Monster Nation(28)

They rolled in over the sudden shockingly-blue ribbon of the aqueduct and into a tiny town bleached by sun into a uniform brownish-grey. There was no sign welcoming them to town but judging by the names of half the stores they had arrived inLost Hills,California . As they glided through the cracked streets Nilla got a bad chill down her back and she realized that everyone they passed was staring at them. They were normal people'she saw faces with bad acne scars, old women with hair like frozen cumulus clouds, mothers carrying babies and brushing dark hair out of their eyes to stare. She got another shock when she realized that it wasn't the car garnering all that attention. The eyes didn't track the counter-rotating hubcaps or the handmade spoiler on the back. They were looking in the windows. In the back windows.

At her.

They knew. The people of Lost Hills knew what she was. They could sense it. If she closed her eyes she could see them all, their golden auras, and she knew they were all looking back and seeing her darkness. Surely not as vividly, certainly not consciously but they could sense her energy just like she could sense theirs.

She wanted to get out, but she didn't want to leave the safety of the car. She wanted Charles to just keep driving, to speed up, even as he began to maneuver into a parking space onTulare Street . She wanted to make herself invisible'but that would surely spook Charles and Shar and she couldn't risk that, not when they were her only way out of town.

Charles switched off the ignition and the three of them got out. The stares intensified and on the corner a woman in a red cardigan called out something in Spanish. Nilla had no idea what she was saying. Well, at least she knew one more thing about herself than before: she couldn't speak Spanish.

They headed into a little convenience store'the sign out front said 'bodega' in amongst the signs advertising cheap cigarettes and powdered milk'a dim room with a low ceiling of stained acoustic tile and metal racks full of off-brand merchandise. The candy was all Mexican, the newspapers up front were full of words and even punctuation Nilla didn't recognize. The proprietress, a middle-aged woman in a blue print dress, could barely be seen behind an enormous lottery terminal and a display of artificial roses each sealed in its own plastic case.

Charles headed over to talk to her while Nilla and Shar roamed the aisles, looking for snacks. Nilla had a pretty good idea of what was going on and she kept her mouth shut. 'So excuse me, ma'am? Do you sell condoms? No? Ma'am, I need some help here. What about the flavored kind, do you have any of those?' The woman behind the counter couldn't conceal her horror at the question. For the first time since they'd entered the store she looked away from Nilla. 'What about those ones? They have little bumps on them, you know, excuse me, Ma'am? They're ribbed for her pleasure?'

'Boomps?' the woman asked, her eyes hard.

In the aisle just out of view Shar grabbed a link of plastic-wrapped salami and handed it to Nilla. 'In your pants,' she whispered, 'there's plenty of room. Five-fingered discount.'

'Yeah, bumps. Ribs, I guess,' Charles suggested. He held up his hands about a foot and a half apart from one another. 'In this size?'

'Boomps,' the woman said again. 'Ribs?'

'I think they call them French ticklers.'

Shar sputtered with laughter even as she handed Nilla a block of cheddar cheese and a bag of potato chips. She just couldn't help herself. It was all over as soon as the laugh came out of her, though. 'Thieves! They are thieves!' the woman shrieked. She started to crawl up onto her counter, clearly intending to seize them in the act of shoplifting.

'What do we do?' Nilla asked, but Shar had already dropped half the things she was carrying and was at the door. Nilla followed as close behind as she could, unable to move as fast as she might like both because she was, well, dead but also because her pants were full of cold cuts. Charles came up behind her and pushed her bodily into the door of the bodega until it flew open and they spilled out into the sunlight. The proprietress was still coming up and over her counter, her knees up on the smooth surface. They headed for the car, intending to make a clean getaway.

'Que estas haciendo? Ai! Malvado fantasma, es peligroso!'a man on the corner shouted and Nilla pulled up short, guilt flushing through her body. Shar and Charles kept running. The man came closer'an old, weathered guy in overalls and a baseball cap. What could she do? She felt pretty lousy about shoplifting but she would feel worse, she knew, if she were caught. The people of Lost Hills wouldn't give her a chance. They knew. She bolted for the car.