by Kelli Kimble
Daddy shook his head. “No. After lunch, I'd like to get started. Being in that cell . . . let’s just say I’ll be glad to be outside, smelling some fresh air and getting my hands dirty.”
“I’m sure we can get your hands dirty, then.” He nodded in the direction of me and Mother. “Ladies, I shall leave you to spend your time together.”
Chapter 20
There weren’t any lights on in Gary’s house, but it didn’t matter. I could see almost as well in the dark as I could in daylight. We were crouched in shrubbery, watching it from a distance. I studied the details of the house. It looked more intimidating at night than it did during the day; all the paint colors faded to various shades of gray, giving it a haunted look. I tried again to feel for Gary’s soul, and whatever made it cry out to Mr. Anu. But there was nothing special about the feelings I had for this house, or any of the houses on the street.
Mr. Anu advanced across the street, and we followed behind, our claws clicking on the bricks. I heard something to my right, and I stopped and tried to pinpoint the source. An opossum scuttled into a storm drain nearby. The others had left me behind, not noticing that I’d stopped. I ran to catch up with them, even though it only took a handful of strides to reach them.
“Easy, Miss Hond,” Mr. Anu said. He seemed much more conspicuous than Jacob and me with his bare chest and linen clothing. I paused and took a breath, nodding that I understood to settle myself.
He crept onto the porch and tried the front door. Locked. We tried the two windows on either side of the door, but they were both locked as well.
“To the back,” Mr. Anu said. We followed him around the house to the back door. Somewhere in the distance, a dog barked, but other than the breeze in the trees, there were no other sounds.
Mr. Anu tried the back door. The knob turned, but the door didn’t give. He pushed against it, and it opened with a scrape. We stood still for several moments, while we waited to hear if we’d woken anyone. The house remained silent, and we went inside.
I led them to the front room where Gary’s bed had been set up before, but it wasn’t there. Mr. Anu motioned towards the stairs. “He’s up there.” It seemed more dangerous to go upstairs, but we had little choice. I moved to the side and let Mr. Anu take us to where he sensed Gary and his ugly little soul were waiting.
We went into his bedroom. A night light partially lit the room, casting shadows over his bed. There was a sweet smell that made me want to gag.
“What’s that smell?” I whispered, cringing as Mr. Anu closed the door, trapping us in the room with the smell.
“Infection,” Mr. Anu said.
He was lying on his back with the covers pulled up to his armpits, but his arms were on top of the blankets. They were covered in white bandages.
“What are these bandages?”
Mr. Anu stood over the bed. He seemed to be growing larger, but it had to be a trick of the light.
“He had an accident where he burned his arms and hands.”
He held a hand out over Gary. Gary’s eyes slid open.
“Wait. An accident? With fire?”
“Yes, Miss Hond. Gary is the one who set fire to your house.”
My brain refused to process what was being said. Mr. Anu’s hand drifted up to the space above Gary’s head. Gary’s eyes followed it. He didn’t seem to be aware; it was like a reflex.
“Iris.” Jacob was at my elbow.
I shook my head. My hands curled into fists, digging my claws into my palms.
“No. He doesn’t get to get away with it,” I said.
Jacob put an arm around me. “He’s not getting away with it, Iris. He paid for it. He’s dying.”
I pushed his arm off and turned on him. “Don’t you want to hurt him? For what he did to my family? To me?”
“Shh, Iris,” Mr. Anu said. “Jacob is right. He’s paying for his crimes with an early death.”
I put my back to them and covered my eyes. It felt strange. My face was the wrong shape and my hands were clumsy and furry and . . .
“Let me do it,” I said, turning around.
“You don’t even know what to do,” Jacob said.
Mr. Anu withdrew his hand and stood upright. He had grown taller, and he faded from Anubis back to the Mr. Anu that I knew. He crossed his arms and the edge of a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “I have been waiting for you, Miss Hond.”
“Tell me what to do.”
* * *
The asphalt sang under the tires of my bicycle. Beside me, Jacob was pedaling faster so that he could pass me. My basket was stocked with a bag of groceries from town, and the paper of the bag fluttered against the wind. It was cold but sunny, and the bare trees brushed against the blue sky.
“Watch this,” Jacob said. He stood up on his pedals and let go of the handlebars. He laughed into the wind. His bike wobbled and he sat down. He turned his head to look back at me, and he slowed his pace so that I would be beside him, his brow wrinkled with concern.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
“I’m terrific,” I said. And I was surprised that I really meant it.
The driveway to the farm appeared, surprising me just as much today as it had every other time I’d encountered it. Mr. Anu had replaced the mailbox with a shiny new silver box. In a neat script, he’d written all three of our names: Anu, Cucciolo, and Hond. I smiled.
I opened it and found a stack of mail. There were three large envelopes that stood out amongst the bills, catalogs, and correspondence.
“What’s that?”
I grasped the mail to my chest for a moment. “Applications. For college.” My stomach turned over with excitement. There was so much ahead, and I had my family — no, I had an extended family — that I belonged with and who loved me.
Jacob let out a whoop and rode his bike in a celebratory circle before turning up the driveway. “Come on!” he yelled. “Let’s get started!”
