Purple EyesBy

Ginger Stein

 "Someday you'll wise up and accept a date from me, Allison

Montgomery," a stuffy accountant-type said before heading to the bar to refill his gin and tonic.

I caught her rolling her eyes after he departed and her mouth dropped in shock.

"Busted," I joked, “anyway, he seems fun.”"Oh, that's Mark Henderson.  Of Henderson, Henderson, Ahmed &

Henderson.""Seriously?""Attorneys at law.""That poor Mr. Ahmed, being bullied by all those Hendersons.""Well first of all, she's a Ms. Ahmed.  And second, Yes.""Yes, what?  Yes you'll ditch Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch and

leave with me right this minute?""Yes, the Hendersons have a way of pushing people around." "Well I don’t think I ever formally introduced myself. I’m Daniel Bailey, of

Bailey & Bailey," I said, respectively pointing to my left and right biceps and instantly regretting how lame I sounded.

"You're funny." "You're pretty." "I know."After a moment’s pause I stepped close to her, "Of course you do." I could feel the steam of her exhale on my neck. She lingered for a

minute and stared at me, so deeply that I could feel her gaze in the pit of my stomach.

"I'll see you later, Daniel Bailey."“Promise?”“Sure.” She let out a little wave, a flicker of the hand; probably

something she learned to do at a Cotillion class.  

An hour later, my band, “Daniel Bailey and the Boys” was going to play a gig for the 2009 Independence Day Gala at the Montgomery Mansion, home of political fundraiser and avid collector, Byron Montgomery. This was not a normal night for us. Earlier that day, I found out that my girlfriend had been sleeping with my drummer and that because of the ‘conflict of interest’, my band had decided to replace me. They’d all known about it for months. My band was the only thing I had going for me, and I was the butt of their inside joke. I was surrounded by people who didn’t

care about me; people I no longer gave a damn about either. Despair made its way down my throat and settled into my chest, pressing on my lungs so that I could hardly breathe, let alone sing. So, like a fool, I downed a tumbler full of Jack Daniels and began chatting up every pretty girl at the party, knowing full well that after the concert, I would break into Byron Montgomery’s antiques depository and stick his mint condition 1863 Civil War revolver in my mouth. That’s where Allison Montgomery found me.

“What are you doing? Are you crazy?” her voice screamed in the darkness.

As she came over to disarm me, it dawned on me that Allison was Byron Montgomery’s most prized relic.

Though it has been illegal in 1990, Washington D.C. boasted an underground clinic for designer babies.   Despite bitter opposition from the religious crowd, Byron couldn’t resist his penchant for accumulating rare items—and he had the chance at the rarest item of all. His wife, Agnes, was a carrier of a genetic anomaly called Alexandria's Genesis (AG). Though scientists had previously thought that the mutation had died out in the 12th century, it was rediscovered in the perfectly preserved remains of a Viking woman in the snow drifts of Northern Iceland--a woman who turned out to be the distant relative of Agnes Montgomery.

For three years, Agnes had eggs extracted so that her fertility doctor could create embryos in order to isolate the gene.  Byron wanted the most unique child in the world, and AG chromosomes offered this. AG babies were born with shiny black hair, flawless ivory skin and, most extraordinarily, purple eyes. 

That evening, I hadn’t noticed her eyes, but rather I found myself staring at her teeth. She had the smile of a former thumb-sucker who had spent many days with an orthodontist. Braces and headgear had done their best to align her mouth, but her two front teeth still projected slightly past the others and made her smile just a millimeter happier than anyone who hadn’t nursed their digits in infancy. 

 Even though genetic engineering was illegal to practice, it was difficult to

enforce.  Consequently, vigilante radicals sought to administer justice on their own. Allison’s obvious raven hair, violet eyes, and famous father made her family a target for extremists, and after the 1993 Presidential Inauguration, one of them cornered Agnes Montgomery and stabbed her to

death. 

As Allison walked toward me that fateful night in July, I stumbled backward and the firearm went off a couple of times, destroying a very expensive vintage vase in the process. I was embarrassed. For all intents and purposes, I was supposed to be dead, so I shouldn’t have cared if some girl thought that I was clumsy. Yet I did. 

For days I replayed the scenario in my head, hoping that I didn’t come across as just another party-animal musician. I wanted to redeem myself, and so I decided to try and see Allison again.

Since the death of Agnes, Byron Montgomery had become extremely paranoid.  After all, Allison was the only family he had left.  He had invested too much into his perfect daughter to have her taken away. When he found out that we had been seeing each other he forbade her to leave the estate grounds without two bodyguards in tow.  Byron thought that he could engineer his daughter’s life as well as her DNA, but he never planned on me. I made it my mission to sneak into the Montgomery Estate and find that beautiful girl with the orchid eyes.

"What are you doing here?” She asked in disbelief.“Oh, I was just in the neighborhood and...”“That’s impossible.” She replied, trying to gain composure.“You’re right,” I smirked. “I snuck in through the back entrance. Allison,

I wanted to explain things from the other night...”"Why steal an antebellum revolver?” she asked, “are you some sort of

deranged Civil War reenactor?” She had the power to make me feel more humiliated than I'd ever felt in

my life. It was as if her disapproval gave me instant stage-four liver cancer. But just as quickly as she afflicted me, she healed me with her toothsome grin.

"Actually, I’ll tell you a secret," she said. "I know that you weren’t trying to steal that revolver. I know that you

intended to....well..." she confessed, "I know because I’ve thought about doing the same thing.”

