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Author's Note: The first story is done. I'm going to post it in parts so I have a little more time to work on my next story. :P Hope you all enjoy it. I made a few minor alterations to the first part. If you feel you have a good grasp of what happened before you can probably just start reading, though you might read the Prologue, which is new. ~Matt
 

CHAPTER 3

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I awoke the next morning feeling off.   It wasn’t anything I could place immediately.   I remembered the cramps from the night before and let out a sigh of relief that they were gone.   If PMS is even a quarter as bad as that, I’m glad I wasn’t born a girl.   Rolling onto my back I let out a contented sigh.   It was probably all the endorphins still running through my system but I felt very peaceful in the dim light that made it through my curtains.   

Wait.

Why was there light coming through my curtains?   I was always up before the sun...

“Oh my god it’s gone!” I shouted, leaping out of bed.

My alarm clock was not in it’s normal location.   Looking around I couldn’t find any sign of it at all.   I threw open my curtains and was blasted with brilliant morning sunlight.   “I’m late for school!” grabbing my clothes I ran down the stairs; discarding my old t-shirt as I went.   “Why didn’t anyone wake me!” I shouted even though I had no reason to expect an answer.   By this time mom would be in the middle of a class, Josie would be at school and dad would be at work.

This could not be happening!   I never miss school!   I don’t even need the alarm to wake up any more.   Beyond ruining my chances for perfect attendance it would make it look like I was a whiny little cry baby who fell apart just because he got sidelined.

Stripped to my underwear I briefly considered going without a shower.   I had showered the night before, with as cold as it was getting I might be able to get by with that.   Today it was not an option.   I smelled terrible.   Like rancid meat or warm wet garbage and once I managed to smell it I couldn’t seem to stop smelling it.

God, I was going to have to burn my sheets!   

Tugging off my boxers I rounded a corner into the hall that led to the bathroom only to find my mother waiting for me.

“Oh!” she said and looked away immediately.

For my part I got to use the lateral movement abilities that had gotten me into varsity football.   First I was headed down the hall full speed and then I was back in the stairwell.

“Why aren’t you at work!” I shouted, mortified beyond belief.   It was like a series of bad dreams run in a sequence.

“We didn’t want to leave you alone after last night,” she said a little too quickly.   “Your father and I agreed that we should let you sleep until you woke up on your own.”

I banged my head on the wall, “Well I’m up.   So please go somewhere else so I can take a shower and get to school,” normally I’m not this curt with my mom but the day was already going really badly.

“Fine.   I’ll be in the kitchen when you get done,” I heard a door open, “Is there anything you would like for breakfast?”

At the mention of food it was like my body suddenly realized it was starving.   My stomach twisted in knots and growled angrily.   I had worked out a lot last night but not enough to explain what I was feeling.   I’m usually hungry in the morning but today I felt like I hadn’t eaten in a week!   I banged my head again but more gently, “Anything so long as there’s a lot of it,” I moaned.

“Oatmeal?” she asked.

I smiled and sighed, “Oatmeal would be awesome.   Meat too though.”

“Of course!” I could hear her smile.   “Are you sure you feel okay sweetheart?”

I nodded rocking my head against the wall.   I felt so tired I could hardly keep my eyes open.   I had gotten up five minutes ago.   What the hell was wrong with me?

“I’m fine,”   I lied. My stomach twisted and gurgled but it didn’t feel like hunger pains.   As soon as I realized what was happening I bolted for the bathroom.

I’ll spare the gory details.   Suffice it to say that I was afraid I was literally going to turn inside out from both ends at once.

After I had purged my system and cleaned up, I felt better but was still dog tired. I shambled into the kitchen and slouched into my chair.   Mom gave me one of her worried looks before bringing over a plate loaded with sausages.   When the smell from the meat hit me I thought I was going to vomit.   If there had been anything left in my system I’m sure I would have.   I waved it away immediately. Mom dumped the sausages into a plastic container and stuck them in the fridge.

“Put on your shoes,” she said brusquely, “I’m taking you to the doctor.”   as she spoke she stepped into her heels and pulled on a medium weight jacket with fur trim.

“Ah mom!” I whined.   “I’m fine!”

Her only response was to arch an eyebrow my direction and cock her hips.

Usually that was enough to get me moving but I really didn’t want to go to the doctor today.   “It was probably just food poisoning.”

“We all ate the same thing last night AJ,” her voice held a touch of exasperation. “No one else was sick last night.”

“Arby’s!” I blurted.

Mom looked at me like I was an idiot child.

“I had Arby’s on the way over to the studio last night.   I must have gotten a bad sandwich.   If I take it easy and get some fluids in me I’ll be fine.” I tried to smile convincingly but immediately knew it was a mistake.   Bluffing my mom never works.   “Can I at least try eating some oatmeal first?”

Mom seemed skeptical of taking any more time but she brought me a bowl anyway.   Where as the meat had smelled nasty and rancid the oats actually smelled good.   My stomach rumbled greedily and I began shoveling heaping spoonfuls into my mouth without really taking time to chew.   Mom took her life in her hands and forced me to stop.

“Slowly,” she said gently, “chew.   You don’t want to get sick again.”

She was right but that didn’t make it any easier to actually slow down.   “So what happened last night?” maybe if I was talking it would curtail the shoveling.

