Chapter 19 – fragmented recollections
They had been gone for more than two weeks now and the longer their apartment stayed empty, the larger the hate burned Harley from the inside. Cooking her and turning her into something hideously similar to the monsters in Lucy's dreams. She tried to break into their apartment a couple of times but each time it ended in failure. Sometimes she would be interrupted by the others living on the same floor. Sometimes she got tired and gave up and on other occasions when she thought she was about to crack the lock, she found that another locking mechanism had been activated when she tried to bust in.
What really triggered Harley though was not that Arthur had just up and left their life long relationship for this woman he met because of their pesky daughter, no. It was the fact that Arthur seemed content with life now. With that woman, with that new job of his, with their daughter.
Harleen could not understand for even one millisecond why Arthur left her. It couldn't be that the woman was more beautiful than Harley: that woman looked like she just walked out of a Tim Burton film. It couldn't be the sex. That woman was gay. Unless the woman was cheating on both her poof lover and Arthur. It couldn't be her career. As far as Harleen was concerned she was doing something illegal (probably marketing drugs). And it certainly couldn't be because she was taking care of Lucy because in Harleen's eyes, that woman could not take care of children let alone Lucy of all people. She couldn't. A person like that woman just couldn't.
A woman like her would be too busy cutting her wrists up to take care of a bratty kid.
She tried again. Harleen jimmied the lock with her hair pin and cursed underneath her breath when she heard another lock activate somewhere along the length of the door. She yanked the pin out and turned to trudge back over to her own apartment. However, much to her dismay the land lord had just entered the hallway.
"Harley!"
Harleen ducked her head and cursed Aashi to hell. "Yeah, Big G?"
Big G, a portly balding man, with a face as red as a tomato due to all his drinking. His was out of breath by the time he reached her. "You're behind again! This is the fifth time!"
Oh yeah. She hadn't paid the rent again. She wasn't lying to Aashi when she told her she needed the money. Except it wasn't for Christmas shopping, but she would never admit it, least of all to that woman.
She turned around timidly. "I'll get it ta ya, Big G, I just need more time. My husband-"
He interrupted her with his blabbering mouth. "The one that lives with that weird Goth chick now?"
Harley gulped. Her stomach dropped when he placed a meaty hand on her shoulder. "Look, if you can't pay in money, why don't you pay in something else? I can't just let you live here for free, ya know."
Harley tried to back away but he wasn't letting go. "Look, I think-"
He interjected again, "You're real pretty, ya know that? It's a shame for it to go to waste. Come on" he pushed her towards her own apartment, groping her all the way. "I'll show you what a real man fucks like."
Through all her protests, Harley became aware of a new dread filling, but even that wasn't enough to smother the acidic hate that boiled in her veins for Aashi.
;-;-;-;-;
Their stay in St Lucie had been cut short when Aashi informed them that the final event had been moved a few days ahead. This was the reason why in the middle of the night, the Flecks hastily packed and were on the road towards Orlando.
Lucy didn't mind much: for her she got that much closer to Disneyland. She was planning on snoozing during the road trip. It helped that Aashi had switched to the classical station. Just as sleep gently lulled her to a soundless tranquillity Aashi's hand reached in towards the back for Lucy.
"Lulu, do you need more blankets?" Lucy jolted, but nuzzled further into her pillow Aashi had nicked from the hotel for her. "No, Mum. I'm good. Can you drive properly?"
By properly Lucy had meant with both hands on the steering wheel. Thus far, it had mainly been Aashi driving as she knew the way, curiously.
Sleep still bugging the family down (apart from Aashi), Arthur slouched in his passenger seat and took a moment to pick a topic to converse with Aashi in an attempt to wake himself and keep Aashi attentive.
"You been ta Florida before, Ai? You seem to know all the shortcuts"
Aashi seemed to be in a tranquil mood recently. She was much more softer, tender in the recent days. Arthur wanted her to stay that way, especially since she was more receptive to his affection and much more open to certain topics too. Her past being one.
Her raspy whispers barely reached his ears. "Yes, I have. I told you before."
Arthur licked his lower lip. His brows almost touched in puzzlement. "You have? When?"
"Christmas. Though I'm not surprised you don't remember. You were too busy butchering my turkey." Aashi drummed her fingers on the wheel in remembrance.
"Oh, don't remind me of all that good food." Arthur gazed out the window, wishfully. "I still can't get over that pudding."
"The fondant?" Aashi cocked a brow.
"Is that what it was-z?"
