Page 24 of Eat My Moon Dust
“I’m Tinsley. Welcome to Renata!”
“What’s that shilpakaari girl doing here?” Reha asked, looking up at her dad. Hunar and I both glanced out at the field, where Pom Pom’s unmistakable pink coloring stood out amongst the terracotta rainbow of human children. She caught the frisbee and threw it straight to Rambir, Naitee’s little brother. They were joined at the hip and their teamwork showed.
Hunar cleared his throat. “Pom Pom is Imani and Vindilus’s daughter,” he explained. “You should make friends with her.”
“Why are her tendrils so short?”
“She was sick for a long time,” Hunar struggled, taking in the girl’s colorful bandana, above which short tendrils brushed the air like a sea anemone.
Pom Pom’s illness was like leprosy, eating away at the flesh and nerves. Most shilpakaari with labyrinthula were ostracized out of fear, but in Renata, she was accepted and loved.
“Pom Pom grew up on an ISU vessel,” I said with a wink at the boys. “She’s pretty cool and has tons of stories. She’s even done some missions.”
“Woah!” Tahavir’s tendrils twisted with excitement. His exclamation was loud enough to draw all the kids’ attention. Rambir and Pom Pom, currently dominating the field, looked over and stopped the game. Rambir smiled, but Pom Pom followed him hesitantly as he jogged our way.
“Hey!” Rambir came to a stop,his thick black hair bouncing across his warm brown forehead as he smiled. Reha looked between him and Pom Pom as he tucked the frisbee under his arm. “You must be new. I’m Rambir. This is Pom Pom.”
“Hi,” Pom Pom said, staying a shoulder behind him, her eyes darting to Reha every so often. Hunar’s daughter was stiff, the gears in her mind turning rapidly.
“Introduce yourselves,” Hunar coaxed, putting a warning hand on Reha.
“I’m Taha,” his extroverted son said immediately, spiraling his red tendrils over his shoulders in what I guessed was a normal shilpakaari greeting. “Did you really grow up on a vessel?”
Pom Pom’s nerves broke, one corner of her mouth tugging up with a shrug. “Yeah… Are you guys from Samridve?”
“Yeah,” Ladh answered, waving like a human with a proud smile. “I’m Ladh, and that’s my sister, Reha. Where are you from?”
“Huajile.”
At the mention of the volcanic moon, Hunar’s sons gasped.
“No way, that’s so cool!”
“Do you guys want to play frisbee? It’s really easy. We’re just on teams trying to get the frisbee in those nets on either side. You have to throw it though, no running with it in your hands.” Rambir held out the lime green disc to Ladh who took it with both lower hands and grinned.
“Looks fun.”
I glanced at Hunar as the five kids mingled, talking about the rules and getting to know each other. He looked concerned, but his attention drifted my way.
“Is your hand okay?” I asked.
He grunted with confusion, then looked at the dried blood between his knuckles and flexed his fist. “Yeah, happens all the time.” He cleared his throat. “About earlier,” he started, boots shuffling at the corner of my blanket.
I held up my hand and shook my head. “Water under the bridge. But I still want your printing bay. Pretty please?”
“Tinsley–”
“Just look at what I want to do. I bet it’s not even that big!” I begged.
“I said stop!”Rambir yelled, snapping in my ears like firecrackers. Hunar and I both stopped mid-sentence, a cold rush of adrenaline rolling over me.
Pom Pom gripped Reha’s shoulder, and they were hissing in a way that grated on my ears. Though Reha looked like she was a little younger than Pom Pom, she had a couple inches on her. Her much longer tendrils were rising around her head, exposing her small ears as they shivered in warning.
I jumped between them, facing Reha with my hands up. “Woah, there’s no need to–”
A blur streaked across my vision, stunning me as white hot pain lanced my temple and cheek. I stumbled back and fell on my butt, blinking defensively as my palms bit into the gravel.
“Enough!” Omi commanded, getting to her feet. Her long box braids swung over her shoulders and a scowl worthy of a queen froze every child in place. Several of the adults craned their necks from the deck, and I got to my feet with a tenuous smile.
