October 1995 Earth Time
It is two earth years since I failed to exist in human form. I have been joined here by two sisters who shared my experience. Our parents didn’t have names for them so I call them Evangeline and Henrietta. Evangeline – Evie – was the first to join me and Henrietta – Hetty – came next, then no-one. I watch my earth family but they are unaware of me. I am watching now as two very different conceptions are about to take place. You may wonder how I know about such matters after only two years of being, but I have ‘been’ for many years. Time is different in this realm, and we are wiser.
The orange street lamp in the alley behind the garages gutters and flickers and the young girl sitting beneath it with the syringe curses; there is barely enough light for her to find a vein. At last she does and laughs with the initial rush. She gets up and twirls, arms outstretched, face upturned into the light drizzle then she sits back down as the drowsiness kicks in. Of how long she remains in this state she is unaware, but a hand on her thigh pierces her consciousness and she blinks open her eyes.
“Titus! Whaddya want?”
Titus grins revealing blackened teeth, the result of years of alcohol and drugs. “You promised, remember.”
“Promished what?” she slurs.
“We could get together.”
The girl is befuddled and he squeezes her thigh, slipping his hand under the grimy skirt.
“When did I say that?”
“Couple of nights ago.” He strokes her bare flesh, grubby fingers inching higher and she pushes him away with a burst of clarity.
“No fuck off. I never said any such thing.”
Unabashed he puts his hand back and continues to stroke. “You did. In the subway under the bus station when you held my hand.”
She looks at him scornfully. “Wasn’t me, musht’ve been someone else.” Titus is thirty something beneath the bedraggled, unwashed hair and she is seventeen; she’d never have said that to him.
“Was you. You squeezed my hand, said ‘Next time we meet I’ll show you a good time,’ and walked away with a saucy smile. Such a lovely smile, a promising smile.”
A dim memory threads its way through the fuzziness of her brain – I am aware of her thoughts as my realm is a world of thought. She had been in the subway; she often went there if it was raining, at least it was dry in there. Had she promised him? She must have been drunk; she couldn’t remember. Surely she wouldn’t have suggested anything to Titus; it was The Puma she liked. No-one knew his real name; everyone called him The Puma because of his cat like grace. At least he washed and was younger.
“Come on Leah.” The hand gets more persistent and it stirs something within her through the mist in her head. ‘So what,’ she thinks, ‘it’s just a fuck. It won’t matter, and I’ll make sure it never happens again.’
As if sensing her weakening resolve the hand gains confidence, probing between her legs and she puts up no resistance in her drug induced soporific state.
It is over quickly and Leah pushes him away, straightening her clothes. “That’s it Titus. No repeat performance, a one off, get me?”
He nods. “Here, have this.” He pulls a half bottle of vodka out of the worn pocket of his jacket and offers it to her.
She thinks for a moment then shakes her head. “Nah, you keep it. I don’t want you to think you’ve bought me,” and with that she scrambles to her feet and staggers off to the public toilets to clean herself.
