To Lylya’s obvious dismay, Kiara giggled. "I won’t make lie, I promise."
She turned away and Lylya stopped her yet again. "You have…trr.. Twinkie?"
Kiara held her hand up pantomiming someone eating a Twinkie."You mean Twinkie, like…Twinkie?"
"Yes," Lylya said solemnly.
"I’ll see what I can do," Kiara said as she left the shed.
Kiara sprinted across the yard, threw the gate open and instantly ran into everyone.
Todd, holding Joshua, and Maria were standing in the Wheeler driveway along with Kiara’s mother, Doctor Fasbender and Louis. Several uniformed strangers stood nearby.
Stacey reached and snagged Kiara’s shoulders as she nearly blew past them. "Kiara!" she said as loudly as she dared. "What’s going on?"
"Oh, Mommy," Kiara said. "That poor little girl, she thinks Maria called the cops on her. She thinks you guys are the cops." She motioned towards the two military men. "She thinks Maria…oh, I’m so sorry," she said turning her attention to Maria. "She hates that you think you’re her mother."
"I knew it," Maria groaned. "I’ve ruined everything. I need to talk to her. I need to try and explain—"
"No-no," Kiara said interrupting. "Let us just play. Let us just become friends. She needs to be a kid. She’s like…an old person, all scared and everything. I’ll try and explain everything to her, I promise, but she doesn’t trust…" She stopped mid-sentence and stared at Maria.
"Me?" Maria said. "She doesn’t trust me?"
Kiara ran her hand down Maria’s arm."Grownups."
Gladys reached and gently rolled her fingers through Kiara’s hair. "How old are you, child?"
"I’m fourteen."
"You are one wise old soul, little fourteen-year-old Kiara." Gladys turned to the others. "She’s right, you know. Let’s just let this child do her magic. What do you say, Maria? She’s making a lot of sense here."
"Yes," Maria said quickly. "Please, how can we help?"
"Maria, will you get her doll?" Kiara said, "and anything else you think she might want to play house with. I’ll go get my stuff…oh and Mom, do we have any Twinkies?"
"Twinkies? No, I don’t think so."
“Twinkie!” Maria said. “That’s what she’s been trying to say!”
"She wants Twinkies?" Louis said. "Are you sure she even knows what that is?"
Kiara raised her eyebrows. "No, really, she asked for a Twinkie."
Louis turned to walk away."Then a Twinkie she gets."
"Louis," Gladys said. "She’ll want it today. Maybe I should go get it."
"We’ll get some Twinkies for the little girl," one of the uniformed men said. "We’ll get some and be back in a few minutes." He pointed toward a nearby Humvee outfitted with blue and red police interceptor lights.
~~~
"Maybe you should look in the kitchen," Maria said on the way to Lylya’s bedroom. "Find some little plates or something she can play house with. I’ll find her doll."
Todd grunted in agreement, pulled little Joshua up closer to himself and began rifling through the kitchen cupboards.
"Let me take that boy," Gladys said as she entered the room.
Todd handed the baby over. "Gladys, is everything going to be okay with us, do you think? I mean, this little girl is obviously wounded. Is there any professional help here in the valley? Anywhere in the west? What if Maria’s right? What if we really mess things up?"
Gladys considered the questions. "I’ve had a little experience. We could find books on the subject, I suppose, but you know, little Kiara may be able to somehow reach her, at least get things out into the open."
"Well," Todd said. "We’re certainly open to any ideas."
Gladys sighed. "All in all, I think we’ve had a good day. Maria knows now that her experience is not necessarily the same as Lylya’s. I think that’s a good start."
Todd finished collecting cups and dishes and moved to the hall. "Maria," he said. "We’re ready. We should get over there pretty quick."
Maria didn’t respond.
He slowly pushed Lylya’s bedroom door open and saw Maria sitting on the floor, her back against the wall. She was holding Lylya’s doll in her lap.
Todd moved to her side as Gladys stepped into the room.
"What’s up, babe?" he said, sitting down next to her.
Maria sniffed and wiped a tear from her cheek. "That poor baby.”
