A Night Out

A man and a woman were lying there, breathing heavily and covered in sweat beneath the shade of a neighboring tree. A timid, clumsy kindergarten teacher, whose hair was put in a ponytail, her clothing airy for working out. A cold mathematics teacher, a white sweatband rode his forehead, completely soaked. Their lungs were burning, their faces pulsed red. Their leg burned, itched, a thousand needles tap dancing on their skin.

          Branford park-named after one of the founders of Almond Bay-was lush with trees, shrubbery, and benches, all of which encircled a lake. The pathways leading into the park all joined together at the lakeside path, the most popular spot in Branford park where walkers, cyclists, young lovers, and the elderly would travel around the lake and soak in the atmosphere at their chosen pace. If one could take a rest on a cloud and peak below they would be greeted by a blue eye gazing toward the heavens.

          It was afternoon when the sun beat down on the earth, only dimmed when a passing cloud blocked its rays. The hot weather welcomed many people to the lakeside. There were fishers out on boats, families having picnics, and groups of teenagers trying to impress potential mates with their fumbled dives and cannonballs.

          Leena sat up and drank an entire bottle of water in one go while Edmund drank half a bottle and dumped the remainder over his head. His glasses were soaked, blurring his vision, but he was cool.

          “That woman is going to be the death of me,” Edmund panted and coughed. “She’s got far too much energy. This started as a nice relaxing day. How did it suddenly turn into a marathon?”

          “At least she finally has someone who can keep up with her,” Leena said, also out of breath. “I never would’ve expected Quincy to be so swift on his feet. Let them have their fun, we’ll just keep the towels dry and the water bottles cold while we wait. Under the shade of course.”

          Tiny pebbles and grass blades were sent airborne as Quincy and Raven blasted past the two. Their passing would occur every few minutes after they ran an entire lap around the lake. If Leena or Edmund were still enough they could sense the giant’s approach from the slight rumbles he cause with his rapid stomps.

          “I suppose you’re right,” Edmund responded with a rare, quick smile. He removed his glasses and wiped them off on a dry towel. “I’ve never been a match for her athleticism. That giant oaf can be her training partner today. Say... what do you make of him anyway?”

          “Hmmm? What? Me?” Leena said quickly, fumbling with a tube of sunscreen which promptly hit the grass. Her cheeks, beaten by the sun’s rays, burned even redder than they were before. “What do you mean?!”

          “I don’t trust that man, he definitely has a secret. He must have been snitched on a criminal organization and is in the witness protection program. Really, what kind of a last name is Daisy? I’m telling you, Leena, something is up with him. Have you seen his eyes? The eyes of a killer.” Edmund used two digits to draw attention to his own devilish gaze.

          “I think you have that in common,” Leena giggled. She applied sunscreen to her fair arms then tossed the tube Edmund’s way. “He’s a nice man. Don’t pry at him too much. In my classroom, the Three Terrors even love him. Also, he passed your test. Isn’t that enough? Sure, he could probably kill us all with just his thumb but he’s a teddy bear. Also, I don’t find his appearance scary or intimidating, at least not anymore. I find it more thrilling than anything.”

          “Your definition of ‘thrilling’ is not the same as mine. You think Frankenstein’s monster is cute.”

          “He is cute!” Leena huffed as she untied her ponytail and shook her head so her hair would return to its natural state. “Give him a chance Edmund, I’m sure you two will be great friends.”

          Ed opened his mouth, but before he could respond Raven rejoined them, her olive skin glistened from copious amounts of sweat. She let out a “phew” before she grabbed a towel held out by Edmund and wiped her face.

          “I’m beat. The big lug is hard to keep pace with. How could a man that large be so quick?”

          “You seemed to keep up just fine,” Edmund said. He rubbed his stinging neck.

          “You two got pretty burnt, huh? Guess that sunscreen we bought just wasn’t strong enough for the both of you.”

          “We’re both pretty pale,” Leena laughed.

          Edmund let out a yelp when Raven unexpectedly applied some aloe cream to the back of his neck. It was both cold and hot and stung like a fresh bee sting.

          “My bad. Should have let Edmund pick it out but he was across the store at the time, and we were dividing the shopping. I’m pretty resistant to getting sunburnt, I just get darker, so I just grabbed the one with the coolest design.”

