by C. L. Stone
“I personally doubt it’s her,” he said with a tight smile. “I can’t picture a motive. Or maybe I want to not believe it either.” Dr. Green sighed and sat on the bed again. “But we have to tell them. The mask will throw them off the trail, as will the hard drive if they look at it. We have no idea if it’s related, but it could look like it was planted.”
He was right, of course. A tightness in my chest formed from guilt from our misguided attempts to figure this out. We should have told them long before now.
Nathan fished his phone off the side table where he’d placed it. “Who should I tell first?”
“Probably Owen,” Dr. Green said. “He’ll know who to contact.”
“Not my first choice.” He got up, heading closer to the window, dialing on his phone and at the same time, looking out the window to check beyond it.
Dr. Green motioned to me and I joined him sitting on the bed furthest away from where Nathan was talking to Mr. Blackbourne on the phone.
He signed to me instead of talking. At first, his hands moved so quickly, I couldn’t tell what he was saying. I blinked at him and raise an eyebrow.
He repeated it, although slower. “Don’t worry. It will be okay.”
I trusted him, but I suspected Mr. Blackbourne would be disappointed in us keeping the information to ourselves for as long as we did. We’d puzzled for so long on how to find more evidence to be absolutely sure. Maybe because we didn’t want to believe it.
I signed back to him, “I feel bad.”
He frowned and offered an open arm for a hug.
I hugged him, and he lingered, holding on to me. He signed with one hand. “Missed you.”
I missed him, too. “We may live closer soon.”
“I heard.” He stopped signing as Nathan spoke. I didn’t want to listen in, I guess feeling bad that Nathan was having to talk and I didn’t feel like I was able to support him, what little I could. We’d been in this together.
“Don’t feel bad,” Dr. Green signed. “Right intention. Wrong methods. Nothing to be ashamed of. Owen will know that.”
I hoped so.
It wasn’t too long before Nathan was off the phone. “He wasn’t mad.”
Dr. Green beamed. “He doesn’t get mad unless you’re being dummy dumb-dumbs for no reason. It’s one of his psychological mind heebie-jeebies he does.”
Nathan chuckled. “Are you okay? You’re talking weird.”
“I am super tired,” Dr. Green said and then yawned big. “And it’s super late.”
“I’ll stay up a bit,” Nathan said. “One of us should keep an eye out and listen for any news.”
“Right, you get first shift.” Dr. Green yawned again and tugged lightly at my arm. “Let’s sleep.”
It was a bit concerning getting into bed with Dr. Green when Nathan would be up and watching. When Nathan went into the bathroom while we were setting up the bed, I leaned in to whisper to him.
“Nathan gets a bit uneasy if we…” I didn’t want to say the rest. I hoped he understood.
Dr. Green winked at me and smiled, and in a quick motion, leaned in and kissed me gently on the lips.
He lingered for a second and whispered. “Oh, I know better. Gets under Owen’s skin, too.”
Mr. Blackbourne? I couldn’t get myself to ask, but it set my heart fluttering again.
As much as I was getting to learn what they liked and didn’t like, I took it on myself to be mindful. Who was in the room, who wasn’t, who was okay with what. It was something Lillian had told me about during one of the times I’d spoken with her, when it came to a relationship with multiple people.
“People can be okay with knowing you’re dating someone else,” she’d said. “It’s different seeing it. But it’s like… the feeling of seeing public displays of affection for your siblings or friends. It’s an awkward moment as it is, and on top of that, there’s added jealousy, which is reasonable for them to feel. I try not to ask them to be okay with more than what they are comfortable with and they try to forgive any moments that might be sprung upon them by accident.”
I understood it, and perhaps I’d known for a while. A hug, a light kiss, a held hand, these I could frequently share in front of most of them without any jealous looks or concerns.
If it was anything much more, and they took on a look of envy. And I didn’t like that.
Dr. Green got between the covers and spread his arms and legs out. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate just being able to do this. In an actual bed.”
When I got under the covers, I gave him some space, and he reached out and held my hand. He beamed at me.
“I’ll still cuddle, just give me some back-against-the-bed time.”
“Will you ever get time off?”
“Tonight,” he said. “And tomorrow when I should be at the school for at least half the day. I still have a class to teach, remember?”
“I’ll probably never really learn Japanese now. We’re not in class.”
“It’s okay, I can send you a learn to speak Japanese language course you can listen to when you’re driving.”
“I haven’t learned to drive yet.”
“Remind me to teach you.”
“You know what bugs me?” Nathan’s voice floated to us through the wall before he opened the door and stepped out. “Victor never really got a good birthday. It’s been bugging me since yesterday. We all kinda screwed up.”
Dr. Green sat up a bit in the bed and combed his fingers through his hair, brushing some of the locks aside. “Maybe we can make it up to him. Funny enough, I might have something. I actually got him tickets to a concert happening this week. I was supposed to give them to him… before disaster struck.”
“I thought he didn’t like concerts,” I said.
He shook his head. “No, he loves music. And concerts. Especially if he doesn’t know the band and doesn’t know what to expect. He likes going in surprised. It’s his own concerts he doesn’t like.”
