“On both sides. I used to be a cop once. Long ago.”
“You don’t even know what I did.”
“Doesn’t matter. Theft, rape … even murder, the logistics are in your favor,” Colby explained. “Sure, they’ll put an all-points bulletin out on you, but there’s nothing remotely unique about you. Get a crew cut, change your jacket. You’re about thirteen, right? In four months you’ll be two inches taller.”
“You seem awfully certain,” Daniel said.
“The police force is outnumbered about a thousand to one in every city,” Colby continued. “Only a third of the force is ever on duty at one time—unless there’s a special event like the president coming to town, and then, they’re all busy trying to keep his ass safe instead of looking for punks like you. You just have to be smart.”
“Like?”
“Like don’t get off at Central Station. Place is full of police. There’s a stop before that. We get off there … avoid downtown.”
Daniel hadn’t thought of that. It made perfect sense, though, and that scared him. There was a world of things he didn’t understand. There was also a lot more to Colby than met the eye.
“Thank you,” Daniel said.
The man smiled.
“I like you, kid,” Colby said this in a somber tone. Perhaps Daniel reminded him of a son. “You need time to sort out whatever mess you’re in,” Colby continued. “We could all use some time to ponder our messes.”
“What if the mess is unsortable?”
“Yeah, that happens. You’re a smart kid, Dan. There ain’t two people on this bus with your wits. You have a … a bright future.”
It was the first time Colby had outright lied to him. Daniel ascribed it to his companion’s desire to perk his spirits. The boy took some cold comfort in the fact that he could read Colby so well. At least he’d have a chance if Colby planned to set him up.
“Good night, kid,” Colby said, and turned aside, making a big deal about getting comfortable in his seat.
The lie put the notion of a future back in the boy’s head. Daniel always believed he was destined to do something important. The belief that he could work his way out of the ditch that had become his life was what drove him to always try harder. He never imagined things at home would turn out the way that they did. He did not deserve to end up in a juvenile facility, or worse, death row, for what happened to Clyde. Clyde had choices too, and he often chose badly. He was the instrument of his own misfortune.
Daniel watched the lines on the road fly by. North Carolina was a ways off. The trailer park Colby’s sister lived in was at least somewhere to go for the moment. Daniel would decide what to do from there. He knew he was wiser than many people twice his age. There was no reason he could not apply what he knew toward a fresh start—like the recycled remnants of an old universe giving birth to the new. For the first time in a long while, longer than he could remember, Daniel felt hopeful about the future.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
AWAKENINGS
Copyright © 2011 by Edward Lazellari
All rights reserved.
Edited by Paul Stevens
A Tor® eBook
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
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New York, NY 10010
www.tor-forge.com
Tor® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lazellari, Edward.
Awakenings / Edward Lazellari. — 1st ed.
p. cm. — (Heroes of Aandor ; bk. 1)
“A Tom Doherty Associates book.”
ISBN 978-0-7653-2787-1
1. Amnesia—Fiction. 2. New York (N.Y.)—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3612.A983A96 2011
813'.6—dc22
2011018989
First Edition: September 2011
eISBN 978-1-4299-8292-4
First Tor eBook Edition: August 2011
Awakenings Page 29