Fluorescence: The Complete Tetralogy (68 page)

“It’s worth a lot,” she continued. “I know it is, but… I don’t know shit about pawning stuff.”

“I do.” I put my hand on her shoulder and looked into her bright, leafy-green eyes. The color was unusual—otherworldly. “I’ll make sure no one screws you over and that you get a fair price for it. Okay?”

“Thanks,” she whispered. She clasped her hands together
and heaved a breath.

“You gonna be alright?” I brushed my thumb across her c
hin and tipped her face up toward mine. “You seem… I don’t
know. Worried.”

“You just came back,” she replied, looking me in the eye. “I don’t want anything to happen to you. I’m the only one who can see the Prism, and what if we need to contact you or—”

“I’ll only be a few days. I’ll be fine, Kareena. And so will you. Trust me.”

She tried to fake a confiding smile but couldn’t even crack a semi-believable one for me. It didn’t seem like her to be clinging to anyone other than Brian, and it made me wonder.

Was Kareena actually going to miss me?

Chapter 3

B
y bus, the trip home would take me at least a day and a half. So, maybe I was off on my estimate by a day or two,
but the teens could do okay without me. Kareena was smarter
than they thought she was. She told me she’d take care of them, and I believed her. Not that Brian and Alice needed a babysitter, but the three of them were stronger together.

Earlier in the day, Kareena had said goodbye to me. It was an awkward goodbye—one that seemed out of place and harder than it should have been. We didn’t have a “thing” going as far as I could tell. She had made it clear she didn’t want an actual relationship, and I was cool with that.

No attachment. No pain. Right?

Shit.

Then why was I feeling so… low? Maybe because I’d almost died trying to help her. Or maybe it was because she
had asked me to sleep beside her last night—in the same room
with Brian and Alice—even though she acted like it wouldn’t change things between us. Or… it could have been the way she’d said goodbye to me. There was a subdued nature to the way she looked up into my eyes with worry. Or maybe I was reading between the lines like a sentimental ass.

I’d barely been back with Lucy for a few hours before the portal showed up and I was whisked away again—not that I regretted being there just in time to help save Kareena’s
life—but I didn’t even have a chance to say goodbye.

I missed Lucy so much. Poor girl. She was probably starting to wonder why I kept popping into her life and then back out. Like I was a bad guy, when all I really wanted was to spend time with her.

She was all I had left. She was the only person who loved me for me
. I needed to be there for her whenever I could—guide her through growing up and dealing with shit before the wrong people got to her the way they had gotten to me.

Or maybe
I
was the wrong person, the bad influence she didn’t need in her life.

No. I was going to make something of myself. Or try to, at least. I wanted to be more than a petty criminal. But then, alien drama took over my life and things went to hell fast.

We needed a more permanent place to call home…

. . .

In a small, middle-class suburb on the South Shore of Staten Island was a strip of un-eclectic, beige, two-story homes lined up as far as I could see. Tidy green lawns
diligently cut to the maximum height required of the subdivision.
Matching plain, black mailboxes perched on a post at the end of every driveway. The street wasn’t unique or charming
in any way, but it was a safe neighborhood for her. Safer than the places I had to take her to some days.

Not too far on the outskirts of the middle-class street was a slum. I’d passed it on the way over. The people there used to be my kind of people, but I’d since moved away from the bad influences in my life and toward the good. Or at least
closer
to the good.

I approached the front door of one of the clone houses and knocked with the back of my hand. A moment later, I heard a man and a woman bickering just on the other side. Something about me being unreliable and a bad influence on their kids. Then the woman shouted something about “forgetting it” and “you’ll see” and both voices went silent after that. I tried to shake off the awkwardness of what I’d just overheard. I knew exactly what was going down.

The lock clicked and the door opened.

Eli, a
good friend of mine since I’d come clean, was
stand
ing in the doorway, one hand keeping the door from opening
too far.
There was a tired look of doubt on his face, one eyebrow raised higher than the other, while he looked me over.

