The Persistence of Renegade X

by Chelsea M. Campbell

  “Damien!” Kat shouts. “Don’t yell!”

  “I’m not!”

  “You’re freaking her out!”

  Actually, I think we both are, because Jess is crying even harder. I give up on trying to talk her down and put my arms around her and pull her to me. Which, on the one hand, seems to help a little, but on the other, means she’s now screaming right in my ear.

  Alex huffs and rolls his eyes at us, as if he thinks he could do better, and then gets up from the couch and disappears into the kitchen. If he comes back with some magic Jess soothing technique—like sticking a cookie in her mouth or something—I’m going to feel pretty stupid. But probably also just happy that my ears won’t be bleeding anymore.

  I scoop up Jess and get to my feet, putting a hand on her back and letting her cry into my shoulder. Kat picks up the controller again and makes sure their game is saved before turning it off.

  “Hey!” Alex says, returning from the kitchen with another giant bag of leftover Jolly Ranchers. Which just goes to show how many Amelia went through to have the “perfect party.” And also how little restraint Alex has, I guess.

  “Don’t worry,” Kat tells him. “I saved first.”

  “But we were still playing! Just because stupid Jess got scared—”

  Jess wails really loudly in defiance at that, though it might just be a coincidence. Or maybe because he said her name so rudely. Either way, I’m pretty sure my ear’s never going to be the same again.

  I jerk my chin at Alex’s candy. “I thought you already had a bag of that.”

  “I did, but I ate it.”

  “All of it?!”

  He conveniently ignores that question and peers past me, gaping at Kat as she grabs the DVD we’re going to watch. The animated one, not the horror one. “Aw, man! That movie’s for babies.”

  Kat glares at him as she gets up to switch it for the game. “It’s one of my all-time favorites.”

  “Yeah, from when you were a baby.”

  Jess is still crying, but not quite so hard now. She’s just kind of making little hiccuping noises. I hold her up with one arm. With my free hand, I snap my fingers at Alex. “Give me that,” I say, indicating his giant bag of Jolly Ranchers. “Now.”

  Alex’s eyes widen, and he looks at me like I just asked him for his most prized possession. “I thought you were supposed to be the fun babysitter.”

  Well, I apparently let him eat a whole giant bag of candy in, like, half an hour. How much more fun does he want? “You’ve had enough.” More than that, judging by the large purple stain around his mouth. Which hopefully Gordon and Helen will conveniently not notice.

  He tosses the bag onto the floor, letting it land with a thud. “Uh! You sound just like Amelia!”

  I could say the same thing about him. Geez. I roll my eyes at Kat behind Alex’s back, then start to bend down to grab the bag of Jolly Ranchers when my phone rings. I take it out my pocket and slide my thumb across to answer it without looking first. “Hello?”

  “Damien!” Mom screeches. “Oh, my God, I’m so glad I caught you. I need you to watch Xavier—”

  “Nope.” I hang up on her.

  Jess sniffs really loudly by my ear and jabs her fist into my ribs. “You didn’t say good-bye,” she scolds, sounding really serious about it.

  “I was making a point.” I hand Jess off to Kat, then grab the bag of candy off the floor.

  Alex sits on the couch with his arms folded, glaring at me the whole time.

  I duck into the kitchen, toss the candy on top of the fridge where Alex can’t reach it—at least, not without getting a chair first, which would hopefully be noticeable—and then hurry to join them all.

  I sit right next to Kat, who smiles and leans against me. As soon as I do, Jess crawls from Kat’s lap to mine. Alex is still on Kat’s other side, looking butthurt about the whole situation. And I might be forcing him to eat less candy, but nobody’s making him watch this movie with us. So I don’t know if secretly he does want to be here or if he just hasn’t realized he has a choice. Or maybe he’s afraid that as soon as he leaves, we’ll change our minds and put on the horror movie.

