Chromeheart

by Alia Hess

  Sasha let out a small laugh. “Yeah. Little bit. He is big guy. And his punches hurt. But that was my fault. I think he is nice most of the time.”

  Corvin chuckled and leaned against a rickshaw with a striped canopy stopped beside the sidewalk. “I can’t wait to meet him.” He looked at Sasha’s shoes again. “You are going to love my house. You’ll appreciate it more than most, I think. I love patterns and colors and—”

  “Your house?”

  “Well, yes. You have to come to my house.” He shrugged. “We’ll have dinner, and I’ll get my parents over, and then you can set up the video with Owl and we’ll all have a big chat. I’ve got a huge house. Nice guest rooms. A great view up on the hill. I insist you stay the night. It’s the least I can do to repay you for coming all the way here and finding me. You don’t know how much it means to me to be able to talk to my sister again.”

  Sasha looked at Dusty. “What you think? Sound good?”

  She knit her brows. “Uh, I guess—”

  “Oh my god. I didn’t even see you standing there, dear. I’m so sorry.” Corvin kneeled and took Dusty’s hand as though proposing, then shook it with both of his. “How rude of me. I’m a bit distractible if you haven’t noticed. And I must say that you look lovely in my red blouse.” He stood and gave her a charming grin. “You like my line? I have some new designs at my house that you two will love. What is your name?”

  “Dusty.” It was almost a question.

  “Dusty. Beautiful name. And Sasha, right?” Corvin clapped his hands together again. “Oh, this is so exciting. So listen, come back right here at five o’clock, and I’ll send someone”—he gestured to the rickshaw behind him—“to pick you up and take you to my place. Sound good?”

  Sasha nodded. “Sure. We can do that.”

  “Perfect. Oh!” He strode back into the boutique for a moment, then walked out. “You guys can go in there and pick out whatever you want, m’kay? It’s on me. Least I can do. And it’s nice to know that there are people that appreciate some color for a change!”

  “Wow. Really? Thank you,” Sasha said.

  “Not a problem. Wear to dinner one of the outfits you pick out. I can’t wait to see.” He climbed into the rickshaw and leaned an arm over the side. “See you two this evening. And maybe this video-talk with Owl will finally get our mom off my back. Bye!”

  The rickshaw driver hefted the wooden poles and pulled it down the street. Corvin waved.

  Sasha let out a breath and put his hands on his hips. “Well, that worked out good, huh?”

  Dusty frowned.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Um… nothing. C’mon, let’s go get some free clothes.”

  Sasha followed Dusty into the boutique. A chubby younger man with glasses stood behind the counter. “Mr. Melonvine said for you two to pick out whatever things you want.”

  Dusty’s mood brightened as she scanned the clothing racks. “You know, I never really cared about clothes before I met you. I’m sure you remember how holey that shirt was that I had on when we met.”

  “Lot of hole. Not too much shirt. I remember.” He smirked.

  Dusty pulled a silky green blouse off a rack and held it to her chest. “But I loved wearing your weird shirts so much that I decided to get some new ones of my own. Dewbell helped me pick them out.” She gave him a shy smile. “I still wore your shirts when you were asleep in the hospital, even though I had others. …Especially the dirty ones that still smelled like you.”

  Sasha cocked an eyebrow. “What you trying to do to me right now? Don’t tell me that stuff. I am going to be thinking about that all day. That’s disgusting. And so sexy.” The cashier squinted at them and Sasha cleared his throat. “Okay. Going to find me something to wear too.” He paused, then whispered. “You need help trying on clothes, you tell me. I’m very good at pulling down zippers.”

  Dusty laughed. “Yes, I know.”

  Sasha chose a fuchsia shirt with tiny, iridescent zigzags, a purple and gray floral cardigan that Dusty insisted came from the “Girls’ Section,” and several pairs of trousers with tight, contrasting cuffs. She refused to show him what she chose—saying it was a surprise.

  They went back to Dusty’s for the afternoon. Sasha lounged on the twisted and wrinkled bed sheets, wearing his new outfit. He turned on Drone B5 with the tablet. The drone’s camera blinked on, displaying a sage green wall. Muffled voices drifted through the speakers.

