Invited

Fifty-One - Timber

I stared across the room at the woman Lara called "Mom." Believing her to be a mother was difficult for me to do. For one, she was so young-looking, clearly only a handful of years older than me though she physically could pass for a teenager. Something in her eyes suggested she had some more years of experience than I did, and I had to trust my instinct. Secondly, with how she'd treated Lara, I just couldn't bring myself to admit she was a mother. Parents cared for their children. Just creating them wasn't enough to give someone the title.

What I saw in her mom's eyes was a whole lot of sadness and regret. She didn't like to look at me or Lara, only her hands. Pretty sure I made her uncomfortable despite all of my best efforts to be civil and kind to her even if I didn't want to. Lara's father on the other hand sat slouched at the kitchen table, his gaze never leaving me, as if he were sizing me up and trying to decide if I was an acceptable guardian to his daughter. The attitude made me want to punch him in the face. Even if I sucked at being an authority figure in her life, I was still a million times better at being one than him.

"Are you sure you don't want something?" I asked from the kitchen as I made hot chocolate for Lara and myself. The sugar was needed to keep me going, and she loved to drink it even if the weather wasn't cold. It seemed to be a comfort food of sorts for her. Perhaps that was her stress relief: cocoa. Oh, to be young again.

Her mom lifted her gaze momentarily and then shook her head. "No, I'm okay. Thank you."

"I'm fine," her father repeated.

I shrugged and then walked over to Lara, who was sitting in the living room. She was playing with one of her dolls, dressing her up in an elaborate ball gown. I set her mug on the coffee table and then pulled out a chair at the dining table.

And we sat there. No one said anything. Awkward as heck. I wished Nathan or Chevelle was with me to act as a buffer of sorts. Chevelle refused to be around Lara's parents and found an excuse to get out of the house, while Nathan conveniently had a date.

"So where are you staying?" I asked quietly, trying to make conversation. Though the answer would probably be the Pit, I didn't want to flat-out ask them how things were down there.

Her dad snorted. "Some place called Limbo."

"Limbo?" That was a new term. "What's that exactly?"

"A housing deck on the outer ring of the ship. Our window overlooks space. We do laundry, wash dishes, that kind of thing."

Yeah, sounded like a version of limbo to me. Not quite the Pit, but definitely not the Garden either. Was it the Achlivans' way of saying these people would be given another chance to fix up their act? It surprised me. They knew the abuse Lara's parents had put her through. Why give them another chance when innocent people were still suffering in the Pit? Or maybe Limbo was a newer concept. After all, there was only so much space on the ship, period. Not everyone could fit in the heart of the ship, nor were there enough seats in first class.

I shrugged it off, taking a sip of my cocoa. "Sounds fascinating. I love space."

"Can't say I'm a fan. Of any of this. I'd rather be at home."

"So then why are you here?" I narrowed my gaze.

He nodded toward Lara. "She asked me to come."

And that right there was my proof that he at least had some kind of love for the girl. I took another sip, desperate for another question. Preferably one that wasn't: "So why do you think it's okay to hit your family?" Because that probably wouldn't go over too well, and in the end, one of us would end up either dead of locked up in the Pit. I didn't want to be responsible for ruining her family further.