by Beth Martin
“Of course.” The entire time they wove through the garden looking at various plants, ponds, and flowers, Beaubot stayed unnervingly close to Roemell. Roemell was half appalled and half flattered that Donelle considered him such a threat. On any other day, he would have been more bothered by her attitude, but today, nothing could break through his wall of grief.
After they completed their walk, the two women said their farewells. Donelle insisted that Beaubot accompany Leona and Roemell back to the main house. The entire walk, they remained completely silent, neither one daring to say a word in front of Donelle’s android.
Once they were inside the main house, Beaubot left, and Leona turned to Roemell. “I am so sorry about my mother. I thought for sure she would have said all sorts of nasty things to you. I didn’t realize that she’d act like you’re not a person.”
Leona didn’t owe him an apology. “It’s fine.”
“She didn’t even offer you anything to eat. Are you hungry? I’ll go with you to the kitchen to get something.”
“No thanks.” It was funny. The past month, he had barely eaten, leaving most of his share for Jovelyn. And now that he finally had access to an abundance of food, he wasn’t hungry. In fact, he would never eat again if that would bring Jo back. He hadn’t meant to think about her, but now he was, and tears were flowing down his face again.
Even with the sunglasses on, Leona could see his distress. “What’s wrong? Did I do something to upset you?”
His voice cracked as he spoke. “I miss her.”
“Shit,” Leona said. She looked stumped—she probably had no idea how to comfort someone grieving. Jovelyn would know how to cheer him up, and that thought made him cry even harder. Leona wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight. They were almost the same height, and he buried his face in the base of her neck. He took Spencer’s advice and tried to imagine that Leona was his sister. It almost worked.
Leona wasn’t sure there was anything she could do to help cheer Roemell up. She figured he needed time to grieve, so she grabbed a large sketch book and some pencils and sat in the living while he laid down on one of the sofas.
At first she thought about drawing a picture of Roemell, but he looked so sad. She didn’t want to capture his current state. Instead, she asked Bellabot to bring in an arrangement of flowers and sketched that instead.
It had been a long time since she had tried to draw anything, and she could tell her skills were a bit rusty. When she was younger, she would spend hours at a time in the atrium—an expansive room on the third floor that had large windows and got tons of natural light. She’d draw cartoons of her friends, portraits of her pets, and sketches of imaginary people with perfect features and beautiful bodies. For some reason, when she was a teenager, she had just stopped.
After she finished outlining all the flower petals and had started shading, Roemell suddenly said, “I want to see my nephew.” She had completely forgotten about the baby. “You’d have to come with me.”
She closed her sketchbook, shoved the pencil into the spiral binding, and tucked it under her arm. “Of course. Yes, let’s go see your nephew.”
Bellabot’s yellow light blinked, a signal that meant she was communicating with the central computer and other robots. “Arrangements have been made. A car will meet you out front shortly.”
Roemell led the way, and Leona followed close behind, still clutching her sketch book. Only a minute later, the open-top, all-terrain vehicle pulled up. He got into the front passenger seat while she climbed into the back. They sped down the road past a few avocado fields until they got to the medical facility.
Before the car had come to a complete stop, Roemell was jumping up and climbing over the side. She had to run to catch up with him, and they entered the building together.
One of the androids was already waiting for them inside. “Mr. Roemell, Miss Leona. Thank you for coming here. The baby boy is doing quite well considering the complications at birth. However, babies heal much faster with consistent and continued human contact. Please, this way.”
Roemell paused, holding out an arm, which kept Leona from moving forward. “Wait. Don’t we need to wear those protection suits?”
The bot responded, saying, “They will not be necessary. However, you will need to thoroughly sanitize your hands.”
There was a wash station in the first bay, and Roemell was careful to completely scrub every bit of his hands and forearms before approaching the crib. Leona went ahead and washed her hands as well even though she had no intentions of holding the baby.
The crib at the medical facility wasn’t the same as the elegant furniture style found in any estate nursery. It was a sophisticated machine that measured the baby’s heart rate, respiration, blood pressure, and temperature. The walls of the crib were clear acrylic, giving an unobstructed view of the baby inside. She couldn’t help but smile when she saw the tiny person.
“Hi, baby,” Roemell said as he brushed a finger against the baby’s cheek. The baby responded by kicking a little foot.
She stepped closer to the crib. “I think he likes you.”
“Can I hold him?” He looked at the android while the baby grasped one of his fingers.
“No. Lifting the child would disrupt the endotracheal tube supplying oxygen.”
Roemell nodded before turning his attention back to his nephew.
Leona took a seat in a rocking chair situated in the corner of the room. “He’s beautiful. What will you name him?”
“Jovelyn wanted to name him Ivan.”
“Ivan. Is that a family name?”
“No.” He gently touched the baby’s chest where there was a bandage. “But it’s what she wanted.”
She was about to recommend some other names, or a cool nick-name, but Roemell’s expression made her stop. There was so much love in his eyes, but he also had a look of immense pain. “Do you mind if I draw a picture of Ivan?”
“I guess. Have at it.”
She withdrew the pencil from her sketchbook and flipped to a fresh page. She started by blocking out the area for the crib and outlining where the infant’s figure should go.
