Ashes Of The Phoenix. Jane Fade Merrick

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СКАЧАТЬ not to know the group of which he was a huge fan, because they were world-famous; the girl, for her part, retorted that she didn’t give a damn about a stupid band. The argument went on until they entered the place where they were directed, a music CD shop. He rushed inside leaving a puzzled redhead at the door: she didn’t even know why she was there, but the excitement that the little boy put into everything he did, somehow, managed to involve her. She slowly skated inside, finding herself surrounded by shelves full of CDs with many different graphics.

      She observed the illustrations of a few covers for a while, and then she reached the child who was standing in a corner, wearing some headphones that were too big for his head. He seemed mesmerized by the music and he sang the song he was hearing, while holding a CD case. When she approached him, he took off his headphones and said, “Here! Listen to this!”

      â€œAre you kidding? I’ll ruin my hairdo!”

      â€œThen look!” He said, handing her the album that he was holding tight. Fade half-heartedly took the case and glanced at the cover. It was a picture of a group of four people in front a totally black background. “Dull” she thought, and began to consider the members of the group: two boys with a girl between them, modelling in a cool pose; behind them loomed a curly-haired boy of considerable height, his stature would probably have been overwhelming in person.

      The two in the front stared at the camera with diametrically opposed expressions: the first, with an extremely ‘Emo’ hairstyle, had a thoughtful look that seemed to communicate what his whole life was a continuous torture; the other displayed a grin which seemed to tease you because he had achieved success and all you could do was envy him. The latter, especially, stood out for his dress code. A half unbuttoned dark shirt showed a jumble of ornaments around his neck. Finally there was the girl, smooth black hair, deep shiny eyes as dark as the night. She stood in the centre of the page with her arms crossed. Her eyes observed you from head to toe, as though you were a nullity and she dangled a cigarette from her mouth. The smoke, clearly added with a miserable editing intervention, rose up to form the band name. “Momuht” Fade read.

      â€œThey don’t look that special to me”, she said, handing the case back to the boy who greedily grabbed it, holding it tight, as to protect it. “You don’t understand...” he started walking towards the exit “They need me...” She pretended not to hear the last sentence and followed him to the counter.

      â€œI’ll buy this” the boy exclaimed, standing on his toes, handing the album to the clerk, paying and leaving the store contemplating his new purchase.

      Jag was walking on clouds, admiring the album from all angles; he immediately tore the cellophane and glanced at the inner cover to see if there were other images; a joyful laugh confirmed the positive outcome. When he opened the lyrics booklet, the child happily started commenting on all the photos within it, describing the person and what role he had in the band, bringing the booklet up to Fade's face, who uninterestedly glanced at it: she didn’t like those motions and fanatic poses, they were pretty annoying to her. She had never liked those who acted as ‘fucking egocentrics’, and that band seemed to be exactly such; she continued to skate slowly, thinking of other things. Once they arrived close to their ‘secret hiding place’ the girl suddenly stopped, then she caught the boy by the collar and pulled him back. “What’s the matter?” asked Jag, quite annoyed by the interruption of his daydream. She frowned and motioned for him to follow her to an alley, and then they started spying from around the corner. A police car and a fire truck were stationed in front of the building in which the girl lived; several policemen investigated by stopping passers-by. A fireman came out and spoke to an agent. “Yes, the house is inhabited: the electric cable that was reported to us was illegally redirected to this condemned building.” At those words, Fade felt the impulse to choke her improvised companion, but she controlled herself, “Do you see what you did?” she said, whispering, despite the desire to yell at him “I told you not to install those stupid electric appliances! Now they found me out!”

      He didn’t answer but seemed visibly disturbed. After a moment of hesitation he suggested, “Then come away with me, I'll give you a new home in the place where I'm going.”

      The girl looked at him, she wanted to ask him if by chance he was teasing her, but the boy's eyes already answered her question. She couldn’t stand him, she couldn’t believe she had to accept his offer; she remembered too well how hard it had been to find that room, how hard it was to find a place among thousands of homeless people and build a life from scratch. The thought of having to start all over again drove her crazy, having to look for all those items that were part of her daily life, to arrange her spaces, to gather her stocks, and then to find herself suddenly without all those things that represented her world. Her head was exploding when she was distracted by the noise of the fire fighters carrying out boxes in which they had packed all her stuff. She knew that by now whatever she had built for herself was gone. “Let's get out of here,” she said, turning on her skates and leaving that place where she would never return again.

      The next few minutes they walked in total silence. Jag followed the girl with his head bent holding the cover of his new CD, but his mood was definitely different from when he had bought it. She broke the ice by asking:

      â€œSo where's this place you're headed? The one on the map, I guess...” The boy stopped suddenly “Yes. We can leave at once!” He exclaimed, heartened.

      â€œWhat are you talking about?” But she couldn’t finish her sentence because a car with dark windows stopped beside them. The driver came out and spoke to the boy obsequiously, while he opened the door for them: “Have a seat, sir.”

      Jag jumped in excitedly as if he had never experienced such a similar experience before, but the girl was reluctant to get into the car.

      â€œHave a seat, miss” the driver said, bending lightly.

      â€œCome on Fade, hop in!” The childish voice from inside the car prompted her “We have a plane to catch!”

      â€œA plane? Are you crazy? I don’t even have any documents! How do you think...?”

      â€œIt's a private plane, silly! Get in!”

      That last sentence shocked her so much that she got into the car without realizing it. The door closed carefully behind her.

      â€œWho the hell are you, the son of a prince?” She asked. “Yes, the son of the Prince of Evil!” He replied wryly. “Shut up” she replied, annoyed, leaning her face on one hand and looking out of the window.

      â€œWait! Slow down! Stop!” The girl shouted suddenly. The car stopped at the curb.

      â€œWhat's the matter?” Asked the little ‘Sir’. “I have to see a person” she answered and immediately got out of the car and skated down in the lanes of an elegant neighbourhood.

      Jag reached her shortly after, just as she was ringing the doorbell of a building. He watched her from a short distance.

      An elderly little man came out of the door and stopped to look at her in surprise: “Fade, you're back... it's the first time you’ve come to see me when you're not dripping with blood... what's wrong child?”

      The girl didn’t answer; she just looked down at the ground swallowing her regret. “You're leaving, aren’t you?”

      She nodded her head slightly, СКАЧАТЬ