Of Gaea (3 page)

Ari
sighed and internally cringed. She didn’t want the attention. She
just wanted to be left alone. Apparently that wasn’t going to
happen anytime soon. “Aluminum, Tin, and Lead.”

The
teacher nodded. “Very good. I would appreciate it if you at least
faced the blackboard, instead of the windows.”

Ari
nodded and turned away from Sasha. This was going to be a very long
day indeed.

“
W
e’ve done all we can
,
considering
.
She’s alive, isn’t she? We’ll figure the rest out when she wakes
up.”

Startled out of dark thoughts, Ari looked over at Sasha.
School was done and they did what they always did after. They were
camped at Ari’s house. Sometimes they used Sasha’s but most of the
time, it was Ari’s. Nasya almost never accompanied them after
school. She would always claim she had to study when invited to
walk home with them.

Ari lay on her bed and studied the constellations on her
ceiling as Sasha lay comfortably on the floor doing
homework.
Sasha, Nasya and Kleisthenes had painted the stars for her.
During her first few days home from the hospital Sasha did
everything he could for her. And Nasya did what he couldn’t.
Between the three of them they did everything possible to make sure
Ari was comfortable.

She would be dead without them. There was no doubt about
it. She wouldn’t have bothered to learn to use the wheelchair or
the many methods of physical therapy. She would have simply closed
her eyes and drifted away. But she had Sasha, and he was worth
living for even in the pale state of living that she had
now.

Ari glanced harder at Sasha; she would have sworn she had
heard him speak, but he was so engrossed in his textbook, she knew
that wasn’t possible.
It hadn’t really sounded like him, but since he
was the only one in the room it had been logical – at first – to
assume he spoke.

She didn’t know if she had made it up to make herself feel
better or if certain pieces from her accident were slowly coming
back.
She
did have a white wall of nothingness that should have been four
days of memory. Why only that piece, though? What was so important
about that statement?

For the first few weeks after the accident, Sasha slept on
Ari’s floor on a camping mat he had brought from home. It was where
he was currently lying as he never took it home. His shirt was
riding up on his back a bit exposing the beautifully smooth olive
skin just above the waist band of his pants. His shoes had been
kicked off long ago and were sitting next to the patio
door.

As if reading her mind, Sasha looked up from his Calculus
book.
“You’re thinking awfully loud.”

“What am I thinking?” Ari’s smile was instant. It was hard
not to smile at him. His presence alone was enough to lift her
spirits most of the time.

“How to prevent what happened this morning from happening
again.”
His
eyes twinkled when he said it. He had a way of making even the most
painful confrontations seem like nothing more than silliness
spouted off by a child.

It
had
been silliness spouted off by a child. But the words had
been deliberately cruel. Even with Sasha’s support it still stung.
As apathetic as she was, she still felt some things.

Ari shook her head.
“There’s no way to change Damia. She’s a bitch and
she’ll always be that way.”

“Very true,” Sasha turned on his side to face her. “But if
you believed that wholeheartedly, her words wouldn’t bother you so
much.”

“What bothers me is she doesn’t care that she crippled me.
She doesn’t care that she has no feeling anymore. She just… doesn’t
care. What kind of person lives like that?” Ari let the bitterness
spew knowing Sasha would understand. He always did.

“You just said the magic words, Ariadne. She doesn’t care.
I imagine that’s not a restricted sentiment. She probably moves
through life as numb as your legs are. The only time she has any
real feeling is probably when she ridicules others to make herself
feel greater than what she is.” Sasha tilted his head and
considered her face. “That’s not really what’s bothering you,
though.”

“I’m lost, Sasha.
I don’t know what to do anymore. I’m tired of just
going through motions that don’t work.” Ari exhaled slowly as her
voice cracked forcing the tears back. She returned to tracing the
constellations. “I can’t take another failed therapy.” It was said
so quietly, so dejectedly she wasn’t sure if he heard it; she
barely heard it. There was only so much let down anyone’s heart
could take. Hope was becoming an elusive illusion with each passing
day in the wheelchair.

“Perhaps you’re trying the wrong methods.”
Sasha shrugged
indifferently. “Maybe it’s time to start thinking outside the box.”
He rolled back over to his Calculus book. It hurt him to turn away
from her, when she needed him so badly, but he needed her to find
the path on her own. If she did, he wasn’t breaking his promise in
supporting her ideas.

A swift knock rapped the closed door before it opened
revealing Ari’s mother.
She stood in the doorway a moment and studied the
scene. She was dressed in a crisp, pale suit which took Ari a
little by surprise until she spoke.

“Are you coming down to services tonight?” Her voice was
soft and gentle. She was a great person but her obsession with
church made Ari uncomfortable sometimes.

When Ari was a child she went with her mother to services
and always felt unwelcome.
The air in the church felt heavy like a thick wet
blanket had been smothering her. She hadn’t been back since the
beginning of high school.