"I know, honey, but we better get over there—"
"Do you know what this is all about?" she said.
Todd shrugged. "What hun?"
"Look under the bed."
Todd looked at her curiously, went on his stomach and peeked under the bed. He slowly came back up and gazed at Maria.
"She’s been hiding food," Maria said softly, "aspirins, bandages…she has a spare blanket and a coat, maps. It’s her escape kit."
"Oh my God," Todd said softly.
"Well," Gladys said, "we knew she's been through a lot. She obviously has a terror of being hungry."
"No, Gladys," Maria said. "There’s more. This morning I almost stumbled on to her cache. She became so upset I didn’t push it. A little while later Todd and I were discussing it, only that I had made her upset, and she came out and asked if we were fighting over the bed. It made no sense until now. She thinks we’re having her arrested. She thinks that’s why these men are here."
The doorbell rang.
Todd stood. "Let’s get over there. At least, we know a little more about what’s going on. Maybe we can really help her now."
Todd quickly made his way to the living room door and opened it.
"We got your Twinkies," a uniformed man said, pushing a large box towards Todd.
Todd chuckled. "Thanks, but I don’t think it was necessary to bring a whole case."
"Captain’s orders, sir."
~~~
"Lylya?" Kiara called from outside the shed. "It’s just me. I have a bunch of stuff to play with." She charily opened the door and stepped in.
Lylya was standing motionless in the rear of the shed, her green eyes glistening in the small shadowy room. Her face was taut, her thick ebony brows pulled together. "I thought you leave."
"No, look," Kiara said cheerfully. "I have a whole bag of stuff."
She moved towards Lylya, reached into the bag, and pulled out Lylya’s doll. "Here’s your doll and here’s mine."
She produced her own doll and motioned for them to sit. "You want a Twinkie?" she said as she sat down.
Lylya eyed her for a moment. "You have Twinkie?" She paused again considering her words, "But… with white cream in middle… and yellow—"
Kiara pulled a packaged Twinkie from the bag stopping Lylya mid sentence. Lylya stared at it. Her eyebrows unfurled.
"You want it now?" Kiara asked.
Lylya pulled her eyes away from the Twinkie and gingerly sat down next to Kiara. "But, we should…get ready. Maybe…look at dolls. Then when we...then we want the…then we can eat trr..Twinkie."
"We can have one now," Kiara said happily. "We have tons." She reached back into her bag and pulled out a handful of Twinkies.
Lylya's eyes flew open. "Yes," she said, quickly composing herself. "We can eat one now and more…after."
Kiara pulled the packaging off a Twinkie and handed it over to Lylya.
Lylya suspiciously eyed her once more. "But, I can have both?"
"Sure," Kiara said. "You can have them all. I don’t really like them." Kiara paid little attention to Lylya’s wide-eyed look of utter disbelief. She pulled dishes and cups from the bag and distributed them out over the top of the tarp. Next, a heavy bottomed flashlight.
Kiara looked for the right spot to place it and turned it on illuminating Lylya’s puffy cheeks and white cream covered face. Kiara giggled.
An embarrassed frown formed on Lylya’s face. She placed the half eaten Twinkie on the tarp, gingerly reached for her doll, picked it up and began awkwardly bouncing it on her knee.
"I’ll tell you the truth," Kiara said, turning her attention back to Lylya. "I haven’t played dolls for a while. You might have to teach me how to do it again."
Lylya silently took a napkin, wiped her face and reached for her doll. "You must pick up doll," she began, "and…rock doll, like this."
"Okay," Kiara said, imitating Lylya’s moves.
Lylya lifted a cup from the tarp and pushed it into the doll’s face."Then feed bottle to doll."
"Oh!" Kiara yelled animatedly, "bad baby! She just wet her diaper. I guess I’ll have to change it."
Lylya gazed back at her demurely. She looked her own doll over. "Yes," she said. "My doll has wetted too."
She watched intently, copying every move, as Kiara went about removing and replacing the diaper on her doll.