Aashi suppressed the need to roll her eyes at his salivating face. Aashi reached back again. "Lucy, you awake? We'll be there soon so don't fall asleep. Mum can't carry the luggage and you at the same time."
Lucy grumbled. "What's Dadddy for then?"
Arthur looked offended. "Yeah, let me do some work too, woman. I can carry things. I'm a man."
Aashi sighed tiredly. "You can barely walk straight."
"What's that word you brits like to use? Sounds like buttocks."
Aashi looked perplexed momentarily. "You mean bullocks?"
"That's it! Bullocks to what you just said." He pointed at Aashi lethargically, laughing. Lucy giggled softly as well.
Lucy's eyes went to Aashi's shadowy form to the window. She noted the buildings and neon lights buzzing out of view. As she watched the buildings pass and the empty highway came into view, when all was quiet except for Wagner playing the back, Lucy murmured. "You must have had a really good Mummy, Mum."
Arthur felt a coil materialise in his stomach when he saw Aashi's knuckles transform into white bubbles as she held the wheel. The peaceful atmosphere was obliterated much to the obliviousness of Lucy. Aashi's jaw worked when she spoke in a low and almost closed off voice, "what makes you say that, child?"
Lucy hadn't expected a reply and her tone said as much. "'cause you're so good at being a Mum."
Arthur watched with hawk like eyes as Aashi eased her grip on the wheel but the tension in her jaw remained.
"You don't need to have a model to be a good mother."
Lucy was not going to go back to sleep now. "But, but, at least your mum was nice, right? She was nice?"
Aashi's eyebrows twitched. "No. No she wasn't." The finality with which she spoke with inspired a great horror in Lucy's heart. "Actually." Aashi chuckled mirthlessly, "She was a lot like Harleen."
A great weight tumbled on hearts of the Flecks. A plethora of questions brewed from that one sentence.
"A simpering coward who pandered to the highest oppressive authority because that was all she knew how to do."
That particular blow was not intentionally aimed for Arthur, but it floored him nonetheless. Is that how she saw him? As the dictator of the house?
Lucy tried. She really did. "What about your Daddy? He was better? I mean dads are usually good" She tried to find the slightest hope in Aashi's childhood, but she did know what her father already did. Aashi had witnessed scum her entire life.
Had Arthur's sensor like eyes not been trained on Aashi's face, he would have missed that shadow of pain that darkened her eyes. "He was worse." It was barely over a whisper yet it was as threatening as a bellow in that tense atmosphere. "From what I have seen, Lucy, it is rare for fathers to be so caring. You got lucky."
And then, "My father threw me out."
Lucy sat back in her seat. A thought ran through her head, 'Mum had it worse than me. She didn't have a mum or dad. All alone… unless she had brothers and sisters!'
Lucy sat forward in between the two front seats. "What about your brothers or sisters? You had those, right?"
Aashi inhaled tiredly. It sounded like a great chore if anything. "Not really. My brothers didn't like the idea that their sister was so much like a boy. In India especially it's seen as a taboo almost, for a woman to be strong and independent." That thought held some power of Arthur. He could never see Aashi as some woman who could be cowed into submission and from the picture he had drawn up of the chauvinistic Indian society he could see how that could be a problem for a woman like Aashi.
Aashi only carried on to stop any further questions from Lucy that she could already hear her forming in her small head. "And my sisters… I'm not too sure what I did to them. They didn't hold much love for me either."
The rest of the ride was sat through listening to Wagner, Vivaldi, Bethoven and Bach. Not a single word was spoken between the three of them until they reached their final destination.
Aashi's final opponent had been a woman. A Viking looking German. Tall, meaty and savage looking she was. She hadn't gone down easy either. In fact, this particular fight had been unpredictable. The boxers were both equally matched. At one point Aashi looked like she was about to lose. In the last round, just as the timer was about to go, the German made a fatal mistake and Aashi did not hesitate to strike her down. However, unlike the other two fighters, the German fought with honour and even declared Aashi champion without any animosity.
A day had past with them lounging. It was a dense atmosphere. Thick with remnants of tension and uncertainty. Lucy and Arthur were of the mind that they were leaving soon, and then Aashi struck them with the news that they were going to Disneyland.
She had looked quite confused herself to be honest. When Arthur pulled her aside and asked her how she could have possibly gotten tickets to Disneyland at the peak of the holiday season at the last minute, she gave him a coy smile, and told him. 'Someone owed me a favour'.
