Dante was at the phones waiting his turn in line patiently. This was his day to call Gen and he savoured these days and calls. They had been writing too and the letters were a sweet connection he didn’t expect. There were two people ahead of him and three phones. So far all in use. The phone on the end was occupied by Skelly who was having what Dante shuddered to think was his version of a romantic dialogue with a girl.
“No baby, you need to send me some more pictures and wear less. I miss you so much...I need to see your tits….I’m dying in here…maybe a little up the skirt….a little muff…clean shaven of course.....no I won’t show nobody baby…….just for my alone times....I’ll paint the walls for you....” Skelly was the dumb jock of the teen criminal world with short light brown curly hair. He skipped the standard issue hoodies and instead rolled up his white t-shirt sleeves and pushed them up even higher in the yard trying to work on his tan “Sun’s out, gun’s out..” He would say about his biceps. Skelly was definitely one of the guys who hogged the equipment in the gym. He was a short guy with a Napoleon complex and a fucked up sense of how the world worked.
Some of the guys in line were grinning and whispering about Skelly’s side of his conversation but Dante just felt a little ill listening to him talk to a girl like she was an object to be used. He could never even think of Gen so disrespectfully, ever. If Skelly’s call was still on when he got up there, he’d line up at the end again so Gen wouldn’t even have to hear any of it. He felt incredibly sorry for the girl probably being convinced to send nudes that would no doubt be shared or even sold in here. He’d seen flashes of those things pass by and had since told Gen never to send him any pictures of her on her own no matter how much he missed looking at her. He suggested she send a family photo or a group shot of friends from a distance so no one here could pick her out and make any disparaging comments or threats. To Dante’s relief Skelly ended his call before Dante’s turn came up.
He picked up the receiver and dialed Gen’s family’sl phone. It was a school night so she was probably home. She’ll know from the call display and the request for a collect call from Prince George Youth Correctional Centre that it’s him and when she finally answers he’ll melt a little at the sound of her voice and breath out “Hi….I missed you.”
Gen couldn’t accept the call fast enough. She sighs in relief and nearly melts at the sound of his voice. “Hi .. and I miss you, too. Alexandra is colder without you.” she half teases and knows she shouldn’t put that idea in either of their heads. “That could also be because it’s autumn, too.” she giggles. In the background Taffy yips and Rene can be heard telling the puppy he can't have any salad and to shut up. “As you can see, it’s all the same old chaos over here.” she sighs again. “How are you? Do you need anything? Levi said he’d deliver anything, as long as its allowed, of course.” she knows their time is short and that is what she hates the most about his being gone. Only 5 minutes. She felt like she could hear a clock ticking.
Dante leans into the wall almost like a swoon and then straightens up again and turns, huddling around the phone and speaking softly. Beside him there’s a guy having an animated conversation in Japanese and laughing way too loud, but it was also a good cover so people couldn’t hear anything he said. “Just wait until the snow flies. Hey Taffy….aw he must be growing bigger. God that dog will eat anything hey? I’m good, totally fine. I just need to hear your voice. Actually…..not for me...but can you ask Levi to bring a Dr Pepper and a Mountain Dew? Like small ones or cans….I know it’s weird but they’ll make two of my friends days. I know I said I wasn’t going to make friends but shit happens. I’ll put details in my next letter….I told you a bit about one of them but you have something strange in common with him...hey how’s school? I’m so hoping I get to come there for a bit, especially after you wrote that Mr. Arnett is our homeroom teacher.”
