Independence
Day…..
Maria listened as Liz went on and on about the kiss she had
shared with Max, and how she saw things. The night of the blind date left an
impression, and in Maria’s mind, not a good one. Obsession was good in some
things, but in others…too much of a good thing was often…fattening.
“Here, have this, and any time you feel yourself
spiraling out of control, put 4 drops under your tongue, ok?”
Liz took the vial frowning at it, trying to find a label.
“Ok.”
Seeing Max, Maria recommended immediate medication. “Now
would be a good time.”
Liz turned following Maria’s glance, seeing Max.
“Hey.” Maria shaking her head, left them to talk.
“Hi.” Max looked at the vial. “What's that?”
“Oh, um, it...it's nothing. You know, Max, the other
night, when...when we kissed, I, um...”
“Yeah.” Isabel interrupted Max and Liz at that moment,
unconcerned about what they were discussing.
Isabel ignored Liz, her attention only on her brother.
“Hey. Something's up with Michael. He's acting weird.”
“Weirder than usual?”
“Yeah, no, I just saw him at the other end of the hall,
and he just went the other way.”
Max shrugged. That didn’t sound too weird to Max. Michael
often avoided Isabel when he could, depending on the circumstance and the time
of the month. “Well, maybe he didn't see you.”
“No, he was ignoring me. He practically ran into the mens’
bathroom. Will you just go in there and see what's going on?”
Max sighed. “Right.”
“Thank you.”
Max gave Liz an apologetic smile. “I'll see you later.
Sorry.”
“It's ok.” She watched as Max entered the men’s room.
Michael was in there all right, and Isabel hadn’t been
exaggerating. Michael avoided eye contact, and Max frowned at the way Michael
seemed to be hiding something.
“Hey, Michael. You all right?”
“Yeah, I'm fine.”
Max pursed his lips thoughtfully. “'Cause, uh, Isabel
thought...”
“Can't a guy get some privacy?” Michael quickly entered
a stall, closing the door firmly. Max looked up when the bell rang.
“I'll wait.”
“Max, just get outta here.”
“You can't stay in there all day.”
“Max, I'm serious. Just leave me alone. I'll be out in a
second.”
“Fine.” Max walked to the bathroom door. He pushed it
open allowing it to close by itself. Quickly sitting on the counter, Max waited
for Michael to emerge. Max jumped down immediately when he saw Michael’s black
eye.
~~~
Picking up rocks off the train tracks, Michael distracted
himself with throwing them as far as he could, as if he could that easily toss
away his problems.
“How did it happen?”
“He was drunk.”
“Hank?” Michael made a face. No, frickin’ Santa
Claus. Who else? Max saw the face, but refused let it drop. “Has it happened
before?”
“Couple times. This was the worst, though. Never left a
mark.”
“Michael...” Max swallowed hard.
“Don't.” Michael held up a hand. “I don't want you
feeling sorry for me. I don't want anyone feeling sorry for me.”
“Everyone's gonna ask.”
“Not if it's gone. Fix it.” Michael turned to Max to
make a request that took almost more than he had…asking for help. “Please. I
tried, but I...”
“And what about the next time?”
“There won't
be a next time.”
“Michael, you don't have to protect him. He's not even
your real father.”
“No kidding,” said Michael sarcastically. Max quickly
passed his hand over Michael’s eye, removing the bruise.
Michael felt his eye. The pain was gone. “I don't want
anyone else to know about this.”
“Michael, you can't just...”
“Maxwell, it's between you
and me.”
~~~
Maria and Liz were discussing her inability to resist Max
until Maria got a load of her mother and Valenti flirting. Feeling ill, she
shook her head rushing to anywhere, but the geriatric mating convention. Seeing
Max and Isabel talking at a table, and not their usual booth, she almost went
over to see if they had seen Michael. He had stood her up for their usual
breakfast date. Isabel seemed upset, and before Maria could convince herself to
interrupt, the object of her query appeared.
Michael frowned when he entered, catching the tail end of
Max and Isabel’s discussion…him.
“Ooh! My favorite little wrestler!” Amy said, giving
Michael a friendly squeeze on her way out.
Michael hardly noticed, his attention on Max and Isabel.
“Hey.” He took a seat at the table.
“Hey.” Max looked nervously at Isabel.
“Hey,” said Isabel, her eyes more expressive than she
could imagine. Michael looked at them both, and a look of betrayal and anger
crossed his face.
“You told her?” Michael shook his head at Max.
Unbelievable! He was out the door and across the street.
“Michael!” Isabel followed him, with Max close behind.
“What are you gonna do? Pretend it didn't happen? You have to do something.”
“Like what?”
“Tell someone. Report him.”
“Yeah, to who? Valenti?” Michael could keep the disdain
from his voice. She never lived in the system. She couldn’t know. There was no
one. “Yeah, that'd be a smart idea, wouldn't it?” Telling Valenti would be
suicide.
