by Natavia
“Get it away from me!” I cried.
“I assume this is to keep the insects away,” he replied. He picked me up by my wing and tossed me over his shoulder. I kicked and punched at him. My hands bled from hitting him, and my legs went numb.
“What are you doing?” I cried.
“Looking out for my kind. It’s time for me to take back what belongs to us. We are so different, Casha. We are natural born enemies, and you knew. You knew everything, and you poisoned me to hide it from me. Y’all are like salt to a slug, and you might not know what that means, but I think you get the point,” he said. He dropped me on large rock in front of his house. He nailed my wings to the rock, and I screamed in pain. Blood from my wings dripped down the rock and onto the ground. I tried to move, but I couldn’t.
“Why are you doing this?” I asked.
“Disabling your wings so you can’t escape. By tomorrow, the blood in your wings will be gone. Eye for an eye, right?” he replied.
“I left my planet to be with you!” I yelled.
“You left MY planet! Goodnight,” he said. He left me outside on the rock. I closed my eyes, and wept.
You are going to die! I thought.
**********
The sun peeked over the clouds, and the birds chirped. My eyes fluttered as I opened them. I cried when I couldn’t feel my wings. Odega came out of the house to get me off the rock. He yanked the nails out of my wings, and I fell onto the ground. He carried me into the house, and placed me inside of the room where they kept Rudan. Odega slammed the door, and locked it. Rudan looked at me with a smirk on his face.
“I always wanted to see the little princess so vulnerable,” he laughed. I went up the stairs, and banged on the door.
“Let me out of here!” I screamed, and Rudan laughed.
“The door is made out of metal. You can’t escape out of here,” Rudan said. The cement room didn’t have windows; I was trapped.
Brick will pay for this, I thought.
Nabila
Three days later…
B rick became distant, and it saddened me. I spent my time moping around on Risha’s couch.
“Let’s get out of the house,” Risha said.
“I’m pregnant, and depressed. Do you think he’s fucking Casha? I feel like killing them,” I replied.
“I don’t know for sure. You said he’s at war with his planet, right?” she asked.
“Yes,” I replied.
“Give him time. Derrick is coming to pick me up, so maybe you can hang out with us,” she said.
“No, I’m going home. It’s time for me to start looking for another job because the one with Brick and Shawn is off the table,” I replied.
“Do you want me to go with you?” she asked.
“Enjoy your date. Don’t stop living because of me, Risha. My problems are my problems. I should’ve kept my damn legs closed,” I joked to lighten the mood. I grabbed my purse off the coffee table, and she walked me to the door. She kissed my cheek and promised to call me later. I stopped at a Chinese restaurant on my way home. I sat at a small table in the corner and waited for the waitress to take my order.
“Nabila?” someone asked. I peeked over my menu, and it was the last person I wanted to see. Rod pulled out the chair in front of me, and sat down at my table. I stared at him with confusion. We had nothing to say to each other.
“You look amazing. How long has it been since I seen you?” he asked.
“Not long enough. Why are you sitting here?” I replied.
“I saw you sitting here when I left out of the men’s bathroom. I’m having dinner with a few of my co-workers. Listen, I know I wasn’t a good boyfriend to you, but I was young and dumb. You were good to me, and I took you for granted. I know I’m late, but I wish things could’ve been different for us,” he said.
“I’m over it, Rod,” I replied.
Ugh, why is he sitting here? I thought.
“Are you seeing someone?” he asked.
“Yes, I am,” I replied.
“I don’t see a ring on your finger, so you are still single in my eyes. I just want to talk to you, and nothing more,” he said.
The waitress came over, and Rod ordered my food. I only ate beef and spring onion Chinese food.
“What kind of work do you do?” he asked.
“None, at the moment. I left my old job for something better. I want a career for the degree I have,” I replied.
“I work in a lab,” he said.
“Wife, girlfriend, kids?” I asked.
“None of the above. The woman I cheated on you with was a scam artist. She went to jail a few months after we broke up,” he replied.
“Karma fixed you up right,” I said, and he chuckled.
“She fucked me raw,” Rod replied.
We talked until my food arrived. He was the same man, but he had matured a lot. I used to think about him, and even slipped into depression after he left me, but the spark was gone.
“Do you want a cocktail?” he asked.
“No, I’m okay. Thanks,” I said.
“You, turn down a cocktail? Wow, times have changed.”
“I’m pregnant,” I replied.
“Oh, wow. Ummm, congratulations. He’s a lucky man,” he said.
“Thanks, but I think your co-workers are ready to leave. It was nice seeing you.”
