Fear and Aggression by Dane Bagley Page B

huh!”
    “ Wow, Tammy, that does
sound cool. I’ve never thought of that before. I’d probably just
scream, and then spill the beans to the first person I see,” Mary
said, looking up at the ceiling, and then with a laugh, “I can see
it now. You discover the secret of alien life, and then you go up
to that cute Captain of yours, and say, ‘I know something you don’t
know, na na na na na na,’ and you've got him wrapped around your
finger.” They both started laughing boisterously; both of them
lying on their backs on their beds, they stared out their window
with wonderment and some nervous anticipation about their upcoming
adventures. Tammy, feeling disappointed and excited all at once,
allowed her emotions to multitask for a while. Mary was feeling
excited for her friend, and jealous. But that combination of
feelings was not so incompatible, nor singular. They both lay there
in silence, in their own little worlds, but in some sense bonding.
It could be a long time before either of them would be able to bond
with another member of the same sex, in this same way.
     

Chapter 10
     
     
     
     
     
    The door opened and a tired older man walked
into the room. He had on jeans, a rugged button-up collared shirt,
and an old baseball cap. He’d spent most of his life as a bread
truck delivery driver, so 3:30 AM was nothing new, but 2:30 PM was
now a time of exhaustion for this sixty-eight-year-old formerly
retired man.
    “ Hey, Markey, you mind
turnin’ that down some?”
    “ Hey, Gramps,” Mark
mustered lazily as he barely turned the volume down.
    “ What you been up to; last
day of summer, ain’t it?”
    “ Nothin’.”
    “ D’you check
email?”
    “ No, not yet.”
    The older man disappeared for a while in the
direction of his bedroom, while Mark continued to brain drain in
front of the tube.
    Ryan Rickson, Mark’s maternal grandfather,
had been his caretaker for the past four years. He had lost his
wife to cancer about twenty years ago, and had lived alone for a
long time. About five years ago he went into retirement with no
clear objective, other than not working. It had been a painfully
boring year—primarily occupying himself with television—but would
become only painful when the accident happened. Mark’s parents and
two older sisters were returning from a day trip in the evening. A
car with an extremely intoxicated driver hit them squarely on the
driver’s side and both cars went off of the embankment into a lake.
It was in a very rural area, and there were apparently no witnesses
to the accident. In addition the road was in terrible repair, so
that the effects of the accident were not obvious to anyone
casually driving down the road. The drunken man and the four family
members were all killed; no one was found for three days. Mark’s
father and one of his sisters likely died instantly on impact. His
mother and other sister may have lived for a short while, but were
not likely conscious, as there was no apparent attempt of
escape.
    Mark had been with his older brother Steve
at the time. Steve had been away for a while for his Space Force
training, and had returned that summer for a short while. Mark
looked up to Steve immensely, so Steve had planned an entire day
together. Fishing and boating, and a little bit of basketball mixed
in. They had been up watching movies, and were very concerned that
the family had not shown up from the trip. At three AM Steve had
called the police, and then everyone he could think of. For three
days they had no answers, until a phone call detailing the accident
came from the police.
    Steve had to arrange with the Space Force
for an extended leave while he made preparations for Mark. Grandpa
Rickson quickly volunteered to be Mark’s caretaker, and within the
week had come out of retirement to increase his means, as he knew
his retirement would not be sufficient to raise a growing boy.
    Mark’s memory of the time was about as
bitter-sweet as possible. He had spent