Chapter Eleven
The next day about ten o'clock in the morning I watched the Defiance, Law-keeper's roller heading up the dirt road to the house. Shesha was doing the laundry, ironing, and cleaning up. I was standing next to the front window with my VBI machine gun, and she was moving about the house without paying any attention to me at all. She was just doing her job. I walked outside, and the putrid smell of the burning Baker Boys' bodies permeated throughout the area. The first thing Shesha and I did the previous day was to burn the bodies of the dead men. When Nolan exited his vehicle, I walked out on the front porch, but not with my gun.
"What brings you here, Nolan?" I asked with a concerned look on my face. Looking at me with his fatherly look, I just stared back at him.
He looked up at me with a side-eye, and then spit his wad of tobacco on the ground. "I warned you to leave this issue alone, Tommy. What the fuck!"
I walked off the front porch and then said, "Travis and Riri tried to set me up. I was about to sign a contract for a Castithan slave, and she went for her pistol. I got my gun first. I killed her and Travis. It was a clear case of self-defense."
"You went there to kill them," he said, "You said you were going to do just that."
Shesha walked out of the house with a smile on her face and then confirmed what I had said. She was a mild manner in her deliverance. Her hair hung past her shoulders, and she moved gracefully. "They planned on killing, Mister Tar. He defended himself admirably."
Nolan looked at her like he didn't believe what she was saying. "They're making a stink out this whole situation, Tommy. It's going to come back on you."
"I made a deal with Aaron. I let him keep the ring for Shesha," I said with a grimace. "Now. Those Baker Boys came on my property yesterday and forced me to defend myself. I killed two more of them."
"Several men have tried to purchase me over the last year. Travis and Riri stole their money, and killed them," Shesha said. "Surely, you can check into that."
"I will," Nolan said.
"You don't have to worry about Irisa and me, Nolan. She broke it off," I said, "She doesn't want to be with me anymore."
He laughed for a long minute. It was more of a chuckle at first before he burst into a good, old fashion laugh. He then laughed harder, and I was kind of offended because I didn't recall saying anything funny. "She's hurting, idiot. You need to go be with your paramour right now."
Later…
I stood by Irisa's bed for about three minutes while she slept. I could tell she had been crying all night, and there wasn't any reason I shouldn't have been by her side. Shesha sat on the floor in the far corner of the room, and it was her thing. I didn't know why she retreated into the corner like that, but if she felt comfortable, then I didn't really care. Doc Yewll fumbled around in her office and told me several times not to upset her patient. I'm not sure what made her say that because I hadn't done anything to upset her.
"You know I'm awake, right?" She asked. I pushed her apricot hair out of her face. Doc Yewll stuck her head into the room and then went about her business.
I placed the back of my right hand on her soft forehead, and then said, "It's time to get out of this bed."
She looked over at me with a straight face. She didn't smile or anything, and then asked, "Why?"
"Because this is no way to live," I said. "You've barely eaten anything and you're experiencing depression."
She sat up on the bed and looked over at Shesha for a moment. "So, you're a doctor now, Tommy?" She looked directly at me with a grimace on her face.
"There are much sicker people in Defiance than you. They're at home living life to its fullest," I said. I'm not sure how my actions and words affected Irisa, but she hopped out of the bed, and Doc Yewll stormed into the room.
"What's going on, Tommy?" Doc Yewll asked. "You trying to free my patient?"
"I'm tired of being here," Irisa said, "I'm ready to go home."
"How are you feeling?" Doc Yewll asked.
"A little sore, but not too bad," she said, "I want to sleep in my own bed."
"What was that, Councilman Tar? You're going to compensate good ole Doc Yewll well, and help her buy better equipment?" She asked.
I laughed. I handed her two thousand scripts, and she was ecstatic over it. "Send me your request for equipment, and I'll see what we can do. I'll talk with some of the other businessmen throughout Defiance, and we might be able to buy several pieces of new equipment."
She took the script, counted it, and then stuffed it in her safe. She looked back at me, and said, "I need a better x-ray machine. They're upwards of forty thousand scripts."
"Make a list of all the items you need, and I will present it at the next City Council Meeting," I said, "I think I can frame it as a safety issue. A healthy Defiance is a strong Defiance."
