Still Alive

by Jessi Newborn

  Chapter 8 – God Should Be Sacked

  Rhapsody and Capella were fifteen minutes early, much to Capella’s delight. “It’s arcade time!”

  Rhapsody let herself be dragged in bemusement to the game room. She stopped at an arcade that had miniature cars for a person to sit in, equipped with a steering wheel, gas pedal and manual transmission. They were connected to hydraulics that would pivot and tilt the car around to simulate sharp turns and jumps. There were two of them side by side and Capella quickly put quarters in both of them with an excited grin.

  Rhapsody slowly got into the small car, feeling like an Amazon as her knees were forced up from the cramped quarters.

  “Buckle up!” Capella warned her impishly.

  Rhapsody looked around for the seatbelt without any success. She looked up into Capella’s teasing eyes and laughed. “Sarcasm meter broken, huh?”

  “It comes and goes,” Capella waved dismissively. “You ready to rock?”

  “I hope so,” Rhapsody murmured as she studied the controls quickly. She had driven manual transmissions before, so that wouldn’t be a problem. As the race began, Capella quickly took the lead against the drones. It took Rhapsody a moment to get used to the drones’ homicidal nature as they tried to run her off the road. She was just starting to get the hang of it when Capella crossed the finish line. It took Rhapsody and the drones another ten seconds to catch up.

  “Who owns you, bee-otch?” Capella asked triumphantly.

  “One more time,” Rhapsody insisted.

  “Hey, I don’t mind teaching you humility,” Capella grinned. “We can do this all night.”

  Rhapsody just smiled as she waited for the pistol shot that would signal them to go. Capella had no idea Rhapsody had an eidetic memory; Rhapsody never made the same mistake twice.

  “I’m impressed,” Capella said admiringly as Rhapsody stayed nose to nose with her. “You learn fast.”

  Rhapsody was a hairs-breadth in front of Capella’s car when she passed the finish line. She turned to Capella with a smirk. “Who owns you, bee-otch?”

  “You were holding out on me the whole time!” Capella accused her in mock indignation. “You’ve played this before.”

  “I most certainly have not,” Rhapsody declared with an innocent look. “I’m just that good.”

  “Sure you are,” Capella said dryly as she jumped out of her midget car at the same time as Rhapsody and playfully bumped her hip. “And I’m the Queen of Kashmir.”

  “That would be a neat trick, considering Kashmir hasn’t had a queen for hundreds of years,” Rhapsody noted with a raised eyebrow. “Would you like to try again?”

  “Are you like a walking encyclopedia?” Capella asked, then giggled. “How cool would that be? I would so love to remember everything I read.”

  “I don’t think so,” Rhapsody disagreed with a grimace. “Having perfect recall means you remember the painful parts of life just as clearly as you remember the good parts.”

  “Wait a minute…” Capella tugged her elbow to stop her from entering the theatre. “Are you telling me that you have a photographic memory?”

  “I didn’t say that,” Rhapsody denied as her face turned red.

  “Yeah…but you implied it,” Capella stressed with a very direct look. “You wouldn’t lie to me, would you?”

  “That’s just mean!” Rhapsody growled, grabbing her arm and pulling her into the theatre.

  “Come on, spill!” Capella said pleadingly. “I’ll never tell another soul.”

  “Okay,” Rhapsody sighed resignedly. “I have an eidetic memory. Are you happy now?”

  “I would be if I knew what eidetic meant,” Capella replied dryly.

  “It’s pretty much the same thing as a photographic memory,” Rhapsody explained. “I’m a little abnormal, because most people lose the ability before adolescence.”

  “So how much stuff do you remember when you walk through a room?” Capella asked in fascination.

  “Everything in sight,” Rhapsody said with a sigh. “It can get very annoying.”

  “You should go to Vegas!” Capella suggested with a wicked smile. “You would know exactly which cards had been used.”

  “Gambling is as bad as drinking to me,” Rhapsody said distastefully. “I avoid both of them like the plague.”

