Lamia's Dream

Chapter 44

There was a movie on and a bowl of popcorn between us.  It was like any other night Malik and I hung out together.  Except Malik clutched a metal baseball bat in his hand.

Malik’s dad worked as the overnight shift supervisor for a factory in Charlotte.  He had a rotating schedule, four nights on, three nights off.  For better or worse, we had the house to ourselves.  It was a large two-story house.  The living room had windows on either side, providing a view to both the front and the back yards.  There was a gray stone fireplace in the center of the room.  The television was in the corner toward the front yard. 

“You know, a girl told me the craziest thing today,” I said, to make conversation.  “Apparently, the more they like you, the more pissed at you they get.”

“Yeah, there’s no denying Lynn liked me.  She told me I was the first guy she’d be with for longer than two months.  Can you believe they made a stupid pact like that?”

“No, that’s dumb.  Did she say why?”

“She laughed it off.  Something about too many guys to stay with just one.”

“She’s got quite the ego on her,” I said, unable to think of anything else.

“Yeah, there’s that.  But she also was a girl that knew what she wanted.  That gave her more sex appeal.” 

“As if she needed any more…”

We went back to watching the Avengers.  We had a copy on Blu-ray, and the details were stunning.  The Avengers was one of those movies I never got tired of watching.

“Was it different than with other girls?” I asked after a while.

“She’s not the first girl I had sex with, Miles.”

“No, I mean Lynn- just, as Lynn.  Was she different?”

“Eh, sort of.  Whenever we did it, she was very enthusiastic .  I didn’t expect a girl who just lost it to catch on so fast.  If she wasn’t so crazy, I wouldn’t have thought she was a virgin.”

“I guess some girls are just naturally good.”

Malik gave me a look, somewhere between proud and sentimental.  “You’re time will come, cuzzo.  Even if it’s not with Valerie.”

I wanted it to be Valerie.  And only Valerie for the rest of my life.  I hoped she could forgive me.

We watched the movie for another hour.

“Hey, I’m parched.  I’m gonna grab some juice, do you want—”

I looked over to see Malik fast asleep, bat clutched and held against his chest.  I chuckled a bit then made my way to the kitchen.  It wasn’t until I sat back down and watched the white text of the movie credits scrolling down the black backdrop that I heard sounds.  Or thought I did.  I tried listening for it a second, but heard nothing. 

I put the TV on mute.  I looked up at the ceiling once I realized the scratching sounds came from the roof.  A loud scratch echoed, one I probably would’ve heard even if I had left the TV on.  I looked down at Malik and he was still fast asleep.

Another loud scratch made me think of Valerie and wonder how she was holding up.  My gaze shifted to the ceiling again, but a black object drew my attention to the front yard.  Lynn, with her large black wings fully extended, hovered down slowly until her gray Reebok’s touched the grass.  She flashed a toothy grin with fangs bared at me.  I went stiff with fear.

Remembering my mission, I ignored the fear and went over to Malik.  I didn’t want to wake him.  Instead, I gently pried the metal bat from his grip.  He unconsciously flexed his fingers to note an unknown absence.  His hands coalesced into a relaxed fist.