ORDER OF SEVEN (14 page)

“That one,” I say, releasing Baron’s hand and rushing toward it.

The leaves and twigs crunch as Baron and Nodin race after me. I stop and kneel at the base of the tree and study it, admiring its height, my breath coming fast and shallow. With half-fear and half-exhilaration, I lay my left palm on its trunk and whimper as the energy drives through my body, taking me, becoming me.

I’m a small child, sitting in the brown woman’s lap near a fire. Men are pounding drums while women move rhythmically to the beat. I stare nervously at the man sitting to our left—there’s something strange about the color of his skin. It’s black, but not like the others. His eyes don’t look right. He stares at me, and I shudder.

The woman hugs me, trying to comfort me. The people watch the man across the circle from us, the man with the bear mask. I feel like I know him. I trust him. He stares at the sky, moving his lips. He has a long decorated stick with an elephant head carved on the end of it. He holds his stick out toward me, quieting the crowd.

The woman pushes me to stand.

I won’t.

The bear man points his stick at me and bellows, “Mandah.”

I stand.

“Dakahn manyahn mah pi tah nili hasi,” he booms.

Gasps break the silence and everyone repeats the name in unison seven times, reaching out to touch me. The creepy man to my left smiles. I feel uneasy.

There’s a commotion, scurrying, shrieks. Pride turns to panic. I’m shoved into the arms of someone new. The brown woman and the scary man fade from my view while I scream.

I blink back into awareness. Nodin is crouching nearby and I stare at him, dazed.

“Are you okay?”

“I saw the dream. The memory from the night of my naming ceremony. That’s never happened before with the tree. But this time, it’s different. The brown woman. She wasn’t taken that night.”

“What do you mean?”

“There was no struggle. He wasn’t dragging her away.” I pause. “Nodin, she was clinging to him.”

His mouth drops open. “Are you sure?”

I nod. “And the speaking man’s stick—it had an elephant’s head carved in it. I’ve never seen that before in the dream.”

He stands. “You’re being given new information.”

“That’s not all.”

He crouches back down. “What?”

Chills fight for property on my arms. “After I’m given the name, the tribe chants it. Seven times. Just like in Baron’s vision.”

He stares at me.

“Where’s Baron?” I ask.

“Over there.” He motions up the trail, where I see Baron working with an enormous orb of energy.

“He pulled it from me just now?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“A lot?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Has he given any back to me yet?”

“No, but I don’t think he intends to.”

“Why do you say that?”

He gestures to Baron. He has the energy in front of him, compressing it, this ball the biggest I’ve seen. I don’t know how he’s withstanding the heat; Nodin and I can feel it from where we sit. Baron works on compounding the energy, slow and steady, until it’s where he wants it. He winds the ball back in one arm and hurls it upstream with a growl.

Nodin and I jump up and run to him. I look in the direction he threw it and notice a rippling effect in the air like one sees on a hot day over asphalt.

Baron leans over, palms on his knees, chest heaving. “Keep watching,” he says.

We keep our eyes on the water. After about a minute, I can hear a roaring sound and grab Nodin’s wrist. It gets louder.

A white-capped surge appears from around the bend, raising the water level at least three inches. It rushes past us like a runaway train, ripping roots and branches out of its way. The roar wanes as the surge travels on downstream.

“What the hell?” I gasp.

Baron straightens. “When the energy scatters, the water absorbs it. It has inertia going upstream at first, but the downstream momentum eventually turns it around.” He looks at me. “You just saw your energy in wave form.”

“Cool,” Nodin says.

It dawns on me what just happened. “I can’t believe I just channeled at another tree.”

Nodin nudges my arm. “See? I told you water is the key.”

“Why didn’t you give energy back to me?” I ask Baron.

“I didn’t have to. I could’ve pulled for a month and never run out. I wasn’t taking from you. I was taking from what comes through you.” He shakes his head. “It’s unreal.”

“This is how it needs to happen from now on,” Nodin says.

“How much longer are we doing this?” The enormity of it all crushes my chest, threatening to squeeze the air from my lungs. “This is a shit-ton of energy we’re working with. What on Earth could we be preparing for?”

Baron and I look at Nodin for an answer.

“I don’t know more than I did two weeks ago,” he says. “I swear.”

“I don’t understand why we can’t know anything yet. Aren’t your guides telling you anything else?”

Nodin looks at the ground and shakes his head. “No. They’re not.” He pauses. “They’re gone.”

