Man Made Boy (32 page)

I smiled. “Not really.”

“Then I say, go west, young man, go west!”

“You’re driving, though,” I said. “It’s the least you can do after nearly turning us into manticore chow.”

WE WERE ABOUT halfway across Arizona when the landscape started to get strange. I was sitting in the passenger seat, half napping, half daydreaming, when I noticed massive red rocks rearing up around us, some of them in oddly unbalanced shapes like the kind you’d see in old Road Runner cartoons.

“Where are we?” I stretched my arms and legs as best I could in the cramped car.

Sophie shrugged. “I don’t know. Somewhere west of where we were the last time you checked the map.”

“I take it you’re not really paying attention to signs.”

“Nah.” She patted my cheek. “That’s what I have you for.” She made a flipping motion with her hand. “Figure out where we are then.”

After looking at the map for a little while and comparing it to mile markers, I realized we’d gotten a little off course somehow.

“We’re in Sedona,” I said.

“Okay. And that means…”

“Well, the way I routed us, we were supposed to be going through Flagstaff about now, but that’s thirty miles north of here. How did we get off track like that?”

She shrugged. “Probably me not paying attention. It happens. Is it a problem that we’re in Sedona?”

“No, not really. It’s only a little out of our way, and we can just pick up the main highway after we pass through.”

Sophie looked around at the rock formations. “Cool area, anyway.”

“Yeah. There’s something about this place. I can’t remember what, exactly. Whirlpools or something.”

“A hot tub would be completely brilliant right now. Bubble this desert grime right off me!”

“I could probably use a shower, too.”

“Uh, probably?” She wrinkled her pert nose.

“Hey, you stink, too!”

“Please,” she said. “My arse smells like peaches. Just ask the anal probes.”

AS WE DROVE higher up into the mountains, the scrub brush turned into clusters of pines, then finally into a forest. We found a wooded area that had a campsite with showers. No hot tubs, obviously, but they did have hot water.

“Here, catch.” I heard Sophie’s voice through the thick cement divider between the men’s shower room and the women’s. A moment later, a pair of jeans and a T-shirt came sailing over. I caught them just before they hit the wet ground.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“Clothes for you. I told you that you needed some. I bought them in that shopping mall we went to.”

“Oh. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

The jeans fit perfectly and were just my style. I was starting
to get excited about having some new clothes. Then I unfolded the T-shirt.

“Are you kidding me?” I said.

“You don’t like it?” I could hear the smile in her voice.

“It says ‘I’m with the hottie.’”

“Do you disagree with the statement?”

“Well, no…”

“What’s your problem, then? It was on sale.”

“Sure it was.”

“Look, if you’d rather wear that nasty old ‘I just drove cross-country without bathing’ T-shirt, you go right ahead.”

I sighed and put on the
I’M WITH THE HOTTIE
T-shirt.

Once we were back outside and she saw that I was wearing the T-shirt, she smiled. “Such a good sport!” She looked at me appraisingly for a moment. “It looks good on you. You need more fitted shirts like this. Show off your physique a bit more.”

“You look good, too,” I said. She was wearing a bright blue summer dress that looked sort of retro 1950s with big, white polka dots.

“Thanks,” she said. She turned purposefully toward the car. “Now, let’s eat the rest of that food the Dragon Lady gave us. Then I want to go for a walk.”

“A walk?”

“Sure. This is a campsite. We don’t have a tent so the least we could do is go for a nature walk or something. Besides, with as much time as I’ve spent in a car lately, if I don’t get up and move around, my arse is going to be permanently flattened.”

“Why do you talk about your ass so much?” I asked.

“Why do
you
talk about my arse so much?” she asked.

“What? I don’t!”

“Why? Don’t you like it?”

“Now you’re just messing with me.”

She laughed as she yanked open the trunk. Then she began to rummage through our supplies.

I wasn’t sure what kind of game Sophie was playing, or if there even was a game. One minute she was incredibly sweet, the next minute she was doing this weird teasing thing that might or might not be flirting. I understood Claire. Even if I didn’t always like what she said, I could depend on Claire. But Sophie was still a mystery to me.

THE DRAGON LADY had given us a big loaf of bread, a cured ham, a block of cheese, and a small basket of fruit, telling us that it had all been made or grown right on The Commune. Despite its simplicity, or maybe because of it, it was delicious.

Afterward, Sophie selected a short hike for us. We followed the dusty red trail through some dense woods for a while. Eventually, we stepped out into a clearing and there was a massive red rock canyon in front of us. The sun was beginning to set, casting shadows across the uneven formations and layered red stripes along the cliffs.

“Oh, wow,” she said. Then she just stood there, gazing out over the canyon.

“It’s going to be dark soon,” I said. “If you don’t want to get caught out here in the dark, we should probably head back.”

“Claire’s the one who doesn’t like nature. I love it.” She dropped down to sit by the edge of the cliff and leaned against a flat rock. “Come on,” she motioned me to join her. “Let’s watch the stars come out.”

