by Alexie Aaron
I packed a backpack of stuff to work on while Harry had Sally over, planning to stop over at Austin’s first. I called the elevator up and walked through. “Knock knock!” I called out.
“Cin, I’m over behind the big canvas.”
I shut the door and walked over.
“You really ought to name that,” I said, turning the corner. I stopped awestruck by the portrait in front of me. “Whoa, Bella, you look beautiful,” I said. Austin had coaxed life out of the diva who looked out from the canvas. She had mischief in her eyes. “I love it.”
“Good,” he said. “Now what do you think of this one?” he asked, waving me over to what he was working on now.
This was something totally different. It was an angel, wings dirty and battle-worn, her sword stuck in the ground before her. She was injured with a gaping stomach wound, yet she was strong. The look on her face said, “You want a piece of me?”
“She’s got no parts,” I commented.
“I beg your pardon? Oh, it’s not done yet.”
“It’s magnificent.”
“You said it was a she. Why?” Austin asked.
“She’s got my face.”
“Are you upset with me?” he asked, studying my face.
“No, I’m flattered.”
“I was working on the other portrait when I got inspired,” he explained. “The conversation we were having stuck with me. But I’m not sure I have the body right. Do you mind helping me out for a bit?”
“Harry is entertaining, so I have all night.” I dropped my pack, took off my shirt and allowed him to pose me.
He made some adjustments. “Do you mind?” he said as he walked over and took off my bra and slid my sweats off. I stood there naked in my boots. I maintained the pose while my brain pondered, what the hell was I doing? I tried to think of anything other than being naked in front of the handsome neighbor. I set my mouth, remembering that one of the D’Amores probably handpicked him for me. I wasn’t going to let them win.
“Cin, come here,” he said.
I walked around him and looked at the painting. It was stunning. My breasts hung naturally. I noticed that she had some kind of cloth over her privates, and only one hip was bare. Seems to me, I could at least have kept my underpants on. I had been posing nude for over an hour.
“It’s amazing,” I said and shivered. He took off his shirt and wrapped it around me.
He continued to paint. “How was the big meeting?” he asked.
“Boring. I could tell that they didn’t want me there. But I inherited the position, and my lawyer was there, so they had to play nice.”
I watched him paint. He was talented. He looked over at me and back at the canvas. “You need something. Hold still.” He took the brush and darkened my actual brows. He nodded. “That’s good.” He next painted a line down the middle of my nose, under my chin, down my neck, pushing off the shirt, and then began painting my breasts. He gave me scales! He motioned for me to go back and pose, so I did. An hour later, he stopped. He tossed me the shirt again. I looked around but couldn’t find my clothes.
“Um, Austin…”
He was gone. I walked over to the easel and was awestruck by the painting. The wounded angel was fleshed out and seemed to be moving out of the canvas. “That is amazing,” I said softly.
I found him on his wreck of a sofa with a bottle of beer half-drunk before him. He had his head down and his eyes shut. I spotted my pack but not my clothes. I didn’t want to disturb him. I sat down on the arm of the couch for a while, but he didn’t move. I decided, hell, I was going to look at all the paintings if he was going to be a zombie boy. I saw all kinds of work in various stages. I saw a cute bubble painting. It looked like it could be for a child’s room. It made me smile. I completely forgot myself and laughed.
I heard a stomping coming towards me, and Austin was turning me around roughly. “What are you laughing at?”
“The bubbles, they make me happy. Can I have my clothes back, please?”
“Okay, yeah…”
“You don’t know where they are, do you?”
He shook his head, and then he started laughing.
“I would just go home, but Harry is entertaining,” I reminded him. “I look like something out of a videogame. That’s a definite cooler.”
“Cin, I’m sorry. I’ve got problems.”
“We all do, Austin. Yours is stealing women’s clothing. Mine are hallucinations of my dead murderer.”
“Where were we?”
“At the angel painting.”
“Okay, then…” he walked away. I followed him through the maze, and there were my clothes folded neatly under a framing table.
I pulled my underpants and sweats on. I stopped and rolled the waist down. “Is this oil paint?” I asked, eyeing my front.
“Yes.”
“Okay, I’m going to keep your shirt. I’ll return it tomorrow.” I jammed the bra and my top in my pack. “I’m headed to the roof. You want to come along and get some air?”
He nodded. He stopped and took a few beers with him before following me silently. We got out onto the roof where we had put together a ragtag little sitting area between the two lofts until the garden could be constructed. I stretched out on the double lawn chair and looked up at the stars. He sat down on the edge of my chair. I put a comforting hand on his back. He lay down and curled his body to mine. He fell asleep, his arm around me. I pulled his shirt tighter to me and closed my eyes.
~
“Cin, wake up.”
I absolutely had no idea where I was. The sun was lightening the eastern sky. I sat up and remembered. I looked around, and Austin was standing, looking down at me.
“Hello, Austin.”
“Why am I on the roof?”
“You followed me up here.” The wind caught the shirt, and as it opened, he was mesmerized. I looked down. “It’s yours. I figure I must be worth at least fifty bucks. Wanna sign it?”