“Don’t you remember?” mom looked worried again.

I shrugged and took another mouthful of the sweet ambrosia that was oatmeal.   “I remember getting cramps and it hurting really bad,” my insides spasmed slightly at the memory, “really, really bad.   I’m a little surprised you didn’t take me to the Emergency Room.”

“We tried!” mom said defensively.   “Your father had hauled you down stairs and we had you strapped into the seat of his truck when you woke up.   You looked around and then said that it was too cold for ice cream.”

“What?” I choked on my oatmeal as I tried not to laugh, “Why would I say that?”

Mom actually managed to smile a little, “I don’t know sweetie.   You said you didn’t want ice cream and then climbed out of the truck and shuffled back inside.   We asked you a few questions on the way back to your room and you seemed to be okay, if completely out of it.   We didn’t know what to do.   When you got back in bed you were out like a light.   We probably should have forced you to go to the hospital but you seemed fine,” Mom worried her lip,   “You don’t remember any of this?”

I thought for a moment.   “Not really.   Dad might have been crying and I think I drank something kind of gross.”

“It was Tonic water,” she interjected, “it’s something my mother used to give Carrie and I for cramps.”

I looked at my mom over the spoonful of cereal; she had a little smile on her face but her eyes were far away and sad.   “Are you thinking about your sister?” I asked quietly between bites.

She nodded and then pulled me into a big hug that caught me completely off guard.   “Thank you,” she whispered but I wasn’t sure if she was actually talking to me or not so I just kept my mouth shut.

My shoulder started getting wet and I realized she was crying, “It’s okay mom.   Whatever has you upset it’ll be okay,” As near as I can tell a crying woman touches off some part of the male brain that makes us want nothing more than to make the crying stop.   The only way it could have been worse was if it was Josie.   This was pretty bad though.

After a few more moments she pulled away from me slowly.   She dabbed her eyes with a tissue. “Sorry about that sweetheart.   I know it makes you uncomfortable when I cry.”

“No! It’s okay,” I shifted uncomfortably in my chair.   At least I wasn’t choking myself with food at the moment. “Was it thinking about your sister that did it?” I needed more information so as to avoid the situation in the future. “You never talk about her.”

She smiled again but I could tell that the tears were ready to flow any instant, “No.   It wasn’t thinking about Carrie,” her eyes started to trickle, “I’m just so glad that I was able to be your mom.   I love you so much Aaron.”

I blushed a little.   Mom never got emotional like this.   “I love you too mom.   So why were you crying?”

“Last night scared me to death Aaron.   You were in so much pain and so scared and I didn’t know what to do,” she wiped her eyes again. “I don’t know what I would do if I lost you or your sister.”

I didn’t know what to say to that.   My oatmeal was getting cold and I stood to put it in the microwave.   Rather, I tried to stand but instead ended up lightheaded and my legs turned to rubber.

At least the floor broke my fall.

“Aaron!” mom shrieked and was instantly at my side holding me tightly. “Are you all right?”

“I... I don’t know,” I stuttered, “You know.   Maybe we should go to the doctor.”

---

~oOo~

---

The drive to the doctor’s office took about an hour and mom was quiet and tense the entire time.   When we arrived I climbed out of the bug very carefully and didn’t have any problems.   I might have been a little woozy but nothing worth mentioning.   We waited for an hour in the waiting room and then waited in the examination room for at least a half hour after that.   When Dr. Rogers finally got to us he asked a bunch of questions.   When all was said and done he concluded it was probably food poisoning and that unless something else happened I should take it easy and drink lots of fluids.   Weirdly the thing he seemed most concerned with was that I had recovered from such a severe case so quickly.   I didn’t see any reason to question it.   I was feeling better.   That was good enough for me.

Unfortunately, not so for Dr. Rogers; he drew some blood, had me pee in a cup and took a saliva sample.   I swear it was like he was trying to justify us coming in.

Before we left he told me in no uncertain terms that I was not to compete in any sports for at least a week.   I would have been really put out if I wasn’t already out for next game anyway.

As it was I just had to laugh.

---

CHAPTER 4

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On the ride home, mom was significantly more animated.   She had really been worried I was dying or something.

We chatted about nothing for most of the time.   She asked me about school and if there were any girls I liked.   I didn’t mention Sasha but I think she knew because she made some slightly out of place comments about her that seemed to boil down to ‘Sasha is trouble’.

I don’t know if that made her more or less attractive to me.

Eventually mom and I ran out of ‘nothing’ to talk about.   The car was quiet for a few miles before mom started talking again.

“I want you to know AJ, that your father and I are very proud of you,”   She grabbed my knee gently as she said it.

“Thanks mom,” I said with a bit of embarrassment, “getting on the Varsity team meant a lot to me too.”

She laughed a tinkling little laugh, “We aren’t proud of you for that sweetie.”

I gaped at her.   It was like being blindsided on the field.

Realizing her slip she laughed again.   “I’m sorry AJ!   Of course we’re proud that you got on the team but that’s just part our general ‘Our son is the best.” philosophy.”

“Moooom!” I hate it when she says stuff like that.

She shrugged, causing her chest to bounce, “What I was talking about is how good you are to your sister.   Your actions with that Peters boy were rash but your heart was in the right place.”