  “Are you sure you’re not Mormon?” Capella asked suspiciously. “It sounds like you follow the Word of Wisdom to me.”

  “I’m sure,” Rhapsody snickered evilly. “They don’t want people like me in their churches corrupting all of the innocents.”

  “What do you mean, ‘people like you’?” Capella asked, staring at her sideways.

  Before Rhapsody could reply, the movie lit up on the screen and the speakers began blasting into their ears. Rhapsody finally felt her body relax as she immersed herself in the world of Pandora. The cinematography was just as good as the first Avatar. The scotcharoos Capella had made were divine. When the movie finally ended, she let out a satisfied sigh at a movie well done.

  “Well?” Capella prompted with an expectant grin.

  “That rocked my world,” Rhapsody said with a broad smile. “That was just what I needed.”

  “Oh cool!” Capella beamed, giving her a quick hug impulsively. “It was good for me too.”

  “Sleaze,” Rhapsody said fondly.

  “You know you like it,” Capella replied with a smirk.

  “God, you and Melody are going to be the death of me!” Rhapsody sighed dramatically.

  “Who’s Melody?” Capella asked with a sudden frown.

  “She’s sort of my goddaughter,” Rhapsody replied sheepishly. Way to go, mouth!

  “You weren’t kidding about your friends having musical names, were you?” Capella’s grin was back.

  “Nope. Not even a little bit,” Rhapsody said with a chuckle. “Fate has a sense of irony, apparently.”

  “Isn’t that a Matrix quote?” Capella asked suspiciously.

  “Close,” Rhapsody replied with a small smile. “You sure you don’t have an eidetic memory too?”

  “I get lost on my way to the car,” Capella snorted derisively. “I definitely do not have any special memory powers; unless forgetting everything in record time is considered a superpower.”

  Rhapsody laughed good-naturedly as they walked out to Capella’s old Honda in the parking lot. She called it The Geezer and the name certainly fit the car. It had a tendency to die at stop lights and the cruise control would get stuck on the interstate. The panic horn had a mind of its own and would turn itself on randomly. Capella had tried to convince her that the car was actually sentient. After all of the crazy phenomena she had witnessed over the past three years, she wouldn’t be surprised if cars did develop their own personalities.

  The short drive back to the dorm was uneventful; The Geezer didn’t die even once. Capella kept her entertained with stories of how she had ended up in Charleston. Before Aria had shown her the place in a dream, Rhapsody wouldn’t have even known there was a medical college in Charleston.

  “What are your plans for tomorrow?” Capella asked as they walked up the stairs to their third-floor dorm.

  “It’s Sunday,” Rhapsody replied gravely. “I worship the god of slumber quite zealously on weekends. I probably won’t finish worship services until around noon.”

  “Good!” Capella grinned in satisfaction. “That means you don’t have to get to bed early.”

  “What did you have in mind?” Rhapsody asked in an amused tone.

  “Some games to get to know each other better,” Capella replied excitedly. “They’re so fun, you’ll love them!”

  Rhapsody smiled as she let herself get caught up in Capella’s enthusiasm. After changing into a long t-shirt for bed, she joined Capella at their small table. She had a pack of cards already sorted and dealt.

  “You ever play Rummy?” Capella asked.

  “Yeah,” Rhapsody replied with a slight smile. “I read a book on all the majo
r card games once, so it’s permanently stored up here now,” she tapped her head for emphasis.

  “Gawd, that is so freaking cool!” Capella gushed enviously. “Wait a minute; you’re going to cheat at Rummy, aren’t you?”

  “I’ll be good,” Rhapsody promised with an innocent smile.

  “I have no doubt,” Capella muttered under her breath. “So here’s the goal in this game: every time you win a hand, I have to answer one of your questions about me and vice versa.”

  “Truth or dare?” Rhapsody asked in amusement.

  “A little more mature than that,” Capella replied dryly. “If a question is too uncomfortable, just say pass and I will move on to a new question.”

  “Okay,” Rhapsody said, taking a deep breath as she studied her cards. “Looks like I’ll be asking the first question.”

