Connor drove through the night, stopping only once to fuel up on caffeine. M and the dog slept through the whole thing, the lucky assholes, so Connor was left alone with his thoughts. While the man in black was definitely on his mind, other, more pressing concerns such as Julie and her family took precedence. As they sped down the highway with Julie’s home in their sights, Connor felt a sickening mixture of rage and embarrassment. That whole side of Connor’s family was a total mystery. He’d never even once been included in the fold. So, Julie lived with her new husband and her new son? Well, they, for whatever reason, were worthy, and Julie had been with them for many years. It was so fucking unfair. Connor wondered what the hell was wrong with him and why Julie preferred her other son over him.

Connor was overthinking everything, obsessing about all his imperfections when the sun finally came up. It was early still, but the light teased M awake.

“Where are we?” the boy asked sleepily, rubbing his eyes as he sat up.

“We’re just about to cross into Tampa actually,” Connor said. “This is it. We made it.”

“Oh wow!” M looked excitedly out the window but there was nothing new to see, just the same highway and cars they’d been looking at for days now. “I never thought we’d get here.”

Connor checked the clock. 8:00am. They were super early and had hours yet to waste. “Are you hungry?” he asked, thinking they’d stop for breakfast to kill time.

M nodded enthusiastically and Connor got into the far-right lane, ready to get off at the next exit. He’d spotted a Denny’s on one of the passing signs and figured it’d be relatively cheap. They didn’t have a lot of cash left.

Breakfast went swimmingly. M ate another huge stack of pancakes and Connor had toast and a black coffee. They ordered an extra breakfast sandwich to-go, too, thinking of the dog. After everybody ate, they drove around for a bit, looking for a park. Jack needed to run, and luckily enough, the one they found had an empty baseball field. Connor parked the truck right next to the field and opened his door to let the dog out. Jack was ecstatic. He bounced out of the car and ran in big circles through the grass. Connor and M watched for a while, then M convinced Connor to let him practice driving again. They occupied themselves for over an hour driving back and forth across the lot. M practiced backing up and parking and Connor taught him patiently, just hoping to pass the time.

They stayed in the park until noon, then they loaded up the dog and took off. Connor had been incredibly patient all morning, but he was starting to feel a bit antsy. He couldn’t wait until it was time to head to Julie’s. He just wanted to get the awkward meet-and-greet over with. He knew it’d be bad, and the anticipation was killing him.

“Let’s drive around for a while,” Connor said, thinking he’d use the opportunity to find Julie’s neighborhood. “I’m sure there’s a lot to look at. We’ll be a couple of lame tourists and enjoy the sights,” he laughed.

“Ok,” M said easily, and he was already looking around at any rate.

It didn’t take long to find Julie’s street. The neighborhood was classy, there were palm trees everywhere, and the houses were big and glamourous with small, well-maintained lawns. Connor hadn’t seen much, driving past the gated community didn’t afford a very detailed view, but he got the picture. He wondered which mansion was his mother’s.

It was only half past one when Connor and M both got tired of driving around aimlessly.

“I’m hungry,” M complained, rubbing his little belly. “Can we afford another restaurant?”

At the next red light, Connor thumbed through his wallet. “Not really,” he said. “But we’ve got enough for some cold cuts and bread at the store. We could make sandwiches.”

M clapped his hands. “I love sandwiches!”

So, Connor navigated them to the nearest grocery store.

As they ate their sandwiches out in the parking lot, Connor felt his patience slipping away. It was getting closer to three and the impending doom of his mother was closing in on him. What if Julie hated him? What if she could tell Connor was gay and she disowned him right on the spot? What if she threw them out of her house right away and they were left stranded? The fears twisted Connor’s stomach into knots. He got his sandwich down alright, but then had a tummy ache from all the stress.

They ended up heading to Julie’s house just after three. Connor couldn’t wait any longer. They drove back to the fancy neighborhood from earlier and before they pulled into Julie’s driveway, Connor checked the address again on his slip of paper. They were at the right place, but it looked like nobody was home.

The house was a large Mediterranean style mansion with arches, a balcony, and big tropical foliage surrounding it. Water stretched along the back of the houses on this side of the street, and it looked like there was a pool in everyone’s backyard. Connor felt his jaw tick with anger. This bitch had been living out here in luxury while Connor rolled in filth back at the trailer? Her disappearance all those years ago made a lot more sense.

“Wow!” M said, looking up at the behemoth of a house. There were no cars in the driveway, so Connor had pulled in initially without thinking. Now, though, he wanted to back out. He was afraid he’d get a spot of oil on the flawless flagstone. It looked so white and clean; somebody must have scrubbed it by hand.

He didn’t park in the street though. He took a deep breath and got out of the truck. He started toward the front door, propelled by some invisible force of chaos. M yelped behind him and stumbled to follow, but Connor didn’t stop to let him catch up. He wasn’t even expecting anyone to answer the door.

Connor jogged up to the front door and jabbed the doorbell, folding his arms uncomfortably. Every second he waited he added a black mark to Julie’s already sullied name.

M finally caught up. He hurried down the front walk, shepherding the dog in front of him. Connor rolled his eyes at the boy and turned back to the door, glaring and impatient. He was about to hit the bell one more time, when the door opened and suddenly his mother stood in front of him.

Julie had Connor’s blue eyes and her hair was dark, too. He figured it was probably dyed, since she looked much older than he remembered her being before, but she wore it in a shoulder-length perm, and it looked nice. Her skin was lightly tanned and also lightly wrinkled. There were lines around her eyes and her mouth that Connor didn’t remember.

She smiled uncomfortably.

Connor wiped the scowl from his face. He’d come all this way; he could at least try to be pleasant. He cleared his throat, shifted awkwardly, and said, “Hi mom.”

“Connor.” Julie came out onto the porch and put her arms around him stiffly. They held the hug for a few moments and then separated. Julie’s eyes flashed behind him, looking towards M and the dog.

“That’s my friend. M,” Connor said. “I…lost my job and the trailer. I didn’t know where to go. Dad made me give him 100 bucks for that piece of shit truck out there.” Connor gestured out to the truck and Julie craned her neck to catch sight of the offending vehicle.

“Oh my,” she muttered.

“I’m sorry,” Connor said. “I don’t have any friends beside M and he lives with me. Dad couldn’t care less about me. And honestly, I would rather die on the street before I moved back in with him.”

Julie studied his face for a moment. “Come in,” she said.

The foyer was filled with family photos. Right by the front door there was a table crammed with pictures of a little dark-haired boy with chubby red cheeks. He ate ice cream on the beach, he flew a kite in the park, he cried at a birthday party. The pictures were old though and as Julie moved down the hall, passing a set of stairs and a kitchen on the right, there were newer pictures on the back wall and more going up the staircase.

There were pictures of Julie and her husband dressed up at formal events. The guy was balding and had glasses. He looked boring and tired. The black haired, chubby boy had grown into an attractive teenager. He’d thinned out, grown tall and kept his hair short. He was pictured a few times in a suit, wedged between his parents. There were a few more of him in more casual settings, too. One had him pictured in front of a beat-up Toyota with a pretty young girl on his arm. Another showed him with a couple teenage boys. They were all wearing backwards hats and baggy jeans and were throwing up gang signs. Connor rolled his eyes.

At the back of the foyer was the entrance to the living area and they went through into the large, spacious room. The stylish, clearly very expensive furniture was spread out comfortably and besides the couches in front of the big screen TV there was a reading nook set back in the corner with a desk, a sleek Mac computer, and a fancy massage chair. There were a lot of windows looking out onto the back porch, the pool, and the blue stretch of water beyond. It was a very pretty room.