“They’re
gone
?” I say, loud enough to echo.

“They vanished after the night you two met. I guess their job is done.” He straightens and sets his jaw. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore. They told us we have to find our biological roots to know the purpose of all this.”

His gaze settles on me. “Devi, get a drink of water. We’re going for round two in five minutes.” He brushes past me.

I sit on the ground, my gut twisting in knots. Train and Emilet are gone. No longer in Nodin’s life...or mine. I can’t help but feel a little lost. Abandoned. If I feel that way, I know Nodin is crushed.

I take a sip of water and watch Baron towel himself dry.

Despite the overwhelming events of the day, I’ve never felt so alive. I just channeled at a different tree. I’m no longer a prisoner in my town and I’m about to spend the entire evening with Baron. Alone.

•◊
13
ץ

CHERRIES

“S
o what is the plan?” I ask as we near Baron’s apartment.

He glances at me in the rearview mirror. “It’s six-fifteen. Let’s eat and then you and I will go.”

“Sounds good. How about burgers? I can’t eat any more pizza,” I say.

“I’ll eat anything. I’m starving,” Nodin chimes in.

“Burgers it is,” Baron says, whipping the car into a drive thru.

Back at the apartment, we eat our burgers and fries without speaking. When Baron is done eating, he takes a quick shower and changes into fresh clothes while Nodin and I relax and flip through TV channels.

“We should get going. We’re meeting my guy in twenty minutes,” Baron says as he walks out from his bathroom. He’s changed into jeans and a black shirt. His hair is still wet.

“Your guy?” I say.

“The guy that’s been doing my tattoos since I was seventeen. Ethan.”

“Oh. Is the tattoo shop pretty close by?”

“He doesn’t do mine out of his studio. We’re meeting him at his house.”

“You said you think you’ll have her back by eleven?” Nodin says. I try not to roll my eyes.

“Oh yeah, it shouldn’t take longer than that. I’ll call you when I drop her off at the hotel. I’d come up and show it to you, but it’ll be freshly wrapped. You’ll see it later.”

“All right. Let’s go.” Nodin stands. I follow suit.

“Wait,” Baron says, walking into the kitchen. “Over here, both of you. I have a pre-tattoo tradition. You have to partake since you’re here.” He pulls down a bottle of Silver Patron.

“Oh hell,” I laugh.

“Oh hell is right,” Baron agrees, getting three shot glasses from a cabinet, which he fills with tequila. We clink glasses and shoot them back. The alcohol burns its way down my throat and I cough.

So does Nodin.

“All right, now we can go, ladies,” Baron says, heading toward the door.

“Oh shut up,” Nodin snaps. “I only coughed ‘cause I didn’t have a lime.”

“Whatever you need to tell yourself, ma’am,” Baron teases. “Don’t forget your purse.”

“You’re so annoying.”

“Are you two always this dorky together?” I ask.

“Just him.” Nodin walks ahead of us to the parking lot. Arriving at his Bronco, he extends a hand to Baron and they shake. “Be careful,” he says with a look of warning in his eyes.

“Will do. I’ll have her back as soon as possible, and thanks,” Baron says.

Nodin gets in his Bronco and Baron and I get in the Jeep. Alone at last. I lay my head back on the seat and exhale as Baron drives out of the parking lot.

“Why does Ethan do your tattoos at his house?”

“The salon is too public. I feel better doing them in a private setting, and Ethan’s cool enough to accommodate me.”

“I see.”

Fifteen minutes later, he parks in front of a little yellow house. We’re in an older neighborhood.

Baron’s hand rests on my thigh. “You made it hard to concentrate this afternoon,” he says in a low voice.

I lean toward him, my whole body a fit of tingles. “Why’s that?”

“When you channeled, you were so powerful,” he says and then kisses my forehead. “But so vulnerable.” He kisses the tip of my nose. “It was so damn sexy.” He kisses my mouth and my insides liquefy in a heap of flesh and nerve endings. The kiss ends way too soon. “Thanks for being here for this.”

“I wouldn’t miss it.”

“I guess we should get in there.” He meets me on the other side of the jeep, takes my hand and leads me around the side of the house to a detached garage and knocks on the door. “It’s me.”

The door opens, revealing a symphony of sights.

Ethan is tall, with a nice body and light brown skin. He wears a red and gray striped beanie over a head of dreadlocks. He flashes a great smile with dimples, and the outdoor light glints off a nose piercing, a ring through his bottom lip, another through his eyebrow, and diamond studs in his ears. He is, of course, covered in tattoos.

