Six in eve, and already night was beginning to shove its cold, dark nose in the sky. The tinted windows of the library betrayed the actual daylight left, making time within feel thirty minutes forward. Ket sat at his usual table, tapping his finger. A wad of spearmint gum sitting like a buccal--a word he'd learned from Emeral--against his cheek. He wasn't a chewer; that was obnoxious and habit-forming. But the flavor was soothing, and even though he wasn't all that anxious it was always wise to have insurance.
Birthday parties. Going to them was less annoying than actually having it thrown for your honor. Getting gifts was fun, but always felt very selfish and thoughtless somehow. What was the point of a new toy if it would be replaced by something else come next gift-giving chance? And why did they have to be so expensive?
Giving gifts was much more fun, but Ket rarely had a chance to do it. Every year for mom's birthday he'd always given her something, usually something little. Yet it was never the gift he thought most about; it was the means by which it was given. Hiding it in a shoe, under a pillow, or, best of all, in plain sight. A game, like hide-and-seek.
He sighed and wrinkled his forehead. He had no gift. No peace offering. Nothing.
He'd had plenty of time to get one, but for the life of him couldn't decide what to get. Maybe he could pretend like he had caught something from Emeral...except he'd promised her he wouldn't punk out.
Even as the thoughts walked along in his head, it was already too late; hear yee, hear yee, entr'th Lady Lyza...
"There he is!" Lyza pointed with hand, the other linked with her brother's jacket. "That's him."
"Okay, okay. Now remember it's not polite to point."
Ket slid off the chair as the two rabbits approached, their ears swiveled back behind their heads.
The older one extended his hand down. "Ket, I presume?" They shook. "Good. Ket, this is Lyza. Lyza--Ket."
The little rabbit poked his side. "Silly head. I know Ket, we have class together!"
"Oh so you two've already met?"
"Ugh. Stop being stupid and hurry up or I'll be late for my own party!" She turned her face to the tiger and beamed. "Ready to have fun?"
"Uh...yeah," The orange tiger replied quietly with a little nod. He glanced at Lyza as she gestured for him to hurry.
"Then c'mon!" She barreled out the door, followed by Ket and lastly Kval. They flocked to the car, blue--or was it green?--and Lyza opened the door. "Which side do you want?"
Ket didn't really understand. He went with a neutral shrug.
"Okay, well I'll take the right then," she crawled over the seat and sat at the opposite window. Patting her palms on her jeans she patiently-impatiently waited for the two boys to Get. In. The. Car! "Slow as logs," she muttered.
"All right, everyone inside and accounted for?"
"Aye-aye cap'n!"
"Right," the engine started, "So...where were we going again?"
"Ugh!! You're so en....en-fee-er...en-fee-er...ee...ay...ter...ing?"
Ket smiled unnoticeably. Kval was a very strange person, indeed. He'd heard much about Lyza's brother from Emeral: once an abuser of both drugs and people, but now the antithesis.
The conversation they shared didn't really make sense to him, but its tones were sort of cheerful; the behavior of siblings was something new to him. Perhaps it was that, or the slight dinginess of the car's interior, or the music. It was Beethoven, or Bach--one of the two he couldn't tell--but it was just barely audible, like another conversation happening for quiet people to listen in on. He was in the car, but still outside, like he was a fly on the window. Until he was spoken to.
"So, Ket," Kval said against Lyza's laughter, "Lyz told me you sit in the front row, almost right in front of her."
"Yeah, but he's so quiet," she said, whispering the last word for emphasis, "And Ms. Hupp always yells at him for sleeping."
"Why does everyone think I sleep?"
"Cuz you always put your head down!" She replied, mimicking the action in mid-air. "What else are we a'posta think?"
"I dunno...I still listen."
"It's kind of boring isn't it?" Kval asked up front, "Sitting in a desk all day, listening to stuff you've heard over and over and over again..."
Ket blinked. An interesting person indeed--even more of a mind-reader than Emeral. "Yeah. I mean...it's my second time through fifth grade."
"Even worse," Kval chuckled, "But, on the bright side, you get better grades the second time around since you know everything already. Or at least you should be."
"I still have trouble with social studies."
"Aw man, I hate that subject!" He smacked the steering wheel, "Right now I'm in this politics class. I get that our rights are important and stuff but...jeez it's like I can't get an eighty on anything. I have such trouble with that class. And Lyza here just has trouble with everything."
