14 Chapter XIII

Police Officer: Did Lyssa and Hiram know about the Kitties?

Me: They were too caught up in the craze for wealth—too busy, they didn't take a good look at the daughter they were losing.

Police Officer: But why? The Wong's were so close.

Me: Under the Fort Mac spell, they're not as innocent as they look. The whole town smells of money.

***

The bus coughed and rumbled, then spat Sunny out onto the streets, where the Kitties stood wearing pink crop tops and Levis jeans in the minus ten weather.

"Hi," she said, hesitantly still unadjusted to such a privileged welcoming.

"Hey chink," they all said together. The city bus picked up its wheels and rolled off into the white horizon, letting out an agonizing industrial hum. Selena looked at Sunny and frowned. "You've gotta be kidding me. Are you seriously wearing a jacket already? I mean it just looks so bulky and big."

"It's almost December," Sunny said, her eyelashes starting to freeze. Selena raised her eyebrows, clearly unsatisfied with her response.

"We gotta take you shopping... soon, or else... it's just such an emergency," said Tate. Sunny looked around, noting how Callie was still nowhere to be found.

"Yeah. I totally agree," said Selena. The grazing of a metal shovel in the distance, scraping against the cement, made Sunny jump. It was freezing down here, like a storage facility. To keep warm, the girls linked arms to walk across the street.

Sunny trailed behind, but even then, she noticed how the stares were different. A group of jocks glanced over at her, not any more out of detest, but with a smirky look of praise. She was not used to be recognized as worthy in public.

The day unfolded with the girls comparing price-tags and chattering a thousand million miles per minute as they went linking arms down the hall. They spoke every little thought that came into their brains and it seemed to really irritate Sunny. Two steps away from first period, Selena grabbed Sunny's arm and pulled her to the side.

"Remember what I said about the black girl," she said, with a firm voice.

"What?"

"Devon. You know what to do." She paused, looked around. "Get rid of her."

***

When Sunny arrived home, she clicked her boots together at the front porch to kick off the snow. Winter had made its grand arrival, which meant she needed to do a good job at keeping the front mats clean in order to encourage Lyssa's flattery. She typed in the 6-digit passcode and the door let her in.

Surprise.

Her parents were home, and standing there waiting for her. Together.

Sunny swallowed. Two adults staring intensely and standing stiffly at the door was perhaps the greatest invitation for anxiety.

"Hi?" She shut the door and raised her eyebrows.

"You still have snow on your boots," said Lyssa, buttoning her brown wool cardigan over her black cotton cardigan, which had been buttoned ten minutes earlier.

"That's why you're standing here?"

"Well, we've been waiting," said Lyssa, giving a horrid smile. She looked full of plentitude, preparedness, and had a material well of empathy.

"I can see that. Is everything okay?" They were anomalously close to Sunny. The couple made eyes of understanding with each other and then in unison looked at her.

"We have something to tell you, Sunny," said Lyssa. Hiram nodded cautiously.

By now, they had shifted to the living room. The two adults sitting straightly on one end of the grey circular coach, warmly glancing at Sunny, who sat on the opposite end.

"You guys are creeping me out. What is it?" Her parents were quiet for a few seconds as if preparing to go on stage. Or better, as if they were about to reveal to Sunny a new member into the family, a miracle pregnancy, a sibling.

They had that look of hope, of love in their eyes, and if it weren't something serious like the welcoming of a new child, why sit her down with so much gravity?

"What is it?" Lyssa gripped the smooth fabric of one of the cushions as if this was going to be life-altering.

"Your father and I, we've always wanted to do something big, you know." Sunny nodded unsure exactly what she was talking about but eager for her to finish her sentence. "Well, you know about our investment in buying and selling houses..."

Sunny let out a sigh of relief. There were no babies. Thank god. She inspected her fingernails.

"But we can do better than that, go bigger than just that," said Hiram. "We don't want to just earn money. We want to use the money we earn to make money."

"He's complicating things," murmured Lyssa. She moved closer to Sunny, her face lighting up with jubilation. She held her shoulders with a firm grip and looked over at Hiram who, again, bobbed to show his consent. "We want to change lives, to spread happiness, and so... we are going to start our own business."

Sunny stared at them. Her mouth hung low for the next hour. Their pitch was heart-tingling and beyond humanitarian, it was like some promotion of a charitable activity that came straight out of the textbook. Living in Fort McMurray made them believe in a chance to secure a life of means, privilege, prestige and this 'unknown' was strangely appealing.

"All our lives we have been working, trying to glean money for something bigger. We didn't know what it would be until recently. It's going to be an amusement park. For you and your friends," said Lyssa. Then, the couple hugged the daughter with so much energy, that it was difficult for Sunny to say anything to their innocent, hopeful, twinkling girns.

"Well... th-that's great. When's it happening?"

"It'll open sometime in spring," she said. "After the slush melts and the sun comes out." Sunny was comforted by the warmth and womanliness of her mother and the way her father wrapped his arm around Lyssa. His elastic skin stretched out confident and bloated, as is he had seen it all. There was not a speck of dirt or grime anywhere on any part of their faces—so full of stupid importance. Sunny had encountered some difficulty in restraining herself from laughing in their faces.

