Still on a high from the sweep of Cal, I was on a cloud during dinner. Emmy had found an Italian restaurant in Berkeley that was open late, to my surprise. Emmy ate her usual tiny amount, but I was hungry so I scarfed my pesto down with enthusiasm.
Walking back to Emmy’s SUV, it seemed as if all were right with the world. Emmy and I were back together, my grades were good, and my team was going to the playoffs. Life seemed perfect.
Out of the blue, Emmy asked me “Leah, do you trust me?”
Wondering what she was talking about, I responded “Of course I do. Why? What’s up?”
“We need to go into this alley, Leah. Yes, this one,” she said, steering me into a grimy alley that looked anything but inviting. It was dark, but not completely so. Still, I was suddenly concerned. I mean, I knew Emmy could see as well as if it were day (maybe better, actually) but I was not gifted with her ability to see in the dark, and this alley was creepy.
Emmy pushed me down the alley and told me to hide behind a dipsy dumpster, then turned to face the way we’d come. A few moments later two African-American men entered the alley, obviously looking for us. Emmy just stood there, her hands on her hips, waiting for them.
The two guys spotted her right away, and the larger of the two stepped forward.
Emmy spoke then, saying something I couldn’t understand. She repeated herself, in a louder, more demanding voice.
The big guy, who was obviously the leader of the two, answered, “Who are you, walking around like you are?”
Emmy answered him back, and I realized I couldn’t understand her because she was talking to him in some other language. I recognized when she told him her name, but it sounded strange, too. She said some more in that language I couldn’t understand, but the big guy clearly did.
“Do not speak to me in that language of oppression. This is a new land, and we are free of your kind here.” He advanced, and I was sure he was going to attack Emmy. “We don’t want your kind here. This is a free land, and you have no say here!” The big guy was getting more and more agitated, but the smaller guy didn’t look as if he wanted anything to do with this confrontation. Neither did I, but Emmy was doing nothing to defuse the situation. She kept talking to the guy in the foreign language, which kind of sounded like Arabic or something like that to me.
“No!” shouted the big guy. “I will not! You have no right to demand anything! This is not your place!” He was extremely upset, but Emmy was still calm, giving me flashbacks to her argument with Jake Merrick.
Emmy pointed at the ground at her feet and said something that sounded like a demand, but the guy just got even madder.
“No! I will not!” he said again. “You need to be taught your place in this new land!” he shouted, rushing at Emmy as he pulled a knife from inside his jacket.
Emmy stepped back, then quick as a rattlesnake she spun on her back foot, kicking him in the head with the heel of her foot as she did so. The blow knocked him to the ground and she pounced on him with her knees in the middle of his back. Looking up at the smaller guy (who was just about to bolt) she said something in that strange language in a commanding tone and he stopped as if glued to the spot. I saw that she had that wicked folding knife of hers in her hand, and she pointed it at the small guy. “Tell the other to come out,” she commanded in English, then held her knife to the throat of the guy she was pinning to the ground.
As Emmy returned her focus to the leader, a third figure, smaller than the first two, entered the alley when the second guy called out.
Emmy said something to the man on the ground, and he said “I will not speak that tongue any more. I have turned my back on that life.”
Emmy replied “English, then. Tell me, who is your king here?”
“We have no king,” spat the man. “We are done with that.”
“In whose shadow do you hide?” demanded Emmy.
“I told you! No one casts their shadow on us here!”
“You!” Emmy snapped at the smaller guy, who still looked on the verge of making a break for it. “Whose shadow?”
The guy was clearly terrified, and he could barely stammer out “Nobody’s, no, nobody’s,” he said.
Emmy was slowly dragging the tip of her knife across the cheek of the bigger guy, who was still lying face down in the dirty alley. He looked terrified, too. It seemed to me that he was more than half convinced Emmy was going to kill him. In all honesty, so was I. I was completely unprepared for all this, too stunned to process it all.
The third person, standing near the entrance to the alley, started to cry. With a shock I realized it was a girl, and her voice sounded young.
Returning her attention to the man on the ground, Emmy hissed “Come to my shadow, then. Come to my shadow.”
“No,” the larger man replied, almost sobbing in his terror.
“You do not have a choice,” Emmy told him. “If you wish to live, you must do it.”
My eyes had adjusted to the dim light in the alley by this time so I could see the serrated blade of Emmy’s knife tracing lazy lines across the man’s face. Even though she wasn’t putting enough pressure to cut him, I had to look away as the tip of the knife slid across his closed eyelid.
