The Swailing

Malkut: Misled

In the morning I sneak out of the room while Finn is sleeping to find the ice machine. I still feel a bit dehydrated and crave a cold glass of water, but our ice has melted into a tepid pool. I find the machine around the corner from our room and fill my bucket before heading back. But when I reach the door I realize I have forgotten an essential tool to get back into the room – the key. In Optima all you need is your fingerprint or your eyeball for access to just about anything. I'm not used to carrying around knickknacks to open doors.

I stand for a moment, listening to the hum of the insects in the air, and debate about knocking on the door to have Finn let me in. But he's gotten so little sleep in the last few days, between my puke-fest and then his own, I can't bear to wake him up unnecessarily.

I'm pondering my options when I hear someone's voice – a man – calling out.

I look up and see the man who rented us our room three days ago heading towards me, a confused look on his face.

"Mrs. Verity? I was calling you. You didn't hear me?"

Suddenly it clicks that I am Mrs. Verity. Crap. I missed that.

"Oh! Sorry. I –" I realize I'm talking in my normal voice, with my normal Optima accent. Crap. I try to mimic the twang that Finn adopts so easily. "Ah'm just not used to being called that yet." I smile, embarrassed. "Ah guess ah got locked out of mah room. I can't bayah to wake up mah husband."

"Wore him out, did ya?" The man laughs for a second, and then realizes the inappropriateness of his joke. He glances around, as if to make sure no one has heard. "You need me to get you another key?"

"That would be dandy," I tell him. He gives me a funny look, which confirms that I'm as bad at this as I feel.

"Come on to the office with me," he says.

I reluctantly set the bucket by the door, wishing I could stay here. The accent is rough and unfamiliar in my mouth. Every word I utter gives me away as an impostor.

"So. Where did you two kids say you was from?"

He sounds vaguely suspicious and I start to panic, searching my memory for the name of a town, ANY town, in Malkut. But I was sleeping most of our drive down and we haven't been anywhere but this cheesy hotel since we got here. But then I remember the name of the town where Healing Hands is: Macon. I remember it because Macon rhymes with bacon, a delicious treat we had at Sabine's. My mouth starts to water, in a good way, and I realize I'm getting my appetite back.

"Up near Macon."

The man gives me another strange look, but we are at the office now and I search the room for something to divert his attention from me.

"Oh! Is that your little girl? She's adorable!"

The man looks at the picture that I'm pointing at and smiles. "Thank you. It is."

I study the picture and go on about her beautiful hair and blue eyes while he locates another key. I don't give him a chance to ask any more questions, I just blabber on until I see that he's found what I need. I stand up and hold out my hand, anxious to put some space between us. He hesitates for a moment before giving it to me.

"Macon, you say?"

I nod and take the key from his hand. "Thank y'all so much. I'd better get back with that ice," I catch myself and try again. "AHce." I shake my head at my own ridiculousness and scoot out of the office before the man can stop me.

Back at the room, I pick up the ice bucket and let myself in, no longer trying to be quiet.

"Finn?"