Collateral

After she tucks Ellie into her bed, Rose is sitting in the living room. She holds up her tablet and looks at the data stick she is holding in her hands.

After staring at it for a while, she decides to plug it into the tablet and opens it. She looks at a large number of folders. They seem to be named, some are names of people she does not recognise, and others are pilots or other workers from the racing track. But one folder captures her attention. It is titled “Rose-Griffith”. She opens the folder. It is a bunch of video files titled with a date and time. She clicks one open at random, titled ‘2061. Sunday, May 8th, 20:05.’

It is a recording of the exact living room she is sitting in. She sees her teenage self arguing with her boyfriend.

“You are a good street racer Drew, but not good enough,” Rose’s old self said. She was holding a bunch of unpaid bills that she threw in his face. “We need to find a way to make more money. Otherwise, we won’t be able to survive.”

Drew rolled his eyes. “I am an excellent street racer. Maybe if you for once believed in me-”

Teenage Rose interrupted her boyfriend. “I did believe in you before, and where did that let us?”

Drew remains silent for a second.

Teenage Rose continues. “I know how to make us some extra cash. I have an idea, but it’s risky.”

Drew rolled his eyes. “Great, another crazy idea from your head.”

“Hear me out. For once. Please.”

“Okay, fine, tell me what you have in mind.”

“I can break into the school’s lab and steal some Nitrous oxide. We then put it in your car and -”

Drew shook his head. “No way. You can’t do that.”

“But—”

“No!” Drew interrupted. “The rules of the street racers clearly state that we cannot use modified fuel.”

Rose shrugged. “They don’t really enforce that rule. Everyone does it.”

Drew yelled, “I don’t care. I am not a cheater.”

Rose hears crying in the background of the video.

“Well done. You just woke her up.”

Drew looked at young Rose. “Are you gonna take care of her or what?”

“Yeah, I guess so. Like always. I always do all the work here.”

“Ah, stop feeling sorry for yourself. I am the one that does the work here. I pay for this apartment. The least you can do is care for your own daughter. That you wanted to keep.”

Rose left the frame and entered it back a minute later, holding Ellie in her arms. Drew and Rose sat down on the couch. They both stared at Ellie as she played with a toy.

“So, what are you going to do now?” Rose asked.

“I will just have to win more races, Without cheating.”

Rose shook her head. “I don’t think you can.”

“What do you mean?”

“I just think you aren’t good enough.”

Drew glared at Rose. “Who cares about what you think? I am going to win this race, no matter what. And we will still be able to take care of Ellie, and we’ll be fine.”

“How much did you bet?”

“Thousand dollars, And if I win, we will turn it into ten thousand dollars.”

“Drew, that’s a lot of money. If you lose, we won’t be able to pay our rent.”

“I don’t care. I won’t lose. I can do this.”

The frame goes black. and Rose keeps staring at the empty screen. After a while, Rose notices Ellie is standing in the doorway.

“I am sorry, honey. Did I wake you up?”

“It’s okay, Mom. What were you watching.”

“Nothing important. Go back to sleep, little angel.”

“Can you tell me a story?”

Rose smiles. “It is way past your bedtime. So only a short one.”

Rose walks Ellie back to her bedroom and tucks her in. She picks up her tablet.

“What story do you want me to read?”

“Can you tell me the story of how you met dad?”

Rose puts down the tablet.

“Of course.”

“Back when I was a high school student, I was a very shy kid. I was new at school and didn’t have many friends. In fact, I didn’t have any.

“Your father was a very popular guy. I looked up at him. He was the only person that was nice to me, and interested in me. I was delighted. Of all the prettier and more popular girls, he picked me. We spend some time dating. Until I found out he was an asshole, then we broke up.”

Ellie looked confused. “You broke up with my dad? I thought you lived here with him?”

Rose continues. “I did. After I found out I was pregnant, my parents didn’t want me to keep you. But I loved you so much I couldn’t give you up.” Rose kisses Ellie on her forehead.

“So I decided to run away. Your dad had dropped out of school by then and had his own apartment. So I stayed with him.”

Ellie listens intensively. “Did you love my dad?”

Rose raises her shoulders. “I don’t know. But I do miss him. And I do regret that you never knew your dad. It is very late, time to go to sleep, little angel.”

Rose turns off the light.

“Mom,” Ellie says when Rose leaves the room. “Will you miss me?”

“Of course, I will, little angel. I love you.”

“I love you too, Mom”

September 2070