Ice (34 page)

Tartok ignored his brother again and said irritably, “Will you come down already? I don’t want you tearing up my roof!”

“Pshh! I’m not tearing up your roof! You’re just mad because I’m the first rejection you’ve gotten, and
keep
getting!”

“I am
not
mad!” Tartok yelled, obviously lying. “Being married to you would be hell, anyway!”

He then marched into the house and slammed the screen door behind him. It bounced back, swinging for several seconds.

“Ha!” Suka said with her tongue in her cheek. She didn’t look happy. I think his words had offended her. “Fine, I’ll get off your roof.”

She took a few steps back and I think all three of us gasped; I know I did.

“Suka, don’t—!” Kavick shouted, but she ran forward anyway.

To our relief, she didn’t jump, but
she skidded down the roof, her heavy combat boots scraping the shingles along the way. She dropped off, hanging by one hand for a second as she gauged how far she was from the ground. The gutter groaned ominously. Once she landed safely on her feet, she bit her lip, unable to contain her evil grin.

We were all stunned, knowing this spelled trouble, but Kavick looked like he had just watched someone die. His jaw dropped and he grabbed his head.
“Suka, that’s my house, too!
” he squeaked.

Before Suka could even finish saying “Oops,” Tartok was marching back out of the house, slamming that old screen door again. I wondered if Tartok did this a lot and if that was the reason why the door didn’t close right.

“What the hell did you do?!” he roared. “Whatever you did, you’re fixing it! I just put that roof on last summer!”

I was surprised that she wasn’t intimidated in the least. She wasn’t even phased by his words. She shrugged and yelled just as fiercely, “
Well, that’s just too bad, isn’t it?! Maybe it will teach you not to insult me again!”

“
Just for that I’ll insult you
more
! How about ‘pain in the ass?!’”

“
Look at the pot calling the kettle black! You’ve got to do better than that!”

He walked off the porch so they were close to each other now. He threw out a slew of expletives. I could see her face change. She was much angrier now. I could hear Anana mumbling beside me, “Oh no, oh no, oh no…”

“Uh…Tartok…it’s not that big of a deal…it’s just the roof…and I can replace the gutter…Tark…” Kavick said, trying to interject in between the insults they were throwing at each other. “I don’t think it’s even that bad…Tark…!”

Tartok started pointing at her and that sent her over the edge.

“Put that finger away, or I’ll break it!”

“I’ll break your hand first
!”

“Bring it on, Pup! I wonder how you’ll feel when a girl shows you how a man’s supposed to fight
!”

Tartok started growling, looking positively wild. I thought he was going to rip Suka’s head off, but Kavick finally managed to get a word in.

“Hey!!” he shouted. “Don’t do this here! If you’re going to fight, take it away from the house!” He pointed out toward the woods and the two stormed off, removing their coats and shirts along the way, throwing them behind.

Kavick’s eyes instantly grew twice their size
. “Don’t strip here!! I said take it
over there
!!”

Suka threw one of her boots at Tartok. It him in the chest. We all winced. All at once they turned into wolves, barely yanking their clothes off in time. Immediately, there was lots of snarling, biting and scratching at each other. They jumped in the air, tackling each other and fell to the ground in a flurry of black and gray fur.

“This is going to get ugly,” Kavick said, ushering us into the house. I stretched my neck like Sister Marleen had as I walked inside, curious to see who would win. I was hoping Suka would put Tartok in his place. No matter the outcome, he would probably still be the same jerk in the end.

Kavick offered us a seat on an old gray couch that had holes in the upholstery. It was surprisingly clean to be the house of two teenage boys. The hardwood floor was covered in claw marks and the walls seemed a little bare. I couldn’t help but notice where pictures used to hang; there were holes in the walls where nails had once been and the faint square outlines were tell-tale signs. Anana, who had taken a seat beside me, gave me a sad look, seeing that
I had noticed. Kavick had gone into the kitchen to fix us lunch. While Kavick was banging around the pots and pans, wondering out loud what Tartok had done with the skillet, Anana whispered to me, “The reminders were too much for them. Their family died in such a short period of time.”

I nodded so that she might understand that I knew.

“He told you?” she asked, only mildly surprised.

“Yeah. When we first met, I asked him why he needed to hide at my house, so he told me about
how the hunter had killed everyone in his family, except Tartok.”

I l
ooked back to the walls and added, “My parents died in May. Sometimes it’s hard for me to look at their pictures, too.”

I looked back into the kitchen to see if Kavick had overheard us. Apparently, he hadn’t because he was raising the window over the sink. He stuck his head out the window and yelled, “Break it up!! I need to know where you put the skillet!!”

A second later, I could hear Tartok just faintly, saying, “It’s in the dishwasher!”

“No, it’s not!”

“Did you check the sink?”

“I’m at the sink, dummy!”

“Did you check above the stove?”

Kavick growled in frustration. “You could have just told me you don’t know!”

Kavick shut the window and then I heard Suka scream. We all went to the kitchen window in a panic, Anana and I darting out of our seats in the living room. The three of us were shoulder to shoulder as Kavick raised the window again. Tartok, who had only his pants on, was standing at the edge of the forest, throwing Suka’s clothes into the trees. Suka was only in her coat, screaming threats at Tartok. All of the sudden, she tackled him and they were wolves again, rolling violently on the ground as they tried to maim each other. Suka’s coat was still on and her paws were hidden in her sleeves, constricting her movement, but it appeared that she was still trying to claw at him. Tartok’s pants were still on, too; most of the pants’ legs were loose and flapping in the wind as they rolled.

Kavick let out a sigh and muttered, “You would think they were related.”

He started looking through the cabinets and I asked, “Do you fight with him like that?”