"What are you talking about? You have a great life.""No, Daniel, I don’t even have a life. I'm just an accessory in someone

else’s life.  My father doesn't even really know who I am.  He only knows who he wants me to be. Sit up straight, Allison.  Make nice with Mark, Allison.  Don’t eat that doughnut or you’ll get fat, Allison."

I looked at her skinny little waist and shook my head. She smirked."Your band was good, you know."

"I was sort of smashed that night, so we’ve, um, sounded better.” I said, wondering if she had heard about the band’s ugly breakup.

"Can I tell you another secret?" She paused, "I thought you were cute-- delinquent, but cute."

"Two secrets in one night, I must be something special," I responded. I didn't know why she wanted to open up to me, but I didn't dare question it.

"Now it's your turn.  Tell me something that no one knows about you.""1540," I replied.“Wait don’t tell me, 1540 is how many girls you charmed as a front man

for that band of yours?""No it's my secret.  It's the score I got on my SATs.  Just before I

decided to rebel like an idiot and pursue the elusive rock stardom dream.""I don't understand. Why keep that a secret?" "I like to keep expectations low so that people won't know just how bad

I've failed--the extent of my delinquency, if you will.""I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to insult you.  It's just," she paused, "it's just

this whole situation makes me nervous. I don’t know what to say.” "Say anything. Say everything. Allison, you are all I have been thinking

about for the past week, and I don’t care what words are spoken as long as they are coming from your mouth,” I responded.

 We spent that summer baring our souls.  It was like no one else existed

in the world. I’d sneak into her room and ask her about her dreams. She’d ask me about my past. Neither of us wanted the conversations to end. I told her about grimy night clubs where I’d played, places that her father would never let her see. She showed me pictures of her mother. For the first time in forever, the genetically engineered girl with the happy teeth had happy eyes to match. We were falling in love.

Love is a funny thing. The more you try to hold it close, the more it tends to slip from you. As the summer came to a close, Allison answered my familiar knock with tears in her eyes.

“This has to end, Daniel.” She said.“What! Why?” I responded, indignant.“Because. We belong in different worlds.” “It’s because I’m poor, isn’t it?” I asked.“No, no, I can explain. I just didn’t want to before because I...I needed

you.”“So now I’m just some sort of crutch? “ I retorted, “But you’ve done your

slumming and now you can let me go? I’m not disposable, Allison!”

She tried to stop me, but I stormed off, feeling more shredded than I had

ever felt in my life.

Someone once told me that time healed all wounds.  That was bullshit. It had been almost a year since I’d seen Allison and my heart was as broken as ever. That evening the Montgomery’s were hosting their annual 4th of July party. It was the anniversary of the first time I saw Allison and so I took it as a sign and went to find her.

 "Daniel?" she asked in disbelief when I walked up to her in the hallway

of the mansion."Did you think I wouldn't come?  Besides, I still owe your dad $400 for

that broken vase." "You can't just show up and make a few jokes and expect everything to

be okay.  It's not ok.  You shouldn't be here," She cried and stormed into the bathroom.

I followed her in."Allison, I had to get away,” I responded, “You hurt me. But everyday I

wished you'd call.  Finally I just broke down. I had to see you." "No, Daniel. No!  You don't belong here."Suddenly we heard a knock at the door, and a man’s voice hollered,

"Allison, are you in there, sweetheart?"It was Mark Henderson."Him?" I squinted my eyes in disgust.She got her sobbing under control, and then shouted through the door,

"I'll be out in a minute.""I bet your dad is proud." I fired at her."Don't be like that." She recanted.Mark rapped on the door once more and bellowed,  "Allison, we have to

get out there, I'm about to make our big announcement."At that, I looked down at Allison’s left hand and saw what I'd failed to

notice before--an engagement ring. "How could you?" I bitterly questioned."You don't understand.  Everything is different now.""No it's not, Allison. You know it, and I know it. And even Mark

Henderson knows it. Just forgive me.  We can run off together.  Can't you please just forgive me?"

"I'll never forgive you for leaving me.  But that doesn’t matter now.  It's like I've always said, we belong in different worlds."

"Ok fine.  Go live it up in your little rich girl world.  Go drink your champagne and eat your caviar.  Go listen to Mark bore you about the

stock market.  But you'll never feel alive.  He'll never make you feel the way I do."

"No he won't," she said. She moved her lips close to mine so that they nearly touched. It was as if she was trying to steal my breath one last time, "I need to show you something, Daniel. Come with me."

I obeyed her.  Too smitten to argue, I always obeyed.  We snuck out the bathroom window on that muggy summer night and headed toward the old township cemetery. Sensing that she was taking me to visit her mother’s grave, I wanted comfort her by reaching for her hand--the hand that wore someone else's engagement ring. 

“Allison, everything in me wants to hold your hand right now. Resisting may just kill me,” I confessed.

She just shook her head and made her way over to a fresh headstone.Supposing that she was being cheeky, I joked, "Oh, I see. You want to

kill me and put me this shiny new grave. Or is this some sort of morbid artsy metaphor to tell me that our that our love is already dead?"

"Daniel, it will never die."She stopped walking and sat upon the grave, pushing her cheek against

the headstone and her eyes began to rain. Reaching over to wipe her face, I caught a glimpse of the engraving:

Daniel Eric BaileyNovember 11th, 1983 – July 4th, 2009"Don't you see?” She sobbed,  “you belong in your world and I belong in

mine."All at once I understood. As fireworks exploded overhead, I watched the

girl with the purple eyes walk away from me for the last time.