Victor Black - And the Garden of the Gods

Chapter 18: Mr. and Mrs. Black

Several days after the death of Mrs. Meg Griffin, Victor hosted a get-together for his friends in Divide—high up on the mountain above Colorado Springs at the Black's house.

Willow—who's Mini had been mysteriously found in Cascade a week earlier—would be driving up the pass. She would be bringing Josh and Darius with her and had offered her fourth seat to Shadow whom she had bumped into outside the school earlier in the week.

Victor's other two friends, Alan and Pam, who had just returned from their student exchange to Russia, also planned to attend. Victor was particularly excited to see them again, as Alan had stayed with the same host parents he had the previous Fall, the Lipovetskis, and he wanted to hear his stories. More importantly, he wanted to know if they heard or saw anything about the object coming into the solar system. Alan had talked to Victor briefly on the landline when he returned and said he had some exciting news to talk about, making sure Victor would have access to his father's computer when he came to the party.

He slipped into a pair of jogging pants, a sweater, and some flip-flops. His hair was a mess, so a dark blue Nike cap was a necessity. Having achieved this essential task, Victor took a big breath and headed out of his room, down the stairs to the kitchen.

When Victor entered the kitchen, he saw his mother preparing potato salad, boiling red potatoes for the dish. She spotted him right away, heading over for a hug.

"Hey big guy," she said, wrapping her arms around him.

Victor grunted from the pressure of her somewhat firm grip and responded, "Morning mom," with a burp.

His mother laughed, turning to the boiling potatoes with a knife. "Not too firm, and we don't want soggy, do we?" she said. The serrated knife showed they finished cooking and were ready to be cooled. "Did you sleep well, honey?" she said. She stepped back and looked closely at Victor's face. "Your skin looks perfect, no acne, not even a pore." She proceeded to inspect him a little closer.

"Has Willow been using some products on you? Where're your pores?"

Mrs. Black studied Victor's hands, his neck, his hair, and fixed her gaze on his forehead.

"What's this?"

"What's what, mom?"

"This crease ... in your forehead. I've never seen it before. Have you been frowning a lot?" She poked his head with her finger and stopped. "You have a pockmark, right in the middle—as if someone shot you with a bee-bee gun."

Victor winked and drew back. "That's enough, mom, jeez!"

"Well," said his mother, "maybe a trip to the dermatologist is in order —"

"I'm fine mom. Maybe it's just a stress mark or something."

"Or something." She wasn't convinced and began peeling potatoes. She sighed. "So, tell me. When are your friends coming?"

"They might show up a bit early if you don't mind, mom," said Victor. "I'll keep them out of dad's way too."

"Oh, you know how your father is about these things," said his mom, agreeing with his plans. "What do you have planned?"

"Oh, show them around the house. Maybe go out back and hang for a bit. There's a lot to talk about —" He stopped talking mid-sentence.

"Do you need to talk, honey?" she said to Victor, taking a moment for him to answer—he was far away in thought.

"I'll be ok, mom. I was thinking of Mrs. Griffin. It's funny how she passed as soon as I came back. She was my first death." Victor lied. Meg's death was not his first, nor was his own. He remembered Kai's photo, and the strange look he had given Victor the day he killed himself.