          “I envy that Hawaiian blood in your veins. Your natural tone and tenacity for the heat overpower even the rays of the sun.”

          “Aww, that’s sweet of you Ed,” Raven gushed, “tell me more about how amazing I am, make it nerdy.” She planted her lips on the top of his head. He winced when she put a little too much force on either side of his shoulders when she used them as leverage.

          “I think he was just being factual,” Leena said aloud to no one in particular, then after noticing they were one man short she a, “where is Quincy anyways?”

          “Your right. He was right next to me a few minutes ago. I’m sure he’ll catch up shortly. Time to set up the grub.”

          Quincy was jogging in place on the opposite end of the lake with his usual stone-like embarrassed face. He had stopped at a duck crossing, watching an army of ducks waddle across the pathway.

          A stray mother duck, followed by her ducklings, broke formation to quack and flap her wings at Quincy. The ducklings mimicked their mother, afterward, they all returned to the group.

          “That’s some cute ducks,” the flower said, who today was a lilac. Quincy blushed and nodded in agreement.

          Squatting on a nearby bench was a pair of elderly women. They were whispering and giggling to each other while pointing toward Quincy. The giant kept his mustache forward, avoiding eye contact with the ladies.

          Quincy felt a slight nudge hit his backside and guessed that another runner was not paying attention and had collided with him. He pivoted expecting to see an unfortunate soul with their back on the pavement, but to his surprise, there was no one near him. The closest ones to Quincy were the old ladies who were laughing even louder than before. A bit confused, he returned his attention to the duck crossing, which was now free of traffic.

          Quincy bounded like a bolt of lightning. He had kept his new friends waiting too long. From behind him, he could hear the rapidly fading cries of the old ladies.

          “There he is,” said Leena as she flagged down Quincy. He stopped short of the laid-out picnic blanket the trio was seated on. “Oh no, Quincy, you must be burning up in that clothing.”

          Quincy was wearing his usual clothing; a button-up flannel shirt with a white undershirt and thick blue jeans. It was incredibly uncomfortable to wear such warm clothing on such a day but he did so to hide the scars that were etched onto his body.

          “Here,” Leena said. She twisted open a dripping water bottle she pulled out of a nearby cooler and got to her feet. “This should cool yo�"” Her foot snagged a raised part of the blanket and she fell forward with a yelp. Before her nose could make sudden contact with the grass, Quincy caught Leena by her waist with one hand and plucked the airborne bottle with the other. He emptied the bottle over his head, quickly and satisfyingly cooling his overheated skin. The lilac, which drooped before, was invigorated, and sparkling.

          “Thank you, Quincy,” Leena said with embarrassment as she was pushed back to her toes.

          “Captain, we have a stowaway on the ship,” Raven said drawing a fingernail to Quincy’s back and saluting like a goof.

          Quincy twisted his neck and turned his body to try and see what Raven was on about. He failed to make visual contact, but Leena and Edmund caught what it was when he spun around. A small being was holding fast, a young girl with black hair, her face buried in Quincy’s shirt. Raven went to remove her, but every time she got close, the child swayed her hips to avoid her hands. She looked like a baby monkey riding the back of its mother.

          Leena recognized the child instantly. “Emily, what are you doing? Silly girl, where are your parents?”

          Emily revealed her white mug, pressing an index finger against her lips. “I’m hiding. Mommy and daddy are on a date, so uncle Deckles is watching me. It’s been horrible. I saw Mr. Daisy and used him as my escape.” She re-hid herself against Quincy’s back and clambered a bit higher.

          Leena, Edmund, and Raven were dumbfounded and exchanged glances. After a couple of seconds, Raven and Leena giggled to themselves quietly at the odd sight. Shortly after, Edmund joined in with a loud, maniacal laugh. 

          “Quincy, you daft fool! How could you not notice that a child is on your back?” Edmund’s twisted, sharp smile flashed as he laughed toward the open sky with his forehead held. Leena and Raven observed Edmund’s outburst as if they had just seen a unicorn in the wild. Neither had seen him laugh that much.

          “You’re going to have to go back to your uncle, Emily,” Leena said sweetly, “I’m sure he’s worried about you, and you can’t just jump on Mr. Daisy back without asking, that’s not very nice.”