Gen nods and looks around the living room, where the phone is now. They didn’t used to have a land line, but every house on the island had the old fashioned phone jacks. Just before Dante went away, they got a land line and phone of their own. It was only used for Dante, but her father didn’t mind that one bit. She found a pen and a scrap of paper in her history book. “Dr Pepper and Mountain Dew in the small cans. Got it.” she write it down as she spoke. “I’m glad you could make friends. I know you don’t want to be social, but maybe having friends will be good for you. Help you focus and everything.” she pauses about having something in common with one of his friends but doesn't ask as he said he’d put it in his next letter. “School is strangely fun.” she reports. “Laia and Taylor are trying to get Romeo to run for class president. He’d totally win. But I think they’re just crushing on him because of his name.” she snorts. “Elise is going crazy. Nolan still hasn’t kissed her and she thinks he isn't interested anymore, but I don’t think that’s it. I think he’s scared. You know. Maybe she should kiss him.” she suddenly laughs. “I’m rolling my eyes so hard right now I’m almost dizzy.”
Dante grinned as he listened to Gen. He couldn’t help himself. “Romeo? Almost feel sorry for the guy being saddled with that name. Your gossip is way more fun than mine. I thought Elise was a little ass kicker. Tell her to woman up.” He jokes “Don’t make the shy guy do all the work. It is actually helping me study to have guys to study with. I’m kinda acing the school thing right now without lots of other stuff to do. I mean there's stuff….but yeah. I miss walking outside where there’s lots of trees, the ocean, you of course the most. My stupid farting dog and his lazy friend….food I can identify. Although there’s a guy in here who breaks down the weird shit they give us like some kinda savant.”
Gen laughs. “I will tell her that over coffee, I promise.” she squees a bit. “Acing school .. look at you! I told you! And we’ll walk together soon … you're on your way, I can tell.” she gasps. “A guy who can break down what's in food. “He can make those copycat recipes online and make a mint. I …” she is interrupted and he both hear a computerized voice announcing. “One minute remaining before disconnect.” Gen blows out a breath. She hated that bitch even if she was a computer. “Well, Cortana has spoken .. so I love you, I love you, I love you, I live you and I love you … that should be enough to cover until my next letter.” she sighs .. this was the worst part by far.
Dante drank in Gen’s responses and all of her words like he was dying of thirst for them. It made him happy that he made her proud doing well in school as school hadn’t always come easily to him, partly because of his former lifestyle. He was more responsible now. “We will Gen. I promise. We’ll crunch in the snow….” The computer voice makes him get a lump in his throat and he hears her I love yous and whispers his back to her “I love you...I love you...I love you so much. You’re my forever…..I love….” And they were disconnected. Dante painfully pulled the phone receiver from his face and hung up slowly leaning his forehead into the wall. Then he inhaled and remembered he was trying not to show big emotions in this place, not out here anyway. He walked slowly back to block E and when he got in he went straight to his room and slid down the wall inside the door curling up. This was his usual aching self after talking with Gen. It was bittersweet because he wanted the phone calls but they reminded him just how much he missed her.
Gene knew perfectly well what day it was. He had started looking forward to it but for completely opposite reasons than Dante did. So he sat in his room, trying not to play with his snaggle teeth while Dante was gone. But the second he saw Dante make a beeline for his room, he stood up and grabbed his deck of cards. He actually had three of them, jsu in case something happened, but this was the current open one. Walking to Dante’s door, he slaps the wal. “War time, mother fucker!” he calls cheerfully. He is grinning, which is as close to smiling as he ever gets with his teeth as messed up as they are.
Dante was seriously contemplating just settling into his own agony when he heard Gene’s voice and the slap on the wall. He knew Gene was trying to cheer him up and he appreciated it. He swivelled his head sideways “Fine….are you going to make me move to the table?” He mock retorted. It was the best place to play. Dante pushed himself to his feet and sort of lumbered out from his room “K let’s do this…” He headed for a chair.
Gene was glad Dante pulled himself up and out. Some nights they nearly got into fights, but that was also distracting and Gene made damn sure it never went further than an argument. “I know you want me to career you, but we’re not even married, and I’m saving myself.” he slaps back. He sits at the table and continues to shuffle the cards. He divides the cards and sets them down. “Go on and pick one. It’s your turn.” he motions, looking almost gracious.
