Intervention: God's Other Children

by Rob Mclean

  “Umm, Angela,” he said blinking. “I think?”

  “Surname?”

  “Don’t know.” His eyes went even wider when John leaned closer. “Honestly.”

  As much as he would love to have beaten a full and frank confession from these two try-hards, John knew he wasn’t going to get any satisfaction or resolution from this. Not to mention the hours of paperwork involved. Besides, while he was wasting his time with these two, the rest of the place could be in chaos. Reluctantly, he waved them away.

  “Okay, get them out of here before I really lose it.”

  Marcus and Grace hustled Zeke and Blake out the room. John followed their progress on the surveillance monitors all the way to the back door. Marcus threw them out into the alleyway, none too gently. As they picked themselves up, Grace pulled out her baton and marched towards them.

  Zeke pushed the chubby geek towards the bouncers and ran as fast as he could. Still drunk and groggy, he careened into a crate of empty bottles. Blake cowered and covered his head at Grace’s boots. John could imagine the whimpering pleas that the chubby geek must be making. He saw Grace shoo him off with a prod and wave of her baton. John chuckled as he watched the geeky, fat boy trying to regain his dignity and hurry away down the alley.

  John turned to the girl asleep and sprawled on the lounge. “I really hope you’re worth all this trouble.”

  *

  The sportsman’s club closed at 3am. Jarred, being a student with exams, had gone home long ago. John envied him.

  The music was turned off and the patrons had to be ushered out with the whole place checked for stragglers. Then once the tills were counted and balanced and the takings put away in the manager’s safe, he left the regular hotel staff to clean and lock up.

  No one had called for Angela and no one had asked after her. She was still sleeping on the lounge.

  John, Grace, Akeem and Marcus stood around looking at each other. “Any ideas?” John asked hopefully at the ring of blank faces.

  “You’ll have to stay with her, boss,” Marcus said.

  “What? Here?” John turned to Grace. “You should do it.”

  “Why? Because I’m a woman?”

  “Well, sure.”

  “Doesn’t the company have some sort of Standard Operating Procedure for this sort of thing?” Akeem, ever the diplomat, asked.

  “The responsibility goes with rank,” Grace gave John a cool stare. “Doesn’t it boss?”

  “Rank can delegate,” John returned her stare with a grin.

  “You want to authorize the overtime?”

  “You mean you wouldn’t look after an abandoned girl simply out of kindness?”

  “I say drop her off at a hospital,” Grace said and turned away.

  “Yeah, like take her to Accident and Emergency at a hospital and just leave her there?” Marcus asked. John couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic or just stupid.

  “No way.” John shook his head. “Someone would walk out with her for sure.”

  “What about taking her to the police station?” Marcus asked, shrugging his massive shoulders.

  “That would take all night. They’d be flat out after the rioting and the cells would all be full. If some felon didn’t do her over, I wouldn’t put it past some cop.”

  “You’re not the trusting type, are you, Johnny?” Grace called out over her shoulder as she walked away.

  John took another look at the sleeping girl. “I guess neither of you guys are about to volunteer to stay back with me?”

  The pair of bouncers just looked at each other and laughed.

  “Then it looks like I’ll have to take her home, doesn’t it?” John strode out of the office without another word. He had a bad feeling about this, but he reasoned that at least at home he would have his brother to help and to vouch for him if things went south.

  “It will be alright,” his father’s voice reassured him. John sighed and brought his car around the back and called Grace to ask her to help him put her into his car.

  “I’ve gotta say, this is not a good idea, Johnny.” Grace frowned as she helped John lift the sleeping girl.

  “Objection noted,” he replied.

  They carried Angela between them down to the back door. Marcus met them as he was putting out the rubbish.

  “Hey, boss, don’t we have a lost and found box or something?” Marcus grinned widely at his own joke, showing all his missing teeth.

  “Yeah, funny. Open the door, will ya?”

