Bati

by Nikki Clarke

  When I passed the living room on my way back to Bati’s room, he was arranging a bunch of large cushions on the floor, stacking them until they made a somewhat comfortable looking bed. He looked up and smiled.

  “Thank you for seeing to KJ. That was sweet, but I don’t want you to feel like you have to take care of him.”

  “It is my pleasure to care for him. He is a very wonderful child. It is no trouble. Sleep well, Tiani.”

  “You also don’t have to sleep out here, we really don’t mind.”

  “It is okay. Your sister is already asleep. I would not wake her.”

  “You can always slide into bed with her, and I can sleep out here. She might kick you in the face, though.”

  He’d actually looked pissed.

  “I would not lay with another. Not even to sleep.”

  “I was kidding,” I’d returned and gone for a joking laugh, but he’d just frowned harder.

  “Not even in jest.”

  We’d stood there, staring at each other. Me wanting to do nothing more than leap over that couch and tackle him to the ground. Eventually, I’d said goodnight and went back to the room.

  Now I’m up staring at the wall. And I’ve gotta pee.

  “Ugh!” I fling off the thin, super-soft sheet. A fresh cloud of Bati floats around me, and I have to close my eyes against the shiver that skates through my body.

  I slip off the bed and tiptoe over to the door. When I wave my hand at the point where the door meets the wall, it slides open with a soft whoosh.

  It’s dark. Like pitch black. I sliver of light peeks in from the curtains over the balcony, but other than that, I can barely see my hand in front of my face.

  I move into the hall, trying to remember what everything looked like, so I don’t run into anything. I walk a few feet and pause considering where to go, before I realize Bati never told us where the bathroom was.

  “Shit.”

  The soft curse echoes in the silence of the apartment, and I can almost hear KJ saying “Ooo, Mommy you cursed,” in my head.

  Just around the corner, I can hear the faint sound of humming. I reaches me in the quiet, and I send a thank you up to the universe that Bati is still awake. I tiptoe in that direction. Luckily, the couches and pillows are white, so I’m able to make them out in the darkness. As I round the couch, the outline of Bati’s large, dark body comes into view, and I suck in the breath.

  Even in silhouette, he’s fine. He’s laying on his back with his head turned to the side. That sound I heard was not him humming at all. It’s the sound of him snoring. The soft musical noise floats up from the floor, and I’m drawn closer it, crouching down until I’m kneeling at his head. My hand reaches out on it’s own to touch the sharp plane of his cheekbone.

  His skin is smooth and cool to the touch. My fingertips slide down his cheek. A hint of hair as soft as a baby’s feathers across my fingers. Kwarq has a beard. Bati would also look good with facial hair, but I’m glad he stays clean shaven. It lets me see every bit of his face. Every smooth ridge. Every bit of dark, beautiful skin.

  “Are you unable to sleep, Tiani?”

  The bright blue of Bati’s eyes is like a glittering jewel in the dark. I jerk my hand back, but Bati moves Lyqa quick, catching it. His hold is gentle. He glides his hand down my arm until he has my hand clasped firmly in his. He pulls me forward. His head turns just before I feel the press of his full lips into my palm.

  “I—uh—I have to use the bathroom. I, I have to pee. You never told us where the bathroom was.”

  “This is why you are touching me while I sleep?”

  “What? No. You were humming.”

  “I was not.”

  “No, I mean, I thought you were humming, but you were snoring. It sounded like humming.”

  “I do not snore.” Even in the dark, I can see his look of disbelief.

  “You do. It sounds like music.”

  “I was thinking of you as I slept.”

  “Dreaming.” The word is barely a sound between us.

  “I do not know this word.”

  “That’s what it’s called when you think of someone while you’re sleeping. It’s called dreaming.”

  I’m yanked forward when he pulls suddenly on my hand. I catch myself with my free hand, but still I’m only an inch away from his face when I stop.

  “I was dreaming of you,” he whispers between our mouths, and when I inhale, the breath is minty.