When I took Irisa back to her hovel, some of the food she had on the table had gone bad. I didn't think about heading over to her apartment when she was in the hospital. Shesha picked up the place while I talked to Irisa, and cleaned up the rotting food. She worked without me saying anything to her at all. Irisa looked over at her for a moment and then said.
"I hope she doesn't throw away anything I need."
"She won't," I said, "She's a hard worker." I pulled back the covers for her, and she hopped in the bed. I texted Rynn and told her Irisa was at home. "What do you need me to do? I can go to the market for some food items."
"I think I'm good for now," she said as she looked up at me with her big, round eyes. Shesha finished with the cleaning and sat in the far corner of the room. After about thirty minutes of talking to Irisa, I looked over at Shesha, and she had fallen asleep.
"So, are you my paramour or not?" I asked with a grimace.
"Of course," she said. "I was just upset about things. Frustrated," she said. "Those assholes caused me to lose my baby."
"Do you need some water?" I asked.
"Yeah," she said with a smile. When I stood to my feet, Shesha was already getting the water. I walked over to her, and she handed it to me.
"Here, sir," she said with a smile.
"Damn! She's good," Irisa said."It feels so good to be back in my own bed."
"I bet," I said. For about another two hours, I lay in bed with my paramour, and she fell into a deep sleep. She still had bruises all over her face, but she seemed to be healthy overall. I gave Shesha some script to buy dinner from Rory's booth, but she came back and said it wasn't even set up. It was Monday afternoon. Usually, Rory-the Irathient Rory-had her booth in position early in the morning. If she wasn't working, then somebody from her tribe worked it. At first, I didn't think anything about Rory's booth being empty. But after I ate the hell bug sandwich from one of the other booths, I thought I would pay the Bazaar a visit. I kissed Irisa on the forehead, and then Shesha and I headed to the Bazaar.
"Did you say she was of the Grado Tribe?" Shesha asked.
"Yes, I did," I said. "Have you heard of them?"
She walked up to me, and said, "The Gerado men are extremely violent in nature," she said, "Feral."
"Yes. I know a bit about them," I said with a grimace. "He's been abusing her too."
I stood in front of Rory's vacant booth and thought it was strange she wasn't working today. I tried to think back to the last time I talked to her, and I couldn't remember. It must have been Tuesday or Wednesday because I remembered she cut up my steak, I gave her sixty scripts, and Irisa complained about it. But with all the drama with Irisa and the Busy Baker Boys, I couldn't remember the last time I saw her. Shesha walked behind the booth, bent over, and found a wadded up piece of paper. She unraveled it, but then left it on the table because she couldn't read it.
"I don't recall a time when I haven't seen her working, Shesha," I said calmly. She picked up the paper off the counter and handed it to me.
"I can't read this, but it could be something," she said sheepishly.
I looked at the paper, and it was written in the Irathient language. I looked at it for a moment, and I became dismayed over it.
Note:
Ni uda nia nay morgana. Nia koryadae.
End of Note
The note simply said I think I'm going to die. I'm cursed. I assumed Rory wrote it, but I wasn't sure. In addition, it wasn't addressed to anybody in particular. I paused for a moment, and then looked over at Shesha.
"What does it say, sir?" She asked.
"I think I'm going to die," I said, "I'm cursed." I paused for a moment, and then said, "But it isn't addressed to anybody and I can't tell who wrote it."
"Favi, that's Irathient?" She asked with a befuddled look.
"Yes," I said. "It's just scribbled on a piece of paper."
She laughed sheepishly for a moment, and then said, "How can you stand to be around somebody like me with no education?"
I looked over at her for a moment and then said, "You'll learn how to read and think. I promise."
She looked worried for some reason and then said, "I'm not very smart. I'm just a haint."
"Okay. The first rule of the Tar house. We don't say things like that," I said. "I don't want you to think of yourself that way."
"Yes, Favi. I'm sorry," she said.
When Shesha and I walked past Irisa's hovel, I saw Rynn walking out of her apartment, and then I said, "Is Irisa still sleeping?"
"Yeah," she said. She walked down the stairs and gave me a long hug. "I didn't wake her up."
