The Secret of Lions Read Online Free Page B

repeated her.
    “Lucy, what do you mean?”
    “What do you mean, what do I mean?”
    Barbara rolled her eyes.
    “Forget it. Let me tell you what my mother
used to say when she was very furious with me. ‘What the fuck are
you trying to say?’ ” Barbara said. A smile came across her face as
she thought of how sprightly her mother used to be.
    “God, Barbara. Your mouth is not very
ladylike. I guess American boys like that sort of talk.”
    “Lucy, get to it,” Barbara said.
    “My sorority sisters are asking me about you
because they are considering you for rush!”
    “ Oh no,”
Barbara said. “No. No. I don’t do sororities, knitting and
bake sales.”
    “Come on, Barbara,” Lucy said. “It’s not all
like that. We do lesbian stuff too.”
    Both of the girls giggled.
    “Seriously, Barbara. It looks good on your
transcripts, and you will make friends for life. It’s not like
you’ve made a lot here.”
    “I have friends, Lucy.”
    “You have classmates, not friends,” Lucy
said.
    They began walking toward the art gallery
again.
    “So you have friends? Like who?” Lucy
asked.
    “I have you,” Barbara answered.
    “I'm your roommate; we are assigned
together. Who else do you know?” Lucy asked.
    Barbara shrugged.
    “Hmm, no girls, I see. What about boys?”
Lucy asked.
    “I met a boy,” Barbara said.
    “You met a boy? When? Where?”
    “When I first moved here. Near one of the
gardens.”
    “Who?”
    “Just a boy. He was very mysterious.”
    “Mysterious? What is this mystery guy’s
name?” Lucy asked.
    “Evan.”
    “Evan? Evan? Wait. You mean the
groundskeeper?”
    “Yeah. So what’s wrong with him?”
    “Barbara? He isn’t mysterious. He’s weird.
I’m going to tell the sisters to rush you. At least they’re a bunch
of sexy girls. Maybe we can just turn you into a lesbian and wash
you of this Evan nonsense,” Lucy said. Both girls started chuckling
as they opened the doors to the art gallery.
    9
    Barbara stared at the painting as Lucy
wandered near the sculptures. She was much more interested in the
erotic ones. The Secret of Lions hung inside the gallery,
near the back of the first floor, just as Professor Blake had
described. The painting was magnificent, glorious, far better than
the slide that Blake had of it. Barbara became intoxicated by
it––drawn to it.
    10
    The entire next week Barbara thought about
the painting while she avoided her roommate’s hints about rush
week.
    “Get ready,” Lucy said. “The girls are
coming for you.”
    Barbara didn’t want to deal with the
sorority girls. The only thing she wanted to concentrate on was the
painting. She spent her free time in the library, reading anything
that mentioned it.
    Thursday night was windy. Her class ended a
few minutes early, which was typical of Professor Greene. She
always ended class early. Some of the other students joked that she
was secretly dating one of the students. The reason why she ended
class early was to meet up with him across campus. Barbara wasn’t
sure about that, but she was glad to get out early.
    Barbara walked out of the Liberal Arts
building and headed toward the commons. She wanted nothing more
than to eat a pizza from the little Italian pizza place that her
mother used to take her to in Brooklyn. It was called Ole Stone
Pizza.
    She began her trek to the library. The wind
picked up even more than it already had. The leaves on a small oak
tree rustled vigorously. The tree grew out of a humble garden which
rested in the darkness in a desolate alley.
    Out of the darkness, Barbara heard the
rustling as it grew louder. When she had nearly passed the alley,
she heard a faint word. “Barbara,” whispered out of the
darkness.
    It was nearly silent, but she was certain
that she had heard her name.
    Barbara turned back to the alley. “Is anyone
there?” she asked.
    “Barbara,” a voice whispered.
    “Hello?” she asked. Cautiously, she inched
toward the edge of the darkness.
    There was