“All right,” I said, as Simon drove off, and Elaine finished waving at him. “Let's go find Holly and get my wallet.”
“Y
ou can’t go to Cecil's birthday party looking like that.” I dabbed at the blood on my lip with the sleeve of my sweatshirt. My head felt like it was bulging. My arms were still throbbing. I ached in places I didn’t remember being hit. “I’m not going to any party.”
“You are if you want your wallet back today. And you can’t go to Holly's looking like that.”
I looked down at my clothes. “Oh.” My black jeans were smeared with dirt, and Finley's blood had gotten on them too. My sweatshirt was dirty in places, and spotted with blood. I pulled it off. My t-shirt was sweat-soaked. No, these were definitely not my party clothes.
“Wait here,” Elaine said. She went into the house and shut the door behind her.
I sat down on a bench on the patio. Then I lay down, put my sweatshirt under my head as a pillow, and fell asleep in the sun. I woke up suddenly when Elaine loomed over me, holding a damp cloth and an open bottle of witch hazel. I took the cloth and wiped my face, then poured the witch hazel on one corner and applied it to the bruises on my arms. I dabbed at my face and the bruises on my ribs. My lip had stopped bleeding.
She held out a liter bottle of water that had never been opened. I took it and drained half of it gratefully. She held out her cupped hand with two pills in it.
“What's that?”
I must have sounded suspicious. “It's just aspirin. You look like you need it.”
I did need them. I gulped them down with some more water. I hoped she wasn’t going to bill me.
Elaine had showered and changed into a green skirt and an ivory colored satin blouse that looked as fragile as it was revealing. She’d put on make-up that made her eyes look harder behind her glasses, and her lips and cheeks were as bright as blood. Her hair hung loose, and golden earrings tangled in the strands. A soft leather purse hung awkwardly from one arm. She held out a pile of clothes.
“I’m not wearing those.”
Elaine's glasses flashed. “I brought pins. We can take in the skirt and pin it.”
“I’m not wearing your clothes.” The vet had shot Finley, but that didn’t make us friends. The clothes smelled of her, and I didn’t want anything of hers that close to me.
“Look,” I said, “let's just go to Holly's, you go in and get my wallet, and we’ll be done.”
“I thought you wanted to meet Cecil.”
I did want to meet Cecil.
“He's supposed to be back today. He's been out on a boat communing with the World Snake. He said if he meditated deeply he’d be able to communicate with it, and persuade it to move off, and spare the city.”
I was going to try and explain again that Richard and I had already done this, but I didn’t bother. “You really believe he can do that?”
“At least he's trying! What have you been doing?”
“Besides trying to get away from you?”
She decided not to argue anymore. “If you are going to Cecil's party, and you won’t wear these, you are going to need some new clothes.”
Elaine had been going to get a friend to take her to Holly's party, since her truck, she told me pointedly, was in the shop. So we went in my car.
I do not like new clothes. I do not like the way they smell. This is why, on the way to the smart clothing store in Canoga Park, with Elaine in the passenger seat directing me, I pulled over when I spotted a second-hand store. An embarrassed query by Elaine of whether or not I had any money I met with a grin. I still had almost all of the money I’d made her give me the first time we’d met. In any case, the clothes were pretty inexpensive.
I wandered along the aisles of women's clothes, and men's clothes, partly looking, and partly taking in the scents of the people who had worn them before. Much less annoying than sniffing chemicals for weeks until they wear away in the wash.
I got a new pair of black jeans, only worn a couple of times, but more form-fitting than the work jeans I usually wear. I bought a dark red silk open-necked shirt with wide sleeves and tight cuffs, and little pearl buttons at the throat and wrists. It had a little rip in the sleeve, but I didn’t care. I found a black leather vest cut up into patterns like a snowflake, so my new shiny red shirt showed through.
We shape-changers have to be careful about our clothes. I like mine to be loose and comfortable, for running, fighting, or doing any work that comes to hand. Clothes that get in the way of what needs to be done are just foolish. Heavy clothes, like boots or big coats, tend to get lost when one changes back to human form. Sweats are ideal, not tight enough to get hung up, but not so heavy that they don’t come back with you.