"Obviously, she was feeling down about the series of events and didn't mean what she said," I said.
"Miss Rynn, we think Rory's missing," Shesha said calmly.
"Wait? You mean Irathient Rory?" She asked.
"Yes, ma'am," she said.
I passed the paper to Rynn, and then said, "I think it's Rory's writing, but I can't remember her signature."
"Hold on," Rynn said. She pulled out her wallet and had a receipt from Rory in her pocket. "Look, honey?"
"It's the same," I said with a grimace. "I'm going to the People of Irzu."
"Do you want me to come?" Rynn asked.
"Baby, things might not go right," I said, "Protect my child. Shesha, go with Rynn."
"Favi, please let me stay with you?" She said.
"Shesha, it could be dangerous," I said.
"Do you think something happened to Rory?" Rynn asked with a serious look on her face.
"It's possible," I said.
"I will stay with the roller," Shesha said.
I looked at her for a moment, and asked, "Is your loyalty a ruse, Shesha?"
"I give you my loyalty because I've been with you two days, and you've treated me with respect. You haven't molested me, cursed me, or beaten me. This must be my Antarctica." She paused for a moment. "Favi, you are a good man, and I give you my loyalty."
"Well. She sees what I see," Rynn said. She held up her hailer, and said, "Call me as soon as you meet up with the People of Irzu."
Shesha and I raced about ten miles east of Defiance to the People of Irzu, and I worried for Rory. The possibility of her death played repeatedly in my mind. I told myself on several occasions to take action to save her from her abusive partner, but I didn't move on my intuition. I laughed for a moment because so many feelings flowed through my soul. I hated not knowing.
"Are you okay, Favi?" Shesha asked.
"I might be jumping to conclusions," I said. "I don't know if she's alive or dead. I might be worried about nothing."
"Then let's think positive," she said, "Without evidence, we must not come to conclusions."
People of Irzu…
I would say nearly eight hundred Iraths resided in Sanctuary City. The Mayor of the tent city was Kular Ibi. When Shesha and I walked into the city, the Irathients of Arms met up with me immediately. A lot of them decided not to take up actual Votan weapons, and I didn't quite understand that. They all had spears and bows and a lot of courage, but I thought without real weapons, they were in danger of being wiped off the map.
"Rory, udiaye es?" I asked calmly. I asked Rory's location, and the guard looked at me with a warped visage.
"Comick?" He asked. That translated to, "Why?"
"Zefae nia," I said, "Vitain, hena nayno." That translated to, "I'm worried. I haven't seen her."
The guard clicked his fingers, and another group of men brought Rory forward. She looked brittle from where I stood. She stopped about fifty feet from me, and said, "MIster Tar, I'm sick with the Irathient flu." She paused for a moment. "I'm okay, but just sick."
"Are you sure you're okay, Rory?" I asked with a grimace. "I went for a bite to eat today, and there wasn't anybody from your tribe serving."
She smiled. "I'm flattered that an honorable man such as yourself worries about a poor girl from the Badlands."
I smiled. "But you're okay?"
"Yes," she said. "No, Councilman Tar. I'm not okay." Suddenly, one of the guards smacked her to the ground, and another guard tried to thrust his spear into my chest. I pushed Shesha to the ground, and the spear nicked my right side. I rolled on the ground, pulled out my Po-tech pistol, and killed the guard. The bullet went through his head and splashed out the back of it. I ordered the other men on the ground, and by that time, the entire village came out of their tents. I didn't want to kill anybody, but the man pushed me to do it. Backing up, I picked Shesha off the ground while keeping my pistol on the guards.
"Rory, ga ee nay!" I said aloud. She ran over to me, and I didn't see any signs of the flu in her. She didn't have a reddish tint to her eyes. Her skin wasn't pasty white. "Shesha, are you okay?"
"I'm doing good, Favi," she said.
Kular Ibi walked forward from the crowd of people who gathered around the area, and said, "Once you leave, Rory, there's no returning." I could tell he meant it by the way he said it. Suddenly, I heard Rory cry out, and I knew it hurt her a lot. She had family within the community, and that meant she'd never see them again.
"I have to go, Mayor Ibi," she said with tears streaming down her face. "I can't take any more beatings."
