Two days after her eighteenth birthday, Jenny was standing in
front of the mirror in the bathroom. She absent-mindedly ran a comb through her shoulder-long blond hair. Her slightly tilted eyes made you think of the ocean: green, blue and grey, and always shifting according to her mood.
She was no beauty, but she didn't really care. She wasn't like
everybody else. Jenny was different.
Her teachers used to shake their heads and say that Jenny had a mind of her own. Her test results were always very good, and she did most of her homework. Her grades were all A:s, but no one seemed to be able to figure her out. Whenever they praised her for something she had done, she either got embarrassed or simply gave them an inscrutable look.
Sometimes she sat next to some of the other students, But she
usually kept to herself. Sometimes she was talking to her classmates, but never for long. She didn't seem to care much for the music that the other students listened to, but put a guitar in her hands, and she'd play for hours, give her a pen, or a spraycan, and her hands would fly like the wings of a humming-bird.
She was quite a mystery.
Once her French teacher asked her a question about her homework, and the glance she got from Jenny seemed to be out of pure fire. Jenny hadn't said a word, but when the teacher had stopped shivering she asked the boy in front of her instead.
The only person that seemed to get through Jenny's wall of
suspicion was Eric. He was the guitarist and songwriter in a band called The black serpent. She used to come to listen to them when they rehearsed, and the approving smiles she used to give him melted the icebergs in her eyes.
Jenny and Eric often played together, and she helped with the
lyrics to his songs. She never took him to her apartment, though,
and neither did she follow him to his when he asked her to.
Jenny put down the hairbrush an went to school.
A few minutes before the last lesson of the day, Jenny was sitting on a bench in the corridor outside the classroom. A few meters away stood Eric and Alec, the drummer in The black serpent. She could hear every word they said, but she wasn't really paying any attention. When Alec lowered his voice, though, she got curious. She pretended not to hear a thing, but when she realized what he was saying she started to boil with anger.
"Come on, Eric! Look at her! Is that really what you want? There are lots of pretty girls around that wouldn't mind dating you, but instead you pick her. She's just so weird! You haven't even kissed her. If that's what you want, you must be nuts!"
At this point, Jenny couldn't hold herself back any longer. She raised from the bench, and slowly walked up to the boys. Alec jumped as she lifted her head and looked her in the eyes.
"I may not be a beauty, and I may not have your silky hair," she hissed and touched Alec's hair. He swallowed soundly. "but if you think I'll just sit here while you two run me down, you're just so wrong!" Her voice was low, but it shivered with fury. Alec had seen her break a guy's nose once, just because he had pissed her off, so he quickly turned around and staggered away.
For a while Jenny just stood there looking after him, and then she turned to Eric.
"I didn't mean to make you embarrassed. I don't have much to give you, but I'll stay out of your way if you stay out of mine."
"Come on, Jen! You know I didn't..."
She interrupted him with a cold stare.
"If I stay out of your way, you'll stay out of mine."
The teacher came and opened the door to the classroom. Jenny
waited until Eric was well in the classroom before entering herself.
Eric sat down in the front of the classroom, and when Jenny
passed him he gave a start.
"Jen..."
Jenny's back straightened considerably, and her lifted chin together with the expression on her face were haughty enough to have fitted a queen. She didn't look at him, not even once, and she sat down as far away from him as she could manage to get.
By coincidence the desk she picked happened to be next to the
ones "the bad boys" used to occupy. As the classroom was slowly being filled with noisy students one of those boys came up behind her.
"Yo babe!" A huge hand connected to a strong arm with swelling muscles was heavily put down on her shoulder. "'Ya' wanna see my knife?"
Jenny gave him an angry stare.
"Go burn some place hot, will ya'!" she said.
"Well, suck me sideways!" he answered and sat down beside her.
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"'Ya' wanna see my knife, or what?"
"Sure, why not."
Dave, the guy with the muscles, picked up a knife from one of his boots. Bill, Joe and Jimmy, Dave's friends, joined them.
This lesson was about to become one more thing about Jenny for the school staff to discuss. The teacher, Mr. Smith, went over to her after about half an hour:
"I think you should be watching your mouth, young lady," he said to her.
"Well, kiss my tattooed ass, you no good God damned son-of-a-bitch teacher!" Jenny snarled. The color vanished from Mr. Smith's face, and small red spots appeared on his cheeks.
"Oh....w.. well then. I...I'll go.. teach some nicer students how to... study," he stammered.
"Yes, you do that, 'cause if you bother me again I'll have you
burning in hell 'til there's no flesh left on your bones, and then I'll have your soul rotting forever in the ashes of your body."
Mr. Smith gave a start, and his eyes seemed to be on their way out of their lids.
"I... I think I'll have to call your parents for this," he said, though very nervously.
