Awakening: 4

The good days continued. With Simon's help, Billy managed to get a grade above a B in a subject. His problem had been those fractions and their evil ways of tricking the mind into thinking they could be added like other numbers. Billy couldn't help thinking of fractions as an enemy and him their favorite victim. Simon explained about multiplying on both sides top and bottom. He, then, explained something simpler with a dollar bill. He said that if two quarters were half a dollar in real life, then it had to be true in fractions. So 1/2 literally meant fifty cents or simply .50 as a decimal. There were many simple explanations like these that Simon gave him which helped greatly on exams like 7/10 being like seven dimes because a dime was ten. So in a sense it was the same as seventy cents or .70. This new insight into the corridors of the evil fractions gave him a very interesting edge. He still wasn't good enough for A plus but he thought he might get there with enough practice. An A meant a dollar more on the allowance meter, which meant, possibly two trips to Joe's, which, also meant, more talking about nothing with Simon. Despite it being in the clause he kept bringing up Space Dreg. Billy just ignored him and answered yes or no on what he could. He really didn't want to break the truce.

Throughout this time, he would see Billy come into Joe's in a cast.

"Ah, poor guy," Simon said, "Messing with the fated one like that."

"What are you talking about? No more Space Dreg talk."

"No, I mean it. You're like destined to be someone great. Look at all you do."

"All I do, ey?"

"You stopped me getting messed with by bullies before the real trouble started. I know kids who are way worse. So many bullies around. It's like we're bully central over here. Ken Strangert got his shorts stolen in Gym, had to stay in class all day in just a gym shirt. He's already skinny. He looked like a girl trying to hide inside a skirt."

"That's a good story," Billy said, smiling.

"But I mean, you stop bad things from happening to others, Billy. That's a good thing. Makes you the fated one."

"Fated? I don't think so."

"Have you spoken to Myrel lately?"

"I rather not. I supposed I could apologize for dirtying the book."

"Well, I personally never believed you did that but now that I know you did do it, you owe me an ice-cream."

"Aw, come on man, you know how my dad is about my allowance."

"Whatever, fair is fair," Simon said, sternly.

Billy found Simon to be a bit odd. At any point in their relationship, he'd be smiling and telling him all about how he'd conquered certain realms because Shini had left him alone but if he found something that Billy had done wrong and something would happen to Billy because of it, like when Billy dumped a plant into the garbage because he failed in growing it and got sent to detention because of it, Simon had said that fair was fair. Simon had his own sense of justice and he believed that Billy had to cope with that.

"I don't like that," Billy said, frowning, "I mean I could be unfair if I like. I am a bully, myself."

"But not like them," Simon said, motioning at the table where Cal sat with his spoon. They were on a booth in the back, where they'd first agreed on their friendship. Now Simon sat looking to the outside while Billy sat with his back to everybody. Billy preferred it that way. Simon's glasses were the only danger of reflecting evil people to him. "Billy, what you need is something to keep you busy. Now that you've bitten the bug of math, you need to relax. I have Space Dreg; you don't."

"You think so?" Billy asked. Simon might be right but he didn't know what he could do. Could he work at his dad's office in the afternoons? What did a man with two million in the bank do? He probably spent his days buying things and who, besides some stumbling Hollywood princess, would find any pleasure in that? "I don't know, Simon. Unless they need me to crush cans with my brute force, I don't think I'm apt for anything."

"My aunt is a librarian and she needs help."

"What?"

"Twenty dollars a week, Billy."

Billy almost spit out his ice-cream. Simon mocked him by laughing. Billy smiled but said, "You punk. I've known you what, two weeks, and you bring this up to me now? That kind of money, wow, I could buy my own lunch."

"Oh, nah-uh. I'm already sad enough for throwing away food and I won't have you--?"

Billy shook his head at him seriously. "Fair is fair," he said.

Simon sunk into his seat with a frown, feeling ashamed.