***

There was constant noise downstairs. For Sunny, it was difficult to concentrate on homework. They, the acquaintances to Sunny's parents by work, came to the house one by one, holding their suitcases with enthusiasm with bills in their eyes. It was the conviction that anyone who heard Lyssa and Hiram's pitch would be moved, lightheaded in expectation, and beyond impatient to join. Sunny peeked from her bedroom window at their spotless Fords.

Lyssa would bring them in, pour coffee into two mugs, which soon turned into ten. They spoke about polite things first, and at some point, Lyssa started to talk. She spoke rhetoric like her life depended on it and combined a masculine intelligence with a feminine perversity. Along with her spirit, the office-men sitting in the living room shook her hand wondering what had just gone over them. Intellect like hers, couldn't be shrouded for long.

Sometimes they would stay for dinner, but there were so many people that Sunny never got a seat at the table. She just stayed in her room, talking to her new besties on the phone. They always called at seven o'clock. It was 6:32, but Sunny was already staring at her phone. Tapping the screen. Hands itchy. A buzz. Was it the Kitties?

No. A snap from Devon. She opened it. A goofy face with a caption that read, "Missing you. Call me." It was the first time they had communicated since the pep rally. Sunny's palms warmed and I could that she missed her. She placed her phone down and didn't reply. Get rid of her. Then, five minutes later, she picked it up and dialed Devon. She was going to rip the band-aid off, get the hard part done and over with. Three rings later, a rich voice answered.

"Sunny?"

"Hey... hey."

"Oh my gosh. It's so nice to hear your voice. Where have you been? I've been looking for you everywhere at lunch," Devon sounded friendly and sweet, like the first bite of watermelon. Sunny hesitated for a long moment.

"You still there?"

"Yeah. I've been with the Kitties," she said.

"Wh-what? Y-you?" Devon was silent for a moment. "I mean not be offensive but--"

"Yeah well, I'm in."

"Sunny, are you sure about this? You know that they're dangerous." She lowered her voice into a barely audible whisper. "Have you heard about Callie?" Even the suggestion of her name created a tense mood and shivery shoulders. Sunny shook herself, in an attempt to rush away such dark images.

"This isn't about Callie. Look, Devon. I don't know how to say this without sounding like a bitch. But like we were friends very early in the year because like we needed each other and we didn't really have anybody else. I was new, you were nice enough to pick up my books and stuff, but like now... we're just really different."

"Huh?"

"It's just... I'm with the Kitties now, and so I don't think they would want me to be hanging around with you."

"What are you talking about? You can't seriously believe they actually care about you."

"You're just jealous you didn't get picked," said Sunny with a wave of jealousy rolling off her tongue. Devon let out a hopeless chuckle.

"You've got to be joking right now," she said. "They are not your friends. They're just using you because your videos got likes." Sunny slimmed her eyes into pockets of abhor, looking overwhelming insecure about a potential betrayal.

"No. NO. You're wrong," she said. "You the one who's not my friend." Devon's voice was still as if she were trying to think of something cruel to say but couldn't. Sunny continued. "We were never really friends, were we? I mean, it's not like we ever had like sleepovers or anything." The jealousy ate her up and the hate feasted on the hive-mind. Her muscles were shaking, and I realized she was starting to sound like Selena.

"I was the only person who talked to you when the whole school was laughing their asses off at your lamb face, and now you're dumping me for the Kitties?" responded Devon.

"I'm not dumping you. I mean we can still like chill, do homework together. Just, please Devon. Let me get through the probation."

"So, you're saying we can't be friends... at school?"

"Well, yeah. I just mean you can't really eat lunch with me anymore."

"Ah-ha. Wow. I cannot believe this is happening," Devon said, holding her breath behind pursed lips. "I know what you're thinking. You can hang out with me and worsen your reputation of being a creepy Asian kid or you can be a Kitty— the girl who gets the first pick of all the hockey guys, has the best parties, and beautiful. Ok. Fine. I get it. The choice is obvious. But Sunny. Be careful. They're capable of darker things than they may seem."

"I knew you'd understand," said Sunny, her whole body sinking into her chest.

"Sunny. Did you hear me? They do a good job of hiding their secrets behind a cloak of invisibility." In the pauses between her words hung distrust. Sunny pulled the phone away from her ear and immediately hung up abrupt and fast, for she found it annoying that Devon strived to be all mature and sophisticated. At the same time, she knew Devon was right. Sunny shook her head as if it were pounding under her forehead. She sunk into the bed and her body went dry like a cookie that had been in the oven too long. It appeared as if she were guilt-struck at the thought that of becoming someone she used to despise. She looked at me, then picked up her phone to dial Devon's number again. She was going to make this right.

Too late.

It was already buzzing.

Incoming call from the Kitties. Seven o'clock on the dot. How perfect. Sunny fixed her hair, quickly threw her socks under her bed, put on a smile, and answered the phone.

"Hey, girlies!" Sunny hadn't realized it at the time, but the perky sound of her voice was particularly degrading. It was true: she had immersed her swollen heart in a ghastly culture, and the result was the destruction of the true inner voice of her moral compass, as well as the innocence with which she was born.