The End
Turn the page to sample a chapter from the next book in the Daughters of Anubis series, ‘Bonds that Blind’! Available in November, 2020
Bonds that Blind
Chapter 1
August 4, 1963
Garfield College
It was small and smelled like old socks and curdled yogurt.
I loved it.
I dropped my suitcase on the bed. This would be my home away from home for the next four years. Standing in the middle of the room, I turned in a circle, taking it in. Jacob and Kal pushed in, lugging my trunk between them.
“Where do you want this?” Jacob asked. Kal didn’t wait for instruction. He dropped his end, leaving Jacob to grunt as he let his side drop, too. They were red-faced from lugging the heavy trunk up three flights of stairs.
“I don’t know, I guess under the bed,” I said. The beds had curiously long legs, leaving plenty of room for storage underneath.
“But which one?”
Both beds looked the same to me. Blue and white ticking over a mattress that had clearly seen better days.
“This one has pee stains on it,” Kal said, pointing at one.
“This one smells like vomit,” Jacob said, sniffing towards the other.
They laughed at their clever potty humor while I debated what to do. I’d been required to come to school a month early to participate in an orientation program especially for students who had struggled in school. Technically, I had been a great student, so it wasn’t that I’d had bad grades. But a series of events my senior year had caused me to drop out and get my GED instead of graduating with my class. Garfield had accepted my GED with the concession that I take the orientation class. It meant that I was here well before my roommate.
“I guess I’ll stick with this one,” I pointed to the vomit-scented mattress. “But I’ve got to unpack it before you put it away.”
“Whatever you say, boss.” Kal said, pulling a cigarette from the pack he had in his shirt pocket. I wrinkled my nose at him and he pretended not to
notice. “I’m gonna go unwind for a minute. Then we’ve gotta unload the rest. I don’t have a parking pass.”
Even though I thought his new smoking habit was disgusting, I smiled at his back. He’d wanted to give us a few minutes alone.
I opened the trunk and pulled out the sheets that I’d packed right on top so that I could make my bed first thing. Mother had suggested that I pack them that way, right before she started to cry and excused herself from my room at Mr. Anu’s place.
I spread the sheets over the bed. Jacob helped me smooth them in place.
“Are you sure you’re going to be okay here?” he asked, keeping his eyes trained on the sheets.
“I’ll be fine here, just like you’ll be fine there. It’s only a fifteen minute drive.”
“Only, neither of us has a car to drive it in.”
“You could come to school here.”
“Or you could go to school there.”
I frowned at him. “You know that isn’t going to work. We shouldn’t spend our last few minutes together fighting.”
“Fine.” He pulled a blanket and pillows from the trunk and handed them to me. I finished making the bed as he watched, his arms crossed.
“We’re excited about this, remember?”
His mouth extended into a slow smile, giving my stomach a little flip-flop. “Yeah.” His arms slid around my waist and my arms went around his neck. We kissed, making my stomach do a gravity-defying somersault.
Kal coughed just outside the door, and we jumped apart. Kal was aware of our relationship, but we all liked to pretend that he wasn’t. He entered the room, carrying a laundry basket tucked under one arm and a suitcase in his free hand.
“How much stuff does one girl need?” he asked.
“More,” I said. “There’s just the trunk of books.”
“You know they have a library here, right?” Kal said.
“Yes.”
He stuck out his lower lip in a mock pout. “Fine. Let’s go get it, Jacob. I saw a meter maid walking just up the street. If Mr. Anu’s truck gets a ticket, one of you is paying for it.”
They left me alone, and I finished unpacking the trunk. Underneath the bedding I’d packed sweaters, coats and shoes. There were tall chests of drawers, and I opened the one on my side of the room. It reeked of moth balls and I was glad that mother had given me sachets and liner for the drawers. I was lining the first drawer when they returned.
“Did you pack bricks in this?” Kal demanded.
“Of course not.”
They dropped the trunk, rattling the window in its pane. I was glad that nobody else seemed to be around to hear.
“Well, kid. I guess this is goodbye for now. Keep your nose clean. Oh, and your ma asked me about twenty times to remind you to write home now and then.”
He hugged me and rumpled my hair.
“Thanks for your help, Kal.”
He shrugged. “I’m gonna catch another smoke before we take off.” He stuffed his hands into his pockets and slouched out of the room. Jacob frowned.
“I think he’s really going to miss you.”
“You seem surprised.”
“He’s not a sentimental guy.”
“I’ll miss him.”
His frown deepened.
I smiled and tapped a finger to his frown. “But I’ll miss you more.”
We kissed one more time. “I hate to go, but he’s waiting.”
I nodded, unable to trust my voice.
“I’ll see you soon, my Anubian princess.”
* * *
The first day of orientation dawned early. It was scheduled to start at eight o’clock in the morning in the mess hall. I’d unpacked and arranged and then rearranged my things over and over, and couldn’t remember where I’d stashed my shower shoes. I tore everything out of my closet before I remembered that I’d placed them under the end of my bed.
