32- Karl

He let go of the seat and watched her go.  The contraption moved more awkwardly under her than it had under him– slow and wobbly.  Her soft shoes kept slipping off of the foot-levers and her balance was unsteady.  She said the clothes felt strange.  He told her that the machine would not work if she sat side-saddle on it.  They were ladies’ riding clothes.  Jacob had ordered them from Paris.  Fortitude refused to wear them.  Grushilde liked the idea of wearing them, but said they were difficult to get used to.  Like wearing men’s clothing, she said.  She had fallen three times already, but she wanted to learn.  So each time, he had helped her mount again, helped her toes find the levers, and had given her a push to get her going.  He watched her now, making slow, crooked little circles around him, gradually going a bit faster and a bit more steadily.  As he watched, the front wheel went over a rock and she lost her balance.  “Karl!” she shouted, and he leapt forward to catch her.  She fell into his arms, knocking him to the ground, and the riding machine fell with them.  He worried only for a moment, but then he heard her giggling.  She sat up and untangled herself from the machine and from him, then lifted it up off of him.  She laughed as he stood up and brushed the dust from the back of his pants.  “Thank you, Karl,” she said with a bright smile, “Now help me get back on this thing!”

Karl woke to find Jacob’s face looming over him and nearly jumped.  “Geez, Jacob, I’ve told you not to do that!  I don’t care how child-like my face looks when I’m sleeping; I don’t like people hanging over me like that when I wake up!”

Jacob laughed.  “Sorry,” he said, “but you were calling out Grushilde’s name in your sleep.  Over and over.”

Karl sat up in the bed and rubbed the sleep from his face.  “I’m sorry.  Was I loud?  Did I wake you?”

“No.  I was already awake.  But I thought maybe . . .”

“Oh.”  Karl sighed.  If only that were the case.  “No, I was only dreaming about her.”  He thought for a moment.  “But it will be soon, I think.  I doubt it will even be a year.  I’ve been thinking about going to Australia soon.  I want to get there before she awakens.”

“Is that what you were dreaming about?”

“No, actually . . . do you remember when we got that bicycle?  And you got those riding outfits for the girls?”

Jacob laughed.  “I remember.  Fortitude thought it was all so stupid.  She wanted no part of it.”

Karl grinned.  “I remember it was your idea to begin with.  Fortitude thought you were crazy.” 

“Yeah.  But Grushilde loved it,” Jacob nodded.  “She used to ride that thing everywhere.”

“And you could never get her to stop wearing those funny clothes.”

Jacob groaned.  “When I ordered them, I never thought Grushilde would want to wear them all the time.”  He laughed again.  “I don’t think I’ve seen her wear an actual skirt since.”

Karl laughed.  Jacob was exaggerating, of course.  Hilde had worn plenty of skirts and dresses since then.  She just preferred something that was easier to run around in.  “God, I miss her.”

“I know.”

A light tap at the door interrupted them.  “I’m coming in,” a soft voice warned from the other side, “Are you decent?”

Jacob got up and opened the door for Fortitude.

“Ugh!  Jacob, you’re naked!” Fortitude shouted as she pulled the door closed again.  “Cover yourself up so I can come in!”

Karl laughed again.  Jacob was wearing a pair of boxers and a t-shirt.  That was certainly not what Karl considered naked, but Fortitude apparently had her own definition of the word.  Jacob rolled his eyes and grinned as he pulled a robe on and tied it around his waist, then he tossed another robe onto the bed so that Karl could cover up his own sleep-shorts and bare chest.

Jacob let her in again and, satisfied with their new level of decency, she bounced into the room and seated herself on the edge of the bed, tucking her feet up under the bottom of her dress and flipping her ash-blonde curls back behind her as she did so.  “I talked to Hespah,” she told them.

Karl sighed.  “And?”

“She’s still very angry with me.”

Jacob shook his head.  “Of course she is.  You have to admit, that’s understandable.”

“Yes, I know.  But now I’ve apologized.  And I released the command.  So she can stop avoiding you now.”

Karl glanced at Jacob.  That was a relief.  Hopefully that whole incident would be forgiven and forgotten soon.  And Shepetheleh would never have to hear about it.  When Fortitude had first told them what she’d done, Jacob had panicked.  She, of course, hadn’t been thinking about what kinds of consequences her little “outburst” could have.  She had simply been angry, and had just lashed out at Hespah without really planning to. 

“We need to make this right,” Karl muttered.  An apology from Fortitude would go a long way, but he still felt that something else was needed.  Something that would get them all talking again.  Remind everyone how well they’d always gotten along.

Jacob shrugged.  “Why don’t we all go into town today?  We could go to a restaurant, maybe do a little window-shopping . . . The weather is really beautiful today.”

Karl rolled his eyes.  “That’s your answer?  Window-shopping?”

But Fortitude looked excited.  “No, I think it’s a good idea,” she said.  “Come on, Karl.  It’s been so long since we’ve been out of the house.  And Hespah’s been cooped up all by herself for almost two weeks now.  I’m sure she’d love to go out.”

