Now That You're Here (Duplexity, Part I) (21 page)

“He probably can't hear us.” Warren starts toward the sidewalk but I pull him back.

“Look.” Across the street, a few houses down, sits a white van. The headlights are off, but the running lights glow yellow. We duck away from the corner. I press my back against the shop wall. “Tell me that isn't the same van.”

Warren doesn't say anything at first. Then, “It probably isn't.” But I can tell from his face that he thinks it is, too.

How long has it been there? Did it follow us? Surely we would have noticed, right?

“I don't think we should go back that way,” I say. My legs feel numb.

“What would you suggest we do?”

“Go another way.”

He rolls his eyes at my nonhelpful answer. Then he looks past me toward the high fence separating Mac's backyard from the others. “We could jump it.”

“Are you crazy? We won't make it over.” I shake my head. “If we do, we'll get busted by Mac's neighbors for trespassing.”

He peeks around the corner of the building again. His shoulders relax, and he steps out into plain view. “It's gone.”

“What?” I glance around the corner to see for myself. Leaves rattle across the street. The spot where the white van was sitting is empty.

We don't say much on the walk home, but both keep looking behind and around us. We decide it was probably nothing. Our concern for Mac had us in a state of heightened awareness and we made an illogical connection between two unrelated white vans, neither of which had ever posed any kind of threat. By the time we reach our own street, we're relaxed enough to laugh at how silly we behaved, and take turns mimicking each other's freaked-out expressions.

Warren hops up onto the lava rock. “Tomorrow is D-day, then?”

My stomach ties itself back into a knot. “Guess so.”

“Cool. See you then, Solomon.” He makes the Spock sign before hopping down and walking inside his house.

I spend what's left of the evening at my desk with my textbooks, but instead of studying I watch out the window for Danny. He should have been back by now. When it gets late, I change into my pajamas and look out the window. Brush my teeth and look again. Then I lie on my bed and stare at the ceiling. For the first time in days, I don't hear his knock.

I hole myself up inside Danny's room and pace, waiting for the house to fall asleep. It's taking forever. I can still hear the television in the family room and voices down the hall.

Once I'm sure everyone's asleep, I'll slip out and race back to Eevee's. Tomorrow is EMP Day. If all works out like it should, I go home. Which means I'm dinking away my last hours in this hellhole instead of with her. Argh.

I check the time—10:07—and flop onto the bed. Death-metal posters stare down at me. I lie there and lie there and listen and wait.

My chest tightens and my eyes blur. Waves pulse through me as monotone whispers bubble up through the static.

I feel safe and secure.
No one wants to harm me.

Compliance is good.
I relinquish control.

I feel safe and secure.
No one wants…

Through the haze, I see a white dome splashed with pulsing blue lights. The voices swarm, overlapping, weaving in and out. I feel nothing. Detached. Weightless.

A woman's scream pierces through and I'm jerked back from the edge. My arms clutch at the mattress, the pillow, anything solid. Death metal stares me in the face. I roll over and the room keeps going. Put my feet on the floor and fall. Knees hit the carpet. I hold my head to keep it from spinning apart.

And then I hear him.

Brent.

I crawl toward the door. Crumbs and dirt cling to my palms. This place is a hole. I rest against the jamb and reach up to turn the handle. The door swings open an inch and their voices burst in.

“Where's it all going, Brent?”

“Who the hell do you think you are, talking to me like that?”

“We need money.”

“It was your idea to take in all of these leeches. That's what they are. Leeches. Sucking us dry.”

“Those
kids
keep food on the table.”

There's a sharp sound and I'm on my feet, praying he hit the counter, the wall, anything but her. As I inch down the hallway, though, I hear her crying. My hands sliding along the wall curl into fists.

When I get to the end of the hall, I see him there in the kitchen, arms crossed. The fluorescent light glares down. I lean forward and see the top of Sooz's head by the cabinets. Crying in her hands. She grips the counter, pulls herself up. Holds one hand to her face.

“This is my house, dammit.” Brent points his finger. “I won't be talked to like that in
my house.
” He pokes her twice in the chest.

Her hand falls to her side. She speaks slowly, her voice low. “What are you spending the money on this time?”

He raises his hand and my pulse hammers in my head. The walls go tunnel vision. I step into the open and her eyes flick to me. He turns his head.

“This ain't your business, Danny.”

