\tMalissa Ann Jennings flapped her hands and shook her head, revealing with the shake twin white cords that dangled from her ears. Her mouth moved in a tone-deaf drone, \u201cTo become enraptured by the beautiful is easy,\u201d while her eyes closed briefly and she shook her head again. \u201c The deformed is not promptly agreeable. But when we finally perceive the beautiful through the obscuring fog, that is when we first taste the wine of love.\u201d Her feet did a little hop bop dance and she grinned. <\/p>\n
\tUnwashed, a grizzled man in shabby brown and dust sidled past her, putting the bottle wrapped in a tattered bag to his lips and giving her a look he normally reserved for the other alcoholics. <\/p>\n
\tMalissa snapped her fingers and hummed tunelessly, oblivious to the strange looks and the wide berth she was getting from those she passed. Likewise, she was oblivious to the distant sirens, the roar of the passing bus, the clatter of voices. She barely saw the sidewalk in front of her, let alone the graffiti scrawled walls, debris strewn empty lots, or even the group of three young men more or less her own age leaning against the traffic light post on the corner she was nearing. They glanced her way, then focused their attention a bit more firmly.<\/p>\n
\tMalissa was barely nineteen, model thin but with unusually large boobs that she hadn\u2019t bothered to put into a bra that morning. Her short t-shirt was tight, leaving little to the imagination, while a diamond glistened in her belly button. Her jeans had that painted on look. Her toes, displayed in her flip flops had nails the same bright pink that decorated her fingers.<\/p>\n
\tOne of the three young men grinned and shoved at one of his companions. Black baseball cap on his head, turned backward, his pants cinched around his hips, with his baggy blue shorts clearly visible above. One hand grabbed his belt as he sauntered slowly toward Malissa, his grin widening. He planted himself in her path so that even in the midst of her musical fog, she couldn\u2019t help but notice him.<\/p>\n
\tHer happy, if tuneless song came to a sudden end in her mouth, which twisted into a shape opposite of the young man standing in front of her. He towered over her head, forcing her to tilt her chin and shield her eyes with her hand to block the sunlight that glared around his head.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cJason!\u201d she bellowed. \u201cWhy you standing there all grinning like a fool, getting in my way. I could have walked right into you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cYou make that sound like something bad.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tHer frown briefly shifted to a smile, but she quickly shifted it back to its former state. She yanked the earbuds and swung them in an arc. \u201cSo what you want?\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWhat you doing later?\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cLater? Later when?\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cLater, like\u2014\u201c he glanced at the afternoon sun \u201clater like in an hour.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cYou got something in mind?\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cI was thinking Ernie\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tMalissa wrinkled her nose and sucked at her lower lip. \u201cI ain\u2019t got no money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThen you\u2019re in luck. I got some.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWhere\u2019d you get money?\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cI got a job.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cSince when?\u201d her mouth twisted into a lopsided grin.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cLast week. Got my first pay last night\u2014Friday night. But I work swing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWhere, fool?\u201d<\/p>\n
\tHis eyes shifted sideways, glancing toward where his buddies were huddled off to the right and behind him. Then he shifted and leaned toward her, dropping his voice. \u201cBurger Shack, okay?\u201d<\/p>\n
\tMalissa resisted the urge to laugh, and her eyes briefly rose to scan his friends. Working at Burger Shack\u2014hell, working anywhere\u2014was less than cool. Or so they\u2019d say. But she didn\u2019t agree. Burger Shack didn\u2019t pay much, but at least you didn\u2019t have to worry about getting shot over shorting someone a bag of fries. And the cops weren\u2019t going to shake you down, either. Briefly it flitted through her mind that he could be lying to her, too. For all she knew Jason had gotten the cash selling drugs like so many others. She knew for sure that his buddy there, Mick, was in Dweeds, and so were the others standing there with him. There was no reason to think that Jason wasn\u2019t as much a Dweed as his best friends. Hell, they wouldn\u2019t be hanging together if he wasn\u2019t a part of the gang. But maybe he really did have a job, and wasn\u2019t just saying that to make her happy.<\/p>\n
\tShe consciously smiled at him again and put her right hand on his arm. \u201cOkay,\u201d she said. \u201cI like Ernie\u2019s, especially on a Saturday night.\u201d And then she hit him in the shoulder, making him wince. She smiled bigger.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cYou want to head over there now?\u201d<\/p>\n
\tShe kept the smile but shook her head. \u201cYou want I should go looking like this?\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cYou look mighty fine, Malissa…\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cYou just saying that. I\u2019ll meet you there in an hour. Better not be late.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cI got a watch.\u201d He pulled briefly at the chain dangling from his front pocket. It jangled.<\/p>\n
\tMalissa bumped him with her hip and marched on by. She gave a brief grin and head tilt to his buddies, then laughed and walked on, poking the ear buds back in her ears. Within another few steps, she was dancing along, singing tunelessly to herself once again, oblivious to the stares meted out by Jason and his friends.<\/p>\n
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Send to Kindle<\/span><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The opening paragraphs of another science fiction novel that I’m almost done writing (the first draft, that is): Chapter One Malissa Ann Jennings flapped her hands and shook her head, revealing with the shake twin white cords that dangled from … Continue reading