Ethan reaches out and shakes Baron’s hand as they exchange hellos and boss nods. Baron introduces me, and Ethan greets me with a warm smile.

I like him already.

Inside I recognize a faint smell as weed. Not freshly smoked, but baked into the walls and furniture. I’ve never partaken. SAIs rarely do because quite frankly, we don’t need to enhance our experiences, but the Jamies are frequent fliers.

Ethan’s garage is set up like a studio – part lounge, part tattoo parlor. It has a retro vibe with funky colors and furniture, but the best thing is the music. He has Billie Holiday playing. Ethan and I make small talk about our love of Blues music. He’s also a fan of John Lee Hooker and shows me his collection of his CDs, some of which I’ve never heard of.

“Can we get started? We’re on a time crunch,” Baron interjects.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. We’re doin’ an elephant, right?” Ethan says.

“Yes, but a specific one.”

“You got a picture for me?”

“Yes and no. I need you to draw it from a description.”

“Oh, it’s like that?” Ethan gets a sketch pad and pencil. He sits at a glass top desk and snaps on a bright lamp. “Go ahead.”

“Devi’s going to describe it to you.”

“I’m going to try,” I correct him.

Baron looks at me. “You’ve envisioned it. I know you have. Tell him what you see. Don’t judge it or rethink it, just tell him.”

He’s right. I close my eyes. “It’s the elephant’s head—”

“Full front or profile?” Ethan says.

“She’s looking at me.”

I can hear his pencil scraping the paper. “Ears out to sides or flat against head?”

“Out.”

“Tusks or no tusks?”

“Tusks.”

“How is the trunk positioned?”

“Hanging, but about halfway down it’s turned up, crossing in front of its left tusk.”

“What else?”

“Eyes with emotion. Almost human-like. Showing compassion.”

“Where?” he asks.

“Where?”

“On Baron, where do you see it?”

“Oh, uh...on his back. Next to the tree trunk, under the big branch—almost on his side.”

He draws for a couple more minutes. “Okay, open your eyes. How’s this?”

I inspect his artwork. Baron chose this guy well. “Oh, wow. It’s perfect.” I look at Baron. “Is it okay with you?”

“If you say it’s perfect, then it’s the one.”

“How’s the size?” Ethan asks me.

“Too big. Make it about the size of my palm.” I hold my hand out. “Is that okay, Baron?”

“Whatever you say.”

“Let me transfer this.” Ethan turns on a light under the table, illuminating the glass. He gets clear paper, waxy paper and a marker of some sort. We watch as he turns a dial underneath the table and it shrinks his original picture so he can trace it. He finishes about ten minutes later.

“Get naked, pretty boy,” he says.

Baron takes off his shirt and leans over a table.

“Damn, man, you been liftin’ since you been here last? You’re making me look bad.”

“I doubt that’s possible,” Baron says.

Ethan asks me to direct the transfer paper where the elephant should go. He places it where I indicate, then pulls off the paper. A purplish-black outline of the elephant stays on Baron’s skin.

“How does that look?”

“I love it,” I say.

Baron walks over to a full-length mirror, then nods his approval. “Let’s do it.” He lies on his stomach across a table covered in white paper.

Ethan puts on funky, black-rimmed glasses and then washes his hands before sitting on a stool next to Baron. He pulls a metal stand with the tattoo gun and ink closer to him. Pulling latex gloves on his hands, he says, “Ready, B?”

“Yep.”

I hover near Baron, not sure where to stand.

“Devi, you can pull up a chair if you want,” Ethan says.

“Okay.” I grab a zebra print stool and set it next to Baron’s table, not sure how much I want to see.

“Do you have any tattoos, Devi?” Ethan asks.

“No.”

“We might need to remedy that.” He points the ink gun at me.

I laugh and lean away. “Not tonight you’re not.”

“Just promise you’ll bust your tattoo cherry with me.”

I roll my eyes. “Okay, I promise if I ever get a tattoo you can do it.”

“Can we start please?” Baron says.

“Sorry, sorry. So demanding, this one.” Ethan turns the needle gun on. It’s a god-awful noise that reminds me of a dentist’s drill. I watch with a hand over my mouth, wincing as it pierces Baron’s skin. It takes several minutes to become accustomed to the noise and sight, but I didn’t expect the blood.