“Do it,” Emmy hissed, anger in her voice. “Do it for her. Do it, or else. This knife is so sharp you will never even feel the cut that draws your red blood from your body. If you die, who will take care of her?”
Emmy’s low, hissing voice chilled me to the bone, and it was too much for the young girl, too. She cried out in despair and collapsed to the ground. The choking noise the girl made was what it took to break the big man’s resolve, and he cried out “Yes! Please! Give me your shadow! Please!” he begged, all dignity gone.
In a loud, clear voice Emmy said “I cover you with my shadow.” She stood up off the man, and looked at the smaller man, who fell to his knees.
“Please, I beg you, give me protection of your shadow!” he implored, utterly terrified.
“I give you my shadow,” Emmy announced. She then walked over to the girl, who was still crying on the filthy ground. “Do you wish my shadow as well?” Emmy asked, but in a far gentler voice than she’d used with the two men.
The girl nodded, unable to look at Emmy. Emmy gently lifted the girl’s face and said “I give you the protection of my shadow, little one. You no longer have anything to fear.”
By this time the big guy had gotten to his feet. He watched Emmy and the girl, defeat slumping his shoulders.
Emmy gently lifted the girl to her feet, and motioned for me to come out from where I was still hiding behind the dumpster.
“What are your names, my children?” asked Emmy in a gentle voice, as if she were trying to calm them. The three gathered around her, looking like scolded puppies expecting to get swatted for their transgressions.
“I am Michael, and this is my daughter Jassie,” said the bigger guy. His whole attitude was like somebody who’d just been told his execution was scheduled for tomorrow. He was a beaten man, and it was painful to see.
“My name Hakan,” said the smaller man, who was still clearly terrified.
The whole scene was so surreal to me that I couldn’t wrap my mind around it. I had no idea what was going on.
Emmy wrapped her arm around the girl’s shoulders. “Jassie will come with me to my home tonight. Tomorrow we will all meet at noon at the restaurant on the corner for lunch. Here is some money,” Emmy said, pulling a wad of cash out of her pocket. “Buy yourselves some new clothes and clean yourselves up. Remember, noon at the restaurant on the corner. And this is very important. Come showing your skin, like me. As you said, Michael, this is a new land, and things should be different here.”
Emmy steered the girl out of the alley, despite the girl’s reluctance. The look of anguish on Michael’s face was terrible to see, but he didn’t protest, and neither did Jassie.
Emmy, Jassie and I left the two men behind in the grimy alley and walked to the car. In the better light of the street I saw how shabby Jassie’s clothes were, and how filthy. She smelled a bit, too. It had been a while since her last bath, and she really needed one.
I had too many questions running through my head to actually come up with anything intelligent to ask, so I didn’t say a word on the long drive back to Palo Alto. Neither did Emmy, so the only sound in the car was Jassie’s quiet sobbing.
When we got to our condo, Emmy took the girl’s hand and led her inside. Jassie had stopped crying by this point, but she was clearly terrified and really didn’t want to be there. I was feeling more and more furious with Emmy for subjecting this girl to this emotional abuse, but I kept my mouth shut for the time being.
I did have to grudgingly admit that Emmy was being very gentle with the girl, trying to soothe her tattered nerves by speaking in a quiet, gentle voice and not making any sudden moves.
Once inside our place, Emmy turned to talk to Jassie. Holding the girl’s hands and looking her straight in the face, Emmy asked “Do you understand what happened tonight?”
Jassie nodded, but that didn’t satisfy Emmy. “Words, please. Tell me in words.” She was still using that gentle, soothing voice, but it was clear that it wasn’t a request.
“You are our queen now,” Jassie said, her voice trembling.
“Yes, that is correct. I am now your queen. And what does that mean?”
“I have to do what you say,” Jassie replied, still tremulous.
“Yes, that is true. You must do what I tell you. What will happen if you do not?”
“You will kill me,” the terrified girl answered.
“Yes, that is right. If you disobey me, I will kill you,” Emmy agreed, all in the same pleasant tone. “What else does it mean?”
“I… I don’t know,” stammered the girl.
“It means that it is my duty, my obligation, to protect you and keep you from harm any way I can. Do you know what that means?” Emmy asked.
“You… you won’t hurt me?”
“No. I will not hurt you, Jassie. As long as you obey me, I will do what I can to make your life better. Part of what I will do is protect you, and your father, from others who may wish to harm you. Do you understand?”
