1986-
Bobby Benson sat at his window. He looked out at the clouds roaming below, letting
his mind drift in memories. Sometimes he saw something that could have been if he
could change the past. It seemed better than the present.
He heard voices, and dismissed them at first. He was in his castle and was the only
one with a key. No one else should be wandering the featureless halls, many
stairwells, and rooms placed where the doors weren’t always present. He listened to
make sure he hadn’t really heard anything.
Someone exclaimed they were tired of wandering around without a sign post.
Bobby stood. His green spark washed away the old shirt and jeans he wore and
replaced it with the light blue suit and twelve-pointed star he favored for his other
face at the moment. His withered arm filled out with muscle as his body changed just
as easily as his clothes.
He flew down to where he had heard the voices. Maybe someone had wandered in
from the street. It didn’t happen often, but it did happen. He directed them to where
they had to go, sometimes helping them with money or transport if they needed it.
He thought he had closed up the doors leading to the outside over the years. New
ones seemed to open on their own while he wasn’t looking.
He found three girls arguing over which direction to go. He stood in the hall and
listened as they tried to figure out where they could stay for the night.
The argument gave him the gist of their story. He knew a lot about being an orphan,
and trying to live on your own. These girls could go back to their orphanage and try
to get adopted, but they all wanted to be adopted together. He could see that being a
problem for prospective parents.
“Excuse me.” Bobby smiled so they wouldn’t freak out at his standing there. “The
door is that way.”
“Who are you supposed to be?” The oldest girl stepped in front of the other two. She
was slim and blond. She might be as old as thirteen, but Bobby had no idea.
“I’m the owner of this place.” Bobby crossed his arms. “Who are you three
trespassers?”
“We’re not trespassing.” The youngest, a black nine-year-old with hair pulled back
into a ball at the back of her head, peeked out from behind her older companion. “The
guy outside said we could find a place to live until we had something better.”
“Really?” Bobby shook his head. “Guy with a cigar and a beige coat?”
“Yes.” The middle girl nodded. She had a hand on the youngest girl’s shoulder. She
was close enough to the oldest girl to be a sister, except she was carrying a little more
weight.
Bobby should have known that Nobody was behind this.
He had his fingers in everything. Why would he con some kids to enter Cain’s castle?
Of course the same thing was how he had become the Mark in the first place.
“So you ran away from home.” Bobby hadn’t had a home before he took over for
Cain. He still remembered walking the street with the hope he wouldn’t be frozen by
the time the sun came up.
“It was just an orphanage.” The eldest spoke up. “They didn’t really care about us.”
“So you decided to break into someone’s home and squat.” Bobby frowned at the
three of them. “So you don’t want to go back.”
“You can’t make us.” The youngest glared at him. “We won’t go back.”
“I can make you,” said Bobby. “And if I take you back, you will stay. Threatening
kids is what I do. Come with me.”
“Why should we?” The oldest held her younger companions back.
“I’m going to give you a space while I think about this.” Bobby wondered if he was
doing the right thing.
He wasn’t mentor material in his own estimation. Maybe he should carry them back
to the orphanage and let someone else take them off his hands. He walked along the
similar corridors until he found a large door. He pushed the door open on a meadow
full of tall grass. Trees stood in the distance under the clear sky.
“Where did all this come from?” The middle girl held out her hands as she stepped
on the grass.
“It comes with the building.” Bobby whistled. He watched the grass. Swaying grass
told him that his summons had been heard.
A gopher lifted out the ground. He looked at the group with ears twitching. It
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.chattered quietly to itself.
“I’m trying to decide if I should keep them.” Bobby held out a hand. “What do you
think, Spiffy?”
The gopher dropped into the ground and tunneled over to where the group stood. He
came out of the ground and stood on his back legs to grab the hand.
“This is Spiffy.” Bobby picked up the gopher. The beast looked as big as a lion cub.
“I’m Eleanor,” said the eldest girl. “This is Carrie.” She pointed at the middle girl.
“And I’m Monique Teckina Natasha Brown,” said the youngest. “But you can call me
Money.”
Spiffy stretched out his head to sniff Money. Then he headbutted her as he dropped
to the ground. He ambled a few feet away and sat on his haunches. He chittered at
her.
“Why did he do that?” The girl rubbed her forehead.
“He wants you to chase him.” Bobby smiled. “He wants to play.”
“I’ll chase him all right.” She ran at the gopher, turning into lightning on the way. She
missed the animal as he sank into the ground in a cloud of dirt. A furrow led away
through the grass.
They crossed the meadow at high speed. The older girls stood shocked at their
adoptive sister flashing through the grass in bursts of lightning. She still wasn’t faster
than Spiffy who taunted her by bursting out of the ground and then diving under
again like a dolphin in the ocean.
“How is she doing that?” Eleanor looked up at Bobby. “She doesn’t have
superpowers.”
“Spiffy must have loaned her part of his.” Bobby shrugged. “I imagine he gets lonely
without someone to play with him.”
