Light invaded Alethia’s consciousness. She did not feel pain for the first time since she could remember. Her eyes and head felt foggy. That made sense, when she tried to open her eyes and look around, the world seemed to be covered in a haze. After blinking several times, she still was not able to clear her sight completely.
She started to get up, but Karen was beside her in a flash.
“Careful Allie. You’ve been out for a few days. And you’re still hooked into an IV.”
Alethia’s mind came alive at those words,
“A few days?! What happened? Are my classes canceled?”
Karen pushed her back to the mattress on the floor and shook her head.
“Richard and I took care of everything. Do you remember accepting his idiot deal?”
“Right.”
“How do you feel, hon?”
Except for the vague fuzziness, Alethia felt pretty good. The longer she was conscious, the more clear her world became. The birds chirping outside the window — or were they inside the house — were a little loud.
“I am okay. Can we close the window or something? The birds are deafening.”
“Allie, the windows are not opened. What are you talking about?”
Alethia raised her head and found that she was in Karen’s art studio which doubled as the couples’ guest bedroom. None of the windows were open and Alethia could not see any birds at or near the window.
Her head was even more clear now. She started to get up. Karen made to stop her, but Alethia said,
“Karen, let me try to move around a little. I want to see if I can stand. Just help make sure I don’t fall?”
Karen stood with Alethia, hands extended and ready to catch her friend in case she took a tumble in the middle of the floor. Alethia’s balance was spot on, but her legs were wobbly. She hobbled to the window and looked outside.
She could hear the birdsong even better here. And sure enough she could hear the exterior birds as well through the window as she could if it was open. She spotted a small blue jay outside the window. It seemed out of place here in the Texas winter. Alethia could see the individual hooks on the bird’s feathers. When she focused, she could even see a few tiny ants crawling about the branch. The bluejay had disrupted the ants’ trails and pecked a few off of the branch for a meal.
Karen’s heart was racing. Alethia looked back to see her face. The older woman looked tired and frustrated. Alethia understood that feeling immediately.
“Shoot Karen, this was crazy of us, huh?”
Karen sighed,
“I guess you’re smart enough to see that now, huh?”
Alethia marveled at the words. She really was that smart now. Or at least her mind was clear. She could remember her freshman Bio course from almost eight years ago. She could remember the shape of Tony’s face when she broke up with him. She could remember the unique scent of perfume Karen wore the night of Alethia’s breakup with Tony. Rachel was out of town hiking, so Alethia could not talk to her best friend on the phone. So she ended up on the Taylor’s porch, crying her eyes out.
Rob had emerged from his cave only to confirm that the events did not matter to him. But Karen held Alethia the whole weekend. All without Alethia ever once admitting how she felt about Karen. That feeling surged within Alethia’s chest now. Her chest hurt when she looked at Karen. She tried to decide how she would reveal her feelings to her friend, but Alethia was convinced that Karen would never believe her. Instead she asked a question,
“How is Rob?”
Karen sighed,
“He is still out. You woke up first, but he is breathing steady and I think the worst has passed. By a long shot.”
“How many days have gone by?”
“Four. I made Richard call Doctor Price and the TA super for the week. You should be in the clear. I even chatted with Patrick and he said to only come back when you’re well. How do you feel?”
Alethia performed another self check. She felt pretty good now. Maybe even really good. The fog had cleared out of her head and her vision had cleared up as well. Her senses felt highly tuned, like she was picking up more information visual and audible, than normal. She had a funny feeling about trying to zoom around the kitchen the way that Richard had the other day.
“I feel good now. The longer I’ve been awake, the better I feel. Oh my God, how do I look?”
Alethia ran to the bathroom to check herself out in the mirror. She looked good. The effect on her was about the same as the effect on Richard. Someone gave her the makeover of her life. Several of the acne scars on her face that Alethia had long given up trying to hide were totally gone now. She lifted her shirt and her belly did not jiggle in response to the motion. Instead, when she tensed her muscles, they rippled against the skin and displayed a little washboard.
A gasp escaped her lips. She would never have considered herself vain. But standing there in front of the mirror making her muscles writhe in an unknown rhythm made her decide she was damn hot. Foxy even.
Alethia ran out of the bathroom and almost into Karen,
“Whoa girl, did you like what you saw?”
Karen’s smile was a little crooked when she asked the question. Alethia left her shirt hiked up under her bra.
“Tell me this is not impressive. You can touch them if you want. You know you want to.”
Alethia did not say, “I know I want you to,” but she prayed for Karen to take her up on the offer. Alethia might have jumped her friend then and there. But Karen chuckled and said,
“So this was worth it?”
“So far, yeah. Are you kidding? I wonder if I can do the splits now?”
She stretched her legs out across the room in the Taylor’s guest bedroom. Sure enough, she could touch her crotch to the floor along with her calves and thighs. It did not even hurt.
