Shade and Clearwater

Chapter Twelve

Marlene ended up inviting me for dinner and, not having anything better to do, I accepted. She served spaghetti with her own homemade red sauce and texturized vegetable protein and honestly it wasn't half-bad. Daisy joined us for dinner as well, though she could hardly sit still, probably thinking about her kittens. Several times she hopped out of her seat to go check on them before Marlene finally said, "Sit down, girl, or I'll slap your bottom so hard you won't be able to sit!" That only lasted until Daisy had cleared her plate and the girl was off and running again, and Marlene just chuckled to herself so I wasn't sure how sincere her threat was.

Not too long after that there was a knock at the door. Marlene pulled out her gun and flipped the safety off before calling, "Daisy girl, go answer the front door." The girl did as she was told, grumbling along the way. Marlene and I both craned our necks and listened hard but I couldn't make out who was there. Then Daisy called back, "There's a man here to see Miss Allie!"

Marlene shot me a puzzled look. "It's a friend of mine," I said, remembering that Jon could sense out other mods. He'd probably sniffed me out when he saw I was gone from the safehouse. The old woman nodded and I took that as permission to go answer the door.

Jon stood just outside, smiling. "Hey, Allie."

"Where you been?" I asked, some sort of emotion making my voice go higher. I wasn't sure if it was anger or relief or what.

"Scouting around," he said quietly. "Things look alright. Miles just radioed. Said he's got something for us, but you're going to have to get things under control first before we can make a break for it." His soft eyes looked me over. "How you doing?"

"Not so good," I admitted. I explained to him what happened with the other me in that tower. "It's like I'm split in two, and the other me has more control over my powers than I do."

Before Jon could say anything, Marlene appeared in the hallway, leaning on her cane. "Miss Allie, why don't you invite your friend in for dinner?"

"I already ate, ma'am," said Jon in an apologetic tone of voice.

Marlene grinned. "Drinks, then."

Jon shrugged, and the two of us came and sat at the table while the old woman poured us each a glass out of an unmarked bottle. I took a sniff. It smelled like burnt bread. Taking a sip, I discovered it tasted about like it smelled, though stung something fierce on its way down. Jon threw his glass all the way back, taking the shot all in one gulp. Then he let out a long breath of appreciation.

Marlene had sat down again at this point, alternating taking drags of her joint and sips of moonshine, the gun safetied and stowed in her waist band. "You must be Allie's boyfriend."

Jon's face looked a little red but it could've been from the drink. "Something like that."

"You play cards?"

"Not well, ma'am."

Marlene cackled. "That's good enough for me." She reached into a nearby drawer and pulled out a well-worn Poker deck. She shuffled them expertly and started dealing them out. "Five card draw," she said. "Keep it simple."

So we played, and we wagered real money. Marlene was a bit of a card shark, and although Jon wasn't terrible, he was no match for her. As for me, I was having a hell of a time playing without being able to read the other players' minds. At first I found it frustrating, but after a while I started thinking it was funny, though maybe that was because of whatever Marlene was smoking. Here I was, playing poker and losing, like any normal human being. It just felt real.

But you're not normal, said that damn voice. You're a freak.

I ignored it. I had only had the one glass of liquor, nursing it slowly over the course of the evening. I didn't trust myself to have more, not with the way the other me was always lurking, waiting for any signs of weakness. But I found the drink helped me loosen up and enjoy myself for just a moment, drowning out the noise.