“You have a superpowered gopher?” Eleanor looked at the lightning in the grass.
“He belonged to a friend of mine.” Bobby shrugged. “I took him in when my friend
died.”
Bobby didn’t think they wanted to hear how his friend had been pulled into pieces
before she could activate her spark and defend herself.
“Will he give us powers too?,” Carrie asked. She brushed back her hair with her
hands.
“I doubt it.” Bobby smiled at her. “Hey, you two. Play time is over.”
“Ahhhh!” Money paused. “Really?”
“We’re going to eat.” Bobby waved her in. “I’ll bring you back something, Spiffy.”
The gopher chittered at him before sinking into the ground and burrowing away.
“Let’s go.” Bobby pulled the spark Spiffy had planted from the girl with a brush of
his hand through her hair. “Leave your stuff here. Spiffy will protect it.”
“Are you letting us stay?,” Carrie asked. She took their belongings and made three
piles next to the door.
“Depends on how dinner goes.” Bobby smiled at her. “Spiffy likes you and that’s a
good sign.”
“What’s a bad sign from Spiffy?,” Eleanor asked. She kept herself between Bobby
and the other two girls.
“He rips your arms off.” Bobby gestured for them to go first through the door. He
smiled to take the sting out of his words. “Don’t worry. He hasn’t done that in years.”
“That’s comforting.” Eleanor looked at her sisters. Their expressions said let’s go
ahead. “We don’t have a lot of money for food.”
“It’s on me today.” Bobby closed the door to Spiffy’s room and led the way toward
the outside door. “My treat.”
“Why?” Eleanor led the girls like a mother duck.
“Why not?” Bobby knew she was trying to protect her sisters. Being paranoid about
a stranger with a gopher just seemed like good sense to him.
He remembered his last day before becoming the Mark. He should have been more
paranoid when he talked with Cain.
“Come on.” Bobby opened the outside door. “I’ll let you get your gear back after
dinner if I decide you can’t stay.”
“Spiffy loves us.” Money protested as they stepped outside.
“Spiffy bit a man’s leg off out of spite.” Bobby closed the door after them. “Don’t
think he wouldn’t do the same to you.”
“Out of spite?” Carrie shook her head. “I don’t believe that for a minute. He’s totally
tame.”
“You keep thinking that.” Bobby led the way down the street. Buildings reached into
the sky all around them, but he steered them to a small diner between two other
buildings. He smiled when saw the sign still hadn’t been fixed. “I hope you’re ready
to chow down.”
“We can’t repay for anything like this.” Eleanor examined the place as Bobby walked
to the door.
“It’s on me.” Bobby opened the door and waved them to go inside. “I have a tab.”
“What’s a tab?” Money asked as she walked inside the diner.
“The restaurant keeps a tally of your bill so you can pay for a lot at the same time.”
Carrie pointed her to the bar stools that lined an ancient counter.
“Let’s use the big booth in the back.” Bobby led the way through the tables and
booths to a booth designed for eight people to sit in a circle.
They sat down. Eleanor sat between Bobby and her two sisters. He didn’t know what
she thought she could do to protect them if he wanted to do anything, but he let it go.
“It’s the Mark.” A waitress with streaks of gray in her dark hair walked over in a red
shirt and black skirt. A glove covered one hand. A big knife was in a belt sheathe at
the small of her back. She smiled at the girls with genuine warmth. “And I see you
brought some kids with you this time.”
“Hello, Cassie.” Bobby smiled. “I need three specials and a reading.”
“Don’t know your own mind?” Cassie smiled as she shook her head. She walked off.
“Coming right up.”
“What did she mean?,” Carrie asked.
“This is the first time he’s asked for advice,” Eleanor said.
“What are Specials?,” Money asked.
“They are meals that have set items on them for a cheaper price.” Carrie brushed her
hair with a hand. “So we all eat the same thing.”
“Sounds like the orphanage cafeteria.” Money frowned at the thought of that.
“This is much better than any cafeteria.” Bobby looked out the window to one side
of the booth. “Cassie has the best food ever.”
“Then why aren’t you eating?” Eleanor raised an eyebrow at his not ordering for
himself.
“I already did.” Bobby smiled back at her. “What I’m getting is not on the menu.”
Cassie returned to the booth with a big serving tray. She placed three plates on the
table before handing Bobby a folded piece of paper. He opened it and read the
contents before putting the paper away in the breast pocket of his jacket.
“Which one?,” Bobby asked.
“Don’t be a jerk.” Cassie shook her head. “No one can tell you that.”
“This is exactly what I wanted.” Eleanor examined the plate of salad, yogurt, and
toast. “How did you know?”
Carrie picked up her triple hamburger with an eye roll. She took a bite and smiled.
“This is better than the orphanage.” Money dug into her pieces of chicken.
“I’ll bring you your drinks.” Cassie tucked the big tray under her arm. “Come by any
time.”
She retreated to the kitchen.
“What did the paper say?,” Eleanor asked as she put dressing on her salad.
“None of your business.” Bobby smiled at her.