  “You really gonna be taking her home, boss?” The grin fell from the big man’s face.

  “Can’t think what else to do with her and no one else is volunteering.” John glared at everyone present.

  “Is dat a good idea, boss?”

  “Isn’t there somewhere else you can take her?” Grace asked, “like your mom’s?”

  John gave her a wry smile. “You haven’t met my mom.”

  “Still, I just think you’re letting yourself in for a lot of trouble if anything goes wrong.”

  “How do you mean?” John’s eyes narrowed.

  “She gets drugged and wakes up at your place. Why wouldn’t she assume you’re the one who drugged her and report you?”

  “But you guys would back me up.”

  “Yeah, of course, but the mud sticks, especially with the company higher-ups,” Grace spelt it out. “Even if you’ve done nothing wrong.”

  “Even if?” John clenched his teeth. “Look, if you’re so concerned, why don’t you look after her?”

  “No, no. Thanks to my ex-husband, I’ve had more than enough to do with lawyers.”

  “Nah, she wouldn’t do that.”

  “Why not? Look at her. She’s a street-walking hussy.”

  “I don’t think so. I have a good feeling about her.”

  “Oh no, you’re not feeling romantic about her, are you?”

  “No! Nothing like that,” John frowned. Not with the sort of girl who hung with a loser like that Zeke. “Protective maybe,” he conceded, “but that’s all.”

  “Protective is okay,” Grace said. “I can live with that.”

  “Okay then, I’ll leave you lot to lock up. I’ll see you both tomorrow night, and we’ll see how much worse things are then.”

  “Can hardly wait,” Grace grinned.

  *

  As he drove off, he wondered just how much crazier people would be then. Even if the alien ship did nothing, just the thought of it being there had a deep effect on people’s psyche. Earlier tonight people could have convinced themselves that it was just an unmanned alien probe or an ark ship travelling slower than light, which meant they weren’t much more advanced than us. But after tonight, with it responding to our TV and radio waves and doing the hyperspace jump thing, no one could deny that the aliens were a lot further advanced than us. He resigned himself to the fact that all he could do was to hope that they would turn out to be friendly. One problem at a time.

  As his thoughts wandered, so did his eyes. It was then that he saw the lone ragged man on the street corner under a street lamp. A homeless vagrant with a decrepit shopping trolley full of possessions. He was wearing a pair of large cardboard sheets tied together over his shoulders. John could see the message he had written on the front in irregular black bold print. ‘Rev 1:7.’

  John didn‘t know much about the Bible, but he did know that Rev was referring to the book of Revelations, which were the apocalyptic doomsday prophecies at the end. He made a mental note to look it up sometime.

  Chapter 6

  John shared an apartment with his brother on the seventh floor in a high rise block. It wasn’t on the beachfront, but you could see the coast from the balcony, and the sea breeze was a welcome relief in the summer evenings.

  It was owned by the company John worked for, and the rent was subsidized and deducted before tax. It helped him to put away a small sum, which he didn‘t know what to do with. He always figured he needed something put away for that proverbial rain
y day.

  John parked his old V8 dinosaur in his assigned spot in the under-croft. It was cheap, as less people wanted big cars. They were all too worried about the fuel costs. John pedalled his bike most places during the day for fitness, but to and from the nightclubs it was safer to drive the beast. Besides he enjoyed the ride. Since he didn’t do many miles in it, the running costs weren’t too bad. He figured he could buy a lot of petrol for the money he saved on buying a hybrid.

  On the way home he had heard on the radio that the original alien signal had stopped. That hadn’t surprised him. That jerk Blake had been right about it jumping through hyperspace ahead of its original signal. How long it stayed out beyond Mars was anyone’s guess, but he wouldn’t be losing sleep about it tonight, unlike the rioters downtown.

  He was more concerned about the comatose girl in the passenger seat. His plan was to leave Angela in the car and get Jarred to help him carry her up. His swipe card got him to the apartment complex that the company supplied.

