Page 12 of The Boy With The Sharp Teeth
"Thistastes so good I'm not sure even with directions, a mentor, and a guided videocould I replicate this on any level," she confessed flatly.
Allthree women laughed.
"I'mso glad to see that you came back, Sana," Lana said. A little older thanArdath, Lana was Kevin's older sister. Sana only had a handful of memories ofspeaking to Lana when she was younger, but from what she did remember, Lana hadalways carried herself with a quiet confidence that Sana craved to emulate.Sitting next to Ardath, across from Sandra, Lana gave Sana a warm, friendlysmile. "I'm not sure if you remember, but that last couple of summers youwere here, you really helped out my son, Elijah, with his math," Lanarecalled. "Your tutoring helped him when he went back to school that year.I nearly cried at the improvement in his grades."
"Youdid cry, Lana," Ardath corrected dryly.
Sandrahid her laughter behind the rim of her wine glass as she took another sip.
"Yes,I do remember," Sana nodded. She used to sit on her front porch and teach Elijahand her brother a few math lessons here and there between their tag-teamattempts to coax her to let them go and play. "Elijah was always verysweet and patient with me as I tried to refresh myself on how to do theproblems."
"Oh,he better had been. He had his father and uncle Adam staring daggers into theback of his head if he didn't," Lana shook her head at the memory of herson. "Not to mention an angry Zach growling at him since he wasmonopolizing your attention from him."
Sanadidn't smile at that memory, she couldn't. The force and intricacy of thememory, one of many she tried to repress, shattered the tight reign she held onher thoughts, allowing them to run wild. Images, smells, and tangible feelingsof those days resurfaced. She could see herself sitting on the sun-warmed porchas she faced both Elijah and her brother's small childish faces set into a firmpout. They had just been whining to let them go play, but Zach's deep reprimandhad hushed them both within seconds. Quietly, both boys had listened as shecarefully explained the algebraic formula while both of them and herself triedto ignore the surly older teen lounging on the other end of the porch. Zach hadwanted to take her to the quarry pond that day, he had worked hard into finallytalking her into grabbing her swimsuit and towel. When Elijah arrived withnotebooks in hand and a pleading request from his mother to Sana, Zach hadsurprisingly given up on his plans but not without a lingering cloud of malicehe directed towards poor Elijah.
Aftera few moments of silence, Sana could feel the unspoken conversation of glancesbeing held around her as she focused on her plate.
Itwas Ardath who broke the awkward silence. "Can you believe they shut downthe old movie theater and opened up a newer one on Terny street?"
"What?"That got her attention. Sana hadn't had a chance to drive through the town andfully see what changed and what remained. She had told herself she would do itthis weekend. "Really? What happened to the old one, near thepharmacy?"
"Don'tworry, it’s still there," Sandra patted her arm comfortingly. "Zachbought it before it could be considered for demolition."
Thenews felt like a punch to the gut. "Zach bought it?" She repeated in anear whisper
"Yeah,him, Kevin, and Adam own a lot of property here in Tarki," Ardath proudlyconfirmed. "Once Zach came back from the military, he seemed determined tobuy up a lot of property."
Sana'sheart felt as if it were being tied with barbed wire. "I see," shemanaged to say before taking a healthy swallow of wine from her glass.
Hewas doing it again. Just like he did years ago, Zach was trying to monopolizeeverything about her. He knew how much she cared about that movie theater, likea fool she had even mentioned in one of her many emails to him when he wasunder the guise of being her property manager that she hoped Tarki hadn'tchanged too much in her absence, especially the old theater. His reply was sostandard, so perfectly impersonal she just breezed right over it when she gotit:Don’t worry, everything in Tarki is pretty much the same. Ready andwaiting for your return.Now to know that Zach owned it changed everything.
Sensingthe tension in the room change, Sana tried to clear her thoughts and force herscowl into a tight smile.
Lookingto brighten the atmosphere, Lana spoke up. "Sana, have you heard the storyof the Katzie people before?"
Sanashook her head politely. "No, I haven't."
"Well,Sandra really tells the story the best," Lana smiled serenely to Sandrawith an unspoken plea in her eyes.
"Ofcourse," Sandra replied warmly to the silent question. Smiling obligingly,Sandra leaned back in her seat and sat her wine glass down. "As you know,the Katzie people are originally from deep in the forest of British Columbia.Many years ago, the Waatese clan broke away from the main tribe and settledfurther down along the coast—some here in Tarki and some in Antor Falls. Whenwe raised our sons and daughters and opened our arms to new members of ourclan, we pass on the same story of our people. It is said that the Creatorlooked upon man and saw war and many needless deaths. The Creator chose fiveclans among the lands and gave them gifts that no man could comprehend, makingthese clans more powerful than man. During that time of strife, these chosenclans emerged victorious commanding control and demanding peace. But as is thenature of all mankind, people grew jealous and wary of these powerful clans,forgetting all that they accomplished and cast them out. With their patienceworn away and their pride on edge, the gifted clans abandoned society andsought out new ones amongst themselves. Many of our ancestors have said thatthe Katzie clan are one of these five clans gifted by the Creator."
Aheavy silence settled over the women once the story finished, so silent thatthe moaning wind from outside was clearly heard.
"It'sa beautiful but sad story," Sana eventually spoke.
Sandragave her a questioning look. "Sad?"
"Idon't know, really," Sana shrugged. "It makes me feel as if the fiveclans were given a burden rather than a gift."
"Notmany people are keen enough to take that perspective, though I shouldn't besurprised. You have always been a remarkable young woman, Sana."
Embarrassed,Sana averted her gaze. "Thank you." The grandfather clock in theliving room chimed eight times. "Here, let me clean these dishes foryou," Sana offered, reaching for one of the empty serving platters in themiddle of the table.
"Sana,please." Lana held her hand over the platter to stop her. "This wasour welcome party to you, don't worry about it. We will take the dishes backwith us," said Lana.
Onlyafter insisting Sana was allowed to wipe down a portion of the long dining roomtable while Ardath chattily wiped down the other side as Lana and Sandrawrapped up any remaining food to go.
Thewomen were just making it to the front door with wrapped serving trays anddishes in hand when Sana remembered something she had wanted to ask. Looking toSandra, she caught the woman's eye.