  “Okay,” I tell Kat, “start the—” My phone rings again, interrupting me. I sit up a little to pull it out of my pocket, sort of making Jess slide off of me. I check the caller ID this time, even though I know it’s Mom—which of course it is—then hit ignore and put it on silent. “Okay, let’s—”

  Kat’s phone rings. Her eyebrows twist in confusion as she grabs it from her purse on the coffee table. “It’s your mom.”

  “Then don’t—”

  “Hello?”

  “—answer it.”

  I hear loud but still muffled screeching coming from the phone. Kat winces, like it’s hurting her ear. “Yeah, of course. He’s right—” More screeching on the phone cuts her off. She sighs and hands me the phone. “It’s for you.”

  I answer it. “Mom? What the hell are you—”

  “Don’t hang up! Please, Damien, we’re having an emergency over here, and I really, really need you to watch Xavier. You know I wouldn’t ask otherwise.”

  “Well, that’s not true. And what part of nope didn’t you understand? If you really need someone, call Grandma and Grandpa.” They’re her go-to suckers—I mean, babysitters—not me.

  “Damien, wait! Don’t—” She pauses, and I hear screaming in the background. It sounds like someone’s actually in pain, making my blood run cold.

  “Mom? What—”

  “There’s been an accident. One of my experiments went a little haywire. Well, that and somebody stood a little too close to my latest concoction even though I told him it was unstable. But anyway, I need to take Taylor to the emergency doctor.”

  She means one of the secret villain doctors who won’t ask questions about how he got injured. “So take Xavier with you.”

  “I would, but he’s not allowed back there. Not after last time.”

  “Last time? Mom, how many times has this—”

  “And your grandparents are out of town,” she says, conveniently talking over me instead of answering my question, “celebrating their anniversary, and even if I called them, they wouldn’t get here in time, and there’s really no one else.”

  “I…” Sweat prickles on my forehead, and there’s a knot in my stomach. “Is he okay?”

  “Oh, don’t you worry, Damien. My little sweetie angelkins is handling the situation like a champ. He’s perfectly fine.”

  “Not him! I meant Taylor!”

  “Oh. Well, he’s—” More of Taylor’s screaming in the background interrupts her.

  I can’t help wincing at the pain in his voice. And even though my stepdad’s not, like, my favorite person or anything, I don’t want him to die from Mom’s experiment exploding on him or whatever.

  “We can only hope the damage isn’t permanent,” Mom says, once there’s another break in the screaming. “But, Damien, we really need to get going, because every second counts, so—”

  “I’ll do it,” I say, already cringing at the thought.

  “But you don’t understand. I really, really need you to— Wait, what did you say?” She sounds stunned, which, frankly, she should be.

  “I said I’ll do it. I’ll watch him.” Ugh. Just saying it makes me feel dirty. “But just this once.” And only because it sounds like Taylor’s going to die if Mom doesn’t get him to the doctor, and if her only option is leaving Xavier alone… Well, I grew up in that house, and I don’t really want to see it get destroyed.

  “Alright,” she says, sounding genuinely relieved. “You’d better hurry over here—”

  I hang up, handing the phone back to Kat. Then I swallow and run my hands through my hair.

  Jess elbows me really hard in the ribs. “You still didn’t say good-bye.”

  I don’t know where she learned such strict phone etiquette, but I ignore her, having more important things to think about.

  “What happene
d?” Kat asks. She and Alex are both staring at me.

  “There’s an emergency. Something happened to Taylor. I have to go pick up my brother.”

  Kat’s mouth slips open, appropriately horrified.

  Alex frowns. “What do you mean, your brother?”

  “I…” I sort of never told Alex I had another brother. Actually, I didn’t tell anyone in my family, except Amelia, who sort of figured it out on her own. “I don’t have time to explain.” I get up from the couch. “I have to go.”

  “What?!” Kat’s eyes go wide. “You can’t leave me here!”

  “It’s not for very long.” Mom’s house isn’t that far. I’ll be back in, like, half an hour. Well, maybe more like forty minutes. “Start the movie without me.”

  “But what if your parents come back and don’t like that it’s just me here? Especially your stepmom—she’ll be pissed!” Kat actually looks pretty terrified about that.

