Chromeheart

by Alia Hess

  Sasha squeezed his eyes shut. “Well, what can we do? Got no more money for buying orphans. Anya don’t want to leave. And you can’t just kill Corvin with hammer like—”

  “Kill me with a hammer? Ouch!”

  Sasha’s eyes shot open. Corvin stood in the doorway with his eyebrows raised, hand on the knob.

  “I didn’t mean that. I was only… um… Shit. I can’t remember American word.”

  “Exaggerating?”

  “Yes. Exaggerating.”

  Dusty trembled, eyes wide.

  “Well, I would hope so.” Corvin laughed. “Because here I thought I was being a great host. Giving you free clothes from my line, inviting you to dinner, letting you stay the night. But I’ve obviously done something wrong if you want to kill me. And with a hammer of all things.” He took a step into the room and Sasha squeezed Dusty even tighter. “I must have really messed something up. But don’t worry. We can clear it up over some cheesecake, I’m sure. Come on.”

  Frozen in place, his breath shallow and rapid, Sasha made no move to get up from the bed. “Not very hungry at moment. And I think maybe we should just go home now.”

  Corvin smiled, shaking his head slowly. “You can’t go home. Not this late. The city is dangerous this time of night.”

  “Well, we can take chance. Sorry, Corvin. We did have nice time, but I really think we should—”

  Corvin’s eyes narrowed. “I insist you come downstairs with me right now and have some delicious cheesecake. It’s strawberry. You like strawberries, don’t you?” He pushed opened the door and gestured with his head.

  Sasha’s breath quickened. He clutched Dusty tightly as they stood and walked from the room.

  I brought Dusty into this psycho’s den. This Boss. What if he takes her? Uses her as a slave like she used to be? Her and Anya wearing matching dresses and aprons. And then Corvin will probably carve me up like that guy in his painting.

  He concentrated on keeping down his dinner as they descended the stairs and followed Corvin to the dining room.

  Maybe I can convince him we’re friends, and it was all a misunderstanding. Butter him up by complimenting him more on his house and clothes and paintings. Tell him the cheesecake is wonderful. He said he has a tablet. Maybe I could somehow gain access to Drone B5 with it and he could talk to Owl whenever he wanted. He’d be happy with that. But then Owl and Trav would have to deal with this creep all the time.

  Corvin stood at the end of the dining table and gestured for them to sit. Sasha sat in a seat close to Corvin so Dusty didn’t have to, and she dropped into the chair next to Sasha, clutching his arm. A covered tray and a large carving knife sat at the end of the table.

  Corvin took the knife and pointed it at Sasha. “You ready for some cheesecake? It’s not cut yet, so we can have as big of slices as we want.”

  “Uh, yes. I’d love some cheesecake. Thank you, Corvin. Dusty want some too. Big piece.”

  Dusty frowned at Sasha in confusion.

  “Yes! Big pieces!” Corvin pulled the cover off the tray, revealing a thick round of cheesecake layered in glazed strawberries. He plunged the blade forcefully into the cake, chopping out slices. After dishing out a large piece to Dusty, he served Sasha and himself, then sat, clasping his hands under his chin.

  “So, let’s have a conversation, shall we? Dusty, why do you want to kill me with a hammer?”

  Sasha opened his mouth, but before he could get out an excuse, Dusty scowled. “You’re a Boss.”

  Corvin blinked and sat back. “I am a Boss. Is that what this is about?” He laughed and took a bite of cheesecake. “Oh, everything makes so much sense now! You must be an orphan, huh? That’s why you were acting distressed all evening and asking Anya if she needed help with the dishes. I totally get it.” He pointed his fork at her. “I bet you had some really awful Boss, huh? Child molester, probably. There are a lot of those. And probably every time he looked at you you’d fear for your safety… Wondering when he was going to touch you next… You probably grew up believing that you had absolutely no worthwhile meaning to anyone other than as a sex object, am I right? That your only purpose in life was for men’s pleasure? That’s rough.”

  Dusty trembled, squeezing Sasha’s arm. Her eyes grew wet with tears, but a hard scowl creased her face.

  Sasha frowned. “Hey! Stop saying that stuff to her! You’re making her upset.”

