Artificial Heart

25

Prisha released an anxious breath as she opened her door and got out. Immediately, an umbrella was thrust into her grip.

'Hello!' the man shouted over the rain. He was already soaked, the rain plastering his hair to his head. He was grinning. 'I'm Troy!'

'Prisha!' she yelled back.

He nodded and gestured her over towards the stairs. Scott was holding back the dog by the collar, which was yelping and jumping. Renee was already hurrying ahead, gripping her own umbrella.

Prisha rushed up behind her, careful on the slippery steps. A boy was holding the door open. He took their umbrellas and dropped them into a box by the door. Rain trickled down the back of Prisha's neck. She slid off her muddy shoes and tucked her damp socks into them. Renee did the same.

She glimpsed the room. Like the outside, it was old-fashioned. Twenty-year old carpet. Old eclectic furniture. Tiny kitchen. There were a few posters on the walls depicting Anime and scenes from horror movies. In the middle of the floor in front of the television was a glass coffee table. Smoke curled from old cigarettes and what smelled like joints. Prisha wrinkled her nose.

Two more people, a man and woman, were sitting on the couch in front of the window with the green sheet. The woman was holding a joint between her slim fingers, smoke curling from the end, her legs folded up beneath her.

'Hi,' Prisha said.

Neither said anything. Renee frowned. Prisha shivered from the cold. The boy raced away, coming back with a couple of towels.

'Th-thank you,' Prisha said. Clearly the child had more manners than the "adults".

The sisters turned at the sound of stomping up the stairs. Scott entered, head ducked against the rain. Troy and the woman quickly followed, both drenched.

'Phew! What a day!?' Scott looked at the two sisters. 'All good?'

Prisha handed him her towel. Renee handed her towel to the others.

'Thanks.' Scott busily dried his head. He handed it over to the boy. 'Thanks Freddy.'

Scott's black hair was plastered to his head. He looked tired but he was smiling. 'We've left your stuff in the car until it stops raining. You don't need anything yet?' They both shook their head. 'I guess we should make the introductions.'

Troy and the woman sat down at the coffee table. The woman took up a joint, her curly blond hair sticking wetly against the sides of her face. The rain hammered loudly against the roof. It pounded against the windows.

'Is it really her?' spoke the woman from the couch. She was frowning doubtfully. Her black hair was tied up tightly in a bun, accentuating the sharpness of her chin and cheekbones. Her arms were like sticks. There were tattoos down her right arm.

'Yes, I told you so,' Scott said.

'Why's there two?' the man beside her said.

'They're sisters.'

The woman laughed. 'In what Woke universe? One's Indian and the other looks fucking Nordic!'

'Bangladeshi,' Prisha said. 'I'm adopted. Not that it's any of your Goddamn business.' She looked at Scott accusingly. Were these the people he really wanted them to associate with? How would they protect them from anything?

The man pulled himself to the edge of the couch and studied them curiously, his hands folded between his legs. He was muscular in his tight shirt. Older than the others. Dark-skinned, probably south-east Asian. Mid-thirties. 'Which one is it?' he asked with no accent. Aussie-born.