Fluorescence: The Complete Tetralogy

by P. Anastasia

  “She probably would have had a thing for you when she was your age,” Sue said, looking past me at a photograph on the kitchen wall. “She liked the rough-around-the-edges type. Always being adventurous. Backpacking. Swimming. Biking. Anything to get out of the house and keep moving. She was stubborn sometimes, but she always worried about others more than herself.”

  She did sound a bit like me. I’d do anything to get out of the house, but probably for a very different reason than Grace had had. I felt bad for their loss. They seemed like a really sweet couple. No one should have to deal with the pain of outliving their child.

  Thomas and Sue also told me they had gotten married right out of high school—over thirty years ago. It reaffirmed my belief that Alice and I really had a chance.

  If any good came out of this foster home business, it would be the inspiration to keep my head up and believe in us.

  Even though my own life had just been thrust into chaos, I started worrying about my Mom’s. Social services had warned me not to contact her directly until they had finished their investigation. Still, I thought about her.

  I also thought about how long I might be stuck with this family. How long Peter would have a “foster brother,” as he was already excitedly calling me. How long before I could see Alice on my time and not someone else’s.

  These thoughts rattled me. I didn’t sleep much at all the first few nights. Instead, I stayed up texting Alice until just past midnight, when Thomas would come in to ask if I needed anything. He was a night owl, too.

  “No, but thanks,” I’d reply, forcing a grin.

  I just wanted to go back to school.

  I wanted to see Alice.

  I wanted normalcy.

  . . .

  Peter eagerly awaited my presence at the breakfast table.

  “Good morning, Brian!” he said with a huge, toothy grin. He was kneeling on his chair. “Can you show me your motorcycle after school today? Pleeeeeease?” He teetered on his seat.

  “Knees off the chair, Peter,” Sue scolded.

  He plopped down onto his butt and slumped over. “Sorry, Mom.”

  “Did you get any sleep, Brian?” she asked, pulling some cereal boxes out of the cupboard.

  I shrugged. “Not really.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. I know it’s hard, but maybe you’ll feel better after you get a little more adjusted here.”

  “Maybe.” I sat at the table across from Peter and fidgeted with the place setting. Fabric napkins, ruffled and tucked into napkin rings. Ceramic bowls—not flimsy plastic ones. The robust, undeniable scent of freshly brewed coffee infusing the air.

  “Is cereal okay or would you like something else? We have granola. Waffles. I could make you some scrambled eggs if—”

  “Cereal’s fine, thanks,” I interrupted.

  Peter beamed. “I love cereal, too!” he blurted, grabbing the half-gallon of milk from the middle of the table and dousing his corn flakes. “It’s my favorite!”

  I couldn’t not smile. Such a cute kid. So full of life and innocence.

  “So, what do you want to be when you get older?” I asked Peter, shoving a scoop of soggy cereal into my mouth while casually glancing at my cell to check for texts from Alice. I’d gotten one from Kareena last night. She’d said she’d try to get her dad to help with the petition stuff. Speed up the process, if that was even possible. He knew quite a few people in the local court system.

  “I want to be a news reporter!” Peter held his spoon up like a microphone, pursed his lips together, and pressed his fingers to his ear, pretending to listen to an earpiece. “This is Peter Jameson reporting live from New York City.”

  He really had the deep reporter voice down.

  “We’re not moving to New York, Peter,” Sue said, picking up the milk and carrying it over to the refrigerator.

  “I can when I’m older, though,” he replied, screwing up his face. “You can’t stop me.” He crossed his arms and looked away.

  “No, I suppose I can’t once you turn eighteen. But until then…” Sue sighed. “How about you, Brian? Do you know what you…”

  She paused, mouth open. Everything around me slowed. Peter froze, mid-blink.

  No.

  I cringed and shut my eyes tightly against the blaring white light flooding the room. The floor disappeared out from under me and the falling sensation made my stomach spasm. Milk. Cereal. Intergalactic travel.

