The Sovereign Era (Book 1): Brave Men Run

by Matthew Wayne Selznick

  “A party at her friend’s house. Mel and Jason’ll be there too.”

  “A drinking and drugs kind of place?”

  “It’s Lina’s friend, mom.”

  She tilted her head and her eyebrows shot up. “And that means what?”

  I was acutely aware of keeping Lina waiting on the phone. “Okay, fine, I don’t know what kind of party it is. But you know I won’t be doing anything, no matter what, right?”

  “Hm.” She nodded. “Yes, I do know that.” Her lips twitched up at the corners. “One o’clock. I’m not waiting up. Don’t be late.”

  “Cool!” I got back to Lina. “I can go. When?”

  “I’ll come get you in an hour and a half,” she said. “I haven’t gotten ready yet. I wanted to make sure you could come.”

  I smiled. “So, you wouldn’t have gone if I couldn’t?”

  “We maybe could have done something else… but I’m glad you can go. I really want you to meet Car.”

  “You’re a sweetie,” I said. “I’ll call Mel and Jason.”

  “See you soon, cutie,” she said.

  We hung up.

  What was I supposed to wear to a party? What kind of party was it? And I still didn’t know: Who, exactly, was this Car guy, to Lina?

  From The Journal Of Nate Charters – Twenty Seven

  Sometimes, she stopped my heart. Lina wore a picnic-blanket summer dress of little red and white squares that came to just above her calves. Her black platform pumps put her a few inches taller than me. She was made up a little more than usual; powder pale with dark red lips. Her blonde hair was slicked back tight on her scalp.

  I was with this woman!

  She took my arm and we strode up to Carson Meunetti’s house with Mel and Jason in tow. The door opened and a deluge of rapid-fire punk rock and a dozen conversations, along with the thick, sweet smell of beer and cigarettes, escaped. I fought a sneeze as a tall, lanky guy with spiked, sandy blonde hair stepped out onto the doorstep.

  “Hey, Car!” Lina disengaged herself from me and gave him a hug.

  “Hey, Lina.” His smile was bright and wide on his narrow face. It faltered slightly when he saw me. I think my eyes were doing their reflective thing in the porch light. “You brought some friends?”

  We stepped inside as Lina made introductions. She grabbed my arm and beamed, which made me feel nice.

  “This is my very good friend Nathan, and his friends Jason and Mel.”

  Car shook my hand. He looked me in the eye and his smile was solid again. “Nice to meet you, Nathan.”

  I couldn't tell you why, but I liked this guy instantly. “Likewise, Carson. Call me Nate.”

  “Well, then, call me Car.” He shook Mel and Jason’s hands. “Gentlemen.”

  Mel said, “I caught your band at the Rail, a couple months back.”

  Car looked pleased. “Oh, cool. That’s a fun place... but see us again, please – we’re better now.”

  Jason scanned the crowd as he spoke. “What kind of stuff do you guys do?”

  “Mine,” Car said with a laugh. On the stereo, someone proclaimed they had the neutron bomb, over and over again. “Oops,” our host said. “This one skips; I forgot. Excuse me. Have fun.” He bounded for the turntable.

  Lina led me into the kitchen, Mel and Jason on my heels. A couple near the refrigerator, all hairspray, leather, and androgyny, were too distracted with each other to do more than favor us with blank glances.

  Lina didn’t hesitate. “Scuze,” she said, and slipped past them. She opened the fridge and pulled out two bottles of beer with a familiarity that made me think she knew this house very well. She handed one to me.

  “Oh.” I stared at the yellow bottle.

  Her smile was huge. “Let me corrupt you, Nate, just a little bit.” She pulled a magnetic bottle opener off the side of the fridge and handed it to me. I used it, and handed it to Mel.

  “I’m in your hands,” I said to Lina.

  She leaned in close and muttered in my ear, “Maybe later.”

  I put the bottle to my smiling lips. An hour later, I had the first buzz of my young life. I felt confidant, and special... if a little off-balance. I was with a beautiful girl who knew all these way-cool people, and she made a point of introducing me to everyone with a pride that was charmingly defiant.

