Walter stared at his aunt. “But that’s what they are, right?” he said in an undertone to Bing. “Imagination and magic, right?”
“Yes.”
Walter frowned, trying to sort things through in his mind. “She said this was a trap for the demon.” He looked around at the full-of-kangaroos gallery. “How is this a trap?”
Bing raised his hands in a gesture of futility. “Your aunt is the only one who knows what’s going on. We have to get her to explain, but she won’t talk to me.”
“So I need to get her to talk.”
Bing nodded. Right now, Auntie Sand was telling the jury about how he’d murdered dozens, nay hundreds, of phantom kangaroos and their jockeys. He tried to interrupt several times, but she ignored him completely. It wasn’t until she was in the middle of a lurid (and hopefully completely fabricated) description of how Walter had bashed a kangaroo across the face, that he finally lost his temper.
If she wanted drama, then by God, he would give it to her. He was a screenwriter, after all. “Objection!”
Auntie Sand spun around, obviously startled. Then she tightened her hands into fists. “You can’t handle the objection!” she bellowed.
Walter blinked. She sounded just like Jack Nicholson inA Few Good Men.He might have laughed if she hadn’t looked so very fierce.
Okay, so clearly he was in the middle of a farce, and the biggest sin in a comedy was to laugh. He lifted his chin and met her punch line for punch line. Unfortunately, a bastardized form of the opening toLaw & Orderwas the only thing that leaped to mind.
“In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups. These are their stories.” Then he blinked and made a good faith effort at the sound effect. “Chung chung.”
Bing stared at him. “What are you doing?”
“Stepping into her narrative. It’s the only way to get her to talk to us.”
Meanwhile, the judge banged her gavel. “Sustained!”
“What?” Auntie Sand exclaimed. “You can’t sustain that!”
“Out of order!” Walter declared. Then he looked at the judge. “I call Auntie Sand to the witness stand.”
The judged frowned. “She’s the prosecutor. She can’t be called.”
“I thought you wanted her story.” Then, when the judge stared at him, he made theLaw & Ordersound effect again. “Chung chung!”
Her eyes brightened. “Okay, then. Call your witness.”
“Auntie Sand! Into the witness chair, please.”
“What are you doing?” she asked in an undertone. “You are acting irrationally.”
Hewas acting irrationally? “Auntie, this whole thing is nuts,” he said. “Sit in the witness chair and we’ll get to the bottom of this.” He added a wink for good measure. “I’m on your side.”
“No, you’re not,” she growled. “You’re the defense. I’m the prosecutor.”
He nodded as he stepped out from behind the defense table and took her hand. “Well, now I’m the lawyer for the defense and you’re my witness.” He led her to the stand, opened the divider, and helped her sit down. He was courtly as he did it, making sure to give her all the deference he could, even to the point of kissing her hand before he stepped back.
She blushed prettily, and for the first time Walter noticed how changeable her looks were. Right then, she appeared like a young woman in her twenties. But a moment ago her expression had been fierce, almost monstrous. And she’d definitely looked much older than twenty.
“Are you human?” he asked. He didn’t really mean it as his first interrogation question, but it would do. Especially when she answered with a coy smile.
“Of course not. I am Sha Wujing. I am a creature of sand and sun. I was here long before you were born and will be long afterwards.” She leaned back and stroked her necklace of skulls. Yuck. Had she been wearingthatall this time? “But now you are Monkey, so you will remain as well.”
Walter felt a chill go down his spine. “I’m not human anymore?”
She shrugged. “You’re human-ish. Trust me, it’s better.”
For the first time, he didn’t trust any part of her, and that made him incredibly sad, given that she’d been his closest ally for his entire life. “You did this on purpose,” he said, his tone echoing his grief. “You put Monkey inside me.”
