V. PARTY IS OVER
On December sixth, Mariam turned twenty-four, and she celebrated it in style.
— Listen, Emi, — she said the day before. — I want to rent an apartment for my birthday and invite a bunch of people… Like thirteen. I’ve already scraped the money together. Don’t worry, I’m not going to borrow from you!
— Thirteen? — Emi was surprised. — Do you really have that many friends?
— Not exactly… Mostly just acquaintances who like to hang out.
— Can I come with you? — Fleya asked plaintively.
— Fleya, sorry, but a birthday is… well, it’s a celebration for humans, not gods.
— Please, please, please! — Fleya begged, dropping to her knees.
— Alright, fine, you’re coming with us. It would feel wrong to leave you alone anyway.
At noon on her birthday, Mariam stepped out of the house, swinging Emi’s hand, and Fleya followed behind them.
— Yay, I’m so happy! — Mariam said. — Let’s go to Elvin’s now, he’ll probably give me such a warm welcome!
This is so awkward… Emi thought. Last time I saw him, he was naked on my mattress outside the house. Still… the main thing is that Mariam is happy. It’s her day.
Elvin greeted Mariam with a passionate kiss, and Emi with a light hug.
— It’s your day, my dear! — he said to Mariam. — Here, your presents!
Mariam started looking through them: A hand-made dress, exactly my style, an album with my funny and cute photos signed “my dearest love,” and a strawberry sponge cake Elvin baked himself… Oh my God, I’m about to cry from happiness! This is the best day ever!
Mariam sat down on the couch, wrapping one arm around Elvin and the other around Emi, while also trying, almost unnoticed, to pull Fleya in.
— You’re all so wonderful! — she kept repeating. — I love you!
— By the way, I have a present for you too, — Emi said, handing her a simple portrait card, but so bright and beautiful.
— Thank you… — Mariam melted.
— This is all for you! — Elvin said excitedly and opened the wardrobe.
The cramped wardrobe was packed to the brim with various bags. Some held party props: costumes, clothes for any theme, wigs, makeup, masks… Others contained alcohol, takeaway pizza boxes, sweets, all kinds of food. Everything had been prepared down to the smallest detail — even a separate spot had been set aside for a gothic candlestick that would decorate the room and give it a slightly dark atmosphere.
— Ah… — Mariam tilted her head back in amazement. — Where did all of this come from?..
— Half of it we bought for pennies at a Fleya market, — Elvin admitted, — and the other half Fleya stole.
They grabbed the bags, picked up Sophie on the way, and headed to the place.
— Oh my God, Mariam, are you sure this is it? — Sophie asked. — This house is so old and worn down, the windows are smashed… it looks like it could collapse from one careless jump.
— Yeah, this is definitely it, — Mariam replied. — It looked way better in the photos…
They went in one after another through a creaky door.
— See? I told you it’s a good option! — Mariam exclaimed. — Inside it’s a whole different story: the room is huge, the walls are purple, totally our vibe, the bed is massive, there’s a table, and most importantly — there’s a DJ setup… We could easily fit twenty people in here!
Everyone started unpacking the bags, moving things around, changing outfits, putting on makeup.
— Well? — Mariam stepped out to show herself off.
She was wearing a black fur bra, nothing but red panties with lip prints on them, and black wings attached to her back.
Fleya snickered: Wings? Is that supposed to be a parody of me?
— Amazing, — Sophie said. — You’re definitely going to be the star of your own night! By the way, what’s the theme of the party? I honestly have no idea how I’m supposed to dress.
— Well, it was supposed to be gothic, — Mariam said. — But I only planned all this yesterday, and Elvin and Fleya basically tore through everything we had. There’s literally a bit of everything in those bags — seven bags of props. Just take whatever you want, don’t be shy!
— Oh, these bright green heels are so cool! I’ll wear these.
Emi dug her hand into the fullest bag.
— A Misa Amane costume from “Death Note?” — she said in surprise. — Wow, you even have that!
— It suits you! — Mariam smirked. — You’re short and blonde, it’s perfect.
Guests started pouring in one after another, the first being the DJ.