Karen just watched Alethia run through a number of low impact poses from martial arts and yoga. The fact that she was willing to stand and watch while Alethia showed off made Alethia feel special. She had Karen all to herself right then and that fact made Alethia want to kiss Karen right here and right now.
Wild, leaping steps brought Alethia next to Karen. Like a drunken sorority girl, Alethia draped her arms around Karen’s neck and hugged her. Karen smiled and they remained like that for almost a minute while Alethia fought through nervous terror to invoke the courage needed to kiss her friend on the lips. The last few yards of battle behind her, Alethia was ready to announce her feelings when a shout from the back room proclaimed Rob awake. Karen disengaged from Alethia and ran back to check on her husband.
Robert’s transformation was nothing short of miraculous. The man from a week ago with his sullen looks and downcast expression was gone. In his place stood a tall, confident man who had dropped almost sixty pounds of extra weight. His hair looked shiny and smooth instead of greasy and slick. His eyes flashed with humor and energy. Even his skin looked better. He was still pale, but the ever-growing mass of scars on his arms had disappeared. He looked pale white like some kind of model. The afternoon light made him resemble a statue carved in marble.
Alethia and Robert took separate showers. Richard and Karen checked on them several times, Richard for Rob and Karen for Alethia. Once they were done, the group decided to go out for dinner. Alethia usually dreaded such ventures with Rob, but even he acted enthusiastic over the outing.
Richard drove them all to a local bakery and interior Mexican food stop that used to be their go-to for eating out. Since Rob’s depression started, they had to curtail those excursions. But today, gregariousness exuded from Rob like he had only today woken from a coma.
Since she had been diagnosed with celiac, Alethia had not really wanted to return to the bakery. The smell of food she was not allowed to eat usually dampened her mood, at best. But today she could not stop sniffing. At everything. Odors wafted off of the door that gave her pause. Every single hand that touched the door left an impression. The melange of that impression had been hard for Alethia to stop smelling.
Once in the store, the redolence became overwhelming. Her eyes watered, not from the intensity of the smell, but from the sheer pleasure of smelling it. Here was a place where they made their food in house and who spent more time than necessary making sure it was quality. They sat back at the table and Alethia found herself sniffing the booths before they sat.
Richard laughed and said,
“Whatcha got, McGruff?”
“I don’t know. But it smells really interesting. Ugh, for all I know it’s just someone’s butt.”
Alethia calmed down and seated herself at table with her friends.
Robert talked about his dreams. How he had been trapped inside of a clear crystal ball while everyone else watched him and spoke to each other. Because he was behind a crystal wall, he could not see out or interact with anyone else. It had been scary, but when he woke, he felt an odd sense of serenity.
He asked the others if they had felt that way. Richard and Alethia both said no. Alethia went into more detail,
“I am still having trouble focusing, you know. It’s like all of these new sensations keep striking me. Especially scent. All three of you smell really good and really interesting to me. I feel like I am experiencing too much for me to put it into reasonable words, you know? Like I don’t have the scent vocabulary to describe everything I can smell.”
Richard said,
“I guess the guy telling me to calm down cheated me out of that experience. I don’t know. Should I be mad?”
Alethia could still remember this aching hours of bright white pain. Apparently so could Rob because they spoke in unison when they said,
“No, you should not.”
Alethia and Rob both laughed at the other. Unlike any other time, this laughter was good natured. Karen and Richard both tensed when Alethia and Rob laughed at each other. While she could definitely remember why their friends were concerned, she also wanted to chide them not to assume crash positions this early.
Karen smiled once their food arrived and the other three dug into their meals,
“My mom would have said there can’t be nothing wrong with you if you’re eating like that!”
Rob grinned over his chalupa at his wife’s comment. After dinner was over, they walked into the bakery to look at food. The smells here were thick enough for a normal nose. What Alethia had never realized before was how authentic and legitimate this bakery was.
She could not smell any preservatives in the food. Even the jam and cream cheeses were somehow fresh and locally sourced. That was a trick there. Alethia decided to damn the consequences and see if she could digest gluten now.
Two strawberry bread and two pan au chocolat made their way onto her tray. As she was checking out, Richard stopped her and said,
“Is that okay for you? I thought you were gluten intolerant?”
“Not like those people who just don’t want to eat gluten, yeah. I have celiac.”
“Okay, I get that. Why the wheat based starches then ma’am?”
Alethia shrugged,
“If people are finding the cure to their everything, I don’t want to be skipped over. If I can eat bread now, watch out flour. I am coming to pluck you. Wait wait wait, you’ll be grounded. Yeah, that was better.”
Richard was laughing at her,
“You are ridiculous.”
He lifted one of his own strawberry tarts and said,
“Well, toast and jam to you. May your gut accept all that you send it.”
“Amen to that, brother.”
They checked out and Alethia was already munching on her pan au chocolate. Flaky butter crust around a thin bed of Mexican chocolate; Alethia could not be happier with clothes on.
