Moments in Time

Chapter 8-2

The bus comes around the corner and pulls up beside us. I watch him get on, and as I do, it hits me how much kids in my other life are missing the simple pleasure of rolling in leaves and things like that. Everything in the future will revolve around the internet. Up to now, I never really thought about it, but as I watch the bus drive away, I realize how much the web, with f*******: and Twitter and all the other social media sites of the future, impact us. Suddenly, the thesis I’m writing regarding ADHD and its effects on family dynamics is taking a new direction, and I discover I’m excited. I just have to figure out how to put the internet and its effects on future generations to my thesis advisor so I don’t look like Asimov.

I run home, pull my notebook out, and scribble a few thoughts down before I forget them, then pack up and head out the door to get Robbie for class. As I drive over, I think of ways to introduce the new world of the impending internet into my thesis. Certainly there’s precedence for this upcoming technology. The trick is to make it seem like an inevitable outcome to my advisor. From there, I can jump to its potential effects on family units. Studies up to now in my new life have already shown the effects of TV on the maturing human brain in children.

What they—my advisor and the rest—don’t know is the impact the internet will have on not only children, but adults as well. In the future, we’ll become a society chained to our phones and laptops, separating ourselves from each other. The technology that was supposed to bring us closer together will in fact tear us apart—leaving us to live in our own little universes. We’ll be talking at each other instead of to each other; we’ll spend less time together even though we’re in the same house. I ponder this last thought, and as I do, I realize this was my life in the future, and that it played a part in costing me my family and all I held dear. I can’t change what I left behind—or is it ahead? Who knows? But I can do my part to prevent it from happening all over again in this new life.

attoAs I pull up in front of Robbie’s house, my mind spins with this new angle I’m going to take in my thesis. As I put the car in park, he pops out the door and runs up to my window. I roll it down, wondering what’s up.

“Hey,” he says, “would you mind making a little detour on the way in?”

I shrug. “Sure, where?” and as I say it, I see Cindy looking out from the front door of his house. Several thoughts enter my mind, but it’s none of my business.

“Fab,” he says, and waves her out. Turning back to me, he gives me a look. “I know what you’re thinking, but it’s all cool.”

“Right. Where we going?” I ask as I watch her wheeling a suitcase behind her toward the car.

“The airport. Her flight leaves at 11:00,” he says, then pulls the back door open for her.

“Hey Alan,” she says, offering me a smile as Robbie takes her suitcase. “Thanks for the lift.”

“No problem.” I pop the trunk for Robbie, and after she gets in, I spy her in my rearview mirror. “So I missed saying good-bye to you Friday night.”

“Yeah, things got a little gnarly. Sorry, didn’t mean to ditch ya.”

“No prob,” I pause. “You must be looking forward to getting back to Craig.”

(Yes, I went there.)

If there’s one thing that rubs me the wrong way, it’s cheating on a significant other. I wait for an answer that never comes as Robbie opens his door and gets in. The ride to the airport is quiet. I think they both know what I’m thinking, but I don’t say anything. Maybe I’m jumping to conclusions, maybe nothing happened between them. She did come out of Robbie’s parents’ house, and I assume his parents are home. But yeah right, that never stopped me back in the day! The way she was climbing all over him Friday night, something went down—like her pants. I’m not sure why I care, to tell you the truth, other than I know I wouldn’t like it done to me.

I drive up to the terminal and park out front. Robbie gets out to get her suitcase from the trunk. In the rearview mirror, I see her glaring at me. “I know what you think you believe, but nothing happened.”

“It’s none of my biz,” I say.

“No, it’s not. You have no idea what my life is like. And after what happened between us, you have no right to judge me, so get off your f*****g pedestal.”

I blink. So I did get her pregnant. A memory of her begging me to stand up to her parents and take her away to start our own family flashes before me. I was eighteen, barely out of high school, and she was a sophomore. What did I know of raising a child? I was scared shitless and it seemed reasonable—or should I say, the easy way out—to put the child up for adoption. Not my finest hour.

So I did get her pregnant. She’s right; I don’t know what her life is like. “We were both young,” I finally reply, not sure what more I can say. I want to apologize but the words get stuck in my throat. Then again, what if it’s something else I did? I just don’t know, and I don’t want to open my mouth and confess to something that may never have happened in this life.

“Yes, we were. I would’ve assumed you’d have grown up by now.”

I suppose I deserve that shot, so I let it go. “Have a safe trip, Cin. It was good seeing you again.”

She opens the door. “Yeah, whatever. Bye, Alan.” Getting out of the car, she goes to Robbie. I see them hug then whisper something into each other’s ears. When she pulls back, there’s a sad, longing look in her eyes, and I feel like a schmuck.