“Max told me this has happened before.” Michael looked
at Max, his anger at the world redirected at his friend.
“Look, I'm sorry, but I had to tell her.”
“Look, everybody's got problems. If it wasn't this, it'd
be another thing.” Michael shrugged off Isabel’s hand. “I'm a big boy. I
can handle it.”
“Maybe you could talk to my dad. He's a lawyer. He could
help. He once told me about this...this case he had where he helped a minor get
permission to live on his own.”
“Forget it, Iz. The last thing we need is for me to go to
the courts and bring all this attention to us.” Michael tried to walk off, but
she stopped him again.
“Well, if he hurts you again, Michael...”
“He won't.”
Isabel was unconvinced. “You could use your powers.”
“I had to stop myself last night. I can't control my
powers like you and Max.” Michael ran a frustrated hand through his untidy
hair. “You guys know that. Especially in the state of mind I'm in. If I did
anything, I'd probably kill him.”
“Well, all I know is you can't go back there. So stay
with us. At least until Hank calms down.”
Michael looked away, already gone. “Fine, if it's gonna
shut you up.” He walked off before she could stall him again.
Max saw his sister’s face as she watched Michael stalk
away. “How are we gonna explain this to mom and dad?”
“I'll think of something.”
“Are you sure this is a good idea?”
“Yeah. In fact, I think it would be good for Michael to
be part of the family.”
~~~
Maria moaned as she and Liz entered her house. It was a
long shift, and she never got an opportunity to talk to Michael. There was
nothing on her agenda for the night but a ton of homework.
Liz stretched tiredly. “Oh, I am so wiped out. I don't
know if I'm good for any studying tonight.”
Maria saw a pie her mother had made. “Here. Sugar rush.
Always works for me.”
“Ok.” Liz looks at the pie, noticing it was already
half eaten. “Maria...”
Maria didn’t notice as she tiredly sat down on a hat that
had been tossed on the chair –a sheriff’s hat. Sheriff Valenti’s hat.
Standing up, Maria held it in herself in horror. “Huh!” Showing it to Liz,
they both looked around the room for some place to hide when they heard muffled
laughter.
Liz’s eyes widened. “Oh, my God!”
“I know, come on.” They moved back to the door quietly,
opening it, then closing it loudly. “Mom! I’m hoooome!”
Amy quickly appeared through the swinging door that led to
the living room. Putting her back to the door, she tried to smooth down her
disheveled appearance.
“Hi, girls! Uh,” Amy smiled as she tried to appear
nonchalant at their presence, “...what are you doing home so early?”
“It's
“Oh, my God! I must have lost track of time.” Amy moved
her hand over her messy hair. “Uh, you want some pie?”
“No, no.” Maria couldn’t imagine trying to eat pie,
or anything else. The nausea was welling upward into a nice upchuck.
“No, thank you,” Liz said politely sticking real close
to Maria.
“Um. Uh, we...we're...we're gonna go in my room and
study, and you should go to sleep, ‘cause you've got a really big day
tomorrow!”
“I will.”
“Soon?”
“Very.”
Maria’s eyes narrowed, as she stressed her point.
“Alone?”
Amy made a face. “Of course! I'll be right there.” She
jumped a little when the swinging door suddenly opened, and Sheriff Valenti
entered the kitchen, his clothes quite rumpled. “Uh, right after I say good
night to the sheriff.”
Jim had the grace to blush at the two teenage girls.
“Evening, girls.”
“Hi, sheriff.” Liz said politely. Maria elbowed her
sharply in the ribs.
~~~
The evening with the Evans was a disaster, and Michael
could’ve predicted that easily. His day had gone from bad to worse, all in a
space of a few hours. Unable to stand the cloying family life of the Evans, aka,
the Cleavers, he was out the door.
“Michael. Michael!” Isabel rushed out the door after
him. “You didn't have to be so rude to my dad.”
“Rude? He was sticking it to me for no reason.”
“It was a game!”
Michael’s jaw flexed, a warning sign that he was at his
limit. “He doesn't like me.”
“He doesn't know you.”
Michael shook his head. Yeah, ten years of being friends
with his children, practically being raised sleeping on his son’s floor, and
no, Mr. Evans didn’t know him. “I don't want him to know me.”
“He could help you. You just have to speak up and tell
him the truth.”
Michael stared at her in disbelief. She couldn’t be that
simple. “And what? Be a poster child for domestic abuse? It's not gonna
happen.”
Isabel put a restraining hand on his arm. “You have to do
something, Michael. Please don't just pretend it didn't happen. Please.”
“See ya.” Michael shrugged off the hand, his body
already moving fast to blend into the shadows.
Max quietly came up behind Isabel. “He's not easy,
Isabel. Never has been.”
“I know that.” Isabel wrapped her arms around her
center.
“You can't push him like that.”
“He was acting like a child.”