“Thanks.   I guess,” my cheeks burned but I couldn’t stop smiling.

I needed to change the subject.

“Mom,” I began tentatively.

“Yes, AJ?”

I shifted in the seat so I could better look at her, “Could you tell me a little bit about your sister.   About my moth... or whatever...”

What the heck possessed me to change the subject to that!

Mom shrank into her seat.   It was obvious this was not a topic she particularly wanted to delve.   Moments dragged on and I was about to backpedal when she started talking.

“Carrie and I were inseparable when we were little,” a sad smile touched her lips, “I guess that’s pretty common for twins as I think about it but it didn’t make it any less true.   I don’t know that we could actually feel each others pain or anything like that but sometimes it sure felt like it,”   A tear ran down her cheek and she brushed it away. “God, I’m such a wreck today!” she joked.   Looking around she spotted an exit and swung off the interstate. “How about something to eat?   There’s an IHOP coming up in a couple blocks.”

For some reason IHOP did not sound like a good idea.   I searched my memory for an alternative.   “There’s a Village Inn pretty close.   Can we go there instead?”

“Of course, sweetie,” she said changing lanes for the new destination.   Once certain she was headed in the correct direction she got back to her story, “For all our similarities there were even more differences.   There were times where I think the only thing we had in common was how we looked and sometimes not even that,”   The story seemed to peter out there as she was lost in thought.

Now that I had her talking about it I really wanted to know more.   I wanted to know about the woman who gave birth to me; who knew that getting pregnant might be dangerous for her but who did it anyway just because she wanted to meet me.

At least that’s what I took from the letter she wrote me.

In the end I knew it didn’t really matter: Mom was mom.   I was still curious though.

When it became clear she wasn’t going to be as forthcoming as I wanted I decided to push a little. “What was she like?”

“Carrie was,” she paused trying to find the proper word, “normal.   I guess.   Just sort of normal. God that sounds like such a terrible thing to say,”   She dropped her eyes for a moment.

“What do you mean by ‘normal’?” there were a lot of versions of normal out there but apparently mom didn’t think much of her sister’s, “Was that our turn?” I asked turning in my seat to watch the Village Inn sign retreating behind us.

“Oops!” she blushed, “I think I was still going to IHOP in my head.   Maybe I should pay more attention.   Let me get back there and then we can talk more about this.”

---

~oOo~

---

We ended up meandering through far more back streets than I would have thought possible, given we were only trying to back track a dozen or so blocks.   Stupid one way streets.   While sitting at a light, an orange SUV with alloy wheels pulled up next to us.   Everything should have been fine, except that the clowns inside noticed my mom.   Next thing I know they’re climbing all over each other trying to get a look and snapping pictures with their phones.   Mom didn’t seem to notice, even when they started hooting and cat calling she didn’t acknowledge them.   It was only when the light turned green that she very elegantly raised the middle finger to them.   

The whole thing bugged the heck out of me.

Yes, my mom is built and fit.   No, she doesn’t really look her age as a result but I was sitting right there!   Who does that to someone when their kids are with them?

Why do some guys have to be such creeps!

---

~oOo~

---

When we finally got back to the Village Inn, mom managed to wrangle a booth in a quiet area of the restaurant, even though they really weren’t seating anyone there at the time.

Big boobs are definitely a double edged sword.

The restaurant was more crowded than I would have expected but still less than half full.   Here and there, people sat sipping coffee and staring at laptops while dishes rattled back in the kitchen.   My stomach was apparently recovering because the distinct smell of fried meat didn’t instantly disgust me this time.

Actually eating meat still didn’t seem like a good idea though.

Our server was a cute girl with chocolate milk skin and hair that looked like she had tried to bleach it but it hadn’t worked right.   It was pumpkin orange.   She had it tied up in a messy pony tail that just sort of made a puffball behind her head.   An intricate spider web tattoo traced it’s way up her left arm and her finger nails had red hour glasses painted on them.   Her name badge read ‘Ana’ and had a little spider forming a heart behind it.

Apparently she liked spiders.   Weird.

“Welcome to Village Inn,” she smiled as she sat glasses of water in front of us.

I have to admit, it was a good smile.

“My name is Ana,” she pronounced it ‘Ah-nah’, “and I’ll be your server today.   If you would like to start with drinks we have flavored lemonades,” she pointed at the standee on the table with the pen she was holding, “or if you’re looking for something hot we have a special pumpkin chai latte which is to die for.”

She was kind of bubbly.   I officially had no idea what to make of this girl but I was definitely intrigued.   “Just water for me,” I smiled at her and received one in return.   She couldn’t have been too much older than me.   Eighteen?   Twenty, tops.

“I’ll try the Pumpkin Chai and my son will have a large orange juice as well.”

I almost snapped at her for ordering for me.   Technically OJ has too much sugar to be on my diet but it sounded good so I decided to let it go.

Ana’s eyes danced between us as if expecting sparks but when nothing happened she scribbled something on her pad and then excused herself to gather our drinks.

I watched her backside as it wiggled back to the kitchen with appreciation.   Maybe it was just the jeans but she had a nice looking butt.

“She thinks you’re cute too,” mom said quietly as she took a sip of water. Her eyes followed my gaze “and she does have a nice ass.”

