Inside Straight

Ana tried something new—that’s what this was all about, after all—and once again felt for the ground under Kate’s feet, but instead of rocking it, or digging it, she made it climb. She was getting better at making these mounds, these towers. She made the soil flow and creep over Kate’s shoes, up her ankles—then held it.

“What the—” Kate jerked her feet, kicking them free. The earth wasn’t hard and didn’t hold her long, but it gave Ana time to scramble to the other side of her shelter. Imagine what I could do with more, she thought. If she could build the earth up around someone’s whole body, bury them up to their necks so they couldn’t move at all …

Now Kate had marbles in both hands. “That’s it. No more Miss Nice Guy.”

Suddenly Ana was in a war zone, dodging bullets that pounded into the ground all around her, zooming in from all sides. They weren’t very big, and none of them came right at her—this was, after all, a game. But they kept her from fleeing, locking her into a small space on the lawn, and she was laughing at the dirt flying everywhere, at Kate’s wild expression, and the increasingly chaotic state of the lawn.

They both turned to the sound of the back door opening. DB and Hardhat emerged, rushing to the porch railing to look over the lawn. Ana tried to catch her breath. Kate, also breathing hard, her hair matted with sweat, joined her.

Hardhat frowned at them with a look of bafflement. “Christ, what the fuck are you two doing?”

Ana and Kate looked at each other. Ana, a gleam in her eyes, said, “Demolitions and excavations?”

Kate burst out laughing, Ana joined in, and the two of them fell against each other, hysterical.

DB shook his head, and Hardhat said, “You’re damn lucky we don’t have a fucking damage deposit on the line for this place.”

~ ~ ~

The guys seemed just as taken with Ana’s newfound ability. As they trailed inside, Hardhat mapped out great plans for their future exploits. “I can totally fucking see it—you dig this big motherfucking ditch, like a moat, see? Like if we had to protect something—then I’ll build a bridge, or a tower, or—”

Kate laughed. “She can build a bridge! She can build us a tower and no one could touch us!”

DB nodded thoughtfully. “Yeah. It’s pretty cool.” As usual, his six hands were tapping to an unheard rhythm. Sort of. The rhythm seemed a bit off tonight, as if he were distracted. He kept watching Kate.

“Just wait,” Ana said. “The next challenge will be at the top floor of a skyscraper. No dirt.”

“Well, aren’t you Merry fucking Sunshine,” Hardhat said.

Kate was now staring back at DB. The drummer’s patter faltered. “Michael, is something wrong?” Kate said.

“Uh—no. I was just—”

“I’m talking about the drumming. You’re all out of synch. I just wondered if something was wrong.”

DB froze. Too late, he started again, tapping a pair of hands on his knees, but it looked more like nerves than his usual accompaniment. Kate was tight—the beats were off. There wasn’t a rhythm, just noise.

Kate picked a throw pillow off the arm of the sofa.

“Oh no, no—” DB said, holding out all six arms in defense.

Kate hurled the pillow at him. It hit his shoulder with a thump, and DB glimmered, then disappeared, leaving Wild Fox curled up on the sofa. The illusion had been destroyed.

“Geez, Curveball! No fair! You totally suck in a pillow fight!”

She stood over him, a second pillow in her hands. “You’re covering for him.

What’s he up to?”

“I’m not covering. I just wanted to see if you could spot it. And…you can. So there.”

Wild Fox was not a very good liar.

Kate said, “I wouldn’t put it past you, but you’re way too nervous to be just pulling a prank. What’s the deal?”

Glowering, Wild Fox crossed his arms. “He said he wouldn’t vote me off next time if I covered for him.”

“So what’s he doing?” She wouldn’t let up.

“I don’t know, I didn’t ask!”

The phone by the kitchen bar rang. Wild Fox jumped for it, but Kate cut him off and beat him to the handset.

“Hello? Why, hello Cleo. No, Wild Fox isn’t here.” Kate was looking right at him. “I’d have thought you’d want to talk to DB. He seems more your…speed. Oh, you do want to talk to him? Yeah, he’s here.” Wearing a catty grin, Kate handed the set to Wild Fox.

Sullen now, Wild Fox shook his tail, and the illusion shimmered back into place. It was almost like a heat mirage, or a mist in the air. He rippled, then he was DB, all six arms and deep voice.

“Yeah?” he said at the phone and glared at Kate. After a moment of listening, he replied, “Yeah. Okay.” Then hung up.

“So he’s with Pop Tart.”

“I don’t know, I just said I’d cover for him. I’m supposed to say I’m going for a walk and then come back in five minutes with Wild Fox. I mean me.”

“Then you’d better get going,” she said. That catty smile was starting to turn vicious.

Wild Fox/DB left, almost running, slamming the door behind him.

Hardhat stared at her. “What the fuck was that all about?”

She just shook her head. “This is so high school.”