  Corvin took another bite of cheesecake. “Oh. Gosh. That was really insensitive of me to bring up, huh? I must have made you feel awful right now, dear. Almost as awful as I feel when my guests threaten to kill me.”

  “That was only misunderstanding—”

  Corvin picked up the knife and stabbed it into the table. “Please do not interrupt me, Sasha! Just eat your cheesecake.”

  Sasha tried to keep his hand from shaking as he brought a forkful of cake to his mouth.

  “As I was saying… Oh, yes. I brought up your old Boss, Dusty, because I want you two to know that I’m not like that at all. And I want to apologize on behalf of your Boss and whatever it is he did to you. Guys like that give guys like me a bad name, and then we end up in awkward situations like this.” Corvin laughed and Sasha’s arms raised with goosebumps. He clutched Dusty’s hand under the table.

  “I employ fifty-three orphans. They are fed three times a day, only work six hour shifts, and have a safe place to sleep at night. They aren’t subjected to toxic chemicals, beaten, or suffer any other inhumane treatment. Okay? Because that’s the nice kind of guy I am. And Anya, as I’m sure you’re aware, is also an orphan employed by me. I bought her from her last Boss—who was a real asshole to her. Beat her all the time, sexually assaulted her, that sort of thing. I saved her.”

  “I don’t believe you.” Dusty’s eyes burned with hatred.

  “No?” Corvin looked toward the kitchen door. “Anya! Come here, please!”

  After a moment, Anya hesitantly walked into the room. “Yes, sir?”

  Corvin grinned and pulled out the chair next to him, patting the table. “Come sit by me, dear.”

  Anya sat, glanced at Sasha and Dusty, then at the knife sticking out of the table. Corvin jerked the blade from the wood. “Have some cheesecake with us.”

  He chopped out a large slice and slid the plate to Anya. “Anya, my guests here are convinced that I’m a horrible Boss to you, and I really want to clear that up, so I need you to answer some questions for me, m’kay?”

  She nodded and took a bite of cheesecake.

  Corvin leaned toward her. “Have I ever touched you in a sexual way? I think Dusty is very worried about that.”

  Anya frowned and shook her head.

  “Do I beat you?”

  Anya shook her head again. “Only… paddle me. When I make a mistake.”

  What the hell does that mean? Paddle. Whatever it was, Dusty looked sick.

  “That’s right!” Corvin nodded. “Like this evening, when you spilled wine on me, right?”

  “Yes, and I’m so sorry, sir—”

  Corvin waved a hand. “It’s already been dealt with. We don’t need to talk about it anymore. Now, I want you to think of something you like about working for me.”

  Anya paused, eyes searching like the answer was in the room somewhere. “Um…”

  “Oh, Anya, if you don’t think of something soon you’re going to hurt my feelings.” Corvin picked up the knife again, tilting it in the light of the chandelier.

  Sasha’s pulse thudded in his temple. Something bumped his leg under the table. He looked in his lap. Dusty pushed a heavy glass vase into his hands. He frowned at her, and she jerked her head toward Corvin.

  What do I do? Hit him with it? But it’s Owl’s brother. And he was nice to us. Plus, he hasn’t actually done anything. But do I really want to wait until he does? He keeps waving that knife around. What if he stabs Anya?

  Anya ventured, “Y-you pay me more than you have to?”

  “I do! I paid you more right from the start and
I increase your wage every year on your birthday, don’t I?”

  “And… And you give me presents sometimes. Clothes, and jewelry, and… a music box.”

  Corvin smiled and set down the knife. “Did you like those presents?”

  “Yes. And you’re much nicer than my last Boss.” She looked at Sasha and Dusty. “Mr. Melonvine is a nice man. He doesn’t treat me bad. He cares about me. I like working for him.”

  Corvin beamed. Dusty made a noise in her throat and stood up. “Are you crazy? This guy is a narcissistic psychopath! He doesn’t care about you. The only person this guy could ever care about is himself!”

  Shit, Dusty! Don’t engage him! He’s already mad! Sasha squeezed the neck of the vase tighter.

  Corvin’s eye twitched, his jaw clenching. “Dusty, those are not nice things to say. You are way out of line! You better apologize right now before I get really upset and—”

  Lurching from his seat, Sasha struck Corvin in the head with the vase. Corvin fell out of his chair and collapsed on the floor, groaning. Anya screamed. Sasha swung the vase over his head and Corvin cowered into the carpet, whimpering.