“Mom!” I hissed.   I swear sometimes it’s like she’s my age or something! “You shouldn’t... gah! Don’t talk like that!”

“It’s true though.   A little flabby,” she amended, “but with a little of the right exercise that should tighten right up.”

I gaped at her, unable to even form the words needed to express my horror.

“But if you’re done gawking at her, I think we were talking about something earlier,”

“Yeah,” I slouched in my seat, “I wasn’t gawking though,”

Mom laughed, “Trust me sweetie, I have a lot of experience with gawking and that is exactly what you were doing.”

“Okay, fine!   Why are we still talking about this!” If I could have willed myself into non-existence I would have.

Apparently my embarrassment was extremely amusing, because she laughed for more or less the entire time it took Ana to get our drinks.

Ana sat the tray at the edge of the table and started dispensing drinks, “Here’s your OJ and I brought you a carafe of water,” she smiled at me and I felt a blush creep across my body.   “And your Pumpkin Latte ma’am.   Careful, now.   It’s hot,” her eyes strayed to me as she said that and I have to admit it felt pretty good.

Mom grinned and instantly recognized that she was up to something, “Tell me Ana.   Do you live on this side of town?”

“Uh... yeah.” she said a little warily checking something on her order pad. “Why?”

Her most disarming smile in place, mom proceeded, “Well I run a dance studio in Brayford which is just a few minutes from here.   Here, let me get you a card,” she pulled a card from the billfold in her purse and in the same motion scribbled something on the back of it.   “You should stop by.   I think you would really take to dancing.”

“Well.   Maybe,” Ana was clearly unsure about being accosted like this. “I do like dancing but I probably can’t afford it,” she made a motion to hand the card back but mom refused it.

“Come down and I’ll let you try a couple sessions for free.   If you like it we can work something out.”

“Okay, it sounds like it might be fun,” Ana smiled and tucked the card into her pad.

She didn’t know it but the spider girl had just been caught in my mother’s web.

Ana smoothly returned to her duties, “Do you know know what you want?”

Mom folded up her menu, “I would like the Cobb salad.   Hold the bacon and if I could get a couple extra hard boiled eggs that would be wonderful.”

Ana wrote furiously on her pad and then turned to me, “And for you?”

“I’d like a four egg white plus one yolk omelet with cheddar cheese, green peppers, onions, mushrooms and tomatoes,” she raised an eyebrow my direction and I blushed again, “Sorry, I’m in training.”

“Training for what?” she asked casually.

“I’m a running back for the South East Spartans,” I grinned.

“Cool,” she said without enthusiasm, as she checked her notes and then snapped the pad closed, “I’ll get this out to you in just a few minutes. Is there anything else I can get you while you wait?”

“I’m good,” I responded feeling a little confused at her sudden change of demeanor.

Mom gestured that she was fine and Ana retreated back to the kitchen.

“Did I do something wrong?” I asked once I was sure Ana was out of earshot.

Mom patted my hand in a reassuring manner.   “She may not like football or she be embarrassed about being attracted to a high school student.”

“Oh...” I was actually disappointed.   That was more than a little disconcerting; I’d only known her for maybe thirty seconds.

“Do you still want to know more about Carrie?” she sounded more up beat about talking about it and I didn’t want to think about Ana anymore.

“Sure.   You said she was ‘normal’.   What did you mean by that?”

Mom took a small sip of her latte before she spoke, “Carrie was... no... she wanted?   I don’t know how to explain it,” she sighed, “Carrie thought the way the world wanted her to think.”

I looked at her askance, “I don’t know what you mean.”

“There are things that are expected by society.   These expectations determine how easily you will fit into that society.   If you follow expectation you get rewarded.   If you don’t you get punished.   It was very easy for Carrie to do what was expected and that made her life easier,” she took another sip.

“Sounds like she was kind of a tool,” I said blandly.

Mom snorted and covered her mouth to try and stop anything that escaped.   After a moment she began to turn red.

“Are you okay mom?” I asked, hoping she wasn’t going to spit all over me.

Mom held up a finger and finally managed to swallow.   Once she did she began laughing aloud.   “A bit,” She finally confirmed.

This was not really what I had been hoping to hear.   Mom was so cool, for a mom, that I had hoped that maybe her sister was the same way.

“Don’t get this wrong sweetheart,” mom continued sensing my unhappiness, “Carrie was a good person.   She just didn’t need to go out side the lines to be happy.”

“I take it you did though,” I prompted.

Mom swirled the liquid in her cup dislodging the foam from the side and watching it swirl toward the center.   “That would be a fair statement.”

“What were you like then?   I always kind of guessed you were more of the problem child.”

Mom was aghast, “Whatever would give you that idea?” she grinned.

“I don’t know.   Little things like you... uh, dancing... for a living.” I covered my blush with a drink of water.

“Sweetie.   I love to dance.   You know that.   Much as I would have loved to be a prima ballerina the simple fact is that when you are built like this,” she pointed at her chest, “your options are somewhat limited.   I weigh too much for the men to lift safely and a lot of the poses are difficult for me because my center of gravity is less than ideal.   But what was a curse for a ballerina was a serious boon to an exotic dancer.   We all have to make do with what we are given.”

