Page 44 of Malliko
Malliko
Clara hadn’t exaggerating when she said her neighborhood wasn’t the best. The streets were lined with broken-down buildings. Music thumped from cars, people shouted at each other, and the sounds from a loud argument drifted from a nearby building. Several of the people I passed seemed to be on drugs and when a group of five young men crossed the street to get close to me, I felt myself straightening up to signal that I wouldn’t be an easy target. They were dressed in baggy jeans and hoodies; a few of them had bandanas pulled up over their faces.
“You got a cigarette?” one of the men asked.
“No,” I said in a calm tone and looked him straight in the eye to assess how much of a threat he would be. His pupils didn’t show signs of being high, but the way he lowered his chin and moved his head from side to side reminded me of a rattlesnake.
“What else you got then?” another young man with a ball cap asked and moved too close to me. He was at least a head shorter, but he stared up at me with a hostile attitude. I would have welcomed these men as training subjects back when I was a bored soldier. Now, I only felt annoyed because they slowed me down when I wanted to get to Clara’s apartment.
“What you got in the bag?”
I lifted the plastic bag and answered honestly. “Massage oil and a scented candle.”
When one of them reached for the bag, I pulled it away and gave them all a warning. “It’s better if you stay back and leave me alone.”
They snickered and the short guy with the obnoxious attitude pumped up his chest. “What if we don’t leave you alone? Huh? What if you handed over your phone and your money? Tell you what, we’ll let you keep the candle just to be nice.”
Running out of patience, I moved on but that’s when three of them pulled out weapons. Seeing two knives and a gun, I reacted in self-protection. Turning to the gun man, I used my mental training and watched him. “That’s a nice gun you have. Do you remember the first time you held a gun in your hands?”
He frowned and shifted his balance. “Quit talking and just fucking hand over the money.”
“Did you feel powerful holding the gun or did it scare you?” To us Eidron, telepathy was as normal as speaking. We used both methods of communication. As Federal soldiers, each race brought their skills and I had learned mind-clouding from the best. My teacher had been an Ugon sergeant who could manipulate thoughts like no one I had ever seen before.
“You were scared, weren’t you? Scared of potentially killing someone with the gun.” As I kept talking, I noticed how his eyes darted between me and the weapon while his hands shook.
One of the men holding a knife got frustrated and shoved at his friend’s shoulder. “What the hell, T. Snap out of it. He’s just talking shit. You ain’t afraid of nothing.”
“It’s natural to be afraid,” I said and this time I made sure to meet all their eyes. “It’s natural to prefer to walk away from a conflict.”
Humans were easily influenced and sure enough two of them backed off and pulled at the others. “C’mon, it’s not worth it,” a long-haired man who hadn’t spoken before muttered to his friends.
Walking on, I felt happy that I wouldn’t have to explain to anyone that I had used mind-clouding. The Federation was protective of species like humans who had no defense whenit came to mental powers. As soldiers, we had to deliver reports after a mission and state what type of confrontations we had been in and what methods we had used to resolve conflicts. Nonviolent methods were preferred, but there had been incidents where soldiers had taken advantage of hypnotic techniques that crossed an ethical line.
Reaching Clara’s apartment, I knocked on her door and waited while she unlocked several locks. When she finally opened, I saw that she was dressed differently from what she had worn to work, and her lips glistened with a shiny red color.
“Come in.” Clara stepped aside and closed the door after me, locking it again.
Taking in the sparsely decorated living room, I saw a small kitchen off to the side and a bathroom visible down the small hallway.
“I hope you didn’t have any trouble getting here. There are gangs in the area, and I don’t like walking out outside at night.”
It bothered me that she lived in a place where she clearly didn’t feel safe, but I had come to fix another problem.
“Show me his picture,” I said and nodded to her phone on the table.
Clara picked up her phone and scrolled down to show me the twenty-five-year-old that she’d spoken about.
“That guy makes you nervous?” I wrinkled my nose. “Why? He should be lucky to get near you.”
Clara lowered the phone and gave me a skeptical look. “That’s easy for you to say since you’re not into men. But he’s like someone I would dream about when I was a teenager.”
I crossed my arms. “You’re not a teenager now, so why does he still affect you?”
“Because…” Biting her lower lip, Clara looked around. “Because he seems out of my league, and I’m confused why he wants to be with me.”
“Did you answer him?”
“Yes. I said that you were coming over and that I would write him back later.”
