The Vault: Banka and the Bitch

 Today we're taking a stroll into the vault. On a warmup exercise I got a little carried away with.

Banka and the Bitch

Night Walker

I couldn’t sleep again. Sitting by the window wasn’t helping, and the soldier enforcing curfew wasn’t leaving the street. The same one that had been on this street for months now. Since I’d been caught going to the convenience store down the street.

He kept looking over at me watching him patrol. Even with all my lights off, he’d seen me there enough he could make eye contact.

Something needed to change. Since the merpeople had sent their armies to dominate the land like they’d dominated the sea it was a whole new life. I just wanted a coffee.

An idea popped into my head. It felt crazy, but wasn’t explicitly against the rules so I wouldn’t be seriously punished if I tried it. I hoped.

I slid my window open and called out, “Hey soldier man! Come here. Please.” I knew the please sounded like the afterthought it was. Still, he came up the yard and leaned against the outside windowsill.

“What can I help you with, citizen lady?” It was the first time I’d heard him say anything despite knowing that he preferred fizzy water to regular, and fish sticks to hot dogs.

Adjusting my weight nervously, I bucked up and asked, “Can you get me a coffee? I can’t leave my house and it helps me sleep.”

“If you know you need coffee to sleep, why don’t you buy the stuff to make it at home?” Solid question. I didn’t have a good answer for him. A few moments of silence, and he said, “How much cream and sugar?”

Color me surprised. I really didn’t think he’d agree. “Depends on the size I guess.”

“Why don’t I escort you there and you can do it yourself?” He pushed away from my house and started walking towards my door.

I didn’t trust my apparent luck tonight. When I opened the door he was holding the screen door open for me. My hesitation to step out was noticed.

“I’m not going to bite you.” The little smile his green lips were making didn’t comfort me any more than his words. “Look, I’m at least as bored as you are. Just don’t tell your neighbors and I won’t tell my superiors.”

It was better than I thought I was going to get, and had a camera in case he decided to bust me. Besides, I knew the air was fresher before it came through the door.

My face showed exactly what I was feeling. It always did. I still put one foot in front of the other towards the convenience store. He kept step with me. It almost didn’t sour the breeze knowing why I wasn’t alone.

“You know, a year ago I could have just gone and been asleep by now.” I’d tried to keep it in, I really did.

My comment elicited a chuckle from the soldier. “You could have asked before now instead of staring at me through your curtains.” I couldn’t tell if it was a joke or something else.

When I side eyed him our eyes met. “Usually I’d call that bad flirting, I’ll just chalk it up to awkward small talk today.”

“You started it,” he said, chuckling again.

This time I gave him a mock glare. “All I wanted was sleep, you’re the one trying to turn it into a date.”

He slipped his hand around mine. “If it’s a date this is okay, right?” If it wasn’t for the half smile on his face I might’ve been annoyed.

“Only if you’re paying.” We’d arrived at the convenience store and I pushed on the door. It didn’t budge. “What the hell, I thought businesses could still be open overnight.”

With a full belly laugh, the soldier pulled it open. “They can, for people who can figure out how to get in.”

“Don’t tease,” I snapped.

The grin on his face dropped immediately, but he couldn’t keep it straight long enough for us to reach the coffee bar in the back of the small store.

I half expected him to try and make me put my coffee together one-handed. My fingers easily slid out of his when we got there. “I’m glad the handcuff wasn’t hard to escape.”

Leaning against the counter, he said, “Holding hands with me is like being cuffed is it?” I noticed him rubbing his fingers together.

“No, cuffs warm up after a while.” It was fair to say that he stayed cool to the touch the entire time.

“Fish are cold blooded,” he said. “That’s why I like the night shift, the days get too hot too often. It’s unhealthy.”

I wasn’t sure why he got so serious about this. Whatever, my prize was in my hands and all that was left was to pay for it.

At the counter, he pulled his money out while I was still figuring out which pocket I’d put my wallet in. “I was kidding about you paying,” I said.

“Well,” he chuckled, “you’ll just have to buy me a drink next time.”

“Next time?” How presumptuous.

He put his hand around mine again and I took a good mouthful of the near burning coffee. “Are you trying to say you’re not going to have trouble sleeping again?”

“I have a rule,” I said. “I don’t date on duty soldiers.”

He must have seen our light conversation as some sort of encouragement to push his luck. His arm, already attached to me, wrapped around my waist and pulled my back into his chest.