  I thought my crowd at school were misfits. In fact, we were all just geeks compared to this bunch with their black clothes, studded jewelry, painted Levis, multicolored hair, and tattoos. I had been a little intimidated, but the beer relaxed me, and anyway, no one seemed to care about my obvious differences. For a while.

  Lina went to the bathroom. Over the heavy reverb thrashing sound of a guy I was told was Darby Crash, a scarecrow all in black nodded to me and asked, “Are you one of them?”

  My hackles rose, but I quickly saw he wasn’t threatening. He smiled and swayed, and his eyes didn't quite keep pace with where he wanted to look.

  I bared my incisors, which are just slightly longer and sharper than yours. “What do you think?”

  “Fuck me,” he breathed. “What can you do?”

  I decided to turn dumb, since it was a pretty direct question from a stranger and maybe a little rude. When Teslowski had asked me, it had been different – we had a long history, even if it was a history of abuse and torment.

  “I go to Abbeque Valley,” I said innocently.

  He laughed. I could smell vomit on his breath. “No, dude… I mean, what can you do?”

  “Nothing.” I shrugged.

  He leaned into me. “C’mon, own up.”

  Car ambled over to the scarecrow. “Hey, Preston. What’s up?”

  Preston jabbed a thumb at me. “Kid’s a Sovereign, I think!”

  Car adopted a look of exaggerated interest. He glanced at me, and Preston couldn’t see his wink. “So?”

  “So I wanted to know what he could do, and stuff.”

  Car put an arm around Preston’s shoulders and said to me, “You know what Preston here can do?”

  I shrugged; took a swig off my beer; tried to be cool.

  All smiles, Car said, “Preston here can get shit-faced and be an asshole, sometimes.” He tapped Preston’s stomach. “Get some air, man. You’re looking green.”

  Preston looked confused. Car patted him on the head.

  “Hey, Car, guess what,” Preston said.

  Car’s smile cooled a little. “What, Preston?”

  “Chicken butt!” He slapped Car on the arm and stumbled away.

  Lina’s scent, baby powder now slightly bitter from alcohol, preceded her. “What’s up, kids?” She snaked an arm around my waist and pulled me in.

  Car gave me a casual salute. “Just looking after my guests,” he said, and turned away with a wave.

  Lina nibbled on my ear. I kept an eye on Car, intrigued, despite the trembling chills Lina sent down my spine. “What’s his deal, anyway?”

  “Let’s go out back; I’ll tell you.” Her hot breath was like a leash on me. I followed her into the back yard like a puppy.

  People laughed, smoked, and drank around a keg. Lina made a face and took my hand. “Over here.”

  We went around the side of the house. The moment we were out of sight, she pushed me against the wall and kissed me.

  While the beer mildly dulled my overachieving senses, it turned my libido way up. We mauled each other for a little while in the semi-darkness.

  Lina drawled, “I’m such a bad influence…”

  “Well, I’m pretty malleable…”

  She reached down. I gasped.

  “I don’t think so,” she said.

  I covered her lips with mine and pushed against her hand… and Mel walked up.

  “Nate, man, I am really sorry…”

  Lena and I disengaged. Her drowsy smile was a sharp contrast to the irritation I felt. “Mel. What.”

  “You gotta come around front. Jason’s gonna rip Byron Teslowski’s head off.”

  “What?
” I pushed away from the wall and Lina backed out of my way. “Teslowski’s here? Why?”

  “C’mon.”

  I followed Mel through the back yard and into the crowded house, dragging Lina along with her hand in mine. Inside, fifty-odd sets of human scents and the cacophonous punk rock on the stereo assaulted my fuzzy senses. I shook my head rapidly in an attempt to reset. I’d probably need to be sharp.

  We went through the front door and out to the lawn. I saw Jason and Teslowski chest to chest near the curb. A few people stood around and watched with detached amusement, and I was struck by how differently this crowd reacted to a fight compared to the kids at school.

  Teslowski had about a head and a half of height over Jason, but being physically outclassed had never stopped my short-tempered friend before. Jason had no idea of Byron’s unique abilities, though, and that made me very nervous.

