The Dragon Tree (8 page)

              Billy was so exhausted after his first flight and spectacular fall that he fell asleep quickly near the fire. Hot exhalations from his nostrils blew sand and grit all over the shelter.

             
Eva and Hiroki huddled on the opposite side of the fire, staring at the dragon slumbering a few feet away. They were still too pumped up with adrenaline to even consider shutting their eyes. And thankfully, the fire had dried their clothes and warmed them.

             
“I’m telling you, it was the fruit from that tree,” whispered Hiroki. “That poisonous crap got into his blood and turned him into… into…”

             
“A dragon,” sighed Eva. “If we’re going to have a serious conversation about this, let’s stop pretending that’s not what he is. I’ve read enough fairy tales to know a dragon when I see one, and he couldn’t fit the bill better.”

             
“A little convenient isn’t it?” asked Hiroki. “He just happens to look exactly like we expect from all those silly stories. The wings and the tail and the claws. Breathing fire. All of it. It’s like we took a poll from a few centuries of fantasy and cobbled him together based on consensus.”

             
Eva tossed a pebble in the fire and wiggled her bare toes. Her shoes were lying next to her, drying more slowly than any other item of her clothing. “It makes perfect sense if dragons are real – and we now know they
are
real – that they’d look the way they do in the stories. All those stories came from somewhere. They were passed down through generations. If those stories started out as actual experience people had millennia ago, then the physical description should be pretty close.”

             
Hiroki wasn’t satisfied with her answer, but he didn’t have a better one. “What about the tree and the fruit? I don’t remember reading about either in any fairy tale.”

             
“There could be other things about Billy’s new form we haven’t learned yet. Things people never knew back then.”

             
“Like whether he prefers Japanese food or Mexican,” said Hiroki with a grimace. “You really want to be there when he gets hungry? You really want to be his friend when the government sends a bunch of fighter jets to blow him out of the sky? That’s how this ends, Eva. It ends with the whole world terrified of Billy and willing to do anything to kill him.”

             
That moment, Eva caught sight of a ship puttering across the harbor and headed out to sea. The deck was covered in industrial equipment, a few sailors standing idly at the railings and smoking their morning cigarettes. The name
Alpine Angel
was stenciled on its side.

             
Eva jumped to her feet and ran out of the shelter, positioning herself between Billy and the boat. Her eyes were full of panic every bit as intense as she’d felt while hanging on to her life by a foot the night before. “That fishing trawler is one of Aidan’s father’s! The harbor will be crawling with boats any minute now!”

             
“Even if it is, I doubt Mr. Humphries is aboard. I doubt he gets his hands dirty on deck too often, and even he decided to play fisherman today he’s got about thirty of those boats. What are the chances he’s on that one?”

             
“I don’t care
who’s
on board, Hiro! We can’t let
anybody
see Billy like this!”

             
Hiroki rose and walked over to her, holding up both hands in a futile attempt to calm her down. “We can’t hide him, Eva. He’s way too big and we’re way too small. It might not be today or tomorrow, but eventually… someone
will
see him.”

             
“Then he needs us that much more,” she whispered.

             
The long night had come to an end, and the sun was peeking over the eastern horizon. Hiroki and Eva couldn’t see the sun rising from their place at the base of the west-facing cliff, but when they looked back inside the shelter they saw its effect.

             
Billy was changing again.

             
It started at his leather tail. The clumsy appendage gradually shrank into his haunches. His bulky body contracted and shortened as well, and his limbs thinned. His folded wings shriveled and the webbing dematerialized into a wisp of faint blue smoke. All the while, his boulder of a head withdrew into his broad and leathery shoulders, shrinking as it went, until it was the size and shape of Billy’s own head.

             
“It’s the sun,” said Eva with a relieved smile. “He changed when the sun went down, and he’s changing back as it rises.”