As Roemell marveled at the new life his sister had created, Leona did her best to capture the moment, omitting the tubes and bandages and instead focusing on the human subject in the drawing. The next few hours seemed to fly by. As Leona added a few finishing touches, the android announced that it was almost dinner time and Leona should head home soon if she wanted to dine with her father.
“Do you mind if we head back?” she asked.
Roemell nodded. “Yeah. I’m ready to go. Goodbye, baby.”
They left the medical center and took the same car back. When they stopped in front of the main house, Roemell didn’t immediately get out of the car, so Leona lingered as well. “Can I see the picture?”
“Sure.” She opened the book and flipped to the image she had just drawn.
“That’s amazing. It looks so lifelike. May I have it?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “Sure.” Without hesitation, she ripped the page from the book and handed it to him.
He stared down at it for a moment before hugging it to his chest. “You don’t know how much this means to me.”
She felt a bit awkward and uncomfortable. It was just a drawing. There were dozens more like it in her book. She opened her door and began to step out of the vehicle. “Let’s get some dinner. And this time you should really try to eat something.”
He nodded, then jumped out of the car and walked with her into the house.
• • •
Roemell carefully rolled the picture into a tube to avoid creasing it before tucking it into his pocket. Never before had he possessed a picture of someone he knew. That someone had taken hours of their time to create this image made it even more special. After losing Jovelyn, he tried to prepare himself for the chance that Ivan wouldn’t be with him much longer, and the drawing perfectly preserved his nephew in a simple mom
ent of peace.
Spencer insisted Roemell sit at the main dining table with them. “It’s the least I can do. I’m so sorry about your sister. Know that I did everything in my power to help her.”
Roemell sat in one of at least twenty chairs circling the enormous rectangular table made of concrete, and the server bots immediately started piling food on his plate. There were three chandeliers hanging above the table, each resembling a starburst of metal, each point tipped with a glowing light. Only three places were set, Spencer at the head of the table, Leona to his right, and Roemell to his left. Each setting had far more utensils than Roemell even knew existed. “I know, and thank you for continuing to care for my nephew.”
“Yes, of course. And we’ll continue to provide for him until this threat from the lurch is over.”
Leona almost choked on her bite of food. “Dad! He just lost his sister. Don’t talk about kicking him out.”
Roemell didn’t really care how long Spencer wanted him to stay. All that mattered was that Ivan was taken care of. That, and he doubted the band of terrorist would be giving up any time soon. He understood their outrage: the current socio-economic conditions were deplorable. The government took care of the wealthy, and the poor were penalized just for being poor.
For the past century, the wealthiest families had been buying influence and promoting their interests. Since the most affluent individuals had the ears of every politicians, they had decided they didn’t need to pay taxes. Instead, middle-class households shouldered the burden for a government already bought off by corporate interests. And as androids began replacing what was left of the middle class, soon most citizens were unemployed and penniless.
Without a strong middle-class, there was no more tax revenue. The federal government shrank to a skeleton of its former self, leaving private citizens to take over basics like paving roads, providing welfare to the less fortunate, and education for children. But a lot of people with means didn’t see these things as necessities, and therefore didn’t implement them.
But most people weren’t aware of their own country’s history. All they knew were the current conditions. Roemell had been lucky enough to find a collection of textbooks in an abandoned library, and he had read all of them cover to cover several times.
“Roemell!” Leona said sharply.
He had gotten lost in thought and hadn’t been paying attention to either Leona or her father. “Sorry, what were you saying?”
“My dad was asking how you like your room.”
“My room?”
She sighed loudly. “Yes, your bedroom. You know, the one next to mine. The one you slept in last night.”
“Oh. Right. It’s great.” He paused for a moment, debating whether he should say more. “Actually, I wasn’t aware that it was supposed to be my room, but honestly, it’s completely unnecessary.”
Spencer frowned at the younger man, the lines on his face deeper than ever. Before Spencer could say anything, Roemell continued, “Sir, you asked me to protect your daughter like I would my sister. Well, I would never leave Jo’s side, especially at night. That’s when the lurch come out to terrorize, when everyone in the household is asleep and unaware. We were running away from a fire when we stumbled upon your estate, and that fire blazed through the night. If you really want to protect your daughter, you’d have me right there with her, even while she sleeps.”
Leona whipped her head up from her meal to glare at him. “Wait, you want to sleep in my room?”
Spencer slapped both his hands on the table, making a loud crack which reverberated through the large room. “What you’re implying is highly inappropriate.”
“Not when your life’s in danger.” Roemell hadn’t intended to have a heated discussion, but he couldn’t help raising his voice. “Not when you have a target on your back and are just waiting for terrorists to make the first move.”
Spencer stood abruptly, his chair clattering backward. He glared at Roemell for a moment before speaking in a dangerously quiet voice. “You have no idea how far I’ve already gone to protect my family and our estate. Pooles do not wait for the opposition to act—we strike first.”
Roemell looked down at his plate piled with food. He hadn’t touched it, yet the thought of eating made his stomach clench. “I’m sorry, that was out of line. I just miss Jovelyn so much.” His eyes stung as he thought about her, and how he’d never see her smile again.