Dante snorts “Saving yourself is overrated. Stop being such a tease then.” he jokes. Dante flips a card from the pile on the left and it’s the King of Hearts “Oh that’s fucking appropriarte after my phone….but hey speaking of people who think they’re king, have you ever heard Skelly on the phoen with his girl? I thought I was going to puke or punch him, whichever came first. Fucking pig….”
Gene smirks. “Well then, maybe after the kids grow up and move out.” he retorts and arches his brow at the King He notes the change from the call to Skelly, of all people. “Only when I’m passing by. Worse if I’m passing by and have to stop. He asking for pictures again?” he flips his card, the ace of diamonds. “Nothing like starting out at the bottom. Story of my life.” he shakes his head and tosses the card on the table in front of Dante.
Dante sweeps the two cards to his side “Thanks Ace.” And then he looks disgusted and annoyed “Pictures of tits and muff he said. Maybe he was putting on a show but I’m hoping it’s not his girl on the ones I’ve seen glimpses of under the tables as they’re sold. Also...I swear it’s all different girls. I’m not trying to look but I’m observant. Especially when it’s a redhead, a black girl, some sadly cliche schoolgirl pic of an Asian chic and a bottle blonde. If this is all Skelly, how the fuck does he get that many women to even talk to him?” Dante slaps down a 4 of clubs and frowns at it. “Mmmm….”
Gene snorts at the thanks. “You’re welcome.” he replies with dry sarcasm. “Yea .. it’s probably different girls and I don’t know how he does it. Psychotropic drugs is my first guess, or he finds girls into short ugly guys .. or he’s that charming, which I find hard to believe. They’re making him a mint and don’t even know it. I’d wonder what they’d do if they knew.” he flips a card and smiles, showing a seven of hearts. “Life is looking up.” he tells himself.
Dante grins and slides his card to Gene and then plays his turn. “I’m tempted to find a way to report Skelly anonymously. Because that’s a whole other set of charges. Do you think that’s what he’s in for already? Brett threatened me with a pic one time to get me to do a job. This chic Brooke...I was so drunk I didn’t even remember. I remember kissing her but the pic she was posting and then gave to Brett was her going down on me...pretty much when I passed out. She’s over 18 so Levi had a frolic in the legal meadows with it related to my case. There were so many fucked up layers to it all.”
Gene flips his card, rolls his eyes and pushes both towards Dante. “They probably have a system for that, but my guess is it’s only as anonymous as the CO’s want it to be, because they’ll let a name slip if they want to get to someone and then bam, you’re in the infirmary with a stab wound and I’m stuck here alone a single father.” He listens to the story. “That was one good thing about the women I was with. Everyone was assured to keep their mouths shut. Every time a husband came home early or unexpected I got sent to another home … because they weren’t about to admit what was happening between their wife and the kid.’ he grins. “I like the way Levi thinks and hope Natalie can think the same way. SO far nothing, but she did actually call me to say she is working on it. She doesn’t give me a lot of hope and I like that. Meanwhile the priest tells me if I want anything just ask. Maybe I should ask him to pray for Skelly’s quote end quote girlfriends.”
Dante takes the cards and then flips his own and looks up, nodding about the selective anonymity “Yeah I could see that. And if they toss his room maybe it depends on which CO too. Some might look the other way for naughty pictures….it’s not drugs. But I bet they’re underage all of them. And didn’t consent to their photos being sold to a bunch of teen cons jacking off to them.” He looks unsettled by Gene’s past. Not in a way that’s judging Gene but it’s just awful what he went through “None of those guys wanted out of a marriage with a woman who sleeps with kids?” He shakes his head. “They always think it’s men who are pedophiles….you’re opening my eyes to how shitty everyone is or can be.” He looks more cheerful about Levi and Natalie “That’s good and I think it’s all of them there...I dunno there’s just an energy to that office like they all went to the same fancy lawyer school with the same rules right? Not my world but happy to be helped by it and happy they’re helping you. Cool about the priest. He’s kind of a fascination in the town not too big on religion. We don’t even have a church.”