          Quincy wasn’t bothered in the slightest. Emily hardly weighed anything to him. That was the reason he hadn’t noticed the stealthy piggy-backer. Quincy had to admit that was very impressed with his student, her grip strength was strong enough not to get her thrown off during his dash.

          Quincy crossed his lumber-like arms and nodded in agreement with Leena. Emily should return to her uncle as soon as possible.

          “I don’t want to go back to him, I want to play with Mr. Daisy,” Emily responded. She lept off Quincy’s back and landed with a “T” pose. “Uncle Deckles wants to take me to get a haircut. I don’t need one. I wasn’t trying to hurt Mr. Daisy, I love him. He fixed my knee.” Emily pointed at her bandaged knee. The bandage on it was similar to the one Quincy put on it when she scrapped it, it was decorated with daisies. The knee had fully healed a while ago, but Emily kept reapplying a bandage to it because she liked the way it looked. It made her feel tough. Though, it seemed that she had forgotten which knee the bandage was originally on as there was residue on the other knee from where a bandage had been.

          “You can play Mr. Daisy again on Monday kiddo,” Raven interjected with her hips grasped and her brown eyes peering down on Emily. “It’s the weekend. Even teachers have things to do on the weekends you know. We have our own playtime.”

          There was a loud, unsettling rustle in some nearby bushes. The group shot their attention to the noise. Emily slid her whole body behind Quincy’s leg, clinging hard with her tiny hands.

          “He’s here!” she shouted as if a monster was approaching.

          “Emiiilllyyy...” A slow, sinister voice came from those bushes. A hand erupted through the foliage, then a second. The two hands worked together to part the green leaves and made way for a drowsy face veiled behind greasy, black threads.

          “No, don’t take me. I don’t want to. You’re going to ruin my hair!” Emily was screeching like she was about to be murdered.

          “C’mon, Emily, snip snip,” Deckles cackled. “We’re going to make your hair beautiful and shiny. It will smell like lavender. We’ll get some ice cream afterward. Won’t that be fun?”

          Quincy peered down at Emily’s unkempt, short hair and saw the resemblance between her and her uncle. They both had pitch-black, greasy hair. Though, for the time being, that seemed to be the only trait that they shared as far as Quincy knew.

          “My hair is already short, and it smells just fine!”

          “You can protest all you want, Emily,” Deckles said cooly. He crawled out of the bushes and his body straightened like it was being pulled by marionette strings. “But my baby sister, your mother, asked me to do this. And as her older, and only brother, I must obli�"”

          Deckles’ arms were slightly raised, and his eyelids were snapped tight. He was completely frozen and silent, then he let out a snore. He had fallen asleep mid-sentence.

          “Now I can get away,” Emily announced, removing herself from Quincy’s leg. She’d only taken a couple of steps before she was snatched up in the blink of an eye. Deckles mounted her over his shoulder. She began to kick and scream.

          “I got you, Emily,” Deckles sneered. “You’re adorable but naive. You fell for the oldest trick in the bo�"” Once again, his lids fell heavy and he let out a snort. This time, it appeared that he had truly fallen asleep, all while Emily thrashed over his shoulder.

          “Can you at least stay awake for more than five seconds!?” Edmund shouted. “How can you even hold a child while asleep?”

          “Ah, Gene,” Deckles responded snidely and naturally, even though mere moments ago he was fast asleep, “I thought I smelt your stench. You looked absolutely dreadful. Did you exhaust yourself putting on your shoes this morning?”

           “At least I wouldn’t fall asleep midway through putting on the second shoe,” Ed said through his sharp teeth. He repeatedly adjusted his glasses while staring down Deckles.

          “Yes, you would simply need a twenty-minute break,” Deckles snapped back.

          Leena drew close to the puzzled Quincy and whispered up to him, “Edmund and Deckles fight like this all the time. They’ve never gotten along. At faculty meetings, they’re always at each other’s throats.”

          Raven huddled over adding, “Edmund has been after Kraw’s job for years. Always wanted a higher position. Kraw makes sure that he will stay V.P. for as long as possible just to spite him, well, that’s what Eddy believes.”

          Edmund’s ears sparked. Even though they were whispering he could sense that Raven had called him “Eddy.” He glared over at her with flushed cheeks but Raven pretended to cloud gaze.

