Page 115 of Enemy
I turn a burger patty, unsure what to do with such kindness. Do I even deserve it? “I… am ready for change.”
Prophet nods. “Burned land can regain fertility. It’ll be a while, but if you prove your loyalty, we will help you rebuild.”
I want to say something, to react in kind and express how much his help is appreciated, how muchRoadrespects him, but the earnest way he’s looking at me leaves me disarmed. I expected many things from this bonfire, but it wasn’tthis. Maybethe Hell’s Butchershad it all wrong, and I missed it, fed by their hate for the Vultures since I was first able to throw a punch?
Had I been a member of this club, could Road and I gotten together much sooner? Of course we would have. He’s like an answer to each of my cravings, and couldn’t bereplaced by just anyone. I imagine summers spent by the lake here, first kisses in a hot spring, a fumbling fuck in the caves, and sneaky glances at each other in the canteen.
No point dwelling on that. We would have been different people.
“Thank you. I appreciate it.”
Prophet takes his hand off me to point out a hot dog. “Pass me that one,” he says, but then glances over my shoulder. “Isaac! Come try these. Apparently there’s some secret new seasoning inside.”
Confident, steady strides. I’m curious who this man is, but I don’t want to appear too eager and flip some more meat before turning my attention back to Prophet and the stranger standing next to him in jeans and a checkered shirt with sleeves folded to expose tattooed forearms. He’s a bit older than us, maybe in his forties, and while overall good-looking, he’s not the kind of person who stands out from the crowd. Maybe with the exception of his eyes, which watch me with an intensity most people in Vulture Hollow don’t.
“He’s our mechanic. I’m sure you’ll hear about him a lot, since Road won’t let anyone else touch his ride,” Prophet says and gives Isaac a slap on the back.
“Clyde, right?” Isaac squeezes my hand.
I smile and nod, but as he pulls back his fingers, I stare at them as if frozen in time.
“Road told me you’ll come pick a bike tomorrow. I hope I’m not spoiling a surprise. They still need some work,” he keeps talking, but it’s as though I hear him through glass.
My gaze keeps darting to the spiderwebs on the backs of his hands, the flies captured on them, and the large spider on the left one. I couldn’t possibly be mistaken, could I? I’ve seen these hands in my nightmares too many times to count.
I feel sick, but I don’t know what to do. Frozen as if I’m seventeen again.
I put down the fork even though a part of me wants to stab it into Isaac’s eye. I’m too confused, captured by some primal terror like one of the flies in that inked spiderweb.
“Sorry, Prophet… Could you look after the barbecue? I must have eaten something…” I don’t even finish and walk off in a daze, not daring to look back at Isaac.
Doesherecognize me? It was winter. I wore a hat and scarf.
I don’t know what I’ll do, but I can’t be here. I just can’t.
Chapter 43
Road
Iwasneverintochickens, or farm animals overall, but since I found out about Clyde’s attitude toward them, I’ve been more open. So when Rooster offered to show me a video he took close to the hen houses earlier that day, I agreed to watch it instead of rolling my eyes. Worth it.
“They’re dumber than they look,” I say, shaking with laughter as we watch two chickens attempt to peck on one of the cats living in the settlement. All three end up in the most comical battle I’ve seen. I laugh, slapping Rooster’s back so hard it moves him forward. “Clyde needs to see this. He really fucking likes those red-capped poop machines,” I tell him and spin around, seeking the familiar mane of dirty blond hair.
I was reluctant to leave him to his own devices, but I understand a man’s need to stand his ground. He was at the grill last time I looked, but now Yeti is back there, while Clyde is nowhere to be seen.
“Luna told me you might want to keep one of the chickens?” Rooster asks, and I’m yet again impressed by how quick gossip flies at Vulture Hollow.
“Err… we might get a little henhouse of our own, but I think we should start with adult birds, because, you know, cats,” I say and shake my head when I still fail to find Clyde. “I’ll get him and then find you. Keep that video ready,” I say and follow the scent of grilling meat, past the group of people dancing close to the bonfire.
“You know where Clyde is?” I ask Yeti.
“I think Prophet said he got sick or something and rushed away. Up the hill, so I’m guessing to your home? Hope he’s not setting explosives and trip wires,” he adds with a groan, but doesn’t seem worried.
I frown and turn on my heel without a word.
Sick? I was right there. He could have told me. Not to mention that Brigid has remedies for every ailment in the damn world, including imagined ones, like curses.
I speed up, rushing uphill, and as I get farther from the fire and the world around darkens, I switch on a pocket flashlight I always have on me, so that I don’t end up falling on my face.
