Interference (chapter 3)

“Hey, look, it’s raining!”
The little girl ran toward the window of the education center, very much distracted from her kindergarten studies. His mother had placed him in class that had an age range of 5-7 years old, where he could get lessons at his own pace, which seemed to be rather quick.
The boy stood by the window. It was raining. The sky was dark and there were puddles gathering on the ground outside. Other children began to gather by the window as well.
“Teacher, teacher, can we go outside?” a boy pleaded.
“Yes, please!” a girl chimed in.
The boy looked out at the rain. He knew the process of it, the water cycle, with condensation and evaporation and all, but rain wasn’t just some water cycle... it was like the sky was crying. It was sad.
But his friend was very excited. Her curls were extra curly today, and her eyes were bright like they were when she was like this. “I wanna go outside, please, please?!” she begged.
“No, I’m sorry, class, but we have to stay in for today...”
“Awwwww...” the children moaned.
The boy’s friend looked the most disappointed. And though he felt bad she didn’t get her wish, he felt extremely relieved. His friend sulked, while he sat down, relieved and content. It was only rain, though, not a storm. But rain made him reminded him of crying, made him think about what his father said about being weak, or sad. And how crying sounded when his mom was alone.
So he was glad not to go outside.
On the other hand, his friend was very unhappy. She loved the rain, it was so pretty and refreshing and she liked water. And it made plants grow. And her mom and her loved growing plants. Flowers and trees and grass and even weeds sometimes. They didn’t have enough room in their apartment to have a garden, but her mommy said when they moved, they’d get one.
That would be exciting.
The girl wanted to go outside and see if she could see rain making plants grow. She knew that it really couldn’t really see it happening exactly, but it would still be cool.
And her teacher made them not go outside...
“Hmph,” she mumbled under her breath as she sat down on the floor, her arms crossed. Oh well. She’d go outside with her mom later. Maybe Daddy would come out too... he was always so busy with his work, but he could still come outside and see the park flowers... they were just starting to bloom...

Kainni

“Yo, we’re here.”
“Mm, what?”
I woke up slowly. What a weird dream... memory. Whatever that was. And... where was I now? Oh right... Shane. What was I thinking when I decided to come with this guy?
He stepped out of his car, holding open the door for me on the other side.
I started to remember now... I told him I didn’t want to go to his house, but he said it was fine, and it was like he wanted me to go, and I still don’t, and...
“Hey, I said you could just drop me off somewhere.”
“It’s no problem, Kai.”
“Kainni. I’m fine, I don’t need a place to ‘crash’.”
“Where do you live then?”
“Just around the block.”
“I’m not stupid. You didn’t tell me anything when I asked earlier.”
Right. “Well, I don’t need to go to your place...” I started.
“Look, I’m not gonna let you sleep out in the streets or somethin’. My dad’s not home, and he doesn’t give a d--- anyway, so, just stay here.”
He was lying, but he didn’t want me to know. I didn’t like Shane very much. Talking to him earlier made me realize he was rather crude and pervertedish, but I knew that was supposedly typical of guys of this era.
And my own. I didn’t like guys like Shane at home, nor did I like them here. What was wrong with me when I said I wanted a ride into town?
To get away from the Abbort.
Right. Get away from the Abbort. I could get revenge on him sometime later, I had to plot things out... and, I did need somewhere to try and figure out my next mood.
I felt a slight sick feeling at the thought of being stuck here... too late now.
No. It wasn’t too late. I... I just needed supplies or something. I could salvage the machine later...
“Hellooo? Anyone home? Don’t just stand there like you’re blanking, you’re weirding me out again. So you staying here or not?”
He wanted me to stay. I caught a glimpse of his cellphone earlier, I heard him mutter some things about some girl under his breath.
A girl he apparently did not like.
Maybe the one who got in the ditch right behind us. I saw him chuckle...
“Nah, I’d rather not.”
“Ugh! You are so d--- stubborn, just come on.”
He started toward the house, and I took in a deep breath as I followed.
Once again, what on earth was I thinking? And my mother would hate this guy too... I could not imagine all the things she would say about him...
A knot formed in my stomach again. I would have time to think about my mother later. I had to keep my focus for this. Keep up my act. If I blew my cover, well... I don’t know. How would a guy like Shane react to finding out he’s met someone from the future?
I don’t plan on sticking around long enough for him to find out.
“Well, do what you want. We’re here.”
The house was sort of messy, and small. It looked the slightest bit disheveled. Maybe it said something about the people who lived there.
Some very noticeable items were the emptied alcohol cans and bottles that were laying around in various places.