Back at Rob’s house, Alethia had eaten all four of her pastries and dreaded the potential futures before her. But an hour later, she still felt okay. Maybe this experiment would have a happy outcome. Meanwhile the boys got into an argument about who was the fastest. To settle things all three superheroes assembled out back in Rob’s yard.
Karen kept the place bare but spotless. Or at least well trimmed. Alethia was not sure a grass bed yard really could be spotless, but there could not be that many yards in the world that were as well maintained as the Taylor’s. Across this yard, Karen set three pieces of tape on a board. This would be the previously agreed upon halfway point. The objective was to return with your piece of tape, and not anyone else’s, first.
Karen announced the start and all three shot away with addible grunts. Alethia could not see Richard or Rob in front of her and did not even bother wondering if it meant that she was in first place. She snatched the piece of tape with “Allie” written on it with permanent marker and shot back to where Karen stood. Passing both boys on the way, Alethia flashed them a peace sign as she did.
The tape was in Karen’s hand before either of the two men had reached the quarter point halfway back across the yard.
“Holy crap Allie!”
Richard ran past them barely panting. Rob followed close behind.
He was laughing as he ran past,
“Okay that was the fastest I have ever moved in my life. This cannot end here.”
They went insane.
Alethia felt bad because the three of them exposed Karen to one more full night of their shenanigans and made her babysit. At least this time she also got to participate, kind of. They played Jenga, Connectfour, poker, chess, monopoly, and every other board game they could conjure up. After the first round of Jenga that moved so quickly Karen could not watch all of the moves, they implemented a speed game only rule. So that all of the board games were done super fast.
Alethia turned out to be quicker than Richard or Rob, but Rob seemed to have a slight mental edge. He surprised all three of the others multiple times with a random memory or smart piece of reasoning. Richard seemed pretty middle of the road, but he bragged that he already figured out his super power, but refused to tell anyone else.
The last game they spent the night playing was the guessing game,
“Is it flight?”
“Nope.”
“Energy projection?”
“No, but that would be cool, right? Green lantern style!”
“What about energy emission, Blue Marvel style?”
That was Alethia’s contribution. Both boys sat up and said,
“We know we’ve said this before, but the fact that you can just pull that stuff out of your ass like that is really impressive.”
Karen smiled, patting Alethia on the shoulder.
“Did you hear that, Allie? They both like you. I don’t know. The cute tall one is taken, you might be careful there.”
They all laughed, Karen and Rob looked at each other with secretive glances. Alethia got the hint.
“Hey Richard, we need to take off, right? I have classes and you have work for real tomorrow, don’t you?”
Richard sighed and reluctantly lifted himself off of the couch. He grinned at Rob and his eyes moistened as he did.
“Take care you two. Tomorrow night is a game night, right? I’ll bring the beers.”
Everyone made a sound of shock at the uncharacteristic display of generosity from Richard. Outside, Alethia offered to drive him home.
“Thanks Allie, I would appreciate it.”
They climbed into the car and Alethia started the engine but did not put the car in gear or pull out. She said,
“Hey Richard, the last four days was messed up, wasn’t it?”
Richard sighed,
“Yeah, but it’s really my fault. If I was as smart as I hope the serum made me, I would have thought the whole thing through more clearly. How is it that Karen still seems smarter than us?”
“Maybe this treatment or whatever only amplifies what you already have?”
“I hope that is not true. I want Rob to get better. I want this feeling of being alive and invincible to never fade.”
Alethia shrugged. She had never been especially attached to easy. Easy tended to mean bad consequences. Hard usually meant everything was working as intended.
That morning Alethia woke before her alarm. She had gone to sleep intending to do some light stretching and practice her katas. Waking before her alarm had been perfect. Rather than just stretch, she went on a twenty minute run. Two, almost three miles later, she turned around and came home. That was far enough for a twenty minute run.
When she got back to her apartment, she felt like she had been on a short hike. Katas went by unusually quickly that morning too. For one thing, she remembered every single step and position, in order. For another, her form was sublime. In her entire life Alethia had not possessed that degree of control.
Morning exercise made her feel great and filled her with confidence for the rest of her day. She caught the bus to campus and taught her morning classes. Those held an even weirder surprise for Alethia. She could tell which students understood the material and which did not. She varied her explanations to see if she could help those who struggled. And she seemed to. Only two of her students benefited from the extra examples, but Alethia beamed from her success. One of the women in her first class, Claire Byton, approached her desk after class. The student held her book up to her chest and said,
“Ms Thompson, did you do something to your hair?”
Alethia blushed — she lost the poker game last night consistently — and said,
“Thank you, but no. I am experimenting with some new foundation.”
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
Claire turned her homework in and said,
“Well, I wanted to tell you that I really like it. It suits you.”
Alethia blushed harder. Claire was young, a freshman in college. But she was also gorgeous. She had long bright red hair and a sweet freckled face that made her look simultaneously cherubic and lascivious. She wore a pale blue worn t-shirt that said Reading Rainbow with the requisite rainbow under it just like the show. Claire grinned at Alethia as she left the room, maintaining eye contact for longer than was appropriate.