"Yes, please do so. And when you're finished, may I use your phone? Mine doesn't have a line to the cemetery," she said in a voice cool enough to cut iron. "They're dead, you know."
"Oh..."
"Are you still here? I thought I told you to get lost."
Mr. Smith shook his head as he walked up to the blackboard.
"Nice job, babe!" Dave said admiringly.
"Are you hungry?" Jenny asked fiercely.
"Why'd you ask?" Dave countered suspiciously.
"Well, I thought I heard you calling for a knuckle-sandwich."
"Oh..."
Days came and went. Jenny stopped caring about school, and
instead she hung out with Dave and his friends. She bought herself an electric guitar and her landlord had to soundproof her apartment. She bought some spraycans, and filled the walls with odd graffiti. Dave took her to lots of wild parties, but she didn't drink; she wanted full control over herself.
One maths lesson she was discussing tattoos with Dave and his friends.
"Yo, Jenny. "Dave said. "'Remember when ya' told that Smith-person to kiss your ass?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"Did ya' mean ya' actually got a tattoo, or was it just somethin' ya' said to piss 'im off?"
"What 'ya' think?"
"Well..."
"Ya' don't believe me?"
"Well, I wasn't sure a babe would..."
"Ya' don't believe me!" she cut him off. "I'll show ya', and then say I don't have a tattoo!" she muttered and she stood up so hastily her chair fell over. Every face in the classroom (including Eric's) turned to her, but she simply hurled her jeans down to reveal a tiger on her right buttock.
A low murmur raised from her classmates as she pulled her jeans back on. She turned to Dave, who didn't seem to believe his eyes.
"Now, will ya' remove your chin from between your knees and tell me girls don't have tattoos?"
Dave had to swallow and shake his head before answering.
"Eeh... nice tiger."
Eric hastily left the classroom. It seemed Jenny had earned herself a nickname that day.
"Yo Tiger!" a voice called from behind her in the corridor. She shrugged her shoulders. At least it was better that "babe".
"Hi Dave. How's everything going?"
"Great! It's a major party this weekend. 'Ya wanna come?"
"Sure, what the hell." At least she wouldn't be driving her landlord nuts again.
"You don't happen to know who's coming, do you?" she asked.
"Well, the gang will be there."
"What else is new?" she smiled.
"Well," he grinned, "the guys from The black serpent said they'd be bringing some nice ladies."
Jenny stiffened.
"Maybe I won't go after all," she said in a tight voice. The last thing she wanted was seeing Eric with some sissy in his arms.
"Come on, Tiger! Of course you're coming!" Then he added in a softer voice:
"There'll be lots of dark and cozy corners..."
"You wouldn't dare!"
"I wouldn't? You showed me your tiger. Now I'll show you," he murmured, and before she realized what he was up to, he grabbed her firmly and kissed her.
Her eyes grew big with surprise, and she tried to get away, but he was too strong. When he finally let her go he was panting as bad as she was. She slapped his face.
"How dare you!?!" she said in a furious whisper. Then she blushed; "Who's being the sissy now, slapping his face like that!" she thought.
Even as he put his hand to his cheek - she was pretty strong - he managed to grin.
"At least now ya' know where I stand."
"No!" she said harshly. "No, I don't know where you stand. I just don't get it.
How...? Why...?" She was truly puzzled. She turned around, only to see Eric stiffly walking away.
"Damn you, Dave! Now I don't know anything!" she yelled as she pushed him aside to run past him out to the yard.
She actually went to the party after all. She got there in Dave's car, though she tried to avoid him. The first thing she saw when she got out from the car was
Eric and Alec, both with a girl in each hand.
"Damn you!" she thought, but she wasn't sure if she meant Eric or Alec or Dave.
Maybe it was for all of them. She hurried inside.
A couple of hours passed. Jenny and Bill stood in a corner and talked. Jenny was most aware of Eric. He was sitting on a chair in another part of the room.
Bill was drinking some kind of transparent liquid from a bottle. When one of the girls sat down in Eric's lap Jenny gave a start.
"What's up, Tiger?" Bill wondered.
"Nothing," she snarled. "Just hand me the God damn bottle, will 'ya!" Bill raised an eyebrow, but he gave her the bottle. She drank in deep draughts and then she
gave the bottle back. Bill was surprised. What he had in the bottle was some strong stuff. He would never drink like that himself, and Jenny had not even tasted alcohol before - well, not in his presence anyway - and she could just as well have been drinking lemonade.
One thing Jenny didn't notice; Eric wasn't smiling.
Hours came and went. Jenny consumed anything she was offered. After a while she found herself dancing closely with Dave.
"Eeh...Tiger?"
"Yes, Davieboy?"
"Assume I kissed ya'..."
