by TJ Klune
Art chose the bed with the Magic Fingers. She asked Alex for a quarter. Alex said he didn’t have a quarter. Art put her hand flat against the coin slot. A moment later, the bed began to shake.
“Whooaaaa,” she said. “That was unexpected.”
Nate stood at the door, clutching his duffel bag against his chest as if it could protect him.
“You can take the other bed,” Alex said gruffly. “You need to get some sleep.”
“Yeah,” Nate said. “You know what? Suddenly I’m not very tired. In fact, I don’t really know what I am right now, but it’s definitely not tired.”
“You can sit on the bed with me,” Art said. “These fingers are magic. It might make you feel—oooh, a TV! I love TV.”
“I know you have questions,” Alex said, pushing Art toward the edge of the bed as he sat down heavily. She grabbed the remote off the nightstand between the beds and started pressing buttons. “But they’ll have to wait. I need to get a few hours in before we have to get back on the road.”
“Sure,” Nate said, slightly hysterically. “That’s fine. That’s A-okay. In fact, I don’t have any questions at all.”
Alex snorted. “Sure.” He toed off his boots before reaching behind him and pulling out his gun. He lifted the pillow and set it underneath. He scrubbed a hand over his face as he lay down. He was too big for the bed, his feet dangling off the edge. Art sat between his legs, attention focused on the TV. Alex closed his eyes and breathed through his nose.
He was asleep a moment later.
Nate stared at him in disbelief.
“He does that,” Art said without looking at him. “Part of his training. He can sleep anywhere. Only takes a few seconds. It’s a pretty neat trick, if you ask me.”
Nate just nodded.
“He’s right, though,” she said, glancing at Nate. “You should sleep.”
She was right. He needed to sleep. Instead he asked, “What are you?”
She smiled. “I’m your friend.” She turned back to the TV. “What’s this show? I’ve never seen it before. Why is that woman sucking on that mechanic’s penis? That’s not how you pay for car repairs, is it? That’s certainly a strange transaction. Why doesn’t she just give him money? Isn’t that what currency is for?”
Sure enough, a large-breasted woman was choking on a dick belonging to a man in oil-stained overalls. That broke Nate’s determination to stay right where he was. He took three steps forward, dropping his bag before snatching the remote out of Art’s hands. She squawked angrily, but he ignored her, frantically trying to find the right button. The mechanic opened his mouth to spill more fresh horror, but then the screen went dark.
Nate breathed a sigh of relief.
Art glared at him. “I was watching that.”
“It’s not for little—girls. Or whatever you are. You have to—wait. Until you’re older.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m older than you,” she muttered under her breath.
Nate thought his eyes were going to pop out of his head. “What did you just say?”
She smiled sweetly at him. “Nothing. Gosh, I’m tired now. I’m going to sleep too. Good night!”
He watched as she curled up between Alex’s legs, her head resting against his thigh. She closed her eyes, and a moment later, she too was asleep.
“What in the actual fuck,” Nate whispered.
He didn’t plan on sleeping. His thoughts were moving too quickly for him to even consider sleeping.
Which is why he was surprised when he was pulled from a deep slumber by a hand on his shoulder. He shot up, gasping, jerking away from the hand. He fell off the bed and landed face-first on the blue carpet.
It smelled medicinal.
Nate groaned as he rolled over on his back.
Alex stared down at him. His hair was wet, and he wore the same jeans he had on before, this time with a tight black tank top.
Nate wasn’t prepared for such a view so early in the morning.
He closed his eyes. “What.”
“You fell off the bed.”
“I noticed. What time is it?”
“Two.”
“In the afternoon?”
Alex sounded amused when he said, “Yes. In the afternoon. We need to get moving. You should shower before we go. I don’t know the next time you’ll get one.”
“Great,” Nate muttered. “Fantastic. Artemis was watching porn earlier.”
“She told me. She asked me why the mechanic didn’t just take money instead.”
“I made her turn it off.”
“She told me that too. She wasn’t happy about it.”
“She’s ten.”
Alex didn’t reply.
Nate opened his eyes. Alex was still looking down at him, but there was a wary expression on his face.
Nate sighed. “She’s not ten.”
Alex didn’t answer.
“Is there any chance I dreamed all of this? Like the helicopters and the guns and the explosions.”
“It wasn’t a dream.”
“Dammit.”
“We need to talk.”
“The last time you said that to me, you told me that you were on the run trying to get a little girl back to her parents.”
Alex shifted awkwardly. “That wasn’t… entirely false.”
“Oh great. Just as long as it wasn’t entirely false.”
“You wouldn’t have believed me—us—at the time.”
“I’m not going to like this, am I.”
“I don’t know. It’s… a lot to take in. At first.”
“Where is she?”
“Finishing up in the bathroom.”
Nate nodded. He thought about staying right where he was, but somehow he managed to push himself up. He was surprised when Alex reached down to help him up. He stared at Alex’s hand for a moment before grasping it. Alex’s skin was warm. His grip was firm. He pulled Nate up swiftly. Nate overshot and lost his balance. He fell against Alex. An arm went around his back. Nate’s hands were on Alex’s chest. Nate swallowed thickly as he looked up at Alex and—
“Are you guys hugging?” Art asked. “That’s so nice. I like hugging too. I don’t know if you’re doing it right, though.”