When the girl nodded again, Emmy gently chided her “I told you to use words, Jassie. Do you remember?”
“Yes! Sorry!” squeaked the girl, again terrified that she’d angered Emmy.
“It is O.K. I know you forgot, and you are not used to speaking very much. But you are safe here, Jassie. I will protect you.”
“Thank you,” whispered the girl.
“Now. My first edict for you, your father and Hakan is to show yourselves. Did you hear me tell that to the others?”
Jassie nodded, then quickly added “Yes!” before Emmy could scold her for not using words.
“Good. I will take you upstairs, and you will bathe. You will clean your skin and you will show your true nature to the world.” With this, Emmy tenderly led the girl upstairs, and I followed to see what Emmy had planned.
In our bathroom, Emmy turned on the water in the shower, and when she was satisfied it was the right temperature she told the girl to take off her clothes.
Jassie didn’t want to do it, but when Emmy repeated her command in a firmer tone, the girl started to strip. I stepped out of the bathroom, embarrassed for the girl. She only looked to be about ten years old at the most, now that I could see her in better light. Her hair was a ratty mess under her beanie, and her dark brown skin didn’t look healthy at all.
Emmy stayed in the bathroom, but opened the door I’d just shut behind me when I stepped out. Emmy looked at me, as if to ask that I stick around.
Although I couldn’t see the girl, I could hear when she got into the shower. Emmy was watching her through the shower’s glass door, giving her instructions on how to bathe herself. I got the impression that Jassie had never used shampoo before, judging by how Emmy had to explain it to her.
Emmy took the girl’s clothes and handed them to me while Jassie was in the shower.
“Please go through all the pockets very carefully,” Emmy requested. “Look for anything hidden, and put everything you find in a box or something. Throw these in the washing machine with a lot of detergent and really hot water, please, Leah.”
I did as she asked and found a few dollars, a small knife, and in an inside pocket of Jassie’s ratty coat I found a Barbie doll that had been colored black with a marker.
The Barbie was old and thrashed and the black marker hadn’t done a very good job coloring in all the details. For some reason, just looking at the shabby little doll made me really sad. This girl’s only real possession was something most people would simply throw away without a second thought.
I threw the clothes in the washer and set it on “Sanitize” mode, then washed my hands, which felt dirty from handling the filthy garments.
Surprised that the other two weren’t done yet, I went back upstairs just in time for Emmy and Jassie to come out of the bathroom. Jassie was wrapped in one of our big bath towels, and looked completely transformed.
First off, her skin was now as black as Emmy’s. Suddenly understanding what Emmy had meant about showing her true self to the world, I realized that Jassie, her dad and the other guy must have been wearing makeup to make themselves look like ordinary African-American black people and not the truly pitch black-skinned Children of the Night. Second, my guess of her age seemed to be off by a couple of years. Jassie was starting to show signs of becoming a young woman, so I revised my estimate to maybe twelve years old. A small twelve, though.
Emmy motioned for me to come over, saying “I want you to see something.” I sat on the edge of the bed, and Emmy turned the girl away from me.
“Let us see, Jassie.” Emmy said it gently, but it was still clearly a command. The girl unwrapped the towel from around her body and lowered it so I could see her back. Ashamed to be naked in front of us, she covered herself with her arms even though she was facing away from us. I felt terrible for the humiliation that Emmy was putting her through, and I was determined to discuss it with Emmy later.
“Do you see that?” Emmy asked me.
I tried to see what she was trying to show me, but all I could see was how skinny the poor girl was. “What am I looking at?” I asked, unsure.
“This,” Emmy said, lightly tracing her finger along Jassie’s bare back.
Looking closely, I saw what she was indicating. The girl had some kind of ornate design marked out in scars covering the majority of her back, from her shoulder blades down to the top of her butt.
“What is that?” I gasped, looking closer at the extensive markings carved into the girl’s flesh.
“Jassie, please tell Leah what those scars are from.” Emmy’s voice was very gentle and soothing.
“It was my fault,” the girl began. “I was in the way, and I didn’t get out of the way fast enough. He got mad and had his men hold me down. He used his knife, to remind me forever to be better.” Jassie’s voice was small, but she didn’t sound as terrified as she had earlier.
“Who did this, my child?” asked Emmy, but she clearly already knew.
“It was Prince Marfan,” the girl answered.
