The Misbegotten

By mid-morning, we had all changed into bathing suits. I had ordered just about every type of take-out food imaginable, while the others frolicked about the backyard as kids our age should.

At the moment, I was sitting in the hot tub with Sandy, Flavia and Katie. A tall ice-filled cup of cherry Fanta¹ sat beside me in a cup holder.

Johan and Martin were playing in the pool.

Ramona and Leda half-watched, sitting at the shallow end of the pool, their feet swirling in the cool, blue water. With their heads bent toward each other, one could surmise their conversation had depth to it.

Tirza sat behind one of the huge patio tables. This was one the ladened with all food I ordered. It looked bowed in the middle, because our fodder covered just about every square inch.

A few minutes prior, my ex-girlfriend had been talking with Jolene. But, the younger girl had gone back into the house, presumably to relieve herself. Now, tiny Tirza wormed deep into her chair, surveying the vista before her. Her sunglasses hid her swollen eyes and the sallow rings beneath them. She had her legs folded before her again. Her child-like feet dangled off the edge, pudgy toes wriggling now and again. She wrapped herself in a cocoon of thought and was better left alone to her own devices the time being.

I glanced over at my step-sister, seeing the frown she had been wearing all morning. I finally decided to ask what was bothering her. “Why the long face?”

“You really don’t want to know,” she replied, succinct, even terse.

“I wouldn’t have asked, if I didn’t want to know, goof-ball,” I countered taking a drink of my cool Fanta. Between the heat of the day and the temperature of the water, I was hot as crap. I could feel the perspiration beading upon my forehead.

My step-sister’s lips thinned, straightening.

I washed off the sweat with some of the chlorine-saturated water we were sitting in.

“I’m just tired, Eff, ok?” She was glowering. It was plain to see whatever had upset her; she didn’t want to talk about it.

Beside me, Sandy sniggered. “It was your parents, huh?”

Flavia’s head snapped in her direction, aggrieved and scandalized at the same time. It was obvious that Sandy had hit the nail on the head.

I felt just a little bit of throw-up gurgle to the top of my throat. Fucken gross, man! I thought as other, more nauseating images sprang to mind in vivid detail. My mother and step-father had been going at it last night! Yuck!

Sandy continued to snicker.

“I woke-up hearing some strange sounds,” ventured Flavia.

So, now we’re gonna go there and speak about this, for real?

“It took me some time to realize what I was hearing. When I finally did figure out my mom and dad were having sex, I sat up and threw my covers off me. It was so hot in my room.”

“It was precisely like that up in the Loft,” colluded Sandy. “Well, maybe moreso…” Her look was innocent, but there was mischief at the corners of her eyes.

“Then -,” Flavia choked, then roughly cleared her throat. Her voice dropped. She leaned toward the center of the hot tub, which, of course, made us follow suit. “I saw Jolene.”

I frowned.

“You don’t mean…?” asked Sandy, clarifying.

My step-sister nodded.

“Are you serious? She was playing with herself?”

The blood seemed to drain from Flavia’s face as she continued to nod her head in affirmation at tall teen girl.

Sandy punched me in the arm. “Damn, Estefan, you made everyone in the whole house turn into a bunch of horny-ass sluts!”

Flavia’s eyes went even wider and would’ve said something.

Jolene came from the house like a wild banshee right then.

We all forgot what we’d been thinking seconds before.

“I have to go, you guys! I can’t find anybody!” she said, frantic. Her cell phone gripped before her like some sort of torch lighting the way, though it was in the middle of the afternoon.

“What?” hollered my step-sister, rising from the water, making her way to the edge of the tub.

Jolene turned to face her, her eyes bulging from her face. “I have to go, Flavia. I can’t find any of them. I have to try and find them before something bad happens!”

“Find who?” asked my brother, having somehow made his way from the pool to his girlfriend’s side.

“My parents, my brother and sister,” she exclaimed, ignored tears streaming down her face. “I can’t find them!”

Tirza, being the closest to her to begin with, made it to her side at the same time as Johan.

My brother reached out and grabbed the distraught girl by either wrist.

I could see he was afraid she was going to faint.

He was making ready, should she do so.

“What do you mean, you can’t find them, Sweetie?” asked my ex-, using her softest tone. It was her plan to calm Jolene enough, so she’d speak coherent enough for us to understand what was going on.

Jolene’s gaze was one of pure fright. “I tried where their offices. I tried the house. Everywhere I called, there was no answer. I even called the daycare where my brother and sister are when my parents are at work. They said no one dropped off my siblings today. The lady said she had called my house to confirm my brother and sister weren’t coming in today. She got nothing but a busy signal!

