Conform or Suffer: The Darkness of Beauty

Chapter 15 Connect the Dots

The rising sun melted leftover snow into pools of murky water.

Betsy, Odin, and Grew-Ella left together.

Quig worked on his latest book. Dot left a dozen phone messages.

"I know you're hurting, but please talk to me. I have big news."

He listened to another message.

"Answer your phone, or I'm going to drag you out of your apartment."

He attempted to call Dot, but a little boy answered.

"Uncle Quig, Ida visited me, but she isn't a ghost or a zombie. Boo! I expected her to be undead."

"I wish she'd visit me... Tell Aunt Dot, I called her."

"Did you see the monster and his pet snake at my party?" Snake Boy asked.

"He was your birthday clown."

"Uncle Quig, there is a ghost in the loft. Tell me a ghost story," the boy said.

They talked for an hour before Quig's grandmother dialed, and he ended the phone call.

"Dot has been emailing me all day. Call her back."

"Every time I try, Snake Boy answers. I think she accidentally left her cell phone with him. Maybe he is right, and Ida is visiting us. I keep dreaming about her. She demanded that I find that nuptial bracelet you and I designed when I was a teen."

"She visited last night, and I mailed it, but you better not be getting back with Ann."

"I'm not," he said.

"Nan-Gran, I gotta go secure my housing and buy groceries." He peered into his near-empty kitchen cabinets, and he ended his phone call.

Only sacks of rice and a bag of dried onions remained. Quig needed to supplement his food printer. Hungry cooks didn't rely on them alone unless their taste buds were dead.

He left and drove over the university roads. The campus grocery store was closed as workers repaired the weather-beaten doors and windows.

He kept driving, parked at a Celebrity Pawn Shop, and entered the freshly painted building. Fine art, silks, and celebrity memorabilia covered the walls.

Salesmen polished red Royal Moth Cars in the center of the showroom floor.

The shop owner waved at him to approach her. She stood behind a long steel table, positioned goggles over her bunny ears, and pulled them over her eyes.

Quig slid a nuptial bracelet, a watch, and a few rings out of his pocket. "Please, place half directly into the university's campus housing account. I'm behind on rent. The rest I need in cash."

She sent the payment via her tablet and handed him the money. "I sold your cabin, car, and speedboat as a package deal. After I take my cut, it'll go into your account."

He walked next door to the government-owned store when the ready button dinged.

Photo-shopped posters of Sean-Mack covered every inch of the once-gray walls, making the elf man with long, flowing gray and white hair appear younger. A fur cape flung over his black suit.

Dingy and once-grand chandeliers hung and cast a foggy glow around the store.

Quig bought a similar grocery box as the elite man and badged woman who stood beside him at the pickup counter.

The tall, pudgy cat woman waved her cash, her second badge newly pasted on her soft flesh.

The unacceptable woman paid double the elite male.