by Gina Ranalli
It was her mother calling.
She considered ignoring it, but then it dawned on her that she could use a conversation with her mother as an excuse for not calling the doctor right away. Hell, she might even be able to chat long enough for Josh to fall asleep and then she could say she'd become distracted and calling for the appointment had simply slipped her mind. Perhaps spare herself some embarrassment and give Josh enough time to come to his senses.
Flipping the phone open, she said, "Hello, Mother."
"Gillian!" Her mother sounded even more jovial than usual. "I had the oddest dream about you last night and as soon as a free moment presented itself, I decided to take advantage of it and see how you were doing."
"Oh?" Gillian used her free hand to scratch her nose while she glanced around the room for the fly. "I thought you didn't dream."
"Well, that's another thing that makes it so odd. My sleeping pills usually prevent any kind of nocturnal brain adventures, but not last night. It was so vivid."
"Really?" She'd spotted the fly on the ceiling above the refrigerator, pacing in a lopsided circle. "That does sound pretty strange."
"Oh, it was. It was. It was almost like a fever dream, but, not to worry, your old ma never gets sick. You know that."
"It's true," Gillian agreed. "You don't ever get sick."
"Umm hmm. But, the dream, Gillian. It was almost disturbing. In it, you were lying in a bed covered with flies. Can you imagine? Flies!"
The phone slid from Gillian's fingers and crashed to the floor with the sound of breaking plastic. If she hadn't been standing next to the counter, using it to catch herself, Gillian suspected she would have followed.
CHAPTER 21
The street kids were already a block away and Tess found herself having to jog to catch up with them.
"Hey!" she called. "Hey, wait up!"
The three turned as one and wore almost identical expressions of suspicion. When she was close enough, the boy-Dobie-said, "Hey, check it out. It's fly lady." He laughed and though she was uncertain of the joke, Tess did her best to smile in return.
She took a few seconds to regulate her breathing, and the kids studied her with curiosity. Finally, she said, "I was wondering about something you said back there." She was addressing the bald girl, Mick. "Something about the flies being...uh..."
"Familiars," Mick told her.
"Right. Well, I was wondering...do you think you could tell me a little more about that?"
Dobie chuckled again. "You're wicked witch of the west?" He looked to the girls, obviously expecting them to find him amusing, but Mick shot him a dirty look and the other girl, Speck, only watched Tess with interest, as though she hadn't heard the boy at all.
When Mick returned her attention to Tess, she said, "What do you want to know?"
Tess shrugged. "Anything you want to tell me, I guess."
"Yeah, but why? I mean, you don't look like the type that'd be..." She trailed off, looking Tess up and down. "Interested in that kind of thing, I guess."
"I'm just...curious," Tess replied.
"Huh." Mick nodded but said no more.
"We don't have time for chatting, lady," Dobie said. "We have places to be."
Around them, fellow pedestrians flowed by, most of them completely ignoring Tess, but most taking note of the kids and wrinkling their noses in distaste.
"Yeah," Mick said. "I don't really have time to give a stranger lessons in the occult. You should probably just go back to the library and look it up on the Internet. I'm sure you could find a ton of shit about it."
"Where do you have to be?" Tess asked, surprising herself, and not really expecting a reply from any of them.
It was Speck who answered. "Church."
Tess raised her eyebrows. "Really?"
"Yep. For lunch."
"Oh." Her face must have shown puzzlement, because Speck said, "Every day. Free food, you know?"
There was a moment when Tess considered offering to buy them all lunch, but she quickly rejected the idea. They would be suspicious, most likely, and who even knew what street kids were capable of? They seemed nice enough, though certainly raggedy, but, like most people, Tess was slightly afraid of the homeless. Instead, she said, "Can I give you my card?"
What the hell am I doing? she asked herself the instant the question had been asked. Are you out of your mind?
"What for?" Dobie demanded, all the humor gone from his voice. He looked at the two girls. "Fuck this. Let's go."
To Tess, Mick said, "Yeah, okay. Whatever."