I sat down next to her, my feet sticking out over the edge of the cliff. She immediately curled up into my arm. It took me by
surprise. Of course, she’d gotten close like this before. But it had always been for a reason. Like after Claire had forced her out on the gurney, or when we’d ridden the Dragon Lady. But there was no real reason for it now. Other than just because it felt nice. And it did feel nice—her warmth against me, her fresh, soft smell in my nose. After a moment, I let my hand rest on her shoulder, bringing her in even closer.

“Isn’t this nice?” Her eyes were half closed as she faced the last rays of sunlight. The warm desert winds tousled her corkscrew hair.

“Yeah,” I said.

“Cuddling isn’t so bad after all.”

“I never said it was.”

“No, but you used to tense up every time I touched you.”

“Did I?”

“You didn’t realize it?”

“It wasn’t like I was doing it on purpose. I don’t really come from a touchy-feely family. I’m just not used to it.”

“I guess that makes a difference. My mum is a big hugger. So was my dad.”

We sat there for a while in silence. I realized that although I’d talked with Claire about her family history, I’d never talked about it with Sophie. Considering how she’d tried to avoid it before, the fact that she’d just volunteered something about her parents was a big deal.

“I’m sorry you lost your dad,” I said. “I don’t know what I’d do if I lost mine.”

“You miss him.”

“I do.” That surprised me a little. “I mean, he’s not a hugger. Or even much of a talker, really. But I do miss him. His familiar presence. His quiet strength. It was comforting. You know?”

“Yeah. I think I do know what that feels like now. So what are you doing out here, so far away from him?”

I looked out at the canyon that stretched across the horizon, valleys and crags rising and falling, sometimes in serene order, sometimes in bizarre, dangerous shapes. An eagle flew between outcroppings, its outstretched wings riding the air currents as it swooped, rose, and soared.

“I was mad at him. For wanting to send me away to live with the Frankensteins. It felt like a betrayal of everything we stood for as a family. Like I was supposed to be his ticket back into the fold. The monstrous black sheep of the family comes home. And I was angry that he was still treating me like a child, that he didn’t respect me as an adult. Of course I really was only a child. I didn’t know anything about the real world.”

“Do you regret leaving, then?”

“No, not really. It had to happen somehow. I’m the son of one of the most famous monsters ever. My dad is a big guy who casts a big shadow. I had to get out from under it, I guess. So I could have my own life.” I suddenly thought of Medusa then.
It’s time to start your journey,
she’d said.
Not on your father’s path, but your own.
I wondered what she’d say now about this path I’d made.

Sophie sighed and nestled farther into the crook of my arm.

“This place has good vibes,” she said.

“
That’s
what it was.”

“What?”

“Vortexes. Not whirlpools. Sedona is supposed to have these energy vortexes. Basically, naturally concentrated good vibes.”

“Cool. Do you think it’s true?”

“I don’t know. Do I think it’s any weirder than most of what we saw at The Commune? Not really.”

Sophie laughed silently. “Yeah, that was the craziest nursing home in the world.” She pressed the palm of her hand against my chest. “I’ve been meaning to thank you.”

“For what?”

“For everything you did back there. I don’t usually like being vulnerable in front of people like that. But you…made it okay. I feel safe around you.”

We lay there in silence for a while as the sun set behind the mountains. After a little while I realized there was music off in the distance.

“Do you hear that?” I asked quietly.

“You’re only just hearing it now?” she asked.

“What is it?

“Sounds like a flute player.”

“It’s beautiful.”

“It is.”

We listened to the lone melody echo through the canyon, soaring, dipping, whirling almost like the eagle. The sun had finally set. All that was left was a faint red glow that put the rock formations in a silhouette.

“Look.” Sophie pointed.

Standing at the top of the highest peak was a figure. It had a hunchback, and feathers stuck out of its head and arms. It danced nimbly on the mountaintop as it played on a long flute. Then it jumped high into the air and landed on a different peak, then jumped and landed on another, all while still playing its tune. As the last red glow disappeared, the figure and the song faded away until it was just the evening winds whispering through the dark canyon.

“I wonder who that was,” said Sophie.

“Kokopelli, I think,” I said.

“Like the guy on cheesy Southwest souvenirs?”

“I think so.”

“Add it to the list of things I never knew existed.”

We lay in complete darkness for a little while. The weight of Sophie’s head lay comfortably on my chest.

“Hey, Sophie?” My skin suddenly felt very hot.

“Yes, Boy?”

Maybe it was the darkness or the vortexes or the magic flute player, but I just said it.

“I have a huge crush on you.”

“You are so incredibly lame for saying that.” The weight of her head abruptly left my chest.

“Wh-what?” My heart pounded in my chest. “Why?”

“Because at a time like this…” Her face was now less than an inch from mine. “You should just kiss me.”