Broken (21 page)

Michael laughed out loud. "She has the drinking
problem but you’re the one who stops drinking. That makes no sense."

"No, I guess it doesn't."

Michael stopped laughing and handed me the glass.
"
Here.
She’s gone, isn't she? No reason for you
to not drink."

"I guess one wouldn't hurt ..." I grabbed
the glass and took a sip. It felt good and calmed me down a little. I had no
idea what I was doing there or where this was going. I felt highly
uncomfortable being close to this man but I really wanted to be here for
Aiyana
. I enjoyed being close to her even given the
circumstances.

Michael padded me on my back. "There you go. Now
we can talk."

The
dinner was as
incredible as I anticipated. Sublime even.
Scallops and
mahi
mahi
that
Michael had caught. Portobello mushroom, sautéed spinach, roasted tomato,
rosemary, mushroom
Marsala
sauce and mashed potato.
Even though I hardly had any appetite during daytime any longer I ate and
enjoyed it immensely.
Aiyana
sat across the table
from and hardly spoke nor did she touch her food. I tried to pick up on her
thoughts but never received much. She avoided even looking at me. Every now and
then I caught her eye and tried to smile at her, but she just flushed and
turned her head pretending it didn't happen. All the while I sensed how
Michael's eyes were watching the both of us closely. It was extremely
uncomfortable.

No one spoke except Michael. He talked with wild and
sudden gestures and laughed out loud unexpectedly. He seemed aggressive at times,
angry, but then he would suddenly smile and laugh again. He poured wine into my
glass while telling stories from his fishing trips or the job he had right now
to fix the electrical system on a big yacht at the port. He made fun of the
rich and called them "pretentious smocks" while patting my shoulder.
I admired his way of constantly offending me and still pretending that we were
best friends. There was something very strange about his behavior that confused
me. He was kind and rude, charming and mischievous at the same time. A rare
combination. I hated and resented him as he spoke, every little motion he
presented, everything he said or did. But mostly I resented him for being with
Aiyana
and not treating her well. The more drunk he got the
more his eyes started to glow with sentiments as he described when they were
first married. He talked about her with huge gestures and affection in his
voice. How he had wooed her as the custom was in their tribe. That his mother
who had known
Aiyana's
father when they were very
young. That Michael had known about her ever since he was a child. His mother
told him he was going to marry her. It was decided when he was just a small
child.

"And she knew about me too, didn't you
Aiyana
?" he said, emptying another glass of wine.

Aiyana
nodded and smiled for the first time. "She has always known,” Michael
boasted. “She told me she used to dream about me. Isn't it right? We were
destined. Right, darling?"

"That's right."

"And I came to her house every day for three
weeks to try and sweep her off her feet," he continued. "That’s our
tribes’ custom. But
Aiyana
knew I was coming. The
first day I arrived at her doorstep she was sitting outside on the porch in her
rocking chair, you know the one that never stops moving, and she was smiling at
me. 'I was expecting you,' she said to me. 'But I thought you'd be here
earlier.' Can you imagine my surprise? 'Thought I'd be there earlier.' Women!
Never satisfied are they?"

I smiled and sipped at my wine. Michael poured more in
my glass when I put it back on the table. Then he emptied the bottle into his
own. "Get us some more, will you?" he asked
Aiyana
and gave her the empty bottle. She got up and went into the kitchen.

"Still hot, isn't she?" he asked as he
stared at her from behind.

I smiled again and avoided looking at her and
answering his question. I wasn't going to give him the pleasure of knowing how
much I adored her. He was waiting for me to make a slip, to accidentally say
something or catch me giving her a secret look. I had him figured out. That was
what this was all about. He was sizing us up, observing our behavior around
each other.

"So you can imagine my wooing wasn't as hard as I
had expected it to be, since
Aiyana
knew I was
coming," he continued. "She brought me into her living room and
declared to her entire family that she was getting married. After that we had a
huge meal and everybody was soon singing and dancing and playing music,"
he chuckled.

"But you still came to woo her for every day in
three weeks?"

"That's the custom. All descendants of the
Timucua
tribe must marry within the tribe and the courtship
lasts for three weeks. Don't ask me why. My mother told me to, so I did it. We
had a formal visit every day for two hours. Kind of a way to get to know each
other.
Aiyana
would talk about music, books and her
travels with her father as a child before he died while I told her about my
family and my work. We were never rich in my family, not like
Aiyana
. There wasn't much to tell. I’m an electrician. My
father builds houses. We work with our hands. Do what we are best at."

Aiyana
returned with another bottle and smiled at Michael as she put it on the table.
He smiled back still mischievous.
 
I
realized by then that I had gotten drunk. As dinner progressed
Aiyana
seemed to be more and more relieved and she started
opening up and joining the conversation with her singing voice and wondrous
childlike laughter. I studied the way Michael looked at her and realized that
he really loved her which only caused my jealousy and resentment to increase
towards him.
Luyu
came to say goodnight and I kissed
both her and her stuffed bunny on the cheek.

"I'll be right in,"
Aiyana
said to her.

