No Rest for the Wicked

Chapter 1

"So, what do you think?" J. Seph asked BM, leaning over to hear his response in the crowded club. Pink and white lights flashed as the bass-heavy music pumped along at an ear-splitting volume.

"She's definitely hot," BM agreed, "but I don't know if I'm really up for anything serious right now."

"Who said it had to be serious?" J. Seph yelled into his friend's ear.

"Well, I don't want to be a dick to someone you consider a friend," BM replied over the pounding bass.

"Well, yeah," J. Seph said, "but I don't think she really wants anything serious either. She's just sort of trying to find herself."

"Find herself?" BM repeated. "Well, that IS something I am good at," he added with a wink at his bandmate. "Alright, I'm going in," BM said as he ventured onto the crowded dance floor. His 6'2'' frame gave him some advantage in being able to maneuver through the press of sweaty humanity around him. Finally, he reached the girl in question, and waved at her shyly as he approached.

"Is it okay if I dance with you?" he screamed over the speaker that was right beside where the curly-haired Latina was dancing.

The girl raised a thumb and continued dancing. The song changed as did the mood on the dance floor. The D.J. started playing CNCO's "Reggaetón Lento" and the whole club mellowed down a bit with the slower tempo. BM watched the girl's tanned body begin to sway in a slow Latin groove which seemed natural for her. He was mesmerized, like a person watching the serpentine movements of a snake charmer. She took his hand and twirled away from him and then circled back until her back was pressed against his chest and his arm was around her. She twirled back out again and then ducked under his arm as she came back toward him. It was so easy to dance with her because she knew what she wanted to do, and all BM had to do was to follow her lead.

He watched as her purple-painted lips mouthed the lyrics of the Spanish song. He knew a little Spanish, but not enough to catch the lyrics. For a moment, her green eyes met his from behind the black frames of her glasses. BM studied her face. She was one of those girls who looked terrific in glasses, and he could hardly picture her without them. They were all part of her charm.

When the song ended, BM leaned toward her and yelled, "Do you want to get some air?"

The girl nodded and BM took her hand and led her out of the crowded club. The cool, night air felt instantly refreshing against their overheated skin.

"Ah, that's amazing," Luna breathed in deeply as she opened her tan arms toward the sky. "It is way too hot in there," she noted, and BM nodded in agreement.

"So, you're friends with J. Seph," he said, somewhat unnecessarily.

"Yeah, we met at an improv event. We were seated next to each other in the audience," Luna replied. "So, I guess, you two are in the same band, or something?" she added.

"Yeah, the band's name is KARD," BM offered helpfully. "So, you've never heard of it?" he asked, somewhat surprised that Luna seemed unaware of his fame.

"Sorry," she said with a slight frown. "I've been pretty busy. So, I haven't really kept up with K-pop that much. I'm a fan of the genre in general though, and I'm sure KARD is great," she said encouragingly.

"We do okay," BM replied humbly. "J. Seph told me you were doing something with languages. I didn't really understand what he told me," he admitted sheepishly.

"Yeah, so, I spent the past year in Mexico, helping to preserve the Mixtec language. Well, I say 'language', but there are actually over 50 recognized Mixtec languages," Luna explained. "I was working specifically on the Mixtec of Zapotitlán variety which currently has only 396 native speakers and is considered severely endangered," she added.

"Endangered? Like what does that actually mean?" BM asked, his curiosity piqued.

"Well, it means that the language is likely to become extinct as native speakers die off, leaving no legacy of the language to their descendants," Luna answered passionately. "We can't let that happen," she declared as her voice shook slightly.

"Are you cold?" BM asked, instinctively wrapping his faded denim jacket over her bare shoulders, feeling a bit at a loss at how to respond to this kind of passion. He hadn't seen this level of emotion since his college days when he would occasionally toy with the idea of joining a student protest, but always backed out when rumors of academic suspensions started swirling.

Luna pulled the jacket from her shoulders and handed it back. "I'm not cold. I'm fired up!" she replied, as a stunned BM stood holding his jacket awkwardly. "Sorry," she said as she scanned his face. "I just get fired up about this subject because it's something I care about a lot," she explained.

"Well, that's good to be passionate about something," BM agreed.

"What are you passionate about?" Luna asked, in an abrupt shift of tone.

"Um, well, you know, music, and dance, and all that," he replied a bit taken off-guard. Passion wasn't something he had a lot of recently. It seemed as if he had become rather robotic over the past few months, as he stumbled through his taxing days and endless nights.

"But that's what you produce; it's your art, so to speak, but what do you want your LIFE to mean?" she asked more insistently.

"Whoa, this just got existential real quick here," BM laughed. "I mean, I guess, I just want to leave a certain energy in the world that makes people breathe just a little bit easier," he replied.

Luna looked impressed. "That's actually kind of beautiful," she conceded. "And here I was thinking you'd forgotten who you were," she whispered softly.

"Pardon?" BM asked. "What does that mean?" he persisted when she gave no answer to his first question.

"Nothing. I was just thinking out loud," Luna said with a faraway wistful tone.

"Okay," BM said, letting the matter drop, but inwardly questions were swirling in his mind. Who was this woman to question if he was still the same man that he used to be? Wasn't it a bit presumptuous to act like she knew anything about who he was? But he didn't give voice to any of these questions because just then, J. Seph emerged from the club and ran toward them.

"I lost you two! After they played that Spanish song, I couldn't find you two anywhere," he charged.

"Well, you know 'Reggaetón Lento' is a pretty sensual song. We needed some fresh air after all that," BM replied, sounding repentant for having ditched his friend.

"You know, it's funny, my college roommate could never remember the name of that song. So, she always called it 'Rigatoni Lentil'," Luna recalled with a smile.

"That's hilarious," BM responded as he let out a deep chuckle.

"Well, this is all coming from the same person who thought Kim Jong-Un was a member of a K-pop group," Luna added. At that both men fell into hysterics, with BM grabbing the pole of a streetlamp for stability.

"You've got to be joking! Tell me you're joking," BM managed to say between roars of laughter.

"Not at all," Luna deadpanned. "From that point on, we always said that her bias was Kim Jong-Un," she doubled-down. "I mean, in her defense, she was really white," Luna said, beginning to join in the laughter until she was grasping the streetlamp too, her tan hand just barely touching BM's.