Tuning the Guitar Player
[11]
Immediately, I shifted into action, shutting off the water so the basin wouldn’t be quite as slippery while making sure I had my arms supporting her. The nurses who cared for my ailing relatives passed along certain lift-and-carry explanations, but it had been too long since I had done any of that. The best notion that settled into my head was to drag her by the legs with something protecting her head or swing her arm around my shoulder. Whatever worked and didn’t injure me.
Fortunately, she remained on her feet as I carefully guided her out of the tub and over to sit down with her towel. The tension and weakness slowly eased as she covered up, trembling. I grabbed even more towels for cushioning in case she went unconscious. But the worst of it seemed to pass. Whatever it was.
Parsley cautiously ambled over to the toilet and used it without any trouble. At least for a little while. She peed normally, but it wasn’t long before the earlier snack decided it had to leave. Was that really enough time to digest a pizza? Considering the lack of quality, it didn’t surprise me that her body booted it out at the first convenience. The results were enough to turn this into a lesson in cleanliness. Fortunately, she had zero interest in investigating her waste and gladly cleaned up with my instructions.
So much better than a baby who’d needed years to get this. I didn’t have much knowledge of the variety of bottles and perfumes that Celestina collected, but I grabbed a few, and both of us smelled and felt pretty nice at the end of it. Onto the next terror: swimsuits.
Before that though, I checked with my aunt about whether it was a good time to even bother using the pool. Had to shower first, they warned, but we were way ahead of that. Now feeling better, Parsley put on a lovely pink swimsuit with a lot showing, especially a patch around her stomach. Mine was like the cast-off of an old athletic outfit with a vibrant green line twisting and separating different shades of dark blue with gray to highlight where my boobs had to go. A little too much of the edges were exposed, and I was especially mortified by the bottom section. Practically my entire hips were left poking through the side openings, while the crotch felt like the most embarrassing wedgy when it sat flat. At least there wasn’t a crinkly bush popping out the edges. Pulling at the material didn’t help. There wasn’t much to go around.
Other options existed, but this was the best compromise between even worse qualities. Some light robes for each of us helped. My aunt and uncle didn’t say anything as we stepped lightly to the sliding door and made our way to the backyard. Apart from some thin patches of grass and swollen bushes, there wasn’t a whole lot beyond the chairs and table, aside from the pool. The eight-foot-high wooden fence in the back at least separated us from their neighbors. Vague barking fluttered through the air but didn’t threaten in our direction. I knew there used to be a big black dog in the neighborhood, but I hadn’t seen it lately.
I made Parsley wait in one of the chairs while I roamed around the backyard and side patch to see if there was anything in the vicinity that could explain away the creepy presence from earlier. The one side was mostly blocked off, with several layers of fencing put in and replaced by previous owners beside an abandoned dog house. Peering over the gap was more difficult because of my losses in height, but nothing looked remotely suspicious or threatening on this end. I took my time probing the other side.
As I expected, the little path normally used by the gardener was clear of debris and overgrowth. Facing out from where our window was, I looked all over and attempted to visualize anything that could’ve provided the source of the strange sight. My imagination tussled with something like a bobbing scarecrow tied to a windmill that looped around with just the right amount of shadowing from the sun… which was on the wrong side. Nothing appeared to resolve the incongruity.
Sighing softly through my teeth, I watched Parsley fuss with the fit of her swimsuit and adjust her still-damp hair. She looked absolutely adorable in her outfit while I felt monumentally ridiculous in mine. Some parts of it weren’t that bad. The fit around my waist was fine, even though it practically felt painted on. The glossiness, along with the bright colors and that sporty edge, distracted from several qualities that I didn’t want to dwell on. I just couldn’t shake the fact that there was barely enough material to cover the space between my legs. Nothing much was going to slurp or slip out of the side, but I didn’t feel comfortable. At least, outside of the robes, all that would be underwater. That desperate reassurance didn’t do anything to stop my legs from quivering.