Tracing the design, Emmy explained “This is his name, here. And this,” she said, pointing to Jassie’s right shoulder, “means ‘property of’ or maybe ‘owned by’.”
Sickened, feeling as if I might barf, I asked “You mean one of your princes did this to her?”
“Not one of my princes, no. Jassie and her father come from a different nation from mine. They are from the largest realm of our people, not from the one my parents lead. My parents would never tolerate this in our lands,” Emmy explained to me. Then, to the girl, she said “That is enough, Jassie. Thank you.”
Emmy led the shame-faced naked girl over to her dresser and pulled out some pajamas for her to wear. “Here, put these on. They are my clothes, but I give them to you. They are yours now.”
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
The girl dressed quickly, happy to no longer be naked.
“Now let us go downstairs and see what we can get you to eat,” Emmy said, motioning for me to go with the two of them.
Emmy scrounged around in the pantry and found a can of chicken noodle soup. “Could you please cook this for Jassie?” she asked me. “I would, but I don’t know how,” she apologized.
“Jassie,” Emmy said to the girl sitting at the table. “Leah is my…” and then Emmy said something in that other language. “Her word is law, do you understand? Anything she says you must obey as if it were me that said it. Is that clear?”
The girl nodded, then quickly said “Yes! I understand!”
“Excellent. Now, I want to tell you what will happen. Tomorrow, Leah and I will take you to get your hair cut, just a little bit, so it looks more beautiful. Then we will buy you new clothes. After that, we will go to meet your father and Hakan for lunch.”
The microwave signaled it was done, so I put the bowl of soup and a spoon in front of the girl. She sniffed it cautiously, then picked up the bowl to try a sip. It must have passed her taste test, because she started slurping it up in a hurry.
“Jassie, my child. Not so fast. There is no need to rush,” Emmy said, making Jassie lower her head as if she expected a beating. Emmy just rubbed the girl’s shoulder to let her know it was O.K. Jassie did slow down, though. After the soup, I made her a ham sandwich. I was about to add cheese, but Emmy indicated I shouldn’t.
“She probably cannot tolerate dairy products,” Emmy explained. “They are not a normal part of our diet.”
After the sandwich Jassie ate two bananas and an apple. Finally full, she seemed a little more confident that we were unlikely to kill her at any moment and actually smiled a little bit.
Jassie was a lot prettier than I’d believed at first. She cleaned up nice, I thought. The occasional shy smile really helped, too.
I have to admit I’d been staring at her, absorbing the similarities and differences between the way Jassie and Emmy looked.
Her dark eyes were vaguely almond shaped, where Emmy’s eyes were round. Jassie had a short, slightly upturned nose, but Emmy’s was long, narrow and straight. Mom had described Emmy as having a Greek nose, whatever that meant.
Also, Jassie’s skin was darker than Emmy’s. I’d noticed that about Emmy’s parents, too- that their skin color was even blacker than Emmy’s, but I hadn’t given it much thought at the time.
Jassie’s straight black hair looked a lot better than it had earlier, and now that it was clean it had a little more body to it. She did need a haircut, though, just to even it up and get rid of the split ends.
It made me happy that Emmy was being so kind and gentle with the girl, who’d been so terrified at first. When Jassie was done with her dinner, Emmy led her up to the middle bedroom and told her to get some sleep. I watched as Emmy sat on the edge of the bed and stroked the girl’s hair, then sang a lullaby in that same strange language. Even though Jassie hadn’t fallen asleep by the end of the song, Emmy and I left the girl alone, closing her door behind us.
Emmy turned off all the lights downstairs while I got ready for bed. I put on my pajamas, just in case I had to get up in the middle of the night (which, technically, it already was).
Emmy wore a pair of shorts and a T-shirt to bed, evidently thinking similar thoughts.
Finally alone with her, it was time to ask Emmy what the hell had happened that night. I mean, some of it I’d figured out, but there were still some things I wasn’t clear on.
“O.K., I think I understand the shadow thing. You guys are people of the dark, right? So being in the shadow is preferable, right?” I asked.
“Yes. It is a sort of metaphor for protection. If someone is in my shadow, I am protecting him from harm. However, it goes both ways. For them to remain in my shadow, they must follow me when I move, right? Therefore, they must do as I wish if they are to remain in my shadow.”
“I guess that makes sense,” I agreed. “But it seemed more formal than that somehow.”