I think that was the first time mom ever really admitted that she had been a stripper.   It was odd having it confirmed.   “So you were the family wild child then?”

Mom blushed, “After a point?   Yes, I got pretty wild for a while.   When I was your age I was actually a repressed and awkward bookworm,” she fidgeted nervously with a napkin.

My jaw fell open, “No way,”

“Oh no, It’s true!   I had only a couple friends and hadn’t dated at all.   I was the ‘smart one’ and your grandparents had all sorts of plans for me.   I studied and studied and studied.   To make things just that much worse Carrie hit puberty at eleven, like Josie.   It was almost five years before I finally started to mature,” her face turned sour for a moment, “I can not even begin to explain how annoying it is for people to think that your identical twin sister is older than you are,”   she huffed out a breath, “I was even born first!”

I looked at my mom and tried to picture her as scrawny and awkward but just couldn’t do it.   “So what happened?”

“Well in part, these happened,” she chuckled glancing down at her chest again, “No.   The truth is that I went to college and for the first time I wasn’t being controlled by my parents.   First semester I was the same stick in the mud that I always had been; I didn’t think enough of myself to believe anyone would ever actually be attracted to me.   Then, I had to take a class to fulfill the physical fitness requirement.   More or less at random I chose a dance class and my entire world changed,”   she smiled at the memory.

About that time the food arrived and we ate in relative silence for a few minutes.   Whatever spark there had been between Ana and I was gone.   Oh well.

“I tried to stick to the plan my parents had worked out for me but I couldn’t stop thinking about dancing.   My grades suffered, mom and dad read me the riot act and for the first time in my life I just didn’t care,” she sighed, “It wasn’t pretty but in the end I transferred schools and changed my major to dance.   Your grand parents cut me off and I had to find a way to pay for school...” she sort of trailed off after that.   “You aren’t too embarrassed by all this, are you?”

I probably should have been but for whatever reason it didn’t bother me.   It actually made me feel more like an adult knowing that she was willing to talk about it with me.   

“No.   It’s ok,” I said shoving another fork full of omelet into my mouth.

Looking pensive, mom sat down her fork and pushed the bowl to the side, “Sweetie?”

“Yeah ma?” I said concentrating on my food.

“Look at me a second?” I looked up and she continued, “I did somethings when I was younger that I am not really proud of.   Exactly what isn’t important but a lot of it was backlash from all the pressure I had on me growing up.”

I nodded, not quite getting where she was going with this.

“If you ever feel like we are pushing you too hard, please talk to us.   Don’t just push it down until it erupts in a self-destructive, hedonistic rampage.”

She was serious.

She was actually serious.

I started laughing and even though it hurt my stomach, I couldn’t stop.   The idea of me freaking out and doing something stupid was just...

Oh.

Well crap.

I sobered instantly and slouched further into my bench.

“You think I’m going to snap and do something stupid?” How much the question was for her and how much it was for myself I’m not sure.   I didn’t think I was that tightly wound but I had pretty much lost it when Peters started in on Josie.   My appetite deserted me and I pushed my plate toward the center of the table.

“Oh, sweetie,” mom cooed, “We don’t think you’re going to snap.   I just want you to be able to be normal if you want.   It may have sounded like I thought less of Carrie for being ‘normal’ but the truth is that I envied her for it.   She was pretty and popular and effortlessly confident,”   She squeezed my hand, “I’m glad you got some of that from her.”

“You never talk about this stuff mom.   Why now?”

After a few false starts mom finally found her words, “There are things that I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time AJ.   I was waiting until you were old enough to understand them but I kept pushing it back because I really didn’t want to talk about it.   Do you remember when we told you that you weren’t my biological son?   How scared I was to give you the letter from Carrie?”

I nodded and as I did my stomach sank.

“I was terrified that when you found out I wasn’t your real mother you would stop loving me,”

I began to refute that but she cut me off.

“I know it’s silly but that was how I felt.   I always had a bit of an inferiority complex when it came to Carrie and the idea that I had to compete with her for your love was awful,” she shook her head.   “So talking about her.   Letting you really know what she was like is still scary to me.”

My gut flipped and I had to wonder if I was going to be sick once more.   “So why are you telling me all of this if you don’t want to?”

“Because what happened last night scared me more than anything ever has,”   she grabbed my hand again and squeezed hard, “It can all end so fast.   It made me realize that I couldn’t count on there being a tomorrow in which to tell you all the things I want you to know,”   A single tear rolled down her cheek, “and I also realized that you are more than mature enough to handle things.   I am so proud of you.”

Blushing intensely I half-heartedly tried to pull my hand from hers. ”Ah, mom...   don’t say stuff like that.”

She smiled and it was clear that she felt better about things, “Since you’ve been sick I’ll try and refrain from telling you how wonderful you are.”

“Mooom!”

Changing the subject she asked, “Are you done?” as she glanced at my nearly empty plate.

“I think so.”

“Ready to go then?”

“I need to use the restroom but I’ll meet you at the car,” I said, looking for the bathrooms.

The look of concern returned to her face, “Are you alright?”

I rolled my eyes, “If I need help, I’ll text you,”

“Smartalec.   Fine.” she tossed a five dollar bill on the table as she stood, “I’ll meet you at the car.   Don’t take too long.”