  Reaching the apartment door, he saw that it was unlocked. He opened the door and paused in the doorway, waiting. He listened hard while straining his eyes, trying to pierce the nearly totally darkened room. Only by the light from the hallway could he make out a shape on the lounge. He ventured in and soon heard the gentle snoring sounds that told him someone was asleep there. Moving closer, he saw his brother Jarred curled up, asleep. The television had turned itself off as part of its energy saving program and had left him in the dark.

  Jarred must have stayed up late watching the alien news and crashed on the lounge from sheer exhaustion. He must really be worried about it.

  John shook him gently until he stirred. “Hey bro, wake up, man.”

  Jarred took a moment to reboot. “What’s up?”

  “Need your help little bro.”

  “Whoa, there’s a first.”

  John explained on the way down to the car. Angela was still asleep in the front passenger seat when they arrived.

  “Man, she is spectacular,” Jarred said as if he was watching an eclipse of the moon. “What are you going to do with her?”

  “Look after her for the night,” John said trying to hide his growing nervousness.

  “I hope you mean that in the nicest possible way?”

  “Very funny. Just help me get her up to my room. And no groping.” It had seemed a noble idea at the time, but now that reality of having an unconscious girl under his protection was only just dawning. If only she didn’t look so damn good.

  She didn’t stir as they carried her in through the basement car park doors to the lobby. As he pressed the lift button, John wondered just how much of the drug she had been given and how long it would take to wear off. It had been four hours since he had found her and, she didn’t look like she would be waking up in a hurry.

  They eventually dumped her on John’s queen-sized bed.

  “Do you need any more help?” Jarred asked, but John could see that he was obviously feeling awkward about the whole situation. John could hardly blame him. He felt much the same himself. Having a beautiful blonde laying unconscious on his bed, with her skirt riding up her thighs, was not a normal end to a night.

  Jarred was clearly relieved when John answered no. He quickly left the room, and when he closed the door behind him, John wondered what Jarred thought his brother was going to be doing with this woman.

  John eased her stilettos from her feet. The shoes looked fairly new and expensive. Looking at the rest of her clothes, he decided that she had spent most of her money on her shoes and probably that fascinator thing. He saw that it was irretrievably tangled in her hair, and although it would be a torture to sleep with, he decided it would be safer left alone.

  He stood back and looked at her. Her expression was peaceful and serene. It was easy to imagine that she was simply sleeping because she felt so secure and trusting of him.

  Her face was undeniably pretty. He wondered what colour her eyes were, but wasn’t about to pry them open to find out. Her mouth hung slightly open. Her innocent, full lips had feminine curves that met delicately at the corners of her mouth. He thought they looked impossibly delicate. He wondered how they didn’t rupture and how soft they really were. What would they be like to kiss?

  Suddenly he became aware of desires that he had been ignoring ever since he had first seen her. While he was the supervisor at work, these feelings had been easy to repress, but now, in the privacy of his bedroom, he was becoming worried that they may not be so easy to ignore.

  She sighed and her chest rose and fell slowly, drawing his attention.

  It had been ages since he’d been with Natalie. Since losing her, he had outwardly kept a stony indifference, but now, as he watched this woman sleep, he felt the depth of his own loss. He saw his hand tracing the curve of her lips, as it hovered above her and he remembered the soft feel. He now longed to feel that intimacy again.

  “That’s not yours to touch, son,” his inner voice chided him.

  John jolted as if he had been slapped.

  He berated himself. It was not like him to have ever thought of doing something bad to this strange woman, especially as he was supposed to be looking after her. He cursed quietly at himself and the situation he was now in.

  He realized now that he had desired her from the moment he first saw her. He had now put himself in this awkward position, rather than letting her go, and had gone against good advice and taken her home. It was a measure of the trust his people had in him that they allowed him to do it. He wasn’t about to disappoint them and disgrace himself now.

