Page 105 of Medium
Pia and Ms. Jackson both slumped in their chairs. “Fine.” Pia picked up her fork and shoveled an over-large hunk of omelet into her mouth.
I grimaced and looked at Shane and Ellis so I didn’t have to watch her chew. Maybe Pia and Ms. Jackson could get table manners lessons together. “Anything else we need to shop for today?”
Shane groaned. “I think the list is plenty long enough already.”
Manny stood and began to clear plates. “You’re forgetting about the fine art of impulse shopping.” He winked at us before sashaying to the kitchen.
Shane rubbed his face then turned his head and cupped his hands to hide his mouth from Pia. “Can I bring a flask?”
Luckily, Manny was willing to take Pia shopping for clothes while the rest of us—being magically tethered together and all—bought Pia and Ms. Jackson’s electronics. Both of them got sparkly phone cases, Pia’s in pink and Ms. Jackson’s in purple. I badly wanted to buy Shane a new phone as well since his was over four years old, but he didn’t even looklongingly at the current models. I’d wait and get Ellis to help me convince him he needed an update for the new business.
We tracked Pia and Manny down in some godawful teen store with blaring K-Pop and cheap fabrics. I’d never felt so much kinship with Grandfather.
I’d given Manny one of my credit cards earlier, so we didn’t have to go inside. We stood opposite the store’s entrance to wait. Manny spotted us and dashed out with an armload of bags from other stores.
Shane held out his hands to take them. “Shit, Manny, we owe you a lot more than lunch.”
“Nah, man. We’re good. This is fun for me, and Pia’s actually trying to pick things that can be worn with multiple outfits. This is our last stop.”
They were done about fifteen minutes later. We picked up lunch on the way home, letting Pia choose the next vegetables for Ms. Jackson to try. Since we were having Chinese food, she picked spicy eggplant and stir-fried green beans. I had my doubts, but the rest of us would eat anything Ms. Jackson didn’t.
When we got home, the street was lined with cars again, so I pulled into the driveway behind Shane and Ellis’ vehicles. Manny had been lucky to snag a spot in front of the neighbor to the east. I felt awful having the end of the car block the sidewalk, but hopefully I wouldn’t get a ticket. As we got out I looked up and down the street. The cars parked along the curb were a mix of older-models that matched the houses they were in front of and huge SUVs with blacked-out windows.
Did it make me a bad person if I immediately worried about drug dealers? We had Pia to keep safe. I blocked my thoughtsfrom Shane and Ellis as I pondered how to get Shane to let me buy us a house in a better neighborhood ASAP.
We unloaded the bags and took them inside. Ms. Jackson was ecstatic over their new iPad and phone, and Ellis and I promised to get both phones set up after lunch. I for one would feel better if Ms. Jackson had a phone with them during the raid. If they couldn’t carry it magically, I was sure Shane’s grandmother had left a crossbody purse behind.
Ms. Jackson, it turned out, liked both the eggplant and the green beans. Well, first they gave all of us a severely skeptical glance, but then they licked at the sauce and gave a little purr. Pia put some rice on their plate and served up a little of each dish. Ms. Jackson cleaned their plate in less than a minute. I didn’t watch.
“Rayas, you need some table manners.” Manny spoke what all of us had been thinking.
Ms. Jackson sparkled out,R-A-Y-A-S.
“Stripes. It’s a nickname. Don’t change the subject. You eat like a wild animal, not like a wicked cool shapeshifter from another dimension.” Manny cocked his head. “That reminds me, has anyone shown youThe Rocky Horror Picture Show?”
“Manny’s got a point,” I interrupted. I couldn’t think of how to explainRocky Horrorto Pia, much less to Ms. Jackson. They’d have to experience it. “I didn’t want to say anything, because you’ve had enough to deal with adapting to the human world, but some table manners would make it easier for you to meet new people. New friends. When you swallow everything at once, it can be... off-putting.”
“It’s gross.” Pia put her hand on Ms. Jackson’s back. “I’ll help you though.”
They nodded, looking abashed.
Shit. I didn’t want them to feel self-conscious. “It’s okay. You didn’t know, and it wasn’t important enough to bring up before now. You’ve been learning so much every day, we felt bad adding more.”
Pia held out one of the serving spoons. “Can one of your forms hold this?”
Ms. Jackson reached out a paw and it changed to an orange, furry... hand. At the end of the tiger’s foreleg. My scalp prickled and I suppressed a shiver of revulsion.
“Cooool,” Pia breathed as she handed the spoon over. “Hold it like this.” She demonstrated with her fork.
Shane added more rice and eggplant to Ms. Jackson’s plate, and we all stared as they used their new hand to scoop up a spoonful of food.
“Now put it in your mouth and close your lips around the spoon before you pull it out and leave the food inside.” Pia demonstrated with her own food.
I was a little concerned about their fangs, but Ms. Jackson maneuvered the spoon around them and closed their mouth. Their forehead wrinkled as they seemed to be using their tongue to get the food off the spoon, but they pulled it out completely clean.
We all cheered, and they seemed pleased. They finished the food on their plate with the spoon, and the process became faster as they got used to it. I wasn’t sure I would get used to the freaky hand though. None of us complained when they licked the remaining sauce off the plate.
We moved to the living room to set up Pia and Ms. Jackson’s new phones. Pia didn’t need my help, so I set up Ms. Jackson’s for them. They changed into their panda form and sat on their butt. I held the phone out to them, and they tookit from me with two furry, five-fingered hands. I worried I might let on how much their hands creeped me out, but to my everlasting gratitude, Ellis came over and told me he’d show the apps to Ms. Jackson because Shane needed to ask me about Pia’s bedroom furniture.