Alethia had lunch with Laura and several other Bio TAs who also shared most of her graduate sections with her. Laura’s reaction to Alethia’s “makeover” was far more extreme.
“Holy shit girl, did you lose weight?”
Alethia tucked her hair behind her ear,
“Yeah, I was sick Laura.”
“Did you also get a face lift or something?”
Alethia felt the burning return,
“No. I just changed my foundation.”
“Well damn girl, you need to share that shit with the rest of us.”
“I forgot the name, but I will look it up for you.”
The lie burned in Alethia’s throat. She hated cutting the truth thin as it was, but outright lying to her friends? Why be friends with people if you were going to lie to them? What was the point? That made Alethia worse than a hypocrite. She did not know the word for it, but it was definitely bad.
That afternoon Alethia had far better sections than she had in months. Not feeling constantly exhausted seemed to be helping her a great deal. But the simple fact was her mind was clear in a way it had never been. Alethia did not feel enough false modesty to claim that she was dumb before Richard’s serum. She was a graduate student in Biology at a major university. But there was no cure for self confidence like four years in graduate school. If your professors were not smarter than you — hint: they were — at least one student was. She’d graduated Summa from UW and that still hadn’t mattered before.
Suddenly she was the smartest person in a class of geniuses.
By the end of sections, Alethia had to tone down her mouth and interest in answering. She was starting to turn heads and the super genius part of her mind decided that trying to explain this would be harder than lying to her friends.
Sections ended and Alethia took the bus back to her car. Today was a larger SCA gathering and Alethia had scribe duties to perform. She had a large illumination to finish for an upcoming banquet and the supplies were all in her trunk.
Her car pulled into the lot at the Zilker park to find a large gathering already in swing. Some musicians had abandoned practice and were piping up and down the way next to the picnic tables. On one particular table, six other heads were turned over their work painting away. A spot next to Jenna, one of Alethia’s fellow scribes, was open so Alethia sat next to her.
“Hey Alethia, long time no see!”
Alethia laughed,
“Yeah, it’s been like almost a week.”
“I heard you were sick, everything okay?”
Jenna’s voice sounded off. Alethia had a hard time putting her finger on what about Jenna’s voice bothered her, but she knew a tiny fragment of bizarre had found its way there.
“Yeah, I am totally good now, thanks Jenna!”
The scribe leaned in and said,
“Did you hear about Zoe and Timaeus?”
Alethia laughed,
“I was there, it was hilarious.”
Jenna’s scrunched up her nose and said,
“That’s not what I would call it.”
Her expression was all wrong for a harmless duel during weapon’s practice. Alethia needed to clarify,
“Then what are you talking about? The last thing I saw was Zoe whooping him during dueling practice.”
Jenna lowered her voice. Several other scribes down the table were listening in, Alethia could tell by the pause in their breathing.
“Word is Zoe assembled a posse and beat the everloving tar out of Timaeus.”
“You’re kidding! That does not sound like… well, I guess I don’t know Zoe at all. I am surprised by that still. What does Rachel think?”
Alethia looked around, Rachel was not here today and she usually made all of the practice events unless school interfered. Alethia needed more information.
“For that matter, where is Rachel?”
Jenna’s eyes twinkled and she said,
“Zoe was arrested by the police, I think Rachel is with her. Like with her with her.”
“Wait, Rachel’s not gay.”
She spoke a little too loud now, the whole scribe table was watching her now.
“Yeah, but Zoe definitely is. Some people thought you two were an item, but I shut that BS right down. We are know you’re not one of those people.”
Alethia withheld her sigh. She wanted to stand up and berate the woman. Jenna Reese attended Great Halls Baptist with Alethia. That is where they met originally. Jenna was too much of a mean girl and wanna be missionary for Alethia’s tastes. Plus, the whole “wanting to have sex with women” thing made Alethia doubt her commitment to her faith.
She still believed in God, of course, but she was less sure about staying with the Southern Baptist Convention. People like Jenna — too polite to say ‘dyke’ or ‘faggot’ but rude enough to say ‘those people’ — soured Alethia on her current parish. The fact that the leaders of her church openly condemned homosexuality was an even bigger problem. Add to that the final fact: Alethia was just not sure how she felt yet. She did not grow up feeling attracted to women. Aside from Karen and now Zoe, Alethia had only ever been attracted to men.
Jenna seemed to consider the conversation over, which Alethia herself considered ideal. Starting a fight over gay rights in Texas, in public, was not a great life choice. Even if this was Austin and most residents would defend her, this was still Texas. A good number of SCA members maintained long term same-sex relationships, but a clear divide existed between those members and people like Jenna. Both groups probably wished the other would just stop coming to events. The fact that the dislike was mutual made Alethia laugh, or would have if people were not suffering from it. If she were not suffering for it.