  Alex is still frowning at me, looking hurt and confused. “I thought I was your brother.”

  “You are.” He’s just not the only one. And if he knew Xavier, like, at all, he wouldn’t be so worried.

  Kat takes a deep breath. “You stay here. I can go pick up Xavier.” She sounds like that’s the last thing she wants to do.

  She has a point, but… I still don’t feel right about it. “I can’t ask you to do that.”

  “You’re not,” she says, but she also sounds relieved at the idea of not having to go. “And I’ve dealt with Xavier before.”

  But not on her own. And, truthfully, I’m not sure I want to be on my own with him, either. If he really even needs picking up. I mean, it sounded like this was actually a legit emergency, but I still wouldn’t put it past Mom to fake it somehow. “Well… maybe we should both go.” I look over at Alex and Jess, hardly able to believe I’m saying this. “All four of us, I mean.”

  Kat’s eyes go wide and her forehead wrinkles. “Damien, are you sure that’s—”

  “A good idea?” I sigh, because I’m pretty sure it’s not. But I also don’t have time to think of a better solution. “It’s not far and it won’t take long. We’ll just run over there and then come right back. No problem.”

  Chapter 3

  ACTUALLY, MAYBE A BETTER solution would have been to call Riley and tell him to come watch Alex and Jess, because Gordon and Helen like him and think he’s responsible and probably wouldn’t freak too much if they found him at our house and not me. Except that would also take more time—time which Taylor may or may not have—and also I think Riley and Sarah are doing something tonight, though Sarah would probably understand once I told her it was an emergency.

  Kat glances over at Mom’s house when we pull up in front of it, then at Alex and Jess in the backseat. She turns to me. “Are you sure about this?”

  I tilt my head, giving her a look. “You guys just stay in the car. I’ll go get Xavier—if he really even needs picking up—and then we’ll get out of here.”

  Alex stares at Mom’s house, his eyes wide. “I have to go to the bathroom.”

  “Too bad.” There’s no way any of them are coming in with me. Well, except Kat, but that would mean leaving Alex and Jess alone in the car.

  “But I really have to go.” He puts his hands to his crotch to emphasize how bad he has to pee.

  “You should have gone before we left.”

  “I was going to, but you said it was really important that we hurry, because every second meant someone was going to end up mangled!”

  “That’s true,” Kat agrees. “You did say that.”

  “Fine,” I tell Alex. “You can use the bathroom. But that’s it. We’re not staying.”

  His eyes light up in a way that makes me think maybe he doesn’t have to pee so much as he just wants to see what Mom’s house is like.

  He gets out of the car and practically races to the front door—okay, so maybe he does have to pee—and then Mom flings it open, looking bewildered to see him.

  “Bathroom,” Alex says.

  “Take a left!” I call out. “First door on the right.”

  He squeezes past Mom, who’s still standing in the doorway. She finally glances up at me, her eyebrows coming together. “Damien, what was that?”

  “That is my brother.”

  She glances over at the car, then scowls at me. “You didn’t tell me you were bringing a whole zoo.”

  “Gee, Mom, and here I thought you needed a favor.” I push past her, into the house. There’s a weird smell in the air, kind of like burnt popcorn, only worse. Taylor’s slumped on the couch, pressing a bloody towel to his face and moaning quietly. At least he’s not screaming anymore, though he does look kind of pale.

  “Thank you,” he croaks at me, looking like he’s about to pass out.

  “What took you so long?” Mom asks, her hands on her hips.

  “Jess kept taking off her shoes. And we had to watch a YouTube video to set up her car seat.”

  “I don’t like the idea of superheroes staying at my house.”

  “We’re not staying. And don’t you need to get out of here?”

  “Who was that?!” Xavier shrieks, running into the room and pointing down the hall, where Alex went to use the bathroom. “He’s a stranger—he’s not allowed at our house.”

  Xavier looks like he’s about twelve, but really he was only born about nine months ago. But thanks to Mom’s stupid growth formula that she insisted on giving him, he’s been growing crazy fast. She also plays these hypnotic tapes for him at night while he sleeps to implant fake memories, in a useless attempt to try to make him even somewhat resemble a normal person. Well, and to make him too afraid to ever do anything she doesn’t want him to.