“Maybe.” Max swallowed hard, the reality of Michael’s
situation only just now hitting him. “And maybe you need to stop treating him
like one.” Max looked out in the dark where Michael disappeared to, his hand
clenched at his side. “He can't make up in one night what he's never had in a
lifetime.”
“I'm really scared for him, Max.”
~~~
Michael entered the trailer that was his home and found an
angry Hank.
“Where the hell have you been?”
Ignoring him, Michael strode into his room. Lying down on
the bed, he stared at the ceiling for a moment in the dark, sighing, his arm
over his eyes as he tried to find rest. His insides were still shaking.
Isabel had meant well, but to her, it was so uncomplicated.
She was naïve in thinking he could fix his life so easily. Tonight, sitting in
that house, watching Max and Isabel, it was apparent how different their lives
were from his. They could never understand. He had never had a mother, a woman
who cut up green beans into small pieces hiding them in mushroom soup, or a
father who played board games. Seeing them, everything he never had, and never
would have was glaringly apparent.
Tonight, he never felt more alone in his life. Michael
closed his eyes, thinking his life could be easier…if they never opened again.
~~~
Maria was sitting at her vanity, brushing her hair. Amy
knocked, and stuck her head into the room.
“Maria. I need to ask you for some space.” Amy entered
Maria’s room and sat down on the bed behind her daughter, meeting Maria’s
eyes in the mirror. “I can't feel like you're judging me all the time.”
“I'm just trying to look out for you, Mom.” Maria
answered. She’d been looking out for her mother her entire life since her dad
left. Watching out for her mother had become an art form.
“What are you so worried about?”
Maria looked at her mother in the mirror. “I just don't
want you to rush into anything.”
“Anything? Or Jim Valenti?”
“I don't trust him, okay, and I don't want him to use
you. So...”
Amy bit back a rising nausea at her daughter’s attitude.
“What would he be using me for?”
“Well, for the same thing all men want.” Amy winced at
the jaded view her sixteen year old daughter had of the world, her, and men.
“Right.” Amy cleared her throat. “Maria, there are
like three single guys in all of Roswell and two of them live in the Desert Inn
retirement community. Ok?” Amy tried to make Maria understand. “Jim is a
nice guy. He has a good job, he's responsible, and he's fun.”
“He's a cop. And you're a hippie.”
“Well, opposites attract. I don't know.”
“The man's got a lot of baggage, Mom.” Maria had reason
to know that, but she couldn’t tell her mother about Jim’s alien obsession.
“He's been married once.”
“Who hasn't been, these days?”
“No, but he's that type, you know? That guy...that tough
guy who, like, can't open up, or admit he has emotions or, you know, admit that
he needs you, you know?” Maria moved around facing her mother. “Those are
the most dangerous of them all, I promise.”
Amy looked at her daughter sympathetically. “Don't worry,
honey. Michael will come around.”
“
“Sure you didn't.”
“I meant hypothetically.” Her mother was obviously
laboring under some false assumptions.
“Whatever, honey.”
“Just...just take it slow, all right?” Maria stressed,
her concern heavy in her voice. “Once they get physical, you know, once they
get what they want, they disappear.”
Amy went still, very still. She saw that Michael had been
around a lot lately, but he never came over officially, and they never went on
dates. She cleared her throat. “I hope you're not talking from experience.”
“Just yours.”
“Oh.” Amy didn’t know what else to say. She was
relieved, and she wasn’t. It was a toss up. Not wanting her daughter to be
sexually active, she was relieved that Maria’s world views were not learned
from personal experience. On the other hand, Maria’s jaded cynical view of
relationships was completely learned from Amy’s mistakes, and that was a
bitter pill.
~~~
Michael awoke from his sleep by the sudden opening of his
door. Hank stood in the doorway, drunk, and angry. He dumped a basket of dirty
laundry on Michael’s head.
“Told you to do the wash.”
“I'll do it later.”
“Today.”
“I'm not your maid.” Michael got up, moving around
Hank, wanting out of there.
“Oh, you're right. You're good for nothing. Do the wash
now.”
Pushed too far, Michael couldn’t take it. “Go to hell,
Hank.”
“No wonder your parents left you out in the desert. Who'd
want ya?”
Michael felt that worse than any slap. “Who are you,
father of the year? You're a man who keeps me around just to collect the monthly
check!”
The trailer door opened, Max and Isabel entered. Michael
stared at them in shock and embarrassment.
“What are you guys doing here?”
“We heard some yelling.”
Max looked at the angry older man uncertain of him.
“What's going on?”
Michael glanced at his foster father, and then Max and
Isabel. He could handle Hank alone, but not with them there. “Just get out,
all right?”
Hank saw Isabel and leered at her. “Well, helloooo,
dolly.”
“Shut up, Hank.” Michael said, wishing Isabel would
just leave before things got nasty.
“Yeah. Wanna have a drink with me?” Hank moved towards
Isabel, but Michael stepped in the way.
“She doesn't want a drink.”
“Who the hell are you, her lawyer?”