"Hey!" She shouted, "Stop being a doo-doo head You're just picking on me because it's my birthday!"
"Now she gets it," he rolled his eyes in the rear-view mirror, "You szee vwhat I 'ave to vwork wvisth?" He said with a very thick accent. A car honked somewhere outside. "Yeah you too jerkwad!"
"Are we almost there?" Lyza asked.
"Just this red light," her brother replied as the breaks squealed, "and then pizza-ho!"
For Lyza, it was the longest red light on earth.
* * *
Ket stepped into the arcade last of the three. It was every other arcade in the world: low lighting, dark carpeting, smelled like soda, popcorn, candy and also pizza. Lights winked and flashed, games beeped and booped and donged repeatedly, and kids shouted in frustration or jumped with joy, running around at the speed of sound despite the high chance of colliding into someone or something.
They moved to the party room, where everyone was to check in. Inside, presents were situated on a table. Ket swallowed. "Um...Lyza?"
"Uh-huh?"
"I...I'm sorry but, I didn't actually have enough time to get a present...I owe you one okay?" An outright lie. Well, he wasn't perfect...
"Nah," she said, punching his shoulder, "If it wasn't for you, Ritzer would be bullying me."
You're welcome? Ket thought with a raised eyebrow. At least that was out of the way. Off to his side, he heard Kval engage in conversation with another rabbit that must have been his father. He couldn't understand it at all, it was in another language, but it seemed to be a light-hearted conversation.
"Here ya go," Lyza spoke, prodding Ket with a gigantic cup, "Ten dollars in tokens to start you off--don't spend it all in one place!"
Ket took the oversized container with both hands. It was pretty heavy. What the heck was he supposed to do with all those tokens? But he'd worry about that later. Some of the kids were looking at the presents, and he wondered if Emeral's was among them.
He set the cup down and took out a handful of tokens, in case worst came to worst, and then set about examining the gift-tags. From: Arthur, Kimberly, Bit & Bet, Ms. Hupp, Angela, Kelly-Elly, Rini, William... The names went on and on. Some of these people weren't even at the party, it seemed. There's no way the entire class would be here; at ten dollars a person that was something like two hundred bucks, if he had the student count right. And that wasn't including the overhead--
He shook his head. Stop thinking numbers. He examined more tags, and eventually found Emeral's. But of course, right next to it was Ritzer's. He looked about, realizing he was the only one in the room. He glanced over to the cup--the empty cup.
So here he was, at a party with barely a handful of tokens and hardly any desire to play any games at all. But he was hungry, and the present-opening wouldn't begin for a while probably. Food would do. He stepped out of the arcade section and down the large hallway to where the food court was. A small line awaited him, a fresh hot plate from the pez-dispenser-rack. The pizzas were pitifully thin, so maybe he could fit three slices.
Gripping the edge of the plate in his left hand he went to the fountain drinks. He didn't want to use the cups--they were sticky. But he couldn't help that. Most kids got 'suicides'--a little bit of everything to ensure optimum sugar-high--or directed themselves to the drink with the highest sweet-and-sugar content ratio. He didn't really like soda, and the only one he could really tolerate was root-beer, and hardly any ice; the cold irritated his teeth.
There were little theater-rooms for people to go in to watch stuff while they ate. He chose one at random. It was playing cartoons, of course; Batman to be specific. But he ignored it almost altogether, concentrating solely on the meal.
Emeral had said she wanted him to eat more, but at his house food was hard to come by. If only she were here, it would make things easier. How was he supposed to make friends with Lyza right here? There were too many people, it was too loud to have a conversation, and plus it seemed kind of random. How was he supposed to approach it?
He gave up. It was too much; too intimidating. He would just have to ride the wave, find a quiet place to play a game until his presence was required for festivity and then go back until it was time to go home. He promised Emeral he would attend, and he did. That was enough.
Satiated, he wandered back into the arcade area, although only about twenty minutes had elapsed. As he passed the party-rooms, Goren and Rini snuck out of Lyza's. They didn't seem to notice him notice them. Everyone knew they liked each other, but Goren couldn't very well be open about it unless Ritzer was involved with a girl also. A black hole swallowing him up had better odds than that happening. He refrained to think about what would happen if people found out about his...crush?
He walked nervously, avoiding kids from school. There were plenty of places to be out-of-sight. There were less-popular games that he could watch other people play from afar. Perhaps if he found one that piqued him, he would partake. In his pocket were a measly eight tokens.