          After a short series of slinging insults, insults that were appropriate enough for Emily to hear, Edmund and Deckles broke away from each other. Edmund returned to the picnic blanket and roughly snatched a muffin made by Leena. It was hard for him to hold his scowl eating Leena’s baking, but he managed to do so while Deckles was present.

          Deckles finally had taken notice of Quincy and approached him while swiping some leaves off the front of his shirt. Even with Quincy’s large presence, he might as well have been invisible until now. The feud between Kraw and Gene gave them both tunnel vision.

          With Emily finally quieted down, Deckles placed her feet back on the grass and held her hand so she would not escape. That seemed unnecessary as Emily was worn down and her sparkling gaze drooped. That was the second thing Quincy noted that she and Deckles had in common; they both could doze off quite easily in public places.

          “Quincy Daisy, we finally meet.” Deckles gave an award-winning smile and pushed his greasy hair to the side to get a clearer view with his black-as-space eyes. “Sorry it had to be in an informal way, but better late than never I suppose. Emily has been going on and on about you like you’re a celebrity. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Deckles Kraw: vice-principal of Blue Diamond.” He presented his free arm toward the giant.

          “Likewise,” Quincy rumbled under a wiggling mustache. They both shook with a firm, powerful grip. Deckles’ drowsy mug lit up midway through the shake as if he was just told wonderful news.

          “It appears that we have a lot more in common than I would have believed,” Deckles beamed in a slightly lowered voice. He glanced nonchalantly at the nearby party to assure they could not overhear their conversation. Leena and Raven sat with Edmund enjoying muffins and sandwiches, they couldn’t hear a thing.

          “I suppose we do,” Quincy replied. With just that handshake, he understood that Deckles Kraw had a few scars of his own he was hiding. An instant kinship was formed, though Quincy believed that Deckles just had that sort of effect on others.

          “Well, this is neither the time nor place to have such a discussion. Perhaps we could exchange stories over a couple beers sometime. I hope you four enjoy the rest of your day, I’ve got to get this one to the hairdresser. Come along, Emily.”

          “Bye, Mr. Daisy,” Emily waved as she was led away by her uncle. Quincy waved back to her as they shrank more and more until they were gone from sight.

          “We should all go to the movies tonight,” Raven suggested after her stomach was filled with sandwiches and muffins that Leena tenderly made for the picnic. “After such a hot day, we can chill out in the theater under some air conditioning.”

          “That does sound like fun,” Leena agreed. She clasped her hands together and placed them against her cheek. “Is there a certain one you want to see?”

          “Hmm,” Raven hummed gazing up at the sky, “just figured we’d wing it when we get there. See what’s out. Does that sound good to you, Ed?”

          Edmund, who was nose-deep in his dark-brown book, gave a silent thumbs-up in Raven’s direction. He reached out for another muffin and it vanished behind the pages.

          “How about you, big guy? We can do an eight o’clock show.”

          “I, uh,” Quincy mumbled bashfully, “I’ve honestly never been to the movies before.”

          “Really?” Raven and Leena both jumped, “never!?”

          “Well, that’s not entirely true. I’ve attempted to watch one a couple of times when I was younger. But could never find a seat where I wasn’t blocking anyone’s view. I was able to get a back-row seat on one occasion, but people were watching me more than the movie, so I left.”

          “How tragic,” Leena sighed. “I wonder why they would do that.”

          “A true mystery,” Edmund muttered sarcastically as he flipped a page with his thumb.

          “Eh, who cares. If you’re blocking people’s sight they can find another spot to sit,” Raven shrugged, “and if you’re worried about people staring; don’t. Ed will probably draw more attention than you ever will. His eyes nearly glow in the dark and it freaks people out. It’s hilarious.”

          “That is correct,” the man behind the book confirmed.

          Eight o’clock. That’s thirty minutes before I go to bed. I haven’t missed a bedtime in four years, Quincy pondered in his head.

          “Hey, Quincy,” the flower bellowed through his mind, “you do realize that you’re thirty-one years old and could go to bed whenever you want to. I know you’re all about discipline and all that but live a little.”

          But I�" Quincy began.

          “I want to see a movie! In case you’ve forgotten, I haven’t watched a movie on the big screen either. Don’t try and run away from this one, Quincy. We’re going tonight and you’ll have fun even if I have to teleport you there. I swear, sometimes I feel like a mother. I guess that’s sort of true if you think about it.”

