“Boss, we didn't talk; we simply painted,” she corrected.
“Yet, at 14, you understood my brain worked differently.You realized I was worked up over something I had no control over and found the fastest means to bring me down,” he said.“At 14, Alita.At 15, you taught me to recognize my triggers and how not to be goaded by the kids into acting out of my character.We were 16 when you developed methods to ease my nervous system in crowds, like I did yesterday, simply standing with my hands behind my back.But she kept touching me.Touching me like I was a pet.”
“You handled it well, Boss,” Alita said.“The ride in the Jeep was a bit much.She wasn't dressed for it, and we brought her back to the house looking as if she went into the Amazon to fight off guerrillas.The young woman was in tears at how you ruined her dress.”
“I'll buy her another one,” he said ruefully.
“Will she be the one?”
“Did you see her feet?”
“You would turn her down because of her feet?”
“I will turn her down because she's an idiot,” Micah said.“She had the audacity to want to call me Mike.Then when I told her I was on the spectrum, she asked if I had vision problems.”
Alita burst into laughter.
“It's not funny, Alita,” he said, putting out the cigarette he didn't want.“I have at least three more of these women to interview.I hate it here.”
“Oh, poor you,” Alita said, pretending to cry.“My father went out and hand-selected four women from rich families that would further our lineage and secure the borders of my country.I get my choice of vestal virgins who will be educated to serve me and learn my hobbies and interests and bear me dark-haired smart children who like music and math.How,dooooyou live with yourself?”
He paused, moving closer to Alita.He stood toe to toe with her, looking down on at the lovely face in light of the moon.He toyed with the coca leaf in his mouth, allowing the tip of the leaf to poke between his lips.His hands were relaxed as he stared at her.
“I live with you,” he said, lowering the octaves of his voice.“You live with me and make me better.”
“That means nothing to me, Boss,” she said.
“Micah.I love to hear you call me Micah,” he said, still standing entirely too close, the smell of the tobacco clinging to his skin.He wore no shirt, simply a pair of brown pants that hung entirely too low on his narrow hips.A rosary-styled necklace in brown hung about his neck fading into the colors of the tattooed viper on his chest.
“Micah, you seem to be forgetting yourself and the lines we have drawn in the sand,” she told him.
“I'm starting to hate those lines too,” he said.“What I want, I'm not sure I can have.I want to carve my own path, my own course.I want to love who I want to love, not a breeder chosen for me based on who is ripe for the plucking.”
“Then see your Czar and state your case,” Alita said.
“What if, what I want most, Alita, is not for me, and I make my move and am rejected,” he said, moving an inch closer.“If I am rejected by her, I may never recover.”
“Have you made your feelings known to her?”
“No, but I am creating this world for us to grow in, thrive inside, and learn the meaning of what it is to be in love,” he said, craving to touch her.
“Then there are conversations to be had, Micah, starting with your Czar, then your grandfather, and lastly her,” she offered.“We need to get inside before we are eaten alive.”
He said nothing as he followed her into the home.They didn't take the back stairs but the ones in the center of the house.In the dark, Eduardo watched them climb the steps to thier quarters.He'd eavesdropped on the entire conversation and knew what was coming.
More and more, he gained respect for the young woman.
