Turquoiselle, Tanith Lee [100 best novels of all time .TXT] 📗

Inthe future he would wonder if Sara had ever, during that time, been informedof, or threatened about, his truanting.

Ifso she never relayed the experience. She might, worn out and edgy as she was,even have forgotten it. He himself had been informed, threatened, and bawledout on the matter, which meant nothing to him. It was no longer legal inschools to beat kids up over their misdemeanours. Accordingly he did not care.

Afterthe move, which had also meant little to him, or even probably to his mother,Andy went to the school one day because he felt like it. (The novelty,perhaps.)

Themidmorning break came nevertheless, and found Andy in the school yard, withsome as ever non-personal items he had thieved in his pockets, already havinglost interest and thinking of leaving. But the sun was warm, and he leaned onthe brickwork, being a lizard and absorbing it as lizards did, apparently, inhot, still noonday countries – Brazil, Spain, the Caribbean.

Lizardlike,motionless, his soulless eyes swivelled in his static scaly frame. And soon hesaw Heavy up near the rain-shelter, with the two bullies, Cox, (who had not lost a tooth)and E-bone, looming over him.

Andyhad not come across Heavy since their encounter in Station Road. There was noreason he should have done.

Coxhad kept out of Andy’s way too, since Andy had thumped him. And E-bone was amoron, Andy had long ago deduced, a muddy-coloured, black-white spite-fuelledboil, inert but able to burst when given a cue.

Thelizard watched.

Someof the other ‘young people’ – as custom was coming to title them – did too.

“Iwonder if he’d just fall over,” said Cox. “Yeah?”

“Go’won,”said E-bone. “Pushim.”

“ShallI push him?” Cox, raising his face to the sky, asked God.

SeeminglyGod concurred it was feasible.

SoCox set his big hands on Heavy’s big fat shapeless torso and pushed.

Heavydid nothing. He looked at Cox, as if not sure what Cox was. Heavy did notappear frightened. But he was very big, a blubbery consolidated mass thatrocked a bit but did not give.

“It’sa game,” said Cox toHeavy, determinedly. And this time he drew back, considered, and slammedhimself against Heavy, and E-bone laughed, and some of the others who watchedsniggered in chorus, glad it was not them being attacked by Cox.

Heavyseemed to go over only after an interval, and very slowly, like a too-large andwrongly-made doll. He swung backwards, not resisting, his face even now withoutany dismay, let alone panic. Too thick to drop easily, somehow defying gravityall the way down.

Whenhe hit the ground, the hard concrete below the edge of the rain-shelter – alsoconcrete, chipped and grazing, and his huge unwieldy unsightly head banged downtoo, and the smack of the impact sounded, or seemed to sound – even then he didnot really react. And after it, he lay there, as unmoving as Andy the lizardagainst the warm brickwork. But Heavy’s expression did slowly change. Itbecame one of the vaguest surprise. Brainless, Heavy. What peril could there befor him in having hisskull smashed on the ground?

Thenhe got up, and it was a marvel. A sort of jumbled upward flight– Why had Coxand/or E-bone not put the boot in? Laughing too much maybe. They also missedthe curious beauty of Heavy’s getting up, the cumbersome grace – agility –

Heavyanyway was again on his feet. Gracefully he shambled forward, across to them.He did not look as if he had been hurt.

AbruptlyAndy noticed he had unpeeled himself from the hot wall. He was not a lizard. Hewas a human, and wide awake.

“It’sa game,” said Heavy, to Cox and E-bone.

“Wan’notha go?” asked E-bone.

“It’smy turn,” said Heavy, with gentle logic.

Andreaching out, effortless – like a gigantic fuddled swan— he too pushed with his twoflails of arms that were wings. Cox and E-bone simultaneously, astounded andhowling, fell backward. In due season, their bodies hit the hard and bitter earth,their heads smacked – crack, crack – on theconcrete.

Therewas not much noise now in the yard, which once had been called by the name “Playground”.

Thenthere came the sounds of Cox puking, and E-bone crying.

Ratheroddly, Andy remembered right then someone had said E-bone’s father had been killed.Perhaps this was not true. Or it had been long ago. But in E-bone’s sobbingmisery, Andy unnervingly heard somehow his own helpless lament, his motherlying by the cooker after the advent of his father’s fist, and he curled upagainst the wall, waiting for the next onslaught “Shutup you little cunt–”

“Shutup, you little cunt,” said Andy, under his breath.

Andas he did so, Heavy, who could not have heard him, turned to gaze his way. Andthen Heavy was bending over Cox and E-bone. Heavy murmured, sadly, “It’s just agame, you didn’t ought to play with it, if it makes you unhappy.”

Hewas halfway up Hawthorne Road, (his new route home) before he realised Heavy wasagain, as once before, shambling along in his wake.

Andyignored him. Last time telling Heavy to fuck off had not worked after all. Butin a short space the fumbly stupid sound of Heavy’s feet and shoes annoyed Andyenough he did turn round.

“What?”

“Isn’tthe sky blue,” said Heavy.

“No.It’s orange. Piss off,” Andy added, despite the redundancy. It would not work,nor did it. As Andy resumed his journey back to the new flat, Heavy fell inbeside him.

Howcompletely weird he was. You knew it, obviously, but then you sort of reallylooked at him, and really knew it. And itwas much, much worse than you had ever reckoned.

“Isaw an oransh sky once,” said Heavy, meditatively. “Something was on fire.”

“Yourfucking brains.”

“Oh,no.Old houses.”

Andyglared at the passing traffic. Cars, buses. Congested. Fast.

“Andin a film,” said Heavy, “I saw.”

Andysaid, “Look, shove off, would you?”

Heavydid not seem to know what had been said. He kept on walking at Andy’s side, andsmiling up into the sky.

“There’sa bird,” said Heavy, with soft pleasure.

Evidentlybirds had just been invented, and were still a rare phenomenon.

Andythought about Heavy pushing both Cox and E-bone over, and how someone had gonefor the nurse and then, while somebody else asked E-bone, who was still crying,if he had pushed Cox over, E-bone said he had not meant to, they hadjust been playing about was all. Heavy had already ambled off, but it