Then There Was New York

by Kristina Garlick

  Broderick: “Fine, but don’t take too long.”

  Broderick was such an ass.

  Riley: “Depends on the line in the women’s room.”

  I turned on my heel and headed into the store. True to my word, I did use the bathroom but I also took the time to phase into the correct timeline so I could check my phone. I quickly sent a text to Arcadia to remind her to hurry her ass up as Broderick was starting to get suspicious. I couldn’t let him know that what he was seeing was only temporary.

  As quickly as I phased away, I returned to the alternative reality. Then I made my way over to the coffee shop by the registers. I decided to get a hot chocolate and a cookie, which I began eating as I walked back to the guys.

  Jordan: “Where is mine?”

  Riley: “Supervillains don’t get cookies.”

  Jordan: “Seriously?”

  Riley: “You’re more than welcome to walk yourself inside if you have the right currency on you.”

  Jordan: “Is that why you stole that dead man’s cash?”

  Broderick: “Enough! I swear to fuck, Riley, you are testing my patience. If you do not get me to my new life, I will … I will …”

  Riley: “You will what, human?”

  Broderick picked up an empty beer bottle that was just lying on the ground in the parking lot and chucked it at a nearby car. Momentarily, I was startled, but I don’t know why as I was well aware that he was psycho. The only thing that held Broderick together was his narcissistic, obsessive need for control.

  Broderick: “Are you both ready to pay attention to me?”

  Child.

  Jordan: “Yes, we are sorry.”

  No, I am not.

  Broderick: “Good. I forgive you both. Now, Riley, locate where I live, and Jordan, take us there. It’s time for me to start my new life.”

  Riley: “I’m not sure what you think I can do, but locating people isn’t one of them.”

  Broderick: “Then what use are you other than for a quick fuck behind the dumpster?”

  I slapped Broderick with a great deal of force.

  Jordan: “You deserved that.”

  Shocked; I was most definitely shocked. Was Jordan actually siding to me? Could there be hope? No, I needed … I needed to stop thinking that there might be a future for Jordan and me, as we were doomed.

  Broderick: “You don’t get your niece back until—”

  Jordan: “Relax, my friend. I got you.”

  Broderick: “I smell a plan.”

  Jordan: “More like a song.”

  October 7th, 12:39 a.m.

  A few days ago, I would have never thought that I would be standing in the middle of a police station and watching illegal shit go down, but nevertheless, here I was. Apparently, munching on a donut was not distraction enough to keep me from feeling bad for the officers at the Fort Myers Police Department; they didn’t stand a chance again Jordan’s song. Rather than go to calls, Jordan made the officers tirelessly search their databases for trace of Broderick Baron Boucher and Jordan Jacobs.

  Broderick was easy for the police to locate as he had a rap sheet for petty crimes in three states, including Florida. Currently, he was living in Brooklyn, New York, and was on probation. I couldn’t help but smirk when one of the officers read the information out loud as, no matter what reality, Broderick was still a piece of shit.

  As for Jordan, his record was clean, so the police were having a hard time locating him. Broderick had come up with the idea that the officers should try to gain access to DMV systems in several states, but they were hitting various road blocks. It was only because I was bored and trying to fight sleep that I decided to try looking online and sure enough, with only a few clicks I found Jordan James of this reality as his social media presence was strong.

  In a world where the Raz & Berry Show never happened and New York was safe, Jordan would have become a comic book artist; not only that, but Jordan was capable of having a healthy and functional relationship as, in this life, he appeared to be happily married to some really pretty veterinarian. With a bit more digging, I discovered that they lived somewhere in Montclair, New Jersey, and apparently were in Mexico. People really need to stop posting when they are away from their home.

  Broderick: “Okay, here is the plan. Jordan, you take me to my home in Brooklyn and I will then take—I don’t know, three days to see if this life is for me; if not, we will modify another point in time.”

  Broderick was starting to give me a headache. He seemed to think that life was a video game and he could have multiple restarts if things didn’t go his way. I thought about arguing with him, but instead I reminded myself that I was just biding my time.

  Jordan: “Three days seems good, but I think we should pick up some burner phones before I drop you off at home, in case we need to get in touch with one another.”

  Broderick: “Agreed. Now, Riley, what happens to the old me?”

  Riley: “Huh?”

  Broderick: “The me of this time? Are there two of me running around?”

  Riley: “At the moment, I suppose there are.”

  Broderick: “What does that mean?”

  Riley: “It means I am not one hundred percent sure how this works.”

  Broderick: “How can you not know?”

  Riley: “Typically, I am alone when I travel back in time. If I do bring someone, which is rare, it’s usually only a few hours or days back, not years. I have never run across other versions of people when they are with me, so I have a theory of what occurs. I have seen myself, but I don’t think the same rules apply.”

  Broderick: “Stop dragging this out and just tell me what you think happens.”

  Riley: “If Broderick one, which is you, meets—we will call him Broderick two—the second one will disappear. Broderick two should return if you vacate this time. Whatever happens to you, I imagine Broderick two will feel the ramifications when he is returned. So I suggest that you don’t get stabbed or anything along those lines, or Broderick two will be severely confused about how he got the injury.”

