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Chapter 6

"I can't believe I agreed to this," I said.

I was in a police car, sitting in the front seat with my backpack between my legs. The decorated officer, who looks a lot like Jeff Goldblum, was driving the car. At my expense, he had the radio turned on. Thunder boomed in the distance. It was going to rain soon.

"What's wrong, sport?"

"This sucks. A lot of this sucks."

"Try not to think too hard about it. I promise I will only observe from a distance and still be close enough to react if I have to."

"I didn't expect you to follow me around school. I guess I don't have a choice, do I?"

"Not really. But I'm here to only protect you, not disrupt your life. You have a test today, right?"

"Yeah. Biology. I couldn't focus on studying last night. I'm pretty sure I'll fail."

"Hmm. You seem to have a good head on your shoulders. I'm sure you will find a way through it. Just no using drugs to help you out, okay?"

"Did Buckley tell you about that?"

"Yeah, but he said you were innocent. The gun and the drugs were untraceable. That's not a normal occurrence. Everything has a trace. Your gun had no serial number, and the drugs were... questionable."

After that incident, my mother insisted I stay another day. Honestly, I was looking forward to school the next day, so I took a break playing some Terra Forma solo. It was a refreshing distraction.

"It wasn't my gun. It got in my bag. Somehow."

"I believe you. I believe in forensics, and they pretty much proved what you were saying. The gun couldn't even fit in your little hands."

"Thanks. Now I'm a druggie gun freak with tiny hands."

"Ha ha ha. You've got a sense of humor."

"Didn't get it from my mother."

"Father, then?"

I looked away. "I don't really talk about him. Usually because I have no idea who he is or what he's up to. He left a long time ago."

"A familiar story to me. I've seen it a lot over the years. They either leave their children to hurt them... or protect them."

"I don't know what he would be protecting me from."

"Did you maybe think this is the reason why he left?"

Now that he mentioned it, he had a point. Then again, I had nothing tied to my dad. Why go after me now? What had changed since then?

Oh. Yeah. The weird time distortion thing. Was that because of my dad? If it was, there was definitely a missing link. I almost wanted to tell Goldblum what my thoughts were, but I decided against it. If I started talking about how I evaded death three times by reversing time, I'm pretty sure he'd have me placed in a padded room.

"I don't know. I have nothing to do with him, and I want nothing from him. If it was, then the social distancing isn't working."

"I guess that's fair. You have a beautiful mother."

"Relax, Romeo. She's taken. Or will be soon."

"Easy there, sport. I was just saying. She definitely loves you. I wouldn't want to get between that."

"So, you knew my mom when she was an officer?"

"Oh yeah. Becky is an old favorite of mine. When she first joined, she was bright and ready. She pushed past her limits without breaking the law. She had done an excellent job."