“Oh,” Julie stopped in the middle of the living room, looking back at the dog. “Let’s put the dog outside, shall we?” She went to open the sliding glass door and frowning a little, M called the dog and followed her.

“M,” Connor said to the blond. “Why don’t you go outside with the dog for a minute so I can talk to my mom.”

M glanced back at him. Connor hadn’t shared any of his fears with the other boy, but he felt he understood. M nodded, grabbed Jack by the collar and led him into the back yard.

Julie closed the sliding glass door and turned back to Connor. She folded her arms over her chest. Connor noticed that the nails on her hands had that professional French manicure look.

Connor didn’t say anything at first. He just stared the woman down. Julie shifted uncomfortably in front of the sliding glass door, but she didn’t say anything either.

“So, I need some help,” Connor said after a moment of awkward silence. He dared Julie to turn him down, then it would really be awkward.

“It’s about you losing your job and your home?”

“Good answer,” Connor said, and he smiled bitterly. He’d come up with the lie on the spot upon seeing his mother’s lavish home. He didn’t like to play the ‘poor me’ card. Sympathy was for losers, but he wasn’t against rubbing his shitty, poverty-stricken existence in Julie’s face. She deserved it. She’d been lucky enough to leave it all behind, but she should have come back for him. What did that chubby faced boy in the front hall have that Connor didn’t? Why had she loved him so much more than Connor? The stupid bitch hadn’t even tried to make things right. A couple letters, a Christmas card three years in a row, and an open-ended invitation to ‘come see me if you make it down to Tampa!’ wasn’t good enough. Not even close.

“You need someplace to stay,” Julie sighed. It wasn’t even a question. She went over to the desk with the Mac Pro, pulled the chair around and slumped into it.

“We need someplace to stay,” Connor amended. “Me and M come as a package deal, I’m afraid.”

Julie sighed again. She leaned over the desk and steepled her fingers together.

“He’s got a little problem with his brain,” Connor said slowly, and Julie’s eyes snapped back to him immediately. He hadn’t even thought about how he was going to explain M’s strange ways and habits, let alone their relationship. He’d just have to make shit up on the go… “He has problems with his memories and he sometimes has seizures.”

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t have to make that face,” Connor said, and he glared at the woman. Her pinched expression faded, but she turned to the back windows and looked out at M. “He’s not a retard, ok? He’s just…different.” Connor followed her gaze. M walked around the far edge of the pool while the dog sniffed around the thin strip of grass that lay before the drop-off into the bay. M looked out towards the water. A bright orange sailboat drifted lazily far out on the horizon and a couple jet skis motored close to shore.

It was a beautiful view, but it too, bothered him.

Connor thought of the dirty creek behind his father’s trailer that had served as his view growing up. Thick weeds bordered the trash-filled stream, and if he looked closely, he could see the rusty aluminum siding on the back of the neighbor’s trailer… Miserable. Everything about that trailer park had been miserable… Connor burned with resentment; even the view seemed to mock him.

When he looked back at his mother, he had to consciously force the glare off his face. “He had an accident. We don’t talk about it, but he suffered a lot of memory loss. He doesn’t remember some simple things, but you just have to explain it to him. He understands just fine. He just has to relearn stuff.”

“I’ve never heard of memory loss like that.” Julie furrowed her brow.

“Well, he’s a living example it exists,” Connor said blankly and Julie, thankfully, shut her mouth.

“Why did you come to Tampa?”

“Besides the fact that I have family in town?” Connor chuckled and Julie resolutely avoided his gaze. “I broke up with a girl back home. Then I lost my job and they took my trailer. I figured I should look for a change in scenery. There was nothing for me back there.”

“So, you came to look for a job?” Julie asked. She sounded excited, actually. “I could help you with that. I helped Greg get a new job a couple years ago. The money he ended up making bought us this place.” She smiled around the room, proud of herself.

“I never graduated,” Connor said briskly. “I have no qualifications.”

“I know,” Julie said. “I talked to your dad maybe a year ago. He said you were working at Papa Johns?”

“Pizza Hut,” Connor sneered.

“Oh,” Julie actually sounded apologetic, and Connor deflated a little. “Well, he said you were working there.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Connor said quickly. “You didn’t say anything about us needing to stay. I mean, fuck, we have a dog.”

Julie looked out the window again. Connor was sure M wasn’t doing anything stupid, he didn’t feel the need to follow her gaze this time. “I’ll have to talk to Greg about the dog, but we have a spare bedroom upstairs and a blowup mattress. You two can figure out the sleeping arrangements.”

Connor was shocked. “Uh, that sounds nice, actually.”

“And we can put a resume together for you and start looking for jobs in the area. You’ll feel good getting back on your feet. You’re like me. You’re a survivor.”

Connor wondered how Julie felt so confident saying that. Of course, they’d both had to get away from the stupid abusive fuck, Marshall, but that seemed grossly unfair of her. That had felt like a life or death situation near the end. He’d had to get out of Marshall’s house or else he would have ended up killing himself.

“Um…” Julie looked around. “Do you guys have a lot of stuff you need to bring inside?”

“No,” Connor said. “I have a bag of clothes and so does M.”

She laughed. “You pack light.”

“I had to sell everything,” Connor lied again. “Even my phone. I called you from a payphone at a rest-stop.”

Julie pulled a face. “Really?”

“Have you ever been to a pawn shop?”

She shook her head.

Connor really had been to a pawn shop before. Times had been rough when he’d first moved out of his dad’s house, and he’d had to sell off a couple of his things. He hadn’t cried about it.

“You go in thinking they’ll give you a couple hundred dollars and they end up quoting you 90 bucks or something crazy low. You have to really argue with them and know what you’re talking about too because they’re so used to swindling people. They’re masters. They don’t take whining bullshit about unfair prices, but if you catch them trying to cheat you out of 50 bucks, they’ll fess up and hand it over.”

Julie nodded slowly. Her eyes were glassy. She didn’t look like she was listening, and if she was, she wasn’t really comprehending any of it. Connor shut his mouth. He felt stupid. He’d thought he’d impress her with his street skills, but she looked at him like he was speaking some clicking third-world language. Like he was wearing a loin cloth and bragging about the newest stone wheel he’d just invented.

Connor glared at the floor.

“You’ll need a phone to get a job,” Julie said after a brief pause.

Connor looked up from his little pity party. “Yeah,” he said. “Probably.”

“I can help with that too,” she said, and then she bounced up from the desk chair. “C’mon. There’s rope in the basement. We can tie the dog up outside and pop over to the AT&T store.”

Connor blinked in surprise but followed his mother back into the foyer. There was a door behind the staircase he hadn’t seen before and when Julie opened it, he saw a set of stairs going down. Connor followed Julie into the basement and helped her get some rope off the top shelf. She was tall, but he was even taller, and he felt capable for the first time since arriving.

Connor didn’t mind getting some guilt money. Julie was right, he did need a phone. The guilt was probably making her put them up too, but he didn’t care. Julie’s help was too convenient to turn down.

They tied Jack up outside. The dog didn’t seem thrilled to meet Julie and when he saw the rope, he was even less so. The dog whined as Connor tied a secure knot to his collar and then tied the other end of the rope to the hose.

