Wings

by Sandra R Neeley

  <<<<<<<>>>>>>>

  “Yes, this definitely leads to the catacombs,” Ruby said, looking up at Mildred and Clarence from the hollow they’d found Jaime’s and Ty’s parents in. “It’s the same kind of rock. And the wall over there, leads to another chamber that has a corridor with burials on either side.”

  “That was sealed when we first found it,” Francis said.

  “Yeah, well, Ty and Jaime decided to open it. It’s definitely the catacombs and it leads into the colony,” Ruby answered.

  “Where are they?” Clarence asked, helping Ruby up and out of the grave.

  “They’re looking around a bit, to see if they can figure out any of what happened.”

  “Here, have a seat beside Pearl. Can’t have you getting all tired out,” Clarence said, trying to guide her to the backhoe where Pearl sat in the operator’s seat.

  “No, I need to go to Mildred. She’s hurting,” Ruby said.

  Ruby went over and stood beside Mildred, rubbing her hands up and down Mildred’s arm. “I’m so sorry, Aunt Mildred.”

  Mildred nodded. Her lips were pursed and she put an arm around Ruby just to have someone to hold on to. “I knew, you know? I knew all this time, he was probably dead. I knew he’d not have left his sons. There was no way he’d have left them. But it doesn’t make this any easier. It’s like it’s happening all over again. Just imagining what he must have gone through. Fearing for the life of his baby. Wondering what Rufussian was doing to his other baby. Fearing for his wife’s life, for his own.”

  Jaime came out of the catacombs, causing everyone to fall silent. He climbed out of the grave, striding right up to Ruby. He pulled her gently to him and buried his face in her hair. A quiet, muffled sob could be heard from time to time as he held on to his wife and let the tears come.

  “I’m so sorry, baby,” Ruby said to him, holding him tightly.

  Mildred joined them, putting her arms around both Jaime and Ruby, crying openly with them.

  Tyrisey finally exited the catacombs and climbed up out of his parents’ tomb as well. He went straight to Pearl. She slid off the seat and into his arms. Ty held her tightly against him, folding his wings in around her to give them a screen of privacy from everyone else.

  Tyrisey didn’t speak, but he refused to let go of Pearl. He was breathing heavy and kept his eyes closed and his forehead pressed against hers.

  Mildred let go of Jaime and walked over to Tyrisey. “Ty?” she said, softly, her voice breaking with her tears.

  Ty dropped his wings and opened his eyes, looking at his aunt.

  “I’m so sorry, Ty.”

  Ty put Pearl gently on her feet then held out an arm for Mildred to come into his embrace. When she did, he hugged both Mildred and Pearl. Jaime led Ruby by the hand and they joined Ty and Pearl as well.

  “At least we have each other,” Ty said, looking at Jaime.

  Jaime nodded. “Always. Nothing comes between us.”

  Ty nodded, and pressed a kiss first to Pearl’s forehead, then to Mildred’s.

  “I want to take them home,” Jaime said unexpectedly.

  “What do you mean?” Ty asked.

  “They died down there. Probably terrified, worried for us. Feeling helpless and hopeless. I don’t want them to spend forever there, too,” Jaime explained.

  “You’re right,” Ty agreed.

  “I want to make a little family graveyard on our property, not directly in the back yard, but about an acre away. I want to fence it in, plant some stuff there, flowers and grass. Make it a real nice place for them to finally come home to rest.”

  “Yes. Let’s do that. They’d want to be home,” Mildred said, smiling through her tears.

  “Yes, they would. They wouldn’t want to be trapped here forever where they died. I think they need to be out there, resting peacefully, knowing they’ve finally been found, and that their family loves them,” Ty said, his own eyes glistening with unshed tears.

  “What do you think happened to them?” Mildred asked, quietly.

  “We’ll never know for sure, but I believe Clarence is right. I think Rufussian probably had them beaten to the point of unconsciousness. Then he had his men dig a pit from the top there rather than take them into the catacombs, so no one from the colony would witness him murdering his own daughter. Then he threw them into it, had it sealed and buried them alive. I think Rufussian saved me because I looked like him. And I believe our father, with the last moments of his life, used the small knife he had with him to fight with the cracks he could see through the small stones they sealed them in with, and shoved Jaime outside, hoping someone would find him, maybe even find them if they found him.”

