a.k.a. Katana

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

When she got back to her cot she immediately realized that her one possession, a borrowed blanket, was gone. Some of the women had bags that they had been able to bring with them. Katana's royal blue Jansport backpack was shoved in the back of one of the vans with a dozen other pieces of luggage. But, Katana hadn't thought to ask, and it wouldn't have done her much good anyway. There wasn't much in it that would do her any good, though. There wasn't a blanket.

It was dark, and many of the women were sleeping. Katana didn't really want to wake anyone up and it wasn't likely that the culprit would fess up anyway. She decided to lay on the bed and try to get some sleep. She would look for it in the morning.

Sleep always came easily for Katana and it did tonight. She was used to sleeping with large groups of people. Their noises didn't bother her and she knew she would wake up before anyone got close enough to bother her. It was as if she had a sixth sense, honed by years of sleeping in the same beds and rooms with her various siblings. It was rare that she slept in a room entirely to herself.

In the morning the thieves were easy to spot. They eyed her suspiciously from across the room and snickered when she looked their way. She approached them non-chalantly. It was the same group of women from last night. Eafa was the name of the one she couldn't remember yesterday, but she heard one of them say it as she approached.

"I know you have the blanket. It's not mine, so really you took it from Kokin. Can you just give it back?" They looked at each other and laughed. "What are you talking about Katana?" Eafa asked grinning with feigned innocence. "You know what I'm talking about. Don't be a bitch, just give it to me."

Eafa looked offended and the other women gasped. "Eafa, can you believe her mouth?" One of them breathed dramatically. "Katana, if you want something from us, you're going to have to work on those manners." Eafa chided. "Oh shut up." Katana muttered and walked away.

It was no use. If they weren't going to give it to her, she couldn't make them. She would just have to tell Kokin that they had it and he could try. She hated to tattle though. Maybe he wouldn't miss it. Even though it hadn't been Kokin's to begin with, Katana didn't know that and she felt bad for losing it.

She told herself all of the things she should have done. Should have taken better care of it, shouldn't have left it on the bed, should have taken it with her to the fire, should have known they would take it after having mentioned it...

As it was, Kokin wouldn't have mentioned it, wouldn't have thought about it, had Eafa and her friends been satisfied with themselves and left it alone. But they still had the blanket, and not much else to do and a long boring clam ride ahead of them.

At breakfast, Katana sat next to J'Adok and Pete and ate in silence. Normally, she would have sat alone, but she didn't want to miss the truck and have to ride in a clam and Kokin was busy doctoring everyone, just as he had been last night. He had paid for his ride and then some. When he finally did sit down to eat, he was exhausted and cranky.

He gave Katana a tired smile and greeted his brother and Pete. Eafa sashayed over to where Katana was sitting and in her sweetest voice said, "Katana, you look like you're freezing! Do you want us to help you look for the blanket?"

Katana narrowed her eyes at her and suppressed the urge to jump up and punch her pouty little face in. "Katana! How do you lose a blanket?!" Kokin demanded suddenly. He had slept in the truck last night with the same tiny blanket he'd had the night before. "The poor dear was absolutely frigid last night!" Eafa informed the group. "I would have given her mine, but I was already asleep when she came in." She went on.