O2 👶 VIDEO;

[pillz]

[technically, baba marta was a month ago and in another country. but it’s april fool in the united states which is close enough. according to his companion, this is better than shooting homeless people with paintball guns. when the video shudders into view, 10-year-old richard gansey iii stands on a heropa beach lit by mitsubishi headlights. the little boy is festooned in birds, a hilariously tall stork standing on his left shoulder, half a dozen tiny swallowtails running down his right arm. he looks very solemn and alarmingly adorable. from behind the cellphone camera, a voice (kavinsky’s) (drunk) (not more than usual) calls out:] Okay mini-Dick, telling your loving public what gives.

[ Dick is, in fact, more interested in the swallows than the camera. He seems relatively at peace with the stork, even when it starts to climb from his shoulder to the top of his head, but the swallows are running along his arms, and he has to keep moving to give them somewhere to go. ]

Are you sure the birds won't be scared of the fireworks? I don't want to make them -

[ Then he does look up, and sees the red light on Kavinsky's phone. His eyes widen. ]

We're already live?!

[ Concern is instantly replaced with the kind of smile that hints this is not his first photoshoot. ]

Hi, everyone! Joseph wants to tell all of you about the Baby Martha.

[ He pauses, looking expectantly at the boy offscreen. ]

Motherfucker I said no name-- fine. Fine, [kavinsky's disembodied voice is annoyed, but cussing at a smol child is just regular kavinsky. he never got pr lessons.] Baba Marta is a celebration of Spring. Life and renewal, bitches! March is a grandma who spends all winter fucking, shakes out her broke-ass mattress to make the last big snow, and the sun comes out when she smiles. [this is not the version you’re going to find in an encyclopedia. It’s also not child-safe. but everything is still mostly ok.] Me and homey here are bringing the Goddamn season.

[ Dick is wearing an expression of strong disapproval every time Kavinsky curses. It’s the kind of look you might see from your dad, which roughly translates as We’ve talked about this, son. But if they have, Kavinsky was clearly not listening, and Dick is not about to be put off by words alone. There are, after all, going to be fireworks. He was promised. ]

Okay, okay! Show them. Oh, wait.

[ One hand waves at the stork, getting it to fly, and then Dick starts to gather the swallows into the relative safety of his hands. ]

Fuckin’ sweet. [and then the camera fumbles. kavinsky clamps gansey’s little head between his elbows and puts his hands over his own ears, so that the camera winds up with a weird, skewed shot of the sky. the next instant, fireworks rip out of the mortar embedded nearby in the sand and up into the night overhead. deafening. red and white. the imports of heropa might even hear it, the distant pop-pop that goes with the flash of smoke and color over the seaside sky, punctuating the boardwalk lights and saturday beach club music. birds soar! the video goes out.]

Comments

[pillz]

ya.
ure
kitty.
i knew some bad shit happened 2 u but lookinat ure lil baby face im like goddamn those other motherfuckers was cold

[rathercommon]

[ Her brows draw down. She frowns in confusion. ]

Bad - What are you talking about? And just talk to me with video, won't you, it feels stupid talking to a blank screen.

[pillz]

fuck no i dont like video. u should switch 2 text
more plausible deniability 4 when the fuzz come 4 us.
and they will come.
the fuzz always cum ;(

some shit happened 2 u. u probably dont want to know
i wouldnt want to know if i were u.

[ironic. all things considered.]

[rathercommon]

[ A slight hesitation. And then her image disappears. And a moment later, via text: ]

I do want to know. Everything is confused in my head. Someone really messed with what I remember, I think.

1/2

[pillz]

ok smurfette, if u say so.

2/2

[pillz]

u died.
like a motherfuckin hero i guess
i hit u up after 2 get u armed and back in the game.

guess therew as video or some shit of the actual. u know. gghk. but i didnt have time 2 look at it. not into snuff
not into girls
but i didnt realize u were like
5.
that's pretty fucked up, man.
dont look at the video

[a revelation for all the world— kavinsky draws the line at the murder and torment of children tweens-and-below. setting the morality bar real high, i know.]

[rathercommon]

[ Oh. That...that feels right. Yeah. That feels right. She has some vague image of that - the pain, the feeling of dying...She shivers to herself, miserably, trying to push that miserable memory away. ]

I'm 13 you know. And I'm not afraid to die for the right cause. And I'm not scared to see myself die either. I bet I was brave.

[ A hesitation, and then, tentatively: ]

If you got me weapons, I probably owe you.

[pillz]

nah
u paid 4 them in dead russians.

[that's a lie, but he doesn't remember. nor does he want to collect a debt from a thirteen-year-old, unless it's for something familiar and mundane in its skeeziness. like, you know. adderall or birth control.

the morality bar keeps getting higher.]

unless u want 2 get me some more dead russians.

[and then it dips a little. he doesn't hate the soviets like he did last week, but he's researched enough about their time imprisoned to recognize the legitimate enemy.]

[rathercommon]

[ Uh - ]

That's a joke, right? You don't actually want that.

[ And - did she really? Was she out there killing the enemy...? It's not like she's afraid to do that. Definitely not. But that thought...It feels...weird. Really weird. ]

[pillz]

sure i did.

[probably?]

rules of war, sweetheart

[rathercommon]

Well, yeah, obviously.

[ She bites her lip. Right. Rules of war. Why should she care if the enemy dies? ]

You probably killed lots of Russians too, right?

[pillz]

yeah. sure.

[he doesn't remember, but kavinsky imagines that he must have. rules of war, sweetheart.]

im a pretty fuckign good shot
hey dont get ptsd ok
13 yo girl wit ptsd
people will get teh wrong idea

[rathercommon]

[ He helped her. And he's being sweet to Dick. So those two things are enough to make her relax; whereas before, she didn't ask what a vegan was, now she's comfortable enough to confess her ignorance. She asks: ]

What's ptsd?

[pillz]

1 way of goin crazy
when bad shit happen 2 u
specially at wars wit russians

[rathercommon]

Oh.

[ She considers this a moment, then answers, very practically: ]

I've got quite a lot to do, and I really haven't got the luxury of going mad. So I don't remotely intend to get ptsd, no. What about you? Are YOU in danger of getting it?

[pillz]

nah. if im batshit im some other kind. u know
lots 2 choose from
u met some crazy fucking grownups right? u have taht look
the
i coudlve come out worse, how hard they tried 2 fuck me up, look

[rathercommon]

[ She hesitates, then writes back: ]

That's right. I have. But I never let them win.

What about you? I'm not sure what look you have.

[pillz]

cokehead

[rathercommon]

I MEAN do you hate grown-ups too.

[pillz]

that a damn good question dwarfy

hmmmm.

lets go wit yes

[rathercommon]

Why?

[pillz]

cuz theyre people

[rathercommon]

So you don't like any people?

[pillz]

soetmtiems a lil bit for a little while
doesnt last
maybe a few hours. longer if im on the right shi t

[rathercommon]

Isn't that a bit lonely?