  My eyes have adjusted. His skin seems to reflect the dark. It bounces off the blue, making him look like he’s made of opal. A black diamond laid out beneath me.

  “I want you, Bati.” I do. I can barely breathe I want him so badly. I lower my face, wanting to be closer. Wanting to feel that creepy tongue of his. I’m almost there. His breath fans up into my face in minty waves. Just when our lips are about to touch, he turns his head away. My mouth makes contact with his ear, and I pull back.

  “The room to relieve yourself is down that hall to the left, Tiani.” His voice is strangled and tense.

  “Right. Thanks.” He lets my arm go, and I push back to my feet, standing back over him.

  “Sleep well, my lehti.” He turns to his side, putting his back to me.

  “Goodnight.”

  I find the bathroom easy enough. Although, it takes me some time to figure out how the lights work. In the end, I wave my hands around enough and eventually, they brighten enough for me to see myself to the toilet.

  When I pass through the living room on my way back to bed, that soft hum floats over me again, and every step away from the sound makes it more clear to me how stupid I’ve been.

  BATI

  “Does your back hurt, brother?”

  I redirect the piece of fruit I’m about to put into my mouth and toss it at Ah’dan’s head. He stretches his neck, catching it cleanly between his teeth, and laughs.

  “You’re terrible at throwing. You’ve always been terrible at throwing.”

  “Stop talking, brother.” I consider throwing another piece of fruit, but he’s right, I’ve never had good aim. Continuing to try and hit him would only end in me feeding him my breakfast.

  “So you’re just going to sleep on the floor forever.”

  “Not forever.”

  “Then until when?” He picks through the basket of fruit on the counter until he finds another kisi.

  “She doesn’t love me,” My first heart aches at the admission.

  “I heard her come to you.”

  I jerk my head around to glare at my brother. “You were listening?”

  He sighs and rolls his eyes, an annoying habit he learned from Amina.

  “I wasn’t listening. I heard. There is a difference.”

  “You don’t have to hear.”

  He shrugs and takes a large bite of his fruit, spraying a fine mist of juice across the table.

  “Why did you reject her?”

  “I didn’t reject her. I gave her directions to the restroom.” I take a bite of my kisi. The sweet, tangy flesh reminds me of the taste of Tiani’s mouth when I kissed her last. The taste of the Earth fruit called orange. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done to not kiss her last night, even though things have been different. She has been…lighter, but that doesn’t mean she is ready to accept the leht.

  Ah’dan rolls his eyes again.

  “I could smell her rejection from across the house. I could smell all of her from across the house. And I’m sure just then she wanted more than directions to the restroom.”

  I can’t stop my hand from hurling the leftover kisi, and I’m glad when it glances off the side of Ah’dan’s shoulder. He looks down at his shirt and the bright pink stain from the juice and shakes his head, trouncing my bit of triumph. He’s less than five feet away. My aim is pathetic.

  “Bati!”

  Luckily, my ability to catch is better than my ability to throw, and I turn just in time to intercept KJ’s launch through the air. He laughs as I grab hold of him an
d swing him up on the counter.

  “These are cool. I jumped all the way up there!” he stretches his tiny hand up as far as it will go. I look down at his feet. Strapped to each is a round-bottomed shoe made from the springy sponges of Qiton’s west swamps. The thick soles allow the wearer to jump to great heights. I’m not sure how these got mixed in with the toys we selected for KJ, but one look at the smirk on Ah’dan’s face gives me a clue. I shoot him a scowl, and he snorts.

  “I do not think these are safe for you to play with, my dahni. Maybe when you are a little older.” I pull the shoes off of KJ’s feet and place them on the counter. The little boy’s chest huffs a big puff of air and he crosses his arms over his chest.

  “I knew you were going to say that,” he pouts, and I bite back my smile.

  “You did?”

  He gives a sulky nod.

  “Then why did you put them on?”

  “I wanted to have fun.”