It wasn’t a bad day. Summer was far behind. Fall hadn’t settled in yet, but the occasional breeze pulled the warmth from my bare flesh. The pool would help with that, but I was taking it slow to acclimate my girl.
I dipped my toes in first and splashed some water. Parsley crouched nearby and wiggled her hand through it. It didn’t take her long to notice that it smelled different and tasted awful. I should’ve expected her to try sipping it.
I explained to her what I could, then opted to just slide into the pool and demonstrate the rest. The crotch still felt immensely uncomfortable, even underwater, and I could include the fancy new concern of getting chlorine in places I never had or thought about before. Softly floating was nice. The weight of everything this day placed on me felt like it could finally slide off. But I remained vigilant as Parsley crept, inch by careful inch, into the water. Squinting while she slipped lower, her bright outfit shimmered like candy caught in bold sunbeams. We held hands, and I patiently stayed nearby on the shallow end.
She fluttered through the water and gripped my hand tightly. Flotation devices would’ve been nice, and I didn’t mean that as a euphemism. I set aside the bulk of my consciousness to just appreciate the calm moments that existed around us. Resisting the urge to dwell in frantic caution took a surprising amount of effort. So many things in existence posed a threat to all that I loved. There was nothing I could do about it but cling to her as desperately as possible and simply hope.
Nadia told me someone like Parsley didn’t last very long. I remembered that, even though I desperately didn’t want to acknowledge it. I didn’t want to believe that something bad could happen to her. Sublimating away. Fading into oblivion. No way. These had to be the outward signs, but fuck that.
If the grim reaper was even thinking of trying to come after my girl, then he, she, it, or whatever dared to darken her day was going to find me shoving every hard object possible up their orifices until they were breathing out of their new assholes and pissing out their ears. And that was just one place I could start.
When it came to her protection, whatever aura of cleaner language burned away from my untempered fury. I swore to protect her with everything I had and punish threats till they comprehended my unrelenting promise to her joy. Whatever I have and whatever I can do is for her.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
My Parsley found her confidence to wade just past where she could float in the water and barely touch bottom. She infused the air with delighted giggles as the water wobbled with the cleansing intake wake. Unfortunately, there’s not a whole lot to do immersed in water once it has shown you all its secrets.
We got some mileage out of splashing and bobbing. I endeavored to show her a few different swimming moves, but it was a little too much. She was content to just float without fear for her body. I looped around the far end a few times with casual kicks and my distinct, poorly practiced swimming stroke. We had our fun until the sun rapidly hunted for the horizon.
My uncle pulled open the sliding door and ambled across the pavement in his flip-flops to pass along the message that dinner would be ready soon. He lingered and surveyed the backyard. I could tell there was much he wanted to remodel and remake to look more like the Mediterranean. Parsley floated her way toward the shallow side, grappling for the steps as a sudden coughing spell seized her. I should’ve brought out some water that she could actually drink. My uncle was attentive though, and filled up a travel bottle for her from the sink just inside.
She attempted to drink from the bendy straw, but a spasm caught in her throat. Before I could rush over, I heard the most unusual noise erupt from her mouth. I’d heard something like it once before.
On one of the last nights of my obligation to relatives on their last gasps, when I was there instead of mom, I heard a sound like a wild sneeze mixed with a wet cough. It only happened when I looked away. When I turned back, all was calm. It was as though something else had released that noise. That wasn’t the last moment, but it was close enough. I imagined it might be the messy moment when their soul slipped from earthly bonds and only the traces of the mechanical acts of living remained. Mercifully, nothing malicious decided to slip in.
That wasn’t what happened to Parsley though. She wasn’t dying. She wasn’t sick. Her beautiful soul wasn’t dislodged from her body. But there was a tangled mass of shimmering blue and gold that drifted away from her. And my uncle was right in its path.
