Pulse of Heroes (49 page)

Out in the middle of nowhere, there were two
large stages and the DJ’s were spinning psychedelic trance beats
that would build into suspenseful notes and then ebb back into the
background. There were at least five hundred people there, and the
energy was good. Michelle liked the ambiance of the place and felt
her body begin to sway to the music even before they entered the
actual event. Vilna paid Michelle’s way because she didn’t have any
euros on her so Michelle bought them all glow-in-the-dark drinks
with her ATM card. She didn’t taste any alcohol in the drinks, but
Marika warned her that there was in fact plenty so she should drink
carefully. The girls made their way under the canopy of the main
dance area and stared at the amazing light show above them.
Michelle had never seen anything like it in her life. It was some
sort of interstellar visuals that put the San Francisco Lazerium to
shame. Michelle was drawn in by the beat, and just like everyone
else she found herself letting go of all her worries and dancing
with elation and freedom. That was the power of music. She smiled
and thought she could see Vilna smiling too. Michelle took a sip
from her bright green drink and watched dry ice fog escaping from
her mouth. Things weren’t just good; they were great!

There was no telling how long the girls
danced because the beat always stayed the same no matter how many
songs the DJs went through. Michelle liked to look up while
spinning, enjoying the dizzying sensation while the music raised
into a crescendo one more time; then a wave of falling stars rained
on top of the dancers and everyone let out a sigh of amazement.
Vilna told the girls that she was going to get another drink and
disappeared into the crowd.

“How is she going to find us?” Michelle
yelled at Marika who was having a lot of fun dancing with a very
handsome dark skinned boy. But Marika waved away her worries and
kept on dancing. About twenty minutes later when Vilna had not yet
returned, Michelle decided that she should go find her and take the
chance to use the toilet.

“I need to go to the bathroom. I have to
pee,” Michelle said to Marika, pointing to her abdomen. But just
then Vilna returned and said that she’d take Michelle to the
restrooms. There was a long line to use the porta-potties and the
smell emanating from them was very uninviting, to say the
least.

“Lets go back there,” Vilna said, pointing to
a small grove of trees. Michelle happily agreed and the girls
headed away from the crowd. They were obviously not the only people
that had come up with the idea of peeing in the grove; even there
they had to wait for a turn behind their tree of choice. Michelle
had no problem crouching down and just had to make sure that she
pulled her skirt far enough away from any accidental streams. But
Vilna’s rubbery leather pants were so tight that she had to fight
her way out of them, which was quite humorous because she was
practically belly dancing trying to peel them off. Both girls burst
out laughing, and Michelle had to pee all over again.

When they emerged from the trees, Michelle
suggested that they should get some water because Vilna seemed like
she wasn’t too steady on her feet anymore. They began circling back
to the kiosk, but suddenly Vilna stopped in her tracks and Michelle
bumped right into her from behind.

“What’s wrong?” Michelle asked, confused, but
Vilna didn’t answer her; she just kept staring straight ahead. At
first Michelle didn’t see what it was, just people milling about
drinking and smoking, but then she saw someone who wasn’t doing any
of that. It was a couple, locked in a passionate kiss. It took only
an instant for Michelle to figure out that it was Adi that Vilna
was staring at. She had no idea if Vilna knew that Adi was involved
with another girl, but at this point that was a rhetorical
question.

Vilna was obviously very upset at what she
was witnessing. Michelle gently tugged on her shirt, “Let’s go.”
But Vilna didn’t move and didn’t say anything either. Only in her
worst nightmares could Michelle imagine what the poor girl was
feeling. If that were Elliot with another girl, she probably would
have already lost it.

“Adi!” Vilna’s voice shook as she called his
name. Adi looked up from his kiss, his face a display of raw
emotions; Michelle couldn’t judge which ones. He was thin and tall
with blond hair shaved very close to his scalp. His tank top
displayed a coat of arms of some sort, and his black jeans were
tucked into his military boots. He was definitely good looking and
Michelle could see the appeal, even if he wasn’t her type. The girl
with him looked like a body double for Vilna, and when she looked
up she grabbed on to Adi’s arm territorially. After a long quiet
moment, Adi took the girl’s hand and walked up to Vilna who was
obviously shaking. They said something to one another in Hungarian,
and a second later he and the girl were gone.