A teenaged skunk sat at a game where the controller was an actual boat with an oar, and one had to use it to navigate rapids. He had just crashed, and his sister--or maybe girlfriend--standing nearby was laughing.
"Well why don't you try it alone?" The boy snapped.
"No way. I don't want to get all sweaty."
"Ugh. You're impossible," The boy proceeded to insert another two tokens in the game.
Ket approached them. "Don't two people have to play that?" He asked. Both teenagers regarded him sourly.
"They let six-year-olds in here?" The boy snorted.
"I'm eleven," he replied frankly. "Can I play with you?"
"Oh for Christ's sake..."
"Aww, let him Cor, he wants to help."
"Fine, fine. You got two tokens? I ain't loaning you any."
Ket hopped onto the seat and parted with two of his precious little. The game started, and it appeared the teen expected little of him. But Ket managed to keep up okay, although the teen sort of took more control, and Ket couldn't really get a good handle on his side. He moved his hand closer to the center of the oar.
"Hey, keep to your own side! Just let me do it."
"I dunno Cor, looks like he can handle himself pretty well."
"Oh that's it!" The teen called Cor stood up with his hands in the air, "If that's all you're gonna do Patty, we're out of here."
"Hmph," the female skunk scrunched her face up, "Well fine. See if you get any anytime soon."
Ket frantically tried to control the boat, but his short arms made it difficult to even reach far enough to get a good grip on the controller. After a few painful moments of his pitiful attempt, the boat crashed. Game over. Insert more tokens to continue.
"Ha, see," Cor said as he walked away, "Kid was riding my tail all along."
Patty tsk'd and turned to Ket, pulling a wad of tickets out of her purse. "Here, I guess I don't need these. I think it's like twenty-five." She smiled as he took them. "Hmm...if only you were a few years older..." She laughed and turned, walking away, leaving the tiger a little confused.
Ket sat on the seat, tickets in hand, and then placed them in his pocket. The intercom crackled on, announcing Lyza's birthday, telling everyone to head to the party room. Ket looked at a nearby clock; seven thirty-seven.
He made way for the room, dodging a few littler kids as they ran past without a care of anyone who might be in their way. As the room came into view, he was obviously last to arrive. When he stepped up to the doorway, several eyes fell upon him. Immediately he sensed something about them; something in the atmosphere of the room was wrong, like he'd just stepped into a den of wolves.
On the present-table, wrapping paper was littered about. Some of the presents were half-open, corners and sides torn just a bit, exposing some of the contents. Balloons were popped and limp on the ground. But the most damning thing was the cake, which had not been there before. It was a white-frosting square cake, pretty big actually. It was probably carrot cake, but that was just speculation. It looked really good, except that all about the sides were the letters K-e-t etched into the frosting.
"Hey! I'm not late am I?" Kval stepped up behind Ket, and was pushed aside as the tiger cub tried to get away. "What's...?"
Again he was pushed, this time by a very on-fire sister.
Ket looked over his shoulder; the rabbit was gaining and fast. His initial instinct had been to run but that may not have been the smartest thing to do--he stopped, and turned around, raising a hand. "Lyza wai--"
She shouted, pushing into him, sending him stumbling back; he almost fell--she would have to push harder. "What the heck is your problem? Can't stand people having fun?"
"Lyza wait, I--"
With surprising strength, Lyza decked his chest, pushing a bit of air out of him. "The next two words better be big sorry!" Her front teeth gleamed in her snarl, and she was in a mix of tears and rage. After he was quiet for just a moment, she assumed he wouldn't be sorry, and so did just as any girl would do: she clapped his cheek with a solid slap. "You jerk."
He was pushed again as she stormed away from him, dark cloud blistering and roiling over her head, running back into the party room, toward Kval. Kids stared from their games, and then quietly went back to playing. Ket lifted a hand to his stinging cheek. She'd gotten him good. He sighed. Yup. There went all chances of making a new friend. Might as well not bother now.
Ket stayed in the corner of the arcade, where the free games were. They were old and cheap, but fun. He crashed his little car, pushed the button to reset, raced for five seconds and then crashed again. He wasn't really concentrating on it. He spent more time contemplating how to resolve this issue he was so expertly plunged into. Of course, he should have predicted it. Ritzer was here, and yet he was staying far away. It was weird, but the more Ritzer stayed away from you, the worse his antics became.