 
After
dinner, Michael invited me to join him back in the living room. For more
drinks. He no longer waited for my response when he asked. He just handed the
drink to me when I sat on the couch. I had lost count of how many drinks I had
and suddenly I was gripped by a fear. Sunset was approaching and I had no idea
if the alcohol could affect the transformation. I had noticed that
Aiyana
had hardly touched any. I wondered if it was to stay
clearheaded so she wouldn't make a mistake or say something that might cause
problems for her later or if she wanted to stay sober because she knew the
transformation would soon take place. Either way I'd better follow suit, I
thought to myself. So now I put down my drink on the table with the intention
to stop drinking as well.

"Come one. Have one more," Michael said.

"I really can't. I should be going now. I have work
in the morning."

"Nonsense. It is only eight o'clock. Have some
more."

"I really can't."

"Come on, doctor. We were just beginning to have
some fun here.
Aiyana
! Come in here and join
us," he yelled.

"I think she went to put
Luyu
to bed," I said.

Shortly after
Aiyana
stepped
into the living room. Michael stared at her intensely. She smiled insecurely at
the both of us.

"Let's dance!" Michael said and got up from
his chair and grabbed
Aiyana
by the arm.

"Michael!"
Aiyana
said giggling.

He stopped. "That's right we need some
music." Then he turned on the radio. Whitney Houston sang
I Will Always Love You
followed by Janet Jackson in
That's the Way Love Goes.

Michael and
Aiyana
danced
while he held her close. I stared anxiously out the window at the sky that had
started to become orange. I looked at
Aiyana
and our
eyes met. I sensed a tickling sensation in my fingers and stared at her again.

Get out before it is too late! she whispered in my
mind.

"I really should be going," I said trying to
be heard in the loud music.

Michael who was leaning heavily on
Aiyana
lifted his head and looked at me. He stared into my face like he was judging me
and evaluating me. Slowly he walked towards me. Then he grabbed the upper part
of my arm. "Having muscle pain, are we? Feeling hot? Like your temperature
is rising?" Then he took my hand and turned it in the light. "Feeling
that tickling sensation?"

"Stop it,"
Aiyana
said. "Leave him alone. Let him go home now."

"I’ve noticed your eyes have been almost glowing
for the past few minutes. Care to explain that?" He turned and looked at
Aiyana
. "Well what do you know? So are
Aiyana's
!"

Michael burst into a loud laughter. "Well you'd
almost think that you two were the same!"

"Stop! Stop it!"
Aiyana
yelled.

But Michael didn't listen. He stared at me with eyes
shiny and hard while I sensed my body starting to transform. Soon the glossy
hairs became visible, then the claws and the ears.

"I knew it!" Michael said.

Aiyana
had started her transformation as well. As the fangs came out and touched my
lower lip Michael stepped back with a gasp.

Then I ran.

I ran out through the door while undressing myself,
throwing my clothing where I ran. The pants, the shoes, the tie. Everything had
to go. I ran out in the street as I slowly transformed. I soon realized
Aiyana
was running right behind me. She too was still half
jaguar half human.

"How did he know?" I yelled.

"I don't know. I have no idea. But Michael is not
stupid. He has seen the transformation before. His mother was a jaguar as well.
She and my father used to hunt together. It was unbearable for his father to
have to share his wife with another man every night, so he shot himself.
Michael suspected that you and I had known each other before so he assumed that
I was sleeping with you since you agreed to do the procedure on
Luyu
for free. That's why he invited you to this dinner.
When I told him I wasn't sleeping with you he said 'Then you won’t mind if I
invite the doctor here?' I said 'Go ahead'. I never thought he would actually
do it. I never thought he would actually have me call you at your office."

"But how did he ever found out about
Luyu
?"

"His sister."

"His sister? I thought you said she wouldn't
tell."

"She didn't. Not at first. But some of the
neighbors had seen me in your expensive car and told him. So he beat his sister
for not watching me. Then she told him everything. Thought he would be happy to
know that I hadn't been cheating on him, but was in fact taking care of our
daughter. She thought that it would make him leave us alone. But that just made
him even more furious. The hiding, the sneaking around, keeping secrets from
him. That's what made him angry. Then he decided I had probably been sleeping
with you. Why else would you do this for me? He wouldn't leave it alone and
kept bothering me with questions."

As she spoke those last words we were running on all
fours while the transformation was completed in both of us. There was nothing
we could do except run for the swamps and hope to not be seen. We jumped
buildings and rooftops and even trees to get out of town before we finally
reached I95 where we could run along the road in the high grass.

Chapter 25

The
hunt was amazing
, as always. The freedom, the running,
leaping into branches in high trees, chasing and playing with smaller animals
until the kill with one fierce bite. The hunt released my inner animal, the raw
instinct. It was all incredible. Supernatural. Indescribable. I have no idea
what had gotten into us this night but we were unstoppable. We hunted everything
in sight, every small or big animal. We feasted and ate like we hadn't just had
a big dinner, but as if we weren't expecting to get anything to eat in a long
time. We sucked the blood from our prey, drank it and ripped pieces of raw meat
from their bodies, almost drunk from the intoxicating taste and smells. We ate
so much it slowed us down and made us drowsy.