1 – The Party (2)

 

“Speak of the devil,” Barry said, “the Henderson’s are here!”

Jake followed Barry’s gaze towards two men and a woman approaching. The men looked to be in their late twenties or early thirties, and had the same short, dark hair. Both were tall and thin. Their faces had a lot of similarities as well, and Jake wouldn’t have been surprised if they were twins. One had a rounder face than the other though.

“Walker! Carter!” Barry shook their hands, and introduced them to Jake and his father. Walker was the one with the thinner face. “We were just talking about you. Will and Jake tried your new Peach Hendi, and Jake says it’s so good, it should be illegal.”

Jake didn’t correct him on why he thought it should be illegal. His eyes were on the woman. She had long brown hair, and was around the same average height and weight as him. Like every woman Jake had seen in Jefferson, she wore a dress. A plain green one that fell past her knees. This was probably the sister Barry had mentioned. And he found himself agreeing with Barry. The woman was nice to look at.

Barry turned to Jake and Will. “And this is the beautiful sister they’ve been trying to marry off.”

“Marry off?” Jake’s eyes widened. Did he hear that right? Did that phrase mean something different here? He hoped so.

Barry patted Jake’s back. “We’ll leave you kids to it.”

Barry, Stellaluna, his father, and the brothers all walked away, leaving Jake alone with the woman. Jake adjusted his glasses while the woman rubbed her arm. After several seconds of an awkward silence, Jake held out his hand. “I’m Jake.” He almost added his pronouns, but remembered his father had warned him he’d get laughed at if he did. That everyone here assumed genders.

The girl shook his hand. “Maple.”

“Like the leaf?”

No. Like the syrup.”

Jake chuckled. “Funny. I’ll have to remember that one.”

“Yeah.” Maple looked down at her silver sandals.

Jake fiddled with his bottle of Hendi. He had grown tired of holding it, and didn’t even want it. Not knowing what else to say, he raised it up. “Do you want the rest of this? I only took one sip. I kind of hate it.”

“My brothers own Hendi.”

“Oh.” Of course they did. “Sorry. Um, it wasn’t that bad.”

“It’s okay. I hate it too.”

“Good. I was beginning to think I’m weird. Do you know where I can dump this? I’d throw it in the garbage, but I don’t want it to spill everywhere.”

“Maybe the bathroom sink.”

“Do you know where there is one?”

“Yeah. Come on.”

 

Maple led Jake to the restrooms. Jake stared at the two doors for a few seconds. One said men’s, and the other said women’s. So these were the segregated bathrooms he’d heard so much about. He pushed on the door that said “Men’s” but it wouldn’t budge. “It’s locked.”

“You forgot to put your finger on the reader.”

“What?”

“You know. The fingerprint reader.” Maple pointed to the small, black object below the door handle.

How soon he had forgotten that ridiculous step. He’d come across one outside the dressing rooms of the clothing store he went to the other day. It was the reason he had to go through that embarrassing genital check when he crossed the border into the FSA. They took his fingerprints too, saying he needed to be registered into their database.

“You’ve never used one?” Maple asked.

“I have. I just forgot about it. I’ve only been here a few days.”

“Oh. Are fingerprint readers not a thing where you’re from?”

“Not to get in a damn bathroom.” Jake hesitantly put his finger on the reader. The reader turned green, and something clicked. He pushed the door open, and went inside.

There were a few stalls, a couple of urinals, and a couple of sinks. No different than the typical public bathrooms at home, aside from being a lot cleaner. He poured his drink down the sink, and tossed the bottle in the garbage bin on his way out the door.

“What do you want to do now?” Maple asked.

“I want to know what happens if I put my finger on the one for women’s.”

Jake had only said it as a joke, but Maple grinned. “I dare you.”

It would probably only deny him entry. Jake placed his finger on the women’s reader anyway. It flashed red, and a high-pitched beep pierced the air. Maple covered her ears. Jake pulled at her arm, and ran.

They continued running through a hall, past the foyer, until they reached a wall with a closed door. There, they stopped.

Jake leaned against the door, panting. “That was a close one.”

“Nobody was even chasing us.”

“But someone could have been.” Jake studied the door. It was plain and beige, and matched the equally beige wall. “Where do you suppose this goes?”

“Maybe there’s a secret behind it of some sort.”

Jake was expecting a small closet. “What makes you think that?”

“It’s the only thing in this mansion that’s plain and boring. Everything else is all fancy décor and stylized.”

“Clever observation,” Jake said with a smile. “I bet you’re right.” He turned the knob, but nothing happened. “It’s locked. Now we know there’s secrets behind this door.”