I arrived at the mess hall only a little harried. I brought a notebook and a pencil, and I clutched the notebook to my chest like it was armor. The familiar stirrings of being an outsider plucked at me when I entered the mess hall. Most were standing in line, waiting to get their breakfast. But some had already gone through and were seated at the tables. There was the occasional shout of recognition as one person called to another. My cheeks felt hot knowing that there was nobody saving a seat for me.
Regardless, I’d chosen this opportunity and I was going to see it through. I moved to take a place in line, first taking a tray and selecting utensils. The boy in front of me was taking one of everything. He had a banana, an apple, an orange, a donut, a muffin, and a bowl of cereal, and he hadn’t even reached the hot foods. He looked back at me.
“Hey. This is probably the only free meal you’re going to get. Take as much as you can eat.”
“You’re going to eat all that?”
He smiled. “And then some.” He grabbed another donut and started eating it. “Name’s Wayne. What’s yours?”
“Iris. Pleased to meet you.”
He nodded, his mouth full. He gulped it down. “Hey, if you aren’t going to fill up your tray, do you mind carrying some stuff for me?”
“No, as long as you don’t mind me sitting by you. I don’t know anybody.”
He shrugged, already piling food on my tray. “Me either. I hear by the end of the month we’ll all be sick of each other.” He grinned at me. Powdered sugar from his donut ringed his mouth.
I pointed to my mouth. “You’ve got a little something, just there.”
“Oh.” He wiped his mouth with his sleeve. “Where’re you from, Iris?”
We moved on to the hot food. He heaped eggs, bacon, and sausage links onto a plate which he set on my tray.
“Georgia, originally. Now I live in West Virginia.”
He gave me a sideways look. “That’s weird.”
My manners forbid me from noticing that he’d said something offensive. “And you? Where are you from?”
I collected a modest plate of bacon and scrambled eggs, along with some toast and a glass of milk. I had to squish some of his things together to make room for my plate.
“Pennsylvania.”
“Mm. I’ve never had the pleasure of going there.”
“It’s nothing great.” He scanned the room and pointed at a table. “Let’s sit over there.” We’d reached the end of the line, and he took his tray to a table. There were only two spots left at it, and Wayne set his tray down and sat without comment. He immediately began eating.
“Is this seat taken?” I asked the girl seated beside the empty seat that Wayne had left. She was reading, and she placed her finger in the text to hold her place before looking up.
“No,” she said. She went right back to her reading.
“What are you here to study?” Wayne asked.
“Business,” I said. Wayne was beginning to get on my nerves. He had a grasp on his fork that made it perform more like a shovel than an eating utensil. Mother would have died if he were her son.
Before I could ask him about his studies, a woman stood on a chair at the end of our table.
“Hello, class of nineteen sixty-seven! My name is Corey and I’m your co-teaching assistant for orientation. We’re going to have some great fun together over the next few weeks. I’d like you all to meet Professor Cane, our orientation instructor.” Her clapping reminded me of a hummingbird.
I was just realizing that I could smell someone with a familiar scent when a barrel-chested man with bushy grey hair came over to stand beside Corey. He smiled and waved, sweeping his gaze over the crowd. His eyes found mine and locked in.
He’s Anubian, too.
I nodded, and he nodded as he started to speak, though I didn’t hear what he said because Wayne elbowed me in the ribs.
“You know that guy?”
“No.”
“Seems like he knows you.” He went back to eating.
I studied Professor Cane. I was certain it was his scent that I smelled. It was re
miniscent of my parents, underneath the perfumes of artificial things like Daddy’s aftershave or the lotion Mother used on her hands. It was warm and earthy. Comforting.
He was taller than most men, though not as tall as Mr. Anu. He was wearing a white oxford shirt and a baby blue bow-tie, and black leather shoes that looked like work boots with the ankles cut short. I realized with a start that he was describing the curriculum for the orientation and that I should be taking notes. I cleared my notebook out from under the clutter of Wayne’s food and turned to a fresh sheet of paper.
“You won’t be graded on any of your work,” he said. “But I will have the last say on whether you will be allowed to continue into your freshman year.” He clasped his hands and began walking around the perimeter of the room, forcing everyone to turn to watch him. “Every year, there are a small handful of students that are best turned away. That isn’t to say that they don’t deserve an education as we have a rigorous admissions process. It’s rather that they perhaps aren’t quite mature enough to apply themselves to a course of study yet.
“You’ll be spending a lot of time with Casey and a few other teaching assistants. Even though she is a student herself, let me assure you that she knows the class syllabus and it’s content nearly as well as I do, and she can always answer your questions.”
Wayne snorted. “You know what that means?” he stage-whispered. “It means he doesn’t want us to bug him.”
“Excuse me,” Professor Cane pointed to Wayne. “Did you have something you wanted to discuss?”
“No sir,” Wayne said. He stuffed half a glazed donut in his mouth, maybe hoping that would end the exchange.
“No, no. I distinctly heard you ask what something means. You must have a question.”
The reading girl looked up from her book. “He said that you don’t want us to bug you.”
Wayne coughed, only missing spraying the table with donut crumbs because he’d put his hand over his mouth. He didn’t have a napkin, though, and he wiped the debris on his palm against his pants.