Lucy's eyes were brimming with life and she couldn't have chosen a better day to go to Disneyland. It was a one day pass but even that one day was enough. She awoke early, at dawn, and jumped on both of her parents with the strength of a baby hippo and screamed at them to get ready. Arthur and Aashi groaned and snuggled closer together, unintentionally.
When Lucy managed to haul their arses up, she rushed their breakfast and thankfully Aashi had packed a bag of essentials for the trip the day before otherwise Lucy would have rushed her to in that too. They were dressed for the scorching heat of the day.
Aashi muttered to herself, "It's supposed to be thirty-three degrees Celsius and the Bandar probably wants to-"
"Woah, Ai." Arthur's eyes snapped to her face. "Did you just say Celsius?"
Aashi frowned at him briefly, "Yes. Why?"
"Darlin' in the US we don't use Celsius." He gave her a mocking grin.
Aashi rolled her eyes as she pulled at the petrol station. "I know. You weirdos use Fahrenheit which is bullocks if I must say"
Lucy smiled in the back seeing her parents playful interactions and sipped away at her water bottle even though Aashi had warned that they were not going to stop for potty breaks.
Just when Aashi was about to step out for gas, Arthur held her wrist fast. "Wait, Ai. I gotta tell you somethin' important."
Aashi's eyes locked with Arthur's sombre eyes. He looked concentrated on holding one thought and he leaned in close which made Aashi uneasy. Whatever it was he needed to tell her he obviously couldn't bottle it in anymore-
He pecked her cheek and gave her a cheesy grin, "Can ya getch me some Pringles-z?"
She groaned and made a face at him but said nothing. Arthur settled in his seat, jumping around and rubbing his palms on his knees with a wide Cheshire smile.
"You're so mean, Daddy! Making Mummy work extra hard!" Lucy swatted his shoulder with a dimple forming grin.
"Oh she'll be fine." Arthur waved her off.
While Aashi waited in line to pay for the gas, Arthur rifled through his bag while Lucy snuck through her own bag. When Lucy found nothing, she looked around and found Aashi's bag. Lucy bit her lip and looked at Arthur's face which was worried with frustration. She looked back at Aashi's black bag which hung at the back of the driver's seat.
It couldn't be too bad.
She dove her hand in the small pocket at the bottom of bag. Her fingers brushed against something hard and cold. Lucy grabbed it and pulled it out. It looked like a case for something. Long, blue and rectangular. She opened it with a click and her head jerked back. By now Arthur was spying from his seat too trying to not make it obvious that he was watching curiously too.
It was one of those compact disc that was steadily replacing cassettes. Lucy wasn't too familiar with them since her father had mainly used cassettes. She wondered at the way the colours skimmed over the disk from green to blue, and even purple and pink in small sections. Someone had scrawled 'happy times' on the disk itself.
Strange, it didn't look like Aashi's elegant hand.
Lucy pressed the button in the middle of the cassette which released it. The cassette fell into Lucy's lap. Lucy looked down at it and then her head jerked up. Arthur was staring at her with wide eyes. "If you got that from your mother's bag without telling her, and you scratch that all up, I don't think she's gonna be really happy with chya…"
Lucy looked back down to the CD and made to pick it up. Arthur shushed her and carefully inserted her index finger into the middle of the CD. He pulled it up to his face and scrutinised it for any scratches. It looked squeaky clean.
"We should see if it works." Lucy offered eagerly, although they both knew Lucy just wanted to know what was actually on the disc. Arthur popped it into the CD player of the car and waited. The car was thankfully in neutral so all the systems were still on.
Jackson 5's hip beat of 'I want you back' began to strum through the speakers. Arthur and Lucy shared a perplexed look. This was not Aashi style at all. Unless she had a guilty pleasure she was keeping from them. Arthur flipped through some of the tracks. Some unfamiliar Afro beats came on and then some more popular songs from the last century.
Rupert Holmes' 'Escape (The Pina Colado Song)'; Marvin Gaye's 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough'; David Bowie's 'Moonage Daydream'; Fugees' 'Killing Me Softly'; Lips Inc's 'Funkytown'; Salt N Pepper's 'Push It'; Technotronic's 'Pump Up The Jam'; Kool & The Gang's 'Celebration'; Cyndi Lauper's 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun'; Whitney Houston's 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody'; Janet Jackson's 'Nasty'; Michael Jackson's 'Billie Jean'; Hanson's 'Mmmbob'; Vanilla Ice's 'Ice Ice Baby'; and Los Del Rio's 'La Macarena' were just to name the first volume.