A hour into drawing, Alethia took a break to rest her hand and eat some barbecue. That was one of the undeniable benefits of Texas: everyone could grill food here, therefore only the best chefs were allowed to serve the public. Otherwise, someone would get ornery and decide they were grilling next time. The large vegetarian contingent also ensured that a good deal of seared fruits and vegetables found their way onto plates.
When she walked back to her station at the table, Jenna and another scribe were looking over her work. Jenna said,
“Golly, Alethia. You finished this way faster than I would have thought.”
She was not finished. That was weird.
Alethia looked down at her work. The brush lines offended her and in places the paint had dried unevenly. A few of the colors on the gryffins did not match each other. How could they say that? She checked their faces again and concluded that both women were being utterly sincere with their praise.
“Thank you both! I am gonna put some touchups on this and probably head home.”
Alethia sat back down and fiddled with her work. The tiny imperfections in her work fell into proportion as she considered the page. This was fantastic, her best work ever. Those other women had been jealous and forcing modesty onto Alethia. Once she had corrected those minute mistakes, the whole project looked beautiful.
The illumination occupied Alethia’s mind for the rest of her ride home. When she got there, she had three emails and two texts from Rachel asking her to call. Darnit. Alethia had left her phone off during sections and forgot to turn it back on. She chose Rachel’s contact and she picked up after one ring,
“Oh thank God, Alethia. Are you okay? I heard you were sick!”
“I’m fine. I heard Zoe was arrested, what happened?”
“I want to talk about that some more when you get here. Can you come over?”
“What’s going on?”
“I need an emotional support helper. You’ll see.”
Alethia changed her clothes, this sounded like a sweatpants and t-shirt job. She did put on a UW sweater so she would stay warm outside. Back in her car, Alethia wondered what would make Rachel call like that.
When she drove up to Richard and Rachel’s house, she remembered that the elder Kain should have been home. She rang the doorbell and Rachel answered it a few minutes later. Her dark hair was disheveled and she looked like she had not slept well the past few days.
“Come on in, Allie. Let’s go upstairs.”
“Is your brother home?”
“No, Rob — ugh — stopped by earlier and picked him up after work. Who knows what they are doing, besides causing trouble for someone who does not want it.”
Alethia gave that question no more thought than, ‘Karen would probably be happier alone in the house without Rob than with him there.’
In Rachel’s room they found Zoe. She had been wearing makeup at some point, but most of it was on the pillow she held to her chest. The room smelled like tears, a scent Alethia had never picked out of the air before. Zoe looked up and croaked out a weak,
“Hi.”
“Hey Zoe, how are you doing?”
The question was supposed to be innocent. But Zoe burst into tears when she heard it. Alethia’s instincts lead her to the floor where Zoe sat weeping and hugged her. That only made the crying worse.
“I… I got arrested!”
“I heard, do you want to tell me what happened?”
Zoe sniffled and wiped her eyes. But she started crying again before she could answer. After a minute or so, Zoe said,
“Two days ago, something like that, I was going home from classes. I don’t even remember what I was planning to do that day. I think just read or watch anime.”
Alethia bit her lip and refrained from saying, “oh yeah, what do you like?” and just kept hugging Zoe instead.
“Three guys with masks jumped me. Too bad for them, they all sucked at fighting and I don’t.”
Alethia looked at Zoe again. She had a light bruise on her cheek and a few other bruises on her upper arms. She still kept quiet while Zoe continued,
“I fought them, and I guess I made it too hard for them to do anything. So they ran off.”
About an hour later, the cops picked me up. They said that someone named Jerome claims I assaulted him.
“Jerome is Timaeus’s street name.”
Zoe nodded,
“I figured that out. I tried to explain to the cops that three men had tried to assault me, but they did not believe me. Rachel had to bail me out of jail. It was so humiliating, Alethia.”
“I am really sorry. Is there anything I can do?”
Alethia meant the question. She did not have a lot of money, but if Zoe needed more help, Alethia might be able to provide it.
“Yeah, do you two mind staying over tonight? I mean do you mind if I stay here tonight? Someone keeps driving by my apartment and honking their horn at night.”
Rachel said,
“Jesus Zoe, you didn’t tell me that.”
Zoe kind of nodded, but her posture was growing more and more dejected as her narrative progressed. Now that it was over, her head all but rested in her lap.
Alethia said,
“A sleepover sounds boss. We can talk about hot women and drink hot cocoa toddies and make fun of the people on So You Think You Can Dance!”
Rachel said,
“I’ll bring the whiskey and the insults we can hurl at Vanessa Hudgens!”
Zoe laughed at that,
“I never really liked her, so I am down. What are cocoa toddies?”
Alethia and Rachel shared a look. Rachel said,
“Madame, you have asked a critical question of a pair of fine southern ladies. A cocoa toddy is cocoa, hot water and whiskey. Anything but the whiskey is optional.”