The most daunting thought was of how he was going to get home. It was eight-thirty and mom was still at work until ten. He actually wanted to call Emeral--not to ask for a ride, just to tell her what happened--but that would just complicate things. He didn't blame Lyza, really. It was just frustrating how people are so inclined to believe in 'evidence' like that. But then...he did that too. It couldn't be helped.
It was almost time to go. The place closed at nine, but really the arcade closed in about fifteen minutes. He still had six coins left, and needed something quick to spend it on. Abandoning the little car to ride off to some uncertain doom, he began walking about very quickly. The ticket games were usually quick, maybe he could get a few more and get something at the prize counter.
He knew almost exactly where he was going, but wasn't too sure if it was what he wanted until he actually got there. It was a jack-pot machine: insert a coin and watch the light bounce back and forth, hit it on the jackpot and you got all the tickets. The counter read 127. Not as high as he'd like but beggars can't be choosers.
He waited as a kid left the machine in frustration, bumping the number to 130, and then stepped up to the game. It was inviting with its noises; cha-ching! He dove into his pocket and pulled out the six tokens, laying them on the game's plastic-covered console. He slipped one through the slot, and immediately the game came to life.
The light flickered and then moved the opposite direction, almost with defiant purpose. Ket gently placed a finger on the button, and clicked it. It stopped at a number, he didn't really see what it was; he was more concerned with the delay. Another coin fell in--four left. Again his finger hovered over the button, and he pushed, trying to get the light to stop exactly where he wanted. It obeyed him.
A third coin fell home, 139 on the counter. This time he waited, let it pass over the jackpot-spot once, twice, thrice--the light stopped two spaces short. He scratched the side of his nose, inserting the penultimate coin. One-tay-two-tay-three-tay... He sounded in his head, like a metronome, Four! The light nestled itself in the red glow of the jack-pot, and the machine chirped to life with praise and excitement.
the tickets spilled out, the number counting down...down...down. Once it stopped, Ket tore the tickets free and walked away, leaving his final coin for someone else to try their luck for free. Coiling the tickets into neat lengths of five, he pulled the other wad out of his pockets. But as he approached the counter, he slowed.
"Please!" Lyza begged, "Please?"
"I'm sorry," the chubby panda behind the counter said, "You need five-hundred for the stuffed rabbit, and you're a hundred short."
"But...but it's my birthday...Tell him Kval!" She looked up to her brother, pleading him to be aggressive.
He returned a gaze she very much did not want to see. "Listen, Lyz," a hand on her shoulder, "maybe you want something else? Or we can always save the tickets and come back next time."
"But I want it now, and my party got ruined!" She turned to the panda once again, "Please? It's just a hundred tickets short..."
The big guy sighed. "Listen, I'd like to but last time I gave in I almost got fired. I just can't do that anymore." He cringed as the girl groaned, beginning to sob. "C'mon don't give me that..."
"Listen, it's all right," the big brother said lowering to one knee to pat his sister, "just give us a voucher and we'll--"
"S'cuse me."
Lyza's ears perked. That voice. She whirled around, eyes glaring. It was him. "What do you want?" She snapped after a pause.
"What are you trying to get?" He asked.
She turned her nose. "None of your business!" She hrumph'd.
"Listen," the panda said, "I don't have all night. I gotta start closing, you want your voucher?"
"No!" Lyza whirled back to the counter, lifting on her tip-toes, "I want the bunny!"
The panda sighed.
"You need some tickets?"
Lyza looked back to see the little tiger extending a wad of the precious pink snippets of paper. She scowled. "I don't want your charity."
But there was a look in his eyes. It was a look that she had only seen on Kval when he wanted to be serious. "Think of it as a present," he replied quietly. "It's over a hundred-fifty. Is that enough?"
She still didn't take.
He looked up at her brother. "Are you still taking me back to the library?"
"Well I mean unless you want me to leave you here, but I think your mom would disapprove," Kval chuckled.
The tiger stepped past her and placed the tickets up on the counter. "Okay, let me know when we're leaving."
She stared with her lips ajar as he walked away, out to the main lobby. Then she saw Ritzer off to the side, watching as Ket walked by with a nasty smile on his face.
"Well, here ya go."
Lyza felt something soft bump the top of her head. She looked up to see a stuffed bunny towering over her, looking down with a big smile. Beside him, Kval was also looking down at her.
"Want me to carry him?"