“It is. By accepting the offer of my shadow, they accepted me as their undisputed ruler. By offering them my shadow, I accepted them as my, um… charges, perhaps. They are now my responsibility, and I must do what I can for them.”
“I guess I still don’t get why you did that. I mean, Jassie’s dad, Michael, he clearly didn’t want it, but you forced him. You told him you’d kill him if he didn’t. I mean, I’d like to think it was just an idle threat, right? You wouldn’t really have killed him, would you?” I asked, hoping Emmy would say she wouldn’t.
“No, I would not have killed him,” Emmy said thoughtfully. Then, turning to face me in bed, she brushed a strand of my hair from my face and said “Leah, I saw that some of the things that happened tonight really bothered you. Some of the things I did really bothered you,” she added. “I want you to understand this. Our culture is very, very old. We have writings that go back almost five thousand years, Leah, and some of those texts refer to earlier writings. And here is what is important for you to understand, Leah. Our culture has changed very little in all that time. It is as if the ancient Babylonians were still around, using the same laws that Hammurabi passed down.”
“What-” I began, but Emmy interrupted me.
“Our code of laws reflects our culture, Leah. It is a very cruel culture in many ways. You saw Jassie’s back.”
“What was all that about?” I asked, thinking about the design that had been cut into the girl’s skin, feeling nauseated again.
“She offended a prince of her nation, and it was his right to punish her as he saw fit.”
“His right?” I exploded. “How can something like that be anybody’s right?”
“I feel the same way you do, Leah. It was a terrible thing. But according to the laws of our people, it was perfectly acceptable. This is what I wish to change, Leah. This is why my people must come out of the dark.”
“So why were you being so cruel to them?” I asked, still not satisfied with Emmy’s explanation.
“I did not like to do that, Leah, please believe me. I had to do it, because that is all they understand right now. Did you see them? They were so pathetic. They are living in fear, Leah. The only way I could see to help them was to force it on them.”
“So they’d fear you? Is that it?”
“Yes, a little bit. That is the relationship they know with their rulers. In time, though, I hope to show them that things can be better.”
“I still don’t understand why you were so cruel to Jassie. She didn’t deserve to be treated the way you did. I mean, you practically kidnapped her from her dad!”
“Yes. That was very important for me to do, and here is why. I hope that I can explain it so you will understand, Leah. It was important for me and for Michael and Jassie. Important for them, because they had to show that they accepted my rule without question, and put their trust in me. In truth, if I had known what Prince Marfan had done to her I would not have demanded that she leave her father. I am sorry for that,” Emmy explained, and I could hear the sadness in her voice.
“But it was important for me, too. I had to show that I accepted their trust, and would not betray it. I must bring them back together, in better condition than when I separated them. This is the first step towards making their lives better.”
“So why were you so inconsiderate of her feelings once you got her away from her dad?” I asked, still unconvinced.
“What do you mean? I was nice to her,” Emmy protested.
“You had her strip naked! She was embarrassed and ashamed, Em. That was cruel.”
“Yes, you are right. It was a little bit cruel. But it was necessary, for two reasons. She was filthy and needed to remove the makeup, and had no experience with showers or shampoo. She had to be told what to do. Also, she needed to learn to trust that I mean her no harm, even in her most vulnerable state. I demanded that she place herself in an utterly vulnerable position, and then rewarded her trust by offering her comfort and security. Did you see when I gave her those pajamas? She was happy to have clothes, yes, but it meant even more to her that they were my own clothes that I gave her. In a very real as well as metaphorical sense, Leah, she accepted my protection. Then we fed her, and I sang her the traditional lullaby that her mother sang to her when she was little. I reduced her to a state of acceptance, then drew her back up. In the morning we will make her breakfast and buy her clothes. Perhaps we will buy her a new doll, too, and I will give her a better knife.”
I listened to Emmy’s justification for her behavior, and it made sense in an uncomfortable sort of way, but I still wasn’t happy. “What are you going to do about after she goes home with her dad? Won’t it just be back to the same old same old for her?”
“No, it will not. I have some thoughts on what to do with Michael and Hakan. I am going to do what I can to bring them fully into the light.”
“How?” I asked, realizing that Emmy had given this all a lot more thought than I’d grasped at first.
“I am going to give them jobs, for a start. Then I will find them suitable living conditions.”
“Well, O.K.,” I agreed grudgingly. “I’m not sure it’ll be as easy as you think.”