It was absolutely not Aashi's style. It was way too happy. Not that Aashi was a particularly depressing person. The neon and upbeat songs just didn't fit Aashi's dark, gothic, fast guitar heavy metal look. Arthur was still flipping through the tracks when Lucy began to tug at his shoulder, "Daddy, I think-"
"One sec, Lou." Arthur didn't even look up.
"Dad! Seriously-" she insisted but Arthur waved her off again. It wasn't until he heard the door open did he realise why Lucy was pulling so hard at him. Aashi sat down, shopping bag in her lap, but as soon as she heard Haddaway's 'What Is Love?' the light vanished from her eyes although her face remained impassive. She looked at the small rectangular screen which displayed the song and said, "Oh. You found it."
Lucy didn't pick up on any anger and nudged her gently. "Hey, Mum. What's that?"
Aashi glance back at her and pulled a strawberry flavoured Baby Bottle Pop out for her. "Here, Bandar. Don't eat it all at once."
Arthur opened his mouth but no sound came from it because Aashi dumped a tin of Pringles and a fat water bottle in his lap. She didn't say anything but he saw the way Aashi was avoiding his gaze.
He tried to ease her with a charming smile. "Aw, you do care!" He tried to kiss her cheek again but she pushed him away with a small twitch upwards of her mouth.
With the new mountain of hit classics time flew by for the Flecks and Lucy was very surprised when they had parked up and were already in line to get into Disney World. Lucy was holding both Aashi and Arthur's hands when in line. Just like her there were thousands of other children, all wide eyed, faces stretched in a near manic looking grin. They looked like they were all about to blow.
When they came to the gates the woman across the panel gave them a look over like she couldn't believe what she was seeing. A tall nefarious Caucasian man with horrid scars in a white polo and shorts with sandals (Aashi let him have his way). Alongside a tall Indian woman in jean shorts, with black creepers, and a black fishnet crop top which did not leave anything to the imagination with a small baby girl covered in monkeys and unicorns clutched at her hip.
Arthur saw the woman's eyes linger on his scars, but the woman flat out stared at Aashi. Arthur licked his lips and took a peep at Aashi. 'Is it the top? I know you can basically see anything that ain't being covered by her bra. Or is it the thick sunglasses? Or is it-?'
Arthur dealt with the woman as Lucy urged Aashi to go forward. Aashi put her on her feet and told her to be patient.
The moment Lucy stepped through the gates it was like the universe exploded for her. Her smile dropped and her mouth gaped wide at the sheer size of the park. Her eyes twinkled in awe and her body almost became limp with stupefaction.
Aashi kept a firm grip on Lucy's sliding hand and kept a wary eye out. There were way too many people for comfort and too many scenarios played in Aashi's head of something going wrong. Still, she would stomach it and go with the flow… for Lucy. Her eyes met Arthur's face that was beaming down at Lucy. He had never seen Lucy this happy, not since Christmas anyway.
Lucy first dragged them off to the Indy Racing scene where kids could get into mock racing cars. Unfortunately, only one parent could accompany the child, and Aashi pushed Arthur in the seat before he could argue with her. She muttered something like 'he needed quality time with his daughter'. Even though it was a kiddy ride, he did enjoy the smooth cruise Lucy led them on. Aashi held her head high as she watched the two from the side lines. She was being stared at but she didn't really care: they always had a reason to stare whether it was her skin, her fashion or just because of her general aura.
She caught a couple of mothers sneer at her and guided their children away as they covered their eyes. Aashi smirked at them. She was going to wear what she damn well pleased.
Off they went then to the Magic Tea Party where Lucy used all her might to spin the wheel but in actuality it was Arthur and Aashi who were actually spinning the cup. Lucy let her double French braids fly around as they spun around. Lucy had insisted that Aashi do her braids that morning despite the fact that Arthur now knew how to do a basic three strand brain as well thanks to Aashi's insistence. Aashi's own single fishtail brain was wrapped around her neck to keep it from whipping the others in the face. Arthur had briefly toyed with her long braid and used it as a fake moustache.
As they herded past the ice cream stand, Lucy caught sight of the Cowboy Bear Jamboree but wasn't too eager. It was Arthur who misread her and decided to make them sit through the show. Almost as soon as the show started Lucy sat on her knees so she could put a hand to Aashi's ear, "Mummy, they are really scary."
Aashi unfolded her arms and whispered back, "Don't worry they're just robots"
Lucy's brows shot to her head. "That's even more scary."
Aashi chuckled. "Do you want to get out of here?"
Lucy peered over her shoulder and then shook her head. "No, Daddy is having too much fun."
