by K. L. Lewis
DeMarcus’s shoulders dipped. He couldn’t argue that. “I know. I wasn’t trying to be rude, but—”
“No-no,” Shen interrupted. “You’ve said enough. We’ll continue to have the Get-Together.”
“Great!” Yue shouted. " ‘Cuz I’m starving already!”
“Ah-ah-ah,” Jiao said with a wave of her finger. “You two go get cleaned up first. Can’t have our guests see you with bruises and blood stains.”
Right. That would be a bad impression. With no further arguments, DeMarcus smiled and went back inside with Yue following behind. They went upstairs for their rooms, bumping into Amy at the top.
“What happened to you two?” Amy asked, showing the first sign of concern—if a bit sneering—toward DeMarcus.
“Fuck you, that’s what,” Yue spat.
Amy gasped and ran downstairs. “I’m telling mom!”
Yue rolled her eyes. “Oh, cry me a river.”
DeMarcus split to his room for new clothes before heading to the bathroom. He examined the patch over his wound, feeling a sharp sting upon poking it. Hopefully, the water doesn’t make it worse.
After a quick shower and a change of clothes, he heard the doorbell ring. He peeked around the corner, seeing Jun open the door to Tyrone’s parents and little sister outside. “Hey there!” Jun greeted.
“Glad to see you, Jun,” said James. “Is Ty here?”
“He’s helping out in the back,” said Jun.
Looks like the party’s about to start, and Yue came out just in time in a new set of clothes. Following her on the way downstairs, pass the halls to the backyard, DeMarcus stood awestruck at the complete change of tone. Orange-red lamps hovering overhead in a ring-like formation, lighting the yard in the same hue of the sun setting over the horizon. An array of steaks, chicken, rice, salads, and drinks sitting on the ivory-white tables, complete with an ambient melody emanating from the larger lamps hovering over a flat brown pedestal by the fence.
His stomach gnawed on the inside from the smell of food wisping under his nose, overtaking the sting in his side. When was the last time he had a bite to eat?
“Don’t just stand there,” Yue said to him. “Come on and dig in!”
The entire view made him forget he lived here for a split moment. It was nothing like his old life, the days he and his mother ate together, as infrequent as that was. But it was still a sight to behold as he took steps down into the yard’s upper level with the tables and chairs where the Iyrons and the Suns sat and chatted about the day. Down at the wider lower level were benches and patios where Amy and Bianca blitzed around. It was a joyous sight for sure, but there was a sense of heaviness that pulled DeMarcus down further below the ground. This is what he gets after losing his mother, a small get together with new family and friends?
He really didn’t want the thought eating at him, but it was hard to shake off. The whole sight made him wish his mother were here to enjoy it with her. No doubt she’d have enjoyed it too.
His stomach gnawed again, fiercer than last time as his nose smelled steak and rice right under him. He looked down at a plate hovering before him, held by Yue as she carried a plate of her own. “You done moping?” She asked with a smile. “And here you were brushing off a militant attack earlier.”
DeMarcus took the plate. “Thanks. I was just deep in thought.”
“About your mom?”
DeMarcus’s brow jumped. “How’d you know?”
“Just a lucky guess,” Yue said with a shrug. “Given what happened earlier, I wouldn’t blame you for having flashbacks.”
“Yue! DeMarcus!”
They turned around to Sarah arriving with Jun as two humans followed behind, a tall, short-haired blonde with broad shoulders and a woman with wavy brown hair, both as fair-skinned as Sarah. Sarah waved at them, but DeMarcus was more concerned with the two humans she arrived with.
“Who’re they?” he asked.
“Sarah’s parents,” said Yue.
“Both of them?” DeMarcus questioned, with Yue nodding in response. “Is she adopted like me?”
“No, those are her biological parents,” said Yue. “Can’t you see the resemblance?”
Looking closer, he matched the blue eyes of the blonde and the similar hair of the brunette to Sarah looks, but he was curious as to how two humans could make a parahuman? It was far from impossible, just a curious question worth answering—if Yue can vouch for it, that was all he needed to know.
