Life went on in Chicago, Senga waited tables, and sang at open mic nights to make rent. Paul was preparing for his ceremony, boning up on his history and reading the ancient texts, studying the language and words he’d be expected to be proficient in. Senga would come home from work, and find him curled up in the little floor space they had around the scrolls, and she’d do her best not to step on the age worn parchment. He was nervous. He’d been waiting for this his entire life, since it was declared at his birth he’d be Poseidon. Senga remembered her mother telling her about the child rites, how Senga cried and cried as she was held by Clotho, and was anointed with olive oil and water from the River Styx by Atropos, and her position was announced by Lacheisis. Her mother cried when it was announced Senga would be a Siren.
“Tomorrow’s the day.” Senga whispered, excited and scared for her friend. Paul just nodded, sipping his drink at the bar she was performing in that night.
“You’re nervous.” She said, reaching out to put her hand on his shoulder. He just nodded.
“Come on, man. Talk to me.”
He shook his head, and scribbled something on a napkin.
“Too nervous to talk. There are no words to describe it.”
Senga sighed and finished off her drink in one big gulp. “It’ll be okay. I’ll be there, Henry will be doing this with you, his flight gets in at midnight. We haven’t seen him since graduation.” Paul nodded again, and even smiled a little. Senga’s name was announced on stage, and up she went, slinging her guitar on.
*****
“HEY GUYS!” Senga and Paul turned their heads at the sound of a familiar voice. Henry was half skipping down the escalator at the airport. Senga grinned and went running to hug her old friend. Henry was Paul’s twin brother, and was slated to take over the role of Hades. His time was soon, he assured everyone who would listen, and he’d rock his responsibilities when it did.
“OOOOOOF! You’ve gained weight little one!” Henry said, laughing and squeezing her tight, picking her up in the process.
“Only like ten pounds since high school, shut up!” She laughed, and hugged him back, giving his cheek a huge wet kiss. When they let go, Paul came over and gave his brother a hug that was just as tight. They hadn’t seen each other for a long time, nearly 3 years. Henry had gone traveling, seeing the world, and causing as much trouble as he could.
“Okay, boys. The apartment is really small, so you guys can share the bed, and I’ll take the couch tonight. Tomorrow is gonna be a long day. So we’ll all need our beauty sleep, right?” Senga laughed, tugging at Henry and Paul’s shirts to get them to move. The men nodded and Henry picked Senga up, throwing her up on his back.
It was the BIG DAY. Paul was pacing up and down the hallways of the tenement building while Senga and Henry prepared themselves. In actuality, they were cuddled up on the bed, and reminiscing about when they were little.
“Hey, remember when we met? And I punched you in the face?” Senga said, giggling.
“You were three. And as I recall, I deserved it.” He replied, smooshing her face gently with his hand.
“You put gum in my hair! Do you have any idea how hard my mother had to work to get that crap out of this mess?” She giggled more, and smooshed his face back. “How was your trip?” she asked quietly.
“Oh, it was fantastic. I’m still not done, I think I might go to L.A. next, I just came from India. I need a change of pace. It’s so busy and frantic in Delhi.” He said, getting up to change into his ceremonial robes.
“India was busy?” She laughed, incredulous. “You’d think it would be all mellow and stuff. Zen like, you know?”
“That was Japan. You need to go there. You would love all the old areas, and the countryside.” He threw his pajama shirt at her head. “No looking! I’m gonna be naked for a sec.”
“Hey, no fair! You would look at me while I got dressed for gym class!”
“Well, there wasn’t much to look at then.” He teased, tying the rope around his waist for a belt. “Okay, done, your turn.”
Senga laughed and whistled, while he struck a pose. “Okay, please don’t look.” She said softly, getting up off the bed and pulling her pajamas off.
“What’s that on your back?” he asked, okay, so he had looked.
She blushed and reached over to punch his shoulder. “Told you not to look!”
It was a scar, sustained after one of Andy’s discipline sessions. Where he’d pushed her against a wall, and a counter had got in the way. “You remember the night I got this.” She said quietly. Henry looked down at his feet, sheepishly. “Oh, that night. Yeah.” She sighed and slipped her robes on.
That had been one hell of a night. It was the day after prom, and Andy hadn’t wanted Senga to go to prom. He didn’t want any of the other boys there to dance with her and touch her and try to sleep with her. Senga belonged to him, of course.
But she had gone. And danced with every boy who asked her. Hell, she even danced with the girls who had asked her. She didn’t care. But word had gotten back to Andy. He’d waited until she was home alone, getting ready for graduation.
He hit her so fast she didn’t even have time to greet him. She flew into the kitchen counter, striking her back on something sharp, that tore through her clothes and skin. When she hit the floor, he started to kick her. One blow hit her square in the nose, turning the bone there to powder. He continued to kick her, calling her all manner of awful names. And when he felt she was thoroughly punished, he left, wiping his fist off on a wet dish cloth on his way out. Paul and Henry flew through her front door moments later, and found Senga bleeding out on the kitchen linoleum. There was no time to call an ambulance, not with Boston traffic. Paul gingerly picked Senga up, while Henry hotwired a convertible that was parked across the street. And they had it done in record time. As soon as they started moving, Senga started screaming. Of course, this was the city so no one paid any mind to them. It was all Senga could remember about that night. The screaming, and the bright lights of the city flying by them. She might have even briefly cried for her mother.
She missed her graduation. Her nose was hamburger, several of her ribs were broken in multiple places, and she had stitches holding the skin on her back together. She spent her summer in physical therapy, and at the plastic surgeon’s office. By the end of the summer, She had a restraining order against Andy, and a new nose, and was ready for college.
But it couldn’t last. Andy tried to contact her, called her every day, even though she’d changed her cell phone number multiple times. And it drove her insane. She never wanted to leave her dorm room, go out with her friends. Andy had connections; he was higher up in the mob now, was trusted. He had any and all the thugs he wanted or needed at his disposal. Finally, Senga just gave up. And ran to New York in the middle of the night with just a pack of clothes and her guitar. She never even told her mother. But Andy caught up to her after a year. So it was time to keep moving.
Paul came into the room, finally and Senga was once again snapped out of her memories. Henry had been thinking about it too. The look on his face was sadness, and guilt.
“Are you two knuckleheads ready? Or am I gonna have to dress you myself?”
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