M consoled the dog, patting his head and rubbing his ears, but Jack knew he was being abandoned again and was having none of it. He pulled his head away from M’s hand and went to mope out in the grass.

Unfortunately, they weren’t going to change their plans for the dog. They backtracked through the kitchen and laundry room and entered the garage. A little red Porsche sat alone off to the right. Connor ground his teeth together and told himself it didn’t matter what she drove. Julie was getting him a phone and putting them up indefinitely. He had to cut her a break. She was trying to make things right, even if it was too late, even if Connor boiled red hot with anger through the whole thing…

He. Couldn’t. Explode. Into. Rage.

“Could you move your truck to the street? If Greg or Nathan come home early, they won’t recognize it.”

“Sure,” Connor said.

Julie hit the door-opener and sunlight poured into the garage. Connor left M by the Porsche and walked out to the driveway.

In a couple minutes, he joined Julie and M in the sports car. The truck was parked next to the curb now and he eyed it distastefully as they drove past. The blond sat behind him, buckled up and peering out the tiny window. Connor felt cramped in the front seat, he couldn’t imagine how bad it was in the back.

Julie drove around the corner, passing the other million dollar homes on the block without so much as a glance. She put on some sunglasses and turned her radio on and a classic Jimmy Buffett tune flowed from the speakers. They coasted through the beautiful, gated community; Connor swore she was taking the fucking scenic route, fucking bitch. They finally pulled up to the main road and stopped at the intersection.

“Do you boys want a little more sun?” Julie asked. Connor shrugged, but Julie hit a button on the dash and the top of the Porsche started to peel back. It was a fucking convertible. Of course.

“Wow!” M said from the backseat. He craned his head back and watched the top fold into the back of the car. “I can see everything now! How come you’ve never pushed that button before Connor?”

Connor snorted. “Because I don’t have a convertible. They’re expensive.”

M nodded, already losing interest in the explanation. He was staring at one of those stupid inflatable tube-man displays at a beach shop on the corner. It danced crazily, it’s arms waving wildly in the air.

“He doesn’t know what a convertible is?” Julie whispered over the radio. She made a left turn when the light changed and M laughed in the backseat, his hair flying in the wind. Julie checked on him in the rearview mirror. She looked concerned.

“Memory loss, remember?” Connor said. “He knows what a convertible is now.”

Julie nodded, but she didn’t look completely satisfied. Whatever. Connor looked out at the passing houses, apartments, and shops. It wasn’t his job to satisfy her. He’d told her all she needed to know.

They arrived at the AT&T store and Julie closed the top on her Porsche. She pulled into a spot up front, slung her purse over her shoulder, and marched inside. Connor scrambled to follow her. He was halfway to the store, Julie had just disappeared inside, when Connor heard M crying for help. He looked back to see the boy stuck in the Porsche between the door and the front seat.

Connor sighed and went back to help him. Of course M didn’t know how to work the seats. What had he been thinking?

“Get back in the car,” Connor said as he got back to their parking space.

“I’m stuck!”

“Just get back inside. Sit down,” Connor said. M wiggled and squirmed like a bug with its leg caught in a trap. Connor tried not to laugh. He reached for the release and slid the passenger seat up a few inches. M popped out of the car. He stumbled, but Connor caught him in his arms. He held the boy close to his chest and rubbed his back. “See, you’re not stuck.”

M whined. “What’s wrong with that car? How come it didn’t let me go?”

“You have to push the release,” Connor said. He turned them both around and pointed it out to the boy. “I’ll show you again when we leave. It’s not hard.”

M nodded. The fear already draining away. He looked around Connor at the storefront behind them. “What are we getting again?”

“A phone,” Connor said. “So I can call people and look up news feeds.” He shut the door, and they approached the store.

“Can I play Candy Crush?”

Connor laughed. “Sure.”

M bounced with excitement.

They finally made it inside and Julie stood waiting. “There you are,” she said. An employee stood beside her, some young college-type kid. He looked hassled, but Connor wasn’t about to save him. “Which phone do you want? This gentleman will get it for you.”

Connor quirked an eyebrow. “Any phone?”

“Whichever one you think is best. I’ll put you on the family plan for now.”

Connor wasn’t going to ask twice. He turned to the new Samsung phones and pointed at the most expensive one. He was mostly kidding. The price tag said $800.

“With that model, you can pick out one of the basic phones for free,” said the employee.

“Great. Get one for your friend too,” Julie said, taking out her credit card.

So, they left with two brand new phones. Connor showed M the release on the passenger seat again and then climbed into the back to help him set up his phone.

The blond was thrilled. He had his own phone to play around with and Julie’s family plan had unlimited data, so Connor showed him how to load up YouTube and where to download free games.

They got back to the house by the time he showed M how to send text messages and make calls. Connor’s number was the only one in his phone and M’s was the only number in Connor’s. More than anything, it made him feel better knowing they could always reach each other.

“Looks like Nathan’s home,” Julie said as they pulled into the drive. The garage door opened and they drove straight inside. The beat-up Toyota Connor had seen the teenage boy pictured with in the foyer sat in the driveway behind them. He studied the car until his line of sight was cut off by the garage door closing.

Julie gave no advice on Connor meeting his half-brother. She got out and went inside immediately, leaving the two boys in the back of her sports car.

Connor glared after the woman. “C’mon,” he said and they got out of the Porsche. He led them inside; M barely paid his surroundings any attention. His nose was buried in his phone.

They came into the kitchen and Connor stopped immediately. M ran straight into his back.

The countertops were marble and there was an island with stools across from the refrigerator. The same teenage boy Connor had seen in the pictures sat at the island. He was dressed up like a gangster with a chain around his neck, a wife-beater, and long jean shorts so baggy Connor could see his boxers. The pretty girl from the picture was beside him, too. She had long, glossy brown hair, a silver nose ring, and a butterfly tattoo on her bicep. She wore tight shorts and her perky tits were spilling out of a halter top.

The teenagers played on their phones too and ate Doritos out of the bag. A couple Red Bulls sat on the counter in front of them.

“Like I was saying,” Julie said, and Connor saw her standing in the door to the front hall. She clutched her bag over her shoulder and her face was pinched. “Your brother—” She paused when she saw Connor in the room. She looked from him and M and back to her precious son and his girlfriend with anxiety in her eyes.

“What?” Nathan asked. He glanced up disinterestedly and caught sight of Connor standing to the side of him. “Whoa.”

The girl turned and Connor saw her top didn’t even cover her stomach. Her belly button was showing and it had a ring through it, too. She chewed on her Dorito and watched with interest.

“Hi!” M looked up from his Candy Crush, beaming sunnily. “Nice to meet you!”

Nathan snorted, giving M a weird look. “Uh…hi.”

Connor cringed a little.

“Your brother’s here for a visit,” Julie finished and everyone looked at her. “I’m giving him and his friend… “ She paused, looking at M with a crease between her brows. “What was your name again, honey?”

“M,” Connor said quickly, before M said anything else goofy.

Julie nodded. “I’m letting Connor and M stay in the spare room for now.”

“Did you run that past dad?” Nathen drawled. “He’ll trip.”

Julie drew herself up. “Connor’s family. He needs some help and we’re all going to be very polite and helpful. Aren’t we?”

Nathan laughed but he got off his stool and came to give Connor a one-armed hug. “How’s it going, dude?”

“Great,” Connor said, looking up at his little half-brother. The asshole had the nerve to be slightly taller. It was infuriating. He looked a little like Connor though. He didn’t have Julie’s blue eyes; he had dark brown, but Connor noticed some similarity in the face.