             
Hiroki nodded absent-mindedly, unable to take his eyes off of Billy as he lost every characteristic of his animal self. His reptilian ribs telescoped down to human dimensions and his blue skin lost its pigment. His snout shortened and his jaw compressed until he was recognizable again. His arms and legs were covered with bruises – from his violent splash into the harbor, Hiroki thought – but the bruises were
all
he was wearing.

             
“Give him your clothes, Hiroki,” said Eva.

             
Hiroki gasped. “You’re kidding right?”

             
Eva shook her head angrily at Hiroki, indignant. She reached for the bottom of her own shirt and lifted it up to expose her belly. “What’s wrong with you? He’s naked.”

             
“All right!” Hiroki yelped. “Better me than you.” He turned his back to Eva, afraid she would see how red his face had gone, and tugged off his shirt. He folded it neatly and handed it to Eva, then slipped off his pants. “My ‘
girl jeans’
won’t even fit him,” Hiroki complained as he stood in his tight white briefs, his hands crossed over his groin in a futile attempt at modesty.

             
“It’s just until we get him to your car,” said Eva. She covered her eyes as she squatted by Billy and laid the clothes beside him. “You’ve got a trunk full of charitable donations, remember?”

             
Billy’s eyes fluttered open. The first image he saw was Eva’s face. “Good morning,” he yawned. “I had the weirdest dream.”

             
Eva laughed and handed him Hiroki’s clothes. Billy smiled at them for a moment, too groggy to understand what the clothes were for. Then he felt a cool morning breeze down south.

             
“Whoa!” He jumped to his feet and ran around in a circle, looking for a place to hide while he jumped into Hiroki’s jeans – much too small for him. “Who stripped me naked? Hiro, you little pervert!”

             
Hiroki forgot his modesty and marched toward Billy with his hands balled into fists. Eva intercepted him halfway and hugged him, unable to stop herself from laughing. “Put out the fire, okay? It’s a long walk to get back to your car.”

CHAPTER NINE

             
Billy was sleeping soundly in the back seat of the Buick. Eva insisted that Hiroki drop off Billy first, but after the crazy night they’d just had Hiroki was in no mood to listen. “I’m taking you home first,” said Hiroki. “I’m guessing Billy’s dad is used to him roaming the streets and won’t even notice when he slithers in at dawn.”

             
Eva turned to face Hiroki, her eyes gone narrow. “He just had the worst night of his life and you’re still attacking him. Every chance you get you take a shot at him. Why, Hiro? Why can’t you just give him a chance?” She turned sideways in her seat to level her eyes on Hiroki.

             
Hiroki slapped his palm on the steering wheel. “You don’t know that.”

             
“I don’t know what?” she asked.

             
“That it was the worst night of his life. It might have been the best night of his life for all we know. The guy just flew, Eva. He flew! I don’t care how much the rest of it hurt or how scary it was. I’d trade places with him right now if I could.”

             
Eva parted her lips to disagree with Hiroki, but she found herself remembering the terror of her fall and the moment Billy caught her. There was fear like she had never known, yes, but there was exhilaration too. And she wasn’t doing the flying. How much more thrilling would it be if she was in control? She shook the question out of her mind.

             
“Whatever you thought of Billy before today, everything has changed.”

             
Hiroki scoffed loud enough that Eva couldn’t ignore it.

             
“Hiro—”

             
“No, Eva. I’m sick of it! It’s bad enough I have to watch you with that asshole Aidan. That pompous, arrogant, conceited, full-of-himself—”

             
“Those all mean the same thing!”

             
“Just when I think you might have finally realized what a scumbag that rich daddy’s boy is, just when I think you’ve opened your eyes and can see what’s standing in front of you for what it really is…” He nodded his head toward Billy. “Now you’re defending
him
? Not only is he a dipshit, he’s an even bigger asshole than Aidan!”

             
“He’s right,” said Billy in the backseat, his voice a hoarse croak. His eyes were still half-closed, but he had pulled himself upright to lean against the door.

             
“Which part am I right about?” asked Hiroki, annoyed that Billy had heard their conversation.