“Leave her alone, Hank, all right?”
Hank shoved Michael out of the way. “I asked her a
question. I'm waiting for her answer.”
“Here's your answer.” Isabel took Hank’s drink
throwing it all over him. “If you ever touch Michael again, I will kill you!”
Hank grabbed his gun. He pointed it directly at Max.
“You're gonna kill me? I don't think so!”
Max held up his hands. “Just take it easy. We're
going.”
Michael stepped towards Hank holding his hand out. His
powers were out of control and a chair moved across the room to slam into a
wall, shattering into pieces. The refrigerator door opened and closed. Loose
objects whirled around the room like an indoor tornado. Hank, scared, could no
longer control his gun as it pointed wildly in all directions, discharging. Then
suddenly all was quiet. Hank stood in the silence, shocked at the occurrence,
until he found his feet again.
“What the hell?!? Oh, you little bastard. You're a freak.
I always knew it. You're a freak!”
Max grabbed Michael’s arm, pulling him from the trailer.
“Michael, let's go.”
Michael hesitated, and Isabel stopped in the doorway.
“Michael, we have to go. Now! Michael!”
The three aliens left the trailer in a hurry, leaving a
dazed Hank behind. It was dark, and the jeep was parked nearby. Michael’s
steps faltered the closer they got to the jeep, and the farther they got from
the trailer.
Hel looked at Max and Isabel. “Congratulations, you made
it worse. Now he knows.”
Isabel bit her lip, sorry for the part she had played in
the scene in the trailer. “Michael, Hank was so drunk, he's not gonna know
what he saw and he sure as hell isn't gonna remember it in the morning.”
“Isabel, I can't go back there.”
“Good,” said Isabel.
Michael looked at her astounded by how dense she could be.
“You just don't get it, do you? I know Hank's a jerk, but that's the only
thing I had, and now you guys screwed that up for good.”
“Look, just come back with us for now.” Max didn’t
want to argue. They needed to be gone.
“Max, for how long?” Michael flopped his arms in
irritation. “I mean, two days, three days...what's that gonna do? I...”
“We'll figure something out.”
Incredible. Michael shook his head. They didn’t
understand. They couldn’t. “Max, I don't belong there. I don't belong there,
I don't belong here…I don't belong anywhere.”
Isabel tried to calm him. “Michael, we understand
why...”
“No, you don't,.
Isabel. You don't understand.”
Isabel was at the end of her tolerance. “So you got a raw
deal, no one's saying that you didn't.” Isabel ignored Max’s gesture of
caution. “But, God, Michael, you finally have a chance to change it. Would it
kill you to ask for help, just once in your life?”
“Yeah, you know what? It would.” Michael shook his
head, turning away and striding off.
Max swore softly under his breath. “Where are you
going?”
“Doesn't matter,” Michael retorted as he swatted a
plant and disappeared around the corner of the trailer next door.
Isabel bit her lip. “Michael, wait.”
At that moment it started to rain.
~~~
Maria was combing her wet hair, staring in the mirror, but
not seeing herself. Her mind was somewhere else, somewhere not here, somewhere
not
Sensing something, she turned. Michael was at her window
standing in the rain. Opening the window, she quickly helped him inside.
“God, you could get pneumonia.” She wiped him off with
a towel. He just stood there, allowing her to dry him at will. “Here, take
your shirt off.” She helped him. “Hold on. You're shivering.” Maria looked
at him, his eyes meeting hers. Her breath caught in her throat seeing the pain,
despair, and misery in his eyes. He was never open, and for once, his walls were
down. She wordlessly wiped a tear from his cheek. “Come here,” she gently
whispered, leading him to her bed. He hesitated for a moment. “Shh, it's
ok.”
Michael climbed into her bed, Maria following him. “You
don't have to tell me, it's ok.” She molded herself to him, giving him human
contact. His body shook as he began to cry, and Maria hugged him ever closer.
He held himself stiffly for a moment, and then suddenly he
turned in her arms burying his face in her body. Maria made a sound of distress
in her throat, her hand moving over his back, soothing him as her other hand
moved through his wet hair. Resting her chin on his head, she cried softly, his
presence here confirming something she always suspected, but never knew how to
ask.
~~~
Michael woke early, the night slowly giving way to dawn. He
could feel her body heavy on his back, as he slept on his stomach hugging a
pillow. He started to move away, to leave before she woke, but Maria’s arm
tightened around him.
“Stay,” She whispered softly, her mouth brushing
against his ear. It felt like she had kissed him.
“Maria…” Michael’s voice was low, still thick with
sleep. She didn’t need trouble like him.
“Sleep. Just sleep.”
Michael sighed allowing his body to sink deeper into the
bed, to let the need for rest lulling
him back to sleep. The warmth and weight of her body was an unfamiliar comfort,
one he needed.