Her boyfriend walked forward, and said, " He's not of our ilk. Just because he can speak the language doesn't make him a warrior."
"Just because you live with the People of Irzu doesn't make you a warrior," I said with a grimace. "I'm Tommy Tar from the House of Irocuz. I challenge you Irious Koba."
"What?" He asked.
"Do you accept the challenge?" Mayor Kular Ibi asked.
"I've walked the path, Irious," I said, "I've gone through all the trials of an Irathient Warrior. You either accept my challenge or be a coward to your people."
Shesha ran to the roller, grabbed my staff, and returned to me. She pulled the wooden staff out of the bag, put it together, and handed it to me. "How did you know about this?" I asked.
"I cleaned out your car earlier," she said. "It's loaded with all your weapons."
"I thought I took them all out," I said.
"Yes," she said, "I put them back just in case."
Moments later…
If it weren't for the Spirit Riders and their shenanigans, I wouldn't be any good at working with the staff. Well, Rynn taught me how to fight with it, but I practiced a lot with the Spirit Riders when I was younger. The town's people circled us, and we both had staffs. My staff had Rynn's name imprinted on the bottom of it and my name on the top. She made the staff for me in order to beat Sukar in a fight for her back when I was only sixteen. I was now doing the same thing, but I was fighting for Rory's liberation. If I defeated Irious, then Rory would be able to come and go as she pleased.
"I don't know why you're concerning yourself with Rory," Irious said. "You're a man of wealth, and she's Irathient trash."
"You hush your mouth, boy," I said, "You're going to make this ass beating very painful if you say anything else about her."
We stood in the middle of the circle in a combative, offensive stance, and from what I could tell, the adrenaline flowed through my veins rapidly. I looked at his fighting stance theoretically, and he placed most of his weight on his front leg. I was looking at his posture, the way he held the staff, and his footing for the best way to take him off his feet. When he tried to close the distance, he crossed his feet, right over left, and I tripped him up by sweeping the legs. He rolled backward, let go of his staff, and then landed on his feet. I wasn't sure why he let go of the staff, so I kicked it over to him, and we continued with our fight.
Suddenly, he charged at me with a flurry of well-placed jabs with the staff, and one of them came close to striking my right hand. He missed it, but I felt the sting nonetheless. I pretended like he hurt me, and began babying my right hand. I massaged it like he damaged it in order to change his perspective on the situation. I wanted my opponent to think he tripped me up, and if he thought he hurt me, then he'd probably let his guard down long enough for me to deliver a knock-out blow. As we circled the fighting area while twirling our staffs, I could see the stress in Shesha's eyes, and as far as I could tell, Rory looked worried too. She bit her nails and looked worried. Immediately, I lunged forward with a series of striking blows. The staffs met each other violently, and the knocking sound reverberated throughout the camp.
Logically, he had the momentum of the crowd on his side while I only had Shesha and Rory, and when it came to cheering, my Castithan assistant was reserved like a monk in a monastery. Irathient males prided themselves in their muscular bodies and sometimes used the philosophy of merely running over the weaker target when they thought muscle strength was all they needed. Irious lunged forward, kicked me in the chest, and knocked me to the ground. He charged me while I was down, and I used his momentum by chunking him into the crowd. I flipped back onto my feet and prepared for my opponent's bloodlust against me.
"He's good," the Mayor said. "He's truly an Irathient Warrior."
My opponent charged me again from a disadvantage point, and I didn't have a full grasp of which direction the strike was coming. I put my staff over my head and did a blind-side blocking maneuver. In all honesty, I should have been killed at that point because I blocked without seeing the strike. Immediately, I broke my staff into two pieces, and with my right hand, I went low, knocking my opponent off his feet. Once he fell to the ground, I locked up his arms, and he tapped out.
"You could have killed him," the Mayor said with a grimace. "Why didn't you take his life?"
"The first lesson I learned from Irzu was there's no lesson after death," I said, "It's my job to maintain life. The second lesson was we make the world better by being better."
The Mayor turned to his people for a moment. He placed his hands in front of his body. My opponent retreated back into the crowd, and I stood adjacent to the Mayor with Shesha and Rory. An aroma came from the wood-burning stoves, and it became something I enjoyed. It reminded me of the beauty of family. "Rory always has a home with the People of Irzu. She will come freely and leave freely. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, sir," the people said.