Aashi leaned back in her seat and true to Lucy's word Arthur's fascinated eyes were glued to the Bear that was playing one of the flutes. Aashi and Lucy entertained themselves for the rest of the show by keeping an eye on Arthur's animated face.
By the end he wouldn't shut up, "That was amazing. Imagine what we could do in the future with such technology. I know these ones were just given simple commands but in the, uh, future we could tell them to clean our houses, be our companions, or even bomb other-"
Arthur kept hammering on and on about the use of robots which Lucy muted out, but as usual Arthur was mostly speaking to Aashi about this. They meandered through the Haunted Mansion which Arthur was eager to go to but by the end of it Lucy was quiet happy not to have been too frightened and Arthur was sorely disappointed.
Aashi laughed at his expense. "What did you expect? It is for children, you know?"
Then they climbed over the Swiss Family Treehouse and they were lucky enough to see the Princess Parade by two in the afternoon. Aashi scowled hard at the faux Cinderella at the beginning of the parade. She gave her the finger when Cinderella waved at her. The look on her ace was priceless but the adults surrounding Aashi began to grumble to themselves when they caught sight of Aashi. Then when Bell waved at Aashi she gave her the stink eye. However, when Ariel came into view and waved at her Aashi hesitated and took a gander at Lucy who was by her feet.
Aashi sighed internally and hoisted Lucy to her shoulder. Lucy went mad when Ariel blew her a kiss, screaming and waving her arms around. "Mummy! Did you see that Ariel saw me! She saw me!"
Arthur looked perpetually bored as if he wanted to be anywhere in the world but here. Aashi zoned out when the animals came around but then when Malificient came into view under the Fantasia Demon's globe, Aashi actually paid attention and even winked at Maleficent when she looked her way.
"Ai, look! Pinnochio looks so gay!" Arthur sniggered.
Aashi kept one hand on Lucy's thigh and pointed, "So does Aladin! Looks like he has a pole up his arse."
Parents gave them odd and disgusted looks. The sniggering odd clothed couple.
Aimlessly, they wandered the Animal Kingdom and Arthur suggested they take the tour on the truck but Lucy and Aashi adamantly declined. The Animal Kingdom was deemed too boring and even the animals seemed too bored to move about so they left. They avoided the Festival of the Lion King: Aashi didn't want a repeat of the Carinval back at Amusemt Park. It looked too Carny.
To cheer the two of them up, Aashi took her turn and directed them to the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. They were tunnelled upwards with the train and then it plummeted and circled around, going under bridges and through some more tunnels and then up a few more hills. That seemed to fire both Arthur and Lucy again. So, Aashi led them to Splash Mountain where they were soaked to the bone. Then Tommorowland Speedway where another slow cruise got them all in the mood to eat something. They had snacked all day but hadn't had any proper food in a while.
It was nearing midnight when they all tumbled into bed.
;-;-;-;-;
Harley was having another go at the door when she was interrupted once again but this time it was Bob. He didn't seem to notice her as he was too busy reading a text, but there was no doubt why he was here.
Bob didn't come to shitholes like this for anything: he only ever came to see Arthur, or because he owed someone a favour.
His head shot up when he was in hearing range. His face betrayed his shock and what could only be pity. "Harley." He greeted her curtly.
She civilly replied. "Bob, whatchya doin' here?"
Bob appraised her from her greasy, limp, blonde hair, to the dark circles of her eyes, to the cracked nails and ragged, almost skanky, clothes. Her jeans were stained at the frayed ends, her off white top was crumpled and her pink sandals looked like they had seen better days.
He pointed towards Aashi's door lazily, "That ain't your door, Harls."
Harley's smile dissolved as quickly as she pulled it on. "I know, I was just checkin' ta see if I could get in…" she didn't lie. She had been caught red-handed.
Bob tucked his chin in and his eyes hardened. "Come on, Harley. You know you can't get in like that. You'd have to get the owner to let chya in and Aashi ain't here."
Harley sneered at Bob with hints of disgust lining the edges of her visage. "She's outta town! And I need to see if my Puddin' left me-"
"Artie ain't your man no more, Harleen. And good riddance."
Harley's pained expression gave him all the incentive to carry on. "You weren't good for each other, Harls. Been sayin' this for years. You been drivin' Arthur up a god damn wall. You always been sucking the life outta him ever since junior high. First you took him away from his pals… God knows how Artie managed to convince ya to keep me around. Then you went and got yourself knocked up when we all told you to be careful."
