Three To One by T.S. Epperson

Author:T.S. Epperson [Epperson, T.S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Multivalent Press
Published: 2023-04-17T23:00:00+00:00

Deuce was sitting in the sub shop at 11:45.

At 11:55, he ordered two sandwiches, one for him, and one for Peregrine. He knew exactly what his son would want.

At 11:59, both sandwiches were ready. He paid for them and returned to his table.

At 12:03, he couldn’t see Peregrine coming toward the crosswalk from the campus yet.

At 12:06, he saw a movement in a narrow opening across from the crosswalk. Shoot.

At 12:08, he saw it again. The homeless kid. Loitering in the end of the alley, sneaking a look over this way every couple of minutes. What the hell.

At 12:10, Peregrine came ambling down the street, submerged in deep thought. Deuce wished he had taught him better situational awareness. It’s a tough balance. You don’t want to make your kid paranoid. Just safe. They should have moved out of the old neighborhood sooner. It was an error he’d fix if he could. After he lost Beth, he was clinging to the old house full of warm memories. He didn’t notice the neighborhood degrading, or his son feeling so threatened. The boy had been afraid most of his childhood anyway, so Deuce had been reluctant to over-emphasize security consciousness.

Deuce watched the alley, and Peregrine’s progress down the street. As Number Three got close to the crosswalk, the homeless kid appeared. Deuce felt his muscles tense, ready to bolt out the door.

At this age, Deuce knew it would take him 5, maybe 7 seconds to get out the door, and across the crosswalk, through traffic. If the kid was intent on harming Peregrine, that wouldn’t be fast enough.

Deuce had a strong urge to get up and go outside, cut the reactionary gap in half. But he didn’t want to spook the homeless kid, or look aggressive, if he was just here to keep tabs on Deuce. Why would he be doing that?

Peregrine waited briefly for the light to change, and the homeless kid stayed put, staring at Peregrine. It made Deuce uncomfortable. Finally, the little bell over the door rang, and Peregrine was safely inside the sub shop.

“Hey, Dad.”

“Hey, Number Three.”

“Everything alright? How is Mac? Is he going to be okay?”

“I hope so, Son. But I do have something important I need to discuss with you.”

“Yeah? What’s up?” Peregrine started unwrapping his sandwich.

“Peregrine have you noticed anything… strange lately?”

“Huh. Everything’s strange lately. My whole life has turned into a campus soap opera.” He took a nice bite of the sub.

“Oh. Yes, that. But … what about other things, have you noticed any strange people hanging around?”

“People? Hmmm. No, I don’t think I have.” He was reading something on the sandwich wrapper.

“Son, you know you have a tendency to be… preoccupied?” Peregrine looked up.

“Well, yes. But I think I would notice if someone strange was hanging around.”

“You just walked right past him.”

“I did? Who?”

“That, Son, is the ten-million-dollar question. I’m working on figuring that out.”

“Dad, you’ve lost me. Is this something serious?”

“I hope not, Peregrine. But honestly… I don’t know.”

“Dad? You realize that you’re not communicating anything useful yet, right?”

“I’m sorry, Peregrine.

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