The 11th Percent by Morris T.H

Author:Morris, T.H.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Creativia
Published: 2014-10-22T00:00:00+00:00

10. The State of Things

“What the hell happened to you?”

Jonah returned to his apartment and grabbed his duffel bag, Bast on his tail. He hadn't given any thought to the fact that his workday was not yet over. He'd thrown his belongings into his car while Bast jumped into the passenger seat. His mind swirled like a sandstorm that had no plans of stopping. Driving was purely muscle memory. It didn't register to him that he followed the directions, made the turns and changed lanes, and took Exit 81 to the estate without a second thought. It didn't register to him that Bast repeatedly maneuvered from the front seat to the back, as if she had decided to keep a watch on what occurred on the road.

Least of all, it hadn't registered to him that he was filthy and gave off the rancid odor of soiled pampers, cigarettes, and foul vestiges of substances that were at one time food, but had since devolved into something else entirely while it languished in the dumpsters.

It was this shocking and appalling appearance that met the horrified eyes of Reena, who had just stepped out of her own car, Liz, who had just returned from her bio lab and planned to rest before gardening, and Terrence, who, though he was a janitor and probably had more experience with nastiness than all of them combined, looked as if even he'd never seen anything so foul in all of his life.

The question was asked, but beyond that, no sound or movement had been made.

“What happened to me?” managed Jonah at last. “I got into a fight, got time-slapped, and feel like I ran three miles, played a basketball game that went on for four overtimes, and then whitewater rafted upstream.”

Although Jonah had been in a mental haze while driving, he had maintained the wherewithal to say inwardly to the spirit, “Look, I appreciate you giving me the endowment. I'm making a three-hour trip, and I can't lose the endowment on the road.”

Apparently, the message got through, because the spirit had complied. When Jonah left the car and began to walk to the estate, however, the endowment evaporated. He somehow managed to ignore the fatigue and the impaired breathing long enough to settle cross-legged on the porch.

“Jonah, what happened to you?” repeated Reena. “And could your information be a little more distinctive this time, please?”

“Reena, I think he might need to soak in the tub for a couple weeks first,” said Terrence. “Then he can tell us everything. Jonah, it's obvious you were just released from an endowment, so it'd probably help you to drink some water, too. You up to that?”

Jonah gave a half-shrug. He hadn't even realized that Liz had disappeared and returned until she knelt in front of him.

“Liz, you might want to move downwind,” he warned. “I'm not at my best right now.”

Liz hadn't even wrinkled her nose. “You don't smell any worse than the stuff I just handled in my bio-lab,” she told him.

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