"There," Kiara said when she had completed changing the diaper. "let’s have tea." She pulled two cans of soda from her bag, poured them in cups and handed one to Lylya. She then delicately pulled her own cup to her face, being careful to push her little finger out for effect. "Goodness," she said, "all I ever do is clean. And these kids are driving me crazy!"
Lylya looked her over silently, and then spoke as if she suddenly realized she was supposed to. "Yes!" she said, obviously trying to speak in a lower voice than her own. "They talk…and…they should go…outside! Play in sunshine and…stop this…chatter! Look at! They already show breasts. They should preparing, not send out with men to play." She grunted as if very agitated, reached again for her cup and took a sip.
Kiara stared back at her unspeaking. Finally her voice returned. "Yes. They should go outside."
The children fell into a comfortable silence. Kiara went about fiddling with her doll and Lylya faithfully mimicked every move.
"How did you and your other best friend play with dolls?" Kiara said, finally breaking the silence.
Lylya dropped her doll to the tarp and looked back at Kiara. "We did not play…dolls. I don’t like this doll….it…wets me."
Kiara placed her doll back in the bag. "What did you and your friend like to do?"
"We talked…about family and…secrets for just…us."
Kiara quieted. "You can tell me about your family, if you want to."
Lylya reached for a Twinkie left on the ground. "Can I have for…later?"
"Of course," Kiara said.
Lylya quickly pushed the Twinkie into her pocket.
"You can have every single one of them, and you can eat them all right here and now if you want to."
Lylya smiled softly for the first time and hastily pushed another Twinkie into another pocket. She leaned back and looked out into the gloominess of the old shed. "We are…sad."
"Your family is sad?"
"Yes, we are sad and…dead."
"What was your best friend’s name?"
"Kheda…she is my…cousin, but…she is dead."
Kiara smiled softly."I’m so sorry."
Lylya looked at her strangely. "Why? You didn’t…dead…her."
"I’m sorry you’re so sad."
Lylya didn’t respond.
"We should tell each other our very most secret secrets." Kiara said finally.
Lylya pushed her legs out across the tarp and looked back up at Kiara. "If I told you most bad…secrets you wouldn’t…be best friends."
Kiara pondered for a moment and spoke. "Would Kheda stop being your best friend if you told her your…most bad secrets?"
Lylya frowned at her, obviously irritated by the question. "She was always best friend. She knew…most bad secrets."
Kiara’s face brightened. "See, best friends are like that. We can tell each other everything."
"Very well," Lylya said. "I will tell one small secrets." She paused a moment and continued. "That woman who wants be mother, her baby is Masih ad-Dajjal …or…you call…Jesus… but not really."
"Hmm," Kiara said. "That’s interesting."
They sat in silence for a time before Kiara spoke up. "I have a terrible secret that I haven’t told anyone. But I’ll tell you because we are best friends."
Lylya glanced up curiously. Her green eyes danced around Kiara’s face but she didn’t speak. Finally she pushed the palm of her right hand against her mouth and swiped the fingers of her left hand across her throat. "Upon payment of death I will not tell."
Kiara stretched out next to Lylya and sighed. She pondered a moment and continued. "I think I, I think we ate a man once."
"What?" Lylya said.
"I think we, my family ate a…man…once."
Lylya recoiled and grimaced as if she’d eaten a bug.
"What?" Kiara shouted, instantly sorry she had spoken about it. "We were starving! We would have died."
Lylya’s face softened. "Yes," she said evenly. "I have…been starve."
They returned to silence. Kiara couldn’t help but be surprised that Lylya seemed to have little interest in hearing the details of such a startling confession.
"I am… thief and…prostitute," Lylya said.
Kiara tried not to laugh. "Prostitute? No, that means a woman who sells… does bad stuff for…money."
"Yes, I know what means prostitute," Lylya said softly. "I have been bad stuff with many men."
Kiara couldn’t hide the shock on her face.
Lylya’s eyes filled with tears. "But! You eat… a men!"
Kiara smiled, pulled the smaller child in and held her.
Lylya tensed, but allowed Kiara to continue hugging her for a time.
