All Chapters of No Return: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

“This is something no man can witness and live to tell the tale, so keep it a secret. For this is a Sisterhood meeting at the Black Rock—which actually means girls night at my place. Let me introduce you to the council. This is Lady Claudia, our manipulation expert.” “Hi, Jay! Nice to meet you!” “This is Reverend Mother Karim with the procreation wing and my little sis Mika, I mean Acolyte Lolita, which is a pun in Spanish about her boobs.” “Hi!” “Hey there!” “And that’s Paola, who we suspect to be a spy, trying to infiltrate our ranks in order to steal our secrets.” “You didn’t say who you are!” “Oh, well, I’m Superior Mother S, always fighting for the survival of the Sisterhood.” “And now we have to leave you, Jay.” “Yes, we have some vital issues to discuss.” “Yeah! Like comparing guys’ performances, if you know what we mean.” “Yeah!” “Bye!” Jim chuckled under his breath, spraw

“Silvia! You okay?” She nodded, blowing her nose with a shaky giggle from the kitchen. She’d pretty much jumped off of her chair when the video ended, trying in vain to wipe her tears away. “But this isn’t the video they have on YouTube,” said Claudia, frowning. Paola huffed. “’Cause it’s not the official video.” “Damned jerk!” Silvia grumbled from the kitchen, lighting a cigarette and shaking her head. Claudia’s eyes were like grapefruits again. “He— He made this video for you?” Silvia shrugged, still fighting back her tears. Paola narrowed her eyes. “That place. It looked like a bus terminal.” “Yeah, that’s where we met. Give me a mate and I’ll explain the video to you guys.” She was still talking when Claudia handed her a mate, while Paola pointed at her empty chair. So Silvia spent ten times the length of the video explaining the zillion private jokes and winks they’d just seen. The

“Come play in my ground. Task of the week: a poem.” Jim liked Silvia’s DM the week after her clip. She hadn’t even asked what he thought about it. This was the first time she came up with a task, and it was a good one. “I’m in. Any particular subject?” “How about states of the soul?” “U r so fkn corny *rolling eyes*” “Humor me :P” She uploaded a poem to the Hey, Jay! before he did. It’s time The long thread of twilights I’ve built my life upon Has lost any meaning So I turn off the sun and lay Streams, hills, woods to rest And take off To some shady inner world Of demons unseen and falling angels Where I wander under starless skies Hunting down my own shadow Until the time comes

Two weeks before leaving for the third leg of their world tour, that would take No Return to Asia and Eastern Europe until the end of the year, Jim had a fight with Barbara, the woman he’d been dating for the last two months. He heard his front door slam shut, a revving engine, a car skidding away. He ran down the stairs to the living room, his shirt open over his chest, still breathing heavily after the violent argument. His eyes moved slowly around the dark, empty room as he took his phone out of the back pocket of his jeans. He dialed and waited, dropping himself on the couch. “Don’t you dare call me ever again, you fucked-up son of a bitch!” The hand holding the phone slid down as he sank in the black leather cushions, still trying to catch his breath. Fine, he’d said too much, and not for the first time. Well, maybe he’d been a little too sarcastic. And things had gotten a little out of control when Barb had started crying and throwing th

Jim got back together with Barbara, but things were still on the mend when he left for Asia, and she didn’t want to travel with him. She argued they could use that time away, and missing each other would be good for them. He and Silvia had never mentioned the subject again, back to their task-of-the-week routine. However, it was plain to see that after Jim left, their game would depend on the tour’s tight schedule. So they agreed to post whatever they came across, be it writings, pictures, music, no task required. No Return left LA by the time spring managed to kick winter away from Patagonia. But on its way out, winter told spring about Macondo. And while it rained nonstop and everything was damp and muddy, and people asked each other what did a blue sky look like, Silvia found herself facing unexpected hard times. Her little brother entered an angry-teen stage that was a complete first for him, and Silvia wasn’t quite sure what to do about it. Mika had alwa