Novices by K. M. Herkes

Author:K. M. Herkes [Herkes, K. M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: K. M. Herkes

9:45 AM Wednesday June 15

downtown Belleview Ohio

Carl needed to burn off nervous energy after leaving his parents in the gossip pit, so Joe followed him over two blocks and down four, back up and across and down again while the town went through its morning routines around them. Ben and Tasha bracketed them, watchful but unconcerned.

They ended up at the minimalist commuter rail depot, which was little more than a metal roof over a concrete slab. Bolts on the support beams showed where wind-breaks could be installed against heavy weather, but today a hot breeze drifted through.

Carl stood staring across the tracks at a big sprawling building. The Watering Hole stood between two lots with burned-out foundations, a relic of the not-so-long-ago time when the town had been larger. The two CSB officers signaled to Joe before taking up posts out of earshot but with views of all approaches.

Don't sneak away on us, Ben's pointing finger warned, which made Joe wonder which Institute team had been through Columbus most recently and what kind of trouble they'd stirred up.

The object of Carl's interest looked forsaken and dilapidated in the morning sun, with weathered board siding, weeds in the cracked brick patio and ruts in the gravel parking lot. The reek of hot beer and stale grease hung in the humid air.

“It's better at night.” Carl settled to the concrete floor of the shelter and stretched out his legs. He picked up a chunk of rock and started scraping it against the edge of the slab. “They do a great Sunday brunch.”

After a moment's consideration, Joe crossed to the opposite side of the platform to look at the scenery there. The grinding noise eventually stopped, “What am I supposed to say?” Carl asked. What am I supposed to feel? “What do we do now?”

“Don't ask me, I'm only a chaperone.” Joe hopped down onto one of the rails. “I'm here to sit on you if you need it, nothing more. The pacify-the-parents visit is done, We can kill time until 2 PM tomorrow however you want.”

I can be a friend, if you want. Tell me how I can help. Joe kept his eyes on the horizon and his back to the seething emotional mess behind him. Carl continued his minor vandalism. Puffy clouds built on the horizon, and tendrils of dusty heat and damp cool swirled on the breeze.

“I wish someone had sat on me earlier,” Carl said. Crunch. Scrape. “Monday I came out of a deep session—” a weak euphemism for neurological procedures involving direct electro-stimulation “—so I was catching up on things and there was a message and I saw. Then I was looking at a metal wall and trying to figure out why the floor was moving…” A long pause and ragged breathing. “Did I hurt anyone?”

“Not permanently.” Joe smiled at the memory. “You told every poor soul who got between you and the rail yard to hide somewhere and suck their toes. Brilliant really. Remarkably non-violent.”

“Why?” was Carl’s next question, after a lapse long enough that the shadows had visibly shortened.

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