Jacob was already in Karl’s closet, pulling out more of those ridiculously expensive clothes that he was always buying for him.  A pair of brown jeans came flying across the room to hit Karl in the face.  Then a blue t-shirt.  And a brown and blue plaid shirt.  Karl held up both shirts.  “Which one do I put on?”

Jacob paused for a moment and looked at him.  “Both, of course.”

Of course.  Jacob was always making him wear two or three shirts at once.

Jacob tossed a belt at him.  “Tuck the t-shirt in, wear the belt, leave the collared shirt unbuttoned.  And here are your shoes and socks.”

Karl laughed.  “You know, I’m not a three-year-old.  I do know how to put my own clothes on.”

Jacob and Fortitude exchanged a look, and Fortitude laughed.  “I’ll go tell Hespah,” she said as she made her way toward the door.

Karl stood up.  “No, I’ll get her.  Just give me a minute.”

Fortitude shrugged and left the room.

Karl followed Jacob’s instructions without even pausing to ask why the shirt had buttons on it if he wasn’t supposed to use them, then he rushed out of the room to find Hespah.

She was in the kitchen, sipping at a cup of coffee and staring into the pantry.  She turned to scowl at him when he came in.  “Karl,” she said with a nod.

“Hespah,” he nodded back.

“You look like you’re feeling better.”

“Yeah,” he replied.  “You were right, of course.  It only took about ten days or so to heal up.”

“Jacob, too?”

Karl nodded.

Hespah’s eyes dropped to the floor.  “Look, I’m sorry I kicked your asses so hard,” she said.  “I guess I should have gone easier on you.”

“No, it’s okay,” he assured her.  “We needed it.”  He laughed.  “Now we both know how out-of-shape we are.”

Hespah grinned.  “Yeah, well . . . I guess, since it was your first day back in the gym in a while, maybe I could have been a little more careful with you.”

“Don’t worry about it.  We’re not made of glass, you know.”

Hespah snorted, then turned back to the pantry.

“By the way, the rest of us were talking about going into town today.  Get something to eat, maybe walk around a little.  You should come with us.”

“I don’t know.  I’m not ready to start acting all chummy with that . . . with Fortitude.”

“Please?  If you don’t come, Jacob’s going to make me go shopping.”

Hespah laughed out loud that time.  “Okay.  For you, then.”

Karl smiled to himself as he followed Hespah out of the kitchen.  When he and Grushilde had first come to live here, Shepetheleh had described the arrangement as “tactically prudent”.  Allies living under the same roof made for a stronger defense.  But somehow, for Karl, these people had become like a family.  Grushilde, Jacob, Fortitude, Hespah– even Shepetheleh– they all knew each other so well.  And it just didn’t feel right when two of them were fighting.  The last two weeks had felt so wrong.  It was a relief to finally be making peace again.

31- Alexei

The second guy went for a low tackle, but Alexei dodged it and shoved his knee up between the man’s ribs.  Then the big one came at him, bellowing loudly and leaping into the air to throw himself at him.  An idiotic move.  Alexei ducked and turned, moving himself out of the way, then kept turning, swinging his leg out to take a hard sweep at the guy’s knees, kicking them up higher so that instead of landing on his hands and knees, he took most of the impact on his neck and shoulders.  Right then the smaller guy was starting to get his breath back and was pushing himself up onto his elbows.  Alexei shoved his fist into the man’s face, but he was still trying to fight back.  At that point he completely forgot his plan and just started raining punches down on the two men on the ground.  He ignored the guy on the other side of the alley.  That one had been all talk.  A punch in the face and he was done fighting.  But these two . . .  Alexei had planned to just knock them all down and run.  Get back to his hotel.  Stay in his room for the rest of the night and wait until tomorrow to go out again.  But the idiots refused to stay down.  They kept trying to get up and fight.  It was frustrating.  Alexei slammed his knuckles into the big guy’s mouth and felt a tooth come loose, then he shoved his other fist into his jaw.  He was just about to aim another blow at the smaller one when he realized he was being watched.

He froze for a moment, then turned to look, brushing his hair out of his eyes with the back of one bloody hand.  It was a tall, thin woman with espresso-colored skin and black hair the length of peach fuzz on her head, wearing a light grey suit with a pink blouse, dragging along a little rosy-cheeked caucasian child with short-cropped hair the color of dry dirt.  He recognized the woman, and by association he had his suspicions about the boy’s identity as well.  “Nadina?”

Nadina picked up the little boy and rested him on one hip, presenting a motherly image that conflicted with everything Alexei had ever known about her.  “Alexei,” she said in that stern, authoritative tone of hers, “What are you doing here?”

Alexei blinked.  What was he doing here?  He thought that would have been obvious.  The more important question should be, what was she doing here?  And was that kid really who he thought he was?  And if so, why couldn’t he sense him?  She couldn’t possibly be holding M’boku while he was still dormant . . . could she?  “Nadina,” he said softly, “who is that kid?”