  “No way!” Capella said in disbelief. “I thought you said you weren’t going to cheat?”

  “You dealt the cards,” Rhapsody reminded her. “You shouldn’t have given me four aces and three kings for my opening hand.”

  “All right, Maverick, ask your question,” Capella said as she rolled her eyes.

  “Do you have any siblings?” Rhapsody asked.

  “A younger brother named John and an older sister named Eileen,” Capella replied with a wry smile. “Talk about a family full of stupid names, right?”

  “Nonsense,” Rhapsody protested. “Capella is a beautiful name and Eileen isn’t bad either. I’m afraid John is a rather unfortunate name.”

  “I know, right?” Capella said with a grimace. “Who would name their child after a toilet? That’s just mean.”

  Capella won the next hand. She let out a triumphant shout that was probably heard on the international space station.

  “Is there a significant other waiting for you back home?” Capella asked, avoiding her eyes.

  “Not likely,” Rhapsody chuckled. “I’m too much of a freak for most people to be interested in.”

  “What?” Capella demanded indignantly. “You are not a freak! Whoever brainwashed you into thinking such nonsense needs their head kicked.”

  “Nobody brainwashed me,” Rhapsody said with a smile at Capella’s aggressive over-protectiveness. “I graduated from High School at age twelve and had my first master’s degree by the age of eighteen. People tend to think I’m autistic, since I remember everything I see and hear. Aside from Melody and her family, I haven’t really had any friends before. Everyone was always twice my age in school, so it made it hard to interact with them.”

  “Well, you just found another friend,” Capella told her firmly, lightly covering her hand for a moment.

  Rhapsody felt tingles emanate away from the point of contact and suddenly she was blushing. Capella was studying her cards, as if oblivious, but Rhapsody could see the quick, furtive glances she kept directing her way.

  Capella won the next hand.

  “So let’s see,” Capella said thoughtfully, tapping her lips lightly as she stared up at the ceiling. “You’ve never had a love life; you’re a super genius and super pretty. You’re like a walking contradiction. If you had a hero in life, who would it be?”

  “Aria,” Rhapsody replied without hesitation.

  “Good choice,” Capella said approvingly. “Talk about amazing, right? I’ve wanted to visit Aria forever now.”

  “Are you sick?” Rhapsody asked in sudden concern.

  “Not exactly,” Capella shrugged with a sheepish grin. “I just feel like she needs all of the support she can get, even if it is just someone like me staring at her while she sleeps.”

  Rhapsody nodded silently, feeling a tear start building up in the corner of her eye.

  “Do you think she’ll ever wake up?” Capella asked curiously.

  “I have zero doubt that she will wake up, eventually,” Rhapsody said softly. “She’s got an amazing family to help her find her way.”

  “Have you met her family?” Capella asked in surprise.

  “Yes,” Rhapsody admitted carefully. “They are some of the neatest people in the world.”

  “I hope to meet them someday,” Capella said wistfully.

  Rhapsody’s cell phone vibrated as she received a new text. “Speaking of the devil, she just sang a new song that she hasn’t sung before,” Rhapsody said with a smile as she read the text from Melody. “New songs are getting rarer.”

  “Do you have an app that notifies you when she sings a new song?” Capella asked curiously. “What’s it called?”

  “No, just Melody texting me the link to YouTube,” Rhapsody replied shortly. “Let’s see what it sounds like, shall we?”

  “That sounded like a rhetorical question,” Capella noted with a sideways smile.

  “It was,” Rhapsody admitted as she pushed play.

  The song was beautiful and haunting at the same time. It brought back memories of her dream in the wasteland full of caged eyeballs. It wasn’t a very long song, but it conveyed an entire lifetime of emotion.

  “Wow,” Capella whispered in awe.

  “Wow,” Rhapsody agreed wholeheartedly.

  “If she sounds this good on a recording, I can’t even imagine how good she must sound in real life,” Capella mused.

  “What are you doing for the Labor Day weekend?” Rhapsody asked suddenly.

