Jaden Baker (49 page)

Jaden gathered his thoughts to him, indexing his lies. At least this one contained truth. “California,” he replied.

“Yeah, what part?” Charlie asked, as he and Kelvin shared a chuckle.

“Napa,” he answered. “Northern California.”

“We’re from California too. Went to school there then came up here.”

“You came up together?” he asked.

“No,” said Kelvin, “different times. We went to the same school, but I moved before Charlie. It was just luck that we bumped into each other again.”

“Me and the wife moved up a couple of years ago,” Charlie answered.

Ah, a solution. People loved talking about themselves. All he had to do was ask about them, and he would be free and clear. Brilliant.

Seth sniggered behind him. “So simplistic. Yet I doubt it will work the whole evening.”

“You’re married?” he asked Charlie.

Charlie answered, telling the story of meeting his wife, and he and Kelvin reminisced for a few minutes before the conversation came back to him.

“You dating anyone?” Kelvin asked.

Based on the previous snippet of a conversation, he gathered Kelvin was not married, nor dating anyone in preparation for marriage. There was danger in answering the question. If he gave the truth, that no, he was not dating anyone, then Kelvin may want to spend more time with Jaden, a fellow single. They seemed to travel in groups. If he lied, said yes he was, they’d want to meet her.

“No,” Jaden answered. It would be easier to come up with excuses for why he could not bar hop, than trying to fabricate a woman from nothingness.

“Yeah, me neither. I like not having attachments, you know? Makes traveling easier.”

“Right,” Jaden said, relaxing. “Ball and chain sort of thing.”

Kelvin laughed. “Exactly.”

“Hey, hey, you laugh, but I know who I’m sleeping with every night.” Charlie drummed on the back of Kelvin’s chair.

Seth leaned forward, whispered in Jaden’s ear: “Tell them about the time you Babe Ruthed a guy in the head for trying to steal your virginity. What a tale that is!”

Shut up.

He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t have a whole night of this. There was plenty of time to form friendships, when he got his story in order. But that was first. He had to plan his fake life, so his lies didn’t sound false but true. Research, that’s what he needed. What if he made a mistake, and today he said he went to one school, and tomorrow he said another? He’d be found out if his lies were inconsistent.

An excuse, he needed a reason to get out of the car so he could walk home.

“You have to feed someone’s animals and housesit tonight,” Seth volunteered. “That should work. Say you have to take a ‘rain check.’”

Right. Another lie.

“Shit,” Jaden said, surprised by how sincere it sounded. “Crap, I forgot.”

“What?” the two asked.

“I forgot I have to feed someone’s cats tonight. A neighbor. I have to housesit with them for the evening. Lame, I know.” So natural. “Sorry, guys. I’m going to have to take a rain check.”

“Really? You can’t go later?”

“No. I promised.”

There were more protestations, but they finally gave in. Seeing as how Kelvin and Charlie were decent people, they offered to take Jaden home. He insisted they just drop him off anywhere and he would walk, but they insisted. Remembering an apartment complex not too far from his building, only a few miles, Jaden directed them there. It wasn’t the most posh part of town, but that only added to his characterization. Grungy Joel lived in squalor, couldn’t afford a car.

“See you later,” they said to him, as he shut the door. He waved politely and walked toward the complex, waiting until he couldn’t hear their car engine before turning around and heading for Em House.

“What an interesting social experiment,” Seth said, falling into step beside Jaden as they headed to Em House. Jaden didn’t feel like talking.

“In addition to your fake residential history, sounds like you’ll have to construct false relationships, too. Everyone loves a rich breakup affair.”

“Shut up,” he replied.

Seth shook his head as he smirked. “You’re angry with me.”

“Oh, you recognize that? What do you want me to do? I have to do something different, I can’t live like this forever. Your solutions involve more of the same, and I’m sick of them.”

“What I’m doing is keeping you safe. You need to prepare before your dramatic rebirth. Ten years in the making, and you blame me for slowing you down? The only person who’s stopped you from doing what ‘you want’ is you.”

The worst thing about Seth was Jaden’s lack of privacy. It didn’t stop Jaden from grumbling. It was a long walk to Em House, and he wasn’t in the mood to argue—again—about the current state of his life. For once he wasn’t going to think about it.

Seth smiled as he walked beside Jaden, staying quiet.

“We’ll figure this out,” Seth said after a few minutes of silence. “Together. I promise.”

Jaden regarded him, reading sincerity on Seth’s usually cocksure face.

“We will,” Jaden said, and his stomach calmed. “We’ll start with a new name.”

“A good beginning, I think,” Seth said. “A clean canvas.”

It was still light out, and would be until late into the night. Perhaps he would get his chores out of the way tonight and dedicate the next two days to projects.

An unusual noise whined into their ears, so out of place with the time it caused both to halt. The low, muffled groans of distress would have been more appropriate for the darkness. When Jaden focused on the sound, searching for its source, he knew exactly what was taking place.

“Wait,” Seth said, putting out his hand.

One accident had already happened because he hadn’t acted soon enough. This was not an accident: there was no time to wait and ponder the possible outcomes of his involvement. Jaden pushed Seth’s hand and dashed through a gap between the buildings.

Three people grappled with each other: two men and a woman. She struggled in the grip of a fat man, while the smaller (not by much) man was ripping off her clothes. Without thought or hesitation, Jaden charged, his body a battering ram, colliding into the predator and knocking him to the asphalt.

The first man held fast to the woman, but watched as his partner fought with Jaden, trying to wrestle him away, get out from under him. Jaden picked him up and threw him into a dumpster.

Slow motion, that’s what it was like. Jaden saw the wild man throwing punches in slow motion, giving him time to duck and weave, avoiding hits.

A left hook. Duck.

