Jett
My mother ran around the room frantically, cleaning and dusting, setting things up. I watched in annoyance. "Why are we fostering a clone again?" She didn't stop what she was doing, or even look at me for that matter, but I knew she had rolled her eyes. "Because, Jett. There is a clone who has lived her entire life in a box being poked and prodded like a lab rat and she deserves a family." I leaned against the door frame and folded my arms. "Mom, she doesn't even have a real name it's just numbers." She leaned over the bed to tuck a folded sheet below the mattress, perfectly the first try. I can never seem to figure out how to put a folded sheet on and my mother makes it look like the easiest thing in the world. Finally, she looked up at me.
"I spoke with one of the doctors, they're given names by their nurses. They just use the numbers because the names aren't on any official paperwork." I raised my eyebrows at her and looked down at the letter we got in the mail again. It thanked us for our service in choosing to foster and told us about our clone. A girl, 17 years old, red hair and blue eyes. It described her a little more, and then there were about 10 numbers that looked random, but really, they represented her. Like my name on a birth certificate, hers were numbers that looked like nothing more than a phone number or a bar code.
Suddenly, my mother stopped what she was doing, dropped her arms, and looked at me, letting out a big sigh. "Please, Jett. I need you and Juno to be welcoming to this poor girl. We have no idea what she'll be like, if she's ever even had human interaction before." I tossed the letter on the desk and looked at her, exasperated. "That's my problem, mom. We don't know what she'll be like and she's going to sleep in our house. She could be a psycho, she might attack us. What if she doesn't even know how to speak?" She looked at me with those motherly eyes, the kind that could get you to do anything she asked. "She needs us, Jett. Besides, she's the same age as you and Juno. Maybe you'll all be friends." At that point I couldn't help but feel like a terrible son, and a terrible person. My mom was just doing what a mom does – reaching out to a child in need. I gave her a soft smile and offered to help finish setting up the clone's room. She smiled and nodded, thanking me.
That night at dinner, my father discussed with my mother the clone we were going to be bringing home the next day. He's head of security at the facility housing the clones, and apparently has met her once or twice. He said she's kind but nosy, curious, and almost rebellious. Though she's never actually done anything wrong, he can just tell that about her. I rolled my eyes at his suspiciousness and turned my attention to my sister, who was furiously texting on her cell phone. "Can you believe we're bringing home a clone tomorrow?" She didn't even look up at me, she just shrugged. "Juno, just because we're twins doesn't mean I can actually read your mind." Laughing, she looked at me and said, "You're silly. I wouldn't worry about it, I think it sounds interesting. Plus, we'll finally get to know what goes on in the facility since it's always been such a big secret." It was true, the facility was considered an almost taboo thing to talk about around here. Nearly everyone was okay with the cloning and harvesting, I suppose putting a price on a human being made them less human to the people of this town.
"Do we get to know who she's a clone of?" Juno asked my parents suddenly, still clutching her pink cell phone in her thin hands, interrupting their conversation. My mother looked at her sternly. "Now, Juno, when she gets here tomorrow we need to be open-minded and sensitive. We can't treat her like an alien." She said. "But we can't treat her like a clone?" Juno shot back. My father put down his silverware and furrowed his brow at her. "That's what she is!" She exclaimed. Both of my parents sighed in unison. "Juno, darling," my father began, "it's just not something we need to talk about to her. She's aware that she's a clone but the only people she's ever been in contact with are other clones and those who work in the facility." Juno stared at my father as if nothing he said mattered, nothing he could say will change the fact that in her eyes, this girl is a clone of someone. Quite possibly someone that we already know. "Coming here and being in the outside world will already be a bit of a culture shock for her. We can't drown her in questions when she arrives." Juno nodded in understanding, but more-so that she understands there's no point in trying to argue with our father.
"Thane," my mother said softly, placing her hand on his arm. "will you be alright when she arrives tomorrow?" My father closed his eyes and took a deep breath, before looking her intensely in the eyes. "Ixabel, dear. This clone," he paused for a moment. "this girl, sorry. She needs us. And we're going to be there for her. As a family," he said looking at each of us around the table. "we will do this as a family." My sister offered my dad a sideways half smile before excusing herself and heading to her room. My parents held hands and smiled at each other. For a moment, I was content with the way things were headed.
The next morning I was awake early, before the sun even rose. I had agreed to go with my mother to pick up the clone from the shelter they were being transported to. It was an hour drive and my mother was convinced we needed to beat the bus there, otherwise she would think we had abandoned her before we even had her. My father had to work the transport of the clones and asking Juno to come along was just out of the question, so I chose to support my mother on this stressful day, refusing to let her do it alone. When my mother and I got into the car the sun barely began to shine thin rays of light over the horizon. The drive was about an hour long and she didn't like to listen to music in the car, she thought it was a distraction. Last night I had hardly slept, I was tossing and turning and all I could think about was my parents and why they're choosing to foster a clone. It's not like we need the money from the government, but we also can't really afford the extra mouth and space. As it is, my mother's small office had to suffice as a bedroom. Although, I'm sure this girl has never known any different and won't mind it.
After about twenty minutes of driving I bucked up enough courage to look at my mom and say, "Mom, you know that you and Dad don't need to feel guilty, right?" She didn't look away from the road but her shoulders tensed and her breath caught. "You don't owe anyone anything, Mom." She took a moment to respond, I couldn't tell if she was carefully choosing her words or if I had upset her. "Your father and I are not doing this out of pity or for redemption, Jett." I could hear her voice shaking and my regret was nearly instant. It wasn't fair of me to bring up something to my mom that has haunted her and my father for 15 years. "Like we said yesterday, this girl needs a home and that's what we're going to give her. What kind of people would we be if we had the means to help and didn't? This is not a way to clear a conscience, son, I assure you." I nodded and apologized for bringing it up.
The rest of the drive was silent, but it gave me plenty of time to think about the girl we were heading to bring home. Are we going to make her go to high school? Will she go to school with Juno and I, or will there be a school for clones? Sending her to school is probably worse than leaving her in the facility. What if I know who she's cloned after? It's someone who lives in Washington, as all the clones in each state are kept in one facility, but that doesn't necessarily mean I know her. I wondered idly about her as we pulled up to a large, brick building that looked like an old warehouse.