Finally, the embrace stopped and Kiara pulled away. "Who made you do that?" she asked.
"Bad men and woman in Chechnya who…deaded Kheda."
"Where are they? What happened to those…ugly people?"
"Other men…in America shot them and bring me to here."
"Good!" Kiara said trying not to cry. "I’m glad they’re dead. But Lylya, listen to me. Do you know who saved you and brought you here?"
"It was…Mums."
"Yes! Yes, Lylya, the Mums took care of you and do you know what? Those men outside are the Mums, not the police. They are here to take care of you.”
Lylya gazed up at Kiara. "They are Mums?" she asked quietly. "But…I am thief."
"What did you steal?" Kiara said. "Who did you steal from?"
"From that woman who wants…be…mother."
"No, Lylya. You can’t steal from Maria. She has given everything she has to you.”
Lylya stiffened. "She is not…mother!"
"I know…she knows she messed up. She was an orphan. She never had a mom and dad. When she was little, she wanted a mom and dad and she thought you were the same. But you’re not the same, because you had— have a mother and father." Kiara’s voice trailed off.
Lylya contemplated for a time and asked, "she is orphan?"
"Yes, Maria is an orphan."
"I know what is orphan."
"Lylya," Kiara said quietly. "We all know you lost your family. We all know how you must feel."
"I feel sorry," Lylya said.
"I know. None of us can imagine—"
"I feel sorry," she interrupted softly, "that I…live still."
Kiara raised her hand and gently caressed Lylya’s thick black hair. Finally she asked, "Kheda was your best friend, wasn’t she?"
"Yes."
"She was your best friend, but you let me to be your best friend too, even though I’m not Kheda."
Lylya sat staring ahead, obviously pondering Kiara's words.
"I could never be as good a best friend as Kheda was, but I can still be your best friend. Not the same, not even as good but…new. One doesn’t necessarily take away from the other. Maria is never gonna be your mother, but she is another, not mother but…best friend. She’s like an aunt. One doesn’t necessarily take away from the other. Do you see what I mean?"
"Maria is so worried about you. She’s waiting for you. Could you please go talk to her? She’ll understand."
"You cannot tell her I am…prostitute," Lylya said gravely, "upon payment of…"
Kiara quickly swiped her hand across her own throat. "Upon payment of death I swear it."
Lylya softened.
"But, you know," Kiara continued, "she already knows."
Lylya recoiled.
"She was told everything about you when you came to live with her. I’m sure the Mums told her everything…but Lylya…that prostitute thing…It wasn’t your fault."
Lylya turned her face away. "She knows I am…prostitute?"
"That's not prostitution, Lylya," Kiara said. "You're not a prostitute. What happened to you was called rape. She knows bad men made you do things. That only makes her love you more."
Lylya looked back at Kiara. "I will speak to woman who wants…I will speak to mrr…Maria."
~~~
The small group had milled about outside the Wheelers' gate for just under twenty minutes. Several times, Maria had to be vigorously coaxed not to return to the shed.
"Kiara is very perceptive for a girl her age," Stacey told her repeatedly, but Maria had taken note how often Stacey peeked back over the fence.
The Mums had been told to make themselves invisible for fear their presence might further traumatize the child. Even the captain had showed up momentarily to talk to the group. Maria had also noticed the strange look Stacey leveled at her when the captain told them President Hatfield himself was monitoring the event.
The gate suddenly pushed open and Kiara stepped out, followed closely by Lylya.
The group froze in their steps. Lylya glanced around at each of them, and moved towards Maria.
Maria quickly dropped to one knee.
"Okay, what’s going on now?" someone behind the group said, startling everyone.
Eric Wheeler had returned home from work and was standing in his driveway, a lunch box dangling from his hand.
Todd turned towards him. "We’ve had another day." He turned back towards the group. "Let’s— let’s wander on over next door and give Lylya and Maria a moment, shall we?"
The group quickly began to disperse and move off towards the Riley house. Todd stepped to Eric and patted him on the shoulder. "I’ll explain everything over a beer, how’d that be?"
The Son of Man 2, Elders of Zion Page 22
