"Hear me out." Larry adjusted his glasses. "I still don't think I want to be a hunter, but I do think that General McBrennan made some extremely valid points."
"Why are we even still discussing this? That was two days ago. We should be partying!" I shimmied my shoulders for emphasis.
"The semester won't be over until our evaluations are filed," Lyric reminded me.
"Damn, I forgot..."
"How?" She gestured towards the headmistress's house, drawing closer with each step. "You at least remember we're going on ride-alongs today, right?"
"Shut up, burnt girl."
Di, Larry, and Lyric laughed and, after a moment, I laughed too.
"Back to my point. The gaps in human history coincided with time periods where steady rifts are recorded to have opened between The Linchpin and either Heaven or Hell."
"With our current knowledge and what evidence exists from these time periods, that correlation is circumstantial at best." Di wrote notes in her ever-present notebook.
"But you're writing it down because you know I could be on to something!"
"You might have found something worth researching," she admitted with a smirk.
The two prattled on about the kind of stuff nerds discussed and I took the opportunity to pull Lyric close.
"Hey, are you ready to tell me where those extra bruises came from or why you have laps for the next four months?"
"Not really..."
I studied her, annoyed that she wouldn't share. I'd been trying to respect her privacy, but friends had no need for secrets. Holding my tongue, I put my arm across her shoulder.
"Fine. Keep your secret," I lowered my voice, "for now. Are you ready for today? Hopefully they keep the four of us together this time."
"That would be cool."
Bruises under her eye, bruises over her ribs. No matter what she said, I knew Lyric didn't get them in Perdy's self defense class. Shit, I'd examined her while she slept and found weird marks on her wrists. I hate to admit it, but I was starting to wonder if Purell had been right all along and the teachers were up to some weird sex stuff. I enjoyed sex stuff, but consensual sex stuff with far less bruising.
The hairs on the back of my neck rose up as those thoughts went through my mind. A growl built in my chest as I turned. The others stopped when I did. Duncan stalked toward us in his human skin; wearing an open button up, slacks, and no shoes. He was rugged and handsome, in a dirty dog kinda way. We growled at one another then he winked at me and approached Di.
"Hey, Blue Gal. I wanted to catch you before you left."
"Well you found me," Di said with a coy flip of her hair. "What's on your mind?"
"I was thinking about what we talked about last night..."
Di's cheeks brightened. "I was thinking about it too—"
The brute dipped her and kissed Di long and rough. Lyric whistled and Larry covered his eyes. Pulling Di up, Duncan grinned and ran off, howling like a stupid mutt. Di watched him leave, eyes wide and cheeks rosy.
"What was that?" Lyric asked.
Pressing her fingers to her lips, Di's eyes sparkled. Her hair slowly shifted from pink to red and back to blue.
"Last night, I told Duncan I wondered what it was like to kiss someone."
"Wait, was that your first kiss?" Lyric whistled again. "Wow..."
The dirty dog stole her first kiss... what an animal. I watched him go until he was out of sight.
"Why didn't you ask me," I grumbled. "I would have taught you."
"You could still teach her," Larry said, continuing towards the headmistress's house.
"It's not the same. That dog already stole the best kiss. Now she's ruined."
Lyric laughed. "Are you really jealous?"
"Shut up."
By the time we reached Nena's, the other cohorts scheduled to go on the ride-alongs were already there. I'd expected to see Bastard cohort like last time, but their group had been replaced with Rapier. They were standing at rigid attention, barely responding when I waved.
"Who rammed a stick up their asses?" I whispered to Lyric.
"Attention!" shouted an old warhorse of a man with broad shoulders and a long beard.
"Who's this guy?"
"I don't know, but he looks strict."
"I am Sergeant Paulino of the 25th Lancers. I will be responsible for your field examinations. I grade heavily on order and discipline. I will not brook any silliness or shenanigans. This should be your second ride-along. You will be there to observe and consult as instructed by your chaperones. Nothing less and nothing more. We do not need heroes on your assessments. We merely need to know what you've learned."
"I suspect this ride-along will be far less interesting than the last time," Di said, drawing a frowning face in her notebook.
Lyric and I looked back at the headmistress's house.
"I wish Zeta was running this one. She was fun."
"I wish Uncle Warren was better." Lyric frowned and raised a finger to my mouth. "If you say something nasty, I'm going to be sick."
I raised my hands and professed my innocence.