  “Only, the sands had shifted and covered the opening by the time I found Jaime,” Clarence added.

  Jaime nodded.

  “I called out. I searched for days. There wasn’t no answer. I walked this ground myself a hundred times over the next few days. Nobody answered,” Clarence said.

  “They were probably gone already, Clarence. There was nothing you could do,” Jaime said quietly.

  “Wasn’t your fault, Clarence,” Ty agreed.

  “Do we have to call somebody?” Pearl asked.

  “We should, that way we can have them declared deceased rather than missing,” Mildred explained.

  “Make the call then,” Tyrisey said.

  Jaime kissed Ruby, then walked over to the tomb, looking down on their parents. Both their mother and their father had multiple broken bones. It must have been excruciating for his father to use his broken arms to make a last attempt at saving their son. Jaime jumped down into the pit again. Then he knelt down and slipped the wedding rings off both their skeletal hands. He looked up at Ty who’d followed him to the tomb to see what he was doing. “I don’t want these to disappear as they go through processing.”

  “Me either,” Ty said. Ty stood there, looking down at his parents’ remains. Then he threw his head back and roared his pain. When he could roar no longer, he fell to his knees beside the open grave. He raised his head and screamed his words. “He murdered our parents, stole them from us! Ruined both our lives! And for what? Because his daughter fell in love with a human? Because he believed some damned stupid prophecy that said we’d grow up and be responsible for his downfall? Why save me, then? Why?” Tyrisey raged. “Why not leave me with them? With you?” Ty’s chest heaved as he knelt there in the sand waiting for something — anything to give him some sense of relief, some kind of answer.

  “Because he needed an heir. He needed someone to take over and run the colony exactly as he would have in his stead, once he was too elderly to do so,” Clarence said quietly. “You looked like the Chireop, and for whatever reason he decided to keep you alive and raise you to believe as he did.”

  “Well, fuck him!” Ty shouted.

  Jaime smiled a sinister smile through his grief. “We were his downfall. He was right to fear us. I only wish Ms. Patty hadn’t killed him so quickly. I wanted to make him suffer. I still want to make him suffer.”

  Jaime raised his eyes to Ty’s. “I hate the bastard. I want him to suffer. How the fuck do I get rid of all this rage, all this violence? It’s there, always just below the surface.” Jaime looked back at the skeletons of his parents still holding each other in death. “And now it’s even worse. I want to kill him all over again.”

  “You have to let it go, Jaime,” Ruby said. “He had so much influence over your childhood, over Ty’s childhood. You both need to let it go. Don’t give him any further power over the rest of your lives. Write him off. As though he never existed. Just write him off.”

  Ty turned around quickly, looking at Ruby as though she’d had some great revelation.

  “What did you say?” he asked.

  “I said, do not allow him to have any influence at all over another moment of your lives. Just pretend he never existed,” Ruby said.

  “You’re right, Ruby. You’re exactly right,” Ty said.

  T
y spun to face Jaime. “We remove all history of his existence. He will not live on. We make a law, no one speaks his name. He did not exist. Erase him from our heritage completely. Erase him from existence,” Tyrisey snarled.

  “Fuck yes!” Jaime answered.

  “Can you do that?” Clarence asked.

  “We’re the fucking Most High Primes of this colony. We can do whatever the hell we want to do,” Ty answered.

  “Pearl?” Tyrisey called out, walking toward her.

  “Yeah?” she answered.

  “You feel like you're near labor today, love?” he asked, just as he reached her.

  “Nope. Feel like I’d really like to remove all the damned pictures of that warped bastard that are carved all over our colony, though!”

  “Then it shall be done!” Ty smiled at his mate. “Please stay with Mildred and Ruby. I’ll be busy for a few hours, but if you need me, call me. I will come at once.”

  “I’ll be fine, Ty. Just be careful,” Pearl said.

