Unfinished Symphony

Ilich - Prologue

Mom has clients over a lot.

The worst ones are the guys who call me 'champ' or 'skipper'. One guy actually called me 'chief'. I was like, do you even know? But I guess mom doesn't tell them. She doesn't talk about where she comes from. I had to learn it all from books, and Aunt Kai'a when she comes to visit, which is almost never.

That's only half of it though. Mom pretends the other half doesn't exist, but everyone has a dad. I just don't know mine. All I do know is that he was a troll, and mom is a fairy.

And I'm a freak.

It's kind of obvious when you look at me. Forget the wheelchair. There's lots of retards and kids with broken spines out there. It's in my ugly, fat-eyed, slanty-browed, ape-jawed, blotchy-skinned face. That's why they give me nicknames. You don't call someone you respect 'champ'. It's a pity name. At least it's better than what they called me at school before I quit.

Mom's clients come for 'tea leaf readings' and 'authentic triaum astrological pressure-point massage', like she advertises, but I'm not dumb. I know why they really come over. I don't like thinking about Mom doing those things but I guess that's what keeps her off the dole. It's probably how I showed up.

Trolls and fairies don't have kids a lot. I read that in a book. They have really different bone structures. There's always lots of birth complications. Humans can have babies with trolls and fairies ok. Usually. But trolls have big skulls and wide shoulders and fairies have narrow hips so there's problems usually. I asked mom about it and she said she has a scar from where they cut her open to bring her miracle into the world.

Miracle, yeah right. I was a fairy-troll freak baby. I bet the nurse screamed and dropped me. Yeah I know they're called triaum and hama. It's not racist if I say it. They do it all the time in rap songs on the music channel.

I learned how trolls talk from TV, too, since there aren't any in town to learn from. There aren't a lot of trolls in the north in general so Mom had to buy satellite to get their special station. Troll talk, it's called Hammi actually, is easier for me than Ica, which is what everyone uses around here even though the official language of the United Provinces is Andish. Human and triaum languages are hard for me because my teeth are too big for my jaw and mom can't afford a dentist. I have nobody to practice Hammi with so I do it in front of the mirror.

I had a special teacher at the school who was trying to learn it with me but then I had to quit. Mostly because I got made fun of so much, for not being able to speak too good, and my wheelchair, and my face, especially. But it's ok because I don't have to go anymore. Mom got special permission to teach me at home. Which she doesn't really do. She told me to teach myself because I'm so much smarter than her.

That part is true. But I don't really care about math or science or crap. So I learn just enough about school stuff to trick mom. And then most of the time I read comic books and fantasy novels and watch TV and paint model armies. This other special teacher even comes in for these assessment things and I can trick her, too. So the world just leaves me alone. I can be a freak all by myself.

Except for the fact that a kid moved in next door.

It was all fine before. Mr. and Mrs. Quass used to live there. They were old and pretended to like mom and ignored me. But then Mrs. Quass died and Mr. Quass got taken to an old folks' home and then the house was for sale forever. Nobody wanted it. Our street is the Lacalpa City version of a ghetto. So it's not really ghetto but it's where the poor people live.