  “Hello? Anyone home?” He waited a beat. “It is Sasha calling! If somebody don’t come talk to me, I will start singing! And you do not want to hear that.”

  The drone swiveled, pointed at an ample chest in a low-cut top.

  His eyes widened. “Whoa. Hello, baby.”

  Owl bent down, her face filling the screen. She smiled. “Sasha! It’s so good to see you! How are you? We’ve been so worried.”

  “Hey, good to see you too! I am doing better than ever. Sorry it take me so long to find your brother. Having heart failure kind of messed everything up.”

  Trav sat next to Owl with a chubby, dark-complected baby in his arms. A tuft of brown hair curled on the top of his head.

  “Oh, there he is!” Sasha grinned. “Look at that face. He look just like Trav. Only cuter.”

  Trav beamed, jostling the boy on his knee. “Got that right. This is our little Muffin.”

  “You guys look like happy family. It’s great.”

  “How are you, Sasha? Dusty told us what happened.”

  “I am great. Hey, look at this scar.” Sasha lifted his shirt. “Big, right? You impressed?”

  Dusty rolled her eyes as she picked up dirty laundry from the floor. “I bet you say that to all the ladies.”

  Sasha smirked. A woman after my own heart.

  “Yeah, that’s a nasty scar, Sasha,” Owl said. “But you feel okay?”

  “Oh, yeah. And I find your brother today! He is rich guy. I am wearing some of his clothes right now. He ask me and Dusty to come to his house today for dinner, then I will call you back and you can talk to him. Your mom and dad too. That sound good?”

  Owl’s face lit up. “Yes! Great! I can’t wait to see him. How’s he look?”

  Sasha shrugged. “Seems like nice guy. Really friendly. Smiles a lot. He is excited to talk to you too.”

  “So he designed those weird clothes you’re wearing?”

  “Yeah! Cool, right? Let us pick out stuff for free.”

  She chuckled. “Sounds like you two are going to get along great.”

  Dusty flopped onto the bed and Sasha put an arm around her. “Hey, guess what? Me and Dusty are in love.”

  Owl let out a small laugh. “That’s wonderful!”

  Trav smiled as Son of Owl pulled on a fistful of his blond hair. “Sounds like things really are going well for you guys, then. Better than a couple months ago.”

  “Yes, definitely. You guys got cute new baby”—he planted a kiss on the side of Dusty’s head—“I got cute new baby.”

  Son of Owl scrunched his face and fussed, reaching for Owl’s bosom. Trav said, “Uh-oh. Feeding time.”

  Sasha raised his eyebrows but held his tongue.

  Owl took the baby into her arms and he pulled at her shirt. “I guess I gotta go. But we’ll be here later when you call again, okay?”

  “Yes. Okay. Talk to you later.” Sasha shut off the drone and set the tablet beside him. He propped his hands behind his head, and Dusty snuggled next to him. “I can’t wait to see what you are going to wear to dinner. Will I think it’s sexy?”

  She snorted. “I could wear a garbage bag and you’d think it was sexy.”

  He paused, conjuring the image. “Yeah. You’re right.”

  Corvin’s huge house loomed at the top of a hill like a monument to opulence, black peaked roofs and pinnacles stabbing at the evening sky.

  Their rickshaw driver grunted as he pulled them along a winding path to a tall, wrought-iron gate. Sasha felt a bit bad that the man had to pull Dusty and
him, and Dusty’s bike up the hill, but the steep incline didn’t slow him down much.

  After passing through the gate, they stopped before the house. Ornate gray brickwork made up the exterior walls and marquise-shaped windows flanked a large front door.

  Sasha exited the rickshaw and held out a hand for Dusty, looking ravishing in a silky peach blouse with a plunging neckline, a white mini skirt, and huge, pyramid-shaped stud earrings. She also wore eyeliner and the hot pink lipstick he’d given her on her birthday.

  “Hey! There you are!” Corvin stood on the front step, the door open behind him. “Get your butts in here. I’m so excited!”

  Sasha helped Dusty from the rickshaw and whispered. “This guy is little bit weird, huh?”

  She frowned.

