by Beth Martin
He laid down and tried to fall asleep, but it was no use. Thoughts raced through his mind. He was back to where he had been just a few long days ago: poor and homeless. It had always been him and Jovelyn, but now he had Ivan. He wondered what would happen to Leona. With the entire estate gone, she was now basically in the same situation as him. When he glanced at her, her hair wild and caked in sand and her delicate nightdress torn and dirty, a pang of anger sliced through his gut. He had a feeling the fact that she had been wealthy would be enough for the other people of means to extend her the charity they never offered to people like him.
He took a slow breath, trying to calm himself down. None of what had happened was her fault, and there was no point holding anything against her. And if she did get back on her feet, perhaps she’d continue to employ him in some capacity.
Even though he wasn’t able to sleep, he waited a few hours before waking Leona. When he gently nudged her shoulder, she mumbled something before slowly pulling herself up to sitting position. The black makeup that had been around her eyes was now streaked down her cheeks, and her dark brown eyes were red and swollen.
She sat, not saying anything, and stared into the ocean while taking deep, shaky breaths. After a couple of minutes, she turned to Roemell. “A woman was waiting in the shelter. Daddy didn’t see her—” She didn’t finish her thought, instead bowing her head and staring down at the sand.
He placed a hand on her un-bandaged knee and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I bet they went there first, got into the system, and shut down the bots and power. Then they could wreak havoc without worrying about the security androids.”
“But the shelter was right next to the houses. There’s no way they got all the way there without being detected.”
He shrugged. “It would only take one person. Getting past a few security bots by yourself is hard, but not impossible. Then, when that person got there, they could take their time hacking the house systems, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.”
Leona shuddered. After a moment, she asked, “How is Ivan?”
“Fine. Sleeping.”
“This whole time?”
Glancing quickly at the tiny baby, he nodded in response.
She wrapped her arms around her knees and hugged them to her chest. “Aren’t babies supposed to cry?”
He hadn’t thought about that, but she was right. A healthy baby needed to eat every few hours, and it had been at least six hours since they removed him from the medical center. “We need to feed him.”
Leona picked at the sand, rubbing single grains between her finger. “I have an idea, but you’re not going to like it.” She looked up at him and met his eyes.
“What?”
“Ava.”
He nodded. The last thing he wanted was to see that woman again, but he couldn’t think of another option. In the end, taking care of Ivan was more important.
“Don’t worry,” she added. “It’s not far.”
He took one of the blankets that had wrapped Ivan and tied it into a loop before slipping it over his head and one arm to use as a sling. Leona helped him get his nephew tucked into the folds, pressed against Roemell’s chest to stay warm, but with enough wiggle room to keep from being smothering.
They started the walk through the brush and found the roadway which led to Ava’s residence. Roemell knew it was likely that Leona had never traveled the path to her friend’s house on foot, instead always taking a car. At least an hour passed before they could even make out Ava’s house in the distance. As they approached, a security android observed them closely, but didn’t make a move to stop their progress.
Even though the weather was fairly nice aside from the cloud of soot, the pair were hot, thirsty, and tired when they finally reached the Evanko mansion. Leona held Roemell back before he could knock on the door. “Let me do all the talking,” she said. He gestured for her to go ahead, and she rang the bell.
An android answered the door. “Miss Leona. Ava is not expecting you.”
Leona’s face flushed, like she was somehow embarrassed to see the robot. “I need to talk to her. It’s really important.”
A moment later, Ava joined the android in the doorway. Her skin was covered in glitter and she was wore a tight green dress. She looped an arm around the nicely dressed robot’s waist. “I made my own Jon, do you like—” She stopped short when she noticed Leona’s condition and her companion. “Oh no! No no no no, he is not welcome here. And what the hell happened to you?”
“My estate was attacked by the lurch. Everything has burned down. I don’t know what happened to my mom, and,” her voice began to waver, “they killed my dad.”
Ava frowned. “That sucks, but what am I supposed to do about it?”
Leona took a step back, a look of betrayal on her face. Roemell wondered how long the pair had been friends and how deep their friendship really was.
“Anything. A place to stay while we regroup. Something to eat.”
Ava shook her head. “Leona, I don’t think I can.”
“Or some formula for the baby,” Leona added. Roemell turned so that Ava could see into the sling and look at Ivan.
“Where did you get a baby?”
“He’s my nephew,” Roemell said.
Ava stepped out of the house and got right in his face. For a moment, he hoped it was to admire Ivan. “Wow, your street-slut of a sister should have insisted on a condom.”
Before she could hurl another insult, he slammed his fist right in her face. She stumbled back, shrieking, and covered her face with her hands.
“Roemell!” Leona screeched.
When Ava removed her hands from her face, they were covered in blood, making her scream again. “You need to leave, now!”
Before they could say anything else, two androids burst through the front door. One grabbed Roemell by the wrists, and the other gripped Leona’s waist.
“Take them back to the street where they belong.”
The front door slammed shut as the robots dragged the pair away. A car came up the driveway, and the two were shoved into the backseat. The android in the front seat put the car into gear, and they sped away from Ava’s house.