Alex scowled and stepped away.
Art stood in the doorway, her braids damp, her skin a little red. Her overlarge red shirt had white lettering on it. It said LIFE WOULD BE TRAGIC IF IT WEREN’T FUNNY.
“I think we should have pancakes,” Art said. “That’s the food you get when you’re on the run. I read that once.”
Nate grabbed his bag and pushed past her without a word. The shower should have been his safe space. It was where he did all his thinking. It was where he figured shit out.
Except it looked as if there were the beginnings of mold in one tiled corner, and the water was lukewarm at best, and the only fucking thought that went through his head was made up of words that he never expected to hear in his lifetime.
And by around here, I mean this planet.
It was, without a doubt, one of the most frustrating showers in his life.
“Wow,” Art said, staring up at the waitress. She sat in the booth near the window. Alex was next to her. Nate was across from them. “You’re a waitress, right?”
The woman smiled down at her. She was young and pretty, reaching up to curl a lock of yellow hair behind her ear. Her name tag said Peggy, and she had a smile that lit up the room. “I am,” she said, standing a little too close to Alex for Nate’s liking. Not that it mattered, of course. Because that wasn’t important in the face of so many other things. Like the fact that there was a little girl sitting across from him who apparently had superpowers.
Art leaned forward. “Are you the quintessential small-town girl waiting tables but who has dreams to make it to the big city and get signed to a record label or dance for money?”
Peggy’s smile faltered.
&n
bsp; Nate choked.
Alex smiled tightly. “She watches too much TV. Art, what did we talk about when it comes to waitresses?”
“Not to ask questions,” Art said, sighing as she fiddled with a paper napkin. “Because it’s none of my business if they want to dance for money.”
Nate struggled to breathe.
Peggy’s smile returned in full force. A hand lingered on Alex’s shoulder. “That’s all right. Curious thing, isn’t she?”
Art frowned. “I’m not a thing. I’m a person.”
“Of course,” Peggy said. “Coffee for you?”
“Two coffees,” Nate said. “And an orange juice.”
They stared at him.
He realized it’d come out very demanding. He added, “Please.”
Peggy nodded. “Will be right back with that. You let me know if you need anything. Anything at all.” She sashayed away, hips swinging side to side.
“What’s wrong with her?” Art asked, looking after Peggy, brow furrowed.
“She’s like the woman with the mechanic,” Nate said. Then, “Uh, I mean, what?”
Alex glared at him. “There’s nothing wrong with her. She’s just being nice.”
“Huh,” Art said. “The other waitress was nice, but it wasn’t that nice. I thought all waitresses were supposed to have dreams to move to the big city. Does she want to suck on your—”
“What about waitresses already in big cities?” Nate asked, trying to change the direction of the conversation.
Art squinted at him. “I don’t know. I’ve never been to a big city. I didn’t know they had waitresses there too. I’m going to have to rethink everything I’ve ever learned. Nate, you may have just doomed your planet.”
Nate felt himself pale almost immediately.
“She’s joking,” Alex grumbled.
“What’s that look on your face?” Art asked. “Is that what sheer terror looks like? I mean, yesterday you looked scared because of the guns and the helicopters, but this certainly isn’t that. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen someone look so white before.”
“Answers,” Nate said. “Now. Right now. Every answer. Immediately.”
“And here we are,” Peggy said, appearing out of thin air. In one hand, she carried a small glass of juice. In the other, she had a pot of coffee. Nate wanted to ask her if she was aware her timing was terrible, but he managed to keep his mouth shut. She set down the juice in front of Art, who proceeded to watch it suspiciously. She poured Alex’s coffee first, leaning down just a little over the table.
Alex didn’t take the bait. He was looking directly at Nate.
Peggy didn’t seem deterred.
She poured Nate’s coffee with less cleavage involved. “Have y’all decided what you wanted to order?”
“Pancakes,” Art said, poking her finger into her juice. “And bacon. In fact, please just cover my pancakes in bacon. I don’t even want to be able to see pancakes because of all the bacon.”
“Eggs,” Alex grunted. “Scrambled. Toast. Sausage. Hash browns.”
Peggy’s hand had found his shoulder again. Nate was thankful Alex had worn another plaid shirt over the tank top. He probably would have reached over and broken her fingers if they’d been on skin.
She turned to him and arched an eyebrow. “Just the coffee,” he said as politely as possible.
“He’ll have the same as me,” Alex told her.
Nate glared. “I’m not hungry.”
“You need to eat,” Alex said, jaw clenched.
“Just the coffee,” Nate repeated.
“Same as me,” Alex said again.
Nate’s hand tightened around his coffee.
Peggy looked back and forth between them. “All right. I will… get that order in. Let me know if you need anything else.”
No one watched her this time as she walked away.
“Do you think this juice is okay?” Art asked, watching it drip from her finger. “I don’t know if I can trust waitresses now.”
“It’s fine,” Alex said, reaching over for the little ceramic bowl that held individual packets of cream and sugar. “Drink it.”