“I told them through text I was staying back to talk to an old friend,” he replied. I finished my dinner, and Rod paid for the tab. His eyes fell upon my hips when I stood up.
“Your man is a very lucky man,” he said.
“Thanks for dinner,” I said, and walked out of the restaurant. Rod followed me to my truck.
“I know there might still be a chance for us. We were deeply in love. A baby will not stop me. I waited this long to see you, and I won’t let it be the last,” he said.
“My address has been the same since you left me. I wasn’t hard to find. I think your ego can’t accept I moved on,” I replied. Rod’s words fell on deaf ears as I watched a couple get out of a Lexus. My eyes began to water, and my wings wanted to take me away.
Please don’t come out right now, I thought. I felt my feet carrying me across the street to the woman’s clothing store. I walked into the store, and my eyes landed on Brick. He held a summer dress against a beautiful woman. She looked like an Ethiopian model, and she had the prettiest green eyes. I snatched the dress out of his hand, and he looked at me in confusion.
“What’s up, beautiful? I was ready to come, and see you,” he said. I slapped his face, and the people in the store stopped to look at us.
“You are a piece of shit!” I yelled at him. Brick looked confused, and so did the woman he was with.
“Nice, to meet you Nabila. You are more beautiful than what Midas described,” the woman said.
“Who are you?” I replied.
“Her name is, Tundra. She’s my mother’s sister,” Brick replied. I ran out of the store from embarrassment, and Rod followed me to my truck. I didn’t know he was in the store, until he left out behind me.
“I hope you don’t believe that. Is that your child’s father?” Rod asked me. Brick walked across the street with angry-filled eyes. Rod pulled me into his arms, and time moved slowly. I tried to warn him, but it was too late. Brick picked him up by the back of his shirt, and held him in the air. I wanted to laugh at Rod’s dangling feet, but it wasn’t a laughing matter.
“Is this the punk who was before me?” Brick asked.
“Let me go!” Rod yelled. He swung at Brick and missed.
“I can’t breathe!” Rod yelled.
“It’s not what you think,” I said to Brick, and his eyes glowed at me.
“Why is this human touching you? Why was he with you? Were you two on a fucking date?” Brick yelled at me. Lightning struck a small tree next to us, and it fell on top of a small convertible.
“I just want to go homeeeeeee!” Rod cried.
“Put him down, so
we can talk,” I said to Brick. He dropped Rod on the ground, and his chin landed on the sidewalk. Rod’s mouth was bleeding when he stood up, and I felt bad for him.
“Son-of-a-bitch!” Rod yelled at Brick.
“Rod, please go before he breaks you into pieces,” I said.
“Is this the man whose child you’re carrying? He’s dangerous. You need to be in a safe environment,” Rod said.
I didn’t want him to find out this way, moron! Brick, finish him!” I thought. Brick mushed Rob, and he tripped over his pants. Rod got up and punched Brick in the stomach. The sound of crushing bone sickened me. Rod screamed out in pain as he held his mangled hand.
“Brick, what did you do?” I asked.
“Nothing, he did it to himself,” Brick chuckled. I helped Rod off the ground.
“He’s a cop, Rod. It was his bullet-proof vest. I think you should go home before something else happens,” I said. He ran down the sidewalk holding his hand. Brick looked at me with a displeased look on his face.
“You care about that punk?” he asked.
“We can discuss that unimportant matter later. Why have you been shutting me out?” I asked.
“It’s a lot to discuss right now,” he replied. He placed his hand over my stomach, and sadness came over him.
“I saw a vision of a baby after you walked out of the store,” he said.
“I was going to tell you, but…,”
Brick pulled me into him and hugged me. I almost melted when he kissed my cheek.
“I have done a lot of bad things, but creating a new life is a new start for me. I have killed my own kind, and I shouldn’t feel this grateful, but I am,” he said.
“You didn’t know,” I replied, and he pulled away from me.
“I should’ve known. My planet is dead, and I helped the peots kill the rest of our planets,” he said. Tundra stood behind Brick, and she was quiet. I didn’t know she was standing there until her green eyes pierced through mine. She walked over to me, and placed her hand over my stomach.
“The offspring won’t be able to survive outside of its planet until old enough. She will die here because she isn’t human,” Tundra said. She spoke like an operator woman. I always thought the operators sounded like outer space humans.
“Wait, what? She? How do you know what I’m having? This is too much. I have to give birth on a different planet? What about doctors?” I asked.
“I can feel the spirit, and it’s a girl. What is a doctor?” Tundra said.
“A human who takes care of other humans,” he replied.
My life involves a bunch of immortals now, I thought.
“This is too much. How did this happen? I mean I know how it happened, but it’s too soon,” I said.