It happened at home sometimes as well, usually when her
mother was on the losing end of an argument.
Ari never studied it or
questioned why. She assumed it was her guilt or disbelief that made
it so and left it at that.

Ari studied the suit and simple pearls, instead of meeting
her mother’s eyes.
“Not today.”

Her mother’s lips pursed in disapproval but smoothed out an
instant later. “How do you expect to heal if you don’t ask for
God’s help?”

“Mom, I can’t get in and out of your church.
It’s not handicap
accessible.” Ari reminded once more.

It felt like deliberate forgetfulness at times; no matter
how many times her mother was reminded, she forgot by the next time
services occurred. It was a perfect example of selective
memory.
Ari
had to remind her five times a week, every week since the
accident.

Her face contorted in thought for a moment.
“Oh, well, Sasha
could carry you in. He does everything else for you. I’m sure he
wouldn’t mind. It’s great you have him for a friend.” She smiled
down at him.

Sasha looked at Ari.
“If you want to go, I don’t mind.”

“No. It’s okay.” Ari shook her head. “Sasha isn’t
Christian. I’m not going to impose on him like that. It’s
rude.”

Her mother sighed sadly. “Baby, I know this is hard, but
sitting in here doing nothing isn’t helping you any. Just think
about it, okay? I’ll be home in time to make dinner. Sasha, are you
staying for the meal?”

“If it pleases you, Ms. Ghita.” Sasha gave her his innocent
smile.

Ghita smiled back. “You’re always welcome at our table.”
She closed the door gently and they listened to her footsteps
recede down the hall.

“She’s only doing what she thinks is right.”
Sasha spoke more to
his text book than to Ari, but she still felt his scolding
tone.

“She was rude.
She volunteered you without even asking.” Ari
carefully pushed herself up to a sitting position. She could feel
him watching but he hadn’t moved. “Besides,” Ari continued once
comfortable again, “honestly I’m not sure
I
believe in her religion
either.”

“Maybe you should try asking your mom’s God for healing.”
Sasha suggested. “What could it hurt?”

“I would have a better chance of finding a Wiccan to heal
me.” It was a petulant retort and they both knew it, but he made no
comment to her abuse.

Sasha shrugged again and went back to his homework.
He smiled to the
Calculus book. Ari was so close. He had no doubt where her train of
thought was going to lead her. He knew her too well.

A slight guilty feeling had Ari open her mouth to
apologize. Sasha didn’t deserve the abuse. He had done nothing
wrong.

“Don’t worry about it.”
He spoke without looking at her and the
guilty feeling in her gut grew.

“I’m sorry.” Ari spoke quietly but Sasha didn’t hear or
chose not to acknowledge it.

Ari studied him as he studied the book. Something about his
easy dismissal had her dissecting the conversation. Sasha had a
roundabout way of suggesting she look in other directions but this
time she couldn’t see it. Was he actually suggesting that she try a
miracle healer or a witch?

T
hunk. Creak. Thunk
.

The repetitiveness of drawing and releasing arrows helped
clear her mind.
Not to think too much, swirled around to be able to think,
and that was the problem. There were too many thoughts to grab onto
just one.

Sasha’s backyard hadn’t changed in the thirteen years she’d
visited his house.
The archery dais was connected to the back deck. There was
a sparring type ring to the left of the dais and a weapon shed at
the end of the dais. She had spent as much time in that ring as she
had on the dais. Back then, she enjoyed them both, now… well… she
didn’t dwell on it.

Other than that, it looked like a normal backyard complete
with pool, picket fence, and fancy shrubbery.
Kleisthenes was meticulous
about his shrubbery, and they were cut in the shape of Greek
statues.

She heard the back door squeak as it swung open and the
soft click as it was closed.
Footsteps crossed the porch and stepped down to
the shooting dais. Since he didn’t initially speak she didn’t stop
the repetitive draw and release.

When Ari ran out of arrows and had to recall the dummy to
yank them out, he spoke.
“Do you want to talk about it?”

She looked up at Kleisthenes. Sasha’s dad looked much like
Sasha but in larger than life proportions. He was taller than
Sasha’s six feet by at least six inches; beefy with muscles but
they didn’t look gross or overdone like body builders. They just
looked right. His hair was slightly longer and without the ombre
fade. His eyes were darker, not the ice of Sasha’s but more of a
deep ocean. She loved the kindness in his face. Trusted
it.

“I’m not sure there’s anything to talk about
really.”
Ari
watched him yank the arrows out of the dummy. “Where are Sasha and
Nasya?”

“Sasha is on the phone with family. He’ll be a while. Nasya
is where she always is, with her books. She is a scholar through
and through.” He handed her the arrows. “You’re pulling slightly to
the right. You’ve missed the exact kill hits by an inch or so.” He
smiled and reset the target. “That tells me you can still kill a
man, but you’re distracted about it.”