I see part one on my new messages, so heres part 2...part 3 latter today
or early tomarrow.
Matthew Trotter, Sky Martial Bill says, "Throw another bug on the Bar-B!"
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I C E A G E
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Part two: A Cold Day In Hell
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Freezing cold in winter's heat
Burning up would be a treat.
-Anthrax
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It wasn't her fault! Nobody ever drank doll's tea...except the bugs,
and they were all dead. Mommy knew you shouldn't drink the tea...she had
to know! She was big! Everybody big knew everything. That's what big
was for...knowing everything. It wasn't her fault. They said so. The
other big people said so. Why did Mommy drink the tea? It couldn't kill
Mommy! It only killed bugs. .. ...
. ....didn't it? It didn't kill Tatewaki,
and he was more like a bug than Mommy... ..
... .. .
.. .it wasn't her fault...
There was a small white room.
And an ugly couch.
It was older than she was.
It was the waiting couch.
It was full of all the badness and sadness and lonelyness and maddness
and fear and terror and hatered and uselessness and hopelessness and
It was waiting
For them ?
to sit on it.
It was alone
except for the chair.
It was waiting.
A word was there too.
It wasn't written. It didn't have a shape. It was just there. It said
victim
Quietly.
So that you might not know.
Mommy wasn't ok. She looked all funny. Her face was pale and sweaty.
Her eyes were closed up tight. She was breathing wrong. She was
breathing like the air was choking her. She was trying to talk. Her
voice was all ragged. Kodachi leaned in close...there was something...?
your ...father.. .
. . ...quickly.. .. ....kodachi...
. .. ..go.. . ..get ...your
father.. ...
There were tears in Mommy's eyes. It was hurting her to talk. Kodachi
wanted to hold her and say it was ok. Mommy always made everything ok
for her. Mommy looked like she was trying to talk again...it made
Kodachi's chest hurt...it was filling up with tears...
Father was there.
He wasn't with them.
He was just there.
He was sitting still.
His back was strait. Like a rail.
Tatewaki always tried to sit like that.
Except now.
Now he was looking around.
Now he wasn't acting like father.
Now he wasn't acting like a samurai.
Now he looked like he was only six.
Now he looked scared.
like a haunting word
Victim
Father brought Mommy in the house and put her on the floor. He said for
Sasuke to get the car and for Tatewaki to get the tea. She told him
Mommy didn't want any more tea. It was for the dolls. Not people.
People couldn't drink doll's tea. Bugs could, but then they died.
Father said it was for the doctor. But doctor's weren't dolls.
The chair was looking at the couch.
It wasn't waiting.
It was lurking
just there.
It was there in case.
It was death's chair.
It was where God died.
It had strait plain legs. Its back was twisted. It didn't matter.
It wasn't for comfort. It was for
in case
It looked beat up.
It looked like a word
Victim
Mommy was ok. The doctor was talking to her now. Doctors always made
the pain go away. They had special powers. They knew more than
everything. They would fix Mommy. Then everything would be fine. And
Mommy would never drink doll's tea again. She would have real tea.
Kodachi would learn how to make Mommy real tea.
The doctor came back. Mommy wasn't with him. He sat in the chair. He
didn't say anything. Father didn't move. Tatewaki looked around, and
squirmed. Sasuke closed his eyes. The silence formed around them. It
had words. Words like victim.
Mommy wasn't coming back. She was gone. Gone was a word. It was a
synonym. It had lots of brothers. Passed on. Departed. DEAD. Death
told them about severe allergic reactions and respiratory failure. And
after a while Kodachi realized that she wasn't listening to him. She was
just starring. It wasn't her fault.
Mommy was dead...
but Mommy drank the tea...
the tea killed bugs...
the tea killed
Mommy....
it was her fault.
Father was leaving again. Father always had to go. It was to make
money. Sasuke would take care of them. Father would be back for her
birthday. He was going to The Island. He said lots of people went there
to relax. It was worth lots of money. He said it might be enough for
him to retire. That meant no more trips.