Once she was gone I tossed another five on the table.   What can I say?   Girls make me stupid.

---

~oOo~

---

Despite feeling a little off, my visit to the bathroom proved to be a total non-event.

Thank god.

As usual, even though there had been several spaces open near the entrance mom had instead parked behind the building next to a wall.

Mom really loves her little car and she has a thing about it getting dings in the door; it makes her park in the most out of the way places possible.   When I looped around the building to where we had parked I immediately knew something was wrong.   An orange SUV with alloy wheels was parked at an odd angle that screened the bug from view.

It was the jerks from before.

A quick scan of the area revealed one of the men leaning against the back end of the SUV, occasionally he would cast a glance back toward where my mom had parked.   The noise from the nearby traffic echoed through the concrete canyon, masking any sound that might have been coming from behind the SUV.   Recognising that there might be trouble I began jogging slowly toward the vehicles.   I was still feeling the effects of the food poisoning.   The last thing I wanted to do was over exert myself and end up passing out. Maybe just showing up would be enough to defuse things.   Hopefully mom hadn’t made it to the car before they arrived and they were just vandalizing it.   Heck, maybe they were just here for pie and this was all a coincidence.   I certainly didn’t want to escalate the situation when I wasn’t sure it was sinister at all.

As I got a little closer, I was able to pick out words here and there.   There were several voices and they sounded pissed.

Then I heard a cry and instantly knew that mom was in trouble.

Without another thought, I took off at a dead run and the same noise that made it difficult to hear what they were doing prevented their distracted sentry from noticing my approach.   In my weakened state I wasn’t able to get to full speed before I smashed into the side of his knee with my shoulder, but even so, I heard something in his leg pop and he folded like a freshman.

It was a cheap shot and my intent was to injure him, maybe even cripple him.   It would have gotten me ejected from the game if I had tried it on the field and rightly so.

Given the circumstances, sportsmanship was the last thing on my mind.

No one messes with my family.

I rolled to my feet and saw mom surrounded by four guys my size or larger.   All of them, mom included, were slack jawed at what had just happened.   I couldn’t tell exactly what had been happening but at that moment i didn’t care.   Without even a warning I charged into them. The first one I hit with one of Brian’s signature moves, I brought my hands up into his chest just as I hit him.   It was sort of a variant straight arm but it also served to absolutely destroy their balance.

When Brian does it people tend to go flying.   I don’t have his mass or strength but it was enough to off balance him and take his wind.   Driving through the block I pushed him backwards into two of his friends who were mostly getting in each others way.   I heard a shriek of pain come from where mom had been, only to see the remaining asshole writhing on the ground with two inches of my mom’s stiletto heel buried in his calf.   Mom scrambled away toward the car discarding her remaining shoe on the way.

Meanwhile I was tied up with two of them in a pile.   The third had gotten away from me but I was too worried about mom to keep track of him.   My experience at the bottom of dog piles served me well.   I was not terribly concerned by the situation while they were freaking out.   I took a few cheap shots and as soon as the press broke I spun out of the tangle.   I managed to get my back to my moms car and was moving to get to the passengers side door when I caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of my eye.   I turned with the blow but even so a tire iron connected flush with the side of my head.

I should have been knocked cold if I wasn’t killed outright.   

I must have been seriously pumped with adrenaline because, as it was, I barely felt it and my lack of reaction seemed to jar all of them.   In the process of my turn I tripped him up and sent him sprawling in front of his friends.   The fight stalled.   I checked on mom and she was waving for me to get into the car.   As soon as I did she hopped the curb and drove on the sidewalk to get away.   Sometimes being small is a serious advantage.   My truck never would have fit.

I kept watch to make sure they weren’t following us but there was no sign of pursuit.   We drove in silence the entire way home.   The spasms which I had been getting after working out wracked my entire body.   I couldn’t stop shaking but I did my best to hide just how bad it was from mom.   It didn’t hurt but not being able to control my body bothers me a lot.

When we finally pulled into the garage and the door rattled closed, mom started to cry.   I held her and she sobbed in my arms.

I had been too scared and angry during the fight to be worried with such things but when mom started crying like that I knew exactly what it was to really hate someone.   My anger with Peters paled in comparison.

---

~oOo~

---

Dad had a fit when he heard what had happened.   By turns he yelled at me for being stupid and then hugged and thanked me for doing exactly the same thing.   Mom recovered from the whole thing a lot faster than I would have expected.   By the next day she seemed more or less okay.   I get a feeling this wasn’t the first time something like this has happened to her.   We reported it to the police and they said they would see what they could do.   That involved asking us a lot of questions and writing things down.

I think I should feel bad about what I did to the sentry but I don’t.   A little bit of me hopes he walks with a limp for the rest of his life as a reminder.

When it was all said and done it was after two in the morning.   I fell into bed and was out before I could get under the covers.

---

CHAPTER 5

---

The next morning I woke up late and immediately resolved to find out what had happened to my alarm clock.   Pulling on my exercise clothes I jogged out to the barn where a barre had been installed.   I ran through my stretches and then did the chores that dad had for me.   I collected eggs from the handful of chickens we kept and then tossed some feed to the half-dozen dairy cows.

