by Zoë Fox
Alex looked at Lucas and shrugged. “He says stuff like that.”
The sounds of dishes clattering in the kitchen stopped Lucas from responding.
“I’m going to check on my mom, okay? Just make sure he doesn’t super glue himself to anything.”
He nodded, not exactly sure why the child would desire to use adhesive to permanently stick himself to an inanimate object.
Toad continued to stare at Lucas after Alex left. “You are different. Like me but not.” He insisted.
“How are you yourself different?” He asked as he took a seat on the couch. Lucas immediately understood what Alex had meant when she said that his sofa was more comfortable than hers. This one had been constructed with more concern for appearances than utility.
Toad shrugged. “Toad is just different.”
Lucas emptied his mind, in hopes of catching the child’s thoughts. Maybe they were in his mind in a way that he was too young to verbally express.
What he received would have caused him to lose his footing, had he been standing instead of sitting. An overwhelming swirl of colors, sounds, smells, and images overtook his mind. Everything seemed to be coming at him at once. He saw himself and Alex standing in a dark corridor. This image was followed by another of a house he’d never been to, yellow tape covering the door announced it was a crime scene. The vision changed again and he saw her laying at the foot of the stairs of the mausoleum, blood dripping from the wound at her temple. His head filled with the sound of Toad yelling “NO!”, yet the child’s mouth hadn’t moved. Immediately, as quickly as they had started, the visions ceased.
Lucas put his hand to his temple, applying pressure. Nothing he had ever before encountered had caused such a reaction. His head felt like it was spinning.
“Did you just do that? Stop me, I mean?”
Toad nodded. “That was naughty of you. Those are Toad’s things. Only Toad gets to know.”
“I apologize, but what was that?”
Toad shrugged. “Toad’s head is complicated. I know things.”
“It seems you do, but how?”
He shrugged again. “I’m different. Like you, but not.”
“Does your sister know?”
Toad shook his head enthusiastically. “Shh! It’s a secret. Can’t tell anyone. Promise?”
Lucas nodded. “I promise.”
“Secret’s safe?”
He nodded again.
“Good.” He titled his head to one side, studying Lucas. “I like you.”
“Thank you. The feeling is mutual.”
Toad stared at him for a moment, before jumping up from the floor. Crawling on the couch, he situated himself directly in the middle of Lucas’ lap. “You be nice to my sissy,” he narrowed his eyes, “or else.” He followed his threat by wrapping his arms around the older man’s torso and hugging him tightly.
Chapter Nineteen
“Toad, it doesn’t matter where you sit,” Meredith pleaded with him. She’d set places at the table before calling them to dinner, with his place next to hers. She intended to stop him if he decided to make a spaghetti monster out of his dinner.
“But I want to sit next to the important guy,” he insisted, holding Lucas’ hand firmly in his own. When his mother let them know it was time to eat, Toad had entered the kitchen pulling Lucas behind him like a pet.
“Fine, then sit here,” She said, gesturing to the place she’d set between the seat she intended for Lucas and herself.
“No, I want to sit next to Alex, too.” Letting go of Lucas’ hand, he crossed his arms across his chest stubbornly.
“I’m sorry,” Meredith glanced over at Lucas in apology. “He’s not like this most of the time. Usually he barely notices if we have guests.”
“Then I will take it as a compliment.” Lucas smiled down at the enigmatic child beside him.
“Really?” She asked in surprise. “I’m sure I can convince him to—”
“Mom, it’s fine,” Alex interrupted as she began to rearrange the place settings. “See no problem.” She lifted Toad into a chair beside her.
“So, what is it your studying, Dr. Beinnhard?” Meredith asked after they were all seated.
“Lucas, please.” He said, watching Alex cut her little brother’s spaghetti for him from the corner of his eye. Her mother had apparently forgotten to do so.
“Well, Lucas, then, what is it you’re researching?”
Alex groaned. “You don’t ask a professor that unless you’ve got the whole night free to listen.”