"Yes?"
"Would ya' slap me again?"
"Now why...hic...why would I slap you?" she said thickly
"Ya' mean it's okay then?"
"What?"
"If I kiss ya'."
"Sure," she said, and clung closer to him. He kissed her softly, and this time she didn't resist. Dave was perfectly sober - he had to drive, so he hadn't been drinking - and still he considered this to be a good party. The he realized Jenny was practically sleeping against his shoulder. He sighed.
"Tiger?"
"Mmmm...."
"I'd best get ya' home now."
"Why, Davie?"
"Because you're drunk, that's why."
"Oh..."
"Come on, now!"
He nearly carried her to the car.
Half an hour later he came back to get his friends home. By then, Eric had already left.
When Jenny woke up she had a horrible headache. It was nearly one o'clock.
She realized that she wasn't wearing any clothes.
"Oh my God! What happened last night?" Thirst burned her throat, and she couldn't remember, no matter how hard she tried.
"Dave! Oh God what have I done? How can I ever face anyone again? Damn you, Dave!"
Later that day, when Dave went to see how Jenny was doing, all he found was a note:
The black serpent
My love is a black serpent
that eats it's way through my soul.
I don't know how to stop it.
It's leaving an empty hole.
My love is a black serpent
that keeps poisoning my life.
I did not ask to have it.
It cuts me like a knife.
My love is a black serpent
that sneaks into my mind,
but if I manage to kill it
I will be forever blind.
My love is a black serpent,
one big, embarrasing cost.
Every moment awake I fight it.
In my sleep the fight is lost.
My love is a black serpent,
but do I really care?
I have to keep it hidden.
I really must beware.
My love is a black serpent.
The agony is mine,
and still I drink the poison
as was it sweetest wine.
My love is a black serpent.
I refuse to let it go.
I'll keep it secret and sacred
and never let it show.
My love is a black serpent.
My life is one big lie.
I'll never find peace again,
not till the day I die.
I'm sorry, Eric.
Dave took the note with him and ran for his car. He drove as fast as he could to Eric's place. He rushed up the stairs, and when he realized that the door was locked he nearly tore it off it's hinges.
"Eric! Eric, open up!" he shouted.
"Calm down! I'm coming."
"Hurry!"
Eric unlocked the door, and Dave swung it open.
"What's the rush?"
"It's Jenny."
"Are you not satisfied yet? Man, I saw you two last night..."
Dave interrupted him by stuffing the note under his nose.
"Read this!"
Eric did, and his eyes grew big. When he was finished a grim determination mixed with worry filled his face.
"If anything - ANYTHING - has happened to her, I swear I'll cut your balls off and stuff them down your throat!" he growled as they both ran down the stairs.
"I didn't touch her!"
"Do you seriously want me to believe that?" Eric snarled.
"All right," Dave said as he sat down in the car, "I took her home, undressed her and put her in bed. That's it."
"For your sake, that better be the truth. Turn left at the traffic lights!"
"Where are we going?"
"To the old bridge."
"Why?"
"I think she's going to jump."
"How'd ya' know she'd pick the bridge?"
"We used it in a song. Just trust me and drive, will you!"
When they got to the bridge Jenny was standing at the railing. Before she could even notice them, Eric ran up behind her and grabbed her around the waist. He pulled her away from the bridge, and didn't let go when he stopped.
"Damn you, Eric! Why couldn't you let me die in peace?"
"Gee, Jen! I have no idea," he said ironically.
"Get your hands off me!"
"No! I won't have you jumpin' off that railing!"
"Dave! Why are you doing this to me? I don't even know what happened last night."
"Nothing. Nothing happened," he answered, face red as a tomato.
"Now I'm taking you home!" Eric said.
No! I..."
"No objections! You are going home right this minute! Get in the car, Dave!"
Eric dragged Jenny with him and forced her into the back seat.
"You're hurting me, Eric!"
"You've been hurting me for two months, Jen:"
"What!?!"
"Drive, Dave!"
When they got to Jenny's apartment, Eric dragged her out of the car and sent Dave home.
"Now you're coming with me!" he said harshly.
She clenched her teeth, but did as he told her to.
When they got inside he made her sit down in an armchair.
"Now you'll listen to me! When you showed your tattoo that day, you drove a dagger into my heart. When Dave kissed you, you twisted it and pushed it further in. When he took you home last night...God, I could have killed him!"
"Why?" she asked angrily as she rubbed her forearm.
"Because I love you, you woolheaded blind fool!"
"Then, why did you listen to Alec in the first place?"
"You're not listening! I - love - you! I never cared about what he said. What can I do to prove it?"
"You're really serious, aren't you?"
"YES!"
"In that case, I have something to confess."
"And what would that be?"
"I love you too, you idiot!"