She gives me a look that says
Run.
But I won't. Not this time. I step into the room and lock my eyes on Brent, his hand still raised. She shakes her head at me but I don't move. With everything I have, I stare him down. Make sure he knows.

I see him. All he is and all he'll never be, I see.

He covers his initial flinch with a sneer, but we both know he's weak. He lowers his hand and mutters, “Don't need this crap.” Grabs his keys and slams the door behind him.

Sooz steadies herself on the counter and covers her mouth. Exhales hard. Goes to the fridge.

“Let me,” I say. The freezer air bites my hot face. I pull out a bag of peas, wrap them in a towel and hand them to her.

Her eyes are hard, but she nods and holds the cold up to her cheek. Winces when the towel makes contact.

“Why do you put up—”

She holds up her hand. Shakes her head. Her lip is swelling. “Go. You're better off away from here.”

“What about when he comes back? What about them?” I point toward the hall, where I hope the others are still sleeping.

“He won't hurt them. But you…” She takes the towel down, licks her lip. “It's better if you stay with your friend. At least for now.”

I don't know if I've just helped things or screwed them up. “I'm afraid…”

She laughs. “No you're not. You've never been afraid. Not that I've seen, anyway.” She fixes the towel where it's unwound from the peas and touches the cold back to her face. “Go on. I'll keep things together.”

When she sees I'm not moving, she insists. “Go.”

My feet carry me down the hall. I'm like a deflated balloon, floating. I grab my wallet and pull on my shoes.

Back in the kitchen, she sits at the counter with the phone in her hands. I stop at the doorway.

“Check in with me?” she asks. “Let me know you're okay?”

“Here.” I grab a pencil from a jar near the sink and write down Eevee's number. My voice catches. “Give Benny a hug for me.”

“I will.”

I pick up my things and head for the door. Before I go, she says, “Danny?” Her swollen lip distorts her smile. “Thank you.”

I nod and close the door behind me, feeling like half my heart is still there, inside.

Outside, it's that murky time of morning when it feels like the sun will never rise. The world around me is quiet. Just the sound of my shoes on the sidewalk.

The lights of a corner gas station catch my eye, give me an idea. Maybe there's another way to help. On the far side, I find the pay phone. The receiver is cold against my ear. I press zero, and when an operator answers, I whisper-croak, “I need to report some kids being abused.” She's silent a second before saying “One moment” and the line clicks and rings again.

“Phoenix Police, what's your emergency?”

“There's a man named Brent abusing kids at a foster house.” I give her the address and hear her dispatch a car.

“How are you aware of this situation?” she asks.

“I'm one of the kids.”

“What is your location?”

I hang up the phone. They have all the information they need. Hopefully, they'll go and see and help. I close my eyes and think of Benny, asleep in his bed.

Please let it help.

I try to shake the tired from my arms. This body feels worn out, but I gotta keep moving. Hands tucked into my pockets, I carry on toward Eevee's, the night's events again replaying in my head. Brent's gravelly voice. Sooz's cries.

My feet stop.

A white dome with flashing lights. A cloud of voices surging through the void.

“Oh no.” I run a hand over my face as adrenaline jolts me awake. “Shit.” My feet start moving again. Fast. Please don't let it be what I think. Please don't let it be what I…

I'm dragging by the time I reach Eevee's street. The moon has long set and the stars are beginning to fade. Even though my legs are screaming, I break into a jog. I can't get to her fast enough.

As soon as I hear the tap on my window, I run to the front yard. One look at his face and I know whatever he went through, it was awful. “Did he hurt you?”

He shakes his head.

“I'm sorry. It was a stupid idea. You should've said no.”

He holds my face in his hands. His lips feel dry against my forehead. With a groan, he falls into a heap on the front step and exhales. “It was the right thing to do.”

“I was so worried.” My knees go weak, so I sit beside him before I fall. It's dark out and there's a chill in the air. The cold concrete makes me shiver.

“I'm in trouble, Eevee.” He rubs his face. “Big trouble.”

“With Brent?”

“No.” He raises his face to the sky and closes his eyes. “Back in my world.”

“It happened again?”

He nods.

“What was it this time?” I'm scared to ask, but I can't
not
know.