Maple pulled a clip out of her hair. “Step aside. I got this.”

It took her a few tries, but eventually there was a click, and the door creaked open.

Jake found himself impressed. He’d never been able to figure out lock-picking. “You know how to do that?”

“I taught myself.” Maple opened the door all the way. Jake peered over her shoulder to see an old, wooden set of stairs. “Is it a basement?”

“Either that or a dungeon.” Maple smiled at him. “Want to find out?”

“Sounds a lot more exciting than whatever the hell is going on at the party. Let’s go.”

 

~~~~~

 

The tow truck dropped Sebastian and his parents off at the nearest mechanic. Fortunately, this mechanic was only ten minutes away from where they got the flat. Unfortunately, it took the tow truck over a half hour to show up.

They walked into the shop while the tow truck driver dealt with unloading their car. Surprisingly, there wasn’t a line. An overweight, balding man helped them out. His name tag read “Ralph.”

“I’m here because I have a flat tire,” Waylon said. “A tow truck just dropped us off.”

“No problem.” Ralph poked at a tablet on the desk. “Name?”

“Waylon Barstow.”

“Waylon Barstow. Aren’t you our mayor?”

“Sure am.” For the first time since they left the house, Waylon smiled. “I’m running for governor next term.”

“Sounds great.”

Sebastian struggled to keep his eyes from rolling. Through a back door into the garage, he spotted a man with wavy black hair past his ears. Tall, a bit on the thin side. He might have had a handsome face.

The man walked through the doorway. He definitely had a handsome face, with high cheekbones and a defined jawline. His closely-trimmed beard and tan skin gave him a rugged appearance. Sebastian looked away. More so out of habit than fear these days. Still, it had been the longest he’d allowed himself to look at a man his age since he left that camp.

The man wore the typical mechanic uniform of a blue button-up smock with matching blue pants. His name tag read “Axel.” An appropriate name for a mechanic. Axel handed a sheet of paper to Ralph and said, “This one’s ready.”

“I’ll call them in a few. I’m helping the mayor right now!” Ralph beamed.

“Wonderful,” Axel said flatly, not even looking at Waylon. Sebastian got the feeling Axel didn’t particularly care for his father. But his brown eyes did land on Sebastian for a second. There might have been a hint of a smile. It gave Sebastian a fluttering sensation in his stomach, followed by dread. He pulled his eyes away from Axel again.

“He’s got a flat,” Ralph explained to Axel. “A tow truck's unloading it in the back. I want you to prioritize that one.”

“But there’s two other cars that-”

“Prioritize his!”

“Okay, okay.” Grumbling, Axel walked back through the door to the garage.

Ralph asked them to sit in the empty waiting area. There were several chairs, and a TV playing an old sitcom. Sebastian spent that time thinking about Axel. How handsome he was. That feeling he got in his stomach.

This was bad. Very bad. Sebastian was supposed to be over men. But he saw Axel return from the garage and perked up, fighting his natural urge to look away. Because why should he force himself to avoid looking at this man? Nobody was there to punish him for it. Except maybe his father. But he had his attention on his phone while his mother had her eyes on the TV.

Axel said something to Ralph, and Ralph walked over.

“Good news! It only needs to be patched. We’ll have it done in ten minutes.”

“Thank you,” Waylon said.

 

A few minutes passed by. Sebastian caught himself staring at that door behind the front desk. Hoping to see Axel again. Hating that he was hoping for such a thing. He really needed to snap out of this. It wasn’t like he’d see the man again anyway.

The thought filled him with disappointment.

Axel walked through the back door. Sebastian straightened while Axel said something to Ralph.

“How the hell did you manage that!” Ralph shouted.

“I’m sorry!”

They spoke in hushed tones, then walked over to Waylon, who eyed them warily. Sebastian stared at the wall behind Axel, not daring to look at him anymore than he already had.

“The tire is good as new,” Ralph said. “But there’s something else we need to fix.”

“What?”

“It’s our fault,” Ralph said quickly. “You won’t have to pay for it.”

“Won’t have to pay for what?” Waylon raised his tone.

Axel had stared at the floor during the entire exchange. Ralph elbowed him in the side, and Axel slowly met Waylon’s eyes. “I accidentally broke the brake rotor.”

“How the hell did you manage that!” Waylon shouted.

“I’m sorry!”

Sebastian covered his mouth to hide a snicker.

“I’m working on fixing it, but it’ll be another half hour.” Axel paused. “At least.” He hurried off before Waylon could respond.

Ralph apologized again, and followed.

“What an idiot,” Waylon grumbled.