“Bathroom’s over there, if you wanna take a shower or whatever,” Shane said, trying to be nonchalant as he pointed absently toward the narrow hallway, while he walked toward the fridge. I nodded, walking in that direction. I glanced inside each cracked door, only three in the hall other than the bathroom. Two were bedrooms, the third a large closet. What I assumed was Shane’s father’s room was probably my best bet for escape...
The rain had mellowed to a tiny drizzle, which was somewhat disappointing, but insignificant for now. I cautiously headed for the bathroom. It was everything one would expect from two men being the only inhabitants of this house. A stereotype, yes, but one that held some truth.
I felt highly uncomfortable taking off my clothing in that room, but I did so quickly, stepping into the shower awkwardly... I didn’t know how to work the old ones... finally, I turned the knob to the right position, and hot water poured down. I tried to wash as quickly as possible, turning off the water quickly, though I wanted to soak it in. But I would be wasting it, and this place seemed uncomfortable enough.
I dried with a folded towel, quickly and changed back into my clothes. All I knew now was that I wanted to get out of here.
I strolled out of the bathroom to hear a loud conversation between Shane and another person... his father, I assumed.
The words he was throwing were worse than Shane’s own, very angry and unkind and insensitive. He was obviously very upset. I bit my lip, as I nervously crept to the corner behind the wall of the living room.
“What was I doing tonight?! I was home frickin’ before you, and the girl’s freaking homeless and you were out_”
His dad didn’t let him finish his sentence. It sounded like thunder.
Shane glared, pushing his father back for the blow to his cheek.
He looked over at the hall, spotting me, and looked away from his dad, muttering something under his breath, before taking my hand and dragging me toward the door, and out of it. He slammed it behind him.
“Get in the car.”
“Where are we going?”
“Just get in the frickin’ car, we’re going somewhere else...”
I was shocked to see what happened to him, but it was all going too fast now.
“Where are we going?” I demanded.
“Don’t worry about it!” he said, as he pressed a speed dial on his phone, his car speeding down his block.
“Hey, Terra.”
A girl’s voice shouted, with Shane’s cellular phone volume already at its highest, swearing, before an angry “What do you want?”
“I need a place to crash.”
I heard something about breaking up, not wanting to hear from him, not letting him do this again...
“Look, if I can’t, could you just take someone else for me, my dad came home tonight and...”
There was silence on the other line.
“Fine.... the last time... don’t want... from you again.”
“Fine.”
He hung up.
“We’ll be there in 15 minutes, just go back to sleep or something,” he muttered.
“I thought you said you were breaking up with her and that she was a...”
“Yeah, yeah, I know what I said.”
“So why are we...?”
“Just don’t worry about it, okay?”
He drove quickly and dangerously through the drizzling rain. The scent that had been omitting from empty bottles and cans were on his breath. My family hardly ever drank... we knew it was dangerous, that we didn’t need it.
There was enough evidence out in their living room that it was safe to say that the men in the house could both drink frequently.
And in my head, ran the statistics of automobile accidents, most of them associated with this kind of behavior...
“Were you drinking?” I asked, accusingly.
“It wasn’t much, don’t...”
“Get me out of the car. Right now.”
My heart beat faster.
“It was hardly anything, okay? We’re almost to Terra’s now anyway, just calm the frick down...”
The stoplights coming up had turned yellow, and Shane sped up. It turned red just as we went under.
“You just ran a red light!”
“Could you just shut up, please?!”
“No, I will not shut up, oh crap, watch out!”
He swerved around another car, narrowly avoiding rear-ending them. Shane took in a deep breath, and pressed his lips together.
“You need to slow. Down,” I said, seriously, my heart still racing from that near accident.
He didn’t say anything to me now. “Please shut up,” he said, a little more desperate this time. “We’re almost there.”
I nodded curtly, watching the road ahead of us just in case he needed me to redirect him again. I didn’t need to say anything the rest of the way there, however. Shane turned on the radio, and dual, was it, CD player? a strange little old thing, and some rock/rap song was playing, its chorus about trying hard and getting far but in the end it didn’t even matter... what was this music? We didn’t have anything like that were I was...
Finally, we turned a corner into a neighborhood, Shane cutting the engine at the last house in a cul de sac, parking by the curb.
“We’re here,” he mumbled, unlocking the doors, and opening his own, before shutting it a little louder than necessary. I opened mine and stepped out of the car, following him to the door.
A slender, tanned girl with a mark on her cheek matching Shane’s opened the door quickly. Her eyes were narrowed as she glared at Shane, before she rolled them and sighed.