          Quincy’s hands were tied. He definitely didn’t want the flower to teleport him anywhere tonight.

          “Sure, I’ll go,” he said out loud to Leena, Raven, and Ed.

          “Awesome,” Raven said excitably, “well meet up at Almond Bay Theater in a couple of hours. See you then.”

 

***

 

          The combined smell of both stale and fresh popcorn tickled Quincy’s nose hairs. The insides of Almond Bay Theater were very red. The sticky carpet was red, the paint on the walls was red, and the seats in the lobby were red.

          He lumbered over to the seated Ed and Raven. They had exchanged their workout clothing for their usual wear. Well, Edmund had. Raven always wore sporty clothing so her most notable change was the color.

          “Sup, Quincy,” Raven said to the approaching giant. “We just got here a few minutes ago. Guess we’re not the only ones who like to be early. Now we just have to wait for Leena. Pop-a-squat.”

          Quincy nodded, grabbed a seat, and let his eyes roam to the posters on the walls of the movies that are coming out shortly or already in theaters. An actress shared space across most of them in either the starring role or a supporting one; a gorgeous dark-skinned woman with rust-red eyes.

          Unfamiliar with celebrities, Quincy inhaled and opened his mustache-covered mouth to ask about this woman, but he was interrupted when Edmund let out a yelp. The involuntary noise he made was due to the top of his spine experiencing a quick, jabbing pain. Raven glanced at her boyfriend, but before she could ask anything she let out a similar squeal upon sharing the same jolt of pain in her lower back.

          Edmund reached toward the floor while rubbing the back of his head and gathered two paper throwing stars colored in red and blue marker at the pointed ends. He swung his head around with a growl to catch who the culprit was. He didn’t have to look for very long when his glare settled on a young girl dressed head to toe in a black and grey ninja outfit. The only uncovered part of the girl was at the mask where a wide slit had been cut to reveal emerald eyes and a tuft of scarlet hair; it was Kari.

 

***

 

          “I must vanquish all evil,” Kari announced as she held her weight with one leg and pressed the tips of her fingers together, “the math demon and the karate lady are sworn enemies of Onion.” Raven giggled at being called “karate lady.” Kari unsheathed a long roll of cardboard from a cloth loop on her back and raised it to the ceiling. “With the power of tears, I will�"Hey! Give that back, it’s mine.”

          Kaleb hovered over his sister in disgust, raising Kari’s “sword” over his head. She hopped with her small hands outstretched to try and retrieve her weapon but ended up getting a bonk over the head with it instead.

          “I apologize for my sister’s behavior, Gene and Raven. If she acts up again I will take her straight home,” Kaleb said as politely as possible.

          Kari clawed at the top of her head and winced. The dull pain had gone away in an instant, but her pride was in agony. “I see that the gorilla magician is with you, have you lured him to your side, math demon?”

          “Are you going to see ‘Onion: The ninja who cries: The movie’?” Raven belched with childlike excitement. “I heard it’s pretty killer!”

          Quincy and Kaleb both popped a single eyebrow as if to ask, “you watch a show for kids?” while Edmund pretended she hadn’t said anything at all and acted as though there was an annoying smudge on his glasses he had to wipe off that instant.

          “My, uh, niece watches the show,” Raven partially lied.

          “Yeah! Onion is the best super ninja. He’s my favorite hero!”

          “Mine too�"I mean, my nieces too! He’s so cool. That last episode where he cried and thought of his friends. It was the best thing ever!” Raven exclaimed.

          Kaleb drew attention from the blank-faced Quincy and the mock distracted Edmund while the girls fawned over their favorite ninja. “My sister was super excited to see this movie. I promised to take her if she was on her best behavior, well best by her standards.”

          “Did you make that costume yourself?” Quincy asked, pointing toward the ninja cloak Kari wore. It was clearly homemade but well put together.

          “Yeah,” Kaleb rubbed his scalp and rolled his emerald eyes sheepishly around the lobby. “In high school, I took home economics for easy credits but ended up enjoying a lot of it. I was the only guy in that class. Got pretty good with the thread and needle, made her costume out of worn clothing and rags. Not too shabby of a cook either thanks to that class. I can’t be feeding my sister fast food all the time, so I have been improving those skills. Kari’s not a good gourmet though, she eats dirt cakes with her friends sometimes. Hold up, you’re Quincy aren’t you?”