Her mother gave her a censorious look. “No, I really want to know,” she smiled at Lucas as she said this. Alex felt like sliding down in her seat. There was no way he was going to continue treating her like an adult after tonight.
“I’m what you would call a social historian,” he paused, trying to determine the easiest way to explain his research. “I study American society, as it evolves, in order to determine the different phases of the country’s identity. An organization, or in this case, a nation has several factors that define it. These factors are often fluid, changing during each stage of its existence. For example, what might define a country during its rise to power could be entirely different from its notable characteristics at the time of its demise.” He moved the spaghetti on his plate around, giving the illusion of eating. “My goal is to identify the stages a nation goes through, define these periods, and discover how the citizens of said nation are affected by these changes in identity.” He resisted the urge to tease Alex that he’d managed a summary that didn’t take up a significant part of their evening.
“Um, well, I’m sure that’s all very fascinating, but you lost me about half-way through it all,” Meredith giggled. Alex knew her mother had understood most of what he’d said, but she had an annoying habit of playing stupid when an attractive man was present.
“I apologize. I can try another way to describe my work, if you’d like.” He glanced over at Alex, who stared at her dinner plate. Judging by the stiffness of her back, he could tell she was uncomfortable although he couldn’t determine why. He was tempted to read her mind, but he knew she hated that and he was trying to respect her wishes.
“You said something about the ‘rise and fall’ of a nation,” Meredith leaned forward, like she always did when a man was speaking. Alex wondered if her mother realized she was flirting. “You aren’t saying that you think we’ll out live America, are you? ‘Cause there’s no way we’ll all be alive when it ‘falls’.”
“I don’t know, mom. We could get nuked tomorrow for all we know.” Alex’s retort earned her another disapproving look.
Toad shook his head. “We won’t. No nukes tomorrow.”
“I mainly focus on changes that have already occurred,” Lucas lied.
“Aren’t you a little young to be a professor? I mean, when you think of someone who’d teach college kids, you imagine an older man. You don’t even look thirty.”
“Twenty-five,” he replied, offering up the permanent age of his physical body.
“What about Indiana Jones?” Alex asked, twirling the noodles around her fork. “He was an archeologist and you thought he was hot.”
“Now that was a hunk.” Meredith’s smile widened at the mention of Harrison Ford. Alex prayed Lucas wasn’t reading her mother’s mind at that moment, for his own sake.
“I am unfamiliar with Dr. Jones. What were his major contributions to his field?” Lucas looked to Alex for an explanation.
“He’s a movie character,” she smiled at him. Despite his age and the masculinity of his jaw, she found him adorable when confused.
“Mama wants to see him without his clothes on,” Toad whispered to Lucas, who stifled a laugh.
“You don’t know who Indiana Jones is?” Meredith asked, shocked. “Jesus, where have you been?”
“Buried alive,” Alex mumbled under her breath, causing the corner of Lucas’ mouth to twitch slightly.
“What?” Meredith was sure she’d
misheard what her daughter had said.
“Alex is correct. I often feel as if I’ve been buried alive in my research for a hundred years or so.”
“Oh, well, that’s a pity.”
The table fell into silence for a few moments. Meredith watched the way that her daughter kept glancing at Lucas from the corner of her eyes. It took a few seconds to realize that he was doing the same thing. She was going to have a talk with Alex after he left.
“So, how is my daughter helping out with your research?”
“Sadly, I am technologically inept. She handles putting my notes on the…”
Alex prayed he wouldn’t say ‘computation box.’
“…Computer. She also does some light research and a few other tasks.”
“Well, couldn’t you always take a computer class?’
“Thanks, mom. Are you trying to get me fired?” Alex was beginning to loosen up. It helped that Lucas seemed completely oblivious to her mother’s flirtations.
“I didn’t mean it that way!” Meredith rolled her eyes, yet continued to smile. “I was just trying to help.”