Harley's face became tomato red with fury. She gave him the foulest accusing glare possible and spat her acidic anger at him. "You can't blame me for gettin' pregnant! Do you know how many times Arthur wanted to-"
Bob silenced her with his lamentable tone. "Everyone knows, Harls. You came off your pills."
A deep silence stagnated between them with only Harley's deep breathes to accompany them.
The silence was torn by Harley's screeching, "Ya can't prove that! You don't know anything! And what do ya mean everyone knows?"
Bob continued as if there hadn't been a pause. "Ya came off ya pills when everyone told you not ta do anythin' stupid. Ya wanted to settle down and have a whole litter of kids with Arthur even though Arthur told you no. Even though he told you no. You went and tried it anyway. You destroyed your own life and Arthur's life."
Bob looked away from her, appalled by her, and stood sideways to scowl at the wall. "Worst of all, even after everything he stayed with you for Lucy's sake, and you?" he huffed in disbelief. "Instead of loving Lucy like you shoulda, you hated her guts just 'cause you couldn't control her life like ya wanted to. 'Cause she didn't turn out like you wanted her to be."
Harley stomped her foot which only served to push Bob into further accepting Arthur's new turn of life. "I do love her! I just show it different, just like how Puddin' shows his love different!"
"Yeah, you love Lucy like Arthur loves you." The sarcasm made Harley think twice before reacted.
Harley felt a fissure rip through her heart when the reality of the situation collapsed on her full force.
Bob, oblivious to her breakdown carried on, hissing his next words with as much venom as possible. "Ya know what's the funny thing? That woman who you hate so much, Aashi… she had more of a heart than you ever did. Have you ever seen her with Lucy?" he queried with a raised brow. "She's the girl's real mother. I've only seen her with Lucy a couple of times but I can already tell she would do anything for that girl including mending a man whom she had just met because his own fiancé tried to break him at every turn point."
Harley clutched her chest as a phantom pain began to bloom in her chest, spreading its roots of helplessness and wrath deep into her arteries.
A humourless smile graced Bob's face. "Aashi's good for them. You can tell, have you seen them recently? I don't think I've seen so much meat on Lucy's bone before, and Arthur? He's only been this happy since he first held Lucy. Do you really wanna fuck that up? I wouldn't. Arthur's my brother and I'll be damned before I see him crawl back to you."
Harley gasped and staggered backwards into the door and slid down to her haunches.
Harley received no pity from Bob. "Listen, if you continue to harass Arthur and his family I'll take you to court and you really don't want that. Try to break into their home one more time and I'll get the cops involved."
He left her broken.
It weighed on her: Arthur, the man she had loved since she had set her sights on him… no longer loved her. He hadn't in years. Maybe in some small corner of his heart he still loved her, but he had moved on from Harley and he had taken Lucy with him. He was living his life without her for the first time in a long time.
Harley felt another fissure rip. She was alone. Used. Abandoned. Now, threatened. She had given so much to be with Arthur; her family, her career, her hobbies… and what did she have to show for so many years of devotion? Nothing. Everything in her apartment currently held no meaning to Harley when moments ago they had been her very reason for life.
She understood what Arthur saw in Aashi. That woman held nothing materialistic to her heart. She had the people around her. Harley knew next to nothing about Aashi yet she also knew that woman at the core. Aashi had a family. Lucy and Arthur. She had a lover. She had a career which she must have been well known in. She did whatever she wanted. She could do whatever she wanted. She could literally live her life as she wanted.
Of course, Harley did not consider how difficult life was for an independent woman (let alone a woman of colour) in a patriarchal society filled with privileged, bigoted, misogynistic, idiots who couldn't see past their own fat bellies despite it being the twenty-fist century. A woman who had come from nothing and had fought her entire life to get to where she was in her life at the current standpoint. Harley didn't see that. Ugly, green jealousy clouded the miniscule section of her mind which allowed her to rationalise the world.
The fissures in Harley's heart became corrupted with revenge which poisoned her heart black, pumping potent pride and animus prejudice through her entire being. Harley raised her head with a new sense of life. Her eyes glinted with malicious intent. She knew what she had to do.
;-;-;-;-;
Aashi had kept an eye on her phone through the entire trip. A fact that Arthur learnt when they were heading for the airport near Orlando. Arthur had been reaching for it to place it in Aashi's back pack when Aashi snatched it away from him with an ominous look. "Don't touch it." She had said.
She then muttered to herself, "Dead. Four, three, one, four." She sounded paranoid, almost.