— Oh, who do we have here? — Mariam greeted him, kissing him on the lips. — Come on in, put your record on!
People gradually gathered around the table, eating pizza, drinking cheap liqueur, laughing.
— So what’s the plan? — someone asked.
— Oh, the program is amazing, — Mariam replied. — Dancing, karaoke, a photoshoot, lots of alcohol, making collages out of porn magazines, a contest for the best caricature of Putin, Trump, and the president of Georgia, drawing each other’s portraits with colored chalk…
— Maybe we should start with the collages before everyone gets too drunk? — Elvin suggested.
Everyone slowly moved to the floor and got to cutting things out. Sophie was laughing loudly — she cut out her own face and placed it onto a sunburnt, muscular guy with huge biceps who was traveling on some cruise.
Then everyone loosened up. Mariam was sitting on Elvin’s lap, drunkenly trying to shout something into the microphone like:
— We’re the best! I love you all!
Elvin laughed softly, looking into her eyes.
Emi was dancing — for the first time in a long while, completely uninhibited. She tried to pull Sophie with her, but Sophie pushed off:
— Emiii! You can see I can’t dance in these insanely high heels! Come here instead!
Emi and Sophie collapsed onto the couch. They were loudly singing t.A.T.u. songs in Russian.
— You know Russian? — Emi asked.
— A few words! — Sophie replied.
That’s when they kissed for the first time, drunk:
— I wonder, — Sophie said, licking her, — am I kissing Emi right now, or Misa Amane?
They all decided to go out together to the nearest shop and ran around in a drunken frenzy.
— Twenty-four! — Mariam shouted. — I feel so light and happy! Life is just beginning! Guys, let’s make every day like this while I’m twenty-four!
Suddenly, a man in a cap jumped out from around the corner and blew a whistle.
— Stop, please!
— For what? For having fun? — Mariam asked.
— For crossing the road in the wrong place!
— But it’s my birthday! Maybe you could congratulate me and we’ll go our separate ways?
— Alright, happy birthday. Just don’t mess around here again, or you’ll get into trouble!
By midnight, people gradually started sobering up, and that’s when most of them left. The party was slowly coming to an end, and when only Emi, Sophie, and Elvin stayed the night, Mariam traced a message with her finger on the dusty surface of an old TV:
“PARTY IS OVER”
And Fleya had been somewhere nearby the whole time. She hadn’t said a single word, just silently watching everything that was happening.
It’s such a shame that no one but Emi and Mariam can see or hear me, she thought. Maybe I should touch everyone here and have fun with them! But then I’d only scare them and ruin the party…
When everyone started falling asleep, Mariam, lying in Elvin’s tight embrace, kept turning over, unable to sleep for a long time. And just when she finally managed to drift off, she suddenly opened her eyes again — a bright orange light was pouring in through the windows. It was sunrise, which meant it was eight in the morning. That day it was especially bright and beautiful, with a reddish tint. Mariam immediately sank into an anxious stream of thoughts:
“Today I threw the best party of my life. And it’s over again. Twenty-four… That’s exactly how old my mother was when she left me. I was five, and she seemed so grown-up, so tired, so unhappy. And have I really become the same?.. When I was sixteen, I thought that by this age I’d be a world-famous star, that everyone would dream of seeing me at least at a concert, that they’d sell their souls for my autograph. I thought I’d be somewhere in New York, not in the cheapest room in some miserable family’s house. What do I even have at twenty-four? A job at “Marfi,” losing its popularity, sinking lower day by day, soon dragging me into total poverty? Close people?.. Yes, I have them — but are they really something to cling to? They can leave me, and I almost lost Emi myself, out of my own stupidity. I barely have any money. Fleya brings us food. I owe Sophie so much and haven’t paid her back for months. I won’t survive on parties and carefree fun alone. Everyone at my party is eighteen to twenty, maybe twenty-two at most — I’m the oldest. So what’s waiting for me? Back to my little shop again, maybe serving a dozen customers, then sitting there doing nothing, coming back with nothing, because expenses are higher than profits now. Then back to Elvin, back into his bed, back into his body? I’m already so sick of it. Or straight to Emi — she has her project, she’s busy, even though deep down she wishes I’d come earlier and at least talk to her. I wonder… would she still love me if I turned into a complete alcoholic, homeless, or worse? And Emi is such a good girl. She’s studying architecture, she has a bright future ahead of her. She shouldn’t have gotten involved with me. Maybe I should start playing again? Yes. That’s it. That’s the only thing that could make me happy, just like I dreamed as a child. I’ll just shut the shop down, or hand it over to Sophie. But Sophie won’t manage alone… that’s not right. So what do I do? Still, I want to play. The last time I held a guitar was a year ago. I think it’s still at my ex’s place. Maybe I should call him, get it back? I really don’t want to talk to him. Maybe I should call my grandfather? He still has some of my things too… I could just buy a guitar at the market, it’d cost me almost nothing, though it’ll probably be out of tune. I wish Emi and Sophie would start dating. They’d make such a good couple — God, I look at them and it makes me happy, I always said that! Anyway… I need to sleep. The sky is already blue — I have work soon”.