Zoe laughed and said,
“Texas is definitely the weirdest place I have ever lived.”
Alethia said,
“How long have you been here?”
“About two months now, give or take.”
“Well, then it’s about time for you to experience this. Come on. Wipe your eyes ‘git up off that floor’. We’re going drankin’!”
They piled into Rachel’s car and then decided that Alethia should drive her own car and they all headed to Zoe’s house. Since Rachel knew the way already, Zoe went with Alethia.
Zoe gave directions and offered some more information,
“My ex is being a total bitch right now too. That’s the real, honest reason I am so upset. This assault thing will blow over.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because your friend Jerome is just a little boy hiding from his mommy. If I insist on taking this to court, I bet you anything the charges get dropped.”
“Okay, I want to know more about that too, but I meant what is your ex doing?”
Zoe looked miserable for a moment and said,
“Sorry… I misunderstood. Just feeling stupid, I guess. My ex is threatening to keep our cat. She’s really mine — the cat, not the ex — but Cindy is just a bitch sometimes. She doesn’t care that the cat will be happier with me than with her. She just cares that I will be sad without Manky.”
“Your cat’s name is Manky? Isn’t that a British insult or something?”
Zoe laughed,
“I’ve never heard that before. Yeah, her name is Manky and she is my little sweetheart.”
Zoe started crying again. Through sobs Alethia could not make out any words in what Zoe said. She calmed a bit and said,
“Manky likes it when I carry her around the apartment. She rides on my shoulders or on really special days, on my head.”
“When we get to your place, I expect to see pictures.”
Zoe smiled at that and nodded her head. She blew her nose with tissues from Alethia’s glove compartment.
Zoe’s apartment sat near 38th and Guadalupe not too far from campus. Fortunately for the three of them, there was enough parking for both cars. Zoe got out to run upstairs and brought parking permits back for her guests.
“They are insane here. Put this on your dash.”
Cars in order, Rachel and Alethia followed Zoe back upstairs. Richard would have called Zoe’s apartment “excessive”. She had swords, knives, bows, even a few small spears hanging from almost every available wall.
“I guess you’re into cooking?”
Alethia did not think it was that funny, but Zoe laughed so hard she came to tears. Once she calmed she showed Alethia her kitchen. The fridge contained only beer and bottled water while the freezer held a stack of frozen dinners. Zoe said,
“I don’t cook. Ever.”
Alethia was scandalized for only a moment while her southern bred mind clucked at Zoe in her mother’s voice. She could hear her mom speaking now, “why darling, every proper Southern woman should know how to cook. The more the better!”
Rachel set the bag of alcohol and sugar on the counter where they could reach it from the living room.
“Bad news guys,” Zoe said, “I only have Internet, no TV.”
Rachel shrugged,
“We’ll make do.”
Alethia smiled,
“Same here. I avoid TV, but watch way too much Internet for me to be smug about my television habits.”
Zoe grinned,
“I only canceled the service at first to save money. Now I am glad I don’t have it. Cause I never really needed it in the first place.”
“Well, I still think it’s awesome. Even if that makes us both hipsters. So you were going to show me pictures of Manky?”
Zoe jumped up and grabbed her computer. The first picture showed Zoe wearing a cute long sleeved button up plaid shirt with a huge fluffy white cat hanging on her shoulder.
“She’s huge!”
“Aw, what do you think about the cat?”
Alethia grinned,
“You are svelte, I meant the cat. She’s cute too. I guess both of them are.” [Weird, but maybe this is just Zoe’s character?
Caleb Loos 12/8/17, 10:02 PM]
Zoe preened over compliments to her cat. A few pictures showed another woman in them, Zoe swiped by those pictures fast, but not before Alethia caught a glimpse of Zoe’s ex. Her head was shaved — a look that Alethia used to dislike in women, but she was warming up to in recent months — but she smoked cigarettes. Several of the pictures showed her holding or puffing from one.
“Do you smoke? Cigarettes I mean?”
Zoe laughed and said,
“Yes and no…”
She eyed Rachel and Alethia, lingering over Alethia and said,
“I smoke pot, but only for my anxiety. And glaucoma. And when my feet are sore.”
Alethia laughed at that,
“So often you would say?”
Zoe nodded,
“Do either of you want some?”
Rachel said yes without pause. The whole Kaine family smoked weed. Alethia did not know if the Kaine parents smoked before their deaths. But the kids both did.
Alethia preferred to smoke alone or with people she was really comfortable with. Something about Zoe — probably her wicked good looks and emotional vulnerability — made Alethia decide she felt sufficiently comfortable around Zoe.
She pulled out a bong and passed it around the three of them for a few minutes. They kept the computer open and Zoe showed off a few more videos of Manky. Alethia wondered what kinds of video records the East Coast kingdoms kept about their events.
She said,
“Do you have any videos of you fighting?”
Zoe’s eyes lit up,
“Do I? Oh my god, check this out!”
