Chapter Nine
Kaitlyn couldn't find her biology homework.
Seriously? As if the weekend wasn't bad enough with Tyler's lingering bad attitude, and her mother's absence. Now, she would be joining Freddie in detention for sure.
No, it wasn't fair! She'd spent the time on that homework, she endured her brother's bad mood, and dealt with a lonely weekend. She hardly deserved a night of detention too.
Where was it?
Trying to pull on a pair of socks while she hopped around the room, scanning her surroundings for her purple notebook, she caught sight of Tyler booking it out of the house. Yeah, that was typical; he had become more and more accustomed to taking off early, before he had to deal with their mother. Whatever. Kaitlyn didn't want to speak to him; he was being a jerk.
There it was! Peeking out from under her bed. She grabbed the notebook, breathing out a sigh of relief before shoving it in her backpack and taking off downstairs to the kitchen where she started to pack herself a lunch for school. Tyler was already gone; she could hear his motorcycle puttering down the street. Bye, Tyler. Have a good day, Tyler. See you after school, Tyler. Once upon a time, the family used to sit down and eat breakfast together before their mother drove them to school. It seemed a thousand years ago now. Back when she had a father, back when she had a family.
Tears threatened, so she distracted herself with a peanut butter sandwich.
Then she heard footsteps down the stairs, and her mother's voice.
"Yes, Paul, I'm on my way...no, the files are on my desk...under the...no, not there!"
On the phone. With her boss.
It didn't sound like Erica was ending this conversation anytime soon, so Kaitlyn bagged her sandwich, tossed it in her backpack and headed for the front door.
But Erica, on her way to the kitchen, caught Kaitlyn's eye and held up a finger, flagging her down.
Kaitlyn sighed. That was a first. Normally, Erica hardly noticed when her kids left in the morning. She was always so busy with work. It must be important if she wanted Kaiti to wait.
"Yeah Paul, I'll be in within the next 15 minutes." Erica sighed heavily. "I gotta go, Paul, I gotta talk to my kid. See you at work."
Before she even waited for a response, Erica hung up.
"Sorry, baby, I know you gotta get going pretty soon, but I wanted to talk to you quick first," she said, taking a seat on one of the kitchen stools. Kaitlyn stayed standing, leaning over the high counter.
"About what?" Kaitlyn wanted to know. It had to be important, that much she could sense. Her mother wasn't one to engage in small talk, at least not in the morning, not when she had to be at work in fifteen minutes.
"I'm curious about your thoughts on the Visitors," Erica said, straight to the point. "What do you think about them?"
Kaitlyn couldn't help but smile a little.
"You mean, am I as obsessed about them as Tyler is?"
Erica laughed a little. "Kaiti, you are too smart for your own good. I can't pull anything over your eyes."
Kaitlyn shrugged with a meek grin.
"I don't know, mom, they're from outer space. Sure, it's interesting, but I think it's a little weird, and they're a little too nice. It's not natural."
"Niceness isn't always a bad thing, Kaiti." Erica pointed out.
"Maybe, but come on. Nobody, not even aliens, just decide to give things away without wanting something in return," Kaitlyn rebuttled.
Erica sighed. "Well, you could be right. After all, we don't know a lot about them." Except that they've been infiltrating our planet for years, and they're murderers, and liars, and reptiles, Erica thought. "I just want you two to be careful. It's like I taught you when you were little, don't talk to strangers."
"Don't worry, mom. I'm not interested in the V's. Anything is bad news when people start worshipping it instead of God," Kaitlyn replied.
"Can't argue with that."
"It just sucks, mom. I mean, hardly anybody even goes to that church to begin with, but since the Visitors came, there's barely anybody there. Even Freddie's starting to get all weird; he's even talking about wanting to join the Peace Ambassador program. He's only 13!" Kaitlyn huffed.
"I'm sure Freddie will come around in his own time. He's probably just fascinated by all the new things that come along with the V's. He's not alone in that. Speaking of which, where's Ty this morning?" Erica looked around for evidence of her eldest.
Kaitlyn sighed. "He already left. I saw him take off about fifteen minutes ago."
"Shoot," Erica murmured. "I was hoping to get a chance to talk to him."
"Yeah." Kaitlyn paused. "Mom?"
"Yeah babe?"
"I was just wondering if-"
The phone interrupted them.
"Hold on, Mouse." Erica answered the phone and listened. It was probably her boss. Erica's face dropped and she sighed loudly.
"Oh man, okay, I'll be right there!" She pinched her phone shut.
"Sorry, Kaiti, I gotta run. There's a situation at the Peace Ambassador Center, and I have to be there." Erica grabbed her jacket, her bag. "Get yourself to school and be good. I'll see you later!"
Without even so much as a kiss on the head, Erica flew out the front door.
Leaving Kaitlyn alone.
Again.
"...just wondering if we could all see a movie this weekend. As a family." She said to the empty walls.
But who was she kidding? This family was in shambles. She could blame Tyler, she could blame her father, she could blame her mother, she could blame the Visitors, but really, was it any one person's fault?
She didn't know, but what she did know was this: a year ago, before the divorce, her mother only worked eight hours a day, her father cooked them all spaghetti every Thursday night, and Tyler wasn't a jerk. Those were the days she missed, but she had a hunch those were the days she would also never get back.
