[RECAP]
My heart slowed, my stomach felt like it was coated in ice, and the hair on the nape on my neck began to prickle, as the one man I’d never hoped to see again, stepped out of the immobile crowd.
“Trey?”
~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~
“Is that all you have to say after not seeing me for three years?”
Three years. Has it really been so short a time? A lot happened while he was off throwing our world into havoc. The Agency always made sure I had a babysitter when I attended the required annual meetings. Because of Trey, none of our family was trusted. He’d gone rogue and he’d done his job well. Spreading rumors and disrupting missions. If it weren’t for our ability to remember our jumps, he could’ve gotten away with it.
“What are you doing here?”
“I’ve come to warn you Quincy. You’ve already let them in your head. They’re going to tell you things, things that aren’t true, and it’s up to you in what you wish to believe. You’re my brother and it’s my duty to protect you, but I will not hold back if it means saving the world. Choose wisely and know that there will be no returning to the safety of the past.”
Before I had a chance to open my mouth, he was gone.
“Quincy!”
Turning I saw my dad walking towards me. The currents and eddies of the city resumed their natural course as if nothing happened.
“Hello, Earth to Quincy! Hey, I want to talk to you about something.”
“Dad?”
“Yeah, who else did you think I was? One of your questionable models?” Chuckling at his own joke he clapped my shoulder and steered me down the street. “Anyway, we need to talk. We didn’t really end our last conversation on a good note and I didn’t get a chance to warn you.”
Startled, I asked, “Warn me? About what?” Could he be talking about Trey? Was it starting already?
“Well, what little info I could get isn’t real clear, but I guess some degenerate has been causing the Agency a load of trouble- including ransacking the maps storage. I heard you were due for a trip to Spain sometime soon so I thought I’d let you know.”
“Oh, um, well you’re a little too late for that. I finished that up last night. Got myself into a bit of a fix but I managed to work my way out of it. Has anyone put a face to this ‘degenerate’ yet?” A part of me was relieved I didn’t have to immediately let on that something crazy had just happened. However, another side wanted to go running and screaming straight to the doors of the Agency to find out what the hell my brother was up to. The only thing stopping me right now was the aging man next to me.
“Erm, no, not that I know of. I haven’t heard anything anyway.” There was something about the way he wouldn’t look at me, I knew it.
“It’s Trey isn’t it?” My voice was barely above a whisper.
“No one knows for sure.”
“But you know.”
“I fear it.”
“Dammit Dad, why’d you come here? To tell me things I already know and things I don’t need or want to know? Even if it is Trey, what makes you think that’ll give me any kind of hope? He’s gone. He left us. He left us for a bunch of conspiracies and he isn’t coming back. Trey doesn’t care anymore, just let him go.” Pissed, I continued walking down the street, leaving my father behind. I didn’t know what was going on, but I knew what had been happening way before this. Our family was broken and desperately searching for any kind of connection to the pieces that no longer fit back together, which was pointless.
Besides, like I said, I had work to do.
~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~
“Ok miss, I’m going to need you to climb up that tree.”
A girl, probably about fifteen, with blonde dreadlocks and blue eyes that demanded attention, stared back at me like I’d lost my mind.
“You want me to . . . climb . . . that tree? Seriously?”
Oh boy, we officially have a pre-mature prima donna in the house. Well, in the park, but you get the point.
“Yes, I want you to climb that tree. The story is basically about a female Tarzan so the whole ‘one with nature’ thing is what I’m going for here.”
“Ugh, whatever. Doesn’t matter though, there’s no way I’m getting up that tree without help.”
“Fine, hold on.” The girl’s father and I lifted her roughly onto the lowest branch. “There, that should do it. Now come on, you want your big start don’t you? If this picture gets chosen for the cover then you’ll get a cut of the profit and you’ll start getting more business as a model. I would, however, suggest keeping your guard up when you go out in public. Apparently this guy’s got a pretty big fan base.”
By the time I’d finished talking she’d managed to get far enough up the tree so that the hanging, moss-covered branches blocked the playground behind her.
Hundreds of shots later, all over the park, and I was ready to be rid of this girl. I met her dad a few months back in a bar. He kept talking about his daughter: the aspiring model. The guy would not shut up about it. Finally, I gave the guy my card and told him to have his daughter email me her portfolio and that I might be able to find a place for her in one of my shoots.
When I got an email full of blonde dreadlocks and angry blue eyes I never thought I’d actually be able to find a job that she’d be a good model for. Thank goodness for this Dr. Deux guy and his wacky stories that for some reason still brought in a huge amount of readers. I thought the guy was a cheap rip-off of Dr. Seuss for teenagers.
“Are we done yet? I have a school dance tonight and I want to be fashionably late, not completely miss it.”
“Yeah, that should be fine for now. I’ll give you a call if I need any more.”
Packing up my stuff, I started my trek towards home and thought about what had happened that morning. What was Trey up to? What had happened in the past three years that he was suddenly on my doorstep giving vague cryptic warnings?
The last words he said bounced from side to side in my head, burning holes in my concentration as I tried to figure out what it meant.
There will be no returning to the safety of the past.