She fiddled with the cursor and keyboard a moment while she pulled up the video she wanted and moved it to the correct timestamp. Zoe said,
“This is the royal tourney from last year. This is pretty cool right here.”
Two warriors wearing light armor, one of them obviously Zoe, squared off and circled each other. This time when they moved, Alethia could easily see the movements. Her newfound perceptions revealed something Alethia had already intuited about Zoe: she was a world class fencer.
“How did you not win? How do you not win heavy weapons too? Why aren’t you royalty?”
Zoe grinned, her eyes lidding themselves like she might fall asleep any second,
“How you do know I’m not?”
Alethia started and said,
“Are you?”
Zoe waved the idea away,
“No. I actively avoid ruling anything. I was a weapon master before I left. That was the most responsibility I wanted.”
Rachel’s eyes slid to Alethia and she said,
“What should we do about your cat?”
Zoe looked miserable for a moment and then collected herself back up,
“I think I am going to serve my ex with papers. But first I need a lawyer.”
They chatted about acquiring legal help and who knew the best cheap lawyer in town. Then they say back on the couch to watch television. Since this was Zoe’s feel better party, she got to choose the shows.
MTV’s Faking It started up on the screen and Alethia groaned inwardly. This was not a very well reviewed show and it was a relatively modern one depicting lesbians. Alethia did not want to watch another lesbian die tragically in the third act tonight, or for her friend to decide she was straight all along. That might be a bit too close to home for Alethia right then.
An hour into the show and Alethia decided that reviewers were stupid. Even though most of the characters were bad people who treated each other badly, she really liked the plot between the two mains. Yes, one was straight and only playing at being gay, but that only made Alethia feel closer to both of them. Here were people just as confused about themselves as she was. That they were all highschoolers and not graduate students only made Alethia feel a little uncomfortable.
Several hours later, they were all asleep in the living room, or at least Rachel and Zoe were. Alethia found that she could not sleep. She stood up and used the rest room. This was the only room in Zoe’s apartment that did not have weapons on it. It smelled like clovers and honey. Zoe had good taste in air fresheners.
She went back to her spot on the floor where Zoe had piled bedding and pillows and curled up. Sleep continued to elude Alethia. She lay there silently waiting for sleep or the sun to arrive, whichever won the race.
Neither did before Alethia heard someone stir. She was pretty sure it was Zoe rising from her couch. Alethia listened to her walk to the bathroom and then back again. Rather than return to the couch, Alethia could feel Zoe’s breath and scent near her face. Both sensations lingered only a moment before retreating. Zoe whispered,
“Rachel, are you awake?”
After a few seconds, Rachel snorted and Alethia felt her stir across the room,
“Waazzzit? What?”
“Shhh, don’t wake Alethia.”
Bah, why not? Alethia thought in response.
“Why? What’s going on Zoe?”
“Shh, I want to ask you some stuff.”
Several more instances of shifting mixed with sounds of linens being lifted and tossed on the floor reached Alethia’s straining ears. Rachel’s voice came from the couch,
“What is going on, Zoe?”
“Your friend Alethia is really hot. Like really hot. Maybe hotter than the first time I saw her.”
Alethia’s face felt like lava had fallen on it. She wondered how Rachel and Zoe could continue their conversation while Alethia’s face gave off so much red light.
Rachel laughed,
“No shit, dude. If I played for your team, I would have buried my face in that a long time ago.”
“You are my crudest girlfriend, you know that?”
Rachel sounded proud,
“I just call it like I see it. In a different universe, we’re all wrapped up in each others’ smokin’ hot bodies tonight. Hell, I am straight and the thought turns me on a little. Anyway, I think you wanted to ask me something?”
Zoe said,
“Yeah. Is she single? And do you know what team she plays for? I am getting a heavy ‘gay and into you vibe’.”
Rachel said,
“You have to ask her. Anything she’s said to me, she’s said in confidence.”
Good ol’ Rachel. Alethia felt warm to be blessed with such a good fried.
“But you think I should ask?”
Alethia could imagine Rachel’s ‘nod and shrug’. It was her way of saying, ‘heck, I do not know, but it might be worth your time.’
Zoe spoke up again,
“So I am getting a firm maybe? Are you sure you can’t give me any hints?”
Rachel sighed and said,
“I think you could ask her, but I also think now is a bad time. Give her like two or three weeks. Maybe four.”
“Ugh, I hate waiting. For anything.”
“I know. I’ve seen you try to cook. It was frightening.”
“So you think there is a chance? Sorry to keep asking this, but she’s in the SCA and she seems down. That’s like finding a silver card in your first pack.”
“Is that a Pokemon thing?”
“Yeah, sorry.”
“It’s okay. I knew you were a big dork when I decided to be your friend.”
Alethia smiled at the thought that Rachel had her back and fell asleep.
When she woke the next morning, she was still in Zoe’s apartment. Rachel sat on the couch with a cup of coffee on the table in front of her and her phone in the other. She saw Alethia stir and said,
“Good morning Allie! Did you forget something last night?”