This time when I glared at him it was all real. “What are you doing?”

The humor in his eyes didn’t fade. “Trying to figure out when my next day off is so I can ask you on a real date.” He squeezed me slightly.

“I don’t even let people I know touch me like this.” It almost seemed like an abuse of power. There was only so much I could do against him, given his military involvement.

“Hi,” he said, eyes somehow soft and intense at the same time. “My name’s Banka. It means churning bubbles.”

There was something interesting about the pronunciation. “Hello, Banka. I’m Drew. It means draw but in the past tense.”

A dog barked in the distance, breaking whatever spell had us just looking at each other in silence. His arm fell without him releasing my hand.

“I should get you home.” When I looked I saw it was closer than I would have thought. We’d be there momentarily.

We continued walking towards my house, but slower than before. “You don’t think I’ll say yes when you aren’t carrying a gun do you?” It might have been hidden, but I knew he had one. All the soldiers did.

He chuckled. “Soldiers are required to carry them at all times, even off duty. You’ll have to find a good reason to turn me down.”

I let out my own little laugh. “I think I might be sick that day.” I went to take another drink of my coffee and found it was gone. “Why is the coffee always gone?”

“Because you drink it like a fish drinks water.” While he wasn’t wrong, he didn’t need to say it out loud.

My hand pulled out of his, just as easily as before. “If you’re going to be like that you can hold your own hand.”

Banka clasped his hands together in front of him. “Nope, it’s just not the same.” His hands dropped and rested on his hips so his elbow was rubbing against my side as we walked.

“I thought too much heat was unhealthy for you, why are you touching a warmblooded person so much?”

“You don’t seem to be complaining,” he said. “You should admit you like me too. Otherwise you wouldn’t watch me from the window so much.”

I laughed again. “You can’t take credit for my sleep issues, I’ve had them for years.”

He gave me a mischievous look. “Because you don’t know what my two days off are. The other night guy hasn’t seen you once.” Did he have days off?

“Maybe he just hasn’t noticed me yet,” I said. It was a reasonable enough assumption, I thought.

With a chuckle, Banka said, “He’s from a deep sea family, he can see in the dark.”

I pondered this as we stepped onto my porch. “Well shit.” Who would have known some of the merpeople had night vision.

“Are you surprised you sleep fine when he’s on duty, or that you have to go inside now?” He grabbed my door knob but didn’t open it. He didn’t let me when I tried. “Are you really that eager to go in?”

“This isn’t a real date, I just wanted coffee.” I realized I hadn’t let go of the doorknob, and his hand was comfortably between the two. I pulled it to my side. His hand followed.

He stepped closer to me, putting himself directly between me and the door. “When we go on a real date will you invite me in after?”

I stepped closer to him and found it put me just in reach. “It depends on how the date goes,” I said. The door was opened and I ducked past him, closing it behind me.

Of all the things I expected to happen tonight, enjoying the company of a soldier was not even close to being on the list. The coffee was doing its job though, so I brushed it off and went to bed.

Red Mouth Goby

The next morning I went to get ready for work and found I was out of my favorite red lipstick. There wasn’t even enough to scrape any out.

For today, I’d have to settle for my second favorite lipstick, a deep pink. It didn’t go as well with my clothes. I should have seen this coming, the same thing happened yesterday. I had to get some more today.

I knew I was already going to be late to work. This wasn’t an unusual occurrence so I decided to write a note and stick it on my phone. What would an extra two minutes do?

After work the note became worth the write-up I got for my tardiness. The boutique was in the opposite direction of my house.

Walking into the store brought me great surprise. There was no red lipstick. In any shade.

I waved at the clerk when she was free. “Where did all the red go?” I was not prepared to change my look.

“Didn’t you see the news this morning,” she asked. I shook my head and she pulled an article up on her phone with a picture of the merpeople queen with bright red lips.

With a deep sigh I said, “So it’s off the shelves as a slight to the regime?” She nodded. “I guess I’ll have to find a new favorite then.”

Just my luck, there was someone close enough to hear that found this very interesting. Someone with opinions. “Oh my God, I’m a makeup influencer and I am so happy to help you!” Her face was done up beautifully when I looked.

“If you can find something that can make me look a little like you, I’ll spend my paycheck on it.”