  Not a good combination.

  I locked eyes with Alice, and then with Kareena, who wasn’t throwing up this time. Thank God. My stomach had been shaken up enough by the traumatic teleportation.

  “Brian?” Alice brushed up against me and wrapped her hands around mine. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah. Are you?” I glanced down at her belly, fearing the trauma might have harmed the baby. The jarring travel had to be hard on her body. It was on mine.

  She was hardly showing yet, but…

  “Yes. I’m fine.”

  “Kareena?” I looked over at her.

  “Yeah. Fine. Whatever.”

  The usual crowd of Saviors surrounded us, their blank expressions, chalky complexions and grey eyes set on us.

  “Why are you with a foreign family? We assumed you were staying with Alice.” The translator stared down his nose at me and even cocked his head to the side for emphasis—something he must have learned recently.

  “I was,” I replied. “But I can’t live with them permanently right now. As for the other family, my mother freaked out and that’s what happens to kids in our country—the government takes us away when things go south. We’ve been trying to tell you we don’t have any rights until we’re older. It sucks, but it’s the truth.”

  “We do not understand these laws of yours.” His eyes narrowed. “They are ridiculous.”

  “That aside, what the hell kind of business do you guys have forcing Alice to have this baby for you? Do you even know how this is going to affect our lives? How this is going to affect Alice?”

  “You two have obviously consummated your relationship,” the translator said. “We do not see a problem.”

  Kareena raised an eyebrow at us. Alice looked down at her feet.

  I pushed aside my discomfort and clenched a fist. “That doesn’t make what you did to her right.”

  “Many your age bear children. Years ago, it was quite normal for a woman even younger than Alice to carry.”

  “We’re not in the dark ages anymore,” I sneered. “Do your homework. You’ll learn something. We’re supposed to go to high school and then to college.”

  “Do not, if it interferes.”

  “You don’t understand. In this country—the United States of America—we aren’t free to make our own choices until we are eighteen years old. Eighteen. I don’t know how good you are with math but that’s—”

  “Approximately one point seven earth years from now for you,” he finished my sentence. “Two point six for Alice.”

  “Yes. And until then, Alice doesn’t have a say in what happens. We’re scared the baby could be taken away and given to someone else.”

  “Brian?” Alice glared at me. I hadn’t told her these fears before now.

  “I’m telling them the truth, Alice.” I returned my attention to the Saviors. “Is that what you want? To put your race in jeopardy at the hands of people who don’t know who you are? Who don’t care if you live or die? We could have this child taken away and we would have no say in it. That’s how our society works.”

  “It is required that you two raise the child.” Then the translator looked at Kareena suspiciously. “You are eighteen. Correct?”

  “I can’t take care of it. My parents would freak. And I can’t have kids,” she whined, backing away and shaking her head violently. “I just don’t… Ew. No.”

  “You will not have to worry about that,” he said. “Their child is the only one that matters to us.” He looke
d back at Alice. “We will consider your opinions and come to a conclusion at a later time. We do have other work for you to do in the future. Work that is too dangerous for her in her current state. It could harm the fetus.”

  “I’ll do it,” Alice said, stepping closer to the Savior. “I’ll do whatever you want if you take it out of me.”

  “Alice?” I grabbed her hand.

  “Think about it, please. I could have the baby later and things would be better for both sides. No adults getting in the way. No laws endangering her.” Her lip quivered.

  The room flashed with white hot light. My eyes burned as we fell and my ears ached from Kareena’s high-pitched shriek.

  The screaming dissipated, then I felt Alice’s hand slip from mine. I wheezed, unable to suck another breath from the empty atmosphere.

  Alone again. Weightless. Falling.

  “Brian?”

  Fingers pressed into my shoulder and I jumped, slamming my back against the wooden dining chair. I grunted in pain.

  “Brian? Are you alright?” Sue asked, stepping to my side and leaning down to look me in the eye.