  “Ruby? Baby? You be okay for a few hours with Aunt Mildred?” Jaime asked.

  “I spend the day with Aunt Mildred all the time. Go do what you need to. I’ll be fine.”

  “Love you, baby,” Jaime said.

  Ruby blew Jaime a kiss and he smiled at her.

  “You ready?” Ty asked Jaime.

  “I am. I’m going to remove every bit of evidence that mother-fucker ever existed from our colony. Every mark, every bit of anything that bears his fucking likeness, his words, his influence, every record, every-fucking-thing!” Jaime declared.

  “Indeed we are, brother!” Ty agreed, jumping down into the grave to stand beside Jaime. Together they, as one, looked down on their parents.

  “They loved us,” Jaime said.

  “They did. They wanted us,” Ty agreed. “Let’s go. We have some changes to make,” Tyrisey said.

  <<<<<<<>>>>>>>

  3 years later

  There were easily more than fifty people lounging about, playing football, playing chase, enjoying visiting and good food with friends and family. Some had wings, some didn't — some had fangs, some didn’t — and some had a combination of all of it. But all of them, one way or another, were Chireop.

  Ruby looked around at all the picnic tables laden with dish after dish of food. She listened to the laughter and the shrieks and giggles of the kids as they played. This — this is what she always wanted and never knew truly existed.

  A shadow fell across her and she raised her hand to block the sun to see who stood beside her. “Hello, Ephesian,” she said happily.

  “Hello, Prima! I’ve made you some of my special caramel pie. Would you like a slice?” he said hopefully, holding it at a slant to show her.

  “Oh, my, yes! I was hoping you’d bring it again.”

  Ephesian placed the dish on the table and cut her a slice. He opened another container and scooped out a huge dollop of whipped cream and plopped it right on top. Then he handed her the paper plate along with a plastic fork. “Here you go, Prima,” he said smiling shyly, waiting for her to take her first bite.

  Ruby closed her eyes, savoring the rich, sweet flavor. “This is my favorite thing in the whole world,” she whispered.

  “I thought I was your favorite thing in the whole world!” Jaime yelled from the barbecue grill he was manning.

  Ruby opened her eyes and looked at him. She lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “Sometimes,” she conceded.

  Jaime pointed his tongs at her. “You’re gonna pay for that later,” he promised.

  Ruby winked at him.

  Pearl sat up and looked around. “Why does she get her caramel pie and I don’t have my peanut butter pie?” she asked Ephesian.

  “Ahh, but you do, Prima! I’ve brought your favorite, too,” he said, reaching for the second pie plate. Since he was free to become or do whatever he liked, Ephesian had discovered he loved cooking, and was quite good at it.

  He cut a slice of peanut butter pie and placed two dollops of whipped cream on top, then handed it to Pearl.

  She started shoveling it in, grinning at Ephesian. “That’s my Ephesian! Always has his Primas’ cravings taken care of before we even have them!”

  “But are they as good as mine are?” Ms. Patty called from across the yard.

  “Nothing is ever as good as your pies, Prima,” Ephesian called back, performing a little bow to her.

  “Damn right, ain't nothing as good as my Patty’s pies,” Francis grumbled.

  The kids circled by them, screaming and laughing. Some were running, some were flying.

  “Ya’ll don’t fall, now. Be careful!” Ruby called to the kids running in circles and playing in and around the crowd of people lounging at the picnic tables, blankets spread on the ground and on the swing sets Jaime had placed there for the days they all got together. This was technically, Jaime and Ruby’s backyard, but at the very back of it, almost an acre from the house, there was an area they called the family cemetery, though only Jaime’s and Ty’s parents were buried there.

  “We won’t fall,” one particularly precocious little red headed boy shouted back. “We not babies!”

  “Boy! What did I tell you about talking back to your mama?” Jaime yelled from the barbecue grill where he was placing hot dogs on a platter.

  “I didn’t talk back. All I said was we not babies!” the little boy yelled, then squealed and ran for one of the picnic tables scattered about to hide beneath it when he got dive-bombed by two of the other children in full flight mode.

