The Weight of the World (10 page)

“
Yes,
Mom.”

Celene
was imagining Penny through the door. In her mind she wasn’t
fifteen. She was five and playing dress-up in her mother’s
clothing. She supposed this wasn’t the end of the world. Sure,
things would never be the same now that Penny was dating, but she’d
expected this since September. At least it was Teddy.

What
was she thinking? Teddy could make liquor with a touch! That made for
an incredibly dangerous influence. Celene knew she was really
thinking,
at
least it wasn’t Peter.

Teddy
left his car parked on the side of the road and approached the door,
dressed in a white dress shirt and a purple, well-tailored vest. He
smoothed his hair and popped in a breath mint strip before knocking
on the door.

Teddy
chose the drive-in theater. He had a nice car, free of screaming
children and sticky floors, and he could bring his own snacks. The
movie he wanted to see was in its last weeks and had sparse show
times at a traditional theater anyway.

They
pulled through the gate in his little purple Jaguar. Teddy had a bag
of snacks stashed under Penny’s feet. He parked at a prime spot and
tuned in to the station to pick up the sound. They were early, and so
the station played 90’s soft rock while they waited.

“
So,
what have you been up to this summer?” Teddy asked. He didn’t
want to sit in uncomfortable silence.

“
Babysitting,
mostly. I watch Dr. Livingstone’s kids.”

“
Cool.”

“
How
about you?” she asked.

“
Sleep,
drink, party. Sleep, drink... it’s a vicious cycle.”

“
That’s
it?”

“
What
do you mean, that’s it?” Teddy frowned. “Most people wish that
could be their summer.”

“
Hung
over and unproductive? A party every day?”

Now
that she pointed it out, Teddy was rather bored. Parties just weren’t
special anymore. Going to parties had once made him feel like a king,
but when he slept until after lunch and didn’t brush his teeth
until dinner time, he felt kind of like a loser.

“
So,”
he said, trying to divert her attention from his sad way of life,
“What do you do, you know, besides being Persephone?”

“
I
read. I listen to music. I grow plants in my room.”

“
What
do you read, Twilight?”

She
laughed, “God, no! If you want vampires, read Anne Rice.”

“
I’m
not really turned on by the undead.”

“
Well,
yeah. That’s the thing. It’s deeper than sexy super-powered
immortal romance. It’s mortality, survival, how you cope with
powers and how you marry that with immortality. Do you live as a God
and prey on mortals or try to hold on to humanity? How much of our
personality and behavior is dictated by a fear of death or delusion
or immortality?”

Teddy
felt his throat close up. The only time he’d ever examined the
theme of a book was in Lit class and he never had been able to relate
to Mark Twain or Earnest Hemingway. This, though--everything Penny
had just said-- was exactly what he imagined both of them were going
through.

“
Wow,”
he said after a long pause. The tension in his throat relaxed enough
so that he could speak again, “You really think about this stuff.”

“
I
do.”

Teddy
fiddled with the volume buttons on his radio. They had moved from
soft rock to local ads. It was almost time for previews.

“
So
what do you do besides Drama Club and hosting parties when your
parents are out of town?”

“
Mainly
that. Theater and booze. And music. I like to go to music stores. I
like European rap and a few select people here. The ones doing
something new, mostly, like Nicki Minaj.”

“
What
did you do as a kid? Before you got your hands on alcohol?”

“
Grape
juice?”

She
laughed.

“
Seriously?
Uh, I was quite a little explorer. My adoptive mom resents me so I’ve
dedicated my life to finding ways to be out of the house or locked in
my room.”

“
Resents
you? Then why did she adopt you?”

“
Because
my Dad rules the house. Because saying she was a kind-hearted woman
who adopted her housekeeper’s baby looked better than letting
everyone know that her husband knocked-up said housekeeper.”

“
Oh.”
Awkward. Penny looked at her hands. “So you explored.”

“
Yeah.
Summers when my brother and sister were still around, before they got
married, we went to a summer-house in California. My dad owned a
vineyard there for a few years. I used to explore there. When I
turned twelve they started letting me have a half-a-glass of wine
with dinner, but by the time I got to high school they sold the
place.”

“
Hence
the love of wine,” she suggested.

“
Sorta.
I mean, I am Dionysus. That’s likely a bigger factor.”

“
Just
maybe.”

The
previews started. Teddy turned up the volume.

“
Penny?”

“
Yeah?”
She looked away from the action movie trailer to Teddy.