  “Uh. I…” I coughed, the raspy reply catching in my dry throat. “I’m sorry. What?”

  “I asked what you’d like to do with your life after you graduate. I’m sure Peter would love to hear about your aspirations. Well?” She smiled.

  Peter’s eyes widened with anticipation.

  I took in a deep breath and sighed.

  “For now, I just want to survive high school.”

  Chapter 9

  “Can I? Can I? Please?” Peter grinned and rocked back and forth on his feet, his eyes glittering with excitement. I lifted him up onto my bike, steadying him as he eagerly grasped the handlebars.

  “This is the coolest bike ever!” he shouted, hunching over as if he were catching air while speeding down a make-believe highway. I saw Sue watching us from the living room window. She’d told me earlier I wasn’t allowed to take him riding anywhere.

  “Yeah. They are cool,” I replied. “But they cost a lot, too. I’ve been working hard to make the money to pay for it.”

  “I get an allowance. Maybe I can start saving, too,” he said hopefully.

  I chuckled. If only things were so simple. “Maybe. But it’s going to take an awful lot of allowance to pay for something like this.”

  “Hmm.” He shrugged and went back into racing position, leaning a little to the side and then weaving to the other side as if he’d made a sharp turn. He mimicked the sounds of a sputtering exhaust pipe and I kept my arm near him in case he toppled off in his excitement.

  “Mom says they’re dangerous.” He pretended to rev the engine.

  “They are. You need to wear a helmet so you don’t get too hurt if you get into an accident. Have you thought about starting with something less expensive? Like a bicycle or a skateboard?”

  “One of my friends has a skateboard! But…” He dropped his head down and sighed. “Mom says he’s going to grow up to be a troublemaker because of it. I don’t think Matt’s a troublemaker.”

  “Aw. I’m sorry to hear that.” I patted him on the shoulder. I wouldn’t have bothered to argue with Peter’s mother, although her views were too conservative for my taste. Overprotective, even. Assuming a boy was a troublemaker because he had a skateboard was a little extreme, but it was none of my business how she raised her son.

  She probably would have hated me at Peter’s age.

  Spending time with him helped keep my mind off other things, like the super early curfew the Jamesons had set for me. The curfew that had me confined to the house between school and work, with very little time for Alice.

  Peter looked up to me. He made me feel like an older brother—a mentor. Like I mattered. He also couldn’t stop talking about my motorcycle at dinner. Sue rolled her eyes at least twice during the conversation, even glaring at me a few times as if asking why I’d turned her son into such a monster.

  A boy his age could learn anything he wanted to on the internet, at school, or from friends with smart phones. Motorcycles were the least of her worries.

  . . .

  My mother’s mental evaluation had finally come back. She had been diagnosed with PTSD, drug dependence, depression and social anxiety to top it all off. The physicians also determined that her condition made her unfit to care for me while in rehabilitation, which could take several months, or even years. I would have to be transferred to another foster home if one of my few relatives didn’t step up soon, or if Jane’s petition was declined.

  My court hearing would be in six weeks—at the beginning of December. It was supposed to have been in late January, but Kareena’s dad had pulled a few strings and gotten us a hearing sooner. He’d mentioned how things sometimes got crazy after Christmas break and New Year’s, and how people looking forward to the holidays were often much more lenient in their rulings. We’d have to wait and see.

  The law stated we had to inform all living grandparents on both sides and any direct siblings. As far as I knew, no one in my small extended family wanted me, so I wasn’t concerned about someone intercepting the petition.

  Alice told me family services had already done the house check and approved them. Now I had to plead my case to the judge. Normally, they didn’t let minors have much of a say, but since I was over fourteen, they asked me to give a testimony. According to Kareena's father, I’d have to fess up about my mother’s past behavior to give Jane a fair chance at winning guardianship. I didn't want to do it, but if it was the only way, then I had to.