  I crossed the yard with long steps. “Teslowski, what are you doing here?” I hadn’t seen him since our meeting on Monday.

  Teslowski and Jason turned together. Jason’s face was bright red. “He came looking for you, Nate! I told him he’d have to deal with me!”

  Teslowski was rigid and pumped. “Tell this little shit to back off, Charters. You know I’ll kick his ass.”

  Threats were a special kind of fuel for Jason. “Fuck you, fucker! I’ll tear off your fucking head and shit down your throat! I’ll rip out your eyes and piss on your mother fucking brain, asshole!”

  I heard Lina sigh. “Oh, for Crissakes.” Peripherally, I saw her cross her arms and shake her head.

  I stepped forward with my arms out. “It’s cool. Chill out, both of you.”

  Jason immediately stepped back, but he never took his eyes off of Teslowski, and his fists remained clenched. “Fucker thinks he can come here after you…”

  Teslowski rolled his eyes. “If I wanted to kick the shit out of anyone tonight,” he said, “I would have started with you.”

  Jason lunged. My open hand met his chest and held him back. My friend’s eyes widened at this reminder of my deceptive strength, and he deflated slightly.

  “Dude,” I said to him. “You must. Chill.” I looked at Teslowski. “Both of you.” I took my hand off of Jason and got between them, facing Teslowski.

  “What do you want?”

  “We seriously need to talk.”

  Car came out of the house. “What’s going on?” He gestured loosely at Teslowski. “Do I know you?”

  “Carson Meunetti,” I said quickly, “meet Byron Teslowski.” They automatically exchanged nods. “He’s a… look, I know him.”

  Carson looked at the two of us, and Jason. He said to Lina, “Everything cool here?” When she nodded curtly, her lips tight, he shrugged. “Don’t kill yourselves on my lawn. I don’t need the police.”

  He went back inside.

  I pointed at Teslowski. “Come on.”

  From The Journal Of Nate Charters – Twenty Eight

  We followed Lina back into the house and upstairs to the master bedroom.

  The room smelled of old dust, like it didn’t see regular use. Above the king sized bed was a huge, framed photograph of a middle-aged couple I assumed were Car’s folks.

  I stood by the door. Lina propped herself against a tall chest of drawers. Teslowski sat on the edge of the bed with his hands between his knees. He looked at us.

  I nodded. “She knows,” I said, “and it’s cool. You can trust her.”

  He paled a little and his eyes went big. “You told her?”

  Lina shrugged. “Don’t freak out, man.”

  “Byron, what’s going on? How’d you know I was here, anyway?”

  “I went by your house. Convinced your mom to tell me.”

  “Okay… so?”

  He squirmed a little. “Remember what I said a few days ago? About watching out for each other?”

  “Sure.”

  “I got called into the principal’s office this morning. My parents are there, and Ms. Elp, and this dude from some medical place.” He paused to bite at his left index finger. “Dude said he wanted to talk about my sports.”

  I didn’t get it. “Why?”

  “He says he always sees my name in the paper, any time Abbeque Valley wins a game. He’s like, ‘I wanted to meet the young man who is so good at so many things.’”

  I shivered. “You think..?”

  “Well, yeah, dude, of course I do! Turns out he’s been talking to my parents all week about me doing some survey, or test, or some shit, at this place in Irvine.”

  Lina tilted her head. “What place?”

  Teslowski took off his baseball cap and scratched his head. “Tyndale Labs?”

  “What kind of survey,” I asked.

  “Like, a physical, and stuff. He said it was this study on, like, the physical development of adolescents, or whatever. But, no shit, dude, this guy wasn’t no doctor. I know it.”

  I might have been infected by my mother’s attitude about this whole thing, but I was certain Teslowski was right. I still tried to sound skeptical. “How would you know, though?”

  He shrugged violently, and waves of anxiety rode on his sweat. “Dude, I know it! I’ve been waiting for something like this to happen.”

  “Look,” I said, “I know you said that on Monday. But why couldn’t this guy be legit?”

  Lina surprised me. “If he was, why come to the school? Why not just meet you at your house?”

  “I guess he was looking at my records,” Teslowski said.

  I frowned. “Can just anybody do that?”