             
“You’re right that her boyfriend is a super-duper mega asshole of the first degree who may or may not have crabs. You’re right that I’m an asshole, too.” Billy sighed and closed his eyes again. He extended his arms on both sides of his body and swiveled at his waste. “And you’re right about flying. It was… amazing.”

             
Eva turned to face Billy, the corner of her mouth turning up in a somber smile.

             
“Yeah, well,” Hiroki argued. “I never saw you fly. All I saw was an oversized lizard flapping its wings… and 
falling
.”

***

              As Eva crept up to her house, her neighbor Mrs. Healey was collecting her morning newspaper in a pink bathrobe. She wiggled her nose curiously, but raised her coffee mug in an awkward greeting.

             
Eva’s bedroom was in the back of the house. She’d never climbed in or out of her window before, but Hiroki had done it so many times it couldn’t be
that
hard. To her great dismay, it turned out that the only way up to the roof was a drainpipe running along the back corner of the house. There was no way she would attempt another treacherous climb after last night’s debacle.

             
Apparently, Hiroki was a circus freak.

             
Eva moved on to Plan B.

             
She ran in place for about sixty seconds until she got her heart rate up and a few droplets of sweat appeared on her brow. It wasn’t too convincing, but it would have to do. She tightened her ever-present ponytail like she would for a real run, then pretended to pant and sauntered through the kitchen door.

             
Her parents were both sitting at the table eating bowls of cereal. Salvadore looked up from his science fiction novel and eyed his daughter with utter bafflement. He swallowed the bite of soggy flakes stranded on his tongue and absentmindedly patted his bald scalp. Her mother Rosa was so focused on her copy of Marie Claire that she didn’t even look up. Her hair was in curlers and her makeup already applied. She would never be caught dead outside the house without her face on.

             
“How was the team building watchamahoozit, sweetheart?” asked Salvadore. “Didn’t expect you back so early.”

             
“Yeah, it was good. Love bonding with the girls…”

             
Rosa looked up at last and sighed. “Get yourself some breakfast, Eva. You’re too… why are you so sweaty?”

             
Eva blurted out her response far too enthusiastically. “From running!”

             
“Running, were you?” asked Salvadore, seemingly unconvinced. He was a kindhearted man and had never raised his voice at Eva or her sisters. His raised eyebrows qualified as quite a lot of emotion, in fact. They put Eva’s heart racing again.

             
“In those clothes?” Rosa asked, her voice dripping with disapproval.

             
Eva looked down at herself and nearly screamed. She was too sleep-deprived to realize her lie was dead on arrival: she was wearing jeans and a sweater from the previous night! “Oh these? I, um… when my other stuff is dirty… and it was kind of cold out when I… because it was so early—”

             
“Like training at altitude,” said Salvadore as he spooned another soggy bite.

             
“How’s that?” asked Rosa, turning her disapproval on Salvadore.

             
He patiently chewed his flakes and gulped them down before continuing. “You train under harsh conditions so that the actual event is much easier. Those clothes look a lot harder to run in than your shorts and tank.”

             
Eva laughed out loud as her head started nodding on its own.

             
“He’s a dentist but he knows all about training at altitude. Ha!” said Rosa with a groan. “Are you excited about tonight? Ooh, I’m so excited.”

             
“Tonight?” Eva asked, genuinely confused.

             
“The wedding! At the Humphries! Did you sleep at all last night? I knew I shouldn’t have let you go out the night before the big event. Go upstairs and sleep a few hours, would you. When we walk up that glorious Humphries driveway I expect you to be presentable.”

              Eva slipped inside her bedroom, closed the door behind her and dropped to the floor against it. She was still laughing, but the laughter had turned to unabashed relief. That is, until two eleven-year-olds sprung out of her closet.

             
“We caught you!”

             
“Yeah!
Totally
caught you!”

             
Anita was wearing Eva’s raincoat and a pair of slacks that were four inches too long for her. Myra was wearing about half a dozen skirts and an Alpine High School sweatshirt. They both tumbled as they charged across the floor with accusatory fingers wagging at their big sister.