Keya broke a chain. Again, she was caught. This time by a group of women who called themselves witches. Keya tried to translate that to her own dialect. It wasn't really working. They looked nothing like witches to her. They had on Hollywood-style clothes, short-sleeve, belly-cut blue shirts and tiny blue shorts with light blue shoes and socks. One was named Teresa and she kept eyeing Keya from the other end of the cage. As soon as she'd appeared on what looked like a flying ship, they'd locked her in a box. Keya hadn't moved nor had she been moved by people or hands. She had been in one place one time and in another the next. Her white and blue dress, which extended down to above her ankle and complimented her flowered sandals was now dirty and ripped at one sleeve from when the chains had been put on her. Keya now realized she hadn't broken the chain. They had released her.

"Who are you?" Teresa asked, releasing her from her chains and from the box. She led her by the hand, gently it seemed onto a stool, where she sat. The wind blew harder now. Was the ship going faster?

"My name is Keya, I used to be princess of the land of Chalibia, but I disappeared from the face of the earth."

"Yet you're here," Teresa said, crossing her hands.

"I mean, that is the name of the nearby town of Chalibia, Face of the Earth, in a strange language. A French and Mexican couple had named it Ilecaradetier. My father and mother were killed by assassin's. Then, I escaped my aunt, who tried to marry me off to a stranger named Steven."

"Wait, wait, stop," One of the other witches said. Teresa was blonde-haired but the other two with their black hair didn't seem to have distinguishing features. They looked like twins to Keya, which was remarkable. She'd never seen such a thing in India. They were a distinct color of brown, not like Keya's deep brown skin but a lighter shade of it, almost like cinnamon. "She's giving you her sob story."

"But Lisa," Teresa said, "The girl is almost in tears and there's a sincerity in her eyes."

"She looks like she's starving," the other witch said.

The one named Teresa made a large bread appear in her hands. It was a wheat bread loaf the size of her hand. She cut it in half and made the other half vanish with what had to be a form of magic. The women didn't even seem to be concentrating on using any magic. They no more looked at the bread than they did at the other prisoners in cages all across the corner of one end of the flying ship. Keya marveled at how big it was. It had a sail with rings as drawings, big gold rings that shone against the sun. Was it summer here? It had been near winter in Chalibia. Teresa handed her the bread.

Slowly, Keya took it. It was much too soft in her hands. Or was it just the absence of food for the past day and a half? It was hard to hide from soldiers. She remembered a basement, where her guardian Leo had stashed her. After she'd escaped the handcuffs, she'd run to Leo's house. Unfortunately, her aunt had suspected the man as soon as she'd escaped. It had taken three soldiers to restrain Leo, the big bulky man. He died that day. Keya didn't see it, thankfully. They gave her that much. India wasn't home to cruel men or women, just cruel traditions, sometimes. If it weren't for her personal crisis, she'd believe the rumors of arranged marriages to be completely false, an insult to her people. He had been taken to another room. There was a loud bang and a thump. A tear escaped her eye, as she bit into the bread. It surprised her. The whole thing tasted like spaghetti. Before she could eat most of it, Lisa yelled.

"Well, take her back!"

"What?" Keya asked, dropping her bread. "No," she pleaded, "Please, leave me here or keep me captive but don't take me back to that! I'm an orphan!"

Keya's pleas went unheard to the one called Lisa.

"Jane, you do it," Lisa said, referring to the other witch.

"Lisa, it's not right. She's just a girl and Mark said we didn't have to send them all back."

"You want to mess with the destruction of the world, are you like Mark?"

Jane put her head down and shook her head no. It wasn't looking so good for Keya.

Teresa sighed, her arms crossed still. She'd been staring at Keya the whole time with a frown on her face. Suddenly, she grabbed the girl's hand. "Don't worry," she whispered at her, "I will send you somewhere...different."

"Teresa no!"

"Maybe, she's fated for something good back where she's from but for now, we'll save her from this torment."

"But the curses, Teresa!"

"Don't be a fool!" Lisa yelled at her.

"It doesn't matter, we're done with this one," Teresa said, and Keya vanished....again. The last thing she saw was the glimmer of sympathetic green eyes.