  Corvin crushed Sasha in a hug, then did the same to Dusty. “You guys look amazing. Dusty, very nice outfit choice. You look absolutely lovely. And Sasha…” He cocked his head and tugged at Sasha’s floral cardigan. “I never thought of making that pattern for a guy’s sweater.”

  Dusty shook her head. “Told you it was girl’s clothes.”

  “Hey, that’s okay.” Corvin clapped Sasha on the shoulder. “Way to think outside the box. I knew you had creative taste. You are going to love my house. Come in! Come in! Dinner’s almost ready.”

  Their footsteps echoed on the reflective red tile in the front hall. An alternating pattern of gold stripes and polka dots ran along the black walls. A bizarre glass chandelier—akin to the sculptures in the fancy restaurant in Violet—hung from the ceiling.

  “You brought your tablet, right, Sasha?”

  “Of course. Can’t talk to Owl without it.”

  Corvin turned to face them, walking backward down the hall. “Great. Great. You know, I was thinking… I have this big viewing-screen-thing. It just shows nice pictures right now. Ocean. Grassy fields. Stuff that doesn’t look like Hammerlink. But maybe there’s a way to put the picture from your tablet onto the screen? Then we could all see Owl bigger than life, y’know?”

  Sasha tugged at his hair, weaving around a metal wolf’s head hanging from the wall like taxidermy. “Uh, I don’t know. Not sure if Russian technology and Hammerlink technology will go together.”

  “Oh, but see, that’s the thing. Those Russian scientists outside of town have been trying to figure out how to make the two technologies join together. I have this rope-wire-thingy they gave me that is supposed to work between the tablet and viewing panel, but all I get when I plug it in is a blue screen. Maybe you can fix it?”

  “Yeah, maybe. I can take look.”

  “After dinner. After dinner.” Corvin turned around and veered into a new hallway. “I am starving.”

  Sasha and Dusty followed Corvin into a large kitchen. Several people were preparing trays of food, and a young woman in a dress and apron was struggling to pull a cork from a wine bottle.

  “Here, let me.” Corvin nudged the woman aside and wiggled the corkscrew until the cork popped out. He gestured to the woman. “This is Anya.” He gave her a squeeze around the shoulders. “She does everything around here, don’t you?”

  Anya nodded, looking at the counter. Corvin pointed to an older woman and a middle-aged man. “And here we have Grace and Macky. They’re my chefs. Okay, come this way.”

  Corvin beckoned and pushed open a door. The next room held a long dining table and not much else, save for brightly-colored walls that put Sasha’s shoes to shame. Two people sat near one end.

  “And now I’d like you to meet my mom and dad, Martha and Jerry.”

  Corvin’s mother was a plump woman with mousy brown hair and pink cheeks. His father had a frown half-concealed beneath a bushy moustache.

  “So nice to meet some of Owl’s friends.” Martha smiled. “It’s wonderful that you came all the way here so that we can talk to her.”

  Corvin nodded. “It is wonderful.”

  “You know, I really think that Owl should move here—”

  “Mom, we’ve been over this a million times.” Corvin sighed. “Please don’t start this up again.”

  “Well, I just think that—”

  “The boy’s right,” Jerry gruffed. “You need to drop it.”

  Sasha took a seat across from Corvin’s parents and Dusty sat next to him.

  “Besides, we’ll have time to talk about Owl later. I want to know more about our guests here.” Corvin sat at the end of the table and propped his chin in his hand. “Sasha here knows about technology. And is smart enough to have figured out how we can talk to someone in the West besides through letters. I really think that’s the next big thing. Communication is so important, you know? We’ve got some advanced machines here, but in other respects we’re as primitive as the West Coast. I’ve heard that much of the newer technology wasn’t invented here at all, but is just trickling in from some other place farther east, which is why there’s such a lopsided advancement. Most of the fancy gadgets we’ve got are medical devices. I suppose, most important things first, huh?”

  Sasha nodded. “I am very happy for the medical stuff. Two months ago I have heart failure and got new metal heart here. I would probably be dead if that happened somewhere else. You want to see scar?”

  Dusty elbowed him. “We’re going to have dinner. Don’t show them that!”