“Oh, Leah, I do not think it will be easy, but it is what I must do. I saw that tonight was very hard for you to witness, and your feelings are very important to me. I want you to know that I am trying to do my best, and this is part of what my obligations to my people demand.”
“Yeah, I get that, Em. I do,” I sighed. “And maybe now I understand what it all meant it won’t be so bad for me. I just wish…”
“Leah, if it is too much to accept, I can understand, and I am sorry.”
“What? Hey, no!” I protested. “You warned me things might get difficult, and I said I would love you anyway. I’m here for the duration, Em. Just, please, be careful. I mean, you could have been killed tonight, Em. Michael had a knife. He could have stabbed you.”
“No, I was never in any real risk, Leah. Michael was no danger to me.”
“Pretty confident of yourself, huh?”
“It is an honest assessment. I have been trained my entire life to fight, to kill, even. Michael, as a lower caste, could never have been taught any such skills. Yes, he is bigger than me, but he did not know what he was doing, or who he was up against,” Emmy answered, her voice serious.
“I guess that explains about the guy at the mall that one time,” I conceded. “But what about Jake Merrick? How did he lay you out like that?”
“I let him hit me,” Emmy answered.
“You just let him knock you down like that? Why?” I demanded, but I already had at least suspected it was true, and thought I knew the answer.
“It would not have furthered my goals to fight him, Leah. It was much simpler and more effective to let it work out the way it did.”
I’d pretty much known that Emmy had played Jake mercilessly, but it was still something else to hear her admit it. “Wow, Em. That’s…” I couldn’t find the words, but I think Emmy understood.
“I have never lied to you about these things, Leah. I have been honest with you about what I have done, and why,” Emmy said, and I had to admit it was true. She’d admitted the thing at the Halloween party was for effect, and she’d told me that she was milking the fight with Jake for sympathy. In retrospect, she’d as much as told me that she was a schemer all along.
“Well, I can’t say that you haven’t given me some warning, that’s true. Still, it doesn’t make me all that happy.”
“Leah, I understand your misgivings, I do. All I can ask is that you trust me in this matter. This is what I must do. It is who I am, Leah. Who I must be. Please accept it. Please,” she begged. “Please stay with me through this.”
It was only a few hours later when Emmy and I got up to set her plans in motion. Jassie was sound asleep, curled up into a little ball in the guest bed, the covers wrapped tightly around her skinny body.
She was difficult to wake, which reminded me of Emmy. ‘Night owls’, I thought to myself.
Emmy insisted Jassie shower again, and once more Emmy watched to make sure she did it right. When she was done in the shower, Emmy trimmed the girl’s hair herself. As Emmy had predicted, Jassie seemed much more comfortable with us in the morning, and she watched Emmy cutting her hair in the bathroom mirror with a smile on her pitch-black face. Emmy tried to teach the girl to brush her teeth with mixed results. I have to admit it was sad to see that this twelve year old girl had none of the basic life skills we all take for granted.
Afterwards Emmy gave Jassie some clothes to wear. They were a bit too big, but close enough. As Emmy had pointed out, Jassie did seem to really appreciate the fact that the clothes were from Emmy’s own wardrobe. With her cuffs and sleeves rolled up and wearing a pair of Emmy’s sunglasses (which were too big for her face) Jassie looked adorable.
I made us all breakfast, then we headed out to do some shopping. At Target we bought the girl a big duffel bag for her things and at least five full changes of clothes. A couple of pairs of shoes and a good coat finished the clothes.
Throughout all this, Jassie was on cloud nine. I got the impression that nobody had ever really treated her nicely before (except maybe her dad) and it was a new and pleasant sensation. Emmy kept asking my opinions on what would look best on the girl, which shoes were better, and so on. I appreciated that Emmy wanted to include me in the proceedings, and I think it worked at least as far as Jassie was concerned. She actually took my hand and smiled up at me when we left the clothing department to head to the sporting goods section. It was amazing to see the transformation from the terrified little girl of the night before.
I was surprised when Emmy picked out a small locking knife for Jassie. “For protection,” she explained. A pair of sunglasses that fit her small face was the final piece of the girl’s new wardrobe.
In the electronics department Emmy bought four prepaid disposable cell phones, and then we were done.
Loading everything into the big black X6-M, Jassie asked if it would be O.K. for her to put her things in the duffel, and Emmy laughingly explained that of course she could. After all, it was all her stuff now, and nobody else’s. I opted to sit in the back so I could show Jassie how to remove the tags and fold everything so it would fit. I also showed her how to take care of the lenses on her new sunglasses, because dirty, scratched sunglasses are a pet peeve of mine. Jassie paid very close attention to everything I said, asking questions when something wasn’t clear. I guess the ‘Leah’s word is law’ part had stuck.