“Where’ve you been?” he said in a hushed voice. He slipped through the crack in the doorway and quietly closed the door behind him. “Really, bro. You can’t keep pulling
this kind of crap on us. Ellie’s getting pissed. She’s threatening
to call CPS, even, but I keep trying to tell her—”

“I know. I know,” I interrupted.

Eli’s wife, Ellie—their names similar by coincidence alone—hated my freaking guts. She had ever since the day they’d gotten married. It was like she’d taken the reins and something clicked once they’d tied the knot. She was done
with me before she’d given me a chance. After they had their
first kid, we got into a scuffle over the ethics of the way I was living with Lucy, but in the end, Eli came through for me.

“I didn’t mean to disappear. I swear,” I replied. “I swear I didn’t. Please, Eli. You’ve gotta believe me.”

“I get it, bro. I do.” He took a deep breath and reached an open hand toward me. I took it and he pulled me closer and wrapped his other arm around my shoulders in a brief,
but tight, embrace. “Jesus, I missed your ass. I thought
something had happened to you after you vanished the other day. We thought we were gonna be stuck with… well, not that we don’t care about her, but…”

“How is Lucy? Is she… okay?”

“Yeah.” He shrugged. “I mean, she’s pretty upset and she really lost it when you left without warning. Ellie did, too. She thought… well, she thought it meant, you know?
Trouble.”

“Yeah.” I shook my head. “I never meant to leave her here for this long.”

Eli had three other kids—two-year-old twins and a four-year-old—whom Lucy played with often. Leaving her with his kids helped keep CPS at bay, and the one extra kid every now and then didn’t look suspicious to neighbors, either.

“We can’t keep doing this, David,” he said, looking away
anxiously. He scratched the back of his neck. “I mean… people
are going to start asking questions sooner or later. She’s getting older and—”

“I know. Okay? I’m working on it.” I grumbled beneath my breath. “I’m thankful you’ve gotten us this far. I really am. I just don’t know what to do with her now and… I can’t
lose her, Eli. I just can’t.” I grabbed him by the shoulders and looked him in the eye. “But you know what? Good news. I’m
here to take her from you. Permanently.”

“What?” His jaw dropped. “No shit, man? Did you get things straightened out?”

“I wish.” I couldn’t lie to him. We’d been friends for too long and I owed it to him to tell the truth. Though I couldn’t tell him all of it.

“Things are going to change soon, and I want her to be with me when that happens so I can protect her.”

“What do you mean?”

“Weird shit’s been going down lately. I don’t have time to explain. Look, just let me in, okay? Let me get Lucy and get the hell out of here. Out of Ellie’s way for good.” I took a step closer to the door and Eli swung his arm out to stop me.

“No, David.” His arm was trembling and he avoided eye contact. “I-I can’t.” His breathing became heavier and I felt tension building in his voice.

“What? What the hell do you mean
you can’t
?” I tipped my head down and clenched my teeth. “Let. Me. In.”

“It’s not me, David. It’s… Ellie. I mean, I think you’re doing what you can, but she—”

“Don’t make me do this, Eli.” I reached behind my back and wrapped my fingers around the grip of my gun. “Please. Don’t.”

“No!” His eyes widened. He knew what I was reaching for. “Come on, David. You know you can’t take care of this little girl anymore. She needs a real family. Someone who loves her and—”

“I do love her! Jesus Christ, Eli, don’t start this kind of crap.” I took a step closer, glaring. “I am
not
going to let you try to take her away from me. Not now. Not ever. I’m not going to let anyone touch her.”

“She needs to grow up with kids her age. Go to school and—”

“Move, Eli!” I drew my gun out from behind my belt and he swiftly shifted his weight from the door. “I don’t want to hurt you or anyone else. But I’m not going to let you do this to me. Move!” I barged past, into the house. His wife was on her cell speaking frantically with someone.

“Yes. He’s still here,” she said. “Oh my God! He’s got a gun! He’s got a gun and—”

“Ellie, no!” I yanked the phone out of her hand and disconnected the call. “Don’t do this to me. Where’s Lucy!?”

“Stop it, David!” Ellie screamed. “Just stop! You can’t keep living this way—expecting us to take her in every time you get wrapped up in some kind of mess you can’t get out of. You can’t keep doing this to her!”