  Ah’dan snickers quietly behind me, and I have to stop myself from joining him. I will have to watch my brother. He has always been an encourager of trouble.

  “How about we find a safe way to have fun? A way that will not have your mother angry with me, yes?”

  “Okay.”

  He drops his arms. A bright pink drop of kisi juice is on the counter next to him. He pokes his finger into the glob and brings it to his outstretched tongue. Immediately, his face scrunches up. His mouth twists and his eyes squeeze shut.

  “Bleh!” He sputters and flicks his tongue in and out, trying to rid it of the taste.

  This time I do laugh. “It does not taste good?”

  I laugh louder when KJ pulls the hem of his shirt up to rub it against his tongue. Kisi is one of my favorite fruits. The meat is sweet and slightly tangy. I could eat a dozen and never tire of them.

  “It’s yucky.” He smacks his lips together again. “Too sour.”

  “Try this.” Ah’dan holds out a sliver of bom. The bright yellow meat is crunchy when raw, but bland. It is used often in salads to balance stronger flavors.

  KJ is hesitant as he reaches out for it. He brings it to his mouth and takes the tiniest bite. Both Ah’dan and I wait for his reaction. He chews once before his mouth opens, letting the bom fall back out.

  “That,” he points at the ribbed stalk Ah’dan holds in his hand, “tastes like kaka.”

  I don’t know what kaka is, but I can tell by KJ’s face that it is not something with an appealing flavor.

  Ten minutes later, we’ve cut into a half dozen different fruits, but we finally find something that doesn’t result in a comical reaction of disgust.

  “It tastes like banana,” KJ mumbles around a mouthful of sawa.

  “Is banana a good fruit? Do most people like banana?”

  “Bananas are good. Mommy has a banana for breakfast every day.” His little legs kick against the base of the counter.

  Sawa is the least interesting of the fruits we have offered him. The flesh is juicy and not very sweet, but KJ munches happily, biting off another chunk of the round, fuzzy, purple fruit to add to what’s already in his mouth.

  “Slow down, my dahni, you will choke.”

  He chews slowly and swallows before taking another bite. I leave him to his breakfast and go to gather all of the remaining sawa to set it aside for Tiani and her mother and sisters.

  “Can we do something fun?”

  I turn back to KJ. He’s finished the sawa. The large inner seed lays discarded on the table. I lift him from the counter and place him on his feet. Taking his hand, I place the seed in his palm.

  “Let me show you how to dispose of your trash.”

  I walk him over to the disposal and instruct him to wave his hand over the sensor. When it opens, he tosses the seed inside.

  “Where did it go?” He angles his head to peer into the dark shoot.

  “It is collected and redistributed to a farm, so it can grow again.”

  “Oh.”

  I leave him peering into the disposal and go back to the counter to help Ah’dan clear the remainder of the fruits we cut for KJ’s tasting. They may not be to human liking, but my family will eat them.

  “Can we go to the park?”

  I look down to where KJ peers up at me. He has told me he is four-years-old, but he is so small. So much smaller than a Lyqa child, although no less bright. Perhaps even more so.

  “What is the park?” I ask. My language implant is showing me an open, grassy area, but that could be anywhere on Lyqa. Does he wish to be outside?

  “You know, a park. With swings and slides and stuff to play on.”

  I do not know.

  “I do not think we have parks here, but I can take you out if you would like to run and play.”

  “Qiton has something like what he describes,” Ah’dan offers from the other side of the counter where he’s munching on the leftover fruit. He’s right. I remember the large open recreation grounds where Qitoni children gathered to play and climb and generally behave freely. It is where the tower in KJ’s room was made.

  “Can we go to Kee-tone?” KJ asks, his pronunciation making me smile.

  “If you like, but we will have to ask your mother.”

  “You know, KJ, you should ask your apha to take you on ta’ani maul. It is very fun.”

  KJ’s face lights up. “Oh, yeah, I want to go to tommy-mall!” he shouts excitedly, bouncing up and down on his toes.