  “That’s talking back! Just say, yes ma’am!” Jaime exclaimed.

  A little girl with red pigtails, a snub nose and particularly long pointed nails on her caramel-colored fingers sat on her mom’s lap. She looked up at Pearl. “Charlie’s always talking back, huh, Mom?”

  “That’s none of your business, Milly. You just worry about you,” Pearl said.

  “But it is my business! I’m the oldest so I have to make sure he’s being-have.”

  “He is behaving just fine, little miss,” Pearl said, tickling the little girl ‘til she squealed.

  “How are you feeling, love?” Ty asked Pearl as he brought her a tall glass of lemonade and leaned over to press his lips to his mate’s.

  “I’m feeling pretty good, today,” Pearl said, gratefully accepting the tall cold glass.

  “Here, let me take Milly to give you a break,” Ty said, holding out his arms for their daughter to come to him.

  “Thank you,” Pearl said, and leaned her back against the table, resting her hugely pregnant belly by supporting it with one hand. Pearl gulped some of the lemonade down and sighed. “I love your lemonade, Mildred,” she said, holding the cold glass against her cheek to cool off a bit.

  “You sure you don’t want to move this inside?” Mildred asked. “Pearl, you should have had that baby two days ago! You shouldn’t get overheated.”

  “Nah, I’m good. Just keep feeding me and bringing me lemonade,” Pearl answered.

  “But if Mildred thinks we should go inside, maybe we should go inside. We got room in the diner for everyone. We’ll just slap a closed sign on the door in case anyone driving through thinks to stop,” Clarence added.

  “No, sir. We’re just fine out here,” Ruby answered, accepting a hot dog from Jaime.

  “You sure, baby? If it’s too hot…” Jaime asked.

  “Nope. There is no prettier spot than on our property. I look forward to our Sunday picnics here.”

  “Stubborn! No two more stubborn women in a thousand miles!” Clarence mumbled.

  Jaime grinned at Clarence’s complaining, then, looked around his property — particularly the acre or so he’d chosen as the resting place for his and Ty’s parents. He’d planted large trees on the perimeter. He had flowering plants all around, and spent a small fortune each week maintaining and watering the sod he’d had delivered. The area covered a little over an acre and was fenced in with a white picket fence, as opposed to the standard chain link
fence that fenced in marked entire property line. He’d placed several barbecue grills, picnic tables, glider rocking chairs, and toys for the kids all around it. And there, in the far corner of the yard, adorned with a shared headstone, Jaime and Ty’s parents were laid to rest.

  Ruby caught Jaime looking over toward their grave, about the same time Ty noticed.

  “I think they’d be very happy if they were here,” Ty said.

  “I do, too,” Jaime answered.

  “I don’t think, I know,” Ruby added.

  “Both of us here together. Our women, our babies. They’d be thrilled,” Ty agreed.

  “It’s all they ever wanted,” Mildred added. “Just to be together and have their family around them.”

  “They’re at peace now,” Pearl said.

  “They are,” Ruby agreed. “Until he does something like that!” she shouted. “Get down off of there!”

  “I’m going to fly!” Charlie called back.

  “You are not going to fly. You don’t have wings! Get off the top of that slide!”

  “I could have wings, you don’t know!” Charlie yelled back. “Bonnie has wings! Why can’t I?”

  Ruby looked down into the baby carrier sitting beside her ankles. The little dark haired girl napping quietly in the carrier, did indeed have wings. She was more like the Chireop people than Charlie was, with a head full of dark unruly curls just like Jaime. But she held out hope that Charlie would be able to partially shift his claws and fangs like Jaime did.

  “Wings don’t make you a Chireop, Charlie. Your heart does,” Jaime told his son, coming over to sit near Ruby.

  “Yours may just come in a little later, buddy,” Ty said.

  “You think so?” he asked. Jumping down to the ground and running over to his Uncle Ty. “I want wings just like you. And shiny black skin and fuzz like yours. Do you think I’ll get all that?”

  “I’m not sure about all that. But at some point, I’m sure you’ll at the very least have a fuzzy face.”