~~~
Amy opened Maria’s door yawning as she read the morning
paper. “Maria, honey, you're gonna be late.” Looking up, Amy froze, her
mouth opening in shock. There was a boy in Maria’s bed! Not any boy, but a
Michael Guerin boy! In a rush of panic, Amy took in the two bodies molded
together in sleep, the peaceful innocence of their sleeping faces. “Oh, my
God!”
Maria startled awake at her mother’s voice. It took a
moment for her remember, to realize what the warmth was next to her. “Oh!
Mom...”
Michael woke at the same time. He hurriedly removed himself
from her bed grabbing his shoes and shirt. Not an easy task, as Amy was beating
him over the head with her newspaper, her voice hysterical.
“Get out! Get out of this bed!” Amy literally chased
him out of room. “Out of this bed! Out!”
Michael ducked as he darted under her raised hand. “Take
it easy.”
“Get outta my house!” Michael didn’t stop to talk to
Maria; he quickly moved out of the room and house, obeying Maria’s mother’s
hysterical demands.
“Wait!” Maria tried to intercede. “Mom! Mom!
Mom...”
Shaking, Amy commanded her daughter, in a rare form of
parenting. “Maria! Kitchen, now!”
Maria sat at the kitchen table nibbling on a nail, watching
her mother pace. She started to say something, but decided to wait. Her mother
was busy mumbling to herself.
“My baby girl is having sex.” Amy said.
“I am not having
sex.”
Amy stopped staring at her daughter, her disbelief more
than apparent. “Then what exactly did you do?”
“Nothing.” Maria couldn’t explain. “We just slept.”
Amy snorted. “Yeah. I know that one. I've used that
one.”
Maria looked away in disgust, unhappy with her mother’s
reaction. “You act like I have no self-control.” God! All the years she
avoided any entanglements of the nature that landed her mother into early
motherhood, and this lack of faith was crushing.
“Oh, yes, because teenagers are known for
self-control.” Amy said sarcastically. “Especially teenage boys.”
“Michael is not like that, ok?” Maria reassured her
mother, but hesitated. Actually… “Well, sometimes he is, but...”
“What?!?”
Maria sighed. He might be an alien, but he was still a
sixteen year old boy. Some things seemed pretty ubiquitous. “But not last
night, all right? He was upset about something. I don't know what he was upset
about, but sex was like the last thing on his mind.”
“Oh, thank you. There is a God.”
“That's. Why. I let. Him stay.”
“Oh, yeah, and what exactly were you thinking letting him
stay here, young lady?” Amy couldn’t believe the double standard. It was
okay in Maria’s eyes for her to sleep with a hormonal sixteen year old boy,
but Amy, who was an adult, wasn’t allowed? “And besides, why is it ok for
you and not ok for me?”
“I'm sixteen...”
“Yes, you are sixteen-years-old, and no sixteen-year-old
daughter of mine is gonna have sleep-overs with boys, got that?”
Maria looked away. Now she was going to play mother?
“Whatever.”
“No, not "whatever". Maria, as you so subtly
pointed out last night, my history with men has pretty much been a train
wreck.” Amy swallowed hard. Maybe she hadn’t always taken care with what she
allowed into Maria’s life, but this morning was a wake-up call. Maria was
growing up, older than Amy had been when she had gotten pregnant. Denying it,
hoping it wouldn’t happen, was delusional parenting.
“And I don't want you to make the same mistakes. Now, I can't go back
and change my life, but I will be damned if I watch yours go down the same way.
I love you too much.”
Maria bit her lip. There was a lot to Michael, but he
wasn’t a mistake.
~~~
The class was taking an exam. Michael tried to concentrate.
Looking up with the rest of the class when the Principal stuck his head through
the classroom door. He motioned for Michael.
“Michael.” Michael followed the man out of the class as
the other students watched him leave.
~~~
Michael’s jaw clenched as the Sheriff looked at him over
his desk.
“Neighbors heard gunshots.”
“I don't know anything about that.”
“But you were there last night?”
Michael shrugged. “Went home to get some stuff.”
“What time was that?”
Um...,” Michael scratched his eyebrow, “does it
matter?”
“You were the last person to see him.”
Michael stopped slouching in his chair. “What do you
mean, I was "the last person to see him"?”
“I called the plant. He never showed up for work.”
Michael relaxed again, resuming his indifferent attitude.
“Maybe he's passed out somewhere. I don't keep track of him.”
“Neighbors also said they heard an argument.” Jim
searched the young man’s face for a reaction. “And then, later, more sounds.
Screaming. Crying. Tortured sounds, like an animal. Almost inhuman, they
said.”
“What are you talking about?” Michael’s incredulous
expression was hard to miss.
“Where were you, son?”
“Out.” Michael refused to involve Maria in this.
Keeping his mouth shut, he continued to evade Sheriff Valenti’s questions.
~~~
Maria sat in the Crashdown trying to concentrate on Liz’s
conversation about her trying to get over Max, but her mind kept wandering.