The next evening, Emi was sitting at home, extremely agitated. She kept jumping back and forth between her semester project — which she had to defend the next day — and her phone, smiling at the screen. After last night, Sophie had started texting her.
— It was unbelievable. Want to repeat it again so much, — she wrote.
I’d like to repeat it too… Emi thought. More than anything, I like feeling desired.
In between messages, Emi kept working on her drawings: What the hell, why am I doing all this at the last minute! The entrance to the second townhouse section — should it be on the north side or the south? And at what angle should the attic slope be? I still have to write the annotation too! The only thing that makes me feel better is that tomorrow Mariam and Fleya will be there with me… and probably Sophie as well.
Hearing Emi’s sighs and frustrated muttering, Fleya decided to help.
— I studied engineering too, you know, when I wanted to become a builder. You should’ve just asked me instead of suffering.
— What were you even planning to build? — Emi asked.
— Some luxurious castle somewhere in Antarctica.
— Alright, fine. Help me. I’ll explain everything now.
Fleya spat into her hand, caught the saliva with the tip of her neat nail, and started drawing a line directly on the clean draft.
— What are you doing? Here’s a pencil!
— I don’t understand how to use a pencil. We only draw with saliva.
— What’s there to understand? You just take it and draw on paper, the same way you’re doing it now with your nail.
— But look how beautiful it is!
The lines Fleya drew were some strange color — somewhere between red and violet — shimmering, almost pearlescent.
— Actually, they might not accept a project that isn’t done in pencil. Though… our professor probably won’t care. I’ll say I only had a pen, so I started with that. But honestly, this doesn’t even look like pen.
After a short while, Emi completely gave up the desk to her neon friend and went back to texting. Fleya finished the rest quickly — in just over an hour.
Her handwriting, though, looked like someone who’d never used the Latin alphabet before — the letters all “danced,” some big, some small, crooked in every direction — nothing like Emi’s at all.
Emi looked at the result and thought: Well, whatever. That professor barely looks at the work anyway. The main thing is to present it convincingly and add photos to the presentation.
Mariam was sitting in “Marfi,” counting the coins she’d have to take home.
God, I’m so angry today, she thought. It’s like I predicted this morning I’d feel exactly like this.
She noticed a message from Elvin:
— My love, do you wanna come to me tonight?
— No, sorry, — she replied. — Not your fault.
Mariam got home right on schedule, at exactly nine-forty.
— Hi, — Emi greeted her. — You’re early today. Straight from work?
— Yeah. And I’m really tired, to be honest. How’s your project?
— I finished it.
— I finished it! — came a voice from the corner of the room — Fleya, who had just woken up. — Hi, Mariam!
— Fleya? — Mariam laughed. — You’re an architecture project? Never would’ve believed that.
— Well… actually, it’s true, — Emi said shyly, almost embarrassed.
Mariam froze in surprise.
— Alright. I hope she at least did it properly. Want to go for a walk? We haven’t gone out just the two of us in a while.
First, they went downstairs to have dinner. At the table, Vakhtang was cheerfully repeating:
— Day of reckoning — day of reckoning!