"Buckler! I will not be repeating myself. Order and discipline!"
I rolled my eyes, but quietly let Paulino finish his little speech. Glancing over at the kids from Rapier, I could see I wasn't the only one not looking forward to this marking period's evaluation. The sergeant called a name and a hunter stepped forward. Reading names from a piece of paper, he collected a trio of students and led them off. The next hunter did the same. So did the next and the one after that.
Paulino's evaluation seemed much more structured than Zeta's, and I promised myself to hate it.
They split us up the same as last time: Lyric and Di, Larry and me. Our chaperone was an overweight woman with an eyepatch and a Boston accent. She called our names then thrusted her thumb towards a beat up black sedan. Without giving us a second glance, she walked away to talk with the sergeant.
"You two stay safe out there," Lyric said, giving me a hug. "Take care of each other."
"You too, burnt girl. Don't let anything happen to Di or Duncan might leave fleas in our room."
Di tried to stifle a chuckle. "He doesn't have fleas," she said under her breath. She touched her lips and smiled, then yanked her fingers away when she noticed we were watching.
"Make sure you check thoroughly before you let that mangy mutt lay in your bed."
"He doesn't have fleas!"
"You can never be too sure."
"Make sure you watch each other's backs, Larry." Lyric hugged him tightly. "Scatterbrain is liable to get lost out there."
"Hey, I forgot one thing—"
"Buckler!" Paulino shouted. "This is not the time for socializing. Get moving."
Glaring at him, I kissed Di on the forehead. I barked and then ran off to the car.
It took three tries before the engine started, and by then the heavy woman was fuming. We drove off the property down the road towards the highway. As we took the on-ramp, she rolled down her window and lit a cigarette.
"They call me Smokey Susan. You little shits need to do what I say, when I say it. You do that and you'll get a perfect score on the eval. Do we understand each other?"
"Yes, ma'am," Larry answered.
"We getcha, Smokes," I said.
"It's Smokey."
We drove in silence for nearly twenty minutes until a thought occurred to me.
"Hey, Larry. I know you know what's going on with Lyric. Spill the beans."
His eyes bulged behind his glasses. His mouth opened and closed, but Larry didn't make a sound.
"Come on, out with it."
"Manon Devereux has been harassing us, bullying our friend... I..." His voice trailed off.
"Manon. The pretty girl with the purple eyes?"
He looked down at his feet. "I think she and her friends tried to gang up on Lyric."
I narrowed my eyes, imagining those losers jumping my burnt girl. Again a growl built in my chest. Smokey looked into the back seat.
"Hey, no funny business back there!"
I bared my teeth, putting on my best 'fuck you' grin. "No problem, Smokey."
"Don't fucking look at me like that," she grumbled.
"Ummm, ma'am, can you please watch the road?" Larry asked, nervously pointing to the traffic ahead.
She returned her focus to driving, but not without a few glances back at me through the rearview mirror. For the rest of the drive, I brooded. Why hadn't Lyric confided in me about Manon? Why wouldn't she trust me to have her back?
Weren't we friends?
Distracted by these thoughts, I didn't notice the trip down to the city. We were there before I knew it. One moment, Manhattan's skyscrapers were distant landmarks, the next, we were driving past the Apollo Theater on 125th Street.
Harlem was very different from what I remembered, and I wasn't talking about the abundance of white people in a historically black neighborhood. That had started while I was still a little street urchin. What I was sensing ran deeper than that. There was a negativity in the air. I watched a couple arguing in the middle of the crosswalk, and a child kick his mother. Two old women wrestled in front of a dry cleaners and a crowd did nothing to stop it. Whatever was in the air had a burnt acrid stink like smoke from a distant fire that crawled down my nose and got caught in the back of my throat.
Smokey swerved as a maniac ran the light and nearly hit us. He barreled through the intersection and crashed into a passing city bus. She cursed out the driver and drove for another block before double parking. Pulling out her phone, she dialed a number.
"Don't go anywhere." Smokey got out and took her phone call on the sidewalk. She lit a cigarette while she paced.
"Do you sense it too?" Larry asked. He cleaned the lenses of his glasses and looked around.
"I think so. What do you think it is?"
"I'm not sure, but it feels a lot like hellfire. I've been studying the different fonts of energy. The books say hellfire feels like anger and discord. That's what this is... I think."
