Free Repossessed by A. M. Jenkins Page B

get to select circles and bubble them in. I was looking forward to it.
    â€œYou’re a good kid, Shaun,” I heard Shaun’s mom say as I passed.
    I hesitated. I had the feeling that this moment required something of me, some reciprocal words or gesture.
    I put one hand on her shoulder and patted it awkwardly. It was the best I could do.
    She looked a little surprised, but then she smiled and lifted one hand to place it briefly on mine. It felt bony, and the fingers were cold.
    Bodies are rather untidy, with a somewhat gummy saclike skin holding organs in place so they won’t fall out, the whole thing oozing sweat and oil and constantly shedding dead cells. Physical contact is just plain odd,when you get down to it.
    That’s why I was surprised to find that I liked it.
    Â 
    Bubbling in tests sounded like fun, and it was—for about ten minutes. I tried using different pencil strokes and techniques, but it seems there are only so many ways to fill a tiny circle with graphite leavings. Still, I finished the assignment and then did Shaun’s geometry homework. That wasn’t much more fun, but I felt I ought to complete Shaun’s obligations.
    By the time I was done, Jason and his mother had both gone to bed. I thought I should get into bed, too—but then I remembered how Bailey had chastised me that morning for not getting online.
    It didn’t sound very interesting, talking via a keyboard and a screen. I’d much rather talk to someone face-to-face and watch their flesh slide, shift, and twitch from muscular expansion and contraction.
    However, this was Shaun’s life. I was determined to at least try to follow its structure.
    I turned on Shaun’s computer. It hummed quietly, as if coming to life. I sighed and brought up Instant Messenger.
    Bloo-bloo-bloop! said the computer, and a little box popped up.
    fullmetal7bd: hey dude hows ur face?
    That was Bailey.
    I started to write “It’s sore, but better than it was,” but I’d had no practice in keyboarding. Shaun was a good typist, and I knew where the keys were, but again, knowing was not the same as doing. I had to keep looking down in order to put my fingers in the proper location. It was taking too long, so I finally just wrote:
    trojanxxl: fine
    fullmetal7bd: what r u doin?
    I pecked out “Stuff,” but as I clicked on SEND — Bloo-bloo-bloop! —another box popped up. I knew that Shaun often carried on several conversations at once, so I turned my attention to the new box:
    angeloftheLord: Kiriel, you are trespassing in direct contravention of the Creator’s wishes. This is a warning: Return to your duties or you will be punished.

14
    A ll the warmth had left my fingertips.
    trojanxxl: who is this?
    Bloo-bloo-bloop!
    angeloftheLord: You must return to your duties immediately.
    An eternity of wishing to speak directly to my Creator, I thought in despair— and this is how He finally contacts me? Through AOL Instant Messenger?
    But no. “Angel of the Lord”: that would not be the Creator Himself. It would be one of His lieutenants.Gabriel, Michael, Raphael—someone like that.
    That’s how you know you’re low on the list. When you don’t even rate a face-to-face meeting with an underling.
    trojanxxl: With whom am I speaking?
    Is that right ? I thought. “Whom” is a direct object: “I am speaking to whom.”
    Yes, that’s right .
    I hit SEND .
    Â 
    â€œangeloftheLord is offline,” said the little box.
    fullmetal7bd: r u still there?
    trojanxxl: got to go. bye.
    I logged off and shut the computer down. I wasn’t about to touch it again. And I wouldn’t go to sleep tonight, not until this body zonked out on its own.
    They’ll have to drag me out of here, I thought.
    Then I realized: They’re going to .
    Strange how one can feel satisfaction, dread, and fear at the same time.
    Now I felt as if I were being watched. I reached