The cows bawled at me as I tossed the feed and I knew I wasn’t going to get away with leaving the milking for Josie.   I opened the gate and they all wandered into their respective shoots for milking.

By the time I was done the sun was over the horizon.   I wanted to know what kind of shape I was in after the food poisoning.

After less than an hour I was shaking and feeling sick. Pathetic.

I jogged back to the house and found Dad up making omelets.   Under most circumstances it would have been mom.   I had to wonder if dad was angry or if being attacked counted as a special occasion.   Plopping down in my chair, I tried to relax;   the spasms were so bad I hadn’t been able to do my cool down stretches and I was starting to get worried.

Dad’s voice startled me, “You didn’t have to exercise this morning.”

“Huh?” I may get up early but that doesn’t make me a morning person.

“You were really sick the other night and then that...” his jaw set hard and a I could see a vein throbbing on his forehead, “...incident with your mother.   You need to give yourself time to recover.”

My brain couldn’t quite figure out what he was saying.   It sounded like he was giving me permission to slack off.

Except that would mean the sun had burned out.

“I have to stay sharp,” I paraphrased his usual motivational technique.

Dad shook his head with an amused smile as he slid an enormous omelet onto a plate, “How did you do today?” he nodded toward the window, “Looked like you were really struggling.”

I sighed, “It’s the first really cold morning and that didn’t help but yeah, I gassed almost before I got started.”

“That’s what I thought.   You’re going to take the next few days off of training,” he said it in such a way that I knew he was serious even though he was talking like a crazy person.   Before I could object he continued, “You’re form was off.   You were burning far more energy than you had to for every thing you did out there.   Let yourself recover for a week or so...”

“A week!” I spit omelet all over the table, “but if I don’t practice for the week prior to the game then I can’t play!   If I don’t at least dress then I won’t letter!”

“AJ.   Calm yourself,” he said smoothly.   “Bad form leads to injuries.”

I took a deep breath and tried to calm down.   I had somehow ended up in the Twilight Zone or something.

“We’ll see how you’re doing on Sunday.   If you’re good then, you can practice like normal.   If not then you shouldn’t risk hurting the team because you aren’t ready to play,” he took a sip of his coffee while watching me over the rim.

He was right.   I knew he was right but the idea of wasting so much time was very annoying.

Suddenly other thoughts superseded, “How’s mom?”

Dad sat his cup down and stood to look out the kitchen window, “She’s doing ok.   She’ll probably be a little shaky for a couple days but thanks to you, she’s fine.”

“What were they doing to her?” I asked quietly.

Dad gripped the edge of the sink and I heard the stainless steel warp under the pressure, “That isn’t something you need to worry about.   You stopped them.   You did good, son.”

“I guess,” I sat up in my chair a little straighter, “I bet if you had been there they wouldn’t have tried anything in the first place though.”

“Finish your eggs AJ,” Dad half-smiled at me, “Just because you get out of training doesn’t mean you get out of school.”

Inwardly I sighed with relief.   At least something about this week would be normal.

---

~oOo~

---

When I walked into school things were weird.   People were shooting odd looks my way and I couldn’t figure out why.   I headed toward Coach’s office to tell him I was going to have to sit out for a few days.

It felt so weird not going to morning practice I thought I might have an anxiety attack.   Coach wasn’t at his office but I saw Darrel coming in from morning drills.

“Double A!” he shouted, hustling my way, “Where were you yesterday, man!”

“Food poisoning.”

“Bad?”

“Real bad,” I confirmed.

“Nasty,” he waited a moment and then hared off in a new direction, “What’s this I hear about you killing three guys outside a strip club last night?”

“What?!”

He put his hands up in a defensive gesture, “Take it easy killer. That’s just what I heard.”

“Some jerks attacked my mom outside of a Village Inn,” I said tensely, “I messed them up a little and then we ran.”

“Holy shit dude!” he said far more loudly than was wise.   His next words were a harsh whisper, “You mean you actually fought three thugs and got away clean!   That is fucking badass!”

“Actually there were five of them,” I mumbled.

“Now you’re just messing with me,” he said in disbelief.

I shrugged but didn’t say anything more.

“You’re serious.   You fought five guys while you had food poisoning?   What are you fucking Batman or something?” he laughed and I realized that as embarrassing as the whole thing was, it was kind of cool.

“Is that why everyone is acting so weird?” I asked, glancing around.

Darrel’s brain suddenly shifted into gear and all at once he was very nervous, “Oh.   Oh shit,” he said under his breath, “No man.   I mean some of them maybe but no.”

“Then what’s the problem?” I asked with no little irritation.

“You picked a bad day to miss bro,” he leaned back against the wall, “I mean some seriously messed up stuff is going down.”

“Okay?”

“Didn’t your sister tell you about it?”

“She’s in Junior high,” I reasoned.

Darrel shook his head, “No man, they did it with Junior high.”

I was going to kill him.   “Well we were kind of busy yesterday so how about you just fill me in.”

Darrel closed his eyes and tried to organize his thoughts.

“Okay,” he took a deep breath, “They had an unscheduled assembly yesterday.   Apparently a girl from South Central.   Marie Kuntzie I think.   Something like that.   There are fliers up on the bulletin boards.   She’s a cross country runner and she just disappeared during one of the meets.”