We were sitting in the car for about fifteen minutes when a guy with a long beard rumbled onto the sidewalk on the back of a black motorcycle. He shouted something to Smokey who signaled for him to wait a moment. She came over to the car and knocked on Larry's window. He rolled it down and she leaned in, filling the car with fresh cigarette smoke.
"I'm going on an errand. Wait here, I shouldn't be more than an hour." She reached into her pocket and handed him a twenty. "You can go grab some snacks from that store over there while your classmate watches the car."
Smokey rapped on the roof and left, climbing onto the back of the bike and riding away. I climbed out and stretched, breathing in the city air. The garbage on the sidewalk had a foul stink I'd never noticed while living on the streets. The fresh air at The Institute had ruined my nose. Fanning the air, I went around and opened Larry's door.
"Come on, nerd. Let's get something to eat."
"Aren't you supposed to stay with the car?"
"Nah, I'm not staying here by myself. That's boring."
"Then I'll stay." Larry looked around, clearly not wanting to stay. "Just be quick, okay?"
"Lyric and Di would be pissed if something happened to you, so I'm not letting you out of my sight." I grabbed his collar and pulled him out of the car. "We're going shopping."
He shoved the car door closed as I pulled him towards the crosswalk. As we crossed the street, a mischievous idea came to me. I slipped my hand into his jacket and pocketed the twenty for myself. In my experience, shopping was always way more fun without any money.
The doorway beeped as we walked into the store. An old man behind the counter barely looked up from his phone, but a tall guy with dreadlocks looked up from a seat beside the door. I clocked the cameras and the mirror at the back of the store. They had pretty basic security, but there was a blind spot in the middle aisle. Of course that's where I led Larry.
"Wh... What kind of snacks do you like?" he asked.
"Chips, cookies, sardines..."
"Chocolate? Wait, cats can't have chocolate." He scratched his head. "Have you ever tried chocolate?"
"Of course! I eat chocolate all the time."
"What's your favorite: milk, dark, white?"
"All of them. I eat all of them at the same time. The saltiness and spiciness. My favorite thing to do is to eat a bunch at once."
He studied me for a long time then looked away and started laughing.
"What's so funny?"
"You've never had chocolate before, have you?"
My cheeks warmed and I angrily shoved a box of pop tarts into his hands. He looked at the box and started laughing even harder. The dread-head at the front leaned over and stared down the aisle at us. I smiled and waved, and my excitement almost got the better of me. Larry grew up in a home, I was sure he'd never had my kind of fun before. I couldn't wait to see the look on his face.
"Larry."
I smiled sweetly and he made a face like he barely trusted me.
"Larry, show me how much cash Old Smokey gave you."
"She said twenty..." his voice trailed off as he reached into an empty pocket. "I know I put it in here."
He rummaged desperately as I looked on with practiced innocence. He started to sweat profusely as he searched all of his pockets, one by one.
"Larry, what's wrong?"
"I can't find it," he whispered.
"What was that?"
"I can't find the money." He looked like he was going to cry.
"Shhh. It's alright. Do you think you dropped it in the street, because, if you did, it's gone. Somebody definitely picked it up already,"
"What do we do?" He started to put stuff back on the shelf.
"Wait," I hissed. "We don't have to put it all back." I slid a small pack of lemon cookies into his pocket. "Be cool."
"Be cool? What are you doing?"
I glanced over my shoulder. The dread-head was nowhere to be seen, and we were standing in the store's only blindspot. With a grin, I stuffed a pack of crackers into Larry's other pocket.
"We're gonna just walk out the front door. You first, then me."
"No, Toni. That's stealing." The last came out so low I had to read his lips.
"Don't be a scaredy cat. I'm the only feline here."
"I'm... we can't... I don't want to break the law."
"It's gonna be okay. Larry, look at me. I've done way worse than this." I kissed his nose, turning his pale cheeks bright red. "Do you trust me?"
"Never."
"Good!" I turned him towards the end of the aisle. "You go that way, I'll go this way."
Holding his jacket tightly closed, he started walking. Just before turning he looked back at me and I gestured for him to keep going. I fought to keep my face neutral, but the excitement was killing me. Larry was a square, so this would be his first heist. I was popping his cherry. Heart pounding, I listened to him make his slow way to the door. It hit me at the last moment that I'd forgotten to warn him to look natural.
I quietly giggled as the old man behind the counter spoke on the phone, completely oblivious.
