Page 19 of In This Iron Ground
“It’s a Steller’s Jay,” Lallo whispered like he was sharing a secret as they watched the blue wings fly away.
Dee, on the other hand, was her usual whirlwind self, running around them, going off into the trees, and then coming back with an energy that seemed inexhaustible. Damien didn’t want to make the comparison out loud, but she reminded him of an eager puppy chasing scent trails across new terrain.
“Song!” Dee demanded at one point, stopping in the middle of the path some way ahead, feet braced apart and fists on her hips.
“We don’t really know any of your songs,” Hakan replied.
“Speak for yourself,” Koko said haughtily and, as if practiced, she started belting out Skee-Lo’sI Wish. “I wish I was a little bit taller, I wish I was a baller, I wish I had a girl who looked good I would call her!”
“Oh, God,” Hakan groaned, causing Koko to sing louder, to Dee’s delight.
“I wish I had a rabbit in a hat with a bat and a six-four Impala!”
Damien laughed incredulously as Dee clapped and Hakan moaned in theatrical pain. Lallo giggled beside Damien, their joined hands swinging between them. The moment was like opening a window and letting a fresh air current through. Everything flowed around Damien, within him, and for a moment he felt larger than he was, like his particles were part of Dee’s laughter and Koko’s voice, the sound of the birds and the rustling leaves, the feel of Lallo’s hand in his, the soft look around Hakan’s eyes.This is pack, he thought, felt, inside.
They stopped once they reached one of the widest plateaus overlooking the forest. They sat down near the edge, looking across the treetops. The sea of green below them rippled with the wind, the sky a huge and glowing backdrop of blue. Damien took a deep, cleansing breath as Lallo pressed against his leg. Damien didn’t know why the little boy had taken such a shine to him, but Damien was glad for it. There was something about children and animals liking you that felt especially honest.
Damien turned to look at Hakan, sitting beside him with his nose tilted slightly in the air.
“What can you smell?” Damien asked curiously.
“Hard to put into words,” Hakan said, but he closed his eyes, inhaling deeply, slowly. “The earth. Deep, rich. The trees, the dirt-like smell of the bark, the slightly bitter but fresh smell of the leaves. I can smell birds, although they don’t tend to smell too strongly, I think their feathers insulate them or something.”
“They smell good!” Lallo piped up. Hakan shot Damien a look, wrinkling his nose as if not fully agreeing, grinning.
“I can smell…there’s a deer. They smell like animals smell, like fur and blood, like grass. I can smell a fox. They smell good, warm. Then there’s pack. Dee smells like candy, always, even if she doesn’t have any that day. Like she would be sticky to the touch. Lallo smells like milk and cereal, Froot Loops. Like that white glue kids use from all the arts and crafts. Koko just smells like her. A bit like coconut from that moisturizer she’s been wearing for years, but, like…I don’t know. It’s a sort of sharp smell, not unpleasant butthere,” Hakan said, sounding a little frustrated at having to put it into words.
“Sharp. I like that,” Koko said, leaning back on her hands and preening. “My scent is a sword, motherfuckers.”
“Koko! Jesus,” Hakan admonished, glancing at Lallo and Dee.
“Don’t repeat that,” Koko instructed, pointing a finger at Dee, who was pressing her hands to her mouth, eyes twinkling with mischief. None of them doubted that she’d be saying the word later that day and blaming it on Koko. Hakan shook his head before turning to Damien again.
“And you…you smell like us, a lot. We all smell like us—obviously, it’s all mixed up, but we have a similar base, or something, and you don’t, so the smell of us stands out more. But your scent changes quite a lot, with your emotions,” Hakan said, staring at Damien steadily in that penetrating way he had sometimes.
Damien looked away, suddenly uncomfortable.
“When you’re calm, though, it’s…not sweet, exactly. Or yeah, kind of, but not like sugar. Like…have you ever had mango with spice? It sort ofremindsme of that, but you don’t smell like that. It’s like…sweet but not sweet. Warm. I don’t know, it’s hard to explain…” His voice trailed off.
Koko snorted. For some reason, Damien started blushing and Koko cackled.
“Shut up, Koko,” Hakan said grumpily.
“What do you smell like, then?” Damien asked.
“You can’t really tell wh—”
“Poop!” Dee shouted, cutting Hakan off, who rolled his eyes.
“I don’t smell like—”
“Farts!” Koko laughed.
“Boogers!”
“A dead monkey!”
“Two dead monkeys!”
