GFP 013: Collider

Quark was exhausted.

He stood on a stool and scraped the leftovers from lunch into the maker’s front load, then turned it on.

In about twenty minutes (‘cause that’s how long their beat-up ten-year-old matter recompositor took), Quark will have five fresh, steaming plates of dinner. Which he dread however, because that meant corralling his brothers to feed. And by the time he’s done with them, his meal would be cold.

The holotube in the next room blared out squeaky high-pitched voices from a children’s cartoon. It grated on Quark, like sandpaper on skin.

“Can you turn it down?” Quark yelled at no one. Again. Schrödinger hopped on top of the maker and meowed. Ugh. Et tu, cat? It’s all so useless, Quark thought.

It was eight o’ clock. And it was late. Hadrian was still out with Big Nick at God-knows-where doing God-knows-what.

Baby Ian was tugging on Quark’s pants leg, finger pointing at his open mouth. Little Adam was rolling on the floor whining about how hungry he was.

And Quark had no idea where the twins, Barry and Meso, were. Hopefully, still playing games on their tablets in their bunk beds. Or maybe playing make-believe with their imaginary third brother, their triplet, named Tachy for one reason or another. Or whatever. I don’t care.

The day had started out OK. Hadrian woke Quark up early and unceremoniously awarded him command of the house. He’d done this before and was usually home by four. So Quark didn’t expect this time to be any different.

So when they got up, he plopped Ian and Adam in front of the holotube. When Barry and Meso got bored, he handed them their tablets. He’d make simple lunches on the maker, maybe play a movie for the final stretch and then the day would be done. It was a fool-proof plan.

But it didn’t work out that way. Entropy ensued. Instability. Pandemonium.

And each and every single minute ticked by after four, Quark incrementally by exponential measure madder and madder.

Quark really hated the days when Hadrian left… leaving him in the tiny apartment to care for his four other brothers.

And what sucks is they weren’t even his brothers, really. They were just other orphan boys, runaways and unwanted kids stuck randomly together by the state. Well, as randomly as could be when you have a serial foster dad gaming the system for more government paychecks.

“I hate this. I should just get up and go,” Quark muttered to himself. “Leave them to fend for themselves.”

Hadrian was Quark’s fifth foster home in the last couple of years. He liked to tell kids on the playground he’s “lost count”… but that was a lie.

He knew exactly how many homes he’s been in. He remembered the names and faces, tattoos and piercings, nervous tics and eye colors of every single foster parent, adopted sibling and family pet he’s ever had to deal with. Heck, he could even recite their addresses backwards if you asked him to.

But he never stayed long. In fact, if he thought about it, Hadrian was a new record for him. Quark’s been here for over three months now. Hadrian was doing something right to keep Quark “contained”.

Quark couldn’t quite figure out what it was.

Truth is, they never knew what to do with Quark after one of his “episodes”.

It was the kind of thing that got him stuck in bright fluorescent lit rooms, usually empty, save for a circular table and a few cheap plastic chairs, while the adults talked in the other room behind the one-way mirror.

Staring and studying him. The eyes of his judge and jury and mechanical irises.

So Quark got shuffled around, a lot. Which was fine by him.

It was good distraction to never get too comfortable. Fact is, Quark liked it when he was always on edge, dancing on uncertainty and never really knowing what was coming next. It suited him.

At the end of the day, being busy helped. A lot. Constantly moving, doing mindless work, going in circles. He preferred that. He could go to bed bone-tired and fall asleep straightaway.

This way, he would never have to lie in the darkness alone with his thoughts and memories. Because if that ever happened, he’d start sobbing. And he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to stop. But really, he could never weep in front of strangers to begin with.

Suddenly, the doorbell chimed, followed by four heavy raps on the front door.

“Auntie Maddie!” screamed Baby Ian, running to the door. Little Adam stopped his whining, got up and joined Baby Ian. They loved Auntie Maddie. She came by often and always brought tiny trinkets and small presents for them.

But Quark instinctively knew it wasn’t her. She never knocks when she comes.

“NO!!!” barked Quark.

He chased after the two idiots, seized them by their collars and tore them back from the door.

“SHUT UP!” Quark whispered loudly. “Go to our bedroom and wait there. Adam, tell the twins… quietly… to be absolutely silent.”

In rare moments, they listened. More often, they don’t. But fortunately for Quark today, they did.

The door rattled again. Thud. Thud. Thud.

Once the two morons were gone, Quark pulled up his stool to peer through the peephole.

It wasn’t Hadrian. It wasn’t Auntie Maddie either. It was a strange man in a long leather trench coat with a cap and goggles on.

He was tall, with tufts of blonde hair bustling out from beneath the his cap like grass on concrete sidewalks. He moved his head like a snake. Next to him were two hulking masses of armored police officers.

The scary man raised his fist to hammer the door again. Quark stepped down and moved the stool away from the door. He had no idea what to do. Maybe I should just ignore them and they’ll go away.

Quark sat down several feet away from the door, his face in the palm of his hands. What do I do? What do I do?

“Children!” a voice announced, most likely the weird goggled man. “Please open the door! I am Neutron, a friend of your adopted father. There is news I need to share with you.”

A pause.

“As you can see,” Neutron continued, “I am with two officers of the law. This is all above board. We are not here to harm you in any way.”

Yeah… right.

Quark started moving furniture in front of the door. He saw Barry and Meso peeping from around the corner so Quark whispered at them to come help.

They tip-toed over and followed Quark’s lead. ☣