Tar Farm…
I had my field workers set up Rory's hovel on the east side of the property. She was about a mile from the main house and had unfettered access to the rapidly breeding pows. I charged her a monthly fee of residing on the land of a thousand scripts a month. Due to the pows' increasing population size, I needed her to kill them, cleaned them, cook them, and then sell the meat in the Bazaar. She did exactly what she was doing before, but now she worked for me. In all honesty, I hated the pows. I would consider them the most destructive species of mammal that ever existed on the planet. They consumed and consumed and bred and bred, and if I didn't keep them under control, they'd overtake my property in a matter of months. I felt like the pows made monsters of every farmer because we had to kill them constantly, and sometimes it meant wasting good meat. I tried to live by the philosophy of what I slaughtered I used, but the pows bred so rapidly that I found myself berating the help when I felt they hadn't killed enough.
Rynn and I sat atop of Lovely Hills, a small hill about half a mile from the house, and enjoyed a nice, pow steak that Shesha cooked for us. She was at the bottom of the hill practicing her reading skills, and we could hear her sounding out the words while reading an Old World History Book. About two hundred yards from us, I watched a gaggle of pows grazing in the grass. Rynn was discussing some of the propitious wine sales, and how we could maximize our profits, and I was simply watching the pows graze. Rynn was now six months pregnant, and she was huge. If not for Shesha, I don't think I would have been able to survive.
"We can probably get better grape prices if we stop buying from the People of Irzu," she said as she sat next to me. "They keep upping their prices, and it's cutting into our bottom line."
I continued to watch the pows graze in the pasture, and as I watched them, I would say half of them gave birth to more babies in just the time Rynn told me about the People of Irzu. "Why are the prices going up?"
"I don't know," she said, "I don't see any differences in production or sales over the last year."
"Growing the vast amount of grapes here isn't feasible," I said.
"That's right. It'll push the wine up to fifteen dollars a bottle," she said, "I think if we use the wine growers in Arkansas we can bring the price of wine down a dollar. Bixby believes if we can bring the price down to eleven dollars we can strengthen our brand."
Rynn's words made me feel good because her plan made good sense to me. "Then let's make a deal with some of Arkansas' wine growers, and work on a cheaper product." Right when I finished with that sentence, a large force of hellbugs clawed their way up from the ground and consumed the pows. It was a macabre scene of blood and guts, and I watched it like it was a work of art. There was nothing I loved more than watching the hell bugs do their job. If I could pay them for eating the pows, I would. There were two sounds I loved in life: Shesha sounding out words as she learned to read and hellbugs cleaning up the pow infestation. They brought me joy. Unfortunately, by the time we left for the main house, the pows were back to grazing, and their presence taunted me nonetheless.
Rynn was about four years older than me, so when she came back into my life, I was only sixteen. We married almost immediately upon her arrival back in my life. Often, we took our rifles to the edge of the property and had a shooting contest. Sometimes she won and sometimes I won. We were pretty good shots, and we loved the competition. Now, when we competed on shooting our weapons, if she lost, she'd blame the baby. "If not for your child kicking the shit out of me, you would lose."
"The fact that I'm barely winning in the first place just demonstrates your strength and resiliency, honey," I said as she complained about losing. Quickly, Shesha reloaded all the cartridges, and then we'd shoot the targets, analyze the shots, and work on our breathing techniques. Due to my assistants work, she'd make us lunch, and we'd sit right on the range, eat, and keep firing as soon as we finished with dinner. She'd fall into the background, work on her lessons, and then as soon as we needed her, she was right there. I walked over to Shesha, and said, "I want you to practice shooting."
Her eyes became bigger, and she trembled at the thought of holding a pistol. I didn't expect her to react in such a way around a gun, and in the New World, firing a pistol was the difference between life and death. I placed the weapon back in its holster, and she said, "Favi, please don't be disappointed in me?"