“I think he likes those, too,” Nathan said. “He just doesn’t like his parents making him do things.”
Dr. Green frowned a bit. “Then that’s a shame. If he doesn’t make things right with his parents, he’ll probably never be able to play publicly again.”
“He could do it on his own,” Nathan said. He turned the light off, casting the room into the dark. He crossed the room, and shifted a chair next to the window, prepping himself to be able to watch out the window, and set his phone on the table. “Couldn’t there be some charity concerts he could do?”
“Maybe some smaller communities would love it, but anything around Charleston is usually done within the same circles, and they won’t want Victor if they worry he’ll drink and tell off the audience.”
I grimaced. “He didn’t mean it,” I said.
“It doesn’t matter what he meant,” he said. “It’s what they saw and heard about in the news. He’d need support from people like his parents who would vouch for him that it was an accident and won’t happen again.” He settled into the bed again, reaching once more for my hand to hold under the blanket, where Nathan wouldn’t really see. He squeezed my hand gently. “He’ll figure it out. He just needs time.”
I couldn’t help but think about Victor. Dr. Green eventually drifted off to sleep and Nathan kept himself awake with a phone game. I stayed awake for a little while, watching Nathan, the glow of the moon through the window on his bare torso.
But my mind couldn’t help but wonder if Victor might eventually be happy. He couldn’t be his own person with his parents, but splitting from them, it was like part of who he was had completely been taken away from him too.
Rubato
(Stolen, robbed)
Victor
“Where are we going?” Victor asked Mr. Buble. They had gotten into the car, and Victor put on his seatbelt.
Mr. Buble had changed clothes from earlier that day, except it was a fresh pair
of black slacks, a newly pressed white shirt. Maybe no one else would have noticed, save Victor who knew that after a full day, one would have some creases and wrinkles in any suit. “We’re going back to provide at-a-distance support. As none of the family are at home and we need someone around to answer any pertinent questions, someone who has access to cameras for example, immediately on site.”
It made sense. If everyone, including Mr. Blackbourne, were away, they might need someone there to help.
“But are you sure you’re up for this?” Mr. Buble asked. “It’ll be a long night and you haven’t slept.”
“I’m good for a while,” Victor said, and he was pretty sure he was. His blood was pumping with excitement. He shouldn’t be so eager and knew better to get sleep and allow others to try to manage things, but right now he was full of a second wind. Maybe the short car ride allowed him to rest enough to provide him with a bit more energy to stay awake.
Or maybe it was Sang… and how he’d been with her tonight. He couldn’t get her out of his mind. The soft touch of her skin…
He blinked rapidly to pull himself out of those thoughts. “If I need to, a quick coffee ought to help in a couple hours.”
This time when Mr. Buble drove, he took the highway instead of side roads he’d taken the first time, undoubtedly because the first drive to the motel was designed to shake off any possible tail.
When they got back to the neighborhood, Mr. Buble immediately pulled into the parking lot for Bob’s Diner at the start of Sunnyvale Court. The parking lot was empty save for a couple of cars.
As they got out of the car, Victor was surprised to see Uncle at the door of the diner, holding it open and looking out toward them.
Mr. Buble greeting him with a nod as they approached. “Just us?”
“Just us loonies in this bin,” Uncle said, his gravelly voice dripping with tiredness, matching the dark circles under his eyes. He’d probably been here the whole day and stayed late. “My nephews okay?”
“They’re safe at a hotel, and together.”
They entered the diner and Uncle closed the door behind them. “This Volto kid’s a menace.”
“Is anyone at the Griffin house now?” Mr. Buble asked.
“We waited for you.”
In the diner, there was a woman, someone Victor felt was familiar but he didn’t know personally, and a male police officer he did know.
“David,” Victor said, holding out a hand to the police officer in offering.
David was tall, trim, and with a mop of tight curls at the top of his head. He’d been at several of the Morgan family events as added city security and more recently, heavily involved with them as he was an associate of an outside Academy consultant. He was there in handling the old principal and vice-principal at the school not long ago.
David beamed and shook his hand vigorously. “Hey, friend. How you doin’? Heard there was a little scuffle here.”
“So far just some broken security cameras, unless something else has happened,” he said. He turned to the woman. She was tall, with wide hips and an upturned, calming smile. “Hello.”
She nodded to him. “Mrs. Ruiz. Happy to help.”
It wasn’t often Victor got to work with a group of adults. He wasn’t supposed to feel intimidated, given everyone within the Academy had a voice and could speak when they felt the need. It was just getting used to the idea that took time. Where was he to start?
“Is a plan in place?” Mr. Buble asked.
“Well, as my plan is to not to get anyone hurt,” David said, taking the lead, “Mrs. Ruiz, Uncle, and I are going to drive up, very noisily. I’ll knock on the door, ring the bell, and we’ll go in and turn on all the lights. If you’ll follow us on any security cameras still active… I hear there are probably a few inside the house still going. Can you double-check they’re working?”
Victor used his phone and tapped Nathan’s hand weight icon and toggled to get to the cameras. The outside ones were static, as were two inside ones, in the main rooms.