Her eyes narrowed at him dangerously and he flinched back as she took a step forward.  “Come on,” she said, “This isn’t a good place to talk.”

Alexei looked around.  They were standing in a dirty alleyway between two casinos in downtown Macau, with three bloody men groaning at their feet.  But somehow it felt safer to stay here than to follow Nadina to wherever she might be taking him.  Still, he followed her.  It should be fine.  Nadina was a practical person.  And M’boku didn’t have many friends.  And as much as Alexei hated the guy, for some reason Mila was fond of him.  She was probably the only one who liked that psycho.  So it wouldn’t be practical for Nadina to do anything treacherous.  She and M’boku needed to hold on to any friendships they could get.

“So where are we going?” he asked.

Nadina looked him over for a moment, then reached into her bag and produced a package of disinfecting wet wipes and a box of bandages.  “Clean yourself up,” she told him.

Alexei took a wipe from the package and began cleaning his hands as they walked.  It stung at the broken skin on his knuckles, but it felt good to get the blood and dirt off.

The little boy was staring at him.  “Are you a good guy?” he asked.

Alexei took a second wipe from the package and considered that for a moment.  A child’s idea of good and bad was always so clear.  In reality, there was no such thing as good guys and bad guys– everyone was a little of both.  He looked at Nadina, holding this kid’s hand like it was the most precious thing in the world.  Even she had a soft side.  “Yeah,” he replied after a minute, “I’m about as good as your Nadina here.”

Nadina shot him an icy glare, and Alexei flinched.

He finished washing his face and hands and opened the box of bandages.  They were brightly colored, with Super Sentai heroes printed on them.  Alexei glanced at Nadina, then looked down at the child.  He smirked as he wrapped the Super Sentai bandages around his knuckles.  It was a good thing Mila wasn’t here to see this.

After a minute, Nadina stopped walking and looked down at the little boy.  “You’re hungry,” she stated, then she turned to Alexei.  “Have you eaten?”

Alexei shook his head.  He hadn’t eaten anything in days; he couldn’t afford to waste money on food right now.  But he tried not to show it.

Nadina let the boy pick a restaurant and twenty minutes later, they were ordering cheeseburgers at a McDonald’s.  Alexei tried hard not to show how hungry he was.  He took small bites and made them last.  He didn’t want Nadina thinking he was desperate.

“So how long have you been in Macau?” she asked him.

“Only a few days,” he replied.  “What about you?  What are you doing here?”

“I live here, for now.” 

“Oh?”

Nadina glanced at the boy and nodded.

Alexei stared at the child.  “Nadina,” he whispered, leaning forward, “Is that . . . who I think it is . . . ?”

Nadina smiled and ran a hand through the child’s ash-brown hair.  “This is M’boku,” she confirmed.

Alexei swallowed.  “But he’s not . . .”

“He’s still dormant.”

Alexei leaned back in his seat and watched M’boku for a few more minutes.  He was a cute kid.  But what was Nadina thinking?  Didn’t she realize how dangerous this was for him?  No, of course she did.  There must be more going on here.  Some extreme circumstance that would force her to take this kind of risk.

M’boku tugged at Nadina’s shirt.  “Can I get ice cream?” he asked.  Nadina gave him some money and he ran to place his order.

“You think I’m crazy, don’t you?” she asked.

Alexei thought about that.  “Honestly, I’m a little jealous,” he replied.  “I would love to be able to have Mila with me right now.”

Nadina watched him in silence for a minute.  “Where are you staying right now, Alexei?”

“I have a room at the Sands.”

“Oh.  How long do you plan to stay in Macau?”

“As long as I can.”

Nadina nodded slowly and sat quietly, watching M’boku.  The girl behind the counter handed him a tray with three items on it and asked, in broken English, if he could carry it by himself.  M’boku smiled at the girl and replied, in perfect Cantonese, that he was strong enough to do it without help.  The girl seemed surprised, and Alexei laughed.  Nadina was teaching the boy well.

M’boku made it back to the table without spilling anything.

“What did you get?” Nadina asked him.  “I don’t think your little tummy is big enough for all of that!”

M’boku giggled.  “No way!” he said, then he handed her a small sugar cone with vanilla ice cream on it.  “This is for you.”

“Oh, thank you,” she replied with a nod.

“And this is for you.  It’s the same as mine.”

Alexei stared at the cup that had been placed in front of him.  “What is it?” he asked.

“It’s ice cream, silly!  It’s Oreo and taro flavor!”

Alexei smiled.  M’boku had never bought him dessert before.  He decided that he really liked the dormant, four-year-old version of M’boku.  He was much easier to get along with than the M'boku he was used to.

Nadina stared at Alexei as she nibbled at her ice cream cone.  After a while, she leaned forward.  “I have an idea,” she said.  “I think we can help each other out.”