“Something’s wrong, I know it! Something bad has happened!” To everyone’s surprise, she wrenched free of Johan. She collapsed into Tirza’s arms, weeping uncontrollably.

Johan reached for her, his heart breaking for the girl he cared so much about. But Flavia, who had preceded the rest of us, put a light, restraining touch on the crock of his elbow.

My brother’s gaze was intent, but understood and stayed his ground. His expression was still pinched with worry, nonetheless.

The rest of us exchanged knowing looks, already calculating the worst had indeed occurred. The NIA was being thorough now. There was no denying the obvious.

Tirza comforted the girl the best she could, guiding her to one of the patio chairs. She sat her down, once her initial onslaught of crying had subsided from all-out wailing to more manageable sobs. The whole time, Tirza spoke to Jolene in soothing tones that none of us could hear. She pulled stray strands of hair from her face, wiping the large tunnels of tears streaking her cheeks.

“What should we do?” asked Ramona with little Martín in tow. He was staring at each of bug-eyed with uncertainty, unsure if he should be afraid or not.

I smiled at him, holding out my hand. He came to me, almost running, though he distance wasn’t far. I wrapped a reassuring arm about his small shoulders. He looked up at me with big brown eyes, the bangs of his bowl-shaped hair cut falling to either side of his forehead.

“You think we should check it out? You know to make certain,” assayed Katie. She was usually the first to see through emotion (the bullshit) with a clear head.

That pulled my attention from Martín at once. “What do you mean?”

My cousin flipped her hair behind her shoulders. “Maybe we should go to her house and see.” Her eyes darted toward Jolene. She lowered her voice. “I don’t know, maybe find out what happened.”

“You think that’s wise?” asked Leda, wringing her hands before her waist.

We were forming a circle with Tirza and Jolene off to one side.

“I’m not sure about that,” admitted Katie with a thoughtful shrug. “But, we owe it to her to try and find out something.”

“Isn’t it a big risk, though?” questioned Sandy. She gnawed at her knuckles, agitated at the prospect of us walking right into a NIA strike zone.

“Yeah, it probably is,” I began, “but not such a high one, if we take precautions.” I was starting to believe my cousin was right. We owed it to Jolene to at least try to understand what had happened.

“I want you go with you guys!” yelled Jolene, dodging around Tirza’s attempts to forestall her. She barged into the inadvertent circle we’d just forged.

“No!” I managed to be stern, though I didn’t like myself for doing so. “We can’t risk them spotting you. If they know about your family, then they’ll know about you. If you show up at your house, you’d be a sitting duck.”

“But, I want - !”

Johan interrupted her. “He’s right, Joe. They’ll recognize you the moment you come within half a mile from your house.”

I could see it scared him shitless that something awful might happen to her. It was easy for me to sympathize, knowing how fucking frightened I’d be if Katie or Ramona, or any of the other girls, were in eminent danger.

“Johan!” scolded Jolene, as if his speaking up was a betrayal.

“Babe, come one. I’m only trying to protect you,” responded my brother. HE was not at all mollified by her condemnation.

“It’s my family, what the hell do you expect me to do?” She was on the verge of tears again.

“To stay alive.” The words had come from the smallest of us teens, in the tiniest voice, but one full with determination and resolve.

We all turned toward Tirza.

She continued, “If anything has happened to your family, Jolene, it is what they would want you to do. They would want you to stay alive, make their sacrifices worth something.” My ex-girlfriend came up the younger girl and held out her hand. “I know more than anyone, remember?”

Jolene seemed to crumble.

If it hadn’t been for Johan, she might’ve fallen to the floor. Instead, he caught her under the arms and, with surprising strength, lifted her off her feet, cradling her like a baby. She was unable to withstand the combination of her draining sobs and my brother’s strong grip. She buried her head into his shoulder and began to weep all over again.

Tirza came to his side, and then glanced at the rest of us. “We’ll take care of her; you guys decide what you’re going to do and let us know.”

With that, the three of them vanished inside my parents’ house.

Tirza was giving Johan quiet direction we couldn’t hear.

My brother was nodding the entire time.

*****

In the end, we chose Sandy, Katie and I to go on the short excursion to Jolene’s parents’ house. Our logic seemed sound. Sandy was the only one with a car. Katie was unknown around this part of the country. While I was the only one with a Mutation was strong enough to affect groups, and not only individuals. If something bad were to happen, the plan was for me to reduce our assailants to butt-fucking whores.

