On the Road was incredibly boring. Shion had to pee really badly now. These two factors combined to make him jittery. He looked out at the darkness that had well and truly swallowed Valdez. The only light came from the nearby bar. Shion thought about going in there. They'd have bathrooms. They'd have a phone. Maybe he could call his mother and tell her he'd made it to Valdez. The dashboard clock said it was nearly ten, though, so she was probably in bed. She was a baker, she had to go to bed early. Shion looked back at the book, then adjusted the little battery-powered heater so it aimed a little more at his hands. He was still freezing.
It was ten now. Nezumi had been gone for an hour. Shion would just go pee, look around, then come back. Nezumi would never know. Shion pulled on his parka again, tugged on the hat Safu's grandmother had knitted him, and went to a bar for the second time in his life. He felt tiny claws prick his coat as he left the cab of the truck, and whiskers scraped his ear. When he glanced sideways, Shion realized Cravat was coming along for the ride.
The first time he'd been to a bar, his mother had taken him there for his twenty-first birthday. He had known everyone in the bar since he was a baby. He had one drink, a beer, that he couldn't bring himself to swallow. He'd given it to an old man in a flannel shirt that had fit him when he'd been younger and stronger and now hung on him like he was a coat hanger. The old man had smiled at him with twelve teeth.
This bar was very different.
For one thing, the lights kept changing colors. There was a ball that turned and projected colorful lights on the walls. Men were crowded around the bar, like they had been at the other establishment Shion had visited, but some were also crowded around a stage. Shion heard an announcer speaking in a low, husky voice. Shion saw the bathroom sign, though, and shuffled towards it. He felt Cravat duck out of sight, the rat tucking himself at the back of Shion's neck just as the barman spotted him. The barman raised an eyebrow, then looked the other way.
The urinal wasn't horrendous, though the graffiti was just completely inaccurate.
Shion was drying his hands on his snow pants when he heard a few whistles. He poked his head out of the bathroom and saw the men at the bar crossing to get closer to the stage.
"Hey, she's on!"
"Awww man, I been waitin a week to hear her!"
"I been thinkin about her all week!"
There were a lot of snickers and elbowings going on. Shion thought about what he remembered from frat boys and started blushing. This was very different from the bar he'd been to back home. He looked down quickly. Someone had knocked a packet of matches to the ground that read WEST BLOCK BAR AND NIGHTCLUB.
Someone had said West Block before…
"Hello, gentlemen."
Shion felt himself go completely numb. He raised his head slowly and looked at the stage.
A woman was standing easy in six-inch black heels. Her dress was cut to the thigh, silvery and glittering in the rainbow-colored lights. She was slim, tall, with dark hair clipped out of her face but hanging loose past her shoulders.
She shifted her weight to the other leg, holding the microphone casually, and she smiled. "I'm Eve. Nice to see you." She closed her eyes for a second, then opened them. They were steel grey and gleamed, but not in the dangerous way Shion was used to. This was far too… well, sensual. This was a new side to Nezumi.
And then Nezumi, who was called Eve right now, opened her… his mouth and started to sing. No music came on to cover the flaws. There weren't any flaws in his voice to cover.
"Highway run
into the midnight sun.
Wheels go round and round;
you're on my mind.
Restless hearts
sleep alone tonight.
Sending all my love
along the wire.
They say that the road
ain't no place to start a family.
Right down the line
it's been you and me.
And loving a music man
ain't always what it's supposed to be.
Oh boy,
you stand by me.
I'm forever yours,
faithfully."
Shion took a breath for what felt like the first time in his life.
"Circus life
under the big top world—"
And then Eve, who had been making randomized eye-contact and smiling faintly at the wet-eyed truckers surrounding him, made eye-contact with an albino boy who was standing by the door with his emotions naked for the world to see.
And Eve straightened up, shoulders losing their sultry curve and shapely legs taking on a distinctively aggressive stance. His voice grew a little harsher. But he was a professional. The show went on.
"We all need the clowns
to make us smile.
Through space and time,
always another show,
wondering where I am,
lost without you.
And being apart
ain't easy on this love affair,
two strangers learn
to fall in love again.
I get the joy
of rediscovering you.
Oh boy,
you stand by me.
I'm forever yours,
faithfully."
Men around the stage were starting to turn and look at who Eve was glaring at every other verse. Shion was trying to edge his way out the door without actually missing any of the song. Cravat squeaked whenever Eve hit a high note. Eve began singing wordlessly, eyes narrowed but voice still sweet. Shion forgot he was trying to escape and just stood, looking naked again. There were some quiet murmurings from the crowd underneath Eve's melodious croonings.
"Who's the kid?"
"What's she doin?"
"He botherin her?"
"When's the next girl comin on? She gets nekkid."
This last one was a much louder comment from a huge bear of a man who was making his way from the bar to the stage by holding on to the wall for stability. The men around the stage glared at him distastefully. Eve was watching him now, still singing.
"Faithfully."
"Where's the other girl?"
"I'm still yours."
"Whozzis?"
"I'm forever yours."
"She's fuckin hot."
Eve's eyes were slits. "Ever yours."
The man had reached the stage now and was staring blearily at Eve. "Wherezzer tits though?"
Eve closed his eyes. "Faithfully."
There was a silence that the drunk man filled with a very large burp. "You a man or a lady, lady?"
"Thank you, gentlemen. Excuse me," Eve said, and took a small bow. The men who had been watching him perform clapped quietly, sincerely. Eve nodded at them and turned to go. His dress was backless and Shion took another breath in that felt distinctly different from every other breath he'd taken in his life.
"Take it off, woooo!" laughed the drunk man. "Take it off!"
Eve took an imperceptible pause, then kept moving. He glanced over his shoulder at all the men, who were either staring at the drunk man or staring at Eve, and he winked. And then he was offstage.
"Wan' my fuckin money back," the drunk man yelled. "She wasn't even a she!"
For some reason, Shion found himself running towards this man, then flying through the air, then punching him hard in the face. It was at this point that all hell broke loose.