  Who knew what the Saviors would do if I ended up moving away with some other family? I didn’t want to think about it.

  . . .

  My day in court was fast approaching. Kareena texted me to set up a meeting to discuss my testimony and what I needed to remember. Although her father was confident that the odds were in my favor, he agreed to show up court day pro-bono just in case the judge needed extra convincing. I couldn’t help but wonder how much whining she’d done to get him to help some random “boyfriend” of hers. No doubt it was what she’d told him I was.

  He explained that custody cases and guardianship transfers weren’t a big deal for kids my age, and outcomes were fairly predictable. I still worried. Worried about telling the court the truth about my mother. Seeming ungrateful, maybe. Worried about what would happen to me if we lost the petition. Worried about Alice and the baby that was now several weeks closer to being a real flesh and blood part of our lives. Wondering if the Saviors were still deliberating over our request or if they had already tossed the idea behind them.

  Kareena texted me after she’d pulled up into the Jameson’s driveway. I grabbed a notebook and went outside to meet her. The autumn sun reflected off the freshly waxed lipstick-red sports car, blinding me for a moment. I covered my eyes to avoid the glare as I approached. The passenger door opened and I staggered back, startled.

  “Hi Brian!” It was Alice.

  I smiled.

  “Hey!” I walked up to the car door and waited for her to step out before closing it.

  “Thanks, Brian,” Kareena said sarcastically, slamming her door. “Oh, and you’re welcome, by the way.”

  “Sorry.” I shrugged. “There’s only one of me.”

  “Yeah. Unfortunately.”

  Seriously? She was still jealous of us?

  Kareena popped open her trunk and grabbed a satchel out.

  “Where can we go to talk?” she asked, shouldering the strap of the bag.

  “They have a picnic table in the backyard,” I replied. “Is that okay?”

  “Sure. Better not be any bugs. I hate bugs. I hate mosquitoes. I hate ants.” She brushed at her arms as if she were already being assailed by insects. “Ugh.”

  “Kareena, quit being a diva. Come on.”

  Thomas came to the door to greet Alice and Kareena, and then Sue came out of the living room to meet us before we could hea
d to the backyard.

  “Would you kids like anything to drink while you’re here?” she asked as the three of us passed the threshold. “Tea? Coffee? Juice?”

  Kareena shook her head. “No, thanks.” Thomas ushered her and Alice to the back door.

  Alice was too polite to ask, so I clicked the hot water kettle on myself instead, apologizing to Sue for her shy behavior.

  “She’s quiet,” I said.

  Sue seemed to understand.

  “She’s a lovely girl,” she added, just as Thomas showed them to the back door.

  “Alice?”

  “Your girlfriend, yes. Her mother must really like you to go through all of this trouble.”

  “Yes. Well, her mom has a reason to fight for me. She knows how hard it is and how few people I have in my life, and she doesn’t want me to end up with strangers. No offense to you guys. You’ve been more than good to me.”

  Sue smiled. “Oh, I know you’re appreciative, Brian, and I understand you’re under a lot of stress right now. That’s very kind of her mother. I hope you and Alice last.”

  “You and Thomas did. And we will, too,” I said, with a confident grin. “We definitely will.”

  I poured two cups of English breakfast tea, added a spoonful of sugar and a splash of milk to each cup and then brought them outside.

  Kareena pulled a stack of papers out of her bag and set them in front of me on the table.

  “Look over these when you have time,” she said. “It will give you a better understanding of how exactly the process will work and what considerations the judge will take into account. My dad also highlighted some things you should be aware of. You’ll be under oath, too, so be careful about what you say.”

  Alice sipped her tea and smiled at me with her eyes. I reached under the table to take her free hand, contemplating what I would give to spend another night with her.

  “Heeeeeeey, Brian!” Peter shouted, jogging across the lawn toward us, his backpack bouncing up and down on his back. “Hey! Are these your friends?” He waved at Kareena and then Alice.