The Silvers by J.A. Rock

Author:J.A. Rock [Rock, J.A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Published: 2016-02-21T05:00:00+00:00

The anger comes later. “Do you like living with me?” B asks. He has just come home from work, bringing with him a hard, frantic energy.

“Yes,” Imms says. “Except for your night farts.”

B slams his keys on the counter. “Because the NRCSuckers think you might be happier and safer living at their facility.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Well, you need to tell them that next time we go.”

“I’d rather die.”

“Don’t say that.” B studies Imms, his breath moving his shoulders. “I’m sorry,” he mutters finally. “It’s just I’m getting hammered for the park incident.”

“You didn’t do anything.”

“No, I didn’t. I should have. I should have done more to drive it into you that you cannot go out alone.”

Imms presses against the sofa cushion. “I know.”

B tosses his jacket over a chair. It misses and hits the floor. “The fact is, they’re never going to treat you like a human. They’re always going to treat you like a test subject, which means that if they don’t think I’m taking proper care of you, they will take you away.”

What Imms is most ashamed of, thinking back on the park incident, is crying. A strictly human thing to do. He wonders if it makes him less Silver. “I won’t do it again.”

B comes to the couch. He kneels in front of Imms and takes both of Imms’s hands in his. “I can’t lose you,” he says. “You’re all I have right now.”

B’s words have a fuzziness, a bit of static that blurs their meaning. Needing is not the same thing as loving. Imms knows this. B is afraid, lost, floating. B is not quite as anchored as he thought he’d be now that he’s home.

“I love you,” Imms says. He likes to practice breathing the words the way he imagines characters in books do. He likes to watch B’s eyes follow the words in the air.

B squeezes his hands. “Promise you’re staying with me. No more adventures in the park. Or anywhere.”

“No more adventures.”

“And I’ll do better,” B says. “I’ll listen when you tell me you want something. We’ll go to the park more. Whatever you want.”

“Well,” Imms says, in his best imitation of Jenny Feathers, the girl Tin Star loves. “You can start by buyin’ me flowers. And we’ll see from there.”

“God.” B flops onto the couch next to Imms. “Haven’t you found a book you like better?”

“I want to meet a cowpoke.”

“There aren’t any cowpokes anymore. Just rednecks who wear cowboy boots and drive big-ass trucks.”

“Let’s meet them.”

“No thanks.”

“I want to walk around the whole Earth.”

“That’d take a while.” B looks at the ceiling. “What if we moved? Started looking for a big piece of property, somewhere isolated. We could lose the goons. Have an unlisted address.”

“I like your house.”

“Our house.”

“Right.”

B jostles him. “What would you think about that? You could pick where we go. We can look at places all around the country.”

“What about NRCSE?”

“NRCSE, NRCSE.” B sighs. “Fuck NRCSE.”

“NRCSE is shit,” Imms agrees.

“NRCSE is a big ol’ fucking shit turd. With boogers on top.

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