“
Barring
any major foot-in-mouth scenarios, is it alright if I kiss you when I
take you home?

Penny
blushed. Well, that answered the looming question of the night.
“Okay.”

Teddy
folded his arms and leaned back in his seat. “Oh, crap,” he shot
back up, “
I
promised you’d call each step of the way.
Call
your mom so she doesn’t kill me.”

Penny
pulled out her pink and black cell phone and dialed her mother, “That
would be a twist. Boy survives Titans, killed by school teacher.”

“
She
drives a station wagon. That would be humiliating.”

“
Man
is a wingless animal with two feet and flat nails.”

-Plato

vii.

When
Artemis saw the priestess with the child

and
learned that the pregnancy had been concealed,

she
raised up her palms and transformed Callisto

into
a great bear.

The
orphan matured without his mother's love

and
became a revered and mighty hunter,

until
the day that he spotted a great bear

and
fixed his long bow.

Zeus,
foreseeing this impending matricide,

knew
that he could not undo his daughter's will.

So
the boy, too, was transformed into a bear

and
called to the stars.

“
Let
who does not wish to be idle fall in love.”

-Ovid

VII.

Diana
ran past Astin, dressed in a bath robe, a towel turban wrapped around
her hair, and stopped outside the laundry room. She fingered through
the clothes hanging on the rack above the washer and dryer, looking
for something.

Astin
casually sidled up to her and leaned on the door frame. “Mom would
probably appreciate it if you just took your clothes and hung them
up,” he said.

Diana
shook her head, “Not right now, Astin, I have fifteen minutes.”

“
Till
what?”

“
Ryan's
coming to pick me up.”

Astin
stood up straight.

“
Bear?”

“
Yeah.
Ryan Bear.”

“
Is
this a date?”

Diana's
head snapped around. She narrowed her eyes at him. She didn't like
her brother's protective tone. “Yeah, it's a date. S'there a
problem?”

“
That
guy, really?”

“
What's
wrong with him, Astin?”

“
He's...”

“
Tall?
Good-looking? Nice? Oh dear God, how much worse could he get?”

“
Stop
being smart.” Astin turned to walk back to his room.

“
Stop
being grumpy.” Diana pushed past him in the hall and slammed her
door shut. She still had to do her hair before her date arrived.

The
drive into Miami took about twenty-five minutes. Diana played a
recent Poe album through the car radio from her MP3 player. Ryan
talked about an article he read about epic prehistoric beasts that
had evolved into some of the least feared modern creatures. As they
slowed through a toll booth, the topic had changed to the diversity
of dog genetics and curiosity about how dogs saw breeds vastly
different from their own, and by the time they arrived at Jungle
Island, Diana was explaining that dogs care more about smell and
energy than what other dogs looked like.

They
spent the afternoon walking around Flamingo Lake and socializing with
the animals in the Petting Barn. Ryan paid for concessions.

“
You
really like animals,” he said, watching a lamb eat a handful of
straw. Diana was busy trying to coax a rabbit into taking food from
her outstretched palm. She was very quiet and still, but she twitched
her nose at the creature as she waited. Slowly, cautiously, it hopped
closer.

“
What're
you doing with your nose?” Ryan asked, staring at her with complete
focus.

“Oh,”
she shrugged, “Just twitching my nose like a bunny. It's fun. You
should try it.”

“
So
you were a rabbit in another life?”

Diana
laughed. If only he knew.

After
the park closed at six pm, they stopped for dinner at a Chinese
restaurant near home.

“
Have
you seen that blog,” Ryan asked over a plate of Mongolian Beef.

Diana
nodded. “Discordia. Chaos. They're just trying to stir things up.”

“
I
think it's someone with delusions of grandeur,” he said.

“
Oh
yeah?”

“
Like
they think they're Perez Hilton or something. As if the lives of high
school students are gossip worthy of Hollywood.”

“
It's
pretty stupid.”

“
It's
pretty evil.”

Diana
put her fork down. “Do you know someone who has been feautured?”

Ryan
shook his head. “No. Not yet. I mean,” he knocked on the table,
“thankfully. Do you?”

“
Devon
Valentine.”

“
You're
friends?”

Diana
hesitated, “Kind of? Not really. But we--”

“
Oh,
right. You guys had that whole thing in February.”

“
Yeah,”
Diana picked her fork up again. “That thing.” Diana had been
stabbed during “that thing.” It wasn't a moment she liked to
relive very often.