  Sasha faltered, his arm going slack. One time is enough to get the message across, I hope. I don’t want to kill him. He set the vase on a shelf and yanked the silken sash from the front of Dusty’s shirt. Corvin had a hand to his head. Sasha grabbed his arms, wrapping the sash around them.

  “What are you doing?” Corvin’s voice came out fuzzy and pained. He tried to pull his hands away, but Sasha held tight, knotting the sash. He and Dusty pushed Corvin back into the chair. He moaned, blood dribbling down his forehead.

  “Why did you do that?” Tears spilled from Anya’s eyes.

  “He was waving that knife around and getting angry! I thought he was going to cut you! Plus, he say he paddles you. That sounds like really bad thing.” Sasha scowled at Corvin.

  “Paddle is like spanking.” Dusty huffed. “But with a board. I know you know what spanking is. …And now’s not the time for innuendo. ”

  “Not going to make joke. You can’t do that to Anya!”

  “I think we should do something a lot worse to him.” Dusty’s voice wavered and she aimed the knife at Corvin with a quivering hand, eyes wide with fear. “It would make the world a much better place.”

  “What you saying? Kill him?” Sasha squinted at Corvin. Maybe scaring him a bit wasn’t a bad idea. “Ladies, can you leave room, please? I need to talk to Corvin alone.”

  “What? I’m not leaving!” Dusty protested.

  “Please, Dusty. And give me that knife.”

  Corvin’s eyes widened.

  Dusty handed him the knife warily, then pulled Anya by the arm. She peeked at Sasha again before heading into the kitchen. Sasha leaned against the dining table, lips pursed. “Corvin, you are very confusing guy to figure out. I thought you was nice in beginning. Giving me and Dusty clothes, feeding us dinner, acting real friendly. That stuff is great, okay? Good way to make friends.”

  Corvin frowned, looking at his shiny loafers.

  “But you can’t yell and wave knife at people. That is not nice thing to do. And you can’t spank womens. I mean, well…” Sasha shrugged and chuckled. “Unless lady ask you to do that. Then is okay. But you say Anya’s old Boss beat her up all the time? And then you spank her? That is not better. That is same thing! And that poor girl don’t even know what is good and bad, she is so messed up. You should let her be free. It would be better for her.”

  Corvin regarded him sullenly, his lashes sticky with blood. Sasha continued. “And if Owl know you been spanking ladies, she probably never talk to you again. You know she got those scars on her forehead because her old husband smash her head into mirror?”

  The color drained from Corvin’s face. “What? That’s why she’s not with Adam anymore? She never told me why they broke up.”

  “Yeah, and he beat the crap out of her bunch of times. I asked her one time about her scars, and… she got real sad and went into her house, came back with notebook. She showed pages to drone camera and I read them. That shit make me want to cry. If she knew her brother was—”

  “No. I wouldn’t do anything like that, I swear.” His face twisted with contempt. “Where is this guy now? Because I’m sure this city has hitmen and—”

  “Owl killed him. Stabbed him in the eyeball.” Her old husband deserved it, no doubt about it, but maybe the Melonvines should stay away from knives.

  Corvin raised his eyebrows. “Good for her! Trav is good to her, though, right?”

  “I think Trav is great to her. I wish I could say same thing for her brother.”

  Corvin sighed and hung his head. “Maybe that’s what I deserve too. Getting stabbed in the eyeball. You know, after I left Hawthorne, I…” He looked away, eyes taking on a glossy sheen and voice wavering. “I ended up in the hands of some highwaymen. I had to endure some unspeakable things. Really, really bad stuff, Sasha. I—I still have nightmares.”

  Sasha frowned. Is that why he paints all those horrible things? I’m sorry he went through that stuff, but taking out his anger on others isn’t any better. “You have to think about that stuff a lot? Can’t forget? I bet Anya feel same way about you, even though she say she likes it here.”

