Harsh Lessons (41 page)
Authors: L. J. Kendall
Crack worked his compact, well-muscled body hard, cleaving a path up densely packed stairs, barging and forcing his way up several flights and then over to the balcony. He hopped up into what had maybe once, long ago, been a corner rockery but was now a miniature wasteland of rubble, dirt and smashed pottery. Jammed into one corner, a sloping cement slab made an awkward perch for one person right at the edge. Further back, people were crowded together on once-decorative boulders. 'Yo, Tapper,' Crack called to one of these and got a friendly wave in return, then squeezed a path over to a guy in the corner, whose feet rested casually down on the handrail, preventing him from slipping over the edge.
'Ya, Bandersnatch. Couldn’ find Luce, but hey – no Luce's good noose, I'm thinkin’ right nano. Lissen, compadre. I scan it's really sproutin’ now, downblow, but ack me if ya c’n slot me a big one? Let me’n my new caro some room to
move
, you scan?'
Bandersnatch screwed up his face, looking from Crack to the girl, and stopped there. He eyed her carefully up, then down, then up again. Sighed. 'Y’owe me huge, Crack,' he muttered, but got up and left. He thumped Crack's shoulder as he went past, murmuring '’ertay' as he looked down the gap in the front of Leeth's jacket as he moved past her.
Huh? Why had he just wished Crack “luck?”
Crack grinned and gestured her to slide into the vacated space, then crammed himself in alongside as she sat. Leeth leaned out and over, looking down three floors to the plaza below while Crack draped one meaty arm across her shoulders. She leaned into him, enjoying the contact. Bonfires burned fiercely at the four corners of the raised dais, and the music had settled into something raw, unpolished, and compelling.
'Hard or soft?'
'Huh?' She turned to face Crack.
'You want hard chem, or just alc?'
'No drugs
or
alcohol.'
Her companion laughed, rolling his eyes to heaven. 'Flick, chick, loosen up.'
She just stared back at the stocky man.
He sighed. 'I'll get you a sweetwater’n buzz, then. Straight enough?'
She chewed her bottom lip, considering. Her eyes narrowed. 'What is-'
More rolling of eyes. 'Kaff, chick. Kaff’n sacch. Coffee. Sweet, like you,' he carefully enunciated. 'Or it zone you out you'll be eyes till late?' he sneered.
'Uh…'
The last eyes-roll did it.
'Sure. Thanks.'
Crack bellowed. 'Toxer!'
Across the long-ago cafeteria, an arm raised and waved an acknowledgment. Crack turned to her. 'Where ya from?'
'Here in New Francisco. But I haven't been on the streets long-'
He snorted. 'Knew that.'
'I've left Mother and Father. I want to prove I can make it on my own.'
He stared at her. 'You sayin’ ya
chose
ta come here?'
She lifted her chin. 'Yeah. Why shouldn't I?'
At that moment, the toxer Crack had called to earlier arrived, bottles and canisters, grubby tubing and dispenser nozzles looping and bulging under his coat. He was an ogre, she saw, his leathery, hairless skin and rough features prominent, his frame massive. She tried not to shrink away.
'What'll it be, frens?' he rumbled.
'Black Velvet, ’n a sugarwater Buzz. ’N two cups.'
'Five ten.'
Crack held out another cashstick, set the amount, and the man took it, tapping it against his own. Handing it back he reached under his long jacket to pass them each a thin and crude plastic cup. Dropped pellets – saccharin, he explained with rolled eyes, at her sharp look – into a metal shaker, a couple of black cubes, pulled a tube down and pressed a faucet at the end. Shook it, and with a disdainful air poured it out into the cup Leeth held. Crack's came from a bottle; black as ink. The man strode off.
Leeth sniffed her cup suspiciously. At least it
smelled
like coffee. She looked at her companion, who had his eyes slitted in pleasure as he eased down a single swallow of his own refreshment.
'I want you to drink half of mine,' Leeth suddenly demanded.
Crack laughed. 'Ah, caro! Wisdom? So.' He wrinkled his nose, and drank deeply from Leeth's cup. Swallowed, made a face, then handed it back.
Then began laughing so hard that tears came. 'Safe now!'
Leeth blushed, and took a drink. Both bitter and sweet. But okay. Definitely coffee.
'So, tell me about all this,' she demanded, putting her thin cup down carefully.
Crack beamed, leaned back further against their boulder, and swept one arm in an expansive arc. 'This-' he began, then abruptly stopped. Slowly, his head turned further to the right, his arrogant smile sliding off his face as all his attention seemed to focus there. Leeth craned around, and saw the tall red-headed woman who'd spoken to her earlier. Who just stood there. Watching.
'Crack. Whose seat, dealer?' the woman called.
His voice was shaky when he spoke.
'Tash?'
He shuddered. 'Yours. All yours. C'mon bim, let's rat off,' he urged Leeth up, grabbing her arm and sliding off the rock then down onto the ground.
Tash stepped forward. She raised one hand and the man stopped dead, flinching away from it.
Leeth scowled at Crack. 'What's the matter with you? Why are you running away? We were here first.'
Tash looked an enquiry. 'Well, Crack?'
'
C'mon
, ya little sluk!' he swore, pulling at Leeth.
She tugged her arm out of his grasp.
'You scan what she
is
?' He seemed frantic.
'What am I, Crack?'
Tash's tone had been mild, but Crack backtracked, avoiding the question as he focused on the girl. 'Come
on!
'
She fended off his grasp again. '
I'm
not scared.'
'Well, frag you, halfdeck!' And ran off!
Leeth looked around. No one else seemed to have reacted – though they wouldn't have been able to hear much of the exchange over the sound of the music – and she looked back at the woman, who studied her with a lazy smile. Predatory.
Leeth bristled. 'So what are you? Why was Crack so scared?'
'I… watch the little people. The kinda people Crack slices.' She smiled, wolfishly. 'And it's been awhile since I been here. Seein’ me must've ’freshed some old tales.'
'You slice guys like Crack?'
Tash just smiled, looking her up and down.
Leeth sized the woman up in turn. Tash looked strong, capable, and moved with an easy grace. 'Well, since you just scared off Crack, if you want to
share
my seat you've got to tell me about all this, first,' she demanded.
The woman arched one eyebrow, but smiled. 'Wanna know how ’Fest works?' she asked, waving a long-fingered hand to encompass the whole scene.
Leeth nodded.
'That'll take awhile. Howzabout I sit down, and
then
tell?'
Leeth considered this, and finally nodded.
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