CHAPTER 19
The distant past
Earth
Garth’s eyes opened slowly and he squinted as rays of morning sunlight struck him. He rolled over and saw that the other half of the bed was empty. Garth brushed his palm across the empty side of the bed, then pushed himself up into a sitting position. He placed his feet down on the smooth wooden floor and felt cold shooting up his legs. He looked at the picture frame on the nightstand, containing a photograph of three children, two boys, and a younger girl. Garth smiled.
Garth soon heard small, rapid footsteps approaching along the hallway. He smiled as the girl ran into the room, laughing excitedly. She was followed by an older boy, who was chasing his younger sister and trying to catch her. They were both dressed for school. The girl climbed onto the bed and jumped on Garth, lying over him and giggling. The boy hesitated for a moment, then he jumped into the bed as well. Garth chuckled as the children held onto his body from both sides. He stood up and carried them to the living room.
Garth looked around the living room. An older boy sat at the table, eating breakfast as he looked down at his phone.
“Morning, Dad,” the boy greeted without looking up.
“Morning, Josh,” Garth replied. “Good night’s sleep?”
“Sure,” answered Josh.
Garth carefully set his children down. He tried to escape their clutches, but the girl held on to his arm, and the boy tucked his head under Garth’s left arm.
“Come on, guys, it’s a bit early,” Garth pleaded.
“Throw me up, daddy,” said the girl.
“You’ll scream!” said the younger boy. “I won’t, I’m tough.”
Garth briefly struggled to get free before conceding defeat. “Okay, one throw each.”
The kids smiled and finally released Garth. He held the little girl’s arms and threw her up so she almost touched the ceiling. She screamed happily. Garth caught her and placed her on the couch, where she continued giggling. The boy raised his hands too. Garth picked him up and threw him. He almost touched the ceiling but, unlike the girl, he didn’t scream. He simply giggled up and down. Garth put him down, gave them each a high five, and turned toward the kitchen. He stopped behind Josh and stuck his tongue out at the kids, then playfully ruffled Josh’s immaculate hair.
“Dad!” Josh complained.
“What?” asked Garth. “You’re not allowed to have cooler hair than me.”
Josh laughed.
Garth looked down at his son, fondly. “Your mom told me how you handled that incident at school yesterday. I’m proud of you, son.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Josh said. He quickly brushed his hands over his hair, trying to fix it.
Garth walked into the kitchen. A beautiful blonde woman was preparing breakfast. Garth watched her from the kitchen doorway for a while.
She turned and smiled when she saw him. “Hey, good morning,” she said. “I didn’t want to wake you.”
Garth approached her and held her gently from behind. “I’m glad you didn’t,” he joked and kissed her shoulder. The woman pressed the side of her head against Garth’s.
“How did you sleep?”
“As good as it gets,” he answered. He grabbed a mug and poured himself some black coffee. He held the mug under his nose, breathing deeply. “Smells like a good day.” He took a sip.
“Look at you acting like you aren’t running late,” she said.
“Jo, you know I’m never late,” Garth replied as he turned to leave.
“Hey!” Jo called after him.
Garth looked back and saw a familiar expression on her face. He glanced into the living room and saw that their children were occupied, so he returned to Jo. She rinsed her hands and dried them with a towel. She was still holding the towel when Garth grabbed her waist and turned her to face him. Jo giggled. She dropped the towel and put her hands behind Garth’s neck as they kissed, passionately.
Reluctantly, Garth pulled himself away from his wife’s embrace. “This isn’t over,” he said. “I promise.”
“I’ll remember that,” Jo smiled.
Garth entered the living room. The two children were engaged in a tug of war with the TV remote. They were glaring at each other angrily.
“Let go!” she yelled.
“Don’t yell at me,” replied the boy. “I’m older than you!”
“No, you’re not. You’re seven.”
“Yeah? And you’re five.”
Josh sighed as he watched the kids from across the room. “Dad, tell Clayton to let Sky have the remote.”
Stolen story; please report.
“I’ll do you one better,” Garth said. He took the remote away from them. “No one gets the remote.” He placed it on a high shelf, where neither of them could reach it. Sky and Clayton looked up at the remote and then at each other, while Garth returned to his bedroom.
Garth took his bedwear off and stepped into the bathroom. He looked in the mirror at the huge scar that ran down from his neck and continued across his abdomen. He touched the scar with his index finger. He grimaced as he traced it. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then opened them and stepped into the shower.
A couple of minutes later, Garth finished up in the bathroom. He dressed in black pants and a blue shirt. He opened his tie drawer, which contained more than thirty ties. Garth sighed, picked out a red one, and put it on. He took his papers from another drawer and placed them in his briefcase, then returned to the living room.
When he entered the room, his breakfast was already waiting on the dinner table. He joined Josh at the table and they were soon joined by Joanne, Clayton, and Sky. Clayton and Sky glanced sideways at each other and smiled mischievously.
“What?” Garth asked with a mock-serious frown. “What’s so funny?”
Sky shook her head. “Nothing.”
Joanne sighed. “You two are always up to something, aren’t you?”
Clayton and Sky exchanged looks and giggled again.
“Ignore them, Mom,” said Josh, glancing at his phone between mouthfuls.
Garth turned to Joanne. “What are your plans today?”
Joanne swallowed a mouthful of food. “I don’t have it planned out, but I’ll spend most of the day in the studio. I’d like to have my winter piece finished this weekend. How about you?”
Garth chuckled. “The usual,” he said. “Work till five, then home. Maybe I could come and watch you work this evening?”
“I’d like that. You can bring the kids too.”