  Corvin blinked back tears and sniffled. “I bought Anya when she was eleven. She hated me. Hated any Boss, just like Dusty. I gave her gifts, a big room, tried to treat her nice. It didn’t work. She wouldn’t do what I asked. She’d break things on purpose. And it was my chef, Grace, that suggested paddling her. I mean, parents spank kids, right? And it worked. She started listening to me. But… I took it too far. Now she’s just afraid all the time.”

  “You do other stuff to her too? Rape her? Punch her? Cut her?”

  Corvin shook his head adamantly. “No! Never. I promise. And the other orphans I employ, they aren’t abused either. All of that was the truth, okay? I haven’t lied to you once all day. Now… the thread for my clothes comes from a factory here in town that does treat orphans inhumanely. I don’t have any control over that, though. They’re the only supplier. I stop using them and I go out of business.”

  Sasha squinted at him. “What happen with that pickpocket? Your mom say you have some accident.”

  Corvin sighed. “Dammit, Mom. I… beat a pickpocket with my umbrella. He stole my wallet, and I was really angry. I kind of… lost control. I kept hitting him and hitting him, and he was swearing at me and wouldn’t give the wallet back. And—and then the point of the umbrella went through his chest and pierced his lung. I didn’t mean it! I didn’t mean to kill him. I had to pay the police so much money to keep them from arresting me. But I regret what happened. I really do. That’s why I started painting a lot more. And I redecorated my house. I just—I can’t take it back. I did it. But I’m sorry. I hope that counts for something.”

  Sasha stared, frowning. Was this the real Corvin behind the colorful, excitable veneer? This serious, damaged man?

  “I think you can be better person, Corvin. If you want to be. You know, I used to be like you. Selfish asshole. I want to be friends with people, think I am being nice to them, but then I do something that messes everything up, and then they hate me. For long time, I couldn’t figure it out. Then, I realize that I need to think about other person before I do something. About how what I do make other person feel. And not drink. That is big one for me too. I decided to become better person. Sometime I still have hard time, and screw up, but I am much better than I used to be. I have friends now. Woman who loves me. People who care about what happen to me. You tried hard to get us to like you, yeah? I think you want that stuff too. You got all this money, all this fancy stuff, but no friends.”

  Corvin emitted a joyless laugh. “So what are you saying I should do?”

  “Well, for one thing, let Anya go. Or if she don’t want to leave, at least stop spanking her. Your other orphans, I don’t know. I think maybe you are treating them okay. They on their own, would just
become big gang and probably not be better.

  “You know what I did? I had apology list. I would write down everybody’s name who I did something bad to, and then I would find them and say sorry. Sometimes they forgive me, like Trav, sometimes no. But saying sorry when you mess up will help make you better person. Think about how that other person feel. So, right now, I am thinking about how you feel. And I am sorry for hitting you with vase.”

  Corvin was quiet, face serious. “I know I said this before, but you’re a cool guy, Sasha. I’m sorry for yelling. And for waving that knife around. I wasn’t really going to do anything with it, other than cut cheesecake. …Did you like the cheesecake?”

  Sasha breathed out a laugh. “Yeah. It’s really good.”

  “Is there anything else I need to apologize to you for?”

  Sasha frowned. Corvin would likely always be an eccentric weirdo, but that probably wasn’t something he could control. “No. But I think you got anger problem you need to fix. I don’t know how to help you with that. Maybe there is therapist in city? They have therapists in America? Everybody in Russia use them. I think you need to say sorry to the ladies, too.” He pushed open the kitchen door. Dusty sat on a countertop, talking to Anya. “Ladies, Corvin have something to say to you.”

  Dusty scowled and jumped off the counter. “I’ve got stuff to say to him too. I—”

  “Please, Dusty. Let him say what he want to say.”

  The women entered the room. Corvin looked at Dusty. “I’m sorry for threatening you. And I’m sorry for bringing up your old Boss and making you upset. And—and I’m sorry, dear, that I’m a Boss in the first place and you had a terrible time all evening.”

  Dusty scoffed. “Like I’m supposed to believe that.”

  “Well… it’s the truth. I may not be able to convince you, but everyone that knows me agrees I don’t like lying.” His gaze shifted to Anya. “Anya, I’m sorry for all the stuff I’ve done. Yelling at you, paddling you. Making you stay up late washing my shirts and cleaning the house. I’m going to have to let you go. Make you free, okay? You shouldn’t be around me.”