“Go ahead in, Mom just went back to bed.”
He started in, with me trailing behind. I felt sort of awkward again.
“So, this your runaway homeless chick?” Terra said, looking me over. I guess I didn’t entirely look the part. Maybe I “ran away” not too long ago.
“So she says.”
I stepped in, trying to keep up my act, though it was slightly frustrating. I nodded. “Yeah, that’s me,” I said, yawning slightly.
“Her name’s Kay, or KAY-innEE or something...”
“KAY-Ah-nee,” I corrected him.
Terra looked distracted, as she glanced behind her at a door, a moment before looking back over at Shane.
“Well, you can go now,” she said.
He sighed exasperatingly.
“One night. Please.”
“No, I said I’d take your ‘friend’, and that’s it.”
“Terra, you know how it is...”
“Yeah, I know how it is. A little too well, and whose fault is that?” she spat back at him. He shut up like he did in the car when I warned him about almost hitting that other person...
At this opportune moment, an all too familiar guy stepped out of the bathroom, wet black hair and wearing some new clothes...
“Who’s this guy, Terra?” Shane said, hardly managing to keep his voice steady, that angry spark returning to him. It was dark in the house, and it didn’t seem like he recognized him...
“My ‘homeless runaway’ kid.”
I glared him down. Had my goal not just been to AVOID Troy Abbort? Things just didn’t seem to be working out for me.
He shrunk back a little, and then looked away from me, trying to seem like he didn’t know me.
“Hey, that’s Kai’s boyfriend... gosh, you just have some crappy luck, don’t you?” Shane said, looking over at me. I glared at him too, crossing my arms. “I offered to beat the crap out of him for you...”
“No, no thanks.”
Terra looked over at the Abbort, puzzled. “You know her? I guess I should have figured, Shane pulled over at the side of the road where you were...”
How could they not know who he was?
Other than the fact I was 100 years away from where I had originally came from... where Troy was from, also, unfortunately.
“I wanna time travel... I want to go back a hundred years or something like that...”
“I can take you... I can take you back....”
“...thank you, thank you, thank you, so much!”
I shook my head from the bizarre memory or whatever that was. From the sky blue eyes and his longish black hair, innocent and observant little boy, whom I must have talked to crud out of.
During that blanking out, Terra and Shane must have started fighting, and when my gaze landed on the Abbort, I noticed he was also looking at me.
“I said, you’re not staying here! I’ve had enough of you, this is it, I mean it, Shane!” Terra’s voice rose as she spoke.
“Terra,” Shane grumbled, then swore, flailing his arms around as he turned his back to her. He lost his edge for a second, his arms crossed, still standing there, turned away from her. Troy stood by the bathroom, his eyes on the floor now, his hands clenched into fists.
He looked like he was torn between two emotions. I didn’t know which ones, but his easily read expression seemed to revealed some sort of indecision accompanying his obvious fuming.
Terra glared at Shane, who was shaking slightly, his face contorted. She closed her eyes, swallowing. Her hand landed on his shoulder with an uncharacteristic and undeserved gentleness.
“Just... just this once, okay?”
She’d done this before, many times. I could see it in her eyes. More than just one “second chance,” more like a hundred second chances. And Shane looked greatly relieved.
He turned toward her again, no longer looking threatening, or desperate. Relieved.
“I’m really sorry, Terra,” he whispered, barely audible to the innocent bystander. He kissed her cheek gently, and she kissed his back. “This won’t happen again...”
Her eyes were closed as she nodded, but not because she was frustrated or giving in again. She leaned into him, relieved herself.
As firm as she tried to be, she kept giving in...
Frustrating, it most certainly was. My mom would definitely knock some sense into her... I bit my lip.
Gradually, and very fortunately, the couple pulled away. It seemed to be awkward for Troy, as he stared at the ground, calming down a little, but still not entirely satisfied with this situation. Who would be? It was easy to tell that these two did not have the ideal relationship. Far below that.
I sat on the couch in exasperation.
“Um... well... the guest room’s the last one on the end of the hall,” said Terra, gesturing toward the hallway. “Bathroom’s the first, mine’s second on the left side if you need anything, Mom’s is the one right after the bathroom. Don’t wake her up. Uh... you can guys can figure out who wants the couch or the guest room.”
Though the two had physically released each from their grip, their gazes hadn’t left each others’. They looked at each other much less gently or angry than they had earlier. A different... “passion” had seemed to overtake them.
“You two go ahead and do whatever,” Shane said, as they mutually moved to the hall. They both started coming closer to each other, magnets, as they backed into the door of the second room in the left side of the hallway.