So there it was. Now Tess had no choice but to pull a card from her wallet and hand it over. "It's my office number. I'm there every week day, unless I'm in class."
"You go to school?" Speck asked.
"I'm an instructor."
The girl seemed genuinely impressed by this. "Cool."
"I probably won't call," Mick said as she shoved the card into the back pocket of her jeans. "Just so you know."
"Okay," Tess said. What else could she say? And besides, she was kind of relieved.
Dobie was already turning and walking away when he said, "Find some other place to slum, lady."
Mick began following him, saying, "Why do you have to be so fucking rude?"
Staying behind a second or two longer, Speck gave Tess an apologetic look. "He doesn't really like strangers."
Tess nodded. "Well, enjoy your lunch."
"Right," Speck laughed mysteriously then hurried away to join her friends.
Watching them go, Tess felt like slapping her forehead for behaving so impulsively, not to mention irresponsibly. Street kids, for crying out loud! What was wrong with her?
But, no matter. Mick said she most likely wouldn't call, so best to just forget about the entire episode. She had to pick up Emily from school in less than an hour anyway and she headed back towards the library where her car was parked.
She was in no particular hurry, thinking she had plenty of time. And she would have, but as it turned out a minor traffic jam on the freeway kept her from arriving at the school on time.
"You're late," Emily told her when she rushed into her daughter's first grade classroom.
"Only ten minutes," Tess said. "I got stuck in traffic. I'm sorry."
Emily sat at a desk covered with crayons and drawing paper.
"It's okay," Mrs. Morrow, the teacher said. She sat at her own desk at the front of the room, her hands folded in front of her. "We used the time productively, didn't we, Emily?"
The girl shrugged, clearly peeved with her mother.
"Actually," Mrs. Morrow said, rising from her chair. "It's convenient that you're late, Ms. Waters. It'll give us a minute to talk."
Tess looked questioningly at the teacher. "Okay." She wondered what there was to talk about. Had Emily been behaving badly?
"As you can see," the teacher continued. "Emily has a new interest." The woman gestured at the drawings that were strewn about the girl's desk. Tess studied them briefly and though they were crude, it was obvious what Emily had been drawing: flies.
Sighing, Tess didn't know what to say.
"We had an incident at recess," Mrs. Morrow. "I'm not really sure what happened."
"An incident?"
"Emily was on the playground when-"
"The flies bit me!" Emily announced. "I tried to run away, but they just kept biting me!"
Tess felt all of her muscles tighten. "What?"
"I don't know," Mrs. Morrow said. "Maybe she ran through a...a nest or something? It was very bizarre, but the school nurse checked her out and she appears to be fine. Just some small bites, but you should keep an eye on them and take her to get checked out if they seem to be swelling or getting more red."
"Or itchy," Emily added helpfully.
"Right," the teacher said, ruffling the child's hair. "Or itchy."
Tess stood stunned for what felt like a long time before finally looking back down at her daughter. Sure enough, Emily's arms and face were
peppered with small red welts, the largest of which was maybe half the diameter of a pencil eraser.
"Oh my God!" Tess knelt beside Emily's chair, grabbing the girl's chin and gently turning her head so as to get a better look at her face. "Honey! Are you alright?"
Mrs. Morrow said, "Oh, she's fine. She was understandably shaken up at first-"
"I cried," Emily interrupted with a frown. "I tried not to, but I couldn't help it. It was scary and it hurt."
"I'm very sorry, Ms Waters," the teacher said. "Like I said, we have no idea what could have caused a thing like this to happen. I've never heard of it before, but the principal has already sent the custodian out there to see what he can find and if need be we'll get an exterminator here as soon as possible."
Tess was barely listening, examining her daughter and the bite marks. "You feel alright, honey?"
Emily nodded.
"I'm sure the incident is what's causing her to draw the flies," Mrs. Morrow said. "But Emily also told me that you have quite a few flies at home too."
Straightening up, Tess said, "Did you see them attack her? How many were there?"