“Sir, yes, sir,” Art muttered, but she just watched another drop fall from her finger back into the juice.
Nate flinched when Alex jerked the coffee mug from his hands. He took two packets of sugar and poured them into the coffee. He picked up a spoon and swirled the liquid around before shoving it back over to Nate. “You’re going to eat.”
Nate didn’t know what to do with any of this. “You don’t get to tell me what to do.”
“He’s a staff sergeant,” Art told him. “He outranks us both. We have to do what he says, or we’ll be thrown in the brig.” She frowned. “Or we’ll be killed. I’m not quite sure which one is worse.”
“What the hell is going on?” Nate demanded in a harsh whisper. He leaned forward. He probably looked a little manic, but he was allowed after everything he’d been through. “What is this? Jesus fucking Christ, do you know how fucking nuts all of this is?”
“I know,” Alex said slowly. “But it’s not—”
“All I wanted to do was go to my goddamn cabin, and now I’ve been kidnapped. By squatters. Why did you kidnap me?”
Alex’s eyes narrowed. “I didn’t kidnap you. You could have stayed if you’d really wanted to.”
“Yeah. And then been arrested by the water guy!”
“He wasn’t a water guy,” Art said. “He was lying. Didn’t you realize that?” She looked at Alex. “Why does Nate still think he was the water guy?”
“I gave you a choice,” Alex said quietly. “I didn’t—you let us stay. You said we could stay.”
“Oh sure,” Nate said, skin crawling. “Victim blaming. Sure. That’s just wonderful. Out of all the cabins in the goddamn world, you just happened to choose mine. Of course that’s how my life works.”
“He doesn’t believe in destiny,” Art told Alex. “I don’t think he believes in very much at all.”
Alex looked as if he didn’t know if he could be angry or not. “I’m—it’s not like—I’m sorry, okay? It’s not like you—”
“You’re sorry? How is that supposed to make any of this better—”
“I am what your kind calls an extraterrestrial,” Art said. She’d found a straw somewhere, but instead of bouncing it on the table to get it out of the wrapper, she was peeling it slowly down the side. “As in not from this Earth. And I was held prisoner in the Mountain for thirty years until Alex broke me out a week before we met you.” She finished with jazz hands.
Nate heard the words. Individually, he knew what each of them meant. He understood the sentences. He knew where they began and where they ended. But for the life of him, he couldn’t process them, couldn’t fit them together in the shape of something he could comprehend.
His mouth opened once, twice, but no sound came out.
“What did we talk about?” Alex asked her.
“We’ve talked about many things, Alex.”
“Art.”
She sighed. “You told me I can’t just say things like that because I might break Nate.”
“And what did you just do?”
“Broke Nate. But! To be fair, you just told me that. I never agreed to it.”
“Art.”
“It’s for science, Alex. Just look at what we’re learning. If, say, the test was to see how much Nate could take, we would have our answer. And the answer is not very much at all. How disappointing.”
Nate took a long drink of coffee. It was hot. It burned his tongue. He winced.
“Just… not now,” Alex said. “Not yet. Wait until we’re back on the road.”
“You really think having us all in an enclosed space like the truck and having this conversation is going to be a good thing?” Art asked him. She cocked her head. “Though I suppose he’s already thrown up out a window once before. He’d be used to it by n
ow if he had to do it again.”
Nate tried to speak again. He failed miserably.
Art finally finished peeling the straw. She put it in the juice, stared at it for a moment, and then leaned forward slowly. She wrapped her lips around the straw, hollowed her cheeks, and drank. She sat back as she swallowed. “Okay. Nothing hurts. It wasn’t poisoned.”
Peggy chose that exact moment to reappear. She looked as if she’d freshened her makeup in her absence. Nate didn’t know how to tell her that his entire worldview had shifted in the short minutes she’d been gone. She set down Art’s plate first, before Nate’s. Alex was last, of course. “There,” she said. “Doesn’t that just look fine, if I do say so myself.”
“Bacon,” Art breathed. “So much bacon.”
“Thank you,” Alex said, voice gruff. “We’ll let you know if we need anything else.”
“You do that, sugar,” Peggy said, winking at him. “I’m at your beck and call.”
“You really like lipstick, huh?” Art asked her.
“Pardon?”
Art shrugged. “Lipstick. You must like it. I mean, you’re wearing a lot of it. Did you try and eat it too? Because it’s all over your teeth. I’ve never worn lipstick before, but I don’t think you’re supposed to eat it.”
Peggy blanched. “I—didn’t. Enjoy your meal.” She hurried away.
“That was rude,” Alex told her, but even Nate could see the way his lips were twitching.
“I was merely pointing out that she had lipstick on her teeth,” Art said. “It was the polite thing to do. Just because you don’t know how to be polite doesn’t mean I don’t. Do I like sausage?” She was eyeing his plate.
“You have bacon,” Alex reminded her. “Eat that.”
“But I think I would like sausage.”
“Give me a piece of your bacon. We can trade.”
“Are you out of your mind? That’s not—partner, you’re lucky we’re stuck together. Otherwise, I’d have half a mind to call you out for pistols at dawn.”