She nodded meekly, "Please?"
They said goodbyes quickly, thanked as many as they could for coming. As they were leaving, the place was shutting down; the employees practically shoving them out the door. Ket was near the entrance, leaning against the wall. As they approached he pushed off and started to follow them.
The car was not far away, but to Lyza it felt like the longest walk ever-ever. She did not dare glance back, too afraid of what expression the young tiger might take. Anger? A cold stare? Or would it be those eyes...the ones that made him look like Kval?
The car chirped as her brother unlocked it remotely. He fumbled with the plush rabbit, opening up the door. "So, birthday girl, you wanna ride shotgun?" He asked.
"I...think you should let Ket." She said softly.
"Really? But you've been itching, and even though eleven isn't thirteen...I think you can, just for one night."
But it was a little late; she had already taken the back seat. Kval shrugged. "Looks like it's you and me, dude."
Ket silently went to the passenger's side and sat in the seat, buckling in. The car was very clean, unlike his mom's. The engine hummed to life, and the low thrum of a cello wafted through the speakers.
"So, listen," Kval said, "Open up the glove compartment, and if you wouldn't mind tell me your address."
Ket looked blankly for a moment, then followed the command. He pulled up on the tab, and the compartment snapped open. Amidst a few papers and a little booklet was something that looked like a handheld. He pulled it out. On the top 'TomTom' was written in silver letters. "Is this one of those direction-thingies?" He asked.
"Yup. I was gonna let Lyza find it but she's a'scared of the front seat." He took the navigator and punched it on, "I sort of spoiled myself. So...can I have your address?"
"Four-one-nine. Rasperry Line."
"I bet that's easy to remember. You actually have raspberries near your house?"
"We used to." Ket replied, "Not anymore."
The gentle female voice began guiding them directly to Ket's house. Lyza was very quiet; uncharacteristically so, that her brother looked back to ask if she was feeling okay. She nodded, and he paused for a second before a horn blared, demanding he go at the green.
She stared at the stuffed bunny to her left. It was gigantic, almost bigger than she was. It stared dumbly forward, waiting for someone to disturb it to a new position. Its ears were wired so they could be made to bend at all sorts of angles.
Think of it as a present.
It was gigantic all right. A gigantic sore.
Very soon the streets became darker and darker, until the only light to see by were sparse, orange ones or home security lights that were too excitable. And of course, according to TomTom, they were headed for the darkest house.
Its front light was on, dimly exposing a dilapidated door. There was a ghostly dark shape against the front of the house, like a solid shadow coming out of the earth to snatch small children and animals that drew too near. The car passed and turned around, so that the passenger side was against the curb, for the house had no driveway.
Ket spoke a thank-you, and before he shut the door spoke three words that made the year-turned rabbit's tongue taste sour. "Happy birthday, Lyza."
She watched as the boy trotted across the lawn and went to the opposite corner of the house from where the door was. "What's he doing?" She asked aloud.
"Probably getting a key," Kval said, turning the music down. "You know Lyz, it's a hard life living with guilt." He paused for just a moment, and then continued, "I mean...I still feel guilty. About, you know, Big Bad Brother. And I don't want to make you all sad or anything, especially not on your birthday, but...well. The worst thing about it all is...I could've stopped it so much sooner." He let out a wavering sigh. "That's what eats me the most. I had all the power in the world to change at any time I wanted...but I didn't. I waited. Until it was almost too late..."
The car door opened. "I'll be right back!" She said with haste. The air was freezing, and her throat started to hurt as she ran to the door. "Ket! Ket wait!" She shouted as his hand made to insert the key.
He stared back, then shushed her. "Keep your voice down," he whispered, "The neighbors are old and start yelling if you wake 'em."
"Sorry," she said with a breath, "But I just gotta--did you really mess up the party room like that?" She looked up, her stare returned by the reflected lemon light of his eyes.
"What does it matter?"
"It matters to me, all right!?" She shivered, her ears beginning to numb. "Listen, I know you didn't do it. I was...dumb. I shouldn't have done what I did and I'm sorry."
He shrugged. "S'fine," he replied.
"I should have never let Emeral invite Ritzer. I bet he's the one who did it!"
"I said keep your voice down," the tiger pressed. "Besides," he inserted the key, and turned the lock; "Don't go blaming Ritzer for everything." The lock clunked, and the door creaked open. He stepped through. "I'll see you Monday."
It closed, and clicked to locking.
