Heredity

Chapter 5

Sophie gave up looking for morsels and decided to go with eggs. She wanted to ask Charlie where the staff were, and if the cook had a different pantry or hidden work kitchen but the boy hadn't uttered a word since planting himself at the table. He just sat there...watching. His dark eyes following her with an intensity that made her uneasy.

She found plates in an upper corner cupboard and an old cast iron pan beneath the stove drawer but nothing in the way of condiments or butter to give any flavor. Maybe the uber rich didn't snack, or eat. She chuckled.

Taking a quick break while the eggs sizzled on low she stopped to check her phone. Nothing. That's how it was here in HeightsVille. People didn't chat or text to keep in touch. You saw them in school and plans were made, or not. Her first thought was that it was just her. Outcast. Newcomer. Reluctant member of the strange towns birth by genes. But she noticed no one here held on to phones the way they did back home.

Charlie sat next to her, hands sitting in his lap staring at an empty plate. She'd expected him to be strange. But silent was another story. Her mom made it sound like the kid was the most gifted brightest person that ever walked the earth—-Sophie didn't see any hint of that. When the piercing screech of the smoke alarm broke the silence Sophie jumped up from the table and began swatting it with a pristine dish towel.

"Son of a bit.... Charlie, why didn't you tell me there was smoke in here. What the hell kid, my mom says you're supposed to be like a genius or something."

Charlie watched as she  jumped and screeched running around the room trying to take the pan off the stove. She opened the window, and tuned on the fan to clear the smoke. His upper lip curled in a semi half smile.

"Oh, you think this is funny do you?  Well it was your dinner too and it's all I know how to cook. Not so funny now is it?  Jesus. I can't believe your parents have you stay up all night and sleep all day just because that's their work schedule.  What about school?  Don't you need to go to school?  You're never going to have friends all cooped up in here all the time."

Charlie stood up and pushed his chair in. He shrugged his shoulders and sauntered out the kitchen toward the great room.

When the smoke cleared from the kitchen and after Sophie had snuck out onto the back porch and had a much needed cigarette she found herself remembering she had forgotten to feed the boy at all. She marched into the kitchen and placed an apple onto a plate. It wobbled before settling in the center sticker side up. It was a horrible meal, but she had no idea where the actual food was and it was easy.

When she reached the area where Charlie was last seen it was empty and the front door was open. "Shit! That's all I need right now."

She tossed the plate briskly onto the coffee table and ignored the apple as it rolled down onto the floor. As she reached the glass door she saw him. Charlie. Peering in the room from the other side of the glass staring at her. A small trickle of blood ran down his chin.

"Oh my God. Are you ok? What were you doing out there? Did anyone see you? I mean, hurt you? Are you ok? Let's wash up your face. Did you bite your lip? Never go outside alone at night! Geesh, my mom said you were some kind of a genius. You're more like rain man without the math skills."

After washing him up and putting him in a clean T-shirt Sophie snuggled next to him on the couch and put on a Barney video. She knew he was far too old to watch this, but with his lack of speaking or any social skills to speak of, she figured it couldn't hurt.

As the dinosaur sang and the clock struck three am, Sophie found herself drifting to sleep. She awoke some time later to Charlie's face staring into hers. His eyes a deep black that seemed endless and... hungry. After a mini coronary arrest she gently guided Charlie back to the couch.

"Listen kid. We aren't all night owls. I'm beat. This is when most people sleep. You know?  I get it that your parents are into you keeping their hours, but I have a social life. Let me get just a few minutes okay?"

The boy settled peacefully on the couch eyes staring at the snowy late night screen. Sophie tried to close her eyes but couldn't help feeling unnerved by the boy. She decided to make him a snack to lessen her guilt (that and to keep the boy busy for just a little while).

She groaned as she forced her exhausted body to get off the couch. It was supposed to be easy. The truth was, she just didn't fit as a late night person unless a hot guy or giggling was involved. She cursed her mother under her breath for making her come here and do this job. Creepy families and stupid hours.

Opening the refrigerator didn't help. It was still empty. Hard to believe that a prominent family doesn't keep food in the house, and with a kid. Just another notch in the 'don't be these people'  belt.

As she turned to close the fridge she screamed and jumped backward at the small pale boy standing silently behind her.

"Jesus Charlie. Don't do that. You scared the crap out of me! Are you hungry?"

Charlie's face breaks out into  the first real smile she'd seen since she met him earlier today. He shakes his head back and fourth but his stare stays focused on her face.

"You think that's funny do ya? Scaring the crap out of people. Such a boy. At least there's one normal thing about you. And your cute. But I'll be honest, you could use some sun. Or some meat. Maybe you're anemic. I wouldn't be surprised considering you haven't eaten anything since I got here."

She found a half eaten bag of dry granola from her bag and put him in front of the computer. It was time he learned some basic social skills. She searched Netflix until she found what she was looking for, episodes of  Boy Meets World. This was how normal kids acted. Maybe he would soak some of that into his genius wrinkles.

The clock read 4:30. Just two more hours and she could finally break free of the house, the weird kid, and surprising lack of food. No way was she coming back tomorrow. Maybe Nevada wouldn't be as bad. Sure, her uncle was a weird survivalist who owned livestock and a bunker, but even castrating a bull with a rubber band had to beat staying up all night with no food in a mansion decorated out of the dead King era.

As he watched the screen she cleaned up the kitchen from the smoke of her failed attempt at cooking. When she was finished she settled beside him at the table and began teaching him the basic art of the game of squares. He was a natural, or a cheater. By a few minutes in it was 20 to 3 and she wasn't throwing him a bone. Maybe the kid really was a genius. She moved on to tic tac toe and lost three games in a row.

"I gotta hand it to ya Rainman, you are smart!  Maybe you can be one of those weird recluse scientists that end up curing the world of disease. You know what I mean? The guy with all the answers that no one ever sees. What do you think of that?"

Charlie gave her an adorable grin and shrugged his shoulders.

"I'll ask my mom and dad." 

Sophie had to remind herself to close her mouth!  Nine hours later and the kid was talking. And he did look adorable when he smiled. He was definitely gonna need an orthodontist, those teeth were gonna be a problem if he ever wanted to kiss a girl, but in her sleep deprived state she reached out and tossled his hair and made him giggle.

When Charlie got up and went to his room and closed the door Sophie couldn't help but feel a little proud of herself. She had survived the night and tamed a bit of the nerd beast. Girls ten years from now would be thanking her for this night. Provided the family believed in dentistry that is.

When the parents arrived promptly at 5:30 it was all Sophie could do to keep her eyes open.  She may have been nodding off when they came in because both of them looked at her startled.

"You're here!"  Mrs. Strogolian said her eyes wide as saucers.

"Umm, yeah. I wouldn't desert your kid. I couldn't feed him much because there isn't a lot of food here, but he didn't seem to mind. Just to be safe you may want to give him a good meal later." 

The next thing Sophie knew she was waking up in her bed and the smell of dinner was snaking through the door. She was starving and as much as the thought of sitting with her parents disgusted her, the food smell overpowered her stubbornness.