The legends say that the wolf kind used to be able to run to battle in their wolf form, and then change into humans, dressed in full armor with their weapons in hand. No one can do that anymore, though the most powerful of the wolf kind can carry a fair amount of weight when they change, and bring it back. We practice, growing up. I thought about the things I’d left in that other place that, however often we change, we never seem to see, or don’t remember, as I eyed a pair of short leather boots. They were a size too big for me, but I liked them, and they fit well enough. So I thought, why not? I’ll leave my muddy tennis shoes in the car. If I end up changing, and change back and find I’ve lost them, I’ll have a short walk to the car, and I’ll be out thirty bucks.
Best of all, in the doorway into the dressing rooms, a tape measure had been tacked to the wall. I borrowed a plastic hanger, and measured myself. And then I had to measure myself again. I’d grown almost an inch since leaving home. An inch! I was taller! Not five foot nothing anymore! Ha!
This I had to celebrate, so I bought a lightweight silver and turquoise choker. It would probably be gone as soon as I changed, a gift to the dark. But until then, it looked nice. I already felt taller, wearing my new duds. I used the comb in my glove compartment to get the dried mud out of my hair, and off we drove to Malibu.
On the way, I had to hear all the details of all the damage Elaine's truck had taken, and what the estimates were to get it fixed, but when she realized I was enjoying the tale, she stopped talking. It must have been the big smile that gave it away. As I sat aching in all the new places, I could still feel the wound on my hip. It had finally closed up, and the bruise was fading to purple and yellow. Her truck didn’t hurt her nearly as much.
Holly had her own narrow driveway off the Pacific Coast Highway, leading past the back walls of a set of tall beach houses, tight up against each other, and then curving onto a knoll overlooking the ocean on two sides. Turns out Elaine's little sister had married a Hollywood agent who’d died about five years earlier. Holly had inherited from him both his house and his fortune.
“He didn’t disappear mysteriously, did he?” I wondered aloud. “We’re not going to find a dog or a pony in the garage or somewhere, with leather bands on its legs?”
But in fact, Elaine said, he’d died quite publicly in a restaurant of a heart attack, and Holly had a certificate to prove it.
The driveway was lined end to end with parked cars, but the circle in front of the entranceway was clear. A stand of bamboo and palm fronds screened the house so all we could see from there were the red tile roofs. I could smell the ocean. I pulled up and parked at the walkway, since no one else had, and a slender, dark-haired young man in a blue uniform coat and a red bow tie and a happy smile appeared and opened my car door. When I got out without his help, he went around and opened the door for Elaine, who graciously held out her hand and let him assist her. He then came around again and held out his hand to me. Was I supposed to tip him? I hadn’t needed his help, and Elaine was only playing along.
“Give him your keys,” Elaine told me. “He's going to park your car.”
“Where are you going to park it?” I asked him.
“Just give him the keys,” Elaine said. “He’ll bring the car back when you ask for it.”
I handed him the keys. I could already tell this was not my kind of party.
Elaine took a long piece of white cotton cloth out of her purse, draped it over her neck and flipped her hair over it. She pulled another one out and handed it to me. “Put this on.”
“What is it?”
“When you meet Cecil, take it off and give it to him.”
“It's his birthday present?”
“It's just the custom. Come on. It doesn’t hurt.”
I took it from her, wrapped it around my fists and tested its strength. It would certainly do to strangle someone. Under Elaine's unamused gaze I slipped it around my neck.
Beyond the bamboo screen an ornamental waterway wound back and forth. We had to cross three little arched bridges hung with flowers to get to the big square front porch decorated with more baskets of fresh flowers, where a young woman in a black uniform waited to greet us. A tall, heavy woman in a flowing flowered dress and short, flat, dyed blond hair stood up from the rail where she had been leaning, smoking a cigarette, to greet Elaine as she approached.
“Sally!” Elaine said, and went to her.
“Don’t say a word!” Sally held her cigarette at arm's length as she whisked her long skirts around to face Elaine and embrace her. “Good to see you, too.” She also wore one of the white scarves around her neck.
“Holly's in great form, I see,” Elaine said, examining the flower baskets.
“Never better.” Sally reached out and put her cigarette out in a basket of peonies.
Neither of them sounded sincere. In fact, that was definitely sarcasm.
“Is Cecil here?” Elaine asked.