Traces of concern filled Arthur's mind like a puff from a splint. He hadn't commented on her behaviour but tried to help her along. His girls looked like they were itching to get home. Arthur was the one who drove this time after seeing the dreaded face of Aashi when she neared the rented car.
Although, Arthur had been extremely puzzled when Aashi said she would guide him to the airport. He was of the mind that they would have to return the car in Miami. Aashi just gave him a lopsided grin when he expressed his confusion.
It wasn't a long ride but as usual Lucy had to fill the silence. "Hey, Mummy! Can we come back here again?" she leaned in between the two seats and stuck her face inbetween the gap.
"Maybe" Aashi replied off-handily. "I don't think you or your father could handle the heat though."
Arthur chuckled when Lucy began to whine. "Yeah, we can, can't we Daddy?" Lucy looked to him for back-up.
"I don't know. I like Gotham's cold. 'Sides look at you, Lou, you look like a slice of bacon straight off the pan."
It was Arthur's turn to whine when Aashi reprimanded him, "Don't compare my daughter to that disgusting animal." Aashi veered her eyes towards Lucy, "But you have tanned quite a bit even with all the sun lotion I put on you, Lulu."
Lucy curiously looked her arms and true to her mother's word they were about four shades darker. "But that doesn't mean-"
"Lou" Arthur interrupted her, ironically a bit tired with all their holidaying. "Mom said she would think about it, okay?"
Lucy pouted and settled in her seat semi-defeated. That didn't last long since another idea popped in her head. She sprung back in her original seat with a bright smile. "Hey, Mum. Is it this hot in India?"
Aashi glanced at Lucy, interested to see where she would go with this because she knew her daughter and she knew there was going to be a follow up question regardless of her answer. "It's hotter. But it depends if your near the low lands or a mountain range. But then again, that is the case in most of Asia."
"Have you been to many places in Asia, Mummy?"
"Oh yes, many. It's quite beautiful." Aashi's tone turned wistful.
Lucy held her tongue before she could accidentally spill all of her burning questions. She didn't want to hurt her mother.
Aashi knew her daughter too well though. "Speak your mind, Lucy."
"But, how did you go to all those places if your daddy…" she trailed off softly, not knowing how to ask sensitively.
"You mean after I was kicked out?" Aashi's mood didn't swing afoul. That was a good sign. Arthur kept a sharp eye about though. "Well, being alone on the streets may be dangerous but it can be very liberating as well. You don't really have to worry about the things you usually do when you're with a family and have to live by society's standards."
Lucy asked, unafraid. "What's lib-or-ating? It sounds like liberty! You know, like the statue of Liberty!"
"Liberty means freedom, Lou." Arthur got involved in the conversation. "So, what Mom means is that she felt free when she became homeless."
"I was not homeless" Aashi added incredulously.
Arthur raised a brow at her. "Really?" he licked his scar. "Then what would you call it?"
"Living by the street and living on the street are two different things, love."
"Mhm" Arthur couldn't help but show his sass off to Aashi, it was too fun. "Go on then-ah"
"Like I said, it was very liberating, very freeing. Sure, people labelled me a street rat, especially after I got into so many brawls in the street with any idiot who looked at me wrong, but I suppose all young people are like that at that age. Angry." Aashi became quite animated. Using her hands to illustrate and emphasise certain points.
Lucy patted Arthur's shoulder. She tried to whisper, but she only managed to copy the raspy sounds of a murmur whilst retaining the volume of a yodeller, "What's a brawl?"
"A fight. Mummy got into a lot of fights." He tried to whisper back but he did just what Lucy did.
Aashi continued like she hadn't heard them though her bemused expression told Arthur that she did hear them. "You sort of get in a brawl every day when you reach that point. Usually it was about food and territory, but you did get the odd idiot who would go at you if you looked too comfortable." She suddenly looked out the window with a forlorn look, "But then you got the hagglers."
Arthur's concern leeched over to Lucy as well. She may have been a child, but she was a child of Gotham. She knew some of the dangers of the world. Aashi paused and didn't look as if she would expand, but she did. "People who would just pick a fight with you for the sake of it. They were bad news. Had to avoid them."
Aashi's voice sounded far away even to Lucy. It was like Aashi forgot she was speaking to others. It sounded more like she was reminding herself. "Especially the kids. Especially the girls. You didn't want to be raped and put on the market. Otherwise you would lose some part of your body whether it was a limp, or an organ. Or you would find yourself slave to some old pervert…"
Lucy didn't understand half of the mutterings of her mother but she knew it was bad. Very bad. Something inside her hurt to think about what her mother could have gone through.