I need birth control after this, I thought. Tundra lifted her dress and squatted on the sidewalk. Brick hurriedly pulled her dress down before anyone saw her.
“This is Earth, Tundra. We go to the bathroom in privacy. I showed you how to use the toilet, remember?” he asked.
“Oh, forgive me. Earth is very hard to understand,” she said. Brick told me to meet him at his home. I called Risha when I got inside of my truck.
“I was ready to call you! This broke muthafucka’ played me,” Risha screamed over the phone.
“My ears are a little bit sensitive now. You have to lower it,” I said.
“I forgot you were a butterfly, but my date was horrible. Derrick took me out to this five-star restaurant. It was beautiful, Nabila. It looked like an aquarium inside. He told me to order whatever I wanted, so I did. Anyways, I ordered lobster, stuffed shrimp, calamari, oysters, and the rest of the sea. Oh, and I ordered a bottle of Moet. The bill came, and it was six-hundred dollars plus change. Derrick excused himself and went to the bathroom, but he never came back. He left me with the bill. The police came to the restaurant, and threatened to lock me up. I had to wash the dishes,” Risha said into the phone. I covered my mouth to keep from laughing.
“Karma caught up to me. I spent all my life taking people’s granddaddies life alert, and bingo money. I’m a bad person, Nabila,” Risha cried into the phone.
“You will meet someone. Do you want me to pick you up? I’m going over Brick’s house, and I’m sure Odega will be happy to see you,” I said.
“He doesn’t like me. I’m a washed-up hoe,” Risha said, and I burst into laughter.
“I’ll be there shortly,” I replied.
**********
A few hours later…
“Your father is on Earth?” I asked Brick. He was doing pull-ups on a thick tree branch in the woods behind his home.
“Yes, but I don’t know how true it is. I don’t trust Rudan. We will have to leave for my planet in a few days. Odega will stay here to start my newest project. I’m worried that he won’t be able to communicate with the humans. He’s very smart, but not very social,” Brick said. He jumped from the tree, and the ground below me vibrated a little. My stomach glowed, and I tried to hide it, but Brick pulled my arms away.
“Are you ashamed?” he asked.
“No, I’m scared. Are you?” I asked.
He sat down in the grass, and pulled me onto his lap.
“I saw a vision of a little girl, with my eyes and your face. I thought it was a dream. She had pretty wings, and her skin was the color of walnuts. I saw it when I entered you, but I thought my mind was going crazy again. I’m afraid that one day I will wake up and won’t know who you are. My memory is slowly dying. That is why the gargoyles on Vada believe that Jonelius is really their king. The older ones are like robots, and I thought maybe they were scared to escape, but they are just brainwashed,” Brick said.
“What if there is a cure?” I asked.
“I wouldn’t know, but my father does. He hunted them,” Brick replied.
“We will figure it out, but I have a good idea. What if Risha helped Odega with your company? She can be the person to communicate with your clients, and Odega can work. She can take him to the job, and help him with his social skills,” I suggested.
“Social skills? Risha?” Brick roared in laughter. He scratched his goatee after he realized how serious I was.
“Umm, I guess since it’s only temporary,” he said.
“I will send an email to your clients to tell them that your wife is going on maternity leave, and your brother will take over,” I replied.
“Smart woman,” he said.
Brick made a camp fire in the woods, and Odega roasted fish on a stick over the fire. Eagle sat on a log with Tundra sniffing his hair.
“Are you sure she’s from our planet?” Eagle asked.
“She have to get use to being around others again. She was alone for many years. She snuck to other planets for food, but she spent majority of her time in Lacas by herself,” Brick replied.
Risha sat next to Odega, and he placed in her a headlock.
“Get him off of me!” Risha screamed.
“He’s just playing around with you. He will catch you if he tosses you in the air,” Brick said to Risha. I rushed to the house to go to the bathroom. I wiped and flushed the toilet. A thick, and pink gooey-like liquid ran down my legs. I fell against the wall, and my legs went numb. I clutched the toilet seat as a pain rippled through my body. I broke out in sweat because of the cramping in my stomach. The birds came out of my body, and circled me. I ripped opened my shirt, and my stomach was the size of a basketball, and it was transparent. I could see the sack inside of me. Her heartbeat rang inside of my ears. The birds came together, and slowly formed into a woman; it was Brick’s mother. She kneeled next to me, and rubbed my stomach.
“Urane?” I asked, and she nodded her head.
“Give life to create life. She is going to be magical,” Urane said.
“How can Brick get his visions back? How can he see into the future again?” I asked.
“When his planet comes back to life, so will he,” she said.
“He’s poisoned,” I replied.