“I haven’t seen him. I thought I’d hang out here until he arrives,” she confided. “Otherwise I’ll never get a word in edgewise.”
“Not once Holly gets in range,” Elaine agreed.
“Who's this?” Sally asked, looking at me.
“Oh, just some werewolf I know.”
Sally barked a laugh. “If you decide to bite Holly,” she told me, “give her an extra one for me.”
What an evil vet! Didn’t she understand that was supposed to be a secret identity? I’m the only one who gets to tell people what I am. I glowered at Elaine. Her glasses glinted as she smiled back.
The uniformed woman ushered us into a big immaculate room where all the furniture was the same light beige. Here the walls were hung with colorful banners, so long they draped over the floor, decorated with signs within circles, strange gods, and what looked like abstract pictures of the same flower, in different forms and colors. Here we were greeted by two more young waiters in black, who welcomed us and offered us necklaces of golden flowers from a big platter. Elaine bowed her head and let them deck her with one. I already had an extra scarf on, so I declined. Elaine picked up a second one and dropped it over my head.
“It's for Cecil's birthday.”
“But you said Cecil is an asswinding jerk.”
“Shush!” she said, and asked the male waiter, “Where is Holly?”
“She's on the meditation lawn, ma’am. Shall I take you there? The birthday meditation is about to begin.”
Elaine waved him off. “I know the way.”
“Birthday meditation?” I asked as I followed her.
“Yes,” she said. “It will be lovely.” More sarcasm.
At the far end of the living room a huge floor-to-ceiling window looked out over the wide ocean. The blue, green, gray and silver water changed from moment to moment, reflecting the bright sunlight. High scattered clouds scudded before the winds. A couple of paragliders were out playing in the sky. Far out near the horizon, a dark gray tanker stood out to sea.
Elaine directed me out a door beside the big window, and that let us out onto a wide wooden deck. There, several beautiful people stood about, smelling faintly of cosmetics, looking out at the view of the ocean, drinking from plastic wine glasses and snacking off little plastic plates. The guests, male and female, perfectly groomed, well-fed and healthy, all wore loose, pastel-colored clothes, and those white scarves and flower necklaces. Some of them greeted Elaine. As I passed one of the women, my attention was seized because I’d scented her before. She was at the party where Elaine had shot me. I tried to meet her eyes but she turned away from me. I was wondering whether I should bite now and explain later, when Elaine came back and took my arm. She couldn’t move me on the first yank. She didn’t understand how strong I am. I decided that this was small fry. I could mop her up later. After I’d taken down the main prey.
I followed Elaine down a set of steps that led onto a perfect rectangular green lawn, decked with canopies of pale blue, white and yellow cloth wafting in the ocean breeze, to shade all the beautiful guests in their flowing clothes, flowers and scarves, to the drifting sound of wind chimes.
As we descended the steps, just about all of them turned their heads, took in who it was, and turned away again, except for a few who waved or came to greet Elaine. The birthday boy's arrival was breathlessly anticipated.
“Where is Holly?” I asked.
“She’ll be in the thick of things,” Elaine told me. “She just loves these parties. Just look for the densest crowd, and she’ll be in the middle of it.”
The canopies obscured some of the groups of people, but we wandered among them, looking for our hostess. On the side closest to the sea, a small hedge bordered the lawn. Beyond that the hill dropped steeply away to a terrace about thirty feet below, where paths wound around a formal garden. A set of steps at the end of the lawn led down to the garden, and then further down to the beach. I recognized that beach. Sure enough, at the far end, a steep road led up to a dirt parking lot. This was the private beach where I’d been at the party. And, not surprising, several more of the people that we passed smelled familiar. How many of them had been at that party? I was going to find out.
“There she is.” Elaine changed course toward the patio bordering the lawn on the side away from the ocean, where a dark blue swimming pool gleamed like a jewel in the bright sunlight. No one was swimming. A group of people stood in a cluster, from the center of which black-clad servants erupted on errands, or arrived carrying trays. Occasional gouts of hilarity burst forth. As we approached, the cluster seethed, and a tiny, intense woman wearing a white linen scarf that draped over her head, around her neck, and fluttered behind her, made her way out of it, pulling flunkies, waiters, and guests in her wake.