“We have a couple of times. I usually try to avoid fighting. Ignoring him is a lot less painful,” he said, bending over as he looked under the counter. Anana was still watching them fight through the window.

“Can I help you cook?” I asked, feeling useless just standing there. “I might be able to whip up something without the skillet. Problem solved.”

He stood back up and said, “You don’t mind? About the only thing I know how to do is fry an egg.”

I burst out laughing and said, “Are you serious?”

His face turned a little red. “Unfortunately.”

Anana spoke up, taking her attention away from the window. “Well, you can make sandwiches…but that’s not really cooking, is it?”

We all laughed and then I walked over to the fridge. “I’m not a master chef, but I might be able to help.” I placed my hands on the handles and asked, “May I?”

“Please,” he said, closing the cabinet door with his foot.

I opened it up, surprised by how bare it was; there was only a case of soda pop and a half empty carton of eggs. But, when I opened the freezer I saw lots of meat, which of course, I knew nothing about how to cook. I closed it and walked over to the cabinets. After scrounging around for awhile, I found some ramen noodles. I held up the package of noodles and said, a bit embarrassed by my lack of prowess, “How does ramen sound?”

They both laughed at me, but said that would be good. As I waited for the water to boil in the pot, Kavick slinked up beside me. “Wow, I’m really impressed by your cooking skills,” he said in a low voice.

“Hey, I said I’m not a master chef.”

A lopsided grin played across his face. “I think it’s okay if you want to sit down. I’ll hear when the water starts to simmer.”

“I’m okay,” I said, standing there like a statue. I’m sure it must have seemed odd, but I was a bit scared of getting into a decent length conversation with Anana, even though she seemed very nice. I was afraid that I might seem like the “other woman,” even though they still seemed to be nothing more than friends. I glanced over at Anana to see her looking out the window again. She looked worried.

“They’re so stupid,” she huffed. “I’m going to try to talk some sense into them.”

At that, she walked out of the kitchen. When that squeaky screen door bounced back, he asked in a low voice,
very seriously, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” I said, looking up at him, but only for a second. “Why do you ask that?”

“You don’t seem yourself…I mean, how interesting can water be?” he said, glancing down at the pot awkwardly.

“Well…” I said hesitantly, realizing it was useless to try to hide it. “About what Tartok said…
.”

I glanced back up at him to see his face turn hard. “Don’t listen to Tartok,” he said quickly.

“But, maybe he has a point? Is it right for me to be here when you might marry Anana?”

He looked away, staring at the wall for a moment like he was choosing his words carefully. “Whether I marry Anana or not,” he finally said, and I couldn’t help but look at him when I heard the conviction in his voice, “you will always be welcome. Don’t listen to what anyone else says.”

I smiled weakly at that. “Thanks.” I still had my fears, though. Perhaps it was okay for me to be here now, but nobody could tell what would happen in the future. The thought of having to give him up like I had given up Marcus broke my heart, but if I had to let him go, then I knew I would just have to do it. “She’s really nice.”

He looked a little puzzled for some reason.

“Anana,” I explained. I looked back to the water. “She would make a good wife.”

I couldn’t help but think about what I would
be like as someone’s wife. I didn’t have any special skills and I didn’t have anything of importance that I could bring to a marriage. Anana, though, had something special; she was a Wolf, a perfect match for him, just like Tartok had told Kavick.

Then I thought about Marcus, wondering if he wanted me to be his wife in the future.

I pictured myself in an apron at the stove with my hair up in a bun, like a housewife out of a black and white 1950’s film. Then Marcus walked in wearing a suit and holding a briefcase. Just as he was about to kiss me, the scene disappeared from my mind. It seemed incredibly odd, and I couldn’t imagine him kissing me, despite daydreaming about it so many times in the past.

“Christine?”

I jumped, giving Kavick a startled look.

He looked concerned. “The water’s done,” he said. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah,” I said, but my mind was still going crazy.

The only thing you have to offer is baggag
e,
a voice in my head said as I hurriedly ripped open a package of noodles.
You’re still messed up after your parents’ accident, aren’t you? That’s why you still haven’t talked to Justin about getting a car, or a job. You’re terrified to drive, afraid you’ll go off the road, like your parents…Marcus said that you’re secretive, that you’ve changed…do you even want to be with him? But who else is there? Nobody else will ever want you…you’re going to grow old, alone in the middle of nowhere….

Kavick gave me another concerned look. Before he could say anything, I smile
d, saying, “I’m sorry, I’ve got a lot on my mind.”

“You don’t have to cover up for me,” he said, looking me squarely in the eyes.

I got nervous, feeling my heart pound in my chest. I was mesmerized by his eyes again.

“You can tell me. It’s okay to say that Tartok’s a jerk. Don’t go easy on me just because he’s my brother. And I’m really sorry about how he and Suka have acted.”

I nodded, but didn’t force myself to smile this time. “I know…but I really do have a lot on my mind. Sometimes it’s hard to stop thinking about it all. I can’t help but wonder if Tartok’s right. I mean, it does seem odd that I’m here, doesn’t it?”

“No!” he said immediately, like that was a crazy thing to wonder.

“But you said so yourself that you might marry her,” I said, raising my eyebrows. “For all I know, tomorrow you guys could be hitched and, after Anana starts making your babies, I suddenly won’t be welcome anymore. She’s seems like a great person, really, and right now she probably can’t even imagine feeling that way about me since she’s so relaxed with me around now, but I can’t imagine her liking you sneaking off to see me in the middle of the night. I know I wouldn’t if I were married to you.”

Finally I had to look away. I felt so embarrassed
after spilling my guts and rambling on like that. Kavick just stared at me, his mouth hanging open. I couldn’t tell what that meant since his face was completely devoid of emotion. And what was the most uncomfortable of all was speaking of a hypothetical marriage to him.