“Great! I’m Neisha.” She pulled me to a whole different section of the lip area. Liquid stains and glosses. “First things first, you are not old enough to stick solely to lipsticks.”

I knew lipstick was more old fashioned, and I laughed. “The sticks are the only things I know how to use.” I laughed again as I remembered the last time I tried a liquid stain.

Turns out Neisha was more than just willing to give suggestions, she gave me tutorials on everything she put in my basket. By the end I had about eight different lip products in various pinks and knew how to use all of them.

Walking out of the boutique, I noticed that I barely enough time to get home before curfew. I didn’t notice that I had someone trailing me until he put his arm over my shoulder and said, “I didn’t peg you for the primping type.”

I looked at my surprise companion. “Hello Banka.”

“You’re cutting it pretty close, don’t you know the punishment for being out too late?” I could hear the same undertones of amusement as our conversation the night before.

Keeping that in mind, I answered, “A beauty influencer overheard me asking the employee for help when they didn’t have what I wanted.”

Moving so we were side by side, Banka nodded seriously. “That explains it.” Was he going to follow me home?

“Do you work tonight, or are you stalking me?” He even followed me when I got on the bus. I had to remember that either answer could be true.

Before he answered, Banka looked me over as though he were trying to decide something. “It’s my day off. I wasn’t expecting to see you in my neighborhood, and I thought we were friends. I decided to say hello.”

“Stalker.” If he just wanted to say hello he wouldn’t be on the bus to my neighborhood with me.

Banka put his arm over my shoulder again. “We have time for a date before my curfew, and even if we don’t I’m sure you have a couch I can sleep on.”

I rolled my eyes. “Are you inviting yourself to my house?” How presumptuous.

“I’m kidding. A human gathering was approved after hours and I’m getting a really fat envelope to work security for it.” That made more sense.

Then I remembered the invitations my next door neighbor had sent out to everyone but me. “Is this the party on my street?” Banka nodded. “Will you tell me about it after?”

“Oh yeah, didn’t you only move here like a year ago?” How did he know that? He’d only been assigned to my street about four months ago.

The idea that Banka might be stalking me floated through my mind again, but not as a joke this time. “You’ve been gossiping about me.”

“You’re not that special,” he chuckled. “We get a rundown of every neighborhood we work in. You moving there was one of the highlights, there were also weddings, regular community events, stuff like that.”

A little less creepy, I guess. Less creepy than how people were looking at us. “If you care about me Banka, you’re going to have to act less friendly in public.” The stares were getting to me.

He looked around and said, “You’re not the type to care what people think.” His arm fell to his own side anyway.

“Thank you.” Even with the sudden lack of physical affection, not all of the strangers eyes moved away. I wondered what was going through their heads.

I may not have been the only one. “They already saw us. What are the chances most of these people aren’t going to go home and tell everyone they know they saw a merman and a human being friendly on the bus?”

“Or that they saw a merman taking advantage of a human knowing that no one would do anything,” I said, quietly and half hoping no one was listening in.

Banka leaned away from me and gave me a look of mock offense. “Do you really think I’m that kind of person?”

It was too late for his jokes. “I don’t know anything about you.” I’d never spoken to him before yesterday.

“You’re a lot less friendly when other people are around,” Banka observed. “You can get to know me. It’s not a difficult fix.”

My fingers itched to pull the book I normally read on the bus out of my bag. Still, as far as merpeople went, Banka wasn’t terrible. “I’ll talk to you after we get off. As a thank you for the coffee last night.”

His hand dragged across his lips like he was zipping them closed. There was still a smile in the corners of his eyes.

People got off, new people got on who eyed him. Some gave me apologetic looks as they passed our seats. Some looked at me like I was a traitor. I wasn’t sure if it was my imagination or my ears full of whispers that stopped when I turned towards them.

The second the bus pulled away from my stop a cool hand wrapped around mine.

“I believe last time you agreed to buy me a drink.” My eyes darted to his and I could feel the edge of my annoyance soften.

Shoving his shoulder with mine I ventured a smile. “I believe last time you told me I owed you one. I never agreed.”

This time when our hands stopped touching it was he who pulled away. Just before we turned the corner and I saw people on the street, in front of the house next to mine. My eyebrow lifted at him.

“You said I needed to be less friendly in public, and I saw how people were looking at you just for sitting next to me.” The smile was no longer in his eyes. “Can I come by after the party?”

“Only if you come with coffee.”