Gene takes his turn and snorts. “The CO’s have enough worry with us, never mind some girl being manipulated, I guess.” and he looks up at Dante about his foster mothers. “Come on, man. We don’t look like people’s idea of kids. Both of us look like grown men, function like grown men … hell we could even become fathers in our own right. So I think my foster fathers just wanted me out … take away that brown skinned temptation and pretend it never happened. Or they got rid of me and divorced, but I doubt that. They blamed it on me. The first time, it wasn’t me, I got manipulated and seduced .. found out it led to more food and less bullshit and thought it was an OK path to it. Because I looked like a grown man, but I was really only a kid who didn’t even know it was wrong until the money got involved. And yea … the women were I dunno .. bored or unsatisfied. But the men were ashamed and didn’t say shit while I was still in their house. What man will say ‘my wife preferred young brown cock to mine’ anyway?” he sighs and grins a bit. “Yea … I guess some lawyers are OK. Natalie really seems interested in not only getting my case heard, but in letting them know what happened to me and why I did what I did.” and then he laughs, which he always did without exposing much of his teeth. “A priest in a town with no church … hey it’s all good to me. He isn’t trying to convert me, he’s only trying to help.” he shakes his head. “Hell, I never thought it worked like that. I don’t owe him anything, he’s doing it because he thinks its right.”
Dante scoops up more cards with a devilish grin. His pile was twice as high as Gene’s now. “Yeah I hit puberty early I was told...I dunno maybe it’s a Latino thing but the Puerto Rican ten year old next door still looks like a little boy to me. So I hear you. Not ready to be a full on dad yet but I want to have kids with Gen….lots actually…” He laughs. “Got used to being in a house full of people I guess now.” He sighs “You did what you had to to survive. We all do. I stole.” He shrugs. “Maybe you’ll actually get to have some adults you can trust as you get through all this. Took me a while for different reasons. Lydia’s the most level headed and emotionally stable person in the world...but after my mom….I kept waiting for her to fall apart. She never has. My mom was like Shaw...bipolar, depressed, more on the depressed side of it than him. Then crazy shit happened on the island and she couldn’t take it.”
Gene rolls his eyes at the pile. He was having fun, so he didn’t care if he won or lost. “Maybe its a melanin thing, I don’t know. Shaw looks nine to me and some days acts five, but he’s a car thief who committed 3rd degree vehicular manslaughter on his sister so .. he’s not as young as he was before that. Survival.” he considers adults he can trust. “So … two … a priest and a lawyer .. and the ones you know.” he shrugs. “I don’t know if I want a family … I never knew either of my parents, but if I had a kid I know I wouldn’t abandon it. But girls … I’ve only been with one in my age range and that didn’t end so good.” he looks at him when he mentions his mom and the crazy shit. “What was her limit?” he asks. “We all have one, right? What was hers?” he expects to be told about drugs or alcohol or debt … if he’s told anything at all.
Dante nods about Shaw “True. Survival...and he’s smarter than he looks about it lately.” He smirks “Here we go with the joke intro again “A priest, a lawyer and a tough love Black mama…” He chuckles “Gen’s parents are good people too, honestly I’m pretty lucky living in alexandra, more good than bad everywhere.” He looks sympathetic about Gene’s family history and love history and then he looks apprehensive. “You’re gonna think I’m fuckin high if I tell you this story. But I swear I don’t do drugs. Booze yeah...which is technically a drug, but I’ve never touched anything else and I’m sure as hell not holding in here. Something happened to Alexandra, something almost...supernatural. Stop me if you don’t believe in that shit because you sure as hell won’t believe this one.”
Gene smirks and spreads his hands. “I’m a one hit wonder, what can I say?” he listens to the beginning and arches his brows. “I’m Mohawk, bro. I know the spirits can do some fucked up shit … especially to me, but … go on.”
