Aliens on Aventine Hill

Alice [Part 6]

Lola Corbett sat down next to Roman with a sigh, crossing her legs. Leaning back, she propped herself up on one hand while the other fiddled with a stray lock of hair. Roman glanced at her for a moment before turning back to the television.

"Are you hungry?" she tried again. "There's leftover lasagna in the fridge."

Roman said nothing.

"I'll go heat it up," she nodded, standing up. "If you decide you don't want it, I'll eat it. No harm, no fowl..."

Still silence.

When she returned, Roman hadn't moved. The static snow reflected in the shine of his eyes. Setting the plate on an endtable, she fumbled with the rabbit ears until the picture reappeared.

Hands on her hips, she smiled down at Roman, "There. That's better, isn't it?"

Roman looked up at her, spell broken. She offered him the plate of lasagna, which he slowly accepted, "See, I knew you were hungry."

The little boy nodded, poking repugnantly at the crispy top of the lasagna while Lola sat down again beside him. She revealed a fork of her own, carving off a steaming bite and shoving it in her mouth.

Roman stared wide-eyed at her, guarding his lasagna, but he laughed when she nearly had to spit it out again. Swallowing gingerly, she laughed with him, "Careful, it's really hot."

He resumed in his poking and prodding; she turned back to the TV, watching him eat out of the corner of her eye. The commercial break ended, and a tranquility settled over them as they watched the evening news.

"Arnold died."

Lola stiffened, looking back at Roman. The little boy was staring at her with those enormous hazel eyes. She nibbled nervously at her lip, trying to figure out what that look meant. He was forever an enigma.

"I know," she settled on, nodding gently. Fingering the little gold cross hanging from her neck, she added, "He's up with the angels now."

"Somebody killed him."

Lola stared at Roman, startled.

"No, no, no," she tried to keep her voice soothing. "Sometimes bad things happen, Honey. It's nobody's fault. It's just a part of life. People aren't made to last forever."

"No—"

Lola cut off his protest with a raised eyebrow, "Did your brother tell that?"

"No," Roman shook his head. "Police."

She froze, "What? When did you...?"

"They came to talk to Remy."

"Roman," Lola bit her lip, "Is your brother in trouble?"

Roman studied her carefully and then slowly shook his head. Lola relaxed a little, pursing her lips, "They must be mistaken, Honey. Nobody had any reason to kill sweet old Arnold. You know that."

"Sometimes killing isn't personal."

Lola felt her mouth open, but she had no words to follow. Roman stared expectantly up at her, and she couldn't help thinking that they weren't his words. She glanced at the TV, at the evening news, though she knew it was his brother who had said it.

It wasn't hard to imagine why, especially considering what little she had heard about what had happened to their mother. Lola could picture Grayson struggling to explain. What drives a person to do something like that?

Her eyes landed on the television again, where they were showing footage from Northern Ireland. The headline scrolled across the bottom; her eyes stuck on the word "CIVILIAN."

Sometimes killing wasn't personal.