“What the hell came over you?” Leona spat.
He clenched his hands over his head. “I don’t know. She wasn’t going to help you anyway.” Although slugging her had felt pretty good.
“She certainly won’t now.” He looked over at Leona and saw that tears were flowing from her eyes again. “Maybe we should go to the Cooper Estate. They might help us.”
“Leona, no one is going to help us.”
She smeared her tears with her fist. “Someone will. They have to.”
He sighed. “This is a hard lesson I’ve had to relearn over and over in my life. Wealthy people don’t help others. They have this idea that they worked hard for what they have because they manage a large estate—that they somehow earned everything they had been given at birth. When someone like me comes along, they only see a lazy person begging for charity. And the wealthy already have everything they could ever want, so there’s nothing I have to offer them.”
“You’re saying we should just give up.” She crossed her arms and frowned.
“No, I’m saying that approaching other estates isn’t going to work. I’ve been living this way my entire life, so I’m asking you to trust me.” He reached over and grasped her hand.
She swallowed hard. “Okay.”
He gave her a weak smile. “All right. The next few days, we’ll focus on survival, then after that we can make a more long-term plan.”
Leona and Roemell were unceremoniously dumped out of the car far away from the Evanko Estate. Leona felt numb, like all of her pain and emotions had been sucked out of her. She figured this was what it must be like for the robots.
She had no idea where they were, but Roemell seemed to know the way. “There’s a settlement of sorts just north of here. They aren’t exactly friendly to outsiders, but
if it’s the same group of people as when I was there a few years ago, then we should be allowed to stay.”
They trudged along, following an old paved road that had fallen into disrepair. Roemell led the way while Leona did her best to keep up. Her lack of shoes was doing a number on her feet, while Roemell seemed completely unfazed hiking in his black socks.
The path followed the coast, providing a view of the water on one side and mountains on the other. Although there was a scattering of buildings at the base of the mountains, they all appeared to be abandoned. There was a group of houses farther up the terrain that looked newer and had light glowing out the windows. She noticed a few animals and a handful of fruiting trees, but not many.
“Why aren’t there more people here?” she asked.
He slowed down to let her catch up to him. “Really? You don’t know where we are?”
She shook her head.
“This is all the Smith Estate.”
“That can’t be right.” She looked around her again. The Smith Estate was only twenty miles or so from her home. They had been walking for so long, she had been sure they were covering more ground.
“Yep. They’re pretty lax about patrolling this road, so it’s fairly safe to travel. In fact, if you want to stop for lunch—” He turned right and walked off the path to the nearest tree. He pulled an orange off a branch and tossed it to her. She looked down at it like it was a grenade that would explode any second. “You peel it,” he said, showing her how to pull off the skin.
Peeling an orange was harder than she had imagined. She usually drank orange juice in the morning, just one glass. Bellabot had closely monitored her diet to help her maintain her figure. But now, she didn’t know when her next meal would be, so she ate the entire orange, then grabbed a second one and ate it too.
“How is Ivan doing?” she asked.
He lifted the side of his makeshift sling to examine the baby. “Honestly, I don’t know. He’s still breathing.”
“Shouldn’t you change his diaper or something?”
He felt along the bottom of the sling. “Still feels dry. But even if he were wet, we don’t have anything clean to replace it with.”
“Right.” She looked down at her nightgown, the white fabric now stained with dirt and dotted in dark red. The poor baby hadn’t received any care since they had left. She wasn’t sure he’d make it all the way to the settlement.
“Let’s keep going.” Roemell started walking, and yet again she followed behind.
She couldn’t stop thinking about how her life had changed. The estate would belong solely to her now, not that it had any value. She didn’t have the means to cultivate it—no seeds, no livestock, no robots.
Of course she missed her father, but she also missed Bellabot. When she was a child, her mother had worried that she was too close to the androids, treating them like human beings. So when Leona was a teen and had outgrown her companion bots, her mother had chosen a robot design for her personal bot that didn’t resemble a human at all.
The personal bots were how each person interfaced with all of the systems. That was why Bellabot had always been close by. But even though it resembled a block of plastic, Leona had grown close to the robot.
All of that didn’t matter now. She had no need for a personal bot and would probably never have one again.
Her knee began throbbing, the pain getting stronger with each step, and her feet were sore, the skin dry and caked in dirt. By the time the sun started getting low in the sky, she was barely limping along.
“We’re almost there,” Roemell said. He looked back at her and suddenly stopped. “Are you okay?”
She had been crying for a while. Her tears were so salty, they stung her cheeks as they fell. She shook her head.
“Here, let me help.” He wrapped an arm around her back. “You can lean on me to take some of the pressure off your leg.”
She did her best to keep trudging along, and he slowed down his pace to accommodate her limp. Only as the last rays of sun dipped into the ocean did they arrive at the settlement.
Although she wasn’t sure what she’d expected for a settlement of vagrants, it certainly wasn’t this. There were domes and triangles of stretched fabric, a few people in clean—albeit ill-fitting—clothing, and a bonfire blazing in the sand.
