Page 2 of Fog of War
Romantic?
"Anyway, wanna come with?"
We turned off the office lights and stepped out into the hallway together like we did most days after work. The black tinsel bats hanging from the ceiling glinted in the warm glow of sunset as we locked the door and headed for the stairwell at the back of the building.
"Is it more like a rave or more like a football game?"
Leopha punched open the bar of the exterior door and we spilled out into the autumn twilight where the air smelled like leaves and petrichor. The fresh scent washed away the sterile air conditioning and I breathed it in, happy to be outside and moving my legs.
Leopha purred in thought, her mouth parts vibrating. "Probably a football game. Lots of vendors and food stalls, seating to watch the competition." She chuckled and nudged my shoulder as we cut across the grass and fallen autumn leaves. "You know, like a festival?"
I cracked a smile, brushing my humid, frizzy hair off my temples. "Sure, then. Why not?"
Leopha's eyes popped wide open. "Really?"
I looked up at her, gripping the bandolier strap of my bag a little tighter. "Am I really that boring? If there's a venandi festival I can go to, of course I want to go. Besides, we need to cheer on your brother, right?"
A goofy, lopsided smile hung off my friend's bifurcated mouth as she clasped her hands behind her head and breathed in the air. "You're right. I think you'll have a good time. And if you don't, I'll make my brother crack some skulls for you."
"Please don't."
"Isn't that what big brothers are for? Better be, because he reminds me atleastonce a satbit that he's two minutes older and it drives me fucking nuts."
I laughed, enjoying Leopha's lack of restraint. Where I felt bound by adulthood and the empty, chilly campus we were crossing, she felt free to express herself. It made me feel brave.
"That would drive me fucking nuts too," I commiserated, beaming. I hadn't sworn inagesand it made me bubbly.
Leopha knew it. She nudged my shoulder again, laughing. It was an unspoken rule that she walked me home, and tonight was especially buoyant. She bounced on her elevated feet, telling me all about the festival. It was outside and they always had to search for a place with fog. That wasn't a problem around here, so I wasn't surprised that they were having it in the Pacific Northwest. Calling it a Halloween-themed football game wasn't far off either. People painted themselves with glowing bones and skulls and celebrated the cycle of life. They bobbed for fruit and drank spiced alcohol. It happened at night and originated in old gods and ancient souls...
By the time we got to my landladies' house with its white picket fence strewn with purple and orange garland, I had a bounce in my step too. Maybe this festival could be a study away! My next xeno project. Perhaps for the School of Fine Arts? They always got the shaft.
I glanced at the carriage house and spied my marigold curtains aglow with a soft light from the kitchen. Comfortably eerie with a tasteful porcelain jack-o-lantern peering out at the street.
The exterior, however, was draped in spiderwebs and witch butts. Foam tombstones lined the walkway, and a vomiting pumpkin sat by the first stair up to my door. As per usual, my landladies were taking Halloween as far as it could go.
Juanita sat outside in her rocker with a tall glass of beer in a Seahawks cozy and waved when we opened the gate. "Boo, bitches!" she called with elderly gravel, sipping the foam off the top between lips grooved like a loess plateau. Her grey-blonde hair was long and coarse, hanging about her shoulders like she hadn't brushed it in days (she hadn't).
"Boo!" Leopha called, showing off her fangs and talons. The old bat waved her off, unimpressed, even if she grinned.
"Don't give her ideas," I begged, not sure which one I was addressing.
Bonafide pressed the screen door open with her rounded back, carrying a tray laden with tea for herself, another beer for her wife, and a spread of pickles, nuts, and deli meat rolled around thin slices of cheese. Her long dreadlocks hung down to her butt, thinning around the roots from where she'd maintained them for who knows how long. Maybe as far back as when the pair had met in the early two thousand twenties. You could see the passage of time in them, and it was beautiful. She smiled at us and I immediately felt like I'd come home.
"Hi, sweet pea. Want some dinner? I got more salami rolls for Lolo up in the kitchen."
"Bonnie, don't smother 'em."
But Leopha hummed with excitement, accepting the offer before I had the chance to politely decline. I often sat with my landladies in the early evening. When they were young, I imagine they were a lot like Leopha and me: Juanita, the agent of chaos, and Bonafide, the succor of calm. Except Leopha and I didn't have a whirlwind romance in our futures. One of her bucket list items?Bang a human guy.
Though I didn't put it in those terms, the same item was on my bucket list too. Sharing my little haven, anyway. I wasn't in a hurry to cross it off, but more and more I got the itch to introduce a boyfriend to Juanita and Bonafide. I craved theembarrassment and fizzy excitement. My life had been so even keel for so long... Maybe Leopha was rubbing off on me.
I smiled, pushing my glasses up as she dove into the salami rolls and pickles. Juanita patted the bench swing next to her and I sat down, enjoying the familiar creak of the chains.
"So, Lolo, you gon' be our main attraction this year or what?" Juanita squeezed a slice of lemon in Bonafide's tea for her while she ducked away for those extra salami rolls, then plopped the peel into her beer. "I'm thinking devil. Red shiny cape, long johns, a twirly mustache and tail.Hocus Pocusstyle."
"As much as I revel in scaring the pants off human children, no can do," she said with a chitter. Now that it was dark, her gold eyes were shining a little brighter against her grey cheeks, like a cat on the prowl.
"Oh comeon.We won't scare ‘emthatbad. Imagine wearing a headband with squishy red horns. It'd be hilarious trying to get that to work with your spires."