We left under the watchful eye of Jolene, who told us her address. She begged us tell her everything we discovered regardless how bad the circumstances.

Tirza and Johan hadn’t left her side, since they’d escorted her into the TV room. They’d gotten her something cold to drink, while the rest of us had haggled over how many of us should go, who should go and why.

It hadn’t taken long, but it did take some time since what we were undertaking wasn’t necessarily a walk in the park. This was something we all realized. Because of it, the longest part of our discussion was whether we should go to Jolene’s house armed or not. It took us ten minutes to come to the consensus. Going to a potential NIA strike-site, packing guns was not a good thing, since our main aim was to gather information. We had to go as your regular, run-of-the-mill rubber-neckers. We could scout the area, with hope unnoticed. If anyone questioned our presence, we could always play dumb. This was an act much more difficult to pull off with a .50 caliber hand gun shoved in ones’ waistband. So, we went unarmed.

Ramona had pulled me aside and given me a quick lecture about being safe and not getting hurt, etc., etc. Then she kissed me light on the lips. Her parting words were, she expected me back in one piece – every part of me.

Tirza waved a small wave, but there was more in her eyes. I knew she wouldn’t speak about it yet, but it was there.

I held her gaze for a few moments, but didn’t press the issue. She had a distraught Jolene and a haunted Johan to either side of her. It wasn’t the time. Maybe sometime in the future the “right” time would arrive. Maybe.

Leda was last.

I was almost out the door when I felt her thin fingers clasp about my palm, giving me a tug. It was almost indistinguishable from the natural sway of my arms. I had turned and she was there, in my arms, on her tips toes, her soft lips on mine.

She didn’t say a single word when we finished, only an arched eyebrow told me she expected me to come back to her.

I nodded.

So did she. We didn’t need words. Leda and I have always been like that – seventy percent of our communication has always been utterly silent.

We hopped into Sandy’s burnished-brown, 2012 Dodge Magnum Srt8 and sped off down the street. We turned right, and then left three blocks later onto Avenue 63. We wanted to avoid the busier thoroughfares in the area. When we came to Meridan Street, I told Sandy to take it all the way to Avenue 49. This way we’d avoid York Boulevard and any prying eyes that may be looking for anything out of the ordinary, whatever it may be.

I wasn’t taking any chances.

As usual, Meridan was devoid of any consistent traffic. We made it to Avenue 49 as though we were ghosts in the night, though it was broad daylight. No one paid us any notice. From there, we turned left until we came to El Paso. We took a right, passing through Highland Park and its’ myriad of unique homes - every single one different from the next.

When we came to Division Street, we turned left. We started up the twisting route through the foothills of Mount Washington until we came to Sunny Heights drive. There, we turned left. Sandy slowed, because we were getting close to Jolene’s parents’ house.

I glanced about the large homes dotting the various flanks of Mount Washington. I marveled at the opulence in the midst of our middle class neighborhood. The houses up here were, to be frank, huge!

Sandy drove no more than a half a mile when we began to see the crowds and the marked increase in traffic. To our dread, we saw the long lines of police tape blockading entrance onto Marchena Drive where Jolene and her family lived.

As smart as she was cute, Sandy busted a quick bitch. She parked four blocks from the throng gathering about the lazy turn onto Marchena. “So, what’re we gonna do now?”

“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “Seems like an awful lot of cops and NIA bastards around. You know something went down.”

“Yeah, especially if they blocked off the entire street,” agreed Sandy. She peeped through the back window to the multitude behind the car.

I ran my hand over my bare scalp, pausing to scratch an earlobe. I turned to peer out the same window. Neither of us was paying much attention to Katie, who was sitting in the back seat, a thoughtful scowl on her face.

“Didn’t Jolene say she lived at the end of Marchena?” I asked.

“Yeah, on the left hand side of the cul-de-sac,” replied Sandy, her eyes dancing about the scene.

“So, if they blocked off the entire street, then we can infer something pretty nasty occurred, right?”

“Imm-himm,” was the girls’ grunt of agreement.

I blinked and inhaled sharply. “Which means it’s going to be dangerous for us to go and get a closer look.” I stopped as Sandy and I exchanged a nervous glance. “The NIA could find out we're here.”

“I should go and check things out,” announced Katie, of a sudden, catching us both by surprise.

“Why you?” I questioned a little too aggressive. I didn’t want anything to happen to my beloved cousin. I went from problem-solving to protective mode in a nano-second.