"I..." The teacher was clearly taken aback by the questions. "I heard her yell and saw her running around. I have no idea how many flies there were. I wouldn't call it a swarm, but obviously enough to be upsetting." She paused, looking down at Emily. "Probably even one fly biting you would be upsetting, right, Emily?"
"Uh huh." Emily went back to putting the final touches on a drawing of a huge fly descending upon a much smaller house. The artwork was disturbing to say the least, and Tess forced herself to look at the teacher instead.
"Well," she said. "Thank you for taking care of her. Did the nurse recommend anything for the bites? Maybe an ointment or a spray?"
"No, but I would imagine they'll be fine," Mrs. Morrow said reassuringly. "Like I said, just keep an eye on them for the next day or so and if there's any change you can take it from there. Again, I can't tell you how sorry I am this happened. We can't really explain it at all, though I did have one thought."
"What's that?" Tess asked, already knowing that whatever the answer was, she'd probably already thought of it and rejected it.
"Is Emily using a new shampoo? Maybe a new soap? Something like that? I know bees can be attracted to things of that nature-things with certain scents. I've never heard of it with flies before, but..." She chuckled a little. "I'm definitely not an expert on them."
"No," Tess said. "We haven't bought anything new like that lately. And trust me, I know you're not an expert. I doubt many are."
"Oh, well." The teacher shrugged. "It was an idea."
"Come on, Emily," Tess said. "Time to go home."
Emily slipped out of the chair, abandoning her drawings. "Do we have to go home, Mom? Maybe we should go stay at Daddy's house. I bet no flies could get us there."
Ignoring both the question and the odd look she received from Mrs. Morrow, Tess took Emily by the hand and left the classroom, doing her best not to think about the huge fly above the pitifully tiny house.
CHAPTER 22
An hour after their encounter with the college teacher, their bellies full of watery mac and cheese, soft baby carrot sticks and weak iced tea, Speck, Mick and Dobie stood outside the church smoking cigarettes and people watching.
There wasn't much happening and Speck's mind kept returning to the woman, Tess. She was gorgeous, but probably straight, which was pretty much the story of Speck's life. Though Speck had looked for a wedding ring and saw none, she knew that meant absolutely nothing either way.
Kathy emerged from the church with another girl named Kim and shot Speck a dirty look.
Speck frowned and took a long drag off her cigarette. What the fuck was wrong with her? She'd been giving her nasty looks all through lunch from the other side of the church and Speck didn't have a clue as to why.
Kathy and her friend started to walk away, but suddenly Kathy stopped and turned back to the trio. "You see something you like?" she asked Speck.
Oh, great. Here we go, Speck thought. She did her best to keep her voice even when she replied, "What are you talking about?"
"You know exactly what the fuck I'm taking about!" Kathy stepped closer, shoving a chubby index finger at Speck. "I saw you eyeballing me in there." She jerked a thumb at the church behind them. "Just like you're eyeballing me now."
Mick took a step forward and said, "Relax, Kathy."
"Relax my ass! This dyke has been checking me out and if she keeps it up, I'm gonna put her ass in a fucking sling."
Making a face, Speck said, "Don't flatter yourself. You're not my type."
Immediately flushing a bright pink, Kathy said, "You're sick!" She glanced menacingly at Mick and added, "And you're no better, you fucking witch! All three of you are...in league with the devil!"
Mick surprised everyone by laughing. "Are you kidding me? Please tell me you're just screwing with us."
"Her," Kathy pointed at Speck again, "more than anyone!"
"This is pretty much the most retarded conversation I've ever had," Mick said.
Kathy ignored her and told Speck, "You'd better watch your back, dyke. I'm not fucking around. Stay away from me. You and all your black magic voodoo shit."
She and her friend stalked off in the direction of the park, leaving Speck and Mick exchanging glances.
When she was out of earshot, Dobie started laughing. "Holy shit! What just happened?"
"Hell if I know," Speck said. Unlike Mick and Dobie, she didn't think the bizarre confrontation had been amusing in the slightest.
