hang out with … they’re something else. Jovan, your roommate? You won’t be seeing him anymore. He went to a gangster named Viper to fence the codes that you all stole. The Viper paid him and sent him on his way, but then he sent his hoods to steal it back.”
Tau could not believe what he was hearing. Was Jovan really dumb enough to get involved with the Pittsburgh mob? “Steal it back? What do you mean, steal it back?” he managed.
&nbs
p; “Because that’s what gangsters do when they get approached by a bunch of amateurs. They wanted the codes but they weren’t going to let you keep the money, so they went to your place to get it back.”
“How would they know it was at my place? How do you know all this—Ann, are you a cop? Are Jovan and all my friends under arrest?”
Aniya laughed and shook her head. “Boy, you really are slow, aren’t you?” OUCH! “I’m not a cop. The cops don’t care about this place, or haven’t you noticed? I work for the city, I’m self-employed …” She seemed to be working out an easy way to finish. “Let’s just say I do a cop’s work but not for the city. I work for ICT.”
“Yeah, you said a mouthful.” Tau felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. “You’re a hunter agent, aren’t you, Ann? You look for Sirens and you kill them for money.”
“We don’t kill Sirens, Tau, we take them in, and that was my plan until your stupid roommate got himself caught up with these gangsters. Your buddy Jovan is as good as dead now. If he isn’t he will be soon. You won’t be seeing him anymore, which pisses me off. Jovan had a skill that was causing ICT grief, and now I can’t take credit for taking him off the streets.”
“You fucking bitch,” Tau said, her betrayal now too much to take. He got to his feet but she shoved the table into him, throwing him back into the chair where the momentum took him to the ground.
She walked over to him and brought out the fosgun. “Fucking bitch? Is that what you called me?” she laughed. “Tau, if I was your enemy, you would have been taken in a long time ago.”
He noticed for the first time that her boots were familiar. They were the same boots that the female hacker wore when they robbed the last house. His eyes rolled up to scan the art on the walls, and he remembered how the female hacker was in such awe of the rich people’s car. “You were with us when we robbed the house,” he said.
“Guilty,” she sang. “I was the one who helped you up after you suffered that nasty glitch. You’re a strong Siren, Tau, and you’re still a good person. I was a little annoyed that you were involved in Jovan’s shit, but he was your leader, right? The alpha wolf in your little pack? I could have hauled you all in easily, but I was expecting Jovan to lead me to more.”
