Echo

11. Scotch

We get to the house at the same time daddy is landing. We run in the dining room.

Momma is standing there with her hands on her hips. "SIT DOWN. ALL OF YOU. WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A FAMILY DINNER."

We run to the same spots we had the night before.

"Why is the asshole here again?"

Malax shakes his head. "You drove them to work. Someone had to bring them back."

Daddy stares at the wall with a confused expression on his face.

"Braxtin, did you lose another car?"

"I'm sure it's somewhere, angel."

"I told you, if you lose another one, we'll put trackers in them."

"Malax told me today that you funded Phade."

"I funded a good idea, sweetheart. He did all the work. He knew what he was doing. I knew it would pay off in the long run."

"What did you fund, dear?"

"A ship, momma."

"You better not have bought a damn spaceship, Braxtin. You can't even find the car."

"It was a long time ago. Some kid walked into my office. Scared to death and shaking. He told me about an amazing idea he had. I have to tell you, I liked the idea. Amazing idea, going into space and landing on other planets. Terraforming them. I could see our world going there. I knew technology was close, but we needed the right person to lead it. I asked him questions about his schooling until he relaxed. I knew when he told me about his parents struggling to put him through school, I was funding his project. I checked his story. At one time, he had like 4 jobs. The kid was going to make it work 1 way or another. So, I gave him what he asked for. He nearly pissed himself."

Malax cracks up laughing. "Almost. I asked so many people for anything. Half of them would laugh. I was still saving every penny I could. I knew I could do it."

"I did too. Good kid. Hard worker. Hell of a dream. I was right."

Momma rolls her eyes. "Congratulations on being right. Malax, I need you to figure out how to put trackers on everything that moves here."

"Why him?"

"Because you won't do it. You'll say, you can remember. Then we lose another car. And I can't figure it out. I searched for a tracker, and it's showing me pictures of fish." Momma smacks her phone. "Now it's downloading something."

Daddy takes it away from her. "I can remember where I put cars. We don't need trackers."

"3 OF THEM ARE MISSING."

Malax laughs. "I'll order you some and set them up."

"Thank you. Anyone have anything else before we eat?"

"Yes." I put my hand up. "Daddy, how did you just figure out he's a boy? Or have you always yelled 'boy' when you see him?" Malax tries not to laugh.

"Or asshole." Eriska nods. "Boy or asshole. You're always yelling when you see him. Has it always been like that?"

"No. That's a fairly recent development, girls. Nice catch." Momma smiles at us.

Daddy growls then says, "Boy."

Eriska puts an eyebrow up. "The growling is new too."

Momma and Malax lose it. He leans in. "I'll explain later."

Daddy mumbles. "Boy."

Momma wipes her eyes. "Teenagers are so damn fun. Anything else?"

"We're not allowed to tell anyone I'm going to work for Phade after I graduate. I'll lose funding."

Daddy jumps up. "You are all banned from saying a word to anyone. I am not paying all that out of pocket. Too expensive."

Momma rolls her eyes. "Oh it's 450k a year. How much did your ship cost?"

"But it's 450k a year that I don't have to pay. Let other people pay for now."

She shakes her head. "I guess our car habit is getting expensive."

Malax smirks. "If she loses her funding, I'll pay it. But yea, nobody say anything."

"She's my daughter, I'm paying for her schooling. Not you."

Momma rolls her eyes so hard I'm surprised they don't pop out. "Sit down, Braxtin. You're not paying for it now. If she loses the funding, you can argue about it then. But she's getting her schooling and that's what matters."

Eriska smiles. "Phade Enterprise is funding what's left of my schooling. I'm getting more than she is from Phade."

"BOY."

I laugh so damn hard. "We know he's a boy, daddy."

Daddy rubs his eyes. "Now it's stuck in my head. That may be what he's called forever."

Malax nods. "It's better than some other things, sir."

"That it is. Let's eat."

The next day, Eriska and I lay by the pool. We barely move. We even have lunch by the pool. Then I take a nap. We go out after dinner with our suppra's that don't look like us.

"What do you want to do?"

"Search for a party."

"Don't make your poor suppra throw up this time."

"Good plan. I'm still going to drink a few to smell like alcohol though. I'm not being the only person not drinking."

"I'll do that too. But I feel like it's a total waste of alcohol."

"We're using it for a purpose, so it's fine."

We walk around town until we get invited to a party.

Seems like everyone is trashed when we get there. The house is trashed too. There's even a broken window.

"This is too much."

"Yea, it's going to get shut down quick. I don't want to be here when it does."

We turn right back around and walk out. Scotch and another couple of boys follow us out. "Not staying?"

"That's too stupid for us."

Scotch puts his arm around me. "Yea, someone is trashing their parents' house. That's stupid. Want to go dancing?"

"Yes, please."

We go to a dance club and dance. I get some more of his kisses. I do like him. He's sweet.

"What's your last name, Echo?"

"Kinnik."

"Like Braxtin Kinnik? Are you related to him?"

"Yes, we're related, but I don't want to talk about that."

"Alright. I'll kiss you instead."

I smile and he gives me the sweetest kiss. "I like you, Echo."

"I like you too."

"Want to sit outside? I am burning up in here."

"Sure."

We sit at a little table and talk for a bit.

"What happened last weekend? I figured I would see you."

"I ended up getting drugged in a drink at a work party. Then I was in the hospital and slept all week."

"Are you ok? Did the guy get away?"

"No. It was obvious I was drugged. I had 2 drinks and couldn't walk. The guy tried to run. My boss got me to the hospital and the other guys held him to get arrested. Nothing tragically bad happened. I slept all week."

"I'm glad you're ok. But that's still scary. At least you knew people there."

"Yea, a work party is not the smartest place to drug a person."

"I wondered where you went." Eriska sits beside me. "My luck, you'll pass out somewhere weird."

"Why would you pass out?"

"I'm still not 100% from the drugs. But I'm getting better every day. I still feel ok tonight."

Eriska stretches. "This is the first night she's been out since... the party at your house. We're not counting the work party."

I shake my head. "Work parties don't count for anything. You seem like you're going to pass out though."

"Dancing was fun. I am getting tired. What time is it?"

"Almost 1 in the morning."

"You want to head back?"

"Yea, we had better, or I will be passing out."

"I'll go tell the boys bye." She runs in.

"I'd like to see you again. Will you go on a date with me?"

"I would love to."

"I can see you're tired now. You want to stop by my house tomorrow and we'll plan something? Figure out a day and time."

"That sounds good. It'll be after lunch. I feel like I'm going to sleep that long."

"I'll be home after lunch. My parents are home this weekend though. Don't be startled by old people."

I giggle. "Can Eriska come?"

"Of course. We'll sit on the porch and plan something for the 2 of us. She probably has lots of ideas anyway."

"Yea. Her ideas are never ending." I kiss him.

"I'll let her make the plan, and I'll kiss you some more." He gives me a kiss.

I can't help but smile. I like kissing him.

"I ordered a van. I'm not carrying you when you pass out. We should have brought a car. It's right there."

I give him another little kiss. "See you tomorrow, Scotch."

"I can't wait." He kisses my hand and Eriska drags me away.