Arthur's hand went from the clutch to Aashi's limp hand, "Ai?"
Arthur didn't even beat himself for sounding so scared. He could tell by the ghosts shifting in Aashi's eyes that she was lost somewhere in the tortured part of her mind and it rattled him to the core as he had often seen this sort of look when he gazed upon himself in the mirror. Aashi was unresponsive, her eyes still flickering.
"Ai" he took her hands in his fully and she reeled herself back in.
Arthur had decided that he didn't like it when Aashi went down memory lane. He was fearful she would get lost and wouldn't return to him.
She jerked, looking at him with wide eyes, and her lips parted revealing her straight teeth. There was a feral look in them and Arthur knew he had to wait it out. He prayed Lucy had enough sense to stay silent and she did. All it took was a flash and Aashi's face morphed back into a weary one.
Arthur squeezed her hand and she squeezed back. They were pulled out of their moment when Aashi's phone rang four times. Curiously, she didn't pick it up, she just stared at the pocket in which it lay. Then it rang directly after again for three times. She didn't pick up. Then it rung once and then it rung again four more times. She never answered or moved to make it look like she would answer it.
Arthur flashbacked to the moment in the hotel room where Aashi snatched her phone back and muttered to herself. Four, three, one, four. Dead.
Dead?
But what, or rather who?
Aashi flicked on the radio and turned it to the news channel. She let it play and didn't pay attention. That was until the name Mwangi popped up. She visibly sat up straighter, very alert, and her eyes fixed on something outside.
"This is no joke folks. Wasaki Mwangi, the CEO of the international arms dealer was found dead earlier today. Mr Mwangi was said to be associated with one of Africa's most notorious arms dealer, *Sanjivan Ruprah, a Kenyan national of Indian extraction. He has been described as 'odious' by the British government."
The female presenters voice, Lauren, was like nails scraping over a black board. "Yes, Mark, this Mr Ruprah was banned from actually entering British territory after he was 'allegedly' illegally supplying weapons to rebel forces in Sierra Leone. They were both Kenyan, weren't they?"
Mark's eager voice broke through again. "Yes, they were. He was arrested earlier in the year in Belgium, actually. Mr Ruprah was named by the UN about two years ago as one of four men, four men who sold arms to the Revolutionary United Front in Sierra Leone in clear breach of international sanctions. He was asked about his relation to Mr Mwangi but he has made no comment so far."
"Of course, he hasn't. You can't get more guiltier than these two men. He also had ties to the rising political party Kenya African National Uni-" Lauren was cut off when Aashi flicked the radio off. Arthur noted the way her eyes shimmered with a great level of satisfaction. Almost as if she had just carried out the greatest act of revenge.
Unbeknownst of Arthur that is exactly what had happened. Aashi had dropped the first domino in the ending of the Emese tribe: she had killed Asilia's first killer. The man who she had saved Asilia from all those years ago in the small broomstick room during the wedding.
Fucker was dead and she had no doubt Deathstroke carried out her instructions down to a tee. Though she would have preferred to kill him herself, she was not going to abandon her daughter.
Confusingly enough when they had arrived at the airport there was a shady hobo looking man waiting for them. Aashi had handed him the keys and wished him good luck not before she searched the car down for all their possessions.
When she pulled out the CD, Lucy had tugged at her jeans. "Mummy, who gave that to you?"
Aashi didn't take her eyes off of the CD. "What makes you think someone gave it to me?"
"'Cause you don't listen to music like that."
Aashi answered her as she rubbed her thumb over the writing with a longing look. "It was Asilia."
Yeah, that would be about right. That was what both daughter and father told themselves.
Aashi stared at the disk for a few more moments before she stuffed it in her bag. "Come on, let's get our bags checked in."
Around an hour later, as Arthur dozed in his seat high up in the clouds, Lucy contemplated hard over what Aashi had what she had learned of her mother. She had been abandoned and thrown to the unforgiving streets. She didn't say how long but Lucy had a sinking feeling that her mother had been on the streets for a good couple of years.
A callous but warm hand covered Lucy's own hand. Lucy glanced down to her hand and then looked to her mother. She was smiling ardently. "It wasn't that bad" she rasped. "An old lady that lived deep in the Himalayas who had enough clemency took me in."
Neither were aware that Arthur was as unconscious as they thought him to be and caught every word like dripping honey.
To be continued…
*Sanjivan Ruprah – he was a real arms dealer who fuelled the bloody civil war in Sierra Leon and was actually arrested for his crimes in February 2002.