Offspring by E.J. Rosten

Author:E.J. Rosten [Rosten, E.J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Relium Media LLC
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Twenty-five

I

t hadn’t taken much time for Mara to ride down the hill to the skatepark. In a stunning reversal of her luck over the past couple of days, she saw Ethan doing a few tricks on his board. She could probably have talked to him there, but she opted to wait for him to head out. Once he left the park, she followed behind him a little bit. She knew the general area where he lived from what he’d told her at Cascadia, but not specifics. And since she knew where his neighborhood was, she’d been able to stay back and not be obvious about tailing him.

She felt kind of proud of herself.

As antsy as it made her to wait, she gave him ten minutes to settle in before she peeled off her helmet and walked over to his apartment building. The bricks had seen better days, the tree in front of it a stump. There were some colorful words spray-painted on the stoop, though the artist had neglected to make the words visually compelling.

Mara walked into the front hallway and found the door of Ethan’s apartment. She raised her hand once, then let it fall. Then raised it again and knocked.

The door opened a few seconds later, a cloud of cigarette smoke billowing out with the words, “You got guts coming back here, you piece of crap.” An older woman stood there, a glass of something in the same hand as her dangling cigarette butt. Her face was as lined as notebook paper. “Oh. You’re not Ticker. Whadda ya want?” She slurred her words a bit, leading Mara to conclude what was in the glass.

“Hi. Uh, is Ethan around?” This is not going well.

The woman nodded her head, which wasn’t really very smart. She lost her balance a bit and pointed her arm back over her shoulder. Her drink sloshed over the edge and splashed her, but she didn’t notice. “Yeah. In back. Playing with his stupid games.”

Mara shuffled quickly by Ethan’s mom, the television blaring at full blast, the room’s surfaces covered with magazines and papers. She nodded her head in thanks and walked to where his mom had pointed. There was only one door and it was closed.

She knocked once. “Ethan?”

No answer.

“Ethan—are you in there?” She knocked harder. This might have been a mistake.

She heard a couple of small metallic sounds, and then a voice. “What the …?” His door swung open, and he stared at her as if she weren’t real. “How? I mean, how did you find me?” He looked out into the hallway and winced at the mess, the noise, and his mom.

Mara entered the room and looked for a place to sit down. There were half-built computers and parts everywhere, along with a few skateboards propped on the wall and some energy drink cans stacked on one side. An iPad with a thick cord leading to one of the computers sat on the bed.

“Whoa. You raid NORAD or something?” She had never seen so much equipment in such a small space.

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