The sheer happiness and gratitude was almost pouring off the girl in waves, and it occurred to me that maybe Emmy really did know what she was doing with these ‘strays’ as she’d called them.
We got to the restaurant early and requested a table where we could talk privately and waited for the two men. Emmy told the waitress that we would order for everybody right then and not wait, explaining to me that the others probably couldn’t read the menu and wouldn’t know any of the dishes anyway.
Watching Jassie, I saw how she flinched a little every time we were approached by a hostess, waiter, busboy, even other patrons. Basically, she was afraid of everybody but Emmy and me. When Michael and Hakan arrived they showed the same sort of apprehension. They looked as if they were in fear for their lives when they entered the restaurant and the hostess led them back to us.
Michael was overjoyed to see his daughter, and she was just as happy to see him. She bolted out of her chair and ran to him when she spotted him, giving him a big hug. Emmy and I remained seated and waited.
The two men had cleaned most of the makeup off, and they were both wearing new but ill-fitting clothes. They looked better, but far from transformed the way Jassie was.
Emmy indicated they should sit, and boy, did they ever sit immediately. Emmy made it clear that she was the boss, and the two men put up no resistance.
Over lunch we talked about how the three had been getting by (poorly, by the sound of things) and what their living conditions were. When Emmy asked if where they were living was safe, the answer was “It is well hidden.” This didn’t seem acceptable to Emmy, and she made her displeasure clear.
“After lunch, you two will have three hours to gather your things. We will meet at the park down the street, and Leah and I will take you a new, safer and better home.”
“Will we live with you?” asked Jassie, a hopeful look on her face.
“No, you will have your own home, but it will be near our home. It is time for the three of you to stop living in the shadows, stop living in fear. I will provide for you, but in return, I will have tasks for you to do.” Turning to face Michael and Hakan, Emmy asked “Do you understand? No more hiding.”
When they nodded they understood, Emmy demanded “Look at me. I have never hidden in the dark. I have always lived in the daylight. My whole life has been in the sun. I do not live in fear.” She paused to emphasize her point. “I. Do. Not. Live. In. Fear,” she repeated with emphasis. “I am proud of what I am, and I am accepted by day walkers. My lover is a day walker, and she is also now your queen, equal to me, understand?” When the three nodded that they understood, Emmy added “Whatever Leah says is law. She gives you her shadow.”
After lunch, Jassie stayed with us while Michael and Hakan left to go get their things. We went to the nearby park and I played with Jassie while Emmy made some calls. Again, I was stunned by Jassie’s lack of what I would consider basic childhood experiences. The swings were completely new to her, for example. When I bought her a Popsicle from the little store on the corner the look of shock on her face when she tasted it was priceless. Once Jassie got over her initial surprise at the cold, she loved it, though.
Seeing Emmy sit in the shade, it occurred to me that Jassie might be just as liable to suffer from the sun as Emmy was, so I asked Emmy if she’d brought any of her extra powerful sun block.
“I do not think Jassie will need it, Leah. I do not believe it will be a problem for her.”
Emmy was right- the sunlight didn’t bother Jassie at all, at least for the couple of hours we spent in the park. She was squinting a lot, even with the sunglasses, but other than that she was fine.
When Hakan and Michael arrived with their belongings (which were nothing more than a few bags of clothes and some blankets) we all piled into the BMW and drove to Palo Alto. Emmy had reserved a couple of rooms for the two men at a motel a few blocks from our house, and explained that this was only temporary until something better could be arranged. She told Michael that Jassie would be sleeping at our place until that time, but she would spend her days with him.
At the motel Emmy told the men to show her all of their belongings. Every piece of bedding and almost all of their clothing were unacceptable, and she had them throw it all away in the motel’s dumpster. “We will go shopping this afternoon, and I will buy you new clothes. When your new home is ready, we will buy new bedding. Until then, the motel will supply what you need.” Seeing the confused expression on Hakan’s face, she explained to him in what I’d come to realize was their ancestral language. At lunch it had become obvious that his grasp of English was not nearly as good as Michael and Jassie’s. I understood that Emmy was trying to honor Michael’s wish to only speak English, but Hakan needed to understand, too.