  “Wishing I had a life,” Capella replied ruefully. “I don’t get along with my parents very well, so I don’t go home for the holidays. I’m sort of the black sheep of the family.”

  “I’m going to Seattle on Labor Day,” Rhapsody informed her intently. “Why don’t you come with me? Then you can meet Aria’s family.”

  “Are you serious?” Capella asked incredulously. Her left hand shot out to grab Rhapsody’s arm, but her right hand stopped it just before it touched, pulling it firmly back to her side of the table. Weird.

  “May muh tongue turn blue if’n I ain’t,” Rhapsody replied with a grin, pretending she had not noticed Capella arm-wrestling herself.

  “Oh my God!” Capella shrieked in a voice that had to have been heard by the Mars Rover. “I can’t believe I’ll finally get to meet her! Wait a minute…are you sure we’ll be able to see her? I hear she’s got thousands of people in a permanent line waiting to be healed outside of her house.”

  “They don’t actually go into the house,” Rhapsody explained. “They built a shrine that adjoins to the outer wall of Aria’s room. The sound of her voice easily penetrates the walls and heals the patients. There aren’t very many people that visit anymore. Things slowed down dramatically after the first two years.”

  “You think they’ll let us into the house to see Aria?” Capella asked doubtfully.

  “I can guarantee it,” Rhapsody replied with a confident smile.

  “Okay, next hand,” Capella said with a happy grin. “This is going to be so cool!”

  “Three kings and a four card straight,” Rhapsody told her with a smug look.

  “Damnit,” Capella sighed dramatically. “You better not be cheating!”

  “Butter would not melt in my mouth,” Rhapsody declared. “Now…do you have any significant others waiting for you in Utah?”

  “Ugh, no,” Capella replied with a shudder. “Mormons are the worst people to take on dates. They feel so guilty about every impure thought they have that they can’t focus on just having a good time. You wouldn’t believe how many times one of my friends went to her bishop to confess that she and her boyfriend had moved on to second base. Bishops must feel like bloody perverts.”

  Rhapsody noticed Capella’s left hand was struggling to break free of her right hand. Trying not to stare in fascination, she dealt the next hand. Capella waited a full minute before slowly releasing her left hand and picking up her cards.

  Rhapsody won again, much to Capella’s dismay. “Cheater,” she said accusingly.

  “Prove it,” Rhapsody smiled challengingly.

  “There’s no need to prove anything with that shit-eating grin on yo
ur face,” Capella declared matter-of-factly. “A judge would send you straight to the gas chamber without a trial for a grin like that.”

  “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Rhapsody replied airily. “So next question. Have you found any promising prospects during your time in Charleston? I can assure you these kids aren’t Mormon.”

  “Hard to say…”Capella replied slowly, then blushed when her eyes met Rhapsody’s. She quickly looked back at her cards. “I’ve only seen one person that is my type. I’m kind of eccentric, so I tend to scare most people away.”

  Rhapsody noticed Capella was avoiding any mention of genders. Why would she be nervous about being lesbian? Oh yeah…raised in Utah. Being gay is probably a capital offense there.

  “Are you kidding?” Rhapsody asked in surprise. “Your eccentricity is what makes you so much fun! A person would have to be crazy to get scared off by that.”

  Capella’s face lit up with a pleased smile as she stared up through her lashes shyly. “You really think so?”

  “If you only knew how paranoid I was that my roommate would be some stick-in-the-ass tyrant, you would understand how relieved I was when I met you,” Rhapsody said fervently. “You are perfect!”

  Capella beamed a thousand-watt smile at that. “Likewise.”

  Rhapsody felt some embarrassing things take place in her body as Capella’s crystal blue eyes stared into her own green eyes. God, she’s hawt when she smiles like that!

  “How about another movie?” Rhapsody suggested, standing up and stretching exaggeratedly until her night shirt rose to mid-thigh. Capella blushed furiously as she hurriedly looked away.

  “I’m game,” Capella said a little awkwardly. “What do you want to watch?”

  “Did you bring any movies with you?” Rhapsody asked as she went to get the few movies she had as well.