  Lina said, “I don’t think so. Not unless his parents okayed it.”

  “They probably did,” Byron said ruefully. “Anything to promote my sports, my dad’d be into. Plus, the guy said he’d pay us.”

  Lina nodded. “Yeah, like this friend of mine who signed up for all these clinical trials for money. Screwed him up, kinda, too.”

  Byron frowned at her. “Thanks a lot.”

  I'd seen so much crap on the news all week, it was way too easy to think the absolute worst. “Forget that,” I said. “When do they want you to do this?”

  “Next Friday after school,” Byron said. “I’m supposed to spend the whole weekend.”

  I nodded, thinking. “Okay, cool, a whole week. Lina, your dad’s, like, a councilman, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Could he, maybe, look into this Tyndale Labs place? See if it’s legit, or whatever?”

  “I can ask him.” She frowned. “He’s gonna want to know why, though.”

  “We can figure that out, I guess. If it turns out to be a real place, then there’s no problem, right?”

  Byron didn’t look so sure. “What if it is? What if it’s all some big cover for the government or something?”

  Lina tapped her cheek with her index finger. “What if the place is legit, and they do all that stuff with Byron. Won’t they figure out he’s different anyway?”

  That got me. My own doctor had told me my blood chemistry had different levels, and what not, than most folks.

  “Hm. Yeah. Probably.”

  Byron shook his head. I could see the white of his eyes all around his irises. He didn’t look like the kid who’d been such a bastard to me all these years. “No way, dude. No way can anyone find out.”

  I could relate, but I didn’t get why he was so scared. “Well, shit… what if you just told your parents you didn’t want to go?”

  “Not an option,” he said flatly. “Not with my dad. I’m going.”

  We were all quiet.

  “Well,” I said, and I sounded lame even to myself, “we’ve got a week, right? We’ll figure something out.”

  Teslowski looked at me. His expression, the tension in his body, the fear and insecurity in his scent was all so strong, I fought the urge to back into the wall.

  “I fucking hope so, dude. I don’t want to get experimented on.”

  I swallowed; tried to pull it together. “Don’t worry, ma
n.”

  I was totally worried, though. If they were sniffing around Abbeque Valley, did they know about me? I thought about that Preston guy downstairs. Was he really just some drunk punk, or..?

  I sighed. This was getting ridiculous. I looked at Lina and Byron. “Let’s get out of here, all right? I think I’m over this party.”

  Byron looked at his digital watch. “I gotta get home anyway.”

  Lina led us downstairs. On the last step, Byron touched me on the shoulder.

  “I, like, owe you, dude.”

  I didn’t know what to say. For a second – just a fraction of a second – I wanted to be totally mean to him. I wanted to shove his nose in all those years he’d been so shitty to me. For him to come to me like I had all the answers, because he knew I was smarter than he was, and I was the only one he knew who had this one crazy thing in common with him… I wanted to be an asshole to him, just once. Finally.

  I shrugged off his hand.

  “Don’t worry about it, Byron.”

  From The Journal Of Nate Charters – Twenty Nine

  Teslowski found his own way out. Lina went to tell Car we were leaving while I looked for Mel and Jason.

  I found them talking to a tall blonde guy near the stereo. “I’m outta here.”

  Jason frowned. “What’s going on with Teslowski?”

  Mel raised an eyebrow and caught my eye. “It’s some crazy stuff, Jason,” I said. “I’m sorry you got messed up in it.”

  He shrugged and flashed a feral smile. “No big thing, man – I’ve been looking for an excuse to call that prick out.”

  I smiled. “Well… thanks, I guess. But he wasn’t looking for trouble.” He was bringing it, I thought. “I promise I’ll fill you in, but right now, Lina and I are gone. You guys want a ride?”

  Mel looked at the blonde guy, who said, “S’cool. I can get you guys home if you need a ride later.”

  Mel high-fived him. “Thanks, Alex!” He said to me, “Alex is in Carson Meunetti’s band.”

  We shook hands. “How’s it going,” Alex said.

  “It’s been a really interesting party,” I said.

  Lina came up. “Hey, Alex.” Alex nodded to her. “You ready, baby?”