My Name Is Venus Black(24)

When the cereal is gone, Leo lifts the bowl and drinks the milk. Tinker dabs at his eyes with pudgy fingers. Goddamn kid is really messing with his mind.



* * *



—

LEO DREAMS OF his sister. The stars on her ceiling. The planets in a row. He is lying on her bed, and Venus is counting. Her voice is soft. It doesn’t hurt him.

When he wakes up, he thinks he is in the closet with his purple blanket. But he is not. He is here in the strange bed. The man with the orange hair is out there with the TV. He misses his purple blanket. He smells bacon. Bacon is what his father ate. Where is his father? Leo sees his angry face and flinches.



Leo goes out to where the man is. He sees a spot of yellow on the floor. Warm. He squats and puts his hand there. When the yellow moves, he moves his hand again. Suddenly he sees a flash. The man has something silver. It’s the loud, terrible thing! It is his father’s never ever touch. Leo freezes in terror. It is going to be loud. He starts to scream about Venus.

The man gets up. He is yelling at Leo to stop screaming. Leo puts his hands on his ears. He remembers the terrible sound. He remembers his sister from before. He waits for the terrible loud to come.

It doesn’t come. The man is still yelling at him. Then it is dark. The blanket from his bed is on his head. He can’t see the silver. He starts to rock. He counts to calm down. He counts his fingers over and over like his mother taught him.

When Leo gets hot, he stops counting. He hears quiet. He knows the man left. He comes out of the blanket, and the room is empty.



* * *



—

TESSA IS ANGRY with herself that she didn’t think of it sooner. She knows it was her guilt that made her dumb. Obviously, the best way to deal with Phil might be to simply ask permission to play with Leo. She can offer to help Leo with his schoolwork, even though she knows for a fact he doesn’t do anything. She could show up with some alphabet magnets or some books for teaching Leo. How could he say no? Maybe he would jump at the chance!

Because of Phil’s and her schedule, Tessa didn’t see an opportunity until Sunday morning. “I’m going to go say hi to the neighbors,” she tells her dad. “See if Phil needs any help with his son.”

Her father looks up with surprise, but of course he’s perfectly fine with this idea, since she knows he worries she is too shy. “Good for you, Tess,” he says, winking at her.

Now she’s standing at Phil’s door, feeling nervous. She has put in her pink barrettes, one on each side at eye level. She has put on her new training bra, too—even though her breasts are just nubs. And she’s wearing her favorite shirt, the one with all the drawings of Holly Hobbie on it.



She is about to knock on the door when she hears Leo begin to scream and wail. And then his father is yelling, “It’s just a gun, Leo! It’s okay!”

Tessa freezes. Leo’s father has a gun. Should she run to tell her father?

“Venus!” Leo yells. “A gun!”

“Yes, Leo. Venus had a gun,” says Phil. “But Venus isn’t here. Look! I was just cleaning it, Leo! I put the gun away.” He is yelling but trying not to yell too loud, Tessa can tell. After that, Leo’s wails sound muffled, like he’s under a blanket.

Tessa guesses he is probably rocking. He is going to be okay. She hurries back to her own apartment, where she holds her statue of the Virgin Mary next to her heart. She says Hail Marys as she replays in her mind what she heard at the door. She knows something important now that she didn’t know before. She whispers partly to herself and partly to the Virgin, “Venus is a person.”





Tinker is startled to hear a knock on the door. He paid April’s rent already. He hasn’t given his address to anybody—not even the waitress Wendy yet. He nervously unlocks the door and opens it a crack. It’s the snoopy girl from next door.

“Good morning,” she says. “How are you today?”

“I’m fine,” says Tinker. He glances back into the apartment, making a quick survey of how messy it is. He needs to be friendly, but he doesn’t want Miss Snoopy to come in.

“I’m kind of busy right now,” he says. “Do you need something?”

“Is Leo around?”

Tinker chuckles. “Yeah, he’s here. He’s just playing,” he says, which is true. Leo is sitting on the floor on the other side of the pullout bed. He’s found a spot of sun and he’s tossing the jacks on the floor.

“My father wants to invite you and Leo to Easter dinner,” she announces.

At first, Tinker is too shocked to make what she said compute. He’s barely talked to Tony since he moved in. He still hasn’t gotten that tattoo he promised he’d get from Tony.

“Well, problem is, I work nights,” answers Tinker, relieved that this is absolutely true.



“Even on Easter Sunday?” she asks. “They don’t let you off?”

“Sorry, sweetie,” Tinker tells her. “Where I work, we put on a special Easter dinner for anyone in need. Not everybody has a big family or relatives to come over.” He can’t believe he was smart enough to think of this lie so fast.

The girl doesn’t answer. Tinker sees her try to peer around him into the apartment.