"I'm not," I said with a smile. "But I want you to shoot the weapon." She had on her white robe, and it was somewhat dirty at the bottom. I walked her over to the firing point and explained that we always kept the weapon down range when on the range. I pointed to the twenty-five-meter target and explained to her about simply pointing and shooting. When I placed the pistol in her hand, I could feel her trembling. I didn't know why she shook so, but she did. Gently, I placed the sound deadeners on her ears and had her point directly at the target. "Go ahead and squeeze the trigger," I said.
When she fired at the target, she hit it center mass, and then laid the gun on the ground. She ran out of the booth in utter fear. "Please, Favi Tar. I can't take it. I'm so scared."
"Then we'll take it a little at a time," I said, "You hit the target center mass though, Shesha."
"It took me a minute before I ever hit the target center mass," Rynn said. "We'll take your fear of guns one step at a time."
On an average day, I shot approximately thirty pows, wasted a few hundred rounds on targets, put healing lotions on Rynn's stomach, went over the books with Rynn, called Mister Bixby, argue with Ireena, and pretended Ivy was an airplane. Irisa left work around six in the evening, and I was in her hovel around six-thirty, and on most days, I had Shesha with me. She spent most of her time outside the hovel or walking the Bazaar-or hanging with Rory in the Bazaar while Irisa and I engaged in coitus. It was a Thursday in November of forty-seven when a huge festival took place. It was an old world tradition to prepare a great feast, and Defiance made plenty of free food.
In my household, we didn't celebrate the November festivities because we usually lived away from the main hub of civilization. We celebrated the Armistice in April and usually had a great feast. But since the collapse of the United States, we didn't see a need to celebrate the tradition of Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, Irisa ate more than her fair share of food on that day. When I came to her hovel, I could smell her gas, and it was rank. I'm not sure why she didn't call me on the hailer to warn me. It was like she wanted me to smell her at her worse. I stayed in her hovel for about an hour but left to take care of other things. First, I went to a City Council Meeting, and we agreed on funding Doc Yewll with some new medical equipment. After that, I watch Shesha look over a bead, bathing suit, and since we only had showers in the house, I thought she was crazy.
I walked around the Bazaar for a moment, waited for Shesha to leave the bathing store before I entered it. I stood near another booth, looked at their nicknacks, and then entered the store when I saw Shesha leave. I wanted to see what had her attention. They had a multitude of different Castithan tubs for sale, and some were only a couple of thousand dollars. There was a ten thousand dollar tub with stairs and a world pool feature that I thought Shesha would like. Immediately, I had a vision of a large, shipping container hovel outfitted to look like a home, but had the large tub placed on the inside. I called Rynn, told her about it, and she went through the books, and then berated me for the next ten minutes.
"You can't just go spending nearly seventy-five thousand dollars on your assistant, Tommy," she said. "She will feel unworthy of such a gift."
"It has to be in a hovel of its own," I said, "The steel hovel cost nearly fifty thousand dollars for the whole set up. Discuss the cost with Bixby. We might be able to get a few thousand dollars shaved off if we go through Mister Shooty."
"Baby, I'm afraid she won't be able to handle such an extravagant gift," she said, "I mean you spent nearly twenty-five thousand dollars on this bracelet, and I don't feel like I'm worth it."
"She slaves for us daily without us evening asking," I said, "She deserves this." I paused for a moment, and then said, "She'll love the tub. What Castithan wouldn't?"
Back at the farm…
It was around December the fifteen of twenty forty-seven when Bixby's crew finished surveying the land, and he put the nice hovel in place for only twenty thousand dollars. She saw the hovel go up with all the pipes and plumbing, and I simply told her it was for my business. She didn't think twice about it at all. Bixby called it the family discount price, and the tub only cost an additional twenty thousand dollars. The entire family spent the latter half of the month until the twenty-fourth of December in Defiance. I checked the finished product on December the twentieth while Rynn kept Shesha occupied, and if she knew I left without her, she'd have a panic attack. The outside of the building was made of a steel looking brick. The sign above the front door read Shesha's Paradise. It had a nice stairwell up to the door. As soon as I entered through the front door, it had rubber mats that lead to the bath. It had six, individual showers, and then in the back room was the large bath. It had beautiful, plastic curtains with unicorns on them. The ceiling portion of the room was actually a monitor, and a display of the planet Daribo, the Castithan homeworld.
