12.Alin
Alin
We are on our way to Brooklyn’s aquarium, Luca’s driving. He seems to be engrossed in an important conversation with Mariano about some kind of exchange. They always speak in codes, as if they’re working in a secret organization.
Behind us, Graham rides on his motorcycle, while Cora is busy on her phone, and I stare out the window, hoping someone out there could save me from this day, but in vain.
Cora places a hand on my leg, her eyes apologetic, as if she just realized what she had done. I shoot her a scathing look, making it clear she owes me big time, but as she starts to laugh the tension in the back of the car begins to dissipate, and I join in her laughter.
This situation is a joke in itself: a mermaid, in a car with two arrogant rich men, on her way to an aquarium.
It seems like someone up there decided to pop some popcorn and watch the comedy that is called ‘ Alin Grey ’s life’.
With Luca’s fast driving, we arrive in no time, and for the Spallo brothers, waiting in line is not an option.
Luca walks up to the ticket counter, bypassing everyone without a care, and whispers something to the young employee while slipping her a few bills.
“ So now Mariano, Graham and I are sorted with tickets too,” he says with a smug glance as he returns with three tickets in hand. I just want this day, which feels like it hasn’t even started yet and promises to be very long, to be over.
We follow the entrance sign and walk into a tunnel built as a transparent dome with numerous sea creatures above us. Just watching them stirs a pang of homesickness in my chest, and I feel a bit saddened by the sights before me.
I close my eyes and try to ignore all the feelings of these magnificent creatures. There’s nothing I can do to return them to the ocean, but I am glad I have a way to experience the underwater life with Cora without having to tell her anything.
It seems I’ve been lost in thought for a while, when Cora calls to me and I realize they’re far ahead.
“ Alin, what are you doing? Come look ! ” I immediately smile and run to her as she points to a giant hammerhead shark.
“ They’re like little puppies when you play with them,” I mention in excitement, then immediately fall silent, scrambling for excuses in my mind to save me from my slip-up.
“ You really love the sea. I’m glad I got us the tickets,” she warmly says before I can respond. It seems neither of us is good at interrogative questions, and I’m pleased about that.
“ So Cinderella swims with sharks? Brave,” Luca bends down and teases in my ear.
I take a deep breath, determined not to let him get to me.
I quickly turn to him with a fake smile, “Do your homework, it seems you like researching me. Maybe you’ll find out I’m not Cinderella, but the Little Mermaid,” I say, taking advantage of the fairy tale game he started. After all, who would believe it?
Luca looks confused but continues to maintain his mischievous grin. It seems I was right; this day is going to be long.
We continue through several more aquariums. Cora and I get excited together over so many things, and she buys us matching keychains of a tiny hammerhead shark. I immediately attach mine to my purse, thanking her.
I can feel Luca’s gaze on me all day, his eyes boring into my back. He doesn’t stop watching my every move, but I try to ignore it, reminding myself of Cora’s warnings. I forget myself when I’m close to him.
An announcement comes over the intercom, saying the sea lion show will start soon. Cora claps excitedly, grabbing my hand and pulling me along like a little girl, making me question if I am the real reason we came here, or if she just used me as an excuse to see it. I chuckle.
We sit in the front row, in front of us is a low metal net fence separating us from two large pools, with a kind of walkway bridge between them. As I wonder why they need such a large arena for one short display, Luca and Mariano join us.
I stand up to let Mariano slip easily into the seat next to Cora, and just as I’m about to sit back down in the chair next to him, Luca quickly takes it, leaving me standing, forcing me to sit in the outer seat in the row.
Childish. I roll my eyes and console myself with the thought that at least I can escape at any moment, smiling to myself.
The show begins after ten minutes, during which Cora takes so many pictures that I’m surprised her phone still has memory left.
Everyone starts clapping as a woman dressed in a diving suit steps onto the bridge between the pools, and immediately a sea lion from the right pool climbs out and hops on its flippers toward her.
She continues to show how he follows her movements, the audience laughs, and only I feel sadness washes over me.
My thoughts drift to all my friends in the sea.
Bay, my cousin, would cry if she saw this. She loves sea lions so much.
If this is what’s happening to them right now, I wonder what would happen if my tail were ever discovered on land. I’d become the show of the year. The thought makes me shudder.
The woman moves along the bridge toward the audience, demonstrating more tricks, and everyone expresses admiration and giggles.
My overwhelmed thoughts lower my defenses, and I fail to anticipate the high jump of the sea lion back into the pool.
The splash of water reaches me. Panic engulfs me as I imagine my worst nightmare coming true.
I run without looking back, opening the first door I see and slipping inside, praying no one is there.
The door closes, and in an instant, I collapse to the floor, my tail resting against the door from the inside. I rub my elbow, which got banged up in the fall, and look around.
Luckily, today seems to have some silver lining as I find myself in an empty maintenance closet. I regain my legs and curse as I look at my romper, now a torn short dress, with my ripped panties falling to the floor as I stand.
“Great, just great. At least luck was on your side,” I scold myself sarcastically. How did I not consider this would happen? I tug my makeshift dress down as far as it will go and toss my torn panties into one of the plastic buckets in the closet.
I cautiously open the door and suddenly hear shouts from outside, “Alin? Alin?” Luca and Cora are calling for me. I quickly close the door again to avoid being spotted in this room. That would be very hard to explain. I breathe heavily, trying to think of a quick solution.
When their shouts fade away, I breathe a sigh of relief, but suddenly, I hear voices outside the door. I press my ear against the door to make sure it’s not them.
“The Spallo brothers are here, Mariano’s wife and probably Luca’s bitch are with them. Now’s the time to make a move; they won’t expect it here, time for some sweet revenge,” a man says in Russian.