He put his hand on his face and scratched his beard. “Cin, I’ve got a brain disorder. I sometimes get so lost in my work that I can’t find my way out. I’m sorry. I can’t believe you let me paint your body.”
“You were very insistent. I think we better head down. I’m going to need to borrow some paint thinner.”
“Keep it on. Scales are a good look for you.”
“Tomorrow, I have to go to an opening night at the opera in a designer dress.”
“Oh shit. Come on.”
I stood there while Austin first worked on the line on my face and then the scales. All the pleasure I could have had from his hands rubbing the paint off was countered by the sting and fumes from the paint remover. I vowed I was going to get in my bathtub and not come out for twenty-four hours after he finished. “Gee, what is that unique cologne you are wearing, Cin?” “Paint thinner number five,” I said to myself as I left his place. I shut the door behind me, crossed over to our place, and headed upstairs as quietly as I could.
~
Tony asked Harry and me to stop by his office in the county building. He wanted to update us.
He was surprised by my hair. “You look like Peter Pan.”
“Is that a good thing?” I asked him.
“In your case, yes. Okay, here’s what’s going on. Eldora Capella is in the country. Tom has been moved and encouraged not to contact her. I’m not sure if he will or not because he’s out on parole, and I really can’t keep track of him, with the exception that his parole officer sends me updates. He gave this to me to give to you. It’s sealed, and I managed not to look inside, although Buslowski might have as he was with me.”
“Great.” I groaned.
“I don’t want you to go to the opera tomorrow night,” Tony said.
“I have to. It’s not an option,” I said.
“I could arrest you,” he offered.
“I’ve got the best lawyer. If I don’t go, Harry and I will be homeless, but we could move in with you…”
&nbs
p; “Go, but I will put on some additional staff to watch you and Harry,” Tony said.
“What? Aren’t you going to kick up a fuss?” I asked.
“No.”
“Cin is terrified of going. Having the extra protection there will be appreciated,” Harry told him and asked, “What about Preston?”
“About Preston... I can’t get the DA to move against him. He could have touched that phone anytime, but it does put Leora there. Your village police did lift a lot of clear prints of Leora’s at your former home. They also found smudges characteristic of someone wearing gloves. She may not have been alone.”
“Buslowski,” Harry started. “What was his role in all of this?”
“Stooge,” Tony said. “I’m surprised that he’s still dating Antonia considering how she played him. I suspect he’s trying to get information on her and Preston.”
“Eldora?” I asked, not wanting to hear more about Buslowski.
“She’s in the country and has been since your and Kyle’s picture hit the papers. She has done nothing, so we can’t move against her. Plus, we can’t find her. She’s here but hidden. I think the opera Aida is going to flush her out. Be careful, Cin, you’re a target.”
“Thank you. I will be in and out as quickly as I can satisfy my obligation. That means I have to make a showing at the party. I’m a patron now.”
“I heard that. I think it will do you good,” Tony said. “You need something to keep you tethered to earth. Otherwise, you’re going to just float away.”
I sat in the jeep and read Tom’s note.
Dear Cin,
I talked to Eldora, and she promises me that she will leave you alone, as long as I don’t see you. I can’t get her to leave here. She is crazed and keeps talking about justice. Stay away from the opera. I sense something horrible is going to happen there. I’m sorry for my part in this.
Love, Tom.
Aida
I stood and looked at myself in the large mirror. The dress Celia designed for me was amazing. Still keeping to Marco’s mandate that my legs and breasts be emphasized, she made a simple, deep V-necked open-tunic of matte sequins in various golds and browns. Under it, she had designed a flesh-colored, matte-sequin bra and high-rise panties with the same sequins as the bra on the sides. The idea was to look naked except for the tunic which stopped mid-thigh. The tunic had a wide, shiny-sequined belt in an Egyptian design, done in colors of turquoise, deep blue and gold. Celia had loved my hair, and she suggested that I run a small amount of hair tonic like Vitalis through the curls to give them more of a liquid shine for tonight. My makeup was to be extreme eyeliner, red lips and a gold-dusted cheek. No jewelry because the sequins of the dress were enough shine. “Nothing more than brushed gold loops in your ears. Sandals of a soft fawn, in the popular gladiator style,” she commanded.
I was nervous. Here I was going to the opera in something I would think was too daring for a Halloween costume, let alone sitting in a patron’s box at the opening night of Aida. “What am I, ten?” I asked the reflection. “Where are your balls, Cin?” If I had any, they would be dangling below this hemline, I thought.
Harry did not want to see the dress. He wanted to be surprised along with Sally. He had already left to pick her up. I would be picked up by a car service as Marco had decreed.
I looked beautiful in the dress, but there was something missing. I saw that Austin had left his door open, so I wandered over. “Austin!” I called.
He was at his worktable sketching. He turned and took in my outfit and angled his head.
“There is something missing. I can’t grasp it,” I told him.
“So you came to me. Why?” he asked.
“You’re the artist.”
“Where are you going tonight?” he asked.
“To the opera to see Aida. I have to attend every opening night of the opera. It’s part of my inheritance,” I explained.
“Aida is about an Ethiopian princess who was captured and made a slave. The designer has given you a slave’s tunic, but you have no slave markings,” he pointed out.