Jassie was starting to drag, so when Emmy announced that it was time to go shopping I suggested that I could take Jassie home while the three of them went out.
I walked back to the house with Jassie’s new duffel bag slung across my back, holding the hand of a very tired little girl. When we got home I made sure she drank some juice, then I carried her upstairs and settled her in to bed for a nap.
“You can’t sleep too long,” I told her. “You need to learn to sleep at night and be awake during the day. You understand that, don’t you?” When she nodded, I reminded her “Remember to use your words, Jass.”
“Sorry!” she squeaked, suddenly worried I would be mad at her. “I understand!”
“Then please explain to me why you need to sleep at night,” I coaxed, my voice as gentle as I could make it.
“So we can be children of the day, like you?” she asked, a bit unsure of her answer.
“That is it exactly,” I said, stroking her hair to comfort her. “So you can live in the daylight and never be afraid again.” I kept stroking her hair, and she soon dozed off. I leaned down to kiss her forehead, and was surprised when her skinny little arms wrapped around me in a hug.
“Thank you,” Jassie murmured into my shoulder.
“For what?” I asked, gently lowering her back down.
“For being our queen,” she said, with a shy, tired smile.
I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and whispered “Everything will be better now” as she finally fell asleep. I wasn’t just saying it to reassure Jassie, I realized. I was also trying to convince myself.
After dinner that evening I drew a bath and turned on the whirlpool jets for Jassie. In so many ways she reminded me of Tiffany, even though she was four or five years older. Somehow Jassie’s delayed development from her homeless living conditions made her seem a lot younger.
Thinking about how protective I’d started feeling about that little girl as I helped shampoo her hair, I realized that deep down I thought that what Emmy was doing for these people was the right thing to do. It was going to be a tough transition, but it was very important to give Jassie and her father (and Hakan, too) a life worth living.
After settling Jassie down for the night, Emmy and I talked for quite a while. She told me that stumbling across the three Night Children was a surprise. She had no idea that there were any of them living in the western U.S. at all, since the region was not and had never been any part of their nations. Her people had never really settled the New World, Emmy explained. Travel has always been difficult for her kind, especially travel across the ocean because of the high risk of discovery by day walkers. For Michael to have escaped with Jassie from the Near East (where they were originally from) and travelled all the way to the Bay Area was quite a feat, driven by fear of retribution from Prince Marfan and his kind.
Hakan was from a different nation, one that Emmy thought had vanished over a hundred years before. Hakan had been wandering since the last few of his tribe had died off when he was a child, and his distrust of the other nations had spurred him to find a land free from their ancient culture, she explained.
“If there are these three here,” Emmy mused, “then chances are very high that there are others as well. If they are all living lives of such squalor, perhaps we can convince these others to join us in living in the daylight.”
“How did the three find each other? I mean, you said Michael and Hakan hadn’t known each other for more than a year, right?” I asked.
“That is a good question, Leah. In fact, that may be the key. If we can set the two men to finding others of our kind, others who have strayed this far from their homes, perhaps we can start a new nation, a new nation with new ways.”
“Isn’t that sort of your whole plan for your people? I mean, to change the way they live, right?” I asked.
“Of course,” Emmy answered. “I just had not thought that this was how it might happen.”
“Well, you said you weren’t sure how things were gonna shake out, right? This may just be the start of big things, Em. I mean, I like Jassie, and I want to see her life get better. Whatever we can do for her, I think we need to do it.”
“I agree,” said Emmy. “That is what we will do.”
That weekend Emmy had a bunch of posters made at a local print shop, the kind that people put up to advertise upcoming shows. They were nothing but a white background with big black writing in a strange, curly looking alphabet that seemed Middle Eastern. “Michael wrote these,” she explained. “Back in his homeland he was a…” she trailed off, searching for the word. “Scribe, I think is the correct word. He wrote official documents, things like that. He is a very educated man. It says ‘Fear no more. Hunger no more.’ Then it has instructions on how to call me,” Emmy explained. “Hakan and Michael are going to put these up in places that others like us may be hiding. This will be their job for now.”
“Sounds good,” I agreed. “But meanwhile, we need to figure out what we can do for them, personally. I mean, sure, renting them a place to stay is good and all, but they have no idea at all how to get by in our society. We need to get Jassie in school, and stuff like that,” I pointed out.
“Yes, you are right, Leah. You are so good at seeing what needs to be done,” Emmy said. “Whatever you think is right, that is what we must do.”