For a moment, Lucas could see the resemblance between the two of them. Their features, although similar, weren’t enough to give a likeness. It wasn’t age that had detracted from Meredith’s beauty, he decided. It was an air of defeat that only lifted when she joked. He glanced over at Alex again. Where her mother seemed to need someone to be looking at her to affirm her existence, Alex seemed aware of herself at all times, as if she was sure she’d decided that she would continue to be, whether or not anyone chose to notice. There was a confidence about her that Meredith seemed to lack.
“Be careful you don’t help me out of a job!” Alex teased.
Lucas laughed. She was much more direct than her mother. He wondered how that part of her managed to remain intact despite the obvious fact that Meredith herself had lost that quality a long time ago.
The paper napkin in Lucas’ lap had become saturated with spaghetti he had been slowly removing from his plate. It was so much easier to maintain the appearance of eating while using a cloth napkin, he realized too late. Now what was he going to do?
“Meat balls. Balls of meat.” Toad said, his voice taking on a sign-song quality as he pressed his fork against the rounded hamburger on his plate. “Balls bounce. Meat balls bounce.” Sticking his fork into the meatball, he catapulted it through the doorway into the hall. “See, meatballs bounce!” He smiled at his mother.
“TOAD!” She groaned, getting up from the table to retrieve the errant meatball.
Toad smiled at Lucas, nodding toward the napkin in his lap.
“Here. Quick. Give me that.” Alex scooped up his plate. Running to the trash can, she deposited both the napkin and half the remaining spaghetti. “Take this.” She passed him another napkin before taking her seat.
“You did that on purpose, didn’t you?” He asked Toad.
Toad nodded.
“Toad, if you do that again, you’re going to spend the rest of the evening in your room. Do you understand?” Meredith said as she came back into the kitchen.
“Meatballs don’t bounce?”
“No, meatballs do not bounce.”
“Who knew?” He shrugged his shoulder in response, smiling like a Cheshire cat at Lucas.
Chapter Twenty
Alex closed the door behind her. Leaning against the wood, she breathed a sigh of relief. The night hadn’t gone nearly as bad as she’d expected. When she’d seen Lucas out, only moments before, there hadn’t been a single hint that he was going to start treating her like a child.
Walking down the hallway she headed toward the kitchen, intending to help her mother with the dishes.
“Important guy gone?” Toad asked. He sat on the center of the kitchen table, playing with Legos.
“Yeah, Lucas went home.”
“I like him,” he said, adding a red block to the stack of green ones he’d already assembled in a stack.
“So do I.”
“Oh, we could tell,” Meredith said from the sink.
Toad nodded.
“Huh?”
“I think we need to talk, young lady.” Her mother wiped her hands on a dishtowel.
“Um…about what?” Lucas was right, she thought, that sentence did sound like trouble, especially with the ‘young lady’ part added to the end.
“What’s going on between you and Lucas?”
“I, uh, thought that was pretty obvious.” Alex could hear her heart beating in her ears. “He’s my boss.”
“It was obvious, but it wasn’t an employer/employee vibe I was getting.” She slung the dishrag over her shoulder.
“Um…” Alex thought for a moment. “Okay, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Toad giggled.
“You two are more than just working together.” She put her hands on her hips. “Alex, fess up. How far has it gone between you and him?”
“Huh? Mom, seriously, I’m lost here. Help me out.” Alex took a seat at the table.
“I wasn’t born yesterday, Alex…” She paused. “You honestly have no idea what I’m talking about?”
Alex nodded.
“Sissy likes the important guy’s lips.” Toad said absently.
“I think she likes more than just his mouth,” her mother responded.
Alex stared at her mother. “Are you trying to imply that I have feelings for Lucas?”
“Honey, there was no implication about it. It was written all over your face,” Meredith said as she began to load the dishwasher.
“And you’re head, too.” Toad looked up from his Legos and smiled at her.
Blood crept up Alex’s neck into her face, causing her cheeks to go scarlet.
