Starcross

Chapter Six Part l

Three Months Later…

Frederick, Colorado

            “More peas, James?” Mrs. Burnside, Nick’s mother, asked as she held up a ceramic bowl filled halfway with the tiny green orbs. “There’s always plenty since…” She smiled sadly for a second. “Well you know.”

            Roused from his dreary thoughts, James looked up and returned her sad smile. “No thank you, Mrs. Burnside,” He said politely. Normally he loved peas, especially the way Candace Burnside made them, but for the past three months he couldn’t help but feel out of place in the world; like his whole purpose for existing died when he became an orphan.

            “Please, call me Candace. Otherwise you make me feel much older than I am,” She replied with a smile that actually lit up part of her face this time. There was still sadness in her blue eyes but she worked hard to keep it at bay.

            “Well, I’m full anyway. Besides, I still have to finish my report for government class.”

            Candace shook her head, jet black hair that passed on to Nick flowing along with the motion. “Back in my day they didn’t have homework due just two days before the end of the school year.”

            “Now who’s making you feel old, Mom?” Nick asked as he collected the plates from the table. He, for the most part, didn’t seem to be the least bit torn up over losing his father; James just assumed he was that good of an actor and that Nick was just as messed up as he was.

            Doing his part he gathered an armful of dirty dishes and carried them into the Burnside’s expansive kitchen and put them in the sink for Candace to wash later, a chore she insisted doing on her own. When the table was clear, James went upstairs to the guest room that was given to him when he moved in with his best friend to finish typing up his report on Thomas Jefferson, who found out was quite the overachiever which led to a lengthy write-up.

            “Fifteen-hundred word minimum,” He mumbled as he checked the word count which read just over 3,500. “Hope you enjoy reading my little novella Mr. Cunningham.”

            “Ever the smartass,” Nick said from the open doorway. “You say Jefferson was the overachiever but when you set out to be an ass you truly do go all the way.”

            “Meh, Cunningham said he wanted them to be detailed. Besides, I need an extremely good grade to past Gov.” After he found out about his parents and moved into Nick’s house, James had floundered in school, opting to sit and daydream or just not go at all than study. Few teachers took pity on him and refused to cut him any slack saying that he should dig into his work. Crosby was one of the few who tried to understand. “We can’t all be so non-chalant as you, you know.”

            Nick shrugged, “What can I say? It’s a gift.”

            “Yeah, sure.” James turned back to his computer and opened the word program. “You have any plans for the summer?”

            “Nah, but we’re going to be Seniors next year so we should do something fun…”

            “Maybe. I have a ton of cash, if that helps…” James had gotten a huge payout from the insurance company that his parents were ensured through, though he got the feeling that they didn’t like it.

            Shaking his head, Nick said, “Nah dude, I’m not gonna’ party on your dime. You should save it.”

            “Maybe,” James said again.

            Nick left the room and he stared at his notes for a few minutes before turning his attention to the touch screen keyboard, but his right hand drifted down and double clicked on the internet browser. On his home page he saw the various news stories about celebrities being sluts and various human interest stories written to inspire. He opened the in-private browser and typed in his the address for his favorite porn site, staring at the images of beautiful women with little or nothing on. Then, uncharacteristically, he closed the page and shut down the computer and leaving the room.

            “Where you going, James?” Candace asked as he reached the bottom of the stairs but before he headed towards the door. Sometimes, he felt like she could read his mind.

            “I don’t know,” He lied. “I just feel cooped up and wanna’ get some fresh air.”

            “Well, don’t stay out too late,” She said with a smile. Despite having lost her horribly and still feeling loyal, James felt like Candace Burnside was a better mother than his own who worked too much and often forgot his birthday, and odd thing to forget the day that you squeezed a person out of you.

            Smiling as an answer he opened the door and stepped out into the crisp Colorado night; this year the summer was going to be cooler than usual for some reason he couldn’t remember. A soft clacking sound of his footsteps hitting the concrete followed him as he made his way down the sidewalk in a seemingly aimless direction.

            Before he knew it, he was standing in front of his house. Dark and empty with weeds growing in the garden that his father found so enjoyable to work in, it was a depressing thing to see. He knew that the emerald green grass that was always cool and as soft to walk on as a feather, something almost unheard of in Eastern Colorado thanks to Goathead spikes, was now a dry, brown dead mass. But it was the weeds in the flower bed that was getting to him the most.

            Before he knew what he was doing, James was wrist deep in the soil pulling up the Dandelions and Milk-Weed with his bare hands, hot tears that he had withheld for far too long streaming down his face silently. For the first time in months, he was finally coming to terms with the fact that his parents, his whole family, were gone.

            At first he only felt a harsh numbness: colors were dull, food was bland, and he couldn’t feel anything. James caught himself on several occasions turning the hot water all the way on whenever he showered because it just didn’t feel hot enough. Now he had a new sensation of a tearing feeling in his chest like his heart was literally breaking. From now and until the day he died he would never again hear his father’s voice or his mother’s laugh. Never again would he experience getting up in the morning during a cold winter day and find that his mother made him breakfast before leaving for work. His rights of passage, driver’s license, graduation, marriage, would go unobserved by those he wanted there the most. James always loved his parents, never once saying he hated them or feeling embarrassed by them, and now they were gone.

             His breath short and his eyes cheeks wet, James sat back on the concrete next to the now empty flower bed with a pile of weeds next to him, the knees of his jeans filthy with soil and his hands cut up and dirty as well. Staring up at the night sky he tried to see the point or fairness in all of it, demanding that the Universe explain to him why he should lose his family when others who hate everything about theirs didn’t.

            With no answer forth coming, he stood and tried dusting himself off but since the soil was wet he just made a bigger mess. Giving up, he slowly walked toward what could only be described as his current residence, sobbing openly. One thing was for sure, he didn’t think he would ever again have a home.