Vilna turned around and Michelle could see
that she was crying. She watched her march to the kiosk and slam
two shots of something before Michelle had a chance to protest.
Vilna lifted her hand towards the bartender for another one, but
this time Michelle physically forced her hand down onto the
counter. Vilna’s face was contorted with pain.

“He is engaged,” she said and burst out
sobbing. Just then Vilna’s cell phone beeped and she read a text
that obviously upset her even further. “Marika is not coming back
with us,” she said matter-of-factly. Despite Michelle’s pleas,
Vilna had another shot and about ten minutes later she was
staggering drunk. The party was still going on full force as
Michelle led her away from the crowd and back to the Audi. Vilna
cried and cried, and all Michelle could do was hug her and share
her pain.

Vilna was in no shape to get behind the wheel
in her condition, and Michelle didn’t know if she could find her
way back to the city. She wondered if Vilna was sober enough to at
least guide her? Michelle checked the time in the car and saw that
she still had a couple of hours before she needed to meet her
parents. Vilna slept for a little while in the car while Michelle
watched her, but woke up about fifteen minutes later and vomited
all over the dirt. “Oh Michelle, I am sorry. I feel so sick. Thank
you for bringing me back to the car… I like you, you are very
nice... and I am really sorry, for everything. You believe me?”
Michelle told her not to worry about it and that she liked her too.
But Michelle also told her that her parents would be very concerned
if she got back late, and that they probably wouldn’t let her go to
the festival if she were. Vilna moaned and sloppily pushed the
buttons on her cell phone, throwing up again on the side of the car
just as the person on the other end picked up the call. She coughed
a bit and then returned to talk to whoever it was, which surprised
Michelle because if she were on the other end of that call she
probably would have hung up already. After a few brief words, Vilna
ended the call and let the cell phone slide down into her lap. “My
brother said you can drive his car, only if you know how to drive
with a stick?” Michelle proudly announced that she had no problem
driving a stick because she had been driving a Jaguar for months
now.

The dirt road was scary enough.
Unfortunately, the gears of the Audi were so tight that Michelle
had to learn how to drive all over again. On the main highway,
angry drivers honked at her and gave her the finger while Vilna
yelled obscenities back at them. At one point Michelle had to pull
over on a dark deserted road because Vilna had to throw up again.
While that was happening her cell phone rang and she told Michelle
to answer it. Michelle didn’t really want to because what was the
point? She didn’t speak any Hungarian. “It’s my brother! It’s his
ring. Pick it up!” Vilna yelled from behind the bushes.

“Hello?” Michelle answered nervously.

“Did you crash my car yet?” Haden asked her
with sarcasm.

“No,” Michelle said, hiding her annoyance.
Haden asked her where they were but she had no idea. He then asked
her if she thought she could make it all the way back into the
city, and Michelle said that as long as Vilna told her where to go
she should be fine. After a few stalls and a couple of missed
freeway exits, Michelle finally pulled Haden’s car into a small
parking space reserved for residents only. Vilna called to let him
know that they got home safe, and he told her that he was just a
couple of minutes behind them and that they should wait.

The idea of seeing Haden again made Michelle
a little nervous. He was obviously bad news, that she could see
right away, but there was something about him that piqued her
interest, something she couldn’t really describe. He was raw and
refined at the same time, and his overconfidence reeked of
sensuality. Maybe he wasn’t all that bad; he obviously cared about
his sister. Michelle rationalized that the whole tough sexy act was
just that, an act. She got out and leaned against the car while
Vilna rocked back and forth on the curb with her head hanging
between her legs; she was crying again. When blinding headlights
pulled up behind them, Michelle couldn’t see the vehicle, but she
heard the car doors open and close and then the headlights backed
off, revealing Haden’s silhouette heading towards them. Vilna dried
her tears and told Michelle not to say anything about Adi because
Haden hated him enough already. Haden said something to Vilna and
she stood up, yelling back at him, “Nem!” She was still pretty
drunk, and stumbled over her 4 inch heels.