  He threw a quilt over her and wished her a good night’s sleep. As he put her shoes on the end of the bed he noticed a banknote inside- a Benjamin Franklin. Probably her emergency fund, he thought. Safe as any place.

  He put it back inside the shoe and started to leave. After a moment’s thought, he went to check her phone and specifically to look underneath her phone battery, but couldn’t find her phone anywhere.

  Must be back at work, he thought, or maybe in the car. He then wondered if he had left it there ‘accidentally,’ on purpose as an excuse to see her again or purely by mistake. He also decided to fetch a bucket-just in case.

  In the kitchenette, Jarred was holding a glass of water, obviously waiting.

  “How is she?” he asked.

  “Fine.”

  “Or should I say; how was she?”

  “Ha, very funny,” John grumbled. “Nothing happened, in case you were wondering, and besides, not everyone’s like you and gets that job done in less than thirty seconds.”

  “You’re hypothetically speculating of course, as I have a black belt in virginity,” Jarred smirked. “So where are you going to sleep?”

  “Well, obviously not in my own bed.”

  “Course not,” Jarred hurriedly agreed. “I knew that.”

  John headed off to the laundry to get the bucket.

  Jarred waited until he returned from putting it next to Angela.

  “So where then?”

  “On the lounge, of course, you rocket scientist.”

  “Ah, good.” Jarred visibly relaxed.

  John peered at his brother. “Where did you think I would be sleeping? On top of her?”

  “Nah, no way,” Jarred said quickly. “I just didn’t want your hairy butt in my bed.”

  “We haven’t slept in the same room since you were twelve, let alone the same bed. I ain’t about to start that now. Besides, I know how much you need a good night’s sleep for your studies.”

  “Not to mention my beauty sleep.”

  “A medically induced coma is more like what you’d need.”

  “Ha, very funny, pretty boy,” Jarred feigned a hurt look before taking his glass of water and heading off to his bedroom.

  “See you in the morning,” John called to Jarred‘s disappearing silhouette. “Sweet dreams.”

  He then set up a spare pillow and bedding on the lounge. He fell asleep within minutes an
d dreamt.

  Chapter 7

  John found himself in a different part of the city, or maybe even a different city altogether. None of it looked familiar to him, but the buildings moved past too fast. It was then that he discovered that he was running, but it was so effortless, he wouldn’t have noticed if it weren’t for the moving scenery.

  His right hand was weighed down, making his stride slightly unbalanced. He found that he held a handgun, a matte-black precision instrument of power. It wasn’t something he’d normally have in his job, but in this dream, he knew it was for a reason. He also had a radio with an earpiece. It spoke directions in his ear.

  “Hunter,” a mellifluous but detached female voice said, “target is 200 meters, 11 O’clock.” A video game like radar display appeared in front of him with a flashing yellow icon just off to the left of centre.

  He found himself running down a side street in a poorer part of town. Long afternoon shadows made the rubbish-strewn streets look darker than they should. The smell of overturned bins filled his nostrils. Abandoned cars, some without wheels, were part of the landscape, their shattered windows reflected the setting sun.

  A tattered, dirty man put his head out from within one of the vehicles. The grimy, smeared windows and the clutter of bedding inside told John that it was the vagrant’s home.

  “That way, the witch went that way,” he yelled, pointing down the street.

  “The witch?” John’s rational mind asked, but his dream self just gave the ratty man a thumbs up sign with his free left hand. Instead of the homeless man, he saw his dead father’s face, but as much as his rational mind wanted, he couldn’t stop to talk.

  John ran effortlessly to the end of the street and rounded the corner into a constricted alleyway. He saw the ‘target’ as she fled further along the narrow lane; a Latino woman, mid-thirties, athletic and lithe. She wore a long, flowing pale yellow dress that complimented her tanned skin and flapped behind her as she ran, outlining her lean physique. Skip bins and stacks of pallets prevented him from having an unobstructed shot.