“Do they think she took off or fell in a well or what?” I asked nervously.   It was never cool when something bad happened to another athlete.   Even if she was a cross country girl.   I swear to god, they’re all genetically insane.

“That’s just it.   One minute she was trucking along out front and the next she didn’t make the check in.   They back tracked the course to make sure she hadn’t hurt herself but couldn’t find any sign of her,”   he paused and glanced about nervously.   “We’re supposed to keep an eye out for her but that isn’t the fucked up part.”

I raised an eyebrow in disbelief, “Seriously?”

He nodded ominously, “They didn’t mention it during the assembly but I heard there was some kind of serious explosion in the woods and they found the body of a guy about our age in the middle of it.   He was totally naked but completely unharmed by the blast, even though it knocked down a bunch of old oak trees.”

“So was he alive or dead?” I inquired. He stared at me in confusion.   “If he was unharmed then why was he a body instead of a person.”

Darrel nodded in understanding, “Oh he was dead, but there didn’t seem to be any reason why.   He was just dead.”

Reality reasserted itself, “If they didn’t go over this in the assembly where did you get this information?”

“My cousin works for the police,” he shrugged.

“So who was the guy?”

“They don’t know.   No one has been able to identify him.   They ran him through all sort of stuff and the FBI came in and it was a really big deal.”

“Wait.   How could all of this happen in one day?”

Darrel rolled his eyes at my apparent stupidity, “Cross Country had it’s meet on Saturday, we just started hearing about it yesterday.   Then there was the other thing.”

“There’s more?” this was officially the strangest week in history.

“Apparently at least one of the football players over at South Central was...” he blanched visibly which given his complexion was telling, “...attacked... on Sunday night,”   He looked like he was going to be sick.

“Attacked how?”   I had a bad feeling I already knew.

“Attacked man, like hold you down and do things too you attacked.   Hear me?”

“Fuck,” was all I could come up with.   Who would do something like that?   Heck, given the victim who could do something like that?

“Yeah,” Hanover agreed.   “I don’t think they’re sure what really happened though.   Either way they don’t want people wandering around alone.   My cousin says they’re thinking about setting a curfew but with Halloween coming up they know it’ll never work.”

I was definitely going to have to talk to Josie about making sure to share information like this in the future.

Darrel forged on while I was still lost in thought, “On top of that, Peters has been spreading a rumor that you’ve been juicing,” he said quietly. My face must have been pretty scary because he took a step back. “I guess I don’t know it’s Peter’s but everyone knows it’s him.”

The anger bubbled up inside of me for a moment and then just washed away. “That’s really dumb,” I shrugged my back pack back into position.   “Is Coach around?   I need to talk to him.”

---

~oOo~

---

I found Coach and told him about what the doctor had said.   Once he heard about it he more or less echoed what dad had already decided regarding practice.

I swear, it’s a conspiracy.

He didn’t believe the steroids rumor but with Ms. Robotham watching him he was obliged to take it seriously.   The nurse drew some blood and they sent it away for testing.   I wasn’t worried.   I knew I was clean.   Coach assured me that as long as I was back in form before the next game that I would at least get to dress.   He didn’t say anything but I had the distinct impression that Brian was high on coach’s shit list at the moment.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully.   I gathered my assignments from the previous day but found there were fewer than i would have expected because of the assembly.

The school was buzzing with rumors and speculation about what was going on.   Of the hundred or so stories I heard, a few stood out to me. One version had me missing the day because I was another victim of the rapist.   Another cast me as the rapist.   Maria had been part of the Wytex test group and a few people thought they had killed or kidnapped her to prevent something about the trial from getting out .   Everyone was on edge and none of the classes seemed to get much accomplished.

Probably the most interesting thing that I picked up was that the clearing around the body of the boy they found was huge.   Some were saying that it was the better part of a mile from one side to the other.   The trees radiated out from a central point where the body had been found and there had been no sign of any such damage when the course had been surveyed only hours prior.   Some of the Cross Country kids said the course actually crossed through the open area in several places and it hadn’t been there when the race started.

The implication was that something had knocked down trees, for a significant radius, such that no one noticed it happening.

It was too ridiculous to believe for a moment but it did make me want to see the area myself.

---

~oOo~

---

Seventh period study hall rolled around and as usual I spent the first thirty or so minutes working on my various assignments.   With fifteen minutes left I knew I wasn’t going to be able to finish everything I needed too before school let out.

One of the main reasons I hated missing classes was because with all the practicing I did there was never enough time to get stuff done after school.

I stared at my math home work for a moment as I realized that for the first time in what seemed like forever I didn’t have my usual routine to look forward too.   I was going to have time that was unaccounted for.

I have to admit a little part of me flew into a screaming panic at the idea.

I put away my books and decided to see what else I could find out about all the weirdness that was going on.   Looking around I spied one of the fliers with the missing girl’s face on it.   I had been so busy that I hadn’t had a chance to get a good look at it yet and decided now was a good time.   

When I saw the face up close I recognized it immediately.

Though I had only seen her a moment I would swear that it was the girl I had seen in my mirror the other day.

“No way...” I said under my breath.   Once I had processed the new information I told Mr. Hinkle that I needed to talk to someone about having seen the missing girl.

...to be continued...