  Broderick: “Why does it have to be stabbed?”

  Riley: “First thing I thought of when it came to you.”

  I flashed Broderick a smile.

  Broderick: “One day … one day … it will go one of two ways.”

  Jordan coughed to try and alleviate tension.

  Jordan: “Anyway, are you both ready to go to Brooklyn?”

  Broderick: “More than you know.”

  After turning into his demon form, Jordan put one hand on Broderick’s shoulder. Jordan’s other free hand snaked around my wrist and then we teleported to the shithole studio apartment that belonged to Broderick. What we didn’t count on was Broderick two being at home or how quickly he would evaporate away. Somehow, when the smoke cleared, Broderick one was standing where the other one was, across the room, wearing his clothing.

  Riley: “Huh, I guess my dream was correct.”

  Jordan: “Wait, you based your time travel assumptions on a dream?”

  Riley: “It was right, so I don’t understand why you are upset.”

  Broderick: “I don’t think it really matters as I can’t see myself staying in this dump for very long. This is not at all the life I envisioned for myself. My family was loaded, so I really need to do some research, and Jordan, you need to help.”

  Jordan: “Of course.”

  Suddenly, there was a loud knock at the front door. Both Broderick and Jordan looked at me with questioning eyes. Shaking my head, I walked over to the door and answered it. In front of me stood a woman, and I am not saying the lady was a hooker, but if I judged her by what she wore …

  Woman: “Who the fuck are you?”

  Hmm …

  Riley: “The cousin.”

  The woman’s face softened.

  Woman: “Good, because I would have beat your ass. Now, get out of my way so I can kiss my baby.”

  The woman pushed past me and ran towards Broderick
. Within seconds, Broderick and the woman were playing tonsil hockey. Ugh, it was too early for this shit. After two or three minutes, Jordan tapped the woman repeatedly on the back, which was a weird thing to do, but luckily, she pulled away from Broderick.

  Jordan: “Excuse me, I didn’t catch your name.”

  Cherry: “Cherry Jones.”

  Cliché.

  Jordan: “Cherry, I’m Jordan and it’s nice to meet you.”

  Cherry: “Likewise. Are you a cousin too?”

  Jordan: “No, just a friend. Dating the cousin.”

  Almost fell over. Yep, I literally almost fell in shock from Jordan’s statement. Sure, I knew his words were pretend, but I couldn’t avoid the aching shudder that raked my heart.

  Cherry: “Oh, so I couldn’t tempt you to join my baby and me—”

  Riley: “Aaaannnndddd that is our cue to leave. Jordan, grab the phones, and after you program them both, you can return one to Broderick. Have a good night, or should I say morning. Whatever, bye.”

  As I quickly ran out of Broderick’s apartment, I heard Jordan laughing not too far behind me. I was glad someone was amused by the situation as my nausea factor was at its limits. All I wanted now was a shower to scrub my disgust away; oh, and sleep … lots of sleep.

  Riley: “I hate you both.”

  Jordan: “You may hate him, but you don’t hate me.”

  Riley: “I should.”

  Jordan: “What do you feel?”

  I needed to change the topic.

  Riley: “I wonder why Cherry didn’t care that Broderick look different. The version of him that was running around here had a hideous mullet thing going.”

  Jordan: “I think you answered your own question. It was quite awful.”

  Riley: “That’s probably it, or maybe when one goes away, everyone forgets what the other one looked like.”

  Jordan: “Who knows? You’re getting into some science shit I don’t understand. Or maybe it’s magic; who the fuck knows. Regardless, we’ve been up for a while and should probably find a hotel to crash at.”

  Riley: “Why don’t we go to your house?”

  Jordan: “What if I see myself or worse still, my wife? I don’t love that broad and the idea of being married to a stranger is giving me cold sweats.”

  I lightly chuckled.

  Riley: “If this is the world you and Broderick want, then you will have to go home sometime.”

  Jordan: “Will I lose my powers if I run into my other self?”

  Riley: “Probably not, but we don’t have to test that theory now.”

  Jordan: “What does that mean?”

  Riley: “You and Diane—”

  Jordan: “Is that her name?”

  Riley: “Let me finish. You and Diane are on vacation at some resort in Mexico until the twentieth of this month.”

  Jordan: “How do you know this?”

  Riley: “Social media, of course. With someone who has such a large following online, you would think the non-enhanced version of you would be a bit smarter about what he posted. After all, his house could easily be broken into.”

  Jordan: “Okay … okay, I see where you are going with this.”

  Riley: “All you have to do is sing song to the tax collector in Montclair, New Jersey, and bam, address is ours.”

  Jordan: “Don’t you think a hotel would be better?”

  Riley: “Is Jordan Jacobs scared to go home?”

  I knew goading Jordan would work as, a few seconds later, we were at the tax collector’s office. After quickly securing the address, Jordan and I teleported to the backyard of his house. Apparently, Jordan’s horns sensed people out front and thus modified where we landed to avoid us becoming spectacles or government experiments.