Michael didn’t show up to at their usual meeting place. She had brought him
breakfast and a lunch, but he never came.
“You know, what you said really made sense, and I've been
sticking to it. And you would be so proud of me. I mean, just last night even, I
said it really clearly. No.” Liz said, not noticing that Maria wasn’t paying
attention. “Of course, Max wasn't there...but when he is there, I'll be ready
for him.” Liz looked at Maria realizing that her friend wasn’t responding.
“Are you even listening to me?”
Maria physically shook herself out of her stupor. “Oh,
sorry. I'm sorry.”
“What's wrong?”
Maria bit her lip, desperately thinking of an excuse for
her distraction. “Oh...well...” The entrance of Isabel into the Crashdown
helped as she stopped beside Liz and Maria.
“Have you guys seen Michael?”
Liz shook her head while Maria’s attention was suddenly
alert. “Maybe.”
“Come on, Maria, you have to tell me. It's really
important.”
“Well, if it's that important, then you tell me.” Maria
said, unwilling to rat Michael out, even to Isabel. “I'm worried about him,
too.”
“I can't.”
“Ditto.”
Maria’s stubborn chin made Isabel sigh. “All right.
Michael's in trouble.”
Liz looked between the two girls. “What...what kind of
trouble?”
“It's Hank. He's, um...” Isabel swallowed hard, almost
choking on the truth, “he's been hurting Michael, and Max and I are trying to
help.”
Maria sucked in her breath, her worst suspicion confirmed.
“Oh, my God, Isabel.” She looked away. She had hoped that what she had
slowly began to suspect over the past month or so was not true.
“Michael made us promise not to say anything.”
Maria licked her lips, her voice thick with suppressed
emotions. “He was with me last night.” She told Isabel. “All night.”
“Whaaat?” Liz turned in her seat to stare at her
friend. “He spent the night, Maria? What happened to "no"?”
“He never told me what was wrong. We just slept. And
then,” Maria cleared her throat, “...in the morning, my mom came in, and he
took off, and I haven't seen him since.” Isabel stared at Maria with the same
amount of shock that Liz had on her face. Neither had the opportunity to comment
as Max entered the Crashdown.
“Valenti's got Michael.” Max told Isabel.
“Why?” The fear in Isabel’s eyes spoke a volume what
the others were feeling.
“Hank's gone, and they think he had something to do with
it.”
Maria’s stomach churned. Michael, he was alone in jail.
~~~
Amy entered the kitchen singing under her breath. “And
she said...” The words stopped in her throat at the sight of her daughter.
Maria looked…
“Hi.” Maria cleared her throat. “Um, you know the boy
that I slept-but-didn't-sleep with?”
Amy put the groceries on the counter. “Unfortunately, the
shock has indelibly printed his face on my brain.”
“He's in jail.”
“Oh, this just gets better and better, doesn't it?” Amy
shook her head. Heredity, it had to be. She had genetically passed the gene to
fall for losers and jerks on to her daughter.
“He didn't do anything, ok?” Maria said angry at her
mother’s sarcasm. “Your good friend, Sheriff Valenti, is holding him because
he can't explain his whereabouts last night.” Maria stressed the ‘last
night’ part of the information. “And personally, I think it was very noble
of him to protect my dignity.”
“Oh, yeah. How very Bonnie and
“Anyway, since the Sheriff seems to like you so much, I
thought maybe you could tell him where Michael really was.”
Amy shrugged. “Well, I could.”
“Mom, I know maybe he didn't make the best impression on
you this morning...”
“No, Maria, this has nothing to do with him. This is
about you and me. I need to be able to trust you.”
Maria swallowed an angry response. She, until recently,
never gave her mother a reason not to trust her. Refusing to risk Michael’s
freedom over her wounded pride, Maria breathed in deeply. “Then trust me. I
swear to you, he's a good guy, and he's in trouble.” Maria gave her mother a
pleading look. “I wouldn't ask you otherwise.”
~~~
Maria and her mother waited in Valenti’s office while Jim
went to free Michael. Amy had come through. She told Jim where Michael had been
the previous night. Now both she and
Maria were leaning against the wall, neither talking. Michael followed Jim into
the office, but stopped at the sight of Maria and her mother. Maria smiled
slightly at him.
Amy looked at the two. “Wait for me outside.”
Maria quickly grabbed Michael’s hand and pulled him
outside before her mother changed her mind. They stopped outside in the hall,
away from the door.
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“Yes, I did.” Maria stared at the wall next to him.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” Maria looked at him. Her eyes searched
his face. No he wasn’t. He was running. Biting back a retort telling him not
to do anything stupid, she nodded.
“Thank you,” he said softly, not sure if he meant for
last night, or her getting her mother to get him out of jail.
Maria squeezed his hand. “No…thank you. You didn’t
have to do that. You could’ve told him the truth. But, for what it’s
worth…thank you.”