“This is my old lady, Jamie,” Nathan said, gesturing to the girl on the stool. “We had our two-year in July.”

“This is my friend, M,” Connor said, nodding half-heartedly towards the boy beside him. “He stays with me and stuff.” He felt awkward, but M smiled at everyone.

“Alright,” Julie said. “Why don’t you all move into the living room. Dad will be home soon and I’ve got to get started on dinner.”

“Yeah, ok ma,” Nathan smirked and elbowed Connor conspiratorially. Connor didn’t know why though. If Nathan was trying to share the hardships of life with a mother, then he should really know better. Nathan had monopolized Julie’s love and time since the day he was born. Connor hadn’t gotten much and what he did have, he barely remembered.

The young people went out to the living room. Nathan and Jamie sat on the loveseat together and the girl immediately boosted her legs up on the teen’s lap. She went back to playing on her phone and Nathan turned on the TV.

Connor sat stiffly on the couch to the right of the kids and was joined by M immediately. The boy bounced around to find a comfortable spot, then he turned to face the TV screen.

Transformers was on, right at the beginning when Shia LaBeouf’s beat up Camaro drove off without him in it. When it transformed into a robot, M gasped and exclaimed: “Is that a convertible?!”

Nathan laughed. “Yo, that’s Bumblebee.” He glanced at Connor. “Your boy’s never seen Transformers?”

“Uh…”

“So, your mom’s car can’t do that?” M asked. He sounded disappointed.

“No,” Connor started to explain, but Nathan snorted.

“Naw, man,” He made a weird face. “Transformers come from outer space. They aren’t sitting in people’s driveways.”

“You’ll see, later in the movie all the robots come from a far away planet where bad guys have taken over or they tried to. I don’t really remember,” Connor said, scratching his head. “But they came to earth to escape the bad guys, I think, but they end up having the save the Earth from the same guys. They’re heroes.”

“Sentient AI.” M stroked his chin. “Definitely not something you see walking around every day.”

“Dude, you’re silly,” Nathan laughed and Jamie looked up from her phone to eye M, too. “This shit’s all make believe.”

M looked over at Connor and Connor didn’t know what to say. He tried to smile. “It’s just a movie, M. Like Spiderman.”

M turned back to the TV, and he didn’t say anything. His shoulders were stiff.

“He isn’t a little kid, right?” Nathan asked Connor. “How’s he never seen Transformers?”

M bristled and continued to stare at the TV while Connor struggled to come up with something to say.

“M has some memory issues—” And apparently that was the wrong thing to say because M glared back at him immediately.

“I’m going to check on Jack,” he said and he got off the couch. “Because you completely forgot.” He stalked over to the sliding glass and exited onto the patio.

“Who’s Jack?” Jamie asked. Connor hadn’t heard her speak yet, and her voice was melodious and feminine. She watched M through the windows. The dog wasn’t immediately visible, but when M got to the far end of the pool Jack got up from his place in the grass and Jamie gasped with surprise. “You guys brought a dog?”

“Yep. That’s Jack,” Connor said.

She got up and followed M out onto the patio. “I’ve got to see this dog,” she said excitedly before slipping outside.

Connor and Nathan sat in silence for a few moments. They watched the back window like a TV. Jamie approached M and the dog and the two of them began talking.

“I think we pissed your boy off. “ Nathan said.

“Yeah,” Connor sighed.

They went back to the movie. Connor wasn’t seeing much of the action, though. He kept an eye on the two outside. M and Jamie seemed to be getting along well enough. They’d released the dog and he nosed around the grass while Jamie and M talked by the pool.

“So, what kind of issues does he got?” Nathan blurted after a while. He sat with his legs spread carelessly. His baggy pants showed off his tanned, skinny thighs. Connor felt awkward looking at so much skin. He turned back to the movie.

“Ah… “ He still didn’t know what to say. He hoped M wasn’t out there, telling Jamie some completely different tale, because Connor ended up giving Nathan the same explanation he’d given to Julie.

“Was it a car accident?” Nathan asked. “That messed up his brain.”

“It was worse than a car accident,” Connor said darkly. He’d told Nathan that they didn’t talk about the accident, so he wasn’t going to feel pressured into saying anything more.

“Shit.” Nathan said and luckily, he left it at that.

They were silent for a little bit longer. M and Jamie moved to sit on the patio chairs near the pool’s edge. They had their phones out and Connor figured Jamie was showing M an app or something.

“So, why are you guys in Tampa?” Nathan asked, startling Connor out of his thoughts.

“I got fired from Pizza Hut,” he said quickly. He was just going to repeat everything he’d already said to Julie. That way, he wouldn’t get lost in his lies. He’d have to pull M aside later and tell him what the excuses were. Even if M didn’t agree with him, they had to be on the same page. “Mom said she’d help me find a new job.”

“Yeah,” Nathan snorted. “My parents were pissed I chilled out all summer. Ma’s gonna force me to work next year.”

“It’s not so bad,” Connor said neutrally. “It’s worth the paycheck.”

“I ain’t got time to be working at McDonald’s,” Nathan bitched and he leaned back moodily into the loveseat. “I’ve got mad rhymes in my head, man. I’m gonna to be something when I get out of here. Ma and Dad will see one day. Everybody will see. I’m a playa.”

Connor turned his face away before Nathan saw his eyes roll. What an idiot!

“What was Pizza Hut like?” Nathan asked after a short pause. He plucked at his wife-beater. “My girl worked at McDonald’s a while ago. They were total assholes.”

Connor shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess the people at Pizza Hut were pretty shitty, too. But you get used to it after a while.”

“I don’t know how people put up with that petty bullshit.” Nathan made a face. “If they paid me $20 an hour I might do it, but for minimum wage? Fuck naw.”

Connor was offended, but he didn’t want to show it. He wasn’t going to admit to being poor and destitute, to needing to work a minimum wage job to pay the bills. Not to this little brat.

“I was a delivery driver, so I could leave the store and listen to music in my car whenever I got an order,” Connor said. “I got really good tips sometimes,” he lied, hoping to make his job sound more glamorous.

“Did you ever get to screw some horny MILF on delivery?” Nathan laughed again. The sound of it was starting to become obnoxious.

Connor glared at his half-brother. He turned back to the TV and faked interest in the movie. He wasn’t looking away again, either. Nathan could fuck himself with his stupid list of get-to-know-me questions.

“Well, you’re not gonna work the same job you did up north, right?” Nathan asked. He was completely unaffected. He had no idea he was pissing Connor off!

Connor glared at the teen with sharp eyes. “I don’t know.”

Nathan shifted the chain around his neck and it slid beneath his shirt. “Yo, no offence. I’m just trying to help, brother—”

“Don’t call me…” Connor started to growl and then he trailed off. Fucking dickhole!

Nathan grinned. “We’re brothers. I mean, I have a lot of guys I call brother, but you actually are my family. For real.”

“Good job following the family tree,” Connor sneered.

Nathan laughed. “I guess.” He smiled and Connor looked away, uncomfortable under his brother’s amused gaze. “Ma used to talk about you all the time when I was younger. I looked up to you, like you were a superhero off to save some distant imaginary place. I knew you’d come back.”

Connor flushed. “I was never coming back. I was never here to begin with.”

“Yeah, I know. Ma said your dad pulled a bunch of dirty tricks to keep you in South Dakota. She wasn’t allowed to talk to you because of the divorce, I guess, but I don’t remember much. I was just a kid.”