  “Oh, I want to see!” Corvin grinned. Sasha lifted his shirt and Corvin said, “Wow. That’s a big one. Definitely a good thing you were in Hammerlink.”

  Dusty frowned and gave Sasha a dirty look.

  The chefs entered the room, setting trays on the table. Anya entered with the wine. She filled Dusty’s glass, then reached for Sasha’s.

  “Oh, no, thank you. I can’t drink. I get in big trouble all the time.”

  Corvin’s smile fell away. “Hey, I can respect that. Takes a big man to admit it. No peer pressure here. You want something else? Milk? Juice? Coffee?”

  “Uh, black coffee. Yes. That would be nice. Thanks.”

  Anya veered around the end of the table and filled Corvin’s glass. As she pushed it toward him, it caught on the tablecloth and fell, splashing Corvin’s shirt with wine.

  “Oh my god!” She pressed a cloth napkin to Corvin’s front. Her face twisted, lip trembling and eyes awash with tears. “I’m so sorry, sir! Please. I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it. I’m so, so sorry!”

  Corvin stared at his shirt, lip twitching. One hand balled into a fist, but he looked up and smiled. “Hey. It’s okay. You made a mistake.”

  “I’m so sorry, sir.”

  “Anya, stop dabbing me with that napkin. That’s not going to get the stain out.” He stood. “I’m going to change my shirt and I’ll meet you down in the laundry room—”

  Anya let out a sob, and he continued. “And you can clean my shirt there. Okay? Go now.”

  “I’m so sorry! Please—”

  “Anya. Go.”

  The woman wiped at the tears on her cheeks and nodded, leaving the room. Corvin pinched the bridge of his nose, then looked at the stain on his shirt. “I must apologize for that. Anya is a very sensitive girl. So scared of making mistakes. She’s had a hard life. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go change my shirt.”

  Corvin left and the room fell into an awkward silence. Dusty gave Sasha a look but he didn’t understand what it meant, and he wasn’t about to ask with Corvin’s parents across the table.

  “So, you guys like Hammerlink?” he asked.

  Martha smiled. “Well, it took some getting used to for sure. But Corvin set us up in a very nice house. Not as nice as his, but we didn’t want anything this fancy, anyway.”

  “Yes, is big house, for sure. And he like bright colors even more than me.”

  “I think he’s going through a phase. He redecorated everything. Ever since that incident last year.”

  “What incident?” Dusty’s wine glass paused at her lips.

  “Martha, now’s not the time to talk about that.” Jerry scowled.

  “Why not? It was a
n accident, after all. And I’m sorry to say it, but that boy should not have pickpocketed him in the first place—”

  “Martha! For God’s sake.” Jerry sighed.

  Sasha pursed his lips. Maybe none of them knew how to make good dinner conversation. Dusty stared at the tablecloth.

  Eventually, Corvin returned. He wore a new shirt in robin’s egg blue and there was a small red stain beneath one of the pearl buttons. He shoveled his hair back from his forehead and grinned. “I am so ready for something to eat.” He pushed his chair to a clean spot at the table and sat.

  Martha squinted. “Corvin, honey, why are you so sweaty?”

  Corvin wiped his face with a napkin and straightened his bow tie. “Well, Mom, I had to run upstairs for a new shirt, then run all the way to the laundry room, then come back here.” He looked at Sasha and Dusty. “And to be honest, I’m pretty out of shape. I mean, I can eat whatever I want and I won’t gain a pound, but it does nothing for my endurance, you know what I mean?”

  Sasha slipped his tablet out and wrote Dusty a message under the table.

  Dusty looked at Corvin’s shirt, her face paling. “I don’t feel so good.”

  Corvin fixed a button on the cuff of his sleeve. “You look peaked, dear. What’s wrong?”

  “I think the wine has gone to my head, is all.”

  “Well, my goodness, yes. You drank that whole glass in the time it took me change my shirt. Maybe you’d like some coffee, instead? By the way, we’re having cheesecake for dessert.”

  “Sure. I’ll take a coffee.”

  Sasha leaned toward her. “You okay?”

  Dusty gave a small nod. “But Corvin, may I use your restroom?”