They shared a look. Michael was the first to look away. No
one ever expected him to be gracious or noble. Normally, he would’ve turned
over to get himself out of trouble, but not on Maria. Never on her. Her belief
in him was all he had.
~~~
Michael found Max and Isabel. They were strangely quiet.
“So, everything's ok?” Max asked.
“Oh, yeah, great.” Michael said because that was what
they wanted to hear.
“Michael, about Hank being missing, you didn't...,”
Isabel bit her lip, “...you didn't do anything to him, did you?”
“No.” Michael looked at her, shaking his head.
“What...you thought...”
“No no.” Isabel quickly denied.
Max quickly interceded. “So, what did Valenti say?”
Michael faced went blank. “Well, he said he was gonna
find me a new foster situation.” Michael stressed. “Not a home. Situation.”
Max felt a sinking in his stomach. “I'm sure he
meant...”
“No matter what home I get, it's a substitute for the
real one.”
“Michael, you can't just run away.” Max said looking at
his friend, desperate as an unsettling feeling settled in his stomach.
“Watch me.”
“Where are you supposed to go?” Isabel asked, feeling
the same desperation as Max.
“Anywhere but here.” Michael’s jaw clenched. He had
enough. “You two can stay in your nice little world with your pot roast and
your monopoly games, ‘cause it's pretty clear to me you're not interested in
finding our real home. But I'm going to. I'm gonna find Nasedo. He's my
family.”
“And what are we?” Isabel asked, her voice rising in
anger. “You want to know what I think, Michael? I think it's time you either
put up or shut up.”
Michael stared at her, what liking he had for her sank
another level. Her life was perfect; what could she know of his, or even
understand? Life was so tough when there was a roof over your head, money, hot
food, and people who cared. “Very poetic, Isabel.”
“You act like a five-year-old.” Isabel didn’t know
how to stop. Desperation and fear was eating at her stomach. Michael had been
growing so far away from them lately…ever since Max saved Liz Parker. He had
gone to Maria for comfort…Maria! “When are you going to grow up and stop
blaming everybody else?”
“Is that what you think, Max?”
“I think it's not safe out there. I think Nasedo is
dangerous, Michael.”
“You don't know that.”
“You heard what Hubble said.” If only Michael would
believe, but Isabel had been right before. It would take proof to convince
Michael. “He's a killer, a shape-shifter, and he's out there. He could be
anyone. Now, we need to stick together now more than ever.”
“You're wrong, Max.” Michael went to take off, too
tired to fight with them. He could never win with them. It was their way, or no
way. They couldn’t understand. They never would.
“Go on and run, Michael, it's what you do best.” Isabel
said nastily.
Michael walked off, more than ready to leave. He obviously
had stayed too long. He was messing up their perfect lives.
Michael made a last parting shot. “I’m the child? You
know what’s pathetic? You can’t even see me. You’re terrified that your
life as you know it will end…that you’ll have to leave everything you have.
Me? I’m terrified of what I’ll never find, what will never be…the what
ifs. I have nothing to lose, I’m already at rock bottom, and from here, and
everything looks up.” He walked away, not bothering to look back. There was
nothing there.
~~~
Isabel sat on her bed, her hands holding the healing
stones. Max entered her room without knocking.
“I thought I locked that door.”
“Uh, yeah. Yeah, you did.” Looking at the stones, Max
frowned. “What're you doing?”
“You see this?” Isabel held up a stone. “This is all
I know about who we are. These stones that River Dog gave us at the cave when
Michael was sick. They're the only things we have from the place we came
from.” Isabel looked at Max. “It was the first time I realized we had a home
somewhere...a real place.” It was a place she never thought of, or wanted to
look for, because Michael was right. She had a home, and she was happy. “They
don't mean anything...not without Michael.” How could they? No one wanted them
except Michael. It was his journey, his quest, and his only hope for a real life
as far as he could imagine.
~~~
Max walked through the dark trailer, following the sounds
in the back room. Pausing in the door, he watched Michael for a moment.
“Packing?”
Michael looked over from his chore. “You could call it
that. Everything I have fits in this bag.”
“You have me. You have Isabel.”
Michael pushed a few more items into the bag. “Say
goodbye, Max.” Michael looked at a silver ring. Maria’s. She had him hold it
once. He never gave it back. He put it on his small finger on his left hand.
“I can't.”
What did they want from him? “We'll keep in touch, all
right?”
“It's not good enough.”
Michael almost snarled in anger. He had been saying that
all his life for all the attention they paid. “Well, it's gonna have to be,
all right? So say goodbye.”
“I can't.”
Max was making it harder than it needed to be. “Max...”
“I know what you're scared of, Michael.”
“No, you don't.” Michael said quietly. How could he?
They didn’t even speak the same language.
“You keep telling me how lucky I am,” Max said
desperate to make a connection, “...to have a great home, great parents. But
in one way, it's harder for me, because when I screw up, I have no excuses.”