          “Why yes, I am,” Quincy replied with raised brows.

          “Kari talks about you so often it’s getting annoying. If she’s been giving you any trouble let me know. She can be quite sadistic for her age.”

          “She’s been no trouble at all,” Quincy chuckled. Edmund choked on a bit of his spit at Quincy’s response as if to say “liar.”

          Kaleb shot a glare at his sister who was still chattering with Raven about Onion. “That... doesn’t sound like her. I’ll take your word for it. We’ve got to get going. Hope you enjoy your movie. C’mon Kari, let’s go.”

          Kaleb dragged his sister to the box office and got two tickets to “Onion: The ninja who cries.” Kari fawned over her ticket without so much as a blink, holding it close to her nose with both hands. She grinned stupidly and hummed.

          Kaleb neared the snack bar, trying with all his might to resist the temptation to buy some popcorn and candy. It was expensive and unnecessary, and it would have cut into his budget. He would have accomplished this feat if not for the familiar face perching her arms atop the glass display of candy.

          The woman who lured him in was incredibly beautiful. She had caramel skin, rust-red eyes, and short ivory hair cut in a bob. Her red and white uniform fit very tightly around her chest. Across her heart, four letters were embroidered with white thread; A-B-M-T. She appeared to ooze absolute repulsion at Kaleb’s approach.

          “Well now, when does your shift end? Perhaps we can grab a drink afterward,” Kaleb mock flirted.

          “Sir, order some candy or get out of my theater,” she bluntly responded. “I don’t work here just to get hit on all day by creeps.”

          Kaleb’s cheeks went as red as his hair and he instantly dropped his composure, “I’m so sorry, I thought you were the oldest of the sisters. You do all look alike.”

          She twitched her finger to draw him in closer and seized his collar with a tight fist. Talking through her teeth she said, “nice to see you again, Bloodsnot.”

          When Kaleb returned from the darkness of his blink, he saw that the woman’s scowl had morphed into a heart-filled smile. She hugged him tightly over the counter and whispered in his ear, “why didn’t you tell me you were back in Almond Bay?”

          “I was right! Trying to trick me, Onya? Damn Tiwari sisters could be mistaken for clones, but you can’t fool me,” Kaleb spouted, half confidently and half still shaking at the idea of being struck and kicked out of the movie theater.

          “Yeah yeah, you haven’t lost your touch. Our father aside, you’re one of the few that can tell us all apart. How have you been? What’s new?”

          “Nothing as of late, just been putting up with this little gremlin.” He placed a palm on Kari’s head, his fingers sank into crimson threads. Kari’s attention was still locked on the ticket which she now was balancing on the bridge of her nose.

          Onya leaned over the counter to get a better view of Kaleb’s sister. “Hi, Kari. Do you remember me? I went to school with your brother.”

          Kari shot to the voice above and shook her head. The ticket fluttered off of her nose, but she caught it in midair before it landed.

          “This is Diya’s older sister, Kari. We became friends in kindergarten class just like you and Diya. We graduated together.”

          “That’s cool,” Kari lulled with disinterest, her sights now set on the colorful variety of candy behind the glass. She pressed her freckled mug against it and imprinted it with the oils from her forehead.

          “She was too young to have any memory of me, still just a baby last I saw her. It hurts,” Onya said overdramatically with a hand over her heart, “but I won’t take it personally. She’s gotten so big. Got the same eyes and hair like her brother.”

          “Yeah, wasn’t much time after she was born that we graduated. I guess... I guess I kind of lost contact with you after that, huh?” Kaleb hung his head.

          “It was... it was a two-way street. I did kinda sorta kick the crap out of your girlfriend.”

          Kaleb erupted into laughter. “Those were good times.”

          “Good times?” Onya asked dumbfoundedly. Kaleb’s continued laughter seem to indicate “no hard feelings” and she joined in with her own high-pitch giggle. “Yeah, they were good times. We were young and dumb.” She rubbed her index finger on the glass reminiscently. “How is Molly anyways?”

