A MAN WITH NO HOME
Tell me, sweet stranger, do you know the story of Normant Lumensky, the man from a mystical land universes away from Earth? Making an ark out of his chains, he turns from a prisoner of war into a fugitive.
A WOMAN AGAINST THE WOR...
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MIDNIGHT PHONE CALLS were a poisonous drink. They smelled of accidents and death, mysteries remaining unsolved forever and emergencies. That's why when Austin's name appeared on my phone, I had no choice but to drop everything and answer it. When he told me that he had been sitting next to a half-drunk Abel on a bench at West Rouge beach, I was in no quandary. I just got up and went to find them.
I made it there in less than twenty minutes. Getting out of the car, salt air sneaked into my nostrils. Even though I had never come here before, it was like I had memorized each tree and footpath from all the times Austin had mentioned coming here either alone or with some lover of his. Yet as I scanned the place, I found nothing romantic or calming here. The foreboding sensation inside me cocooned this beach too. It was part of the strong wind that swept across the coastline. Part of the two lamps that had run out of light and the waves that were manic for a July night.
In the dark, I could not see clearly, and for a few moments I stood still, scanning my surroundings, searching for the boys.
"Here." First, I heard Austin's voice. Then, I saw the hand he had raised from a bench a few feet away from where I had parked.
I nodded and walked to him, not knowing what to expect.
"What happened?" I asked, easing onto the bench next to him.
Austin for all his talent and expertise at keeping his emotions at bay looked rather perturbed now.
"I don't know, Jasmine," he replied, but there was this hunch gliding through me, telling me that I knew what had happened. "I was just sitting here, like I always do, and Abel almost killed me."
"On purpose?"
He shook his head. "No, not like that. I'm sure he didn't know what he was doing. He was driving so fast that I'm actually impressed he didn't get himself into some car accident. He barely stopped on time. Then he started saying that he hated his life, that he just wanted peace and stuff like that. That's why I called you. He seemed to mean it. All of it."
I did not know why but my mind had latched on to this idea that Abel's turmoil had something to do with his arcane streak. Maybe I was concocting inane tales of magic and things nonexistent, maybe I was losing my mind, but nothing could stop this voice inside my head telling me that this was what had happened.
"Where is he?" I asked.
"He's dozed off in the back of his car."
I looked over my shoulder at the three cars that were parked a few feet away from where we were—Abel's, Austin's and another one. In the dark, I could spot only a black figure leaning against the window of Abel's one. My heart floundered.
"Okay," I said, ready to accompany the lonely shadow. "You can go."
"And leave you here? Alone? With him? I don't know why, Jasmine, but I can't bring myself to trust him. Not yet."
