Ch. 2 - Telling Secrets

Later after spraying everything down in her room, with what was left of the bug spray, Janine slipped on a black T-shirt and some old jeans then threw her pajamas in a hamper. She decided to do laundry after flipping through the limited channels on the TV. She started up the washing machine then sorted through each basket, full of clothes, and threw the darker-colored ones in first. She pushed the baskets aside to make sure she wouldn’t end up in the hospital for tripping over one of them.

Her cat, Jinx, padded over to her feet then sat there, as if begging for something he’d never get. Janine named the tabby Jinx because he tends to cause much hoodoo, and Miles disliked him but Janine kept him, anyway. She had him for a year or so and let him sleep under her bed or nap at her feet in bed, even though she knew she could easily step on his tail or kick him off the side of the bed.

Jinx’s left ear flitted and he turned. He dashed to the window, standing on hind legs on the head of the couch, while his front paws were set on the window sill. He pushed the curtains aside and his yellow eyes narrowed. Janine slowly walked over to the couch and looked out the window alongside Jinx. She sensed his fur stick up on his back and heard his claws rip through the couch’s fabric. She saw a familiar midnight blue echidna walking around the next door house—Alpha.

Janine knew Alpha since childhood but she disliked him in so many ways. He often smiled but it looked as if he was a werewolf—baring his teeth and, as if, ready to rip Janine to shreds—towering over her. He was manager of the business Miles was in; building tools, gadgets, and such for disabled people or just to make like easier, and Alpha joyfully puts so much stress on Miles that her uncle usually comes home and breaks down elsewhere.

Janine watched Alpha investigate the houses and trees, which ran down the block, carefully. She hadn’t noticed she was leaning too close into the window until she bonked her forehead against the pane. Alpha turned his head toward Janine and smiled his toothy smile. Janine waved meekly.

She then took note of how Alpha hasn’t changed much since she had last seen him at the age of four, except for how his fur was fading to a grayish blue.

Janine guessed that he was moving into that house so he could bother Miles about work or something of the sort. She also guessed that he had someone else fill in for him at Tools and Essentials Corp., which he always did. Janine wondered why he wasn’t booted from work already. Maybe the workers fear him, she always thought to herself.

She turned and left the couch. Jinx sat there, his tail swaying back and fourth as he watched what was then going on outside. Janine combed her hair with her fingers as she walked through the kitchen. She stopped at the back door and slipped on her shoes, which she always kept near the door in case of an emergency, or anything of the sort. She opened the door then stepped out to the porch. It was still arctic out but she let the cold consume her as she shut the door behind herself.

“Hey, baby!” Janine spun her head around at that and saw Alpha treading slowly towards her. Janine wanted to spat but she tried smiling and nodded her head. Alpha frowned; he seen through the lie of a smile. Janine managed to choke out, “What’s up, Al?” She sounded like she had food stuffed in her mouth. Alpha took a moment to look at Janine up and down with a cold set of brown eyes.

“Same old, same old.” He flipped through a folder of papers. “How’s school?”

Janine hesitated. “Haven’t started it yet,” she muttered, pulling a string from her shirt sleeve. Alpha looked away from his documents to stare at Janine. She kept fiddling with things hanging from her shirt.

“I thought school has already started.” He sounded hoarse. Janine said nothing for a moment.



“It starts tomorrow. Like every other school does ‘round here.” Janine heard her newfound Southern accent in that sentence. Alpha must’ve heard it, too, because he chuckled slightly then started flipping through papers again.

“How’s work?” Janine asked crossly. Alpha said nothing and kept sorting through his forms.

“Same,” he finally murmured after an awkward period of silence. Janine stared at his fingers as they quickly leafed through each paper. She seen that he had a red scarf tied tightly around his right arm.

“What happened?” Janine wanted to kick herself after asking that question. She knew it was none of her business about what injured Alpha.

“Nothing,” he whispered. His voice was bleak and thin. Janine sat on the wooden railing and swung her legs over the side clumsily. She watched Alpha read over some documents then gingerly put them back in the manila folder. “Why ask, Janie?” Janine winced at the name. She always hated to be called that.

“Just wondering,” she muttered softly.

“Something botherin’ you?”

“No.”

“Sure?”


“Yes!” Janine looked down at the ground that was about four feet below her. She felt dizzy but still kept her eyes on the dirt. Alpha stopped sorting out his papers and looked back over at other dull houses. She knew he was thinking, oh, this town’s a mess. The houses are stained, dogs are running amuck. . . Janine shook the rest of the thought off.

“What are you doing?” Janine looked back at Alpha, who glanced over at her.

“Doing what?”

“Looking through the houses. What’re you doing, looking for an unlocked door?”

“You can ask Tails. I can’t tell a kid like you, Janine.” Janine flinched in anger. She knew Alpha still called Uncle Miles “Tails”, but it felt like he was talking about something else, and she hated it when he called her a kid.

“Who said I’m not mature enough to hear what you have to say?” Janine spat. “I know the economy’s bad. I understand all the crap that’s going on.”

“Never mind. I told you too much already.”

“Darn it, Alpha!”

“I said forget it, Lanie!” Janine shuddered. She felt hurt and, as if, she deserved it all the same. Alpha shook his head quietly and walked away slowly to the house he had last been looking at. Janine thought she heard him mutter an “I’m sorry” to her, but she wasn’t sure.

Janine felt her cell phone vibrate in her front pocket. She slipped it out and read the ID.

“Hello?” She heard no answer on the other line.

“Ai?” a voice choked. Janine guessed it was a male voice, but it spoke lower than a whisper.

“I’m sorry, you have the wrong number.” The line disconnected as soon as she said that. It made her jump, that sudden clicking of the phone being hung up and the dead sound that came after. She closed the phone and stared at it for a moment. It vibrated again in her hand. It was Miles this time.