Dante takes his turn, wins more cards and then drums his fingers on the table as he thinks on how to begin “So you know how BC has earthquakes right? So far we haven’t felt one up here…...and usually they’re not too bad. But on Alexandra we had a big one, after another place, that was our sister town on the mainland had a really big one too. That place, Cedar Point, got totalled. And most of those folks, the ones who made it, came to live on the island. But then our quake hit….three years ago on June 21st. And a bunch of people died or got really hurt. But here’s the weirder shit...than two localized quakes. We had a thing we called the fog. And it was fog...like the kind that makes everything misty and shit. But we also got cut off from the world, for three years. Everything, no net, phones, no boats could come in or out...just us like the last island on earth. We had to kind of go back in time and live like medieval hippies. I mean we had solar and wind power already but they took it further. And there’s a reason I’m a 15 year old kid who knows how to garden…..we had to grow everything, save seeds, clear land for more farming...don’t even ask me about toilet paper. And we just did it. Then this year in March...we came back. We could get to the mainland again...phones, net, all the shit….I don’t know if it was spirits but it was something.”
Gene begins to listen and his brows begin to rise, little by little. They reach an apex and begin to lower. He never frowns, but he looks like he is thinking intently. He goes back through the words Dante spoke a second time and then flips up what turns out to be a winning card for him. “Fuck. If it was anyone else, I’d call bullshit. Even Shaw … but you … “ he looks at him evenly. “The spirits must have been really fucking bored or … something … shit … It’s an incredible tale, but I believe it. Some of the elders on the reservation I would go to visit would tell me stories of strange shit .. so why not a vanishing island?”
Dante watched Gene with trepidation, hoping he wasn’t losing himself a friend by getting into this. But then Gene accepts it and compliments his integrity and truthfulness. Dante exhales, relieved “Yeah really fucking bored spirits. You know I’ve never asked any of the Indigenous elders on Alexandra how they interpret it….I should. There’s a few….oddly two old mayors who hooked up. I wonder what they’d say about it….” Then he looks sad “But my mom….really everyone who struggled with mental health. She felt hopeless. She started using and it just got worse. I tried to take care of her…...she had a few near overdoses…..but one day she rented a motel room and hung herself over the door with the sheets. I found her...I was 12…” He had been struggling to get the last of it out and had his hand on his cards ready to turn one over but just fixated and held on like he needed the stability of the table as he hunched a bitand his eyes filled with tears.
Gene looks?" at Dante, fascinated. “Indiginous mayors, eh. That’s the hardest of all of it to believe. But yea … I’d like to know their take on it.” then Dante goes on to talk about his mom. He makes a fist and taps Dante’s hand with it. For a minute, he tries to think of words to comfort his friend, but he can’t think of any that wouldn’t sound ridiculous or pitying, so he taps the hand again and withdraws his hand, offering instead, silent support.
Dante nods “Told you Alexandra was cool….” He felt the fist tap and got that Gene was comforting him which he accepted and appreciated. After a few minutes of quiet he wiped his face with the back of his sweatshirt sleeve and sniffed, composing himself “Thanks man.” Then he looked at the card Gene had out and turned his over and took the pair with a little smile “I seem to be kicking your ass here….”
Shaw bounded in like a skinny blonde gazelle and saw the cards and looked excited “Oh hey what are you guys playing?” He smelled like disinfectant and had come from a cleaning detention duty he’d been given after the A Holes made it look like he dumped paint all love the art room floor. But Shaw didn’t squeal and as usual asked the teacher and COs to inspect his clean up at any key point he needed a diversion. The teacher actually looked clued in after awhile which was comforting.
Gene gives Dante a nod to acknowledge his thanks and shen snorted because Dante was indeed kicking his ass. Shaw bounds over, smelling like the cleaning lady and he rolls his eyes. “We are playing War.” he tells him and chin just at Dante. “Guatemala is wiping out the Mohawks … extension level annihilation, I tell you.” he looks at Shaw and sniffs. “And what have you been up to, gringo?” he says the last slur with a perfect Spanish accent. He looks at Dante. “I may as well practice all that Espanol you been teaching me, eh hermano?”