He rests his forehead on one hand, his elbow on his knee and his eyes still closed. The muscle on his jaw flexes tight. “There's this program they use for compliance offenders. I don't know anyone who's been through it, but you hear stories about it. It's got some fancy name, but on the street everyone calls it Hydro. First they break you with deprivation and then they reprogram your thinking.” He looks at me and sighs. “I'm pretty sure what I saw was the inside of a Hydro tank.”

“Which means…”

“Danny got caught breaking the law.”

“Wow.” I can't believe what I'm hearing. “It's like something from a Bradbury novel.”

“The thing is, they wouldn't put him in there for a first offense. Not unless it was something huge.”

My brain feels like it's two steps behind. Slowly the pieces begin to click into place. “Wait. What are you saying?”

He tucks his hands behind his knees. “I think they're punishing him for something I did. Before I got here. If I go back, I'm done. If I don't go back, Danny takes the blame.”

“For what? What did you do?”

He doesn't answer. He just stares at the grass. Putting his own puzzle pieces together, I'm sure.

We spend what's left of the night on the porch swing, sitting in silence, waiting for the sun to rise.

“Where is he?” Warren looks at his watch for the fourteenth time.

“Would you chill out?” I don't even try to hide the annoyance in my voice. “He said he'd only be a minute.”

“That was…” He checks his watch again. “Six minutes ago.”

Warren's wound up tighter than the copper coil. We're behind schedule. If we don't set the EMP off soon,
he'll
explode. I'm about to remind him he's a scientist and shouldn't be so easily ruled by his emotions when the garage door opens. My stomach twists and I can't quite breathe. I guess I should remind myself the same thing.

Danny walks in, holding something in his hands. “Hey.”

“What took you so—”

“He's here,” I say, holding a hand up to Warren. “Okay? Breathe.”

Warren disappears into the cage, muttering I'm the one who should breathe. He's right. I exhale. Danny hands me the thing he's holding behind his back.

It's the Vitruvian Man journal.

I start to open it, but he puts his hand on the cover. “Not now,” he says. “It's for after I go. To remember me.”

“You think I'd forget you?” All the same, as I reach my arms around him and he hugs me tight, I tell myself to remember this, remember how this feels.

“Forgot the control,” Warren says, exiting the cage. I step back from Danny and stuff my hands into my lab-coat pockets. Warren grabs something from the worktable and walks back toward the cage.

“Is that a cell phone, Warren?”

“Yep.”

“Whose?”

“Corban Upton's. Payback for creaming me in the chess tournament last week.” He laughs like an evil madman and disappears inside.

“I'm gonna miss that guy,” Danny says. “Not sure he'd say the same about me, though.”

“Are you kidding? We haven't had this much excitement around here since the time we built a replica 15th-century trebuchet and launched potatoes clear over to Acoma Park.” Danny smirks. “Warren won't know what to do with himself after you're gone.”

And neither will I.

“Are you sure you want to go through with this?”

He closes his eyes and nods. “I need to get home. Face whatever it is that's happening there.” He takes my hand and gives me a grim smile. “I'm going to miss you.”

Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't. “Me too,” I manage to say with only a small quaver. “Wait—” Frantically, I search my pockets. “I didn't give you anything to remember me by.” And then, “Oh.” Logic has left my brain. “You wouldn't be able to take anything with you anyway.” My hands are shaking. I'm a mess.

He smiles and tucks my hair behind my ear. “Don't worry. I could never forget you, Eevee Solomon.”

He moves to hug me again but Warren interrupts. “The device is switched on and the timer is ticking down. Here.” He hands Danny a pair of goggles. “Just in case.”

“Okay,” Danny says, pulling the goggles over his eyes. “Let's do this.” He shakes Warren's hand and we walk to the cage. Just before going inside, he turns to me, smiles and kisses me on the cheek.

I watch Warren shut the door. Watch him check the seal. I'm so lost in my thoughts, he has to ask me twice to get the clipboard so we can record results.

Warren and I move to the far side of the garage. He holds his stopwatch in front of us. One minute left to go. When it reaches zero, the timer mechanism will release the stopgap on the power connection, the device will detonate, and then…

“You doing okay?” Warren calls.

“Yep,” Danny calls back.

My hands feel cold wrapped around the clipboard. My eyes refuse to blink, watching the numbers race down to zero. My mind, though, floods with regret, echoing again and again all the things I wish I'd said to him, things now I'll never get a chance to say.