Alethia ran through her list of to-do’s for the day. No, she had everything squared away for once and felt pretty good about it.
“No. I am good.”
“Really? I only ask cause Richard texted me last night trying to find out where you were. You should turn your phone back on.”
“Oh shoot! Game night! Darnit!”
Alethia pulled her phone out of her small black leather purse. Sure enough, it had seventeen messages from Richard, Karen and Rob waiting for her attention. Today was another SCA practice, so she might see Richard there tonight. She would apologize then.
She texted all three back, Rob’s text was a bit of a surprise, and Richard replied first.
“I talked to Rache. Don’t let this Zoe girl chop you into haggis before I see you again.”
Alethia did not reply right away because Zoe walked into the living room and smiled when she saw Alethia.
“You’re awake. I considered making breakfast for all of you, but Rachel suggested that it might be faster just to throw the raw ingredients into the trash. So she is making breakfast.”
Rachel blinked and jumped up from the couch, phone still in hand. Zoe sat down on the couch and patted the seat next to her.
“Come up off the floor, Alethia. Want to watch random Youtube videos until Rachel is done feeding us?”
“Sure, that sounds like a good time.”
Alethia crawled up the couch and turned in place. Lesbian flirting was like any other kind she had dabbled in, but it took her a few minutes to realize what was going on. Zoe held the tablet. The angle forced Alethia’s head almost into Zoe’s neck. Once Alethia turned her head and almost bumped her nose into Zoe’s jaw, she finally got with the program.
Nearness to Zoe sent shivers up Alethia’s spine. The cute animals on Youtube did little to distract from the soft warmth of Zoe’s shirt and neck. But the thought of Karen and how much Alethia had pined for her made Alethia finally stand and use the restroom. She felt like a total chicken sitting on the toilet with her head in her hands.
One thing that Richard’s super hero serum did not do for her: ease this emotional torment. Alethia repeated the deal she made with herself,
“The feelings I am having might just be a test. But if they are, I want to understand them.”
Alethia prayed for understanding. Again. Aside from prayers for the good of her family and friends, this was the only prayer Alethia offered these days. No feeling of completeness or righteousness with the Lord pervaded her body. She felt like God was not listening to her, even though she knew that was nonsense.
She finally left the bathroom to find Rachel and Zoe back on the couch watching videos together. Rachel had her head on Zoe’s shoulder, practically stroking her breast with her hair and shoulder. Watching their interaction, Alethia knew that she was being judgmental and dumb. It hurt to watch Rachel, who had no confusing amorous feelings for other women, lay down on another woman who did. Rachel did all of this without the shame Alethia would have felt.
A blazing bright memory of her own youth fired through Alethia’s head. All she needed to provoke the film-like recollection was to wonder where that attitude had come from. She remembered youth group after Wednesday church. When she was that age, she did not understand why her family attended Wednesday services. But she loved the church. All of her friends were here as well as all of the adults she trusted.
One of those friends was a boy her age named Nicholas, never Nick. He was thin and long-limbed. The sort of boy who’s body telegraphed the man he would be one day. He had shaggy dirty brown hair and one of the thickest Texas accents she had ever heard in her life. Youth group was before church on Wednesdays, right after school.
Group ended early. Alethia started to think that she could not remember why. That had always been the truth during previous reviews of this memory. But suddenly she could hear the youth pastor, Gregory, excuse himself for the rest of the afternoon with a coda that he would have one of the other adults step in and check on them. That chaperonage never materialized.
Instead, Alethia and the rest of the kids organized a Bible reading of their own. Alethia distinctly remembered suggesting the idea to the rest of the kids. They pulled their KJV bibles off of the shelves and flipped to something random, Alethia lobbied for Ruth, but the rest of the kids insisted on Genesis.
Nicholas sat against a wall with the rest of them. That represented their biggest conscious rebellion so far: not using their chairs to read the Bible. But Alethia and Nicholas took the challenge to their elders a step farther when Alethia leaned into Nicholas like he was a chair and they both read from the same Bible.
When one of the older men came into the youth room, he exploded into anger. He made the whole group return the Bibles and pulled Alethia and Nicholas out of the room for separate lectures and down-dressings.
She was repeatedly told how her behavior was tempting and unwholesome. For the better part of ten minutes, Alethia had thought she was in trouble over unsupervised readings of the Bible. Only at the end of the lecture did she realize that she was in trouble for being “too close” to Nicholas.
Alethia felt ashamed and humiliated at her behavior. She cursed herself for her impiety during most of the following sermon. Matters only grew worse that Sunday when Pastor David called out “inappropriate behavior among the youth group” during his sermon on morality.
She shook her head to clear the bad memories out as the oven timer rang. Rachel stood to put food into the oven. Alethia decided that she would try to relax until the event today. Her plan was to go with Rachel and Zoe, but she needed to stop by her own place for her clothes.