There were three of them. They picked on everyone. But they really
liked to pick on Kodachi. She was so easy to upset. She knew they were
just being mean, but it still hurt. It hurt when they said Mommy didn't
love her. It hurt when they said she killed Mommy. It hurt when they
laughed at her. It made the word come back...
victim
Sasuke was talking to father on the phone. He looked upset. Something
bad was happening. Something about two more weeks. Father was going to
miss her birthday. Sasuke looked at his feet and said he would do
something. Tatewaki held her hand while she cried. He told her not to
worry. There will come a day, Kodachi. We will be a family again.
Don't talk to her,she killed her mother!She's a killer.I bet that's why her
daddy won't come back.He's afraid he's next.Her own brother won't even come
and see her.She's crazy!
It was always better in the middle of the night. There was no one to
tease her. Or to make her feel small. They were asleep. If she was
really crazy she would hurt them. She stared at Tajin. She could punch
her in the nose right now. Or drop a cricket in her mouth. Kodachi
barely suppressed a giggle. If she woke them up now, they would make her
sorry.
Kodachi crept down the hall. It was quiet and dark. The bathroom was
just a little further. She liked the night. She could sneak around at
night. It was fun. You could go anywhere at night. Like the janitor's
closet. There were all sorts of interesting chemicals in there. You
could make really dangerous dolls tea with them. No. She wasn't going
to ever make dolls tea again. You could even go down stairs into Mrs.
Tunokan's room. But only because she slept through fire alarms. Mrs.
Tunokan had those special chocolate bars in her bathroom.
Father had insisted, over the phone, of course, that she stay at St.
Habadeke, rather than at home. From what Sasuke had told them, father
seemed to think that she needed to learn "how to be a woman". Apparently
she couldn't do that just by going to an all girls school...no she need
to live at it too.
Look Tajin!Kodachi Kuno has chocolate!Well she can share with us,right?
Give me that.Here Ryoka,you want some.Oooh,sorry Kodachi.there's no
chocolate left for you.
Tatewaki broke from his normal stoic attitude to hug her and tell her
that she would be missed. At the gate Sasuke had apologized. As if it
was his fault. It made her angry. Her father was too busy to come
back to see them even once in a year, but he had time to send her off to
live in a girls dormitory. She would miss Tatewaki...and Sasuke...she
didn't want to live in the dormitory...
Miss Kuno, what do you have to say for yourself? You let those girls eat
Mrs. Tunokan's laxatives. How did they get in your locker? You realize
I will be calling your house to speak to your father. I'm sure he will
be quite distressed.
It didn't matter what happened...they would twist it all around. They
laughed because no one visited her on parent's day. They said they
picked her up early on holidays out of embarrassment of being seen with
her. It wasn't true. It was just mean. They were mean. But it was ok,
because she did what she had come to school for...she learned. She made
them sorry. She made them wish she had never been born. Then she
discovered gymnastics. She was the best...and that made them respect her
as well.
Miss Kuno will not be staying with us anymore.
They cheered. She couldn't believe they would be that stupid. The
principle smiled.
She will, however, continue her education here in our halls. I'm sure you
will all make her feel welcome when she returns for the fall semester.
Their faces were white. They knew what was going to happen in fall. There
might not be anymore waking up hanging from the flag pole, but there
would be gym...and of course the Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics training.
Tatewaki seemed distant. Almost worried. Their father was finally
coming home. Sasuke hadn't seemed very pleased about it. She wasn't
sure what was wrong. It might have been because she told Tatewaki some
of her stories about school. He hadn't approved of drugging people and
locking them in their lockers. It was ok, he would come around. It was
fun, and they had asked for it hadn't they?
Aloha, everybody!
Tatewaki didn't even move. He stared at the man in the gaudy shirt.
It couldn't be their father. He wasn't a clown. This man looked like
he belonged in a circus.
Tatewaki! Your stoic attitude! You are becoming a true samurai! I'm
so proud! Have a shirt! Kodachi! Did you learn how to be a woman?!
Here, I brought you a grass skirt!
Perhaps this person who was pretending to be her father would like a
special dinner. She was sure Sasuke still kept the bathroom cleaner in
the second floor utility closet.
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Now there was
no one
no friends
no family
no happiness
no home
no love
?
No! There was Ranma. Sweet Ranma. He saved her from her despair. He
loved her.
he did
he had to
that was all there was left. If Ranma
didn't love her. .....
. ... ..what was her life worth? She might as well
die here. ... . NO! She couldn't just lay here! The cat would freeze to
death! She had to live to save the cat.