“No one from the government knows I’m here, Eff. For all they know my mom and dad picked me up in Palm Springs and hauled my ass back to Oklahoma. They’d released me before your mom arrived at the CHP station. I was sitting in the lobby waiting.” She was smiling at the memory. “When Aunt Patrice got there, I just waved at the front desk officer and she smiled. We walked out of there just like that, no fuss, no paperwork – nothing.

“Outside our two families, there’s no way anyone knows where I am,” she concluded her visage smug with confidence.

I never said Katie was stupid!

I peered over at Sandy, who raised her brows and nodded. I could see she thought it was sound reasoning.

It was, most likely, it was the best we could do, but I worried for Katie. I don’t know what I’d have done if anything bad happened to her. I’d probably go on some idiotic rampage that would endanger everyone else. I didn’t want to risk it.

Yet, we still owed it to Jolene to try and find out something about her family, even if it was terrible.

“Promise you will be careful, Katie?” I queried, sounding pathetic.

She frowned at me like I was a two-year old. “Of course, I’ll be careful, you wank-job!”

“Super… careful…?” I clarified, reaching out for her face, stroking her cheek.

She cupped my hand with her own, then pulled it to her mouth and kissed my palm. “I promise,” she whispered, closing my hand about her kiss.

At that, Sandy unlocked the doors.

Katie scrambled form the back seat, before I could do or say anything else. Seconds later, she was walking down Sunny Heights, her tight little butt swaying back and forth as she strode from us.

It was the longest twenty minutes of my life. I spent the whole duration gazing out like an eagle for any sign of my cousin. Until finally, I spied her emerging from the crowd, which had grown even larger since we had arrived. She had already crossed the street and was taking her time, trying to be natural and not raise any suspicion. Her tanned legs looked scrumptious in the summer sun. Her denim booty-shorts were doing her right!

I scurried from the car much too fast.

Sandy grabbed me by the back of my shirt to slow my exit.

I got the point and took hold of her wrist, turning, slow on purpose, to mouth a silent “thank you”.

She grinned from ear to ear.

I opened the rear door for Katie, who remained expressionless, ducking into the vehicle. She scooted over so I could close the door behind her. I retook the shotgun seat and motioned for Sandy to start the car and get us the fuck out of Dodge.

She complied at once.

It wasn’t until we reached Division Street when Katie finally broke her silence. “They’re all dead.”

I looked back at her. Her eyes appeared a thousand miles away.

“Are you sure, Sweetie?” asked Sandy, hoping against hope.

Katie shook her head and crossed her arms under her pert breasts. “Yeah,” she huffed, wiping at the corners of each eye. “The fuckers burnt down their entire house and let two other catch fire just make sure no one got out alive.”

“What the fuck? Are you kidding me?!?” I asked. My anger made me loud, though more at the situation itself, then at my cousin.

Katie answered as if I’d directed me question at her anyhow. “No bullshit, Eff, they slaughtered them all, even some of the neighbors as well – those that came to help.” She seemed exhausted.

“How in the hell are those assholes getting away with shit like this?” wondered Sandy as she took us onto El Paso Drive. She made sure she was observing every single rule of the road in the process.

Katie chuckled, rank with contempt. “They can do whatever the fuck they want once they send out the word that a group of Muto Terrorists is hiding out somewhere.” I could hear the sardonic tone in her voice. My cousin was angry too.

“That’s what they said?” I asked.

“No, that’s what I heard. The whole damned crowd was buzzing with relief over the NIA bringing the terrorists to justice.”

“What had these ‘terrorists’ done exactly?” inquired Sandy. She was glancing at my cousin through the rear-view mirror.

“I don’t know,” she replied through an exhalation. I could tell the ordeal was wearing her thin. “There were so many rumors; it’s not even worth it to talk about.”

“That fucking sucks,” mumbled Sandy.

We all went quiet.

My uncle had been right after all. The NIA wasn’t messing around anymore.

When we turned back onto Meridan, I heard Katie fumbling with her cell phone, but didn’t turn around. Whatever she was doing was her business. Besides, I had too much on my mind to bother.

There was a few more seconds of silence, then: “Hey Caroline, it’s me Kat, how are you?” She was calling home.

I peeked over at Sandy, but she focused upon the road instead.

“I don’t know, I haven’t heard from you guys in a while and I was just wondering if everything was alright.” Katie stopped talking, listening now.

