Read Online The Stargazers by Allison M. Dickson - Free Book Online
Authors: Allison M. Dickson
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the other.
Ruby shouldered it and made for the stairs. “Let’s get this over with quick. I’m dying to wrap my lips around one of Cynthia’s hockey puck pancakes.”
“Be nice!” hollered Ivy after them.
Aster followed Ruby up the narrow stairway to the house’s second floor and then up an even narrower stairway to the third, which was really a giant open room with three beds along the wall and windows between each one. Larkspur claimed a windowsill and immediately set about observing the outside world.
“That’s the biggest cat I’ve ever seen. What’s he doing here? Ivy doesn’t let us have animals.” Ruby tossed the bag on the bed farthest from her own.
Aster hesitated to find a properly vague answer. “He’s very special to me. I’m afraid we can’t be separated.”
“He got a name?”
“Larkspur.”
Ruby looked at her. “Aster and Larkspur. Got any other family named after plants?”
Aster burst out laughing. “Actually yeah. All of them.”
A ghost of a grin passed over Ruby’s face. “Families are strange. My mom named all her kids after their birthstones. Sister is Amber. Brother is Onyx. Terrible name, if you ask me. It’s a Wiccan thing, I guess.”
Aster frowned. “Wiccan?”
“Oh you know, witchcraft. Pagan shit. Worshipping trees and wind and rocks or whatever. She was heavy into that stuff.”
“She isn’t anymore?” Aster was rapt at the idea of real witches in this world.
“She started worshipping a different kind of rock. Ended up shooting a cop and a teenage boy during a liquor store holdup, trying to get a few bucks for another hit. She’s sitting on death row now.”
Aster thought of her aunt Holly’s salvia addiction. It seemed that both of their worlds were full of people trying to escape. Maybe they had been born on the wrong side and were just trying to find their ways back. “I can relate. Where I come f rom, people also take substances .”
Ruby grinned. “Yeah yeah, drugs are bad, crack is whack. B ut not all drugs are bad.” She crossed the room to the window and pushed it open. “Keep an ear out for the Great Mistress, will ya?” She pulled a small silver case from between the mattress. Inside was a small baggie with crumbled green leaf and littl e white papers to roll it with.
“What sort of leaf is that?”
“No worries. It’s just some good old American Spirit tobacco. I only do the wacky stuff occasionally, and only when my brother is feeling generous in doling it out. Besides, I can’t afford to get sent back to juvie. But if Ivy sees me doing this , she’ll have me on toilet duty for the next month.”
Juvie ? That wasn’t a word that came through in translation, but Aster made an easy enough assumption. Ruby must have been a girl who’d had trouble with authorities in the past. “Your secret’s safe with me. I have no desire to create enemies here. ”
“Then you and I should get along just fine.” Ruby lit her cigarette and offered it to Aster. “Want some?”
Aster thought about it for a moment. Why not? Sure, her mother expressly forbade it, saying the smell would turn off any man who might otherwise give her a second look, but Dahlia and her stern warnings seemed another world away now. Still, maybe it was best to avoid falling in step with someone who appeared to be the house troublemaker. “Thanks, but maybe next time?”
“Suit yourself.” Ruby leaned back and took a deeper drag while Aster set about unpacking.
She undid the buckles and ties on her bags and began pulling out her pants and shirts to put in the dresser next to her bed. “Does anyone else sleep in this other bed?”
“As of now, no. But Ivy’s like a crazy cat lady. When she sees a stray, she has to bring it home with her and feed it. Is that how she found you?”
Aster remembered Nanny Lily’s admonition about telling no one where she was really from. “I was… an arranged pick-up.”
The other girl blew tendrils of smoke out through
Ruby shouldered it and made for the stairs. “Let’s get this over with quick. I’m dying to wrap my lips around one of Cynthia’s hockey puck pancakes.”
“Be nice!” hollered Ivy after them.
Aster followed Ruby up the narrow stairway to the house’s second floor and then up an even narrower stairway to the third, which was really a giant open room with three beds along the wall and windows between each one. Larkspur claimed a windowsill and immediately set about observing the outside world.
“That’s the biggest cat I’ve ever seen. What’s he doing here? Ivy doesn’t let us have animals.” Ruby tossed the bag on the bed farthest from her own.
Aster hesitated to find a properly vague answer. “He’s very special to me. I’m afraid we can’t be separated.”
“He got a name?”
“Larkspur.”
Ruby looked at her. “Aster and Larkspur. Got any other family named after plants?”
Aster burst out laughing. “Actually yeah. All of them.”
A ghost of a grin passed over Ruby’s face. “Families are strange. My mom named all her kids after their birthstones. Sister is Amber. Brother is Onyx. Terrible name, if you ask me. It’s a Wiccan thing, I guess.”
Aster frowned. “Wiccan?”
“Oh you know, witchcraft. Pagan shit. Worshipping trees and wind and rocks or whatever. She was heavy into that stuff.”
“She isn’t anymore?” Aster was rapt at the idea of real witches in this world.
“She started worshipping a different kind of rock. Ended up shooting a cop and a teenage boy during a liquor store holdup, trying to get a few bucks for another hit. She’s sitting on death row now.”
Aster thought of her aunt Holly’s salvia addiction. It seemed that both of their worlds were full of people trying to escape. Maybe they had been born on the wrong side and were just trying to find their ways back. “I can relate. Where I come f rom, people also take substances .”
Ruby grinned. “Yeah yeah, drugs are bad, crack is whack. B ut not all drugs are bad.” She crossed the room to the window and pushed it open. “Keep an ear out for the Great Mistress, will ya?” She pulled a small silver case from between the mattress. Inside was a small baggie with crumbled green leaf and littl e white papers to roll it with.
“What sort of leaf is that?”
“No worries. It’s just some good old American Spirit tobacco. I only do the wacky stuff occasionally, and only when my brother is feeling generous in doling it out. Besides, I can’t afford to get sent back to juvie. But if Ivy sees me doing this , she’ll have me on toilet duty for the next month.”
Juvie ? That wasn’t a word that came through in translation, but Aster made an easy enough assumption. Ruby must have been a girl who’d had trouble with authorities in the past. “Your secret’s safe with me. I have no desire to create enemies here. ”
“Then you and I should get along just fine.” Ruby lit her cigarette and offered it to Aster. “Want some?”
Aster thought about it for a moment. Why not? Sure, her mother expressly forbade it, saying the smell would turn off any man who might otherwise give her a second look, but Dahlia and her stern warnings seemed another world away now. Still, maybe it was best to avoid falling in step with someone who appeared to be the house troublemaker. “Thanks, but maybe next time?”
“Suit yourself.” Ruby leaned back and took a deeper drag while Aster set about unpacking.
She undid the buckles and ties on her bags and began pulling out her pants and shirts to put in the dresser next to her bed. “Does anyone else sleep in this other bed?”
“As of now, no. But Ivy’s like a crazy cat lady. When she sees a stray, she has to bring it home with her and feed it. Is that how she found you?”
Aster remembered Nanny Lily’s admonition about telling no one where she was really from. “I was… an arranged pick-up.”
The other girl blew tendrils of smoke out through
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