"She's freaked because of the Ouija board," Mick said. "Some people get like that when it comes to the occult."
Dobie flicked his cigarette butt into the street and said, "Since when is she religious?"
"I don't think she is," Mick replied. "She's just an ass."
Speck looked at her. "I thought you liked her."
"Eh. I wouldn't say that. I was pretty indifferent, but now it's obvious: she's an ass."
Then, Speck did laugh, despite the nervousness she felt. She'd really thought she was going to get into a fistfight with Kathy and told her friends as much.
"She won't hit you," Dobie said, leaning back against the church's brick wall. "I've know her for a couple years now and the only person I ever saw her hit was her old man, Billy." He chuckled at the memory. "Right in the middle of the park, broad daylight, she just started wailing on the poor guy. I felt sorry for him."
"Why did she do that?" Speck asked.
"Who knows," He shook another Marlboro out of his pack. "Probably 'cause she's psycho."
"Oh, well, that makes me feel better," Speck joked. "She's a psycho with a history of violence, but she won't hit me."
He shrugged indifferently. "Let's head to the park. Maybe see if we can get enough money together to buy a case or something, 'cause I don't know about you two, but I'm already as bored as fuck."
"I want to go to Willow House," Mick said. "See if I can get a shower. I feel skanky."
"Whatever," Dobie said. "Let's just start walking."
By the time they arrived at the park, the incident with Kathy was evidently forgotten by Mick and Dobie, as they chatted about various other topics. But Speck was still mulling it over. She supposed it was now safe to assume that everyone knew she was gay, and she couldn't help but wonder if the knowledge would change how they behaved towards her. It made her nervous and she lit one cigarette after another, remembering the homophobia that had caused her to be on the streets in the first place.
She was more than a little relieved when neither Kathy nor Kim were anywhere in sight, though Gizmo was near the low brick wall, sitting astride a rumbling old Moped. The three of them approached him, Dobie asking, "Dude, where did you get that thing?"
Gizmo laughed. "Stole it out of the Combat Zone. Some fruit left it outside The Ramrod, so I said, 'Fucker, that's mine now.' "
The Ramrod was a notoriously sleazy gay bar mostly
frequented by male prostitutes and their johns.
"Let me ride it, man," Dobie said.
"Fuck you." Gizmo grinned at Speck. "Wanna ride?"
Before Speck could reply, Dobie punched Giz in the shoulder. "Fuck you! Let me ride it!"
Sighing, Gizmo told Dobie to get on the bike behind him, which Dobie wasn't thrilled with but by then it was clear that Gizmo wasn't letting anybody take off on his new find without him.
Speck and Mick watched them ride away through the park, both girls smoking and vaguely amused.
"They better not get busted with that thing," Mick said as they sat on the wall.
"That would suck," Speck agreed.
They fell into a silence, watching the passersby wandering in and out of the subway entrance like busy ants building their hill.
Seemingly out of nowhere, Speck said, "I think you should call that Tess chick."
It took Mick a moment to catch on. "Really? What for?"
"I don't know," Speck shrugged. "Don't you think it's weird? The fly thing?"
"Yeah, it's weird, but what am I supposed to do about it? Besides, we don't know her. She's probably like...I don't know...a nun or something. She'll try to get us adopted."
They both laughed at that, then Speck said, "She teaches college, remember?"
"A nun in teacher's clothes."
Speck thought about that for a moment. To her, Tess didn't seem like the type that wanted to be a savior or anything like that. She's just seemed...what? Worried? Scared? Confused?
And in the end, did it really matter exactly which emotion the woman had been feeling? It was obviously not a good one and Speck knew what it felt like to experience them all at the same time.
To Mick, she said, "I think we should help her if we can."
Mick exhaled two long streams of blue smoke from her nostrils. "What the hell for?"
"I don't know," Speck admitted. "I guess because of the things you believe."
"What things?"
"You know...Wicca. Magic, I guess. You're a practitioner of white magic. So, you're one of the good guys. If something was done to that women-a spell or whatever-it sounds to me like it was done by black magic."