Connor frowned. He didn’t know much either. He knew Julie vanished one night and never returned… that was all he knew about it.

“My parents didn’t get married until I was 5 because your dad dragged out the divorce for so long. My dad had major beef with your dad. He and my ma would scream about him some nights, so loud it’d wake me up.”

Connor looked at the dark-haired teenager. His lanky legs were stretched before him and his posture was slumped and dejected. Connor didn’t want to feel bad for him. The memory Nathan had shared reminded him of a few of his own, but Connor had been a dirty, hungry, fear-filled child lying in that fucked up trailer, listening to Julie get smacked around night after night. Nathan was and always had been privileged. Maybe he’d had to put up with some raised voices and an atmosphere of animosity, but he’d been well-fed, dressed and regularly washed. He’d grown up with toys and books and friends. His life was nothing like Connor’s.

There were some voices in the kitchen. Nathan twisted around to look down the front hall.

A balding, salt and pepper haired man came into the living room. He was chubby and wore a pair of gold rimmed glasses. The guy paused and swayed a little as he took the boys in. That made Connor feel especially uncomfortable and he chewed on the inside of his cheek. The guy came at him, his hand held out and Connor got up to shake it.

“Nice to finally meet you, Connor. I’m Greg.”

“You too,” Connor said.

“Julie was telling me you and your friend need a place to stay for a while?” When the guy talked, spittle collected in the corner of his mouth. Connor’s gaze zeroed in on it.

“Yeah. She’s going to help me get another job. So, I can get back on my feet.”

“That’s good. That’s responsible,” Greg said. He glanced in Nathan’s direction and a furrow appeared on his brow. It was so ingrained, it seemed like it was a normal expression he wore. “My son won’t get a job to save his life. And his mother keeps coddling him, so I don’t know how he’s ever going to learn the value of a dollar.”

“We talked about that,” Connor said and when Nathan gave him a vicious look, he felt a little bad. He quickly back-pedaled. “I told Nathan I used to work for Pizza Hut. Drivers make pretty good tips. If he’s got a car now, he might have fun delivering.”

Greg nodded. “Hear that, son? Pizza Hut.”

“Yeah, dad. Great.”

“Well, I’m going to get a shower before dinner,” Greg said and Connor took in the rest of his appearance. He was wearing tan trousers and a light blue button down. Sweat dampened the armpits and was in a ring around the collar. “Your mom says dinners served in 45 minutes so please send your little girlfriend home.”

“Mom said she could stay,” Nathan said.

“I didn’t.”

“Dad,” Nathan hissed and Greg shook his head and turned to hurry out of the room.

“Whatever. Get ready to eat,” Greg said over his shoulder. He disappeared back into the foyer and Connor heard him taking the stairs. They creaked under his weight.

“That’s my dad,” Nathan said.

“I gathered.” Connor sat back down and wiped his hands off on his jeans. Julie may have moved up, but she had terrible taste in men. Greg’s hands were greasy!

Nathan hesitated for a minute and his sudden reluctance to speak drew Connor’s attention.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“Me and Jamie were going to announce some news tonight. We were planning this since last night, so I didn’t know you were going to be here.”

“Um, ok?” Connor snorted. “I don’t care what you do, man. You don’t have to worry about impressing me. I don’t even know you.”

Nathan blinked at him.

“Today’s the first time I’ve ever seen you,” Connor reminded him.

“Huh,” Nathan scratched his fingers through his short hair. “Then maybe I can use you as a test-run for dinner?”

“What do you mean?” Connor asked.

Nathan didn’t answer. He shut his eyes and rolled his shoulders. He shook out his hands like he was about to get limber and when he opened his eyes again, Connor watched him cautiously.

The dark-haired teen gave him a lopsided grin. “Jamie’s 8 weeks pregnant.”

Connor started to laugh. “Are you serious?”

Nathan’s face crumpled. “Yeah? Why’s it funny?”

“Because I thought I was a piece of white trash,” Connor said. “But I managed to make it through high-school without knocking any girls up. Wow... So, how do you think everyone’s going to take it?”

Nathan shrugged and looked out into the backyard. Jamie and M were still deep in their phones. Their heads were together and it looked like Jamie was explaining something detailed because she pointed at things on M’s screen.

“My dad’s going to flip his lid,” the teen said after a moment of reflection. “Ma will be upset, but she’ll get over it. It’s Jamie’s family we’re worried about. We didn’t tell any of our crew yet, either. We just found out a couple days ago.” Nathan looked at him, his lips pressed into a thin line. “You’re the first person I told.”

“Shit, “ Connor said and he struggled to keep the smirk off his face. He couldn’t believe he’d come in time to see this shit show. “I’m sorry for laughing. It’s good, I guess. If you guys are happy.”

“Of course we’re happy,” Nathan said. “Me and Jamie are in love, man. We’ll be together forever.”

“That’s great.” The hilarity wouldn’t stop. “How old are you again?”

“Just turned 17.”

“Even better,” Connor said.

Nathan gave him an odd look, but Julie came bustling into the room and she sighed in relief when she spotted Connor.

“I can show you to your room now.”

“Oh, thanks.” Connor got up. “I’ll see you at dinner,” he told his brother then he followed Julie upstairs.

The second-floor hall was long and stretched in both directions. To the left was a set of stairs that led up to another floor and the hall to the right ended with a large window. Julie took them to the right and they went into a room midway down.

“This is the guest room,” Julie said as she opened the door. “I didn’t blow up the air-mattress yet, but it’s in the box there.”

Connor wandered into the room. It was large with a comfortable looking queen-sized bed. There was a little dresser across from the bed and the box with the twin sized air mattress sat in front of that. An armchair was in the opposite corner, a door to the attached bathroom was on the left, and another one on the back wall led onto a small balcony.

“It’s nice,” Connor said. He sat on the edge of the bed. It was comfortable and firm.

“Good,” Julie smiled a little. “If you want a chance to move your stuff up here, then go ahead. You can park in the driveway. Greg doesn’t care.”

Connor nodded and Julie left him too it. She was being a lot nicer than he’d expected. He went into the bathroom and saw they had a separate shower, a whirlpool tub and a double sink on a marble vanity. There were plenty of clean towels and everything was spotless.

For once, Connor wasn’t bogged down in anger and jealousy. This was his and M’s room and he was content with the spacious arrangements. The phones had been a nice touch too.

Once he’d checked the room out for a few minutes, Connor went down to the truck and parked it in the driveway again. He grabbed their stuff out of the back and took it up to the room where he started to sloppily unpack their clothes into the dresser. That was when M came in.

“This is our room?” M asked. He looked around, clearly just as surprised as Connor had been.

“Yep.” Connor gestured to the dresser. “I put your things in the top drawer.”

“Thanks.” M wandered past him and into the bathroom. “Wow, the bathtub is huge!”

***

They all met up in the dining room off the kitchen a little after 7. The table was an oval shape, and Connor and M sat across from Nathan and Jamie. The adults sat together near one end.

Julie served fish, rice and a green side salad. It wasn’t anything Connor would have requested, but it tasted alright.

“John asked me to cover overtime on Saturday,” Greg said as he shoveled a forkful of fish and rice into his gaping maw.

“The block party’s this Saturday,” Julie said, looking a bit upset.

“It’s Labor Day already?” Greg knocked his fork into his glass. “I thought it was next week…” He moved the glass to assess the damage; some of the juice had sloshed onto the table. “You got napkins?” he grumbled and Julie handed some over. Greg blotted up the spill.