  He barely registers Mom helping his injured father up from the couch and instead runs up to me, his face twisted in anger. “I thought you were babysitting me.”

  “I am.”

  “Then who was that?”

  “My brother.”

  His mouth drops open. His fists clench. “But I’m your brother! Just me!”

  I shrug. It takes all my effort not to wince at his nails-on-a-chalkboard voice.

  Alex emerges from the bathroom and warily makes his way across the living room to stand partway behind me.

  Xavier glares at him. “You can’t watch both of us at the same time.”

  “He has a point, Damien,” Mom says, leading Taylor toward the front door. “My little angel miracle can be a handful sometimes. And you should have told me you weren’t staying. I didn’t even pack his di—”

  “Mom, do not say diaper bag.” If she does, I’m seriously leaving without him.

  “Well,” she says, her eyes darting over to Xavier, “it doesn’t have diapers in it anymore. Isn’t that right, sweetie?”

  Xavier nods enthusiastically. “I have special underwear now.”

  Ugh. No, not even ugh. Double ugh. “Mom, I don’t—”

  “It’s only for bedtime. You’ll find a whole box of them in the bathroom. And his snacks are in the fridge. They’re labeled. And his formula—”

  “I’m not giving him that. And we’re only going to be gone a few hours.” Once Gordon and Helen get back home, I’m carting Xavier right back here.

  Mom hesitates, biting her lip with worry as she looks over Xavier, even as Taylor—who, as far as I can tell, is still bleeding—groans in pain.

  “Go,” I tell her, sounding exasperated. “We’ll be fine. Get out of here.”

  “Well…”

  “Mom!”

  “Okay, okay. Call me if anything happens.” She shuffles Taylor outside, and a few moments later, I hear their car start up.

  Alex and Xavier both squeeze into the back of the car, though they don’t look very happy about it. Especially because they’re forced to sit next to each other, with Alex in the middle, squished up against Jess’s car seat in an attempt to not have to touch Xavier at all.

  Which I can’t really blame him for.

  “I’m
his brother,” Xavier tells Alex, shooting him a menacing look.

  Alex swallows and hunches his shoulders a little, though he also glares at him. “I am, too.”

  I watch them in the rearview mirror as I get into the driver’s seat. Alex probably thinks Xavier is older than him. He probably thinks I had another brother this whole time I’ve known him and just never mentioned it, letting him think he was the only one. But for the first six months I lived at the Tines house, I didn’t have any other siblings. It had always just been me and Mom, until she kicked me out. And now, thanks to her growth formula, it looks like I’ve been keeping an even bigger secret than the one I actually have.

  I mean, maybe I should have told Alex. I certainly shouldn’t have let him find out like this. But it’s not like I can tell him the truth in front of Xavier—that Xavier’s a freak that Mom decided to replace me with and that Alex has absolutely no reason to feel threatened. Well, maybe from Xavier, who’s giving him a look like he wants to light him on fire, but as far as keeping his ranking as my favorite brother goes? No competition.

  “Maybe you should call your parents,” Kat says, biting her lip and frowning at her phone.

  Even though we’ve only been gone, like, half an hour. “If they got home and we weren’t there, I would have heard about it already.”

  “Yeah, but your dad said to call if anything happened. What if they find out that you—that we—took the kids to your Mom’s house?”

  “They won’t.”

  Kat gives me a skeptical look. “But they might, and then they might hate me. I like coming over to your house, Damien, and we still have the whole summer ahead of us.”

  Well, she does make a good point, but… “If they’re going to be mad, they’ll be mad either way. And nobody’s going to tell them we came here.” I turn around and make eye contact with Alex and then, as an afterthought, with Xavier.

  “They’ll be way less mad if you actually tell them what’s going on,” Kat says.

  “What, and worry them during Amelia’s big recital?” Actually, if she’s on stage right now, maybe I should call… “Besides, they never said we couldn’t leave the house.”