“Keys please,” Haden said to Michelle,
stretching out his hand. She gave them to him without saying a
word, and watched as he walked over to where Vilna was trying to
stand. She was tiny next to him, and he picked her up like she
weighed nothing. He didn’t cradle her, but instead threw her over
his shoulder and began walking towards the building.

”Are you coming?” he asked Michelle, but she
wasn’t sure that that would be such a good idea. She told him that
she needed to meet her parents in less than 45 minutes. But there
was something more. Even though Haden was rather short with her, he
gave her weird feelings, a mixture of fear and fascination. “I
won’t bite,” he laughed while holding open the doorway to the
apartment building. “You’re in Hungaria, NOT Romania!”

Michelle slowly shuffled under his arm and
entered the building. He told her that he was just going to put
Vilna to bed, and then he would drive her to wherever she needed to
go. Vilna burst out laughing out of nowhere and he placed her back
down on her feet, asking her what was so funny, but she just
mumbled something to herself and leaned up against him. Haden put
one arm around Vilna’s back and lifted up her groggy head with the
other. Vilna’s eyes hardly opened and he shook his head in
disappointment. “You have brothers?” he asked Michelle.

“Yes, one. Older,” she answered.

“Don’t do this to him. We have our own lives.
I was with a beautiful girl, and then out of nowhere to get a phone
call like this from… it ruins the mood you know. You do, right?”
Michelle didn’t say anything back. She was just glad it was dark
because she was blushing. Was he trying to embarrass her on
purpose?

“What about you? Do you have a brother, or is
Vilna it?” Michelle asked, trying to change the topic.

“Brother. He’s dead,” Haden answered, his
face contorted with pain. Finally, the chink in the armor that
Michelle was looking for. “Don’t talk about him to Vilna. It will
only upset her, right Veli? And with her mother gone… it’s all just
too much,” he added protectively. Michelle apologized for his loss,
but when she tried to ask about their father Haden got angry and
brazenly told her that his father had left because of the brother.
Michelle felt awful and apologized again, but Haden just looked at
her sadly and walked down the hallway urging Vilna to keep moving
forward. It all made sense. Michelle had always felt that there was
something sad about Vilna, but she couldn’t put her finger on it
until now. That was probably why she had lost so much weight,
Michelle thought, remembering how sad she looked when she offered
Michelle her larger outfits to wear. Must not have been that long
ago, and Haden was still just as broken up about it.

Vilna was in her bedroom crying, and when
Michelle peeked in she saw Haden bent over Vilna’s bed. He was
saying something to her and she tried to push him away. But Haden
wouldn’t budge and instead hugged her warmly and petted her
forehead. Vilna was quiet after that, and just as Haden
straightened back up Michelle walked away. The intimate scene
between brother and sister was too much for her. Would Toby do the
same? She missed her brother. Would they hold on to one another if
their parents were gone? Michelle pushed the frightening thought
away.

She walked around the living room looking at
the many impressive black and white prints that hung on the walls.
A few seconds later, Haden entered the room and startled Michelle,
asking her if she liked the particular photo she was looking at.
Michelle studied the image of a river rock surrounded by moss and
small leaves, which had such an amazing array of gray hues that
they almost looked like they were in color. Concentrating on the
image calmed her racing heart.

“Yes I do. It’s very peaceful.”

“Why do you say that?” he wanted her to
explain as he searched the vast emptiness of the refrigerator.

“I don’t know. Because it feels like the
stone is not affected by the passage of time. The moss and the
fallen leaves in the water are all moving, but the stone stays
there to see it all. It doesn’t move. Peaceful.” Michelle turned to
Haden, her nose up in the air. He didn’t say anything, just fished
out a couple of green olives from a nearly empty jar and popped
them in his mouth. He chewed them while he studied her. Michelle
felt uncomfortable and was forced to turn her eyes elsewhere, but
she didn’t want him to know. “Did you take it?” she asked in a cool
voice.