“It’s this weekend. The party starts Saturday afternoon,” she said quietly.

“I’ll be home, then. John needs me from 9 to 1.”

Connor watched the proceedings in silence. Beside him, M followed his example. He munched blissfully on his salad. The boy had dumped a heaping dose of ranch on the greens and it looked like coleslaw.

Gross.

“Well,” Julie spread her napkin in her lap. “I guess that settles that.” Everyone else had already started eating and she finally picked up her silverware.

“I smell bread,” Nathan said around a mouthful of fish and Julie’s eyes widened.

“I forgot the rolls.” She set her fork and knife down and hurried back into the kitchen.

Nathan sipped some juice. “I forgot the block party was this weekend.”

“It was fun last year,” Jamie said. She picked at her salad, pushing a little red tomato around the hills of lettuce.

“We stayed for the food. Someone was having a bonfire on the beach and we checked that out, too. Big deal.”

Jamie rolled her eyes. “I bet we’ll check it out this year. Nobody has anything planned on Saturday.”

Nathan gave Jamie a pointed look. “Remember that thing we’re supposed to go to on Monday night?”

“Yeah, but that’s not until Monday,” Jamie said.

“What’s happening on Monday? You have school the next day,” Greg said. He had more spittle collecting at the corners of his mouth. It looked like he was salivating profusely.

“Dad,” Nathan whined, but the rest of his brilliant bitch fest was cut off when Julie came back into the room with a plate of dinner rolls. “Hell yeah!” Nathan grabbed a roll immediately and ripped into it.

“You could wait until I put the plate down,” Julie complained as she set the plate of rolls near Greg. She sat back down and tried to reclaim her silverware.

“Sounds like your son’s going to a party Monday night,” Greg said as he reached for a roll.

“Way to rat me out, dad,” Nathan rolled his eyes. “Ma! Tell him I can go out if I want.”

“Nathan, you have school Tuesday morning.”

“And I’m off Monday! It’s Labor Day! I won’t be out super late, I promise.”

“You said that last time,” Julie said. Her fork and knife hung over her plate of food, close, but not quite touching it yet. She wasn’t even looking at her plate.

“Did you bring the butter?” Greg asked. His dinner roll was split in two on the middle of his dinner plate. Butterless.

Julie sighed, set her silverware down again, and got up to retrieve the butter.

Greg passed the rolls around the table. When Julie returned with the butter, the argument resumed.

“I’m practically grown. I’m responsible. That’s why I have the Toyota,” Nathan said, pleading his case. “I promise I’ll be home by 1am.”

“So, you’ll have maybe 3 hours of sleep before school, then. Because you’ll come home and get on your computer for a while, then you’ll be up texting Jamie,” Julie said. She had her silverware poised to eat again, but wasn’t daring to risk it. If someone needed something, she’d have to abandon her meal yet again.

“I’ll go straight to bed.”

Julie laughed, a little high-pitched and manic sounding, and it clearly showed her disbelief. “Sure,” she said.

“I will!”

“We’ll talk about it later,” Julie said, setting her cutlery aside.

“Fine,” Nathan said and the table fell into silence.

M’s plate was almost clean and so was Connor’s. He wondered if they should clear out of the room and start dishes or—

“There’s something else I wanted to say, since the whole family’s here,” Nathan said suddenly, drawing the room’s attention. Jamie stopped eating and put her hand on his shoulder. Connor braced himself. Everyone else looked on with varying degrees of interest. “Uh… me and Jamie had an announcement to make,” Nathan looked at his girlfriend. The pretty brunette stared intently into his eyes and Connor could see the desperation in her gaze. Connor looked away from the couple, embarrassed because he knew his little brother was going to fail the girl. Nathan looked back at his parents. “We’ve decided to get married,” he said with an uneasy smile.

Julie’s mouth fell open and her eyebrows scrunched together in an expression of her utter confusion. Greg blotted his greasy, moist mouth with a towel.

“You’re doing what?” he grunted.

“We’re getting married,” Nathan said. His face started to get red.

“And why the hell are you doing that?” Greg’s voice got louder. It boomed around the little dining room. M tensed beside Connor, he dropped his silverware onto his empty plate and pushed his chair back from the table.

“Because…” Nathan looked at Jamie again, then hesitated and fell silent. He was fucking failing already! Connor resisted the urge to facepalm.

“I’m pregnant,” Jamie said suddenly, and Greg immediately slammed his fists on the table, sending the plates and the glasses to clatter and jangle against each other.

“Greg!” Julie cried. “Getting angry isn’t going to help.”

“The fuck it will!” Greg started to get up. His big gut rammed into the table and the plates crashed together again. Julie cried out and Jamie tried to hide behind Nathan. Greg scraped his chair back along the hardwood and stood up to tower over the table and its occupants. “I took you to Wal-Greens a year ago and bought you condoms! I told you to wrap it up! I swear to god, I knew I should have dragged you down to the urologist and had you get a vasectomy!”

“It’s not my fault!” Nathan cried. His face was beet red. “The condom broke!”

“If used correctly, condoms are 99% effective. You fucked it up somehow!” Greg bellowed. “You can’t be trusted. You’re a goddamned child!”

“Shut up, old man!” Nathan got up, ripping Jamie’s hand off his arm. “I’ll come over there and show you I’m not a damned child. You whacked-out, bloated old man—!”

“Get out!” Greg shouted. “Get out of my sight!”

“C’mon Jamie.” Nathan gathered the shaking girl in his arms and the two of them rushed out of the room. Connor heard the front door slam.

Greg slumped down in his chair again. He yelled wordlessly into the silence. Julie had her face in her hands.

M whimpered beside him and Connor gently touched his shoulder. The blond flinched and turned in his direction. His beautiful green eyes were filled with unshed tears.

“C’mon.” Connor whispered. He pulled M into his side and they crept out of the room. He took them out the sliding glass and onto the back patio. It looked like M and Jamie had tied Jack up again, because the dog sat in the grass, tethered to the garden hose.

They went to sit by the dog for a minute. M fell into the grass and put his arms around Jack’s neck. Connor stood over the two of them, watching.

“That guy’s mean,” M said into the dog’s fur.

“Finding out your teenager’s having a baby is usually bad news,” Connor said neutrally. “Nathan told me he was going to tell them. He already knew it was going to go bad. “

“When did he tell you?” M looked up at Connor.

“When we were watching Transformers.”

“Oh,” M looked back into the living room, as if he could see the past conversation in the reflection. “Nathan’s not very nice either,” he said.

Connor smiled. “He’s just a brat. He’s spoiled.”

“You’re awfully defensive,” M said, pouting a little.

“I don’t know. I was kind of expecting to get that reaction from Julie and Greg when we showed up. I thought they’d scream me down and try to shame me, but they welcomed us with open arms. Nathan did a typical dumb teenager move and his parents are pissed. He’s just a dumb kid. They actually seem alright.”

“That was alright?” M seemed shocked.

Connor shrugged. “If I told my dad something like that, he would have hit me. And it wouldn’t have mattered if anyone had been watching. He would have wailed into me no matter who was around to see. That didn’t happen to Nathan. He took his girlfriend, they got in his car and they left. Nobody got hurt.”

“That doesn’t mean it’s alright,” M said.

Connor shrugged again and looked away.

They waited a few more minutes and then Connor suggested they go in to help clean up. He honestly felt pretty bad about what he’d just witnessed. Julie had been magnificently helpful today... he could get his hands dirty washing a few dishes. It wasn’t even a bother.

