The Shape of Things to Come (Hypernaturals 15)

Latisha Barnes

The next possible mother we sought was easy to find. She works in the Albuquerque visitors bureau. her 'office' is right by the road, has convenient RV-sized parking, and her job is to meet the public face-to-face. How Leon might have met her is no mystery. Her name is Latisha Barnes. Her baby is named Michelle, I presume after the former first lady.

There are a lot of Barak and Michelle babies around the US these days, and not only in the black community. I intend to use those names myself, although my first son had to be named after my dad. Vera was adamant about it. It was not as if I was opposed to the idea, but I was amazed at her intensity on the name choice.

"You don't think having a baby named after Dad would be confusing? Like Rachel is with Adult Rachel?" I had asked her the night after we found out the gender via ultrasound.

Vera had rolled over on top of me, pressed my shoulders into the mattress, and looked down at me with intensity. "I don't fucking care about that, Adrian. His name is Benjamin. Same as Dad. We are calling him Ben. Got it?"

"Got it." I had agreed, to the amusement of all present. No one had to tell me when Vera gets like that, you just go with it. I have known her longer than anyone there, including her wife, who was very amused at the intensity.

Vera would never really say why. Just that it had to be that way. I think it is because after our long and speckled past together as human and Siren (not that we knew that then) and the way no one liked her but me, how she is accepted now and called 'daughter' by my parents means a lot to her. I am not sure she knows that: Vera is not a deeply introspective person. She tends to run and gun. How she turned in the first place. She just 'decided'. Saw the autoinjectors, it planted the idea, and she did it. No deep thought to it.

I swam back to now. "Hi." Morgan greeted Latisha. She flashed her PI badge. "Sorry to bother you here at work. We are looking for a man named Leon. Leon Cisneros. He looks like this."

Morgan showed Latisha the same picture she had shown to Pris Cortez. The recognition was instant.

I saw a picture of Latisha before this moment, from her driver's license photo that Denise had dug up. In real life, Latisha has far more presence and attitude. Has there ever been a good driver's license photo?

Latisha is living proof, as if we needed it, that Leon does not appear to have much of a type of than 'female'. Her skin is dark. Her teeth are perfect and dazzled when she smiled to greet us. Her full lips are coated in a nice shade of dark pink. There is something about the way her face came together so that each element added to a greater whole in her greeting. Latisha makes you feel warmly welcomed. It is easy to see in her job interview for the visitor's bureau job how the interviewer saw her smile light her face and said 'hired'.

Latisha's hair is a swept back from her face cascade of curls that fall to a little past her shoulders. Her eyes are gold-flecked dark amber. Her figure is similar to Beyoncé's. In other words, she is striking. I can see why Leon's pheromones went off upon meeting her. I have far better control than Leon (obviously), but that did not mean I did not notice her presence.

"Well, shit." Latisha looked around to ensure no co-workers were near, lowered her voice. "You know where that the little fucker is?"

"Not yet." Morgan said. "We are looking. He left behind a baby that he is not aware of, and the mother is paying us to find him."

"Can I get a group discount?" Latisha asked. "You are here talking to me. You're a PI here talking to me so you know I had a kid, right?"

"We do. We were not sure it was fathered by Leon until this moment. You fit the timeline and the pattern, so we came here." Morgan admitted.