When I returned back to Defiance, we sat in the living room of the rented house and shared gifts. I bought everybody a plethora of gifts, and Ivy was the happiest kid in the world. Rynn was about seven months pregnant, and she sat in a chair because of her back. Shesha reached under the tree, read over the names, and handed them to whoever owned them. When it came to the last gift, it was a small package.
"From Favi to Shesha," she said. "Oh. It's to me." She walked over to the corner of the room, pulled out the bath-bead suit, and stared at it for a moment. She had a befuddled look on her face, but she didn't say anything at first.
She placed the suit in her bag, and then I said, "It's a nice suit." She smiled at me sheepishly.
"It's very nice, Favi," she said with a fake smile.
"I spent a long time in the store for that one," I said. "I wanted to buy the perfect one."
She pulled it out of the bag, and said, "But we only have showers in the house."
Rynn laughed. "I think they work in the shower too."
Shesha gave another fake smile and placed the bath-bead suit back in the bag. Quickly, she sat back down with the family but remained quiet for the rest of the night. "We'll leave first thing in the morning for home," I said. "It's going to feel good to sleep in our own beds."
"Amen," Rynn said.
Suddenly, I heard Shesha crying, and then I said, "Are you okay, Shesha?" I looked at her for a moment, and then said, "Did I upset you?"
She placed her hands over her face, and said, "I'm ashamed, Favi. I'm ashamed because I'm not happy with my gift," she explained.
"Well, I'll be pleased if you wore it for me," I said.
She smiled. "If you ask me to wear it, I'll wear it, Favi." She paused for a moment. "It's just we don't have a bath at all."
"When was the last time you've had an actual bath?" I asked.
"When I was about ten," she said with a smile. "I snuck into Favi P'larious bath. He beat me for it, but it was worth it." Pulling the bath-bead suit out of her bag, she said, "I often dream of taking a bath wearing a suit like this." She took it out of its package, looked it over for a moment, and then said, "It's just most humans love showers. It's not the same."
"So, the Busy Baker Boys never let you take a bath?" I asked.
She giggled. "They rarely let me bathe at all. They rarely bathe." She laughed for a moment, and said, "They had heavy hands."
Back home…
We rolled up to the house in the big roller. Shesha was in the back quietly reading, and when we climbed out of the car, she didn't notice the large building with her name written on it. Rynn looked over at it, and said, "Damn! That's a work of art." When we walked into the house, Shesha sat in her usual corner, and Rynn looked at her for a second. Ireena, Rynn, and Mama all looked over at Shesha while she sat in the far corner of the room.
"Shesha, I want to see you in your suit," I said from the living room. She looked up at me with a grimace on her face.
"Okay, Favi," she said. She ran to the bathroom with her bath-bead suit and stayed for about ten minutes. When she returned, she stood in front of me with the breast and vaginal area covered. One of the rows of beads came from the center of the breast area to the underwear. The other row was in the back.
"You're a princess," I said with a smile.
She smiled sheepishly. Rynn threw some shower shoes on the ground, and said, "Put them on, Shesha."
It was cold outside, about twenty-five degrees, and I immediately grabbed my heavy coat and placed it on her. We took her outside to the new building, and when she looked up, she read the sign, "Shesha's Paradise." She looked back at me and smiled. Ireena opened the door, and Shesha was the first to enter the facility. I placed my arms around her, guided her to the bath area, and when she saw it, she nearly collapsed in my arms. I had to sit her down on the floor because it overwhelmed her.
"This is too much, Favi," she said with tears streaming down her face.
"It's all yours, Shesha," I said. "This bath only represents a fraction of how we feel about you." I turned a knob on the side of the pool to eighty-five degrees, and the water heated up. Rynn took off her coat, and she came out of her flip-flops and walked into the water. She had tears streaming down her face. She sat down in the tub, and then I turned on the bubbles, and she was in paradise. I pushed another button, and it unleashed sensation crystals in the water, and it was climatic. "Look at this, Shesha." I pushed a button, and the image of her homeworld appeared on the ceiling. "This is your homeworld."
"Favi Tar, this is too much," she said while she covered her mouth. "This is a tub for a queen."
"You just enjoy the tub," I said, "Rynn and I purchased all this for your enjoyment."