  “Um…a couple,” Capella mumbled, turning red again. “Most of them are just really sappy chick-flicks though, so let’s watch yours.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with sappy chick-flicks,” Rhapsody assured her. “We are chicks, after all.”

  “Caw caw,” Capella said weakly.

  “Imagine Me and You?” Rhapsody suggested hopefully as she looked at Capella’s small stack of DVDs. “I’ve wanted to see this ever since I watched the previews, but I just never remember to pick it up when I’m at the store.”

  “Um…sure…if you’re okay with it,” Capella muttered in embarrassment. “It might have some parts in it that you could find offensive.”

  “It takes a hell of a lot to offend me,” Rhapsody chuckled. She popped the DVD into the player and then fetched the blanket from her bed.

  Capella sat near the end of the couch, looking awkward as she watched Rhapsody out of the corner of her eye. Rhapsody bit back a smile at the other girl’s insecurity; damn she was cute when she got all awkward!

  She sat down right next to Capella so their hips were touching and spread the blanket over both of them. “Does that work for you?”

  “Yeah, thanks,” Capella said, after clearing her throat roughly.

  Rhapsody clicked play on the remote and settled back so that she was leaning slightly into Capella’s shoulder. Rhapsody couldn’t remember when she had laughed so much at a movie before. It became apparent why Capella had been so awkward about the movie as the two main characters turned out to be lesbians. She’s really paranoid about anyone finding out. I wonder what kind of crap she had to put up with from her family…

  At one point in the movie, when the two women were kissing, Capella’s left hand shot up and groped one of Rhapsody’s breasts.

  “My, we are getting familiar, aren’t we?” Rhapsody said teasingly.

  Capella’s face was almost purple as she wrestled her left hand, trying to subdue it as it clung to Rhapsody’s chest. “I’m so sorry! I’m not doing this on purpose, I swear!”

  “I know,” Rhapsody assured her calmly, restraining Capella’s right hand from interfering. “Just give it a minute and it will lose interest.”

  “You’ve seen this before?” Capella asked in a voice that was near tears from embarrassment.

  “I’ve read about it,” Rhapsody replied with a reassuring smile. “It’s called Alien Hand Syndrome. One of your hands operates completely independent from the other hand, almost as if someone else is controlling it. It’s a fairly common phenomenon.”

  “Do you still want to be my roommate?” Capella asked awkwardly as her left hand continued hanging on tightly.

  “Of course!” Rhapsody said in surprise. “Why would any of this change my mind?”

  “I might strangle you in the middle of the night,” Capella whispered fearfully. “I did that to myself once and my mom had to wrestle my hand away from my throat.”

  “Trust me,” Rhapsody told her confidently. “If you try to strangle me in the middle of the night, I’ll be able to escape. I’m tougher than I look.”

  “Thanks for being so cool,” Capella said with tears in her eyes.

  “Thanks for being so fun!” Rhapsody replied with a dazzling smile. “I can’t remember a time when I’ve ever had this much fun.”

  “Getting molested by a psychotic hand?” Capella asked doubtfully.

  “Well, it’s an adventure, anyway…just don’t turn into a tease,” Rhapsody warned her in mock severity.

  Capella blinked in surprise and her left hand suddenly released Rhapsody’s breast. Capella let out a relieved breath and her face turned red again. “That’s one of the reasons me and relationships don’t work out very well. It can get downright abusive at times.”

  “Aria will fix it,” Rhapsody assured her confidently. “Is that why you originally wanted to visit her?”

  “Part of the reason,” Capella admitted sheepishly. “I mostly just wanted to see her for myself. I’ve seen so many things on the internet that it’s hard to know what to believe.”

  “Just ask me any questions you have if you’re looking for honest answers,” Rhapsody told her gently. “I’m quite knowledgeable about the whole thing, so there probably aren’t many questions I won’t be able to answer.”

  “Okay,” Capella said with an eager grin. “How old is Aria?”

  “She turned seventeen about four months ago,” Rhapsody replied.

