The Serophim Breach (The Serophim Breach Series) by Tracy Serpa Page A
Authors: Tracy Serpa
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Seed, water . . . Sarah’s still in high school—she has dances and sports. She’s going to be sixteen soon, and Dad’s talking about trying to get her a car.”
His brother lifted his hands as if he was displaying the obvious and said, “It’s a one-year investment that will end up paying for itself!”
Something in Kai snapped, and the well of resentment that he had harbored longer than he cared to admit boiled over. His voice raised, he pointed an accusing finger at his brother, and he said, “Did you know Dad pays you more? Because you’re paying for your student loans.”
The blank look on Brandon’s face only infuriated him more. He scoffed and moved to get out of the car. Brandon swallowed hard, then said, “The three of us—”
“I’ll be back in a minute.” Kai cut him off and slammed the door. There was no answer from Brandon as he stalked away toward the house. He did his best to compose himself before knocking, not wanting to be faced with any questions from the ever-increasingly paranoid Trent. He rapped on the shabby front door three times, but received no answer. The doorbell had been broken for months, so he tried the handle and found it unlocked.
Stepping into Trent’s house always set Kai’s nerves on edge. It reminded him of the only time he had gone swimming in the ocean before the sun rose over the island, and the normally clear water was murky beneath his feet. Today, Trent’s house was darker than usual. The desk lamp was off, and the television was partially obscured by a couch cushion leaning against the screen. Kai glanced around before stepping farther in. From the hallway he could see the living room and kitchen, both cluttered with food wrappers and beer cans.
“Trent!” he called halfheartedly. He stepped around a folding chair in the hallway and began picking his way through the debris that littered the floor. The house normally stank of cigarettes and unwashed bodies, but today there was another stronger, sour odor that made it hard to breathe. Kai tried sucking shallow breaths through his mouth to avoid experiencing the stench, but it was so thick in the air, he found he could taste it with every inhalation. He headed toward the kitchen, breathing gingerly.
“Trent, you here man?” he called again. Except for the murmur of the television, the house was quiet. Stepping over a box of old cans, beer bottles, and newspapers that blocked the way into the kitchen, he opened the first cabinet on his left and pulled the Cap’n Crunch box out from a tightly packed row of sugary cereals. Inside, there was an envelope and five rubber-band- wrapped stacks of tickets. A familiar feeling of repugnance crept up from Kai’s stomach and sat bitterly in the back of his throat.
He and Trent had been great friends from an early age, attending the same elementary and middle schools. Once they started high school, however, their paths had split, and before long they occupied diametrically opposed levels of the social strata. Kai’s baseball prowess made him a jock, but he was also successful in the classroom; everyone liked him, including his teachers. Trent became one of the kids who wore black and ate lunch near the planters in the parking lot. He had been suspended more than once for getting caught with drug paraphernalia.
They had run into each other three years after graduation, and Trent had offered Kai “a fix for his money problems” if he ever wanted one. Things hadn’t gotten desperate enough for Kai to consider the offer seriously until Sarah got invited to prom in April. His father hadn’t expected her to go her sophomore year, and so had not budgeted enough money for a gown. When she asked, Kai told her he had some emergency funds saved up, and prom qualified as an expense. That night, he had called Trent, saying, “Just not drugs, man. You got something else for me to do?”
He had ended up scalping tickets to sporting events, theater shows, and hiking tours,
His brother lifted his hands as if he was displaying the obvious and said, “It’s a one-year investment that will end up paying for itself!”
Something in Kai snapped, and the well of resentment that he had harbored longer than he cared to admit boiled over. His voice raised, he pointed an accusing finger at his brother, and he said, “Did you know Dad pays you more? Because you’re paying for your student loans.”
The blank look on Brandon’s face only infuriated him more. He scoffed and moved to get out of the car. Brandon swallowed hard, then said, “The three of us—”
“I’ll be back in a minute.” Kai cut him off and slammed the door. There was no answer from Brandon as he stalked away toward the house. He did his best to compose himself before knocking, not wanting to be faced with any questions from the ever-increasingly paranoid Trent. He rapped on the shabby front door three times, but received no answer. The doorbell had been broken for months, so he tried the handle and found it unlocked.
Stepping into Trent’s house always set Kai’s nerves on edge. It reminded him of the only time he had gone swimming in the ocean before the sun rose over the island, and the normally clear water was murky beneath his feet. Today, Trent’s house was darker than usual. The desk lamp was off, and the television was partially obscured by a couch cushion leaning against the screen. Kai glanced around before stepping farther in. From the hallway he could see the living room and kitchen, both cluttered with food wrappers and beer cans.
“Trent!” he called halfheartedly. He stepped around a folding chair in the hallway and began picking his way through the debris that littered the floor. The house normally stank of cigarettes and unwashed bodies, but today there was another stronger, sour odor that made it hard to breathe. Kai tried sucking shallow breaths through his mouth to avoid experiencing the stench, but it was so thick in the air, he found he could taste it with every inhalation. He headed toward the kitchen, breathing gingerly.
“Trent, you here man?” he called again. Except for the murmur of the television, the house was quiet. Stepping over a box of old cans, beer bottles, and newspapers that blocked the way into the kitchen, he opened the first cabinet on his left and pulled the Cap’n Crunch box out from a tightly packed row of sugary cereals. Inside, there was an envelope and five rubber-band- wrapped stacks of tickets. A familiar feeling of repugnance crept up from Kai’s stomach and sat bitterly in the back of his throat.
He and Trent had been great friends from an early age, attending the same elementary and middle schools. Once they started high school, however, their paths had split, and before long they occupied diametrically opposed levels of the social strata. Kai’s baseball prowess made him a jock, but he was also successful in the classroom; everyone liked him, including his teachers. Trent became one of the kids who wore black and ate lunch near the planters in the parking lot. He had been suspended more than once for getting caught with drug paraphernalia.
They had run into each other three years after graduation, and Trent had offered Kai “a fix for his money problems” if he ever wanted one. Things hadn’t gotten desperate enough for Kai to consider the offer seriously until Sarah got invited to prom in April. His father hadn’t expected her to go her sophomore year, and so had not budgeted enough money for a gown. When she asked, Kai told her he had some emergency funds saved up, and prom qualified as an expense. That night, he had called Trent, saying, “Just not drugs, man. You got something else for me to do?”
He had ended up scalping tickets to sporting events, theater shows, and hiking tours,
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