Dante cringes “I swear I’m not here to colonize anyone...I’m Mayan but we had some fierce warriors too.” He sniffs at Shaw “Detention again?” He had a lot of those sometimes. He smirked at Gene and liked that he was calling him brother. “Oui, tres bien mon frere (Yes, very good my brother.)”
Shaw shrugged “Yeah paint...whatever. A holes. You guys are speaking in code again. Iway Eakspay Igpay Atinlay (I speak pig latin)?” He jokes and then says “Can we play go fish next?”
Gene chuckle laughs and points at Dante. “We are both Indiginous. Fierce warriors. We should band together.” he grins even wider at the return of the term brother in French and nods his approval, then looks at Shaw. “But is it a language? Really? And how are you doing in your English class? We can play IF you managed to do your homework before the A holes framed you like a picasso.” he suddenly brightens. “Hey Mendoza .. after I improve my Spanish and you improve your French, we should move on to Italian .. if you’re still here, that is.”
Dante grins and nods and then laughs “Pig latin? I’m not sure it qualifies but good try man. Come on, bring your homework over here. You can sit with us but cards after.” He realized they were again parenting Shaw and he was using one of Lydia’s tactics that had worked on him. “Italian? I’m game for Italian…..only if we can talk about the food too.”
Shaw sulked for a second and then went to get his binder and textbook and a pen. He sank into the chair beside Gene and opened the book and groans “Fuck...poetry...I have to analyse a poem….I hate poetry…..”
Dante looks over at the book “Think of it like song lyrics…..don’t you ever break those down when you like a song?”
Shaw looked at Dante like he was weird “No…...just listen to the music….”
Gene grins. “Absolutely talking about Italian food.” he assures Dante. Shaw returns with a poetry assignment, Dante tries to help and Shaw sort of shoots that down. “OK … fine. Read the poem to us and tell us what you THINK it means.” he knows that they can’t really help him if they don’t know the poem.
Shaw rolls his eyes and then holds the textbook between his hands. He reads out loud but actually stumbles a bit on some of it indicating that his reading level isn’t quite matched to his age and grade. The poem is Morning in the Burned House by Margaret Atwood. When he finishes it he just shrugs “It’s depressing….and he’s like dead right?”
Dante listens to Shaw’s struggle with reading but he heard the poem through it and looked thoughtful “Maybe…..I also hear shit like denial illusion….people trying to do regular shit while their world has burned around them. Shaw, what if you approached poetry like you break down food bit by bit?”
Gene listens to the reading and rubs at his chin. “Yea … and you can approach it like you do food. Or even read it differently.” he looks over at the poem. “In the burned house I am eating breakfast.” he says and then looks and speaks in a more matter-of-fact tone. “You understand: there is no house, there is no breakfast,” he raises his eyebrows like that is obvious. “Yet …” he spreads his hand in a what can you do motion. “Here I am.”
Dante can’t help but laugh at Gene and his hand motions “See now it sounds deep….just do it like interpretive dance or mime…” Dante reaches for the book and pulls it to him to see the next bit and does really exaggerated hand emotes to accompany the words. “There is no spoon?”
Shaw snorts “Fuck you both and I’ve seen the Matrix.” He takes the book back from Dante and looks between them “OK ok I got this.” And with a resigned sigh he starts writing his assignment out.
Dante takes the cards and shuffles them looking at Gene “We got this….next battle?”
Gene chuckles and rolls his eyes. “You know the matter with you kids today? You don’t read anymore.” he holds up his index finger and waggles it like an old man. Then he nods at Shaw and leaves him to his work. He looks at Dante as he shuffles. “Warrior against Warrior.” he agrees, fully expecting to lose again.
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