             
“You were gone all night!”

             
“
All
night!”

             
“We hid in your bed to surprise you when you got back.”

             
“When you
snuck
in.”

             
“But you never did.”

             
“No, you never
ever
did”

             
“Until
now
.”

             
“Exactly!”

             
Eva fell back on her bed. Her sisters jumped up beside her, and flopped across her to pin her to the mattress. “Okay! You got me. What do you want to keep quiet?”

             
The twins hadn’t thought this far, apparently. They exchanged a surprised look, then tried to play it cool. With fingers pressed to pursed lips, they must have been communicating telepathically, dreaming up ways to torment Eva for years to come.

             
“How about you can each have one pair of shoes.
One
,” Eva emphasized.

             
Twenty minutes of hard negotiation later, her diabolical sisters skittered out of her room with three pairs of shoes each and a plastic caddy full of beauty supplies. Most of the makeup items were gifts from her mother that she hardly used. No great loss. But the shoes? She would miss the black pumps more than she cared to admit.

             
She shut off the light and climbed under her covers, and she was asleep in seconds.

***

              William was getting ready for another drive up the mountain when Billy slid out of Hiroki’s car and stumbled his way up the porch steps. He bumped his head on the doorframe as he entered the trailer and didn’t seem to notice his father staring at him with dark eyes.

             
“Start talking,” said William as he crossed the room and examined the clothes Billy was wearing. “Start with the golf polo and the pleated trousers.”

             
“Please sir, just let me go to bed. I
need
to go to bed.”

             
“You need to hop in the truck and head up the mountain with me. I spoke to the foreman and he’s agreed to give you another chance. Only because the Watkins kid is down with the flu. It’s a second chance, Billy.”

             
“I don’t want to work at the site, sir.”

             
“What’s wrong with cutting lumber? You have a problem with the way I make my living?”

             
“No sir. I’m just so… so tired.”

             
Billy stumbled past his father and into the kitchen. There were a few fresh grocery items on the counter, including a bag of potato chips. He tore it open with his teeth and began stuffing his mouth.

             
William stomped into the kitchen and snatched the bag away. “If you’re awake enough to eat me into the poor house, you’re awake enough to work for your meals. At least while you’re suspended. You’re on thin ice already, Billy. Do not cross me on this. Not after I stuck my neck out for you with the foreman.
Twice
.”

             
“I’m afraid I’ll make another mistake. I’m afraid I’ll hurt someone.”

             
“No, you’re afraid you’ll amount to something. That’s why you do everything you can think of to ruin your life,” He took hold of Billy’s shoulders and gave them a sturdy shake. “And
mine
.”

             
Billy pushed his father’s hands off his shoulders and stumbled backward into the fridge. A new box of cereal tumbled down and landed on his head. He flinched when his father stooped to pick up the box.

             
“Have I ever hit you? Answer me, Billy. Have I ever hit you?”

             
“First time for everything, sir,” Billy mumbled.

             
“Maybe you’d rather find another place to live?”

             
“Maybe I will. Maybe I’ll go live with Mom.”

             
William laughed out loud. “That’ll be the day. How do you think you ended up here, huh? You think I had to fight to get custody over you? No, Billy. Your mom begged me to keep you.”

             
Billy gripped the kitchen counter so hard his knuckles went white. He felt his blood warming as it surged through his veins. He felt his whole body go hot. His skin began to itch, but he didn’t let go of the counter to scratch. He was afraid of what he might do if he let go.

             
“She never wanted you, Billy. You’re lucky you got nine years with her before she took off. You’re lucky you get a birthday card every year. And you’re lucky – listen to me, kid – you’re lucky your father doesn’t kick you out on your ass for acting like a juvenile delinquent.”

             
An angry tear appeared in Billy’s eye. He tried to wipe it away before it could slide down his cheek, but the tear was too quick. It ran onto his lip.