I ignored the comment, because really, what was the point of fighting a jerk who was already in handcuffs? “What was his hair color?”
“Pink.”
I recoiled in confusion. “What?”
“Blue.Purple. What the hell does it matter to you? It’s allgray, right?”
“All right,” Calvin said, forcefully but gently pushing me aside. “Stand up.” He grabbed Luther by one arm and the handcuffs, hoisted the big guy to his feet, and walked him away. “That’s enough.”
I stood as the front door opened, uniformed officers stepping inside and heading directly toward Calvin and Luther.
Itwasall gray.
I can’t say why that hurt so deeply, because I was a kid once and lived through years of teasing because of my condition, but that one snide comment made me feel… useless. If I can’t tell the difference between blue and pink, how could I possibly do any complex task? And it’s not like I couldn’t see them as two distinct colors. Blue and pink are two different shades.
But still gray.
Everything was always gray in the end.
Luther’s fat, sweaty face was gray.
Calvin’s beautiful eyes were gray.
My entire world, for all its monochromatic beauty, was missing something essential. And I couldn’t even properly describe the absence of color because I never knew it was a concept to begin with. Like missing a friend I never met.
“You okay?” Quinn nudged my arm. “I’ve got to go talk with Calvin.”
I quickly nodded and pushed my sunglasses up, lest she see I was getting emotional about what most people consider nothing. “Sure. Go ahead.”
She waited a moment because she knew I wasn’t okay, but Quinn had priorities, and my feelings were not at the top of that list.
I went up the steps and walked by the counter with the brass register, making for my office. The light was on inside, and sitting on my desk was a gross, dried-out animal corpse.
The mermaid.
Although technically it was a blackened and leathered monkey, with the lower half cut away and replaced with a fish tail. The animal looked to have died in agony, and after a hundred and fifty plus years, it had not aged well. I pulled out my magnifying glass and took a look, guessing that the missing hair was due to moths or rodents or poor storage. Likewise, the scales of the fish tail were basically gone. But this couldn’t be mistaken for anything else. It looked exactly like the drawings from Barnum’s time.
Hideous.
There was a folded note beside the mermaid. I picked it up and read it.
Congratulations!
Gee, thanks.
But there’s more.
That sounded like a shitty infomercial.
I unfolded the rest of the note.
Visitors needed a guide to Thebes. Tomorrow, 10am.
And there was another address.
“Sebastian?”
“Hmm?” I quickly folded the note and stuffed it into my pocket before turning.