Josh faked a cough. “Might need to count me out.”
“All right, minus Josh,” said Garth.
Garth finished breakfast. He waited for the kids to finish too, then he kissed Joanne goodbye and walked for the front door. Garth suddenly froze.
“What’s wrong, Garth?” asked Joanne.
Garth turned to her. “It’s February twelfth, isn’t it?”
Joanne nodded. “Yes, why?”
Garth walked back to his wife. “Can you do something for me?”
“What is it?” she asked, looking slightly concerned.
“I need you to stay clear of Rex Argent Avenue today.”
Jo was confused. “Why? That’s the quickest route to the gallery.”
Garth smiled. “Jo, the traffic will be crazy today. Please, just promise me you’ll go through the Magent Suburb instead.”
“What?”
“Promise me,” Garth insisted.
“Okay, I promise,” Joanne said, still unsure why her husband was so adamant.
Garth smiled and hurried out the front door. He and the kids walked to the brown minivan sitting on the driveway. Garth slid the back door open for Clayton and Sky. Josh sat in the passenger seat. As Garth walked to the driver’s side door, Jo called to him. He looked back and saw her waving from the front doorway. Garth smiled and waved back. He got in the car and drove away. Along the way, Garth dropped Sky and Clayton off at their school, then continued toward work.
He drove into the school and stopped in front of the library. Josh got out of the car and went to his class. Garth drove to the parking lot behind the library building and parked in the spot reserved for him. He took his briefcase from the back seat, then locked the car. Garth glanced at his reflection in the window and adjusted his red tie.
“Lovely morning, isn’t it, Mr. Andrews?” Mrs. Dennis asked.
Garth turned and saw an elderly teacher approaching him. “Good morning, Mrs. Dennis. It looks like a beautiful day,” Garth replied. “I hear your husband is home from his journey. I hope he’s well.”
Mrs. Dennis smiled. “Oh, he is. Thank you, Garth, that’s sweet of you to say.”
They arrived at the main entrance to the school. Garth held the door open for Mrs. Dennis, then followed her, walking along the hallway through the crowd of students.
“How are Joanne and the children?” asked Mrs. Dennis.
“They’re great,” answered Garth.
“I hear Jo will be displaying her latest work next month. I’m excited to see what she’s been working on.”
Garth smiled. “I’ll be sure to let her know that.”
Mrs. Dennis stopped at her office door and wished Garth a good day, then Garth continued down the hallway to his classroom. As he was about to open the door, a student opened it, wished him a good morning, and hurried inside. Garth replied to the student in kind and entered the classroom.
“Good morning, class,” he greeted. Only a handful of the students responded.
Garth placed his briefcase on the desk and took out some papers. He sighed when he saw that most of the students were busy on their phones. Garth cleared his throat and the majority of the class quickly put their phones away, except for the student sitting at the back of the classroom.
“Tyler,” Garth called.
Tyler ignored him, grinning down at the screen.
Garth called his name twice more without a reply. Garth walked over to him and snatched the phone out of his hands. Tyler looked up, startled, and opened his mouth to speak. He stopped, thinking better of it, and sighed. Garth returned to the front of the class, inspecting Tyler’s phone.
“I know you want your phone back,” said Garth, “and I’ll give it back right now if you can tell me what kind of battery it has. I’ll even give you ten dollars if you get it right” The class laughed.
“What do you say Tyler. Want to give it a shot?”
Tyler shifted in his seat, uncomfortably.
“Look, Tyler,” said Garth. “I know you think you don’t know, but that’s just one part of your mind trying to get you out of a difficult situation. I promise you, at some point, the majority of you have seen information about the gadgets you use, the bike you ride, your clothing, everything around you, and paid no attention to it. Even so, the funny thing about the mind is that it never truly forgets. Never. The information is always somewhere up there, even as we get older. So tell me, Tyler. Ten bucks seem like pretty nice motivation to me.”
The class laughed again.
Tyler shook his head. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen that information, sir. If I have, I’d remember it.”
Garth smirked. “Is that right?” He walked behind his desk and pulled out a drawer.
“Wait!” Tyler blurted.
Garth stopped.
“Vertically aligned, carbon nanotube… battery?”
Garth stared intently at Tyler and Tyler stared back, breathing heavily.
“Am I right, Mr. Andrews?”
“Do you think you’re right?”
Tyler again shifted in his seat.
“Well, class,” said Garth. “Would you look at that? Tyler got it exactly right.” He raised his hands and applauded Tyler, with many of his classmates joining in.
Garth took out a ten-dollar bill from his wallet and walked to Tyler. He handed him the note, along with his phone. “That’s my little investment in your future,” said Garth. “I’ll come back for that in a couple of decades, and it better have multiplied.”
The class laughed as Garth returned to the front of the classroom. He sat on his desk, watching the kids fondly. He tightened his lips and swallowed hard. At that moment, Garth’s mind drifted to a place no human could comprehend unless they had seen the things he had seen, or done the things he had. He suddenly felt a weight in his chest. Before he could dwell on the haunting thoughts, he remembered Joanne and his children at the breakfast table. He remembered how Clayton and Sky smiled mischievously at each other, how Josh, his firstborn son, was growing into a man. He remembered, with certainty, that his wife, Joanne, would love him until the end of their lives. Garth smiled.
He picked up the pile of papers on the desk and distributed them to the students, one desk at a time. When he reached Tyler, the student gave him a slight nod, with a smile on his face.
“Thank you,” Tyler whispered.
Garth nodded back and dropped the paper on Tyler’s desk, then moved on, handing out the papers to his other students.