Back in the dining room, Julie was alone clearing dishes and food from the table. Greg was nowhere to be seen.

“Hey,” Connor said.

Julie jumped a little and turned. “I’m sorry about dinner, boys. Did you two get enough to eat?”

“We’re fine,” Connor said, studying the woman’s face. The wrinkles around her eyes and mouth were very evident in the harsh light slanting through the dining room windows. A few silver hairs shone through the cascade of her dark locks and Connor thought again that she looked much older than he remembered.

She pinched her lips together. “I’m sorry about all the yelling.”

Connor nodded. “We can clean up,” he said. “We’ll put everything away. We’ll figure it out.” He easily took the stack of dirty plates from his mother. She looked like she was going to cry.

“I do dishes at Connor’s all the time,” M spoke up behind him. “I’m a pro.”

Julie leaned in and gave Connor a half hug. It was obstructed by the stack of plates in his arms but even so, it felt more real than their hug earlier out on the front step.

Afterwards, Julie promptly left the room and disappeared. Connor didn’t let it bother him. He understood.

***

A little before 11, Connor started blowing up the air mattress up in the guest bedroom.

M was in the attached bath, taking a shower and Connor had just finished his. There was a lock on the bedroom door and they’d be using it, but the air mattress needed to look slept in, at least. Connor was too paranoid to leave it in the box.

He threw one of the pillows down on the inflated mattress and one of the sheets. There. Good enough. He climbed into bed and listened to the water running in the bathroom. He shut his eyes, calmed by the sound.

And then Jack started barking below their window.

Connor huffed and waited for the barking to stop. The dog had probably seen a squirrel or something.

Five minutes passed and the water turned off. The barking hadn’t let up.

“What’s wrong with the dog?” M asked. He pushed the bathroom door open and stepped out, wrapped in a towel. He approached the little balcony door and pushed aside the drapes. His skin glowed pale in the moonlight. He looked as silky and white as the sheets spread across the bed. The edges of the boy’s towel fell away from his waist and Connor’s gaze fell helplessly down. He looked at M’s smooth, pale ass and imagined sliding behind him and parting those luscious cheeks with his cock.

“Jack’s going crazy out there,” M said.

“He’s been barking for a while now,” Connor said.

“Maybe you should go check on him.”

Connor frowned. He was warm and comfortable in bed, clad in boxers and socks. Fuck that. He wasn’t going outside—

“God damnit!” Came a muffled curse from the room next door. “…have work in the morning!... Damn…. Stupid dog!”

Connor cringed. “I’d better go see what’s up.” He climbed out of bed and quickly pulled on some sweats and a t-shirt. He stepped into his boots and hurried downstairs.

The sliding glass door was locked and the living room was dark, they went to bed early here, Connor thought, then he popped the lock and slid the door open.

“Jack!” he hissed, approaching the dog in the dim moonlight. He hadn’t seen any way to turn on the outside lights, so he crept along the pool best he could.

Jack pulled madly against his restraint, barking on the end of the rope and Connor hurried to reach the distressed animal.

“What are you barking at?” He looked out across the water. A couple boats, their lights dancing under the sway of the waves dotted the bay’s horizon, but there was nothing close by. Maybe something had jumped out of the water? “You’ve got to calm down, you’re freaking everyone out,” he said. “C’mon Jack. Shhh. There’s nothing out here.”

The dog whined and clawed at the ground, but under Connor’s attentions the dog slowly began to mellow out. He tried to lick him in the face.

“Cut it out.” Connor tried not to smile. He turned his face away and the dog stuck his tongue in his ear. “Alright! That’s enough.”

Connor got up and the dog looked up at him desperately. “You must be feeling antsy. You’ve been tied up all day,” he sighed and untied the dog. They started walking across the lawn and took a shortcut through the side yard and to the walkway out front. It was late and there was no one out so Connor felt comfortable walking the dog without a leash. The entire street was full of mansions. Fancy cars sat in front of them, big TV’s, fancy artwork, and other useless shit in gold and marble shone through the windows. He remembered the block party was this weekend and he dreaded meeting a horde of rich snobs. Maybe he and M could find some way to escape.

The dog stopped a couple times to do his business and Connor waited patiently. Now that he was out of bed and outside, he was enjoying the balmy air and the gentle breeze sorting through his hair. They’d gone maybe three blocks and he was thinking about turning around when the dog snarled and started barking.

Connor looked up.

Across the street there was another big, fancy mansion. Unlike the other houses though, it was completely dark.

The dog’s barking slowly faded into the background as he studied the black windows of the sprawling two-story.

There! A face appeared in the window on the second floor, all the way to the right. It was a pale, angular face, but it was too far away and the lighting wasn’t strong enough to give detail.

Connor stared, narrowing his eyes to pick out the face’s enigmatic features. A faint crackling started in his head and ice shot through his veins. It took hold of his feet so when he tried to move, he found he couldn’t even lift them off the pavement.

Spit flew from Jack’s mouth. The hair at the back of his neck stood up straight. He was crouched in front of Connor, and he too didn’t seem to be able to move any further.

And then a voice whispered in Connor’s head, cutting through the crackling static.

“Don’t trust him… don’t trust him… don’t trust him….”

Connor’s body shook violently, but that was the only movement he could achieve. It was like that dream… where he been unable to control his body as it floated through the air.

The face was still in the window. Whoever it was, they seemed to be watching with the same intensity Connor watched them.

The voice in his head suddenly rose in pitch. “Don’t trust him!” cried the disembodied voice and tears collected in the corners of Connor’s eyes. He couldn’t move at all.

The voice in his head began to scream. “DON’T TRUST HIM! DON’T TRUST HIM!” It kept repeating, in smaller, quieter voices, and then in loud booming ones. The chanting merged with the static and the face in the window seemed to press closer, a large, thin hand appeared and it glowed white through the glass. A tiny whimper of fear escaped Connor’s tightly clenched teeth.

That was the man in black. He knew it in his soul. Those weren’t eyes staring back at him, but the emotionless lenses of the agent’s wrap-around glasses.

The voices echoed and reverberated painfully inside his head. The frantic sounds bounced around his skull, they raked tiny, razor sharp claws across the tender membrane of his brain… He tried to scream but his jaw wouldn’t open, it felt like it was wired shut. He drove his teeth into his tongue and tasted blood.

The agent lowered his hand and slowly, the face faded into the darkness of the house.

The voices stopped abruptly. All at once the night was plunged into a deep and ominous silence. Fear spiked through Connor’s body. Sweat beaded from his brow and he shook, straining against the invisible forces that kept his feet fixed to the cement.

Suddenly he felt a presence behind him. He whimpered and panted hard, forcing his eyes left and right as he struggled to see what stood behind him. He couldn’t turn his head, he couldn’t move his body. His eardrums must have finally burst because he there wasn’t a single fucking sound to hear!

“Don’t trust him,” a voice whispered behind Connor, right in his ear, and the sound came back in a roaring riot.

He lurched and fell to the ground on his knees, shaking like a leaf, and he looked up and wildly around into the dark neighborhood.

Jack barked like mad. He foamed ravenously at the mouth and tore off behind Connor. He disappeared between the houses.

Connor let out a panicked gasp as the dog barked off in the near distance. The man in black was nowhere in sight though and the noises were gone. He was completely alone. Breathing hard, he scrambled to his feet. “Jack!” he yelled and waited a few seconds, frightened and shaking still. Jack barked again and it sounded closer than before. Incredibly freaked out, Connor started walking towards Julie’s.