Following behind the women came Mitch and his parents, a man and a woman with brown and reddish hair. Nothing out of the ordinary with those two. As DeMarcus dug into his plate, he watched the adults gather and greet each other, and it didn’t take long for them to bring up the news of the Megaplaza attack.
In fact, as if on cue, Mitch came down and immediately brought it up. “Did you guys hear about the attack at the Rula?”
“We were there,” said Yue flatly. “Right in the middle of it.”
“No way,” said Sarah. “How’d you get out?”
“Let’s just say it wasn’t easy,” DeMarcus said. “We were on the bottom floor near the Magna-Rink far from any exit. If the military didn’t come in, who knew what would happen?”
“And yet you tried to play it off like it was nothing,” said Tyrone.
“No, I didn’t!” DeMarcus protested.
Yue lifted his shirt, showing the patched up wound he got from the event. “See this? Took a sharp hit in the side and when we made it out, he said we were fine.” Then she raised her injured arm. “If anything, I was the lucky one here.”
As Sarah and Mitch stared in stunned silence and raised eyebrows toward DeMarcus, they looked back at each other with faint smirks. It was as if they wanted to ask ‘are you serious’ as they looked back at DeMarcus once again. He didn’t have anything to say as Yue turned to him too, while Ty made a shy turn away to the table of foods by Sarah’s blonde parent to avoid the awkward air from the whole gang.
“DeMarcus!” Jiao called, waving him over from the group of women in the lower yard.
“There’s your out,” Yue whispered in his ear.
Without haste, he took his steps over to his adoptive mother holding her drink with a smile as Alisha and the two other women turned their curious eyes to him. He wasn’t sure what he was needed for as he joined the four women. Were they just as curious about the militant attack he and Yue got out of? Whatever it was about, he figured he’d wing through whatever they want to know—learning and adapting as his mother once told him.
He stood by Jiao, making brief eye contact with the other women. “Yes, ma’am?” he addressed her.
“I’d like you to meet some of our neighbors,” said Jiao. “Everyone, this is DeMarcus. We brought him in after finding him out in the city.”
“It’s nice to meet you DeMarcus,” said Mrs. Shoa. “I heard of what happened to you. Have you been okay since?”
“What do you mean?” DeMarcus asked. Was it the attack on Rula or was she referring to being chased throughout the city?
“Well, a lot of people have lost loved ones from the attack on the city,” she explained. “I know the toll it can take on a person, but I can only imagine it for someone as young as you.”
“I’m learning and adapting as I go,” he said. “It’s…not easy, but it’s something my mother told me before I lost her.”
“When I first saw him in my ward, I thought he’d be lucky to still be conscious in his condition,” said Alisha. “Took only a few hours for him to wake up despite his injuries. Which reminds me.” She made a slow turn toward DeMarcus, with a wide smirk growing on her face. “How are your injuries from the Rula Megaplaza?”
DeMarcus’s ears sank to his shoulders. “You heard about that?”
“The whole thing,” Alisha said, her smirk growing wider.
“You were there?” asked Mrs. Tovar. “What on earth for?”
“I was just there to get a new OmniMorph,” DeMarcus said with a shrug
. “We didn’t think the Fronties would attack there.”
“Attack where?” Another woman’s voice asked behind him. DeMarcus turned to Sarah’s other parent, the tall, broad-shouldered human with short blonde hair combed back on their head. They looked back at him, and DeMarcus looked in stunned silence as he wondered if they were the one who asked.
“Um, hi,” he greeted, not wanting to be rude.
The human smiled. “You must be DeMarcus. It’s a pleasure.”
His ears twitched—it was the same woman’s voice he heard seconds before. But the human looked anything but, and DeMarcus had to take a moment to realize. “You…you’re Sarah’s…?”
“I’m her other mother, Jelina,” the human said. “I know, I look like I’m her father. I get that a lot. So, what’s this I’m hearing about an attack?” Jelina asked again. “Is it about the one at Rula?”
