Chapter 13

Dinner

“Fine. I give up. If you're going to hit me, hit me,” Lydia said, glaring at him.

“I'm not going to hit you.” Leo put down the frozen peas and looked at the remains of the chicken, two wings and a small amount of breast meat. A side effect of Bio-Blessed was the constant craving for protein. Hence, Mom and Dad, taking most of the chicken. To Leo's delight, his own Bio-Blessed-induced protein cravings were gone. His stomach growled. He was starving and wondered when he'd last eaten. He motioned towards the chicken. “You can have mine if you want.” He grabbed a plate and filled it with mashed potatoes and lima beans, putting lots of margarine on the potatoes.

Lydia crept by him, clearly expecting him to hit her, and grabbed a plate of her own. “You're acting really weird.”

“Well, you're ugly, barfhead, so we both have problems,” Leo said, trying to remember how he'd talked to her in the past.

“I'm not ugly,” she said, taking the chicken before Leo could change his mind. Then she grabbed a Coke from the fridge and headed for the living room.

He followed her. When their parents were gone, they always ate in the living room, he remembered. They watched various shows on the large flat-screen television. Dammit. What else had he forgotten?

“Lydia, can you keep a secret?” he asked, sitting on the couch.

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She nodded from where she'd curled up on the easy chair with her dinner. “Sure.”

Leo knew from his memories his sister couldn't keep a secret to save her life. He'd have to be very careful what he said to her. “I got into a fight with this huge biker guy. He was at least seven feet tall. He picked me up and threw me, and I hit my head on the cement before I ran away. It doesn't hurt that much, but I'm having trouble remembering things.”

“Wow. Do you need a doctor?” She looked concerned.

“I'm fine, but I keep forgetting things, like that password. If you help me out, I'll be nice to you and everything.”

She seemed to think it over. “I'll help you for ten dollars, and I get to use your VR glasses whenever.”

“One dollar,” Leo said. “I'm broke.”

“You have fifty-five dollars and thirty-eight cents saved up underneath a loose tile in your closet,” Lydia said.

He'd forgotten about that. “Fine, five dollars and you can use my VR glasses. But you'd better not be stealing from me.” Leo took a bite of mashed potatoes. Ow. It hurt to chew where Brick had hit him.

“I'm not a thief. I was just curious, and it's your turn to do the dishes.” She used the remote to turn on the flat screen.

“Are you sure it's my turn?” he asked, amused.

“You really are forgetting things. Our chores are on the refrigerator. It's your turn to do dishes Sunday. I got Monday. We alternate.”

“Okay,” Leo said.

“And we're watching 'Mutant Sand Puppies.'”

“Whatever you want. I don't care,” Leo said.

Lydia looked strangely at him but pulled up the show.

The show was as dumb as he expected it to be, something to do with a super-powered dog on a beach, but he enjoyed sitting there on their old comfortable couch, eating with Lydia in silence, reliving a moment of his life he'd thought was long gone.

He had to do better this time around. That meant getting as strong as possible, fast as possible. After finishing his meal, he did the dishes and cleaned up in the kitchen. Then he went back to his room to train.