I grasped my head in my hands, shaking it. This was just a horrible night. I glanced up over at Abbort.
“You can have the guest room,” he said, quietly, breaking the silence. He made his way to the couch, sitting down cautiously beside me. I gave him a sidelong glance, before staring at the coffee table. His eyes still rested on me.
“Would you stop staring at me, please? You’re really creeping me out.”
He looked away, sighing. I should have gotten up at this very opportune moment and gone into that hallway, laid in the guest room bed... but I didn’t. I stayed glued to the spot.
“Sorry,” he mumbled. I glanced over at him, sharply. He sighed, and shrunk back as usual. I took it as my cue to stand, and started toward the guest bedroom. It certainly seemed like Shane and Terra weren’t having “problems” anymore, but I knew that it was definitely not as it seemed. I entered the guest bedroom, relieved at the greater cleanliness of this home compared to Shane’s...
I took off my shoes, and didn’t bother feeling guilty for my somewhat dirty clothes as I crawled into the comfortable bed of this guest’s room... I was exhausted, grateful that I could finally get some real sleep.

Troy

As I laid staring at the ceiling of Terra’s living room, I didn’t know what to think. I knew I hadn’t liked Shane from the moment I saw him, when he picked up Kainni the way he did, like she was a form of revenge, like she was something less than a person who needed help. With his ulterior motives that had seemed to dissolve now that he had Terra back again. I wanted to tell her to get away from him, I wanted to keep him away from both her and Kainni... yet something kept holding me back.
They had talked about his father. A purple mark was growing on his face now as well, something that seemed too new to have been there earlier.
I touched my own cheek, remembering my own experiences... I could auto-bandage everywhere but there without looking strange. But it didn’t matter in the mansion, the only other people there didn’t care what happened to me, and my father did as he pleased.
He didn’t seem to have immediately gone to someone else’s house but his own before Terra’s, something I picked up from the conversation they’d had over the phone. I didn’t catch very much of it, because I had gone to shower soon afterward... I felt inexplicably like an invader of this household. I had never had such a deep glimpse into somebody else’s life, save for my mother’s old journal.
But this was different. I was actually here, in Terra’s house, and she was kind to me, taking the risk of me taking advantage of it. I had no plans to do so, but it could have happened.
And by my nature, I was to be that way. I felt weary with the thoughts... the reason why I couldn’t hate Shane, was that we had too much in common. And I could have easily become him.
If I was not here.
If I was back in the future, I’d be sent off to college, to do schooling and scout out the next Abbort woman to fall.
I cringed at the thought, brought much farther down by it.
But I wasn’t. And there was a chance I couldn’t...
I still wanted to save her, though. It couldn’t possibly right, that I could be here, mostly safe, definitely safe from Alexander Abbort, and that my mother had no such luck...
I took the digital journal, the mePad, out of the pocket of my new pants, expanding it so I could see inside. I knew it was such a violation of privacy to do this, I knew it the night I discovered it, but it was the only way I would ever know where to go... and then I read on. It was almost as though she wanted me to.
Like there was some message she wanted to give me.
I thought about this as I flipped through the virtual pages, her handwriting digitally spattered across every single one... there were so many pages.
From the day they met, to the day that she died.
I sighed shakily as I scanned each page.
Biting my lip, I closed the book and minimized it. I did not want to be caught with this futuristic item by the wrong people. And it wasn’t yet my place to share her words...
For some reason, out of nowhere, I thought of Kainni again. Her iciness toward me, her hatred. But she seemed to be softening. It wasn’t good. She should just hate me. It was the right and easy thing to do, considering my potential...
Maybe Terra should too.
Maybe I should just run out of this place...
But then they might not be safe. I didn’t like the thought of those two being nearly alone with Shane. Terra’s mother had seemed nice enough earlier, making that tea that wasn’t drunk and greeting me kindly, but she seemed... sort of checked out.
It was late, and she should have been sleeping, but it looked like she’d been awake for at least two hours, like she’d been struggling to sleep, rather than getting rest. And Terra said her mother left early in the morning.
She let Shane break both her mother’s “rules” on guys being in the house: being Shane, and being in her room.
I had an uneasily feeling about those two things and their violations. I knew what was going on between them... I didn’t have to hate him, but I didn’t like him. And I wouldn’t become like him.
If I was lucky, I still wouldn’t have the chance to become like Shane, or worse, become like my father. I didn’t like to think of him as that person to me, my father... this person who caused so much pain and destruction.
Kainni’s words played in my head again, over and over, as rhythmic as the windshield wipers had been, and I began to fall asleep, mulling over their weight and emotion...