“Lucy!” I yelled, my eyes darting toward the second floor
stairwell. “Where the hell is she?”

“David, calm down.” Ellie’s voice shook. “Please. Put the gun away and let’s talk about this.”

“Give her back to me and I’ll leave. She needs to be with
me
.” I looked at the stairwell again. “Lucy! Come down here
, now!”

“How are you going to keep this up?” Eli came up behind me. “
Really, bro? Drugs? Stealing cars? You can’t expose her to that kind of stuff.”

I swerved around and lowered my gun. “That’s over with,
Eli! I don’t shoot-up anymore or strip cars. I stopped years ago and I haven’t looked back. I want a better life.”

“So you’re just going to keep toting the girl around every time you earn a buck to live somewhere for a month and
then drop her off here again like we run some kind of deadbeat
daycare? We can’t do this any longer. She’s five years old, and she needs to go to school. She needs a
real
home.”

“I’m trying to give that to her! I just—”

“You don’t even have legal custody of her!” Eli put a quivering hand onto
my shoulder, pressed firmly, and looked me straight in the eye. “David, you’re gonna lose her someday and there’s nothing either of us can do about it.”

A muffled police siren blared in the distance outside and I sucked in a breath.
Shit.
I cut a glance at Ellie, who was shaking her head at me, and then I grabbed Eli’s collar and yanked him toward my face. “Tell me where she is, damn it!” Heat radiated from within me and a warm golden glow reflected off Eli’s terrified gaze.

“What’s happening to you!?” he shouted. “What the hell is that?”

Fluorescence flickered to life in my chest and sparking yellow veins crept down my arms toward my hands—toward Eli’s face. He wriggled violently until he was free of my grasp and then backed away in a panic.

“I said weird shit was happening, Eli. I meant it.”

Chapter 4

L
ucy dashed down the stairs as fast as her little legs could
carry her, arms flailing in the air as a smile lit up her face. I tucked my gun away and knelt at the foot of the steps, arms open to catch her just before her purple sneakers hit the last stair. I scooped her into my arms and stood, hoisting her up
to my chest. She flung her arms around my neck and held on
tightly. My fluorescence faded away before she had a chance to notice.

“David, no!” Ellie tried to stop me. “Think about what you’re doing!”

“I’m done thinking about it,” I growled. “Eli, thank you for everything you’ve done to help me and Lucy. You saved
my ass more than a few times and I’m grateful for it, but I have
to go.” I headed toward the door. Lucy sobbed on my shoulder,
but I couldn’t tell if they were tears of joy or fear with all of the commotion.

“It’s okay, Lucy,” I said quietly, flinging the front door open while adjusting my grasp on her. “I’m getting you out of here.”

Things were going to be okay. Somehow. I had gotten her back and—

Police sirens blared—sounding much closer than they had minutes ago.

Flickering red and blue lights became visible not too far down the street.

“Shit,” I hissed.

Lucy hugged me tighter still, and I barely heard the squeaky whisper, “I’m scared.”

“I know you are.” I cupped the back of her head with my other hand. “Just be strong for me, please. I’m gonna get you out of here, but things are going to get scarier first. You have to be a big girl, okay?”

She
sniffled loudly and lifted her face from my damp shoulder. Her brown eyes glistened with fear and she rubbed
a hand across her face to wipe away the tears.

“Okay,” she murmured, her voice breaking. “I’ll try.”

“That’s a good girl,” I replied with a smile. “Be strong, like me. We’ll be safe.”

Before I could get past the front gate of the lawn, one of the police cars swerved to a stop at the end of the driveway, the brakes squealing against the asphalt. The cop flung open the car door and hopped out, his hand hovered above a holster on his hip. Taser or gun, I couldn’t tell.

Lucy shrieked in fear and buried her face against my shoulder once more.

“It’s
okay.” I looked frantically around for an escape route. The damn yard, while not entirely fenced in, was flanked on both sides by other houses and a line of thick hedges.
I could run, but how far would I get with the police on my tail? By myself, maybe, but with Lucy… No way I’d make it half way across the street before someone tackled me.