Jiao cleared her throat. “Yes, DeMarcus and Yue were there when it happened. Me and Shen were thankful they made it out, but we were ready to cancel this whole event until DeMarcus convinced us otherwise.”
DeMarcus shrugged. “What? It’s my first get-together. I didn’t wanna miss this.”
More importantly, he wanted everyone to move on from the subject. It was tiring to constantly hear about.
“I heard Marshal Iyrons had arrived in the country to help deal with these militants,” said Mrs. Shoa, glancing toward Alisha. “Has James said anything about it?”
“He said it had something to do with a commander from Iuvia operating in the city,” Alisha answered. “They were said to be setting up an installation in the city to better prepare for the event of such attacks.”
DeMarcus’s ears rung from the mention. An Iuvian commander? Here? And the story of an installation sounded like the one his mother told him she was working on. Perhaps it was her? The thought of it had his blood rushing as he wondered if his mother was still alive, and as the women’s conversation shifted, he inched away from the group and back toward the house.
DeMarcus’s ears rung from the mention. An Iuvian commander? Here? And the story of an installation sounded like the one his mother told him she was working on.
He walked by the men having their own conversation. “So, when’s your father arriving?” Mr. Shoa asked James.
“Sometime within the next week or so,” said James.
“Not on vacation I assume?” Shen asked. “That man won’t rest worth a damn for some reason. His wife’s not bugging him, is she?”
James chuckled. “Nothing like that.”
Once inside the house, he made a beeline for his room. He took out his new OmniMorph, and dialed his mother’s old contact, with a blank profile appearing on the display. No response…
He dialed again. Then again. And again.
Still no response.
He grumbled to himself. Was she still out there or not? He took a deep breath and rolled his shoulders. Was it because he was using a new OmniMorph? Given who his mother was, it came as no surprise that she wouldn’t want any random person reaching her—if he were her and saw some strange contact showing up, no doubt he wouldn’t bother answering either.
Wrapping his OmniMorph on his wrist, he left his room and saw Yue pass by him in the halls for the door to the rooftops. “Where you headed?” he asked her.
She turned to him. “Oh, that’s where you went. I’m about to lounge on the balcony. You’re welcome to join if you want. Ty’s coming up in a bit.”
She moved toward the door, and DeMarcus followed behind watching her dial on the security panel before a gust of wind blew his hair back upon the door opening for them. They stepped out to a flat, rounded balcony, and into the view of the city sitting past the crystal waters under the aqua blue skies. The Rula Megaplaza stood off to the side of the city, calm and serene as if the Fronties’ attack never happened.
“Quite a view, huh?” Yue asked, taking a seat and sprawling on the floor.
“I’ll say,” said DeMarcus.
Tyrone popped his head out from the door and stepped onto the rooftop. “Yo, I’m here. You guys just loungin’ in the wind?”
“You could say that,” said Yue. She took one glance back at the door and rolled onto her feet. DeMarcus flinched as she shot past him, then he caught glimpse of Amy and Bianca running toward the door before Yue slid it shut and locked it.
Amy banged on the door from the inside. “Come on! Let us out there!”
“No way, little brat,” said Yue. “You know you’re not allowed on the balcony.” Then she looked back at Tyrone. “Next time, close the door behind you.”
Tyrone smiled. “Sorry.”
Sitting near the balcony’s edge, watching everyone below eat and enjoy themselves, it all made DeMarcus forget about the attack earlier. He was still upset he never got a response from his mother, and he wondered if she was still out there or not. But he could learn and adapt to this life. This new life.
CHAPTER 14 – GROWTH AND CHANGES
It was an awkward start, the first few weeks living with the Sun’s as a new member of the family. Being alone for whole days was a lot different from living with a group of people, and DeMarcus jumped a bit whenever he was reminded there was always someone else home with him. Most of the time it was Yue checking in and making sure he was okay. Just like a sister, although someone like her would usually be more of a friend. At least she kept Amy at bay—DeMarcus didn’t want that brat provoking him into something he’d regret.