“Let’s go Jack!” he called behind him and finally, the dog came flying down the middle of the street. Connor paused and waited for him to catch up, but once Jack fell in step beside him, Connor took off running. The dog followed him easily, his tongue hanging out and flapping in the wind.

They made it back to the house in minutes and Connor cut through the side yard. He didn’t even think about it, he opened the door, pushed Jack inside, then locked the door behind them.

Panting, Connor stared out into the dark water, at the way the moonlight glittered over the bay. He watched the waves swell, watched the way they tugged on the pale reflection of the moon. Then a shimmering beam of light shot out from above the house. It flew over the water, ascending rapidly, before it zoomed off at an incredible speed and disappeared.

Connor blinked and then he grabbed Jack by the scruff his neck and hustled them upstairs. He forced his way into the guest room and flicked on the lights.

M sat up in bed. “Connor,” he gasped. “You brought the dog.”

Connor stared blankly at M. He wasn’t sure he could accuse him of anything. He didn’t even know what that light had been. Or what had just happened outside… had that just really happened?

“Connor, what happened?”

Good question.

“I took the dog for a walk,” Connor said.

“Ok?”

“I… I…” Connor bit his tongue. He looked at the blond boy sitting cross-legged on the bed.

Don’t trust him...

He wanted to tell M about his encounter with the man in black, but he couldn’t find it in himself to do so. A paranoid sliver of doubt cut into his insides and Connor changed his mind in an instant. “The dog wouldn’t settle down when we got back,” he said instead. “I think he’s afraid of the dark.”

M smiled. “Aww, poor puppy.” He patted the bed and Jack jumped up onto the mattress.

Connor frowned at the two of them. “C’mon M. I don’t even let Jack sleep on my bed.”

“I know.” M let the dog lick him in the face a couple more times, laughing, before he pushed him off the bed. “You’ll have to sleep down there, boy,” he told the sad-faced mutt.

Connor kicked his boots off in the corner and went into the bathroom. He shut the door.

He looked at himself in the mirror. His face was pale and his eyes were wide. He didn’t know why M hadn’t asked more about his trip outside. Connor didn’t even look ok.

But whatever. Connor didn’t want to explain so it was just as well. He didn’t know what had just happened, or what the man in black had been trying to tell him, but he was paranoid and the fear of speaking about it was too large to overcome. He slowly washed his face and hands and went back to the bedroom.

The lights were off and when Connor checked, the door was locked again.

He climbed into bed with M.

“Good night,” the blond said, rolling over immediately.

Connor laid on his back and stared up at the ceiling. The moonlight cut through the gauzy drapes and left a large patch of white above the bed. He stared at the light as M’s breathing fell into deep, even rhythms. The dog was quiet, too. He laid in front of the balcony door, stony and silent like a gargoyle.

Connor didn’t find sleep for a very long time. When he did, he was haunted by strange dreams that tore at his sense of safety and comfort. And then he couldn’t even remember them when he woke up…

***

The next morning Connor had a terrible headache. His temples pounded and a dull pain burned deep in his skull. He stared sightlessly at the ceiling for a few unending minutes, reeling in the pain.

The sounds of the house coming alive floated through the door. Muffled rap music drifted over from the room across the hall and he could hear the shower running in the master to their left. His senses felt shot. There was a strange ringing in his ears too, and the faint crackling of static…

M grumbled in his sleep and he flipped over, kicking his leg out from under the thin sheet. As Connor watched him, his headache seemed to fade. The boy breathed softly and his hair shone brilliantly in a shaft of morning light.

The shower had turned off without Connor noticing it, but when the music stopped playing, he looked towards the door. A set of light, shuffling feet darted past out in the hallway and a couple minutes after that, he heard big lurching steps going downstairs, too.

Connor strained his ears to hear what was happening downstairs. He couldn’t hear much, but he thought he heard the door slam maybe a half hour later. He definitely heard some cars starting in the driveway.

He was feeling better, and now that the majority of house was empty, Connor decided to risk getting Jack back to the yard. He got out of bed and went around to gently prod the dog awake.

“I’ve got to get you outside before someone sees you,” he whispered.

He led the dog out of the bedroom and they crept quietly downstairs. Connor was impressed with the dog. Jack seemed to get the whole ‘sneak’ action and he kept low to the carpet, careful not to make a sound.

When they got to the living room, Connor’s heart flew up into his throat.

Julie sat on at the desk in front of the Mac computer. She had coffee in one hand and the mouse in the other. She glanced up from the computer screen.

“I won’t tell anyone if you don’t,” she said, eyeing the dog over a narrow set of reading glasses. “Please don’t make a habit out of it, though.”

“Ok,” Connor said. He walked the dog across the living room and towards the back door. “He wouldn’t calm down last night.”

Julie smiled and Connor unlocked the back door.

“I’m looking at some job searches,” she said and Connor glanced at her again. She had her eyes trained on the computer. “There’s quite a few entry level positions. Have you thought about what you wanted to do yet?”

Connor shook his head.

“Well, when you come back in go grab yourself a coffee and I’ll get you a chair,” she said. “We can look at what’s available.”

Connor nodded and took the dog outside. He thought about taking Jack for a quick walk to relieve himself, but noticed that at the edge of the flower bed, there was a nice little pile where Jack had been doing just that, all on his own.

He made a mental note to start walking the dog during daylight hours. And also to clean up Jack’s mess. He tied the dog up for now, though, and paused to feed and water him.

Back inside, Connor sat at the desk with a coffee in front of him. Julie scrolled through a web page of job postings.

“Have you ever thought about doing construction? They pay really well. It’s a little dangerous, but I think you’re smart enough to follow rules and keep safe.”

Connor nodded and Julie opened the post to a new tap.

“What about… landscaping?” she asked.

“I’d try it.”

“They make good money, too,” Julie said. “What about factory work or warehouse labor?”

Connor sipped his coffee. “Check, check.”

Julie smiled and opened the next two as well. “We should get started on some of these. They’re piling up already.”

Connor watched his mother get situated on the first application. Before she could start though, he asked her a question.

“So, Nathan came home last night?”

“Around midnight,” Julie said with a nod. “I thought he might stay with Jamie, but he came home.”

“How was it this morning?” he asked and immediately felt very nosy. Julie didn’t seem offended, though.

“Greg was quiet and so was Nathan. They crossed paths, but neither of them spoke to the other.”

Connor nodded. “Are you alright?”

Julie smiled. She looked flattered. “I’m mostly alright. I had bad dreams all night, though. Most of them were about Jamie.”

Connor was silent. He stared into his coffee.

“You don’t have any kids, do you?” Julie asked. “I mean, I asked your father, but he’s never sure about anything.”

“No.” Connor looked up. He laughed at the look of disappointment on Julie’s face. “And I’m not planning on having any, either.”

“Darn,” Julie said. “Kids can be a blessing, if you’re ready for them.”

Connor’s smile faded and he shrugged. “Whatever.”

“Ugh,” Julie slumped a little in her office chair. “I just hope they aren’t serious about getting married. I think it’s a recipe for disaster.”

Connor felt bad for the young couple, he honestly did, but he felt Julie was probably right.

“Well, enough about them. Let’s get some of these applications out there and get you working again.”

Connor could find no reason to refuse, so they spent the next hour filling out 4 different applications and Connor was hopeful, if not freaked out, about the future.