          “We broke up years ago. In hindsight, you were right about her. You and Jakob. She never really did support me in my decisions. And when the big one came...” he glanced toward the top of Kari’s blazing, red hair, “the mature, adult one, she was against that too. After a fit of screaming, name-calling, and a few of my personal belongings were thrown against the wall, that was the end of it.”

          “I’m sorry, Kaleb,” Onya said sincerely, “Jakob and I weren’t any better...”

          “Well, enough about that,” Kaleb said suddenly. He wanted to change the conversation before any tears were unnecessarily shed. “How about you? You and Jakob still together?”

          Onya’s rust-red eyes blazed like the sun. She dug into her left pocket, then into her right, and pulled out a diamond ring. The sparkles of the diamond made Kaleb’s lips curl upwards.

          “You got married!? Congratulations! That’s so great!”

          “I know! I am now Mrs. Onya Gildan. Jakob proposed two summers ago during a stay at Coyote Bluffs. Shortly after, I started working here and rose the ranks to manager. I keep it in my pocket so butter doesn’t get on it. I can give you our number if you want and you can talk to Jakob; make amends.”

          “Yeah, that sounds great. I do miss him... Don’t tell him I said that. He might take it weird.”

          Onya tore a bit off a nearby popcorn container and slid a pen off her ear. “Sure sure. Men...” she trailed off.

          “I do have one last question,” Kaleb popped as he finished his payment of a large popcorn, three boxes of candy, and a giga-sized soda. “Don’t you find it weird,” he lowered his voice to a whisper, “to see your mother all the time?” He aligned his index finger to one of the posters hung on the red walls.

          “Not really, I get to see her more often even if she isn’t here. Next time she’s in town I’ll let you know. She’d be ecstatic to see your goofy face again. Even after our fight, you were always the son she never had. Now go go, watch your movie. More customers are coming. Go left then take the first right. The ticket girl is new so be kind, Bloodsnot.”

          “I’m always kind,” Kaleb called over his shoulder with Kari trotting closely behind.

          Kaleb didn’t need Onya to tell him that the ticket taker was a new hire. He could tell the very moment he saw her. For one, her red and white work attire was a mess and out of place. Another tell was the way she tore the tickets she was given was inconsistent, sometimes horizontally, sometimes vertically. The biggest giveaway though, was that Kaleb knew the girl personally outside the cinema.

          Talitha Barnes: Kari’s babysitter. Talitha had shining, long, root beer colored hair tied into pigtails. Her lemon drop eyes were filled with endless wonder. On her nose rested large, square glasses that her yellow eyes would constantly bounce around behind.

          “Talitha, you work here now? Wait, don’t tell me you’re quitting as a babysitter. You’re so good with Kari too. Is the pay not enough? I can increase it. Please, just give me a chance.”

          “K-Kaleb. No,” Talitha turned pink very quickly at the sight of Kaleb about to fall to his knees to beg. “I haven’t quit. I just wanted to pick up some extra cash for... for my hobby.”

          The pit in Kaleb’s stomach dissolved and he sighed in relief. “What hobby is that?”

          “Well, uh, I like to collect obscure comic books,” she nodded repeatedly. “It can get kind of expensive importing some of the overseas ones, so I applied to work part-time here and got the job. I only work the weekends and every other Friday.”

          “Obscure comic books eh? I used to read a ton of comic books in middle school, but only the popular ones.”

          “I read the popular ones too. I just like finding ones that never sold well, you never know what you’re going to get. Sometimes you get a real stinker, and that’s great fun. Other times you find a gem. ‘Onion: The ninja who cries,’ for example, sold poorly in Japan. I read it before it blew up here in America.”

          “Another Onion fan. There’s more than I ever would have imagined,” Kaleb said, wide-eyed in surprise.

          “Now that I work here I can watch the movie over and over again. I never get tired of it. Like that one part when�"”

          Talitha froze at the piercing, murderous glare that Kari gave her from behind Kaleb’s backside. Spoilers among Onion fans were a death sentence.

          “Hey, Kaleb,” Kari sneered, “Talitha has a dirty little secret. She likes�"”

          “�"Well you should get to your movie,” Talitha said very quickly. She snatched their tickets and tore them to bits in a pink-faced fluster.

          Kaleb slid past her horribly confused while Kari laughed to herself under her breath.