“They killed five of ours in Vegas. Seems only fair to take Luca’s new bitch for ourselves.
” another man responds in Russian mixed with some English.
I don’t recognize his accent, sounds like Russian with a bit of something European.
Never thought knowing Russian would come in handy; I should thank my parents for that.
I keep listening and quickly realize they’re talking about me. My body tenses up. What are they talking about? Luca killed five of their men? Does that mean Luca is a murderer? I can’t lose my composure now, and I can’t do anything against them in front of people. Think Alin, think.
I open the door quickly, this is my only option.
“Hey there, I heard you were talking about me,” I say with fake flirtation, drawing their attention to me. They recognize me immediately, smiling triumphantly and moving toward me.
I take a few steps back, and in a second, they step into the maintenance room, closing the door behind them.
“Seems like you’re really looking for someone to screw you well, if you were stupid enough to give yourself away,” the first man says as if he knows I was eavesdropping. Good, the plan is working.
“No, but it seems you won’t get that chance either,” I reply with a smirk, raising my hand toward their ribs and clenching my fingers tightly as if crushing something.
In an instant, they fall to their knees, gasping and struggling for breath. I tighten my grip even more until both collapse to the floor, unconscious. I breathe a sigh of relief and give myself a mental pat on the back. It’s been a while since I used my powers.
I approach the door, pushing one of their bodies with my foot to get out, and his wallet falls from his pocket.
I bend down carefully, open the wallet, and see the name on the ID, “Vladimir Ivanov.” I take a picture of his ID with my phone and run out, searching for Luca. He owes me some explanations.
I continue along a long corridor, calling Cora’s name while trying to dial her number, when I spot her dress in the distance. I shout louder in her direction; she sees me and runs over.
“Are you crazy? Where did you disappear to? Do you know how worried we were?” Cora scolds me, and all I hear from her questions is the part where she said “we were worried”— as in plural.
Luca too. I grin and immediately shake off my thoughts.
This is not the time, and definitely not the person I should be smiling for.
“Cora, where’s Luca? I need to talk to him,” I ask, ignoring her barrage of questions.
“Alin, you can’t just—” I stop her mid-sentence and ask again, “Cora, please, I need Luca. Urgently. As in now.”
I grab her hand insistently. It seems to work. She calls him, and within minutes, he arrives running, his face stern.
“Where did you go?” he asks in a low, almost threatening voice. “That’s not important right now. What’s important is you owe me some explanations!” I stand my ground, and now my blood starts to boil. His shit is now causing dangerous people to look for me.
Luca’s stony expression changes; he looks annoyed by my reaction.
“I don’t owe you anything,” he replies in a harsh tone.
“Luca, this is not the time for a head-to-head,” I say, pointing to my “new dress,” which almost exposes my private parts to the people around us.
When his eyes land on my torn outfit, it seems Luca’s red line has been crossed. “What the hell happened to your clothes?” he asks, and I swear, if steam could come out of his ears, it would right now.
“Ask your friends,” I snap at him, emphasizing the word “friends” with the appropriate sarcasm.
“What are you talking about, Alin?” he approaches me, tense.
“I ran to the bathroom, made a mistake, and ended up in a maintenance closet,” I start to lie. Well done, Alin, you’ve become the queen of lies with all your secrets; it’s already coming so naturally to you.
“Two thugs came in, called me Luca’s new bitch, and said it was their time for revenge. This was the result,” I say, pointing at my clothes. The lie swells, but I have no other choice. It’s not far from the truth, anyway.
Luca immediately grabs my hand in a tight grip. “What did they do to you?” he asks through gritted teeth, and any slight sign of humanity I ever saw in his eyes vanishes.
“They said they wanted to fuck me and tried to grab me. They wanted to get back at you through me. Luckily, one of them got a phone call, and they ran out quickly. Now, will you explain to me what’s going on here?
Why did they say you took out five of their men?
” I ask. He ignores my question and starts making calls.
Not a minute passes, and Mariano and Graham show up.
“Could someone explain to me what’s going on here?” I ask, still not getting any answers. I turn to Cora and see the color draining from her face. Something smells fishy here, and I’m going to find out what it is. What does everyone know that I don’t?
“Find out who they were, I want names,” Luca roars into the phone.
“Luca, you need to—” I try to add, but he cuts me off with a terse, “Alin, not now!”
I try again, louder this time, “Luca!!!!”
Both Luca and Mariano turn to me.
“I am standing here without any underwear on, two men tried to attack me, and I’d really appreciate some answers from you.
You will not silence me!” I burst out shouting, taking a deep breath, and continuing in a calmer tone, “But you also don’t need to search for who they were; I have their details. ”
“What? How?” Luca is surprised and takes my phone as I open the picture I took. “This was his ID, he dropped his wallet when he ran out of the room,” and my snowball of lies continues to roll.
“Son of a bitch,” Luca curses to the air and turns to Mariano, “Vladimir.”
Mariano grabs Cora’s hand, and Luca pulls me by mine. We quickly walk back to the parking lot, getting into the car. Cora hasn’t said a word at this point.
We leave the parking lot, and Luca drives at top speed. I’m pressed against the back of the seat, hearing him bark orders into the phone. I stop listening to him and turn my attention to Cora.
“Cora, say something already, enough with this silence!” I say in frustration, turning to look at her. I realize I made a mistake when her tears start to fall. I broke her instead of breaking the silence.
I don’t understand what’s happening, but I pull her into my embrace.
“Alin, I’m so sorry. You were my escape to the outside world, and now I’ve messed you up too,” she says in a low, choked voice, her tears not stopping.
I understand that now isn’t the time to question her, “I don’t know what you mean, but I’m much stronger than you think. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.” I comfort her, hoping I’ll get answers soon.