Page 16 of So I Married an Alien
“Pecked you in theeye?”I don’t know what thisbirdis, but I don’t like it already.“How would it accomplish that?”
“Birds fly!”Amara points up at the sky.“They’re winged animals.Like planes.”
I stare at her.“Birds are like…” My translator supplies me with a massive flying vehicle, large enough to swallow ten humans.“Planes?”
Horrifying.And they’re just flying around?
Amara waves her hands wildly.“No, no, I just meant that birds fly the same way planes do.Birds are small.”She pauses thoughtfully.“Usually.Though I do hear condors are big.”
I’m frozen, imagining the plane-sized bird pecking my eyes out.Maybe I made a mistake by coming to Earth.How has such a soft woman survived here for so long?I’m aghast the rest of the way to the tailor’s, second-guessing our decision to visit the park later.
Inside the building it’s rather dark, with moody lighting above racks of clothes.A woman with deep wrinkles and gray hair slides out from behind a counter to greet us.
“Ah, the alien,” she says, taking in the sight of me.She strums her chin.“Four arms.How interesting.”She beckons us to follow and heads into the back of the store.Amara takes my hand and leads me after her.There are two partitions with curtains, and the woman whips out a long string and sits on a stool uncomfortably close to me.She inspects my arms closely, and I shoot Amara a confused look.
“She’s measuring you.For your new clothes.”
I stand still as the tailor holds up her tape and measures the space between my upper armpit and my lower shoulder before making some notes.Then she measures around my chest, my neck, and waist, noting all of it.
“The bad news,” the woman says, rising, “is that I’ll have to make all his shirts by hand.I thought I could simply add additional sleeves, but given his anatomy, he’ll need new garments made to fit him.”
I can tell this is not what Amara wanted to hear.Her face visibly wilts, and I curse that I couldn’t have at least come with some Earth-appropriate clothing.She probably didn’t expect she’d have to pay such a high bill to have me around.
“All right,” she finally says.“You said you could give me a bulk discount?”
“How many garments do you need?”
She glances at me.“I can do the laundry every week, so… what about seven shirts?And a jacket for the cold weather.”
The tailor whips a little pad of paper out of her pocket, scribbles something on it, rips it off and hands it to Amara.Her dark complexion pales.
“Really?”She grinds her teeth together.“All right.”
Whatever number is written on that paper must be upsetting.I want to argue that I would be fine with far fewer items of clothing, but before I can even open my mouth, Amara gives me a stern look.
“You need clothes.Don’t even start, antennae boy.”
I press my lips together to keep the words from coming out, because I don’t want to upset her even further.
Amara squints as she runs a rectangular card through a machine at the front counter, and I believe it is some sort of credit system.Credit is given to Karthinians higher up the food chain, those who live above the Hole and can be trusted to pay back the money they spend.Amara must be well-off in Earth society to have access to credit.
“Thank you,” Amara says to the tailor, her expression pinched.
“No problem.I’ll have the clothes ready for you next week.”The old woman stops me before we can depart.“I forgot to ask.Do you have color preferences?”
I stare blankly.Colors?My uniform has always been this same off-white, and I’ve never worn anything else.
“I think a dark blue would look good,” the tailor says thoughtfully.“Maybe some grays.”
“I…” I glance at Amara, who is wearing a purple shirt with blue jeans.I like how it looks on her, setting off her brown skin and dark hair.“I like purple,” I announce after a moment.
The tailor cocks her head, then, after some contemplation, takes more notes before waving us off.Amara takes my arm in her hand, and we depart the shop together.
She has already done so much for me.I need to learn how to cook Earth meals properly to pay her back.
As we head home, we pass the dog and its owner coming down the street, and I move between it and Amara in case it decides to bite.
Perhaps there is something I can do for her—keep her safe in this strange and dangerous world.