  “Some websites were claiming that her skin grew back, but most of the other websites debunked those claims?” Capella ended it on a questioning note.

  “It’s true, her skin regenerated,” Rhapsody confirmed with a smile. “The doctors haven’t got a clue how she’s recovered. The last time I was in Seattle, she looked like a completely new person.”

  “Do you know if her hair will grow back?” Capella asked hesitantly.

  “It grew back as well, but only on her head,” Rhapsody replied. “The only difference is that it’s now a honey-blonde instead of midnight black. The skin on her face is a little lighter than it used to be as well, and she looks like she’s wearing makeup as a result of how the pigmentation on her lips and eyelids formed.”

  “That’s so cool!” Capella grinned. “So if she woke up right now, she wouldn’t be in agony from all of her scars, right? Or terrified of being seen in public?”

  “Mostly correct,” Rhapsody smiled wryly. “If she woke up now, her mother would have several immediate choices to make depending on the circumstances of her return to the waking world. If she doesn’t remember anything during the coma, they’re going to get their names changed and move to a different state. Very few people have seen Aria’s face since it healed. Her mom wants her to be able to finish school and have a normal life, without all of the hype and drama the media would bring into the mix if they found her.”

  “Wait a minute…”Capella paused with a frown. “Have you seen her face?”

  “Yes,” Rhapsody admitted with a sigh.

  “I thought you said you’d never met her?” Capella said accusingly.

  “Well, I haven’t formally met her in the flesh�
��because she’s in a coma,” Rhapsody explained lamely.

  “What are you, a lawyer?” Capella asked dryly. “Just what exactly is your relationship with Aria’s family?”

  “I’m their godmothers,” Rhapsody said weakly.

  “You have to be religious to be a godmother,” Capella pointed out. “Try again.”

  Rhapsody sighed deeply as she made a split second decision. She wasn’t sure what it was about the eccentric small woman that fascinated her so much, but she felt an immediate sense of trust with Capella. “I need you to promise that you’ll never repeat a word of what I’m about to tell you.”

  “Okay,” Capella nodded earnestly.

  “I was an intern for Channel 5 News in Seattle when this whole fiasco started,” Rhapsody began. “I was doing a two-week story on the burn center to highlight how extraordinary the people who work there are. While I was there, Harmony, Aria and Melody were brought in on the life-flight. During the next few weeks, I developed a very close friendship with Melody and Harmony. If I wasn’t sleeping, I was at the hospital with Aria and her family. I’ve spent the last three years by Aria’s side with Melody and Harmony. I had a dream a couple days ago where Aria appeared to me and told me I should come to this college if I wanted to find a way to awaken her from her coma. So here I am, hoping I can find a way to bring her back to us.”

  “Saint Rhapsody,” Capella said thoughtfully. “It has a nice ring to it.”

  “Insufferable cad!” Rhapsody laughed, smacking her arm lightly. “Considering who makes the nominations on sainthood, I’d prefer to remain in my fallen state.”

  “Those priests aren’t interested in girls, you know,” Capella grinned wickedly. “You wouldn’t have anything to worry about.”

  “Ick!” Rhapsody made a gagging motion. “Those pedophiles make me so sick.”

  “I hear that,” Capella agreed. “So who is Aria’s and Melody’s father? I don’t think anybody ever did get to the bottom of it…”

  “This is another one of those above top secret things, okay?” Rhapsody asked pointedly.

  “My lips are sealed,” Capella made the zipping motion on her lips, followed by the locking motion, then throwing away the key.

  “Harmony was raped when she was fifteen years old,” Rhapsody revealed sadly. “She never reported it and wouldn’t cooperate with the police while she was recovering in the hospital. She was stuck in a mental institute for several months because she kept trying to commit suicide. She stopped trying to kill herself when she felt the babies’ first kicks.”

  “Oh my God!” Capella gasped in stunned amazement. “And then to have to go through all of this with her daughter again! If there is a God somewhere, he or she needs to be fired!”

  “Agreed,” Rhapsody said solemnly.