Nine Lives of Adam Blake by Ryan Gladney

Author:Ryan Gladney
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ryan Gladney
Published: 2015-07-21T00:00:00+00:00

the night ends not with morning

Her arms fell to her sides, and the four lines of script tattooed there hid against her T-shirt and jeans.

“I’m sorry,” Adam said. “I shouldn’t have pried. I don’t know you well enough to pry.”

Tamar shrugged. “Whatever,” she said. “How else are people supposed to get to know each other if they don’t pry once in a while?”

She waved to a waitress and pointed at their empty drinks, and Adam caught sight of her other tattoo he had noticed from across the bar. This one stretched down her chest, around her shoulder, and up her neck, but for most of the night had been hidden behind her shirt and dark hair. Adam ran a hand through her hair and parted it off her neck.

“In that case, what’s the meaning behind this cuddly little guy?” Adam asked.

Tamar stretched her neck and Adam traced the outline of the tattoo with his finger. It was a polar bear, etched in intricate detail of muscle and fur against her olive skin. Its hind paws were on her chest, its torso over her collarbone and neck, and its eyes looked out behind her long, silver earring.

“Take a guess.”

“Okay,” Adam said. He brought his face close and studied the image, close enough to smell her hair and the sweat that had dried on the back of her neck.

“How about this,” he said. “Okay, so the tattoo on your arm recalls your Jewish faith, so clearly the huge, terrifying polar bear on your neck honors your—I don’t know—Eskimo heritage?”

Tamar laughed. “Nope, try again.”

“Okay,” Adam said. He again lifted the hair from her neck. He touched the image softly with his thumb. “It’s your Spirit Animal, right?” he said.

“A what?” She laughed. “What the hell is a Spirit Animal?”

“You know, like from that movie? The one where the kids all walk around and they’re followed by these imaginary animals, and the animals talk to them and guide them, but they also kind of like represent a part of the kid’s own psyche. A Spirit Animal.”

Tamar grinned. “Okay,” she said. “So why is my psyche a polar bear, Mr. Psychoanalyst Man?”

“Well,” Adam said. He thought for a minute. The waitress brought their drinks, and Tamar reached for hers. “Polar bears are like the most ferocious animals on earth, right?”

“Go on…” she said.

“Yeah, I read one time that they’re like the only animals in the world that will hunt human beings, not just kill us in self-defense or fear, but actually track us down, as if we were prey. Did you know that?”

“No. Pretty badass though.”

“They’re these giant, monstrous things—”

“Are you calling me fat?”

“What? No. I’m sorry,” Adam said. He hiccupped. “What I’m saying is—we should be terrified of polar bears. They ought to be this universal symbol of fear, like snakes or bats or something. They’re carnivorous, bloodthirsty, and wild, but they’re also kind of adorable. Everyone agrees they’re super cute, right? We let our babies cuddle with polar bear stuffed animals. Every Christmas cartoon polar bears go on TV and sell us Diet Coke.

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