Jabbing combinations. Slide.

Upper cut. Lean back.

The fight would have been no different if Jaden were blindfolded. He sensed every move, predicted the direction the fighter would take, he was fast enough to dodge a blow and land one of his own.

Jaden knew he had to end the battle quickly. An animalistic urge to kill both men tried to take over, but logic restrained him. Two more dead bodies to his name would bring unwanted scrutiny, even though the men deserved it.

Jaden kicked the assailant in the face, launching him backward into a wall. Instead of waiting for him to come back for more, Jaden focused his attention on the second man holding the woman. Surprised, perhaps by Jaden’s smaller stature, the sexual predator hesitated. Jaden grabbed the woman, who he suspected may be a prostitute, and tore her from her captor’s grip and pushed her away.

“Run!” he told her, but she didn’t need telling.

Now there were two.

Both men fought wildly, enraged at Jaden’s intrusion, and sure their advantage in numbers would win the fight. But he had an advantage of his own, a way of predicting the trajectory of each kick and jab.

Using mainly his elbows and palms, trying to protect his weak gripping hands, Jaden beat back the two men, hoping they would give up and run.

But neither did.

After minutes of brawling, Jaden suspected stimulative drugs were involved. He was tempted to end their lives: there were no witnesses. Both men’s hearts beat fiercely, and if they were to suddenly stop, who would suspect anything but an overdose?

“You can’t do that,” Seth said.

Jaden elbowed one in the face, breaking his nose.

“Why not?” Jaden growled back.

“Because there was a witness. She ran away.”

“She won’t say anything,” Jaden said, almost sure of it. A prostitute would not report an attempted rape to the police.

“You enjoying this?” Seth asked.

As Jaden swung his left fist into the larger man’s kidneys, he had to admit it was gratifying. He saved someone from a terrible injustice, and was exacting punishment on the two responsible.

“You’ve gathered a crowd,” Seth said, looking toward the street from which they’d come.

Jaden spared a moment between punches to observe. Seth was right. A crowd of five spectators watched, two on cell phones.

Jaden danced with the two predators a while longer, landing more blows to ribs, jaw, stomach, kidneys. Seth didn’t know how powerful it felt, to be the one doing the hitting instead of being the object of the blows. It was a feeling he wanted to hold onto, for only a few more seconds. Seth didn’t understand.

“You have to take a hit,” Seth said, looking solemn.

“No way,” Jaden said, his jaw clenched.

“You have to. They’re getting suspicious, those people watching, calling the police. They’ve watched for a while. You’ve not been hit once.”

“That’s the point.”

“You’re too good, you’re being too memorable. These people, they’ll talk about you. A supernatural boxer. Sensing the coming hits. For once do what I’m asking. Take a hit, knock them out, and end this. Enough is enough.”

It had been years since he had been hit, and he didn’t relish the idea of volunteering. But this time the beating would be his idea, a way to protect himself from suspicion. The hit was necessary, valid even. While it would hurt, Jaden had experienced pain much worse.

He had to do it, follow Seth’s advice this time. Jaden would win the battle and take some casualties so he didn’t seem invincible.

Before taking the final hit, Jaden threw all his power behind a punch, eliminating one fighter. Then, not excited, but acknowledging its importance, Jaden put his head in the line of the second, bloodied-faced man’s punching arc.

The strike was shocking. Stars burst in his wavy vision, flying in coordinated circles. The dizziness made him nauseous and Jaden tripped over what he later realized was his own foot, falling to the concrete. His ears rang with a high pitch tone, deafening him to ambient noise. As he struggled to get his hands and feet underneath him, he saw the face of the man he’d just knocked out, lying on the ground.

A piercing pain cracked through his brain at the same time the sound returned. Jaden grabbed his head in his bruised hands, the pain unbearable.

Down on the ground, his opponent kicked him in the side.

Seth was gone. His idea to punch this man, after taking a hit, now seemed impossible. Full of suggestions and admonishments, this was the perfect opportunity for Seth to chime in with his wisdom.

But it was just Jaden.

The fight resumed.

With as much strength as he could spare, Jaden tied up his pain and shoved it down, to be dealt with later, dedicating a fraction of his focus to finishing the fight. He gathered his vision to him—the floor leveled out.

An onlooker from the crowd ran to help. Sirens echoed in the background, a lull in his ringing ears. The police could not find him here. His opponent could not win. Jaden started the fight to rescue a distressed woman. He must finish the battle.

Before help arrived, the fat man, his face a portrait of violent rage, picked Jaden up by his coat and shoved him into the dumpster. The pain in his head had receded enough that he was able to hear again.

“I own you now,” snarled the lech, then pushed Jaden away.

The three words were barrels of gasoline with flames licking the bottoms.

Headache forgotten, Jaden lunged, his fists like javelins, hitting anything within their reach. Face twisted with wrath, Jaden pummeled his opponent’s stomach and kidneys with fast, violent blows.

With a mighty right hook to the temple, the fat man, who outweighed him by at least a hundred and fifty pounds, fell backward to the ground with a cracking thud, unconscious on impact.

“No one owns me,” Jaden muttered under his breath, his impromptu help deaf to his mumblings.

“You okay?” asked the late helper.

Jaden nodded, the sirens were louder in his ears. Police would ask what happened, who he was. Can you show us some ID please? No? Do you have any prior arrests?

Jaden had to go. Now.

“They tried raping a woman,” Jaden breathed. “Tell them that.”

“Hey man, I think you need the hospital,” said the help.

Jaden shook his head. That was the last thing he needed. Standing straight, Jaden spun and ran from the scene, sprinting fast.

The sirens were behind him, but after several turns and changes in direction, Jaden was sure he was clear. To alter his appearance, he took off his jacket and threw it away.