Mariam sat there awkwardly and finally admitted in a whisper:
— I don’t have any money.
She looked at Emi guiltily.
— Could you pay for both of us? I’ll give you your share back as soon as I get it, I promise.
Emi nodded and went to get three hundred lari. When Vakhtang received the money, his eyes lit up. He got even more excited, waving the bills around, doing little tricks with them and shouting:
— Tamara! We’re prosperous now!
I just want the ground to swallow me up, Mariam thought.
She hurriedly finished her pumpkin soup, grabbed Emi, and went upstairs to get ready for their walk.
Meanwhile, Fleya was almost in tears, begging to go with them:
— You don’t need me! Am I just extra here?
Mariam took her by the shoulder and said:
— That doesn’t mean we don’t love you, Fleya. We just want to go out the two of us, talk about human things — it’s our tradition. When we’re in the mood, we’ll take you with us too.
— So I’m only needed when you’re in a good mood? Otherwise I’m nobody to you?
— No, — Mariam sighed deeply, trying to calm her down, though irritation was already creeping in, — that’s not how it works. For example, I didn’t go out with Emi at all last week. I was with my boyfriend, she was studying. You remember that yourself. So what, does that mean Emi suddenly isn’t important to me anymore?
— Would you treat me better if I were human?
— I already treat you well. That’s it. Don’t get on my nerves. We won’t be long.
Fleya turned away and curled up in the corner. Emi came over to her and began gently stroking her slimy yet soft skin, murmuring:
— Fleya… yeah, we’ll be back soon. Don’t get bored.
Outside, it was cold and quiet. Emi and Mariam sat by the roadside, wrapped in warm puffer jackets.
— So, what did you think of that performance Fleya just put on? — Mariam asked bluntly.
— Yeah… it’s all really overwhelming. She feels like a child in a huge body. Honestly, I still can’t believe she’s real. This whole time it’s like I’ve been in a haze — I even started wondering if she’s just something I made up. But you see her too. Even Sophie said she knows gods exist. And… I actually like her. She kind of draws me in, even though her presence drains me. She’s so warm and soft. It feels like her huge heart is beating a thousand times faster than ours.
— I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like her at all. She really does draw you in. It’s something you can’t explain. It’s like she filled our whole room with warmth. But I’m so tired of her! It feels like she seeps into everything. Her antics are going to drive me insane. And the thing is — we’ll never be able to get rid of her like we would a person. A god has no boundaries. She can go through walls if she wants to. She can follow us anywhere, endlessly, if she wants — and it seems like she does. Fleya is our new reality now. It sounds so absurd… I’d sooner believe a nuclear war would start than that some unknown, gigantic creature, speaking human language and feeling human emotions, would come live with us.
— Yeah, — Emi said.
— And besides, you know, things at work are really bad right now. Worse than they’ve ever been in three years. And Fleya actually helps — at least now we have free food and drinks.
— Honestly, if I were you, I wouldn’t worry about money at all. If I had a life like yours, where everyone around me loves me, I wouldn’t need anything else.
Mariam looked at Emi in disbelief.
— Are you serious right now? “A life like mine?” And you’re saying this — you, with a normal family supporting you financially, with an education, with a future I’ve never had and never will! The fact that I can invite a bunch of people who’ll forget me the next day — that’s your idea of happiness and value? You should’ve just stayed quiet. Your envy is completely out of place here.
— At least you have a loving boyfriend. And that’s what matters most. If anything, you could rely on him later.
— Are you kidding me? He’s twenty, he can barely support himself! What do you mean “rely on him”? This isn’t a fairy tale — stop believing in that nonsense. And what if it all happens again like last time?
— So you’re not sure about Elvin?
— I am… but there are no guarantees. Look at you — you have everyone around you too: me, Fleya, Sophie! Sophie likes you, don’t you see that?
— Or maybe she’s just playing around?
— That’s it. Enough of this. Let’s just go home.
They walked back in silence.
In the yard, they suddenly found Fleya, casually smoking her pipe.
— Why aren’t you at home? — Mariam asked.
— Felt like having a smoke, — Fleya replied.
— Tomorrow you’re coming with me and Emi to the university.
— Okay.