  Jordan: “It’s a good thing we are out back.”

  Riley: “Why is that?”

  Jordan: “Look at the sticker on the window. It says that the house is armed by JST Solutions. Before we go in, I need to disable the security system, but in order to do that I need to activate one of these burner phones so that I can locate the office or phone number for JST.”

  Riley: “Well, do what you need to do.”

  Jordan: “Where are you going?”

  Riley: “Not sure why you have a treehouse in your yard, but it looks like a good place to nap until you get us inside.”

  Jordan: “It was probably there before I bought the house … wait, what the fuck am I saying? I never bought—well, I am sure you know what I mean. This timeline thing is getting ridiculous.”

  Riley: “Your idea, cupcake … your idea.”

  Chapter 5

  October 7th, 11:45 a.m.

  It didn’t take long for the master of manipulation, aka Jordan, to get us inside the house. I was only able to “nap” for about twenty minutes. In truth, I phased to the proper timeline and called Arcadia, but this time it was actually Mac who answered.

  Mac: “Riley, you don’t know happy I am to hear your voice.”

  Riley: “Good to hear you too, friend, but this has to be quick. I’m pretending to nap in a treehouse while Jordan works on disabling a security system.”

  Mac: “What?”

  Riley: “You don’t want to know.”

  Mac: “Probably not, but we have some good news. I think I have managed to narrow down the location of Ego’s hideout.”

  Riley: “Narrow by how much?”

  Mac: “Within one hundred miles of Jackson Hole, Wyoming.”

  Riley: “That’s a large area.”

  Mac: “I know, but we are trying our best.”

  Riley: “Are you sure it’s Ego?”

  Mac: “Hailey and I configured the Cortex device to locate enhanced persons with Ego’s types of ability. It took a lot of coding but we did manage to get a spike about an hour ago. I assume it was when he must have stepped outside or was under a great deal of stress.”

  Riley: “So it is him.”

  Mac: “I would bet money on it.”

  Riley: “Great. There is one other thing. If I text you an address, can you have someone bring me a pair of energy shackles tomorrow morning, say around 7:30 a.m.?”

  Mac: “What are you going to do?”

  Riley: “Not sure, but I figure they could come in handy.”

  Mac: “Okay, I might have Seth deliver the shackles.”

  Riley: “Seth? Drawing a blank.”

  Mac: “He owns a bar in New Orleans but for the most part he’s a silent manager as he is the cook and bartender at the Security Safe House. You met him once at a party.”

  Riley: “Still drawing a blank.”

  Mac: “Hailey’s dashingly handsome brother. He’s the guy you teased me about dating my ex, Tersina, while we were at said party.”

  Riley: “Ah yes, the guy who wears a lot of flannel and has a sexy beard thing going.”

  Mac: “We are getting off topic, but yes.”

  Riley: “Sorry, I haven’t slept. So have him meet me at the address I text you in a sec, and I will be there to pick them up.”

  Mac: “Okay, he will be there and I will talk to you later.”

  Riley: “Just texted you the address. Sounds good. Bye.”

  As soon as I hung up the phone, I laid down on the hard wooden floor of the tree house. Knowing that Jordan would be here shortly, I pretended to sleep as that would sell the lie best that I was going along with this new world. When Jordan finally did pop into the treehouse to tell me the security was off, he didn’t seem to question what I was doing; for now, it appears that Jordan doesn’t expect that I am working an angle in hopes of besting him.

  Once inside the house, I began to explore the various rooms, only stopping to marvel at the original artwork done by the Jordan of this timeline, which was hanging on the walls. It was a shame that the Jordan I knew, how his life had taken such a dark turn, as he obviously had real talent. Being a comic book nerd, I would have preferred the artist version to the more ruthless and cutthroat one I knew.

  J
ordan: “What are your thoughts?”

  Riley: “Can you really draw like this?”

  Jordan: “I used to before …”

  Riley: “Well, regardless of what happens, you should start drawing again. You have a real talent.”

  It was at that moment that I realized that Jordan was standing too close and that his hands were on my shoulder. I licked my lips and looked into his eyes as my heart began to beat faster. If I didn’t do something quick, he would kiss me and—so I coughed, which killed the moment.

  Riley: “I’m going to go shower and then help myself to your wife’s pjs.”

  Jordan: “Please don’t call her that. And we have to go to the grocery store to pick up a few things before crashing for the night.”

  Riley: “Why?”

  Jordan: “No food in the house. And before you say it, we are not ordering pizza.”

  Riley: “C’mon, why?”

  Jordan: “You know how much I despise fast food.”

  Riley: “Can’t I just stay here while you go to the store?”

  Jordan: “And hear you bitch about me getting foods you don’t like?”

  Riley: “I can’t help it that you are a health nut. I was actually kind of surprised you wanted a cookie earlier for that reason.”

  Jordan: “I’ve relaxed my diet some, but that doesn’t mean I want to live on takeout for the next few days.”