“Well, no one’s called me since you did that first night, so I -.” She paused. “Yeah, I understand, but what about mom and dad?” Another pause ensued. “Ok, but where are they?”

The conversation was intruding into my awareness, because it didn’t sound like it was going the way it should’ve.

“Vacation, why? Mom didn’t tell me. When did they leave?” She listened some more. “A week ago, but she knew I would be waiting for her to talk to me! She hasn’t called me once, neither has dad…”

The car went quiet.

“Oh, fuck you, Caroline. You’re such a bitch!” A short stoppage followed. “Well, I don’t give a shit. I’m gonna stay out here where people love me and take care of me! I don’t need you fucking idiots in my life. As far as I’m concerned, you call go fuck yourselves!”

She tapped the front of her cell hard enough that Sandy and I both heard it.

“Assholes, don’t give a rats’ ass about me,” I heard her mumble.

None of talked the rest of the way home.

*****

The rest of the day was shitty as fuck. The keening coming from Flavia’s room was bad enough as it was. But when Jacob called a couple of hours later, boy was he ever a harbinger of the oh-so-fucked-up variety.

He told us that surveillance had increased four-fold in our immediate area. It had coincided with chatter over government channels. Most of it mentioned some large Muto terror-cell hiding out in the vicinity. Helicopter and street patrols were to begin that same night. He told us to stay low, to stay out of sight for the next couple of days, because something nasty was coming.

At four o’clock, Flavia came up to the Loft. We got her up to speed, while she told us Jolene had finally fallen asleep in Johan’s arms.

Tirza had been reading her some passages from the family Bible. She likely had to scrape half an inch of dust off the darn thing, seeing how little use it got in my household.

I rolled my eyes at the thought of my ex-girlfriend reading from the book of books at first. As I let it marinate for a bit, I told myself not to knock it too hard. If those verses gave Jolene a degree of solace, then who was I to pass judgment. The fact it wasn’t my cup of tea had nothing to do with it.

Later, we figured those staying the night should call their parents and let them know who was staying where. We needed to cover our tracks against discovery by them or anyone else trying to find our group. Misdirection was the best thing for everyone involved. For now it would keep everyone safe. One couldn’t speak to what they didn’t know.

That night, I asked my mother if a few friends could come over for dinner and hang out.

She frowned and bemoaned the amount of work it would take to feed everyone. She acquiesced when I volunteered to order the food with my own money.

Of course, she had no idea I had a cash hoard given to me by one of the two uncles she just happened to hate the most. There was no real need to explain all that shit to her. So, like the good son I was, I didn’t.

My step-dad didn’t give two shits as long as we were quiet.

I ordered him a pastrami sandwich from one of our regular food joints. His only comment had been, “Eff, you’re a good kid”, when I walked his meal and a couple of beers into the TV room.

We didn’t hear hide or hair of him the rest of the evening.

The rest of us ate in the dining room. My mom peered about on occasion. It was obvious she had taken note of the sizeable difference between the numbers of females versus males about the large table. She didn’t say anything though, because Ramona was there. She knew my girlfriend could be jealous at times.

Well, at least, the old Ramona had been. The new one had learned to share.

Jolene and Tirza stayed up in the Loft. During the melee of our meal, Johan snuck up plates of pizza, stuffed pita pockets, a big bag of Lays² and a pair of Cokes³.

After dinner and a movie in the Loft, the girls pretended to leave, but actually sneaked to the side of the house. They waited twenty minutes or so. Then they made their way up the tree and back into my room via the window as they’d been doing for the past few nights.

We stayed up long enough to agree, as a group, we should abstain from any sort of sexual activity. We felt we needed our minds focused, alert. The NIA was hunting down families wholesale now. It was definitely not the time to be pounding and sweating over one another. It was time for vigilance. All we had was each other. We had to make sure we protected what we loved.

For the second straight night, I slept with four girls, while Jolene and Flavia slept in Katie’s bed. Tirza and Johan each took one of the inflatable mattresses. It wasn’t long after the light went out, we were all asleep. The day had been wearisome. For some of us, it had almost been too much to endure.

I slept restless and couldn’t tell you if I dreamed or not. The world around me was nightmarish enough.

{ ¹Fanta: a global brand of fruit-flavored carbonated soft drinks created by the Coca-Cola Companyin the 20th century. }

{ ²Lays: a snack; the brand name for a number of potato chip varieties as well as the name of the company that founded the chip brand in 1932. }

{ ³Cokes: referring to Coca-Cola, the marque product of the Coca-Cola Company. }