"Come 'ere boi!" shouted the dread-head, in a thick Caribbean accent.
Larry cried out.
"Nah, mon. You not going nowhere! Where's ya friend?"
Reacting before I could think, I shrugged out of my clothes and pulled on my cat skin. I bound down the aisle as fast as I could. As I hit the corner, I found Larry and the dread-head struggling. He held Larry off the ground by the collar of his jacket, shifting him left and right as Larry flailed his arms and legs. He was so close to the door, so close to freedom.
"Hold still now, while we call de police!"
With a snarl, I jumped onto the man's flowing dreads, pulling down as I climbed up to his scalp. The man behind the counter screamed and ducked down, shouting that a about a wild dog in the store. The dread-head shrieked and dropped Larry. I pulled down harder and the man screamed for Jah to save him. While he shook his head back and forth, I held on tight, careful not to tear his flesh or cut his thick locks. I caught sight of Larry, staring wide-eyed from the floor.
"What are you waiting for? Fly, you fool! Fly!"
The two men started praying to their respective gods and Larry took off out the front door. I kicked off of the dread-head's back, knocking him into a potato chip display, before chasing after my accomplice. In his sheer panic, Larry was fast. We were nearly to the middle of the block before he rushed into a narrow alley between a laundromat and a discount store. I snatched a dress off the rack in front of the store and followed him in. He stopped against a filthy wall, shaking and gasping for air.
It suddenly wasn't funny anymore.
Ducking behind a huge dumpster, I donned my human skin and squeezed into the dress. I didn't want him to have another episode. My mischievous idea suddenly felt stupid and terrible.
I moved to the alleyway opening and peeked out at the sidewalk. No pursuit, no cops. It had the makings of a perfect job, but there was one glaring issue. Larry's arms were crossed over his chest and a look of terror was plastered across his face. I walked over to him and gently took his shoulders.
"Hey, Larry. Look at me." I gave him a little shake. "Look at me. There you are. Calm down. We made it. The coast is clear."
"I'm a criminal, a bad guy," he whispered.
"A great philosopher once said: Bad guys aren't always bad guys."
"We stole for no reason. We weren't hungry, or desperate..."
"But it would be okay, if we were hungry and desperate? Trust me, kid. I've been desperate." On cue my stomach grumbled. "And I'm actually hungry."
I leaned against the dirty wall in my new dress and tapped Larry on the arm.
"Pass me one of those lemon cookies, nerd."
He pulled out the pack and passed it to me. As I opened the pack, Larry raised his glasses and wiped his eyes. I wiped my hands on the dress and took two before offering him the rest.
"This was your first heist, we have to celebrate by eating these together."
"I don't think I can eat."
"You have to," I said around a mouthful of lemony goodness. "It's one of the unwritten rules of the streets."
"The unwritten rules?"
"Yup." I raised my pilfered cookies. "Cheers."
He smiled a shy smile that brightened his entire face. Cleaning his hand with a wet napkin from his pocket, Larry took two cookies of his own.
"Cheers."
Tapping sweets together, the two of us ate. We chewed quietly to the music of a couple arguing in an apartment above us. I loved Nena's place and my new friends, but I really missed the chaos of the city.
"Ummm, Toni."
"Yeah, nerd?"
"I got you this just as that guy grabbed me."
Like a stage magician, he produced a Snickers bar from up his sleeve. My heart skipped a beat. I'd always wanted to try a chocolate bar, but I'd been too scared. For Larry to get me one as a gift... I could count the number of gifts I'd received in my life on one hand. He put the bar in my hand and closed my fingers around it.
"I... I love these and I think you'll love them too."
I tried to speak and the words came out as a sort of sob. Turning away, I saw a familiar beat-up sedan jumped the curb. Old Smokey leaned out of the driver's window.
"Hurry up and get in here, you little shits!"
Larry and I looked at each other then ran and climbed into the car. My sweats and jacket were sitting on the backseat. She backed into the street and drove off.
"I'm docking points because you couldn't follow directions. I'm docking points for you making a scene—"
"Docking points? You left us—" I started.
"I'm docking extra points because you left evidence behind." She glared at me through a haze of cigarette smoke. "Points for teamwork and points for getting away. By my reckoning, you break even."
"Break even, what are you saying?"
Larry smacked his forehead. "This was the evaluation."
It took me a few minutes to understand what he meant.