All in all, the company was warming. It was something he never knew he’d enjoy so much—his own room across from Jun’s, complete with his own desk and computer, and soft bed, friends to hang out with at any time. It was really all he needed. Although everyone found his lack of decoration odd, and Yue teased him over how empty his room looked. But hey, that’s how he used to live, and anything else he could get later.
Every few hours or so, DeMarcus made a call to his mother or he’d send a message on his online profile. But nobody answered.
She couldn’t be dead, she just couldn’t.
He asked his adoptive parents to see his old apartment at the Tavilla Terraport and Shen was all too eager to do it, calling it a sort of “father-son bonding” between them as they drove to the West Side. When they arrived at the Tavilla Complexes, Shen questioned the kind of life DeMarcus lived being this deep into an Iuvian Terraport close to one of the barracks, but DeMarcus barely heard him on his way to the receptionist about apartment room twenty-four.
“I’m sorry, young man,” said the receptionist. “But due to certain conditions, that room is not accessible to unauthorized guests.”
DeMarcus slipped out his ID and whispered to the clerk before Shen joined him. “I’m here for my mom, Sekhmet Leona.”
“Oh!” the receptionist jumped. “Well…I’m not sure how to say this, but the room was cleared out a few days ago. An officer from Iuvia had arrived and requested everything packed and sent back to the Iuvian colonies, as the original occupant had…left this world.”
DeMarcus’s head sunk to his chest. So, it’s true—his mother was gone, and he came all this way for nothing. “I heard what happened on the news,” The receptionist said, trying to comfort him. “I wish there was more I could do for you.”
“That’s okay,” DeMarcus sulked and turned for the exit. “Thanks anyway.”
On the way back to the car, Shen patted his shoulder and assured him. “I know how you feel, DeMarcus. Losing family like that hurts a lot. But you still have people who care for you - you’ll always be family to us, with a new life here.”
A new life. For all its flaws, he missed his old life with his mother, the loss of both being as painful as the scar on his stomach. But DeMarcus remembered his mother’s words: learn and adapt. Looking back at the Complexes, a faint smile grew on his face. If only she saw him now.
Arriving back home, DeMarcus couldn’t wait to eat the stir-fried noodles and sirloin steak Shen and Jiao cooked. As they ate, everyone listened
to the tales of his old life, like his mother leading military task forces to take down militants like the HDF during the Reconstruction.
“That’s some dangerous work,” said Zhen. “No wonder you two lived on a Terraport.”
“Someone had to do it,” said DeMarcus.
“For someone like that, I don’t doubt she’s from Iuvia,” said Jiao.
“She was from Eden Region, I think. Also fought in the Solar War. Nobody could mess with her. A while back, she punched this racist woman after her daughter stomped on my tail, and when the cops came by, she told them who she was and they said they’d need an army to try to arrest her.”
“She sounds awesome,” said Yue.
“And violent,” Jun added.
“Yeah, the Iuvians are not to be messed with,” said Zhen. “Some of their best soldiers you needed an army to handle. Your mom must have a lot of respect.”
“What happened to her?” Amy asked.
DeMarcus froze while memories of his wounded mother lying in the streets resurged. The scar on his stomach pulsed, remembering the pain from that pale woman’s knife sinking into his skin. With a deep breath, he looked back at his family, catching Yue staring into his moist eyes before she switched to a glare toward Amy.
“Well,” he began, “during the attack at the city, some aircars flying above came crashing down. She pushed me away as it fell and cut her up. She could barely move, and I tried to help her. Then we were attacked by these strange people. She told me to leave her and run. And that was the last time I saw her before I was chased down in the city. I don’t know if saw her tail on the dead bodies on the news when I was at the hospital. I didn’t want to believe it, but I checked my old apartment, only to find out she was really gone.”
“That’s so sad,” said Jun. “But I’m sure she’d be glad her son is safe.”