“Slave markings?”
“The slaves were tattooed according to their purpose. What is your purpose, Cin?”
“For a while there, I thought it was sex.”
Austin was surprised I said that and laughed uncomfortably. He smiled. “Cin, do you trust me?”
“Are you going to make me stand naked holding a piece of fruit just to paint the piece of fruit?”
He laughed. “Sorry about that. No, I’m not sorry. Anyway, let me get my markers. Lie on the couch, right hip up,” he instructed.
“The god Bes was an ugly god in my opinion,” he shouted as he looked for materials. “He looks like a troll doll with a good haircut. His image was tattooed on the thighs of the sex slaves, possibly to protect them from STDs.”
“Ah, that could come in handy,” I said, suddenly uncomfortable.
Austin appeared with a fistful of Sharpies. He stared down at my reclining form before sitting down and studying my thigh. “Lie still. You look like the ticklish type, but this could go horribly wrong if you move.”
“K.”
“I’m going to make him a bit sleeker and use some of the colors of the belt. You look beautiful by the way.”
“Thank you, it’s accidental, I assure you.”
“I had a dream that I painted your body.”
“You did, the night before last.”
“No, in this dream, I painted it for a party. The guests were only wearing a coat of paint. I painted you into a tiger. Must have been your red hair. I like that you don’t wax it off.”
“So you were lucid when you took off my clothes,” I said, trying not to move. What I wanted to do was die of humiliation. Instead, I lay there and let him color on me.
“Yes. I was until I had finished. I looked at the image I had created, and then I was on the roof in the morning with you. Thank you for looking out for me.”
“I’ve also had some waking nightmares. I was fortunate to have some EMTs who took care of me after I fainted and hit my head.”
“We’re one crayon shy of a 64 pack, aren’t we, Cin?” he asked.
“You seem to be more dreamy than crazy, Austin. As for me, I think part of me will always be. I used to just be boring. I’m not sure that I would change that.”
“One night, come over, and I’ll tell you why I’m the way I am,” Austin promised.
“You don’t have to.”
“I think it would be good for you to know. And maybe you will tell me what happened to you.”
“I will,” I promised in return.
“Okay, I better stop or I’ll be drawing batman wings on your chest.”
He helped me up. “There is a mirror somewhere, ah, over by the refrigerator in the kitchen.”
“A full-length mirror in the kitchen? Now that would put me off food,” I joked.
I walked over and looked at my image in the tilted mirror. His drawing of the ugly god Bes tattoo was beautiful. He used not only the colors of the dress but colors he thought would go with my skin tone. “It’s perfect.”
“You were a good canvas.”
“I once had to lie still for three hours while someone drew ivy…”
“You’re the one,” he said. “I heard about that. It was to honor some opera singer. The gang down at the coffee shop were all agog about it.”
“Yes, that was me. It started my nightmare and encouraged a man to kill me. Let’s hope Bes can work his magic and keep me safe tonight.”
~
The photographers were waiting for me. I exited the car to a blur of flashes and the odd sound of cell phone cameras. I walked in and looked for Harry. I had promised him not to go to the box alone. We were to meet by the main staircase. I walked over and turned around to survey the crowd.
“Pardon me, I’m Trudi from the Palm Beach fashion blog At No Expense. Who are you wearing tonight?”
“Celia Cabral.”
“It’s not important,” I said.
“She is Cin, Cin Fin-Lathen,” Max said behind me. He smiled graciously at the reporter and allowed a few photos of us together.
He drew me away.
“I didn’t know you were coming,” I said.
“I wanted to surprise you. I mourn the loss of your hair, but it suits you. Who is that amazing little man on your thigh, Cin?”
“It’s the god Bes. He’s supposed to protect me from the likes of you,” I teased.
I could see him calculate something. I had forgotten that English wasn’t Max’s first language. “You’re a sex slave?”
“You’re well-read.”
“Archeology was a passion of mine in school.”
“How is your family?”
“My family is well. They are getting stronger every day. They regret they cannot be here tonight,” he said pointedly.
“I worry that you are here, Max. Detective Curtis says it’s dangerous for me to be here tonight, and more so for the D’Amore who challenged the killer.”
“I am needed, Cin.”
“It is appreciated.”
“You seem different. More confident. Bella has gone. Before me is Cin, but I sense not the old Cin.”
“Experience changes us, but perhaps some of the old Cin survived.”
“But Bella has gone. Good,” he said.
Harry arrived with Sally in tow.
“That dress is daring, and what the hell is on your leg?” Harry asked.
“The god Bes,” Max said. “You Americans and your schooling…”
“You look perfect, Cin. Especially for Aida,” Sally said. She wore an electric blue dress with a lace overlay. She had a larger purse with her. I sensed that Sally was packing a pistol.
“You look beautiful. I demand you stand over there so you don’t outshine me. Harry, how dare you bring such a beautiful woman.”
Sally laughed.
“Well, we are all here. Shall we?” Max said and led us to the stair. He demanded that I walked in front of him so he could shield my behind from the cameras. “The view from here is very nice, Cin.”