“Lookie!” Toad held a red block up to her cheek. “You match.”
“I, um, I think I’ve got homework I need to do.” Alex stood, hoping her mother would let it go.
“Sit back down. You never do homework and you’re not about to start just so you can avoid this conversation. What is going on between you and that man?”
Alex sighed. “Nothing,” She said honestly. He’d touched her hand briefly, twice, for maybe a minute. Although she thought her skin was going to crawl off, he’d never even mentioned it.
“Well, then there was a whole lot of ‘nothing’ going on at this dinner table.” Meredith took a deep breath. “Alex, you’ve got a pretty big crush on him, don’t you?”
She wouldn’t have thought it possible, but her face reddened. She stared at the clock on the wall. “Mom, you’ve got bats in the belfry if you think Lucas is anything more than my boss and maybe a casual friend.”
“People don’t get bats in their heads,” Toad mumbled to himself. “They get spiders and only if they’re mean and icky.”
Meredith ignored him. “Alex, look at me.” She waited till her daughter turned to face her. “Has he kissed you yet?”
Alex snorted. “No, and he’s not going to.”
Meredith rolled her eyes. “Oh, he’s probably tried and you didn’t even notice, knowing you. He kept looking over at you throughout dinner.”
“So? I probably had tomato sauce on my face and he was figuring out a polite way to tell me.” She hoped that wasn’t true.
“You really have no clue about men, do you?”
Alex shrugged.
“Jesus, what are they teaching you at that school?”
“I don’t know. Algebra and how to take the joy out of Shakespeare,” she offered.
“What happened to making out behind the bleachers?”
Her daughter looked at her like she’d lost her mind. “I stay away from anywhere that jocks congregate. They have a nasty habit of picking on Sean.”
“Okay, fine, Alex. Let me spell it out for you. You have feelings for him and he’s at least considered you that way.”
“Who? Sean? Mom, that’s disgusting.”
“Now you’re just being difficult on purpose.” Meredith
closed the dishwasher and turned it on. “Lucas. Not Sean.”
Alex didn’t say anything.
“Look. Don’t worry. I’m not going to forbid you from seeing him.”
“Well, since there’s absolutely nothing going on between us, that’s good to know.”
“But, if there were, I wouldn’t stop you from seeing him. You’d just crawl out of your bedroom window when I thought you were asleep like I used to do to your grandmother so I could see your father.” Meredith had begun to fix coffee.
“Mom, Lucas isn’t like other guys.” Alex didn’t know what she was trying to say at this point. She just wanted the conversation to end.
“No, he’s not. He’s different,” her mother agreed.
“Like me, but not.” Toad continued to talk to himself.
“But so are you, Alex.” Meredith went on. “You’re very smart and so is he. Now I’d hope you’d go for someone closer to your own age, but at least he doesn’t drive a motorcycle.”
Alex stifled a giggle. The idea of Lucas on a Harley Davidson was ridiculous and likely dangerous to pedestrians.
“And I’m just glad it’s not Sean.”
Alex resisted the urge to gag herself. That would be like kissing her own brother.
“Because having his mother as an in-law would ruin your life. She’d probably iron creases in your jeans and ask you uncomfortable questions about whether or not you’d ‘consummated’ recently.” Meredith herself shuttered at the thought.
“Mom, slow down.” Alex held her hands up as if to defend off those images. “I don’t even know what I’m feeling at the moment.”
Her mother nodded. “Well, when you do, you’ve got my permission. Just be careful.” She paused. “And don’t let Kirk find out.”
Chapter Twenty-One
The predator surveyed his handiwork. The limp body strapped concerned him little now. Although beautiful, it had been no more than a container holding in her essence. In a sense, trapping her to this world, but he had set her free.
He loved the moment when they accepted that he was right. When they stopped fighting and succumbed to it, their heads lolled sleepily as they slipped away. In that moment, he was sure they would thank him, if they could. He didn’t need it, though. He was happy to help.