“Let me do all the talking,” Roemell whispered as a short woman with wiry gray hair approached them.
“Well short a circuit, if it isn’t Rommy,” the woman said in a hoarse, deep voice. She wore a simple canvas tunic which came down below her knees and a strange pendant which hung almost to her waist.
“Alisa, it’s so great to see you.” He stretched out his arms in an attempt to give her a hug, but the older woman crossed her arms and took a step back.
“Cut the crap, microchip. I know you wouldn’t dare come back unless you were desperate. How bad is it?”
A somber expression overtook his face. “Jovelyn died. This is her son Ivan.” He pulled open the sling so she could see the baby.
She made a tsk sound. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen one that tiny. Ones that small don’t usually make it.”
“He’s the last tie I have left to Jo. Please, help us.”
The woman furrowed her brow, any trace of warmth completely gone. “Who’s the chica?”
He looked briefly at Leona before responding. “This is Leona. We had a run in with the lurch.”
Alisa nodded, but didn’t look convinced. “I guess you can stay, but only for the baby’s sake. Tammy has a little one, so she can probably nurse yours, too. She’s the third on the right. Green tent.”
“Thank you so much,” Roemell gushed. He kissed both of her cheeks.
“Just don’t make me regret letting you folks stay, okay, microchip?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He nudged Leona forward in the direction of the green tent.
“Am I allowed to talk now?” she asked.
“Not yet.”
In front of the green tent hung a string of sleigh bells. Roemell grabbed it and gave it a good shake. A moment later, a woman pulled back the flap of fabric which made up the door. She was a beautiful woman with almond-shaped eyes, dark skin, and glossy black hair.
She smiled warmly at them. “Rommy! I thought I’d never see you again. Come in, come in.”
The inside of the tent was small, maybe only ten feet in diameter. There were dirty rugs on the floor, a narrow bed, and a small crib which held a sleeping child. The interior was lit by a single lantern hanging in the center of the tent.
Roemell helped Leona hobble in, and she sat down on the bed while he turned to Tammy and kissed her on the cheek. As his lips lingered on the other woman’s face, Leona felt a pang of jealousy stab her, momentarily distracting her from the pain in her knee.
“You two look worse for the wear,” Tammy said. “Please, sit. Make yourself comfortable.”
He sat next to Leona. “I want you to meet someone.” He untied the knot that held the sling together, revealing the baby inside. “Tammy, this is Ivan, Jovelyn’s son.”
“Oh, Rommy,” she gasped, her voice full of concern. “He’s so tiny!”
“Jovelyn didn’t make it…” He paused, taking a deep breath before finding his voice again. “He hasn’t eaten or cried in a day.”
“May I?” Tammy asked, holding out her hands. He carefully transferred the baby to her. She cradled Ivan against her and pulled down her blouse.
Leona was shocked, not expecting a woman she’d just met to undress in front of them. She glanced briefly at Roemell to see his reaction and couldn’t tell if he was staring intently at this beautiful, half-dressed woman or Ivan. Tammy pressed the baby to her breast, and Ivan began nursing. She stroked his cheek with her finger and whispered encouragements, but he seemed to already know what to do.
She looked up at Roemell. “He’s a fighter. He probably got that from Jojo.”
Roemell nodded. Leona could see his eyes water, but he ke
pt his composure. “Who’s this?” he asked, gesturing at the sleeping child in the crib.
“My son, Archy.” She glanced back at her own child and smiled.
Roemell shifted uncomfortably as he avoided looking at Tammy or her son. “How old is he?”
Tammy smiled. “Don’t worry, he’s not yours.” Leona felt that stabbing jealousy again, much stronger this time. “He’s around fourteen months. So what’s next for you, Rommy?”
He turned to Leona. “We had a pretty nasty run-in with the lurch. We were hoping to regroup here for a few days before deciding what to do next.”
Rocking the baby gently, Tammy smiled. “Well, you’re welcome to stay here for as long as you want. Although I know others won’t be too happy you’re back.”
Leona thought she saw red in his cheeks. She was horribly curious about what his history was with this settlement.
“I don’t want to impose,” he said.
“Nonsense,” Tammy said. “Anything to help an old friend.”
“Thanks.”
“I will have to insist that little Ivan here and I take the bed. You two can sleep on the floor.”
Leona felt sick to her stomach. The last thing she wanted to do was stay with Roemell’s former lover. She hadn’t quite pinned down her feelings for him, but she couldn’t deny the jealousy eating at her. She also found the idea of sleeping on the floor abhorrent.
“There’s a futon under here,” Tammy added, nodding to the bed.
Roemell stood and pulled the thin mattress out and unrolled it over the multi-colored rugs. “I assume dinner is done.”
“Yep. No leftovers. Sorry.”
Roemell looked at Leona, studying her like she was a page in a textbook. She suddenly felt self-conscious. She was dirty, probably smelled bad, and was still wearing her night dress which was spotted in blood. “You need a new bandage, but I think it might have to wait until tomorrow.”
She had so many emotions tearing at her gut, she couldn’t even form words to respond. Instead, whatever moisture was left in her body rushed to her eyes and spilled over.