  I chuckle and run my hand over his head. “I do not think you are old enough for ta’ani maul, my dahni.”

  Ah’dan scoffs.

  “You completed your first ta’ani when about his age. It would be fun for him, and a good chance for you to spend time as father and son.” He says, switching to Lyqa.

  “I don’t think his mother would appreciate me whisking her son off to another planet when she has just arrived on this one,” I return in our language.

  “Then take her with you,” he responds casually, and I want to knock him upside the head.

  “That will not work.”

  “Why? She has been different since we came here. Maybe Earth was too stressful for her. She has nothing to fear now. Maybe that freedom will allow her to love you.”

  KJ’s head swivels back and forth between me and my brother the way a child’s does when he’s waiting for adults to decide.

  “Can we go?” his impatience is getting the best of him. He’s bouncing again.

  “Can you go where?”

  Everyone turns at the sound of Tiani’s voice as she walks into the kitchen. She’s wearing one of my shirts. I didn’t notice last night, even though my eyesight is superb in the dark. But I notice now, and the sight of her toned, brown legs moving beneath my top makes me flinch in my loose pants.

  “Bati is going to take me to tommy-mall!” KJ announces and bounces over to his mother. She lifts him beneath the arms and settles him on her hip, causing the shirt to ride up on one side. I lift my eyes from the smooth curve of her thigh. Help me.

  “You guys have malls here?”

  “Malls?” My voice is tense. I clear my throat.

  “Yeah, places where there are a bunch of stores in one place to shop.”

  “Ah, we have a market for this purpose. You can purchase food, clothing, goods. Do you have need to visit the market?”

  She shrugs. I notice she isn’t really meeting my eyes.

  “Not really, but it might be cool to go. Just to check it out. I mean, is it safe? Are people going to trip cause we’re human?”

  I shake my head. “Lyqa are kind people. We do not hurt others merely for being different. It would be safe for us to go.”

  KJ claps his hands and bounces against his mother’s hip. “Yay, we’re going to tommy-mall!”

  Tiani laughs. “Why is he calling it that?”

  “He is saying ta’ani maul. It is a kind of activity. I was suggesting to my brother that he should take you and your son. It would be fun.”

  I cut my eyes over to Ah
’dan, who ignores me. I know what he is trying to do, but forcing me alone with Tiani and her son will not make her love me.

  “It is not something for children,” I return, and face Taini again. She’s looking at me now, and the jolt of awareness when I lock onto her dark eyes takes my breath away.

  “What kind of activity is it?”

  “It is a kind of outing. Like a scavenger hunt. You go to another location and complete some simple tasks, enjoy the outdoors, experience the culture of another place,” Ah’dan supplies.

  “It’s dangerous?”

  “Not at all, my sa’aih. It is harmless fun. Children do it all the time. We completed them with our father when we were about KJ’s age.”

  I shoot Ah’dan another look. “We completed them when we were his age, but we are Lyqa. He is not.”

  “So you’re saying my kid can’t do it because he’s human?”

  I turn back to Tiani, and her eyes are narrowed on me. “No, my lehti, I am not implying he cannot do it—I—“

  “Then why don’t you want to take us?”

  “You would come as well?” The idea is almost too tempting to think about. I hold my breath, hoping I haven’t misunderstood.

  “I mean, I don’t have to. I trust you to keep him safe. I just thought you meant all of us.”

  “You have not misunderstood,” I hurry to correct her. “I would like to take you. For us to go. All of us.”

  She smiles and it’s sweet and shy. “So you’ll take us?”

  My breath catches in my throat. She is so beautiful, my lehti, that I could never tell her no.

  “I will take you, but we will have to visit the market to gather supplies and get you both proper clothing. The people of Qiton have a very unique fashion. It helps to blend in.”

  “Does it have to have so much material?” Tiani’s eyebrows raise skeptically as the modiste wraps another layer of sheer fabric around her middle. She pins it at Tiani’s shoulder and turns her around to begin her skirt.