Like wavy water, it passed through his face. My uncle’s beard receded, and the sparse, fair hair atop his head swelled with platinum blonde brightness. His glasses remained while impossible things happened to the rest of his body. Things I knew all too well.
He visited us wearing distinctive soccer team colors and they remained, even as the contours of his clothes irrevocably shifted. Green, red, and white with Italian pride dipped in at his compressed waist while his hips boldly spread, and I no longer had the biggest bust in this household. Not quite as bad as poor Zack earlier but close enough to be fair competition.
Same as my aunt received a sincere, energizing boost, my uncle did appear more youthful around her eyes and especially with the shape of her body. She helped quell Parsley’s frantic spell of choking with kind hands. Whatever had bothered her moments ago cleared away with a deep lungful of moist air. My new aunt shared her encouragement that warm soup and so many other wonderful things to make her forget about such an unpleasant spell.
I should’ve screamed, I should’ve been alarmed in terror, and been lost in confusion, but I didn’t want to do that in front of either of them. What panic surged through my veins was easy to again keep beneath the surface. My balding uncle had become an absolutely cute MILF hottie who looked more like she deserved to be one of my classmates than an older relative. Again, neither my aunt nor my uncle was decrepitly old; they each just felt settled and worn out by the last few years.
The question of my original aunt was soon answered with her emerging from the kitchen in a colorful outfit similar to what my other aunt was wearing. She had some lines around her eyes but retained the energy she greeted us with earlier. The two of them looked like they could do laps around me. Some mention was made of a club in Oxnard, which we were welcome to join them at later. For now though, dinner was ready.
We changed out of the swimsuits, briefly rinsed off the traces of pool water, and settled down to eat wearing a change of clothes with elements mixed from the dresser and what we got at the mall. The pickle soup had received a welcome, spicy boost, along with a plethora of both expected and unexpected entrées. Minced pork cutlet, beets, and potatoes, along with a delightfully familiar infusion of pasta and parmigiana. Despite how much there was, we left several clean plates.
Parsley looked better after the meal, even though I felt no certainty about whether I’d seen the last of bad things happening to her. At least my new aunt attended to her care and comfort as insistently as I did.
Before we migrated from the dining table to the den, I inquired about whether we had a container of salt. It wasn’t long before my aunt passed me a giant cylinder of Morton’s. That sufficed.
It was the only thing I could think of as a source of protection for the both of us. Nadia‘s strategy of singing a song inside my head worked so far but overnight, and for Parsley, would require something else. A protective ring of salt around the room. It would have to be otherwise hidden around the curtains. In the morning, I’d just need to run the small hand vac to clean it up before my aunts freaked out. They were already getting ready for the club, and I resolved that such a location might be too much stimulation for Pars, along with a troubling reminder of just how much dwelled beyond. Not to hold her back but to at least keep the training wheels securely fastened through this uncertain time.
Considering I wouldn’t have been able to even imagine my uncle rocking a blue dress for a night on the town, she wore it very well. The energy and excitement waned when they left. Quietness loomed in the corridors with a faint flicker of shadow. Part of me wanted to start laying down salt trails wherever possible, as though we were facing a Slug Armageddon. I shared that notion with Parsley and was surprised that she actually managed to grasp my bizarre sense of humor.
We had the presence of the television radiating foreign sports, but soon turned it down to focus on the lovely starter game we’d been gifted. Leather and velvet surrounded this version of the pieces, with solid stock for the cards. It was a blast to work through and deeply immersive. Parsley had her leg up on the rules and actually enjoyed teaching and reminding me of specific things I had since forgotten across this mind-melting day.
We completed several long sections in relative peace beyond the stray, quiet, faraway cheers before I noticed something jarring against all the warm elements. I could hear footsteps. Parsley tipped her head but gave no other sign that she caught a strange presence in our midst.
Clearly, an opportunistic creature following us. That was also something that she said, right? Parsley faced dangers from within and around her. I had no idea what to do about either of those forces. But I swore with every fragment of my being that I would fight for her life.