Michael remained unmoved. Max’s perspective…oh yeah, it was about him again,
about Max. “But you, you can do and say anything you want because you have
Hank, and you can blame it on that. But what happens without him? It'll all be
on you, that's what.”
How clueless. Michael couldn’t believe it. No one ever
blamed Hank for his failures, they only blamed Michael. A cruel unfeeling
individual might even suggest to Michael that he needed to ‘get over it’ and
stop whining, fix his life. Everything was so easy when it wasn’t about you.
Looking at Max, Michael felt…sad, and disillusioned. All these years, and it
always came back to the same thing…he wasn’t good enough.
“Well, leave it up to me to still screw it up, huh?”
“It's ok, Michael, because if you do, we'll all still be
there for you.” Max suggested. “Maybe you have to start thinking about
someone other than yourself, Michael. The three of us belong together. There's a
reason that we're together. We're family. So, go if you want to, but no matter
where or how far, we will always be connected.” Max handed Michael a package.
“Isabel and I wanted you to have this. It means nothing without you.”
“See ya.” Michael took the package and picked up his
bag, walked around Max, and left.
~~~
Maria froze at the tap on her window. She sat there afraid
to move. Closing her eyes for a moment, she breathed in deeply when the tap came
again. Gathering her courage, she opened the window to let Michael in. It was
hard to miss his bag on the ground beneath her window.
“You’re leaving.”
“Yeah,” Michael slowly stood shifting on his feet. “I
just came to say goodbye.”
Maria gulped, biting her mouth on the inside. “Where will
you go?”
“I don’t know. Anywhere not
Maria looked up sharply. “Alone?”
Michael shrugged. “I’ve been doing it alone all my
life…why break a pattern?”
Maria felt it. The same feeling she got when she sat
watching her father walk away. Throwing herself into his arms, her slim arms
went around his neck, hugging him tight as Michael’s arms went around her. She
was slowly teaching him to like being touched.
Michael shuddered as a vision hit him. Maria, a young
Maria, sitting on steps crying, wearing red sneaker with a Kermit patch on them,
hugging a Dalmatian. He saw it in a flash, but what made his heart stop in his
chest was the wave of emotion hitting him. Despair. More than that…pain.
“Don’t,” said Michael hoarsely.
“What?” She said against his neck.
“Don’t feel pain for me.”
Maria breathed in a painful breath. “You’re just a
kid.”
“I’ve never been a kid, Maria.”
Maria left him for a moment. She went to her table and
picked up a dark marker. Grabbing his hand, she wrote her cell number on his
hand in indelible marker. Clearing her throat, she tried to speak normal. “I
know you don’t need anyone, but…” Maria looked at him. “If you should
ever find you need…anything, call me. I’ll come for you, I promise. I
don’t care how far away.” Maria closed his hand over the number on his palm.
“I hope you find what you’re looking for, Michael.”
Michael quickly hugged her again, holding on for a moment
more than he should have. Kissing her cheek, he started to leave.
“Wait!”
Maria dug in her special drawer and then came to stand
beside him at the window. “Here, take this. It’s all I have on hand.” Her
collection of tips that she hadn’t deposited into her bank account.
Michael looked at the cash, and he shoved it back in her
hands. “No, I can’t take your money.”
Maria folded it, putting it in his shirt pocket. “Yes,
you can. Promise me that you’ll eat, stay dry, and occasionally get a full
night’s sleep.”
Michael nodded. He couldn’t speak. Her eyes were full of
tears, and she didn’t try to stop him. He climbed out the window. As he bent
down to pick of his bag, Maria called to him from the window.
“I know what you’re afraid of…” Michael paused in
the dark. “It’s the same thing I am.” Maria hurried before he walked away.
“I’m afraid that I’ll wait my entire life for a dream that will never come
true, and my life will be spent, wasted…waiting. I’m afraid that I’ll
spend my entire life too afraid to feel…always waiting to be disappointed.”
Michael’s eyes were dry, but he could feel it welling
inside. One small earth girl, and she found something in herself that was the
same as he had, an unspoken language. Michael knew he had to walk away before he
couldn’t.
Maria closed the window unable to shut it completely,
waiting for him to come back…to come home. Hope. Without hope, she had
nothing. Maria sat on the edge of her bed, unable to stop it, she slid to the
floor. Lowering her head to her bent knees, she wept.
~~~
Michael stood in the rain waiting for a ride. Sitting down
for a moment, he held the package that Max gave him in his hands, trying not to
think. Standing when he saw headlights, he hitched a ride with a truckdriver.
“What a joke.” The driver said after a few moments.
“Huh?”
“
“Yeah, right.”
“I don't know why in the hell they come here.” The man
said, meaning the tourist. “Aliens, I guess.”
Michael opened the package that Max and Isabel gave him.
The stones fell into his open hand. He juggled them around in his hand for a
little while, thinking of their significance, how important finding them had
been to him.
“Ain't no aliens in that town. Let me ask you something.
If you were an alien, you can go anywhere in the world, would you pick