Some inside cameras were still on, although most rooms were very dark. These didn’t have night vision of any sort, so it was just blackness.
“I’ve a few,” Victor told them. “Main rooms are out, bedrooms and hallways are fine. I don’t see anyone in the operating cameras.”
“We’ll be able to see in on those bigger areas through the windows,” Uncle said.
“Just have to stick together,” David said.
Uncle, Mrs. Ruiz, and David left, and Mr. Buble and Victor remained behind. The diner itself was tidy. The counters were clean, a pot of coffee left to warm, but otherwise, booths and tables were clear of everything but condiments.
Mr. Buble got behind the counter, found an apron with a front that said Bob’s Diner, and put it on.
Victor chuckled. “What are you doing?”
“If someone comes in here, I’ll take their order.”
It was hard for Victor to picture Mr. Buble simply taking over waiter duty at such a moment. Victor shook his head and then thought better of it and got behind the counter. It was probably best.
Victor kept the phone open and waited, switching between cameras to keep an eye on things.
Mr. Buble absently picked up a rag sitting below the counter and started wiping at the register, particularly the crannies. “By the way, I was meaning to ask, when I arrived at the house, you and Miss Sorenson… is there something I should know about?”
Victor grimaced. He was waiting for this question to pop up. “We weren’t doing anything…”
“Normally when teenagers are put in my charge, I need to have at least an initial conversation, a general health lecture.”
“I’ve had that,” Victor said, his cheeks burning. He refused to look at him. What should he say? He couldn’t lie about it.
Mr. Buble stopped what he was doing and looked at him. “I hope you’re not promising things you can’t fulfill? Not taking it serious if she is taking things seriously?”
The tone in his statement shocked Victor, and he stood up fully. “I would never.”
“Only, you hesitate to tell me, which makes me feel there’s something more to it.” His brown eyes took on a sternness he hadn’t witness from him before. “I work with no one but the most honorable. I hope you to be.”
“I would never hurt her,” Victor said vigorously. “She’d tell you.”
Mr. Buble pursed his lips for a moment, as if considering. “Please understand my asking. She’s under my charge, too. I need to know. After I dropped you off, I checked the newspapers and other sources to see what might be done for your reputation around the city, since Mitch seemed to indicate it said a lot about you. It was clearly stating that you and a Miss Brie were dating, not Miss Sang.”
A surge of anger radiated through Victor. “What?”
“There were photos. You and her. Where she has an arm around your waist.”
Victor shook his head again, struggling to remember the night before. “I… She… We sort of thought I could help her with her parents and she could help me with my parents. Part of the act we put on was that we were maybe interested in each other. It appeased my parents… at least until I stopped trying to appease them.”
Mr. Buble waited, as if he wasn’t sure he should trust Victor.
“Sang and I are dating, okay?” He didn’t say anything about the others, unsure he’d even understand that, but they’d been caught together in bed and he had to say something, had to prove somehow he wasn’t lying to Sang or Brie. He had to defend himself, and her. “Brie and I weren’t doing anything. Just talking and she was doing her best to help me at my asking. And in a way, I was helping her.” He paused and then just be sure, “Brie’s gay. Her parents… I don’t think they approve. We thought if we pretended to be interested in each other, our parents could lay off our backs for a while, at least until we were old enough to move on.” It hurt him to have Mr. Buble think he�
�d do anything to hurt anyone. “I had no idea there would be photos and articles about it.”
At Victor’s persistence, Mr. Buble’s stern look softened. He picked the rag back up and proceeded with his cleaning. “I’m afraid I do have to ask Miss Sang. Not that I don’t believe you, but because it’s part of my duty to her.”
Victor nodded, worried though. What happened if she admitted the whole relationship with the other guys?
Should he tell him?
“Is it inappropriate that she dates… one of us?” Victor asked tentatively.
“It’s likely inevitable, really,” Mr. Buble said. “Nine perfectly talented young men and one very capable and also talented young woman… however, we need to remember our age, and our long-term goals. I’d hope if anything happened to your relationship, you’ll still stay professional if needing to work with her in the future.”
It was something he’d heard would be discussed if any of them dated within the Academy at all.
Is that all they worried about? If something should happen and there’s a breakup, that it might be impossible to work together?
Suddenly his understanding of relationships in the Academy and how it was handled… it all changed with the way Mr. Buble presented it. Would it really matter, if they could prove that they could get along and get Academy jobs done without personal feelings in the way? Especially, heaven forbid, if she did call things off with any of them and they still needed to work with her?
If they could prove somehow they could… even if they fully intended to stay together…
After a few minutes, Mr. Buble got a phone call and leaned over the counter, checking out Victor’s phone with the cameras still running. “We’re here. We’re ready.”
Victor was nervous, even if he wasn’t the one to enter Nathan’s house. What if they caught him? Would this be over tonight?
If this was Volto, he was tricky, but they’d been gone for a while, so it was less likely he’d be interested in sticking around if there was no one there to mess with. It wasn’t his style. Unless he was setting up some traps. But taking out the cameras was a pretty bold move. It’d be really obvious they’d check the place out completely.