The serving bot rushed over and picked up the fallen chair, pushing it in for Spencer as he sat back down. “I know. I’m sorry for your loss.”
Leona glanced from her dad to Roemell and back. She looked too scared to contribute to the conversation.
Spencer’s face softened. “I understand wanting to protect your family. I’ll have a second bed placed in Leona’s room. Bellabot will also accompany you at all times.”
“Thank you,” Roemell said. All three remained quiet through the rest of the meal, and Leona excused herself first.
She went straight to her room, and Roemell followed. Already, a second bed had been set up. It was smaller and lower than Leona’s, but it was enough for Roemell.
“I’m going to get dressed for bed,” she said before disappearing into her bathroom. The frosted panel closed behind her as she undressed. When she came back out, she was wearing a white cotton shift trimmed in lace.
He had never worn clothes whose only function was for sleeping. Usually, he only kept two outfits, one to wear and a spare in his backpack. The t-shirt he currently wore was plenty comfortable. Sitting down on the second bed, he slipped off his shoes, then stood and removed his pants.
“What the hell are you doing?” Leona screeched. Her eyes were fixed on his briefs.
“Getting dressed for bed.”
She turned away from him and pointedly stared down at her feet. “You have to wear pants.” Roemell put his pants back on, and Leona turned back around. “No, not those. Pajama pants.”
He gave her a quizzical look, and she sighed. “Bellabot, get Roemell some PJ pants.”
A moment later, the robot handed him a pair of loose, plaid pants that had a drawstring waistband. When he went to unbutton his pants again, Leona’s eyes flashed back to his crotch. He wasn’t sure why she didn’t seem able to look away.
“You should change in the bathroom,” Bellabot instructed.
“Right.” He strode into the shower, and the privacy panel obscured the view as he switched clothes. He came back out and tossed his other pants in the basket marked for clothing. “Better?”
“Yeah,” she said as she climbed into her bed. “So, why did you really want to sleep in here?”
“I said why at dinner.”
“But if you hadn’t brought it up, you’d have your own room. Wouldn’t you prefer that to sleeping on a cot?”
He sat on the side of his bed, but didn’t pull down the covers. “I don’t want to fail again.”
“You couldn’t have prevented what happened. It was a medical condition; there was no way of knowing.”
“After we lost our mom, my sister and I always shared a room, a lot of the time even sleeping in the same bed. I’m used to falling asleep while listening to her breathing next to me.” He could feel the tears coming again and made no effort to stop them.
“Here.” She sat up and pulled back the covers on her bed. “You can sleep next to me.”
He didn’t know if Bellabot would sound an alarm or something if he got too close to Leona, but he was too broken to care. He climbed under the covers and took a deep breath. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
He didn’t think he would actually get any sleep, but his body was so exhausted, he drifted off within minutes.
• • •
For a second, Roemell thought he had woken up at the shelter in San Jose with Jovelyn sleeping soundly next to him, but the feeling was fleeting. Even though the room was still dark, he could tell that it was Leona facing away from him, breathing softly.
His stomach made a gurgling noise. He hadn’t eaten anything the day before, and only a bite the day before that. If he wanted to sneak down to the kitchen, though, he’d have to wake Leona and convince her to come with him. He wasn’t sure what time it was, but if it was close to morning, he might be able to wait until breakfast.
“Bellabot, what time is it?” he whispered. The robot was poised at the foot of the bed, but remained motionless. None of its blinky lights were on, which was unusual.
There wasn’t a trace of light coming through the window, and the birds weren’t chirping yet, so he figured it would be a while before sunrise. He decided just to wake her up.
He put his hand on her arm and gently shook. “Leona.”
She looked over her shoulder. “What is it?” she said, her voice slurred with sleep.
“I’m really hungry. Would you come with me to the kitchen while I get a snack?”
She moaned, but eventually sat up. Her hair was crumpled to the side from her pillow. “Is it morning?”
“No, not yet.”
She glanced at her robot. “Bellabot, what time is it?” Yet again, the bot ignored the question. Leona crept out from under the covers and approached the bot. She knocked a fist on its plastic head while repeating the question. “Maybe she’s getting a software upgrade or something.”
“Maybe.” He hopped out of bed and pulled the covers up, making up the side of the bed he had slept in. It didn’t feel right leaving the blankets in a jumbled mess. “Come on, let’s get something to eat.”
She nodded. “Right. Fine.” She led the way through the shadowed hall and down the stairs. The house was eerily dark, and the lack of light—or androids buzzing around getting work done—was unnerving.
It was a little easier to see in the entry hall where the windows let in the moonlight. Even in the kitchen, nothing made a sound.
“Is it always this quiet at night?” Roemell whispered.
Leona shrugged her shoulders. “When I’m up late I hang out in the club room, which is always really loud. It’s not in the main area of the house.” Grasping the handles of the pantry, she pulled the two doors open, but it was too dark to discern what was stored inside. “Pantry-light, on.” Nothing happened. “Kitchen lights, on?” She looked around. “Okay, that’s a little weird.”
