Chapter 10: Rhonda
Hector was not sure if he was supposed to meet up with his mother at some point that day. He had not heard from her since she had walked him home the night before, and since it was a Saturday, it wasn't like he knew to meet her after school. After waiting at home for most of the morning, he figured she would call his cell if she wanted him and left to spend some time with his friends.
It was a warm day, much warmer than it had been recently, and he was glad it seemed like spring was finally springing. Winter seemed to last longer every year, and this time of year there was always nervous talk that climate change would soon leave this area as cold and uninhabitable as territories to the north. Every year, however, spring eventually came, and by summer, talk of imminent doom ceased as people began complaining about the heat.
Heading out to meet Abby and a few of his other friends at the park, Hector opted to throw on jeans, sneakers and plain green tee shirt. It did not take him long to jog down to the park. He was a fast runner, much faster than most of his classmates. Since middle school, he had run track on his school's team, and he had his share of medals to show for his victories. He had never thought much about it and always attributed his speed to his long legs and frequent training. Since meeting Samus, however, he had begun to wonder if there was more to his athleticism than simply hard work. After all, Samus was an enhanced super-soldier. Would it not make sense that he may have inherited some of that?
It was only one of many questions that plagued him about Samus. He wanted very badly to know more about the mysterious woman who was supposedly his mother. He knew she was generally willing to answer anything he asked, even when he could tell she really didn't want to answer, but he had never seen her world first hand. He had never even seen her in that legendary suit of armor she always wore on television.
Abby had been surprised when he had told her his mother was actually her Aunt Sam, but she was not as shocked as he had expected her to be. Strangely enough, his girlfriend knew his mother far better than he did, and it felt weird knowing Samus had been part of her life since she was born. True, Abby and her family were originally from space, but they had moved to Earth when he was very young, and they had grown up down the block from one another. Samus had managed to avoid him that whole time, and while he was glad to finally be getting to know her now, there was still a part of him that was conflicted about all of the lost years. After all, if her life were really as busy and dangerous as she claimed, how long would it be before she left again? And would she ever come back?
It was a morbid thought, but he wondered how he would feel if he found out she died while off on a mission. In theory, his life would go on exactly as it had been only a week earlier, before he knew of his relationship to the legendary bounty hunter. He tried to chase the idea from his mind. It was very unsettling to think about. He had never lost a close family member before, and while Samus was not exactly close yet, she was still his mother, and despite only knowing her a short while, she seemed to genuinely love and care about him. It was hard to stay angry with her for being absent for fifteen years knowing that for so much of that time, she had been putting her own life on the line to protect him and the rest of the galaxy. She may have never acted as his mother in the traditional sense, but she had provided for him and protected him in her own way.
Hector tried to clear his thoughts as he rounded the corner and the small park came into view. It was not anything exciting, but it was the local park he and his friends had played in since they were children. On the other side of the soccer field, he could see Abby sitting with two of their other friends, Bobby and Hikaru. He waved as he jogged over and joined them on the worn out swing set. It was one of those big plastic structures with a slide, monkey bars, and fireman's pole, but it was the same one they had played on as kids and badly in need of replacing. As a result, the only people who ever hung out on it were teenagers, and they did not play so much as sit and talk.
"Hey!" Abby called out as Hector got close. The other two guys just waved.
Bobby was a shorter boy from Abby's year. He was pale and had dark brown hair with the tips bleached and dyed blue, and he wore mostly black clothes and beat up faux combat boots. Hector felt hot just looking at him sitting in the sun in faded back cargo pants and a black hoodie. His parents were very straight laced and clean-cut individuals, and as a result, he seemed to have made it his personal goal in life to embody the teenage spirit of rebellion. Hikaru was nearly as tall as Hector, and he was a thin boy of Asian decent. His straight black hair was long enough that it fell to his shoulders, and he was wearing blue jeans with a band tee shirt. He was in Hector's year, and out of the two boys, Hikaru was generally the more laid back.
"What are you guys up to?" Hector asked the other two once he climbed up the fireman's pole finished kissing Abby hello.
"They're talking about stupid boy things," Abby replied with a laugh. Hector thought she looked particularly pretty that day. She was wearing a yellow sundress and a matching headband in her long brown hair. As tall and thin as she was, she looked like she could have been a model.
"It is not a stupid boy thing!" Bobby glared at Abby. "It's a relevant piece of current events!"
"Right…" Hikaru rolled his eyes, sitting up against the top of the slide. "He's talking about his hero again."
"Yep." Abby nodded. "Full-out fanboy mode."
"You guys!" Bobby glared at the rest of them. "I'm being serious! Samus Aran might still be on Earth!"
That made Hector tense for a moment. He knew there were always rumors about who Samus was or what she was doing (if Samus was even a woman at all), and Bobby kept himself glued to the latest celebrity gossip. It was not unusual for people to follow Samus news the way they followed the birth announcements of Queen Elizabeth III's grandchildren, and a lot of boys at his school were big Samus fans. Hector was never sure why Bobby was as obsessed with Samus as he was, and he had always written it off that Bobby looked up to your typical tough action movie hero type. It felt a little weird now that Hector knew they were talking about his mom. He wondered how Abby had managed to keep a straight face at all of the weird rumors over the years.
"And why," asked Abby with a mischievous sneer, "would Samus Aran bother hanging around Earth? Doesn't he have space bounties to hunt on Mars or something?"
Bobby stared her in the eyes, a deadpan expression on his face. "I can tell you're mocking me. You know Samus is a woman. And Samus doesn't hunt bounties on Mars. Martians are boring small potatoes."
"You're right," Hikaru said, repressing a chuckle. "Mars is nowhere near as interesting as the places Samus hangs out… like Bangor."
"For the thousandth time, 'Karu," Bobby growled, looking like he was about to pop his cork, "there were like, fifty Space Dragon Pirates in Bangor. She had to kill them all because no one else can fight Space Dragon Pirates. She might still be here."
"If she's alive," Hikaru added, his voice suddenly more serious. "No one's seen her or heard from her since that battle. She might have blown herself up in that factory explosion."
Hector did not say anything, but he listened intently. He had not bothered to ask his mother the details of her most recent battle, but he did know that supposedly it had done a number on her and she was still recovering. Abby gave him a knowing look and quick smile that helped dissipate some of the tension he did not realize he had been having.
"She's alive," Bobby retorted, but the statement lacked the conviction he had shown during the rest of the conversation. "She'll be back."
"Yeah…" Hector said awkwardly, feeling weird about not participating in the conversation after blowing off his friends all week. "Maybe she's still alive."
"I find your lack of faith disturbing."
Hector jumped suddenly at the sound of a woman's deep voice coming from behind him. All of them jumped at the sudden interjection, except for Abby, who had been sitting across from Hector and watching the newcomer approaching behind him.
"Hello, Aunt Rhonda!" the girl called as Hector spun awkwardly around and came face to face with his mother. They were sitting on the upper level of the slide-and-jungle-gym-structure, but Samus was tall enough to see over the platform that led to the fireman's pole.
"Hello Abby," she replied with a grin. Her long blonde hair was loose and wild, and he black tank top showed off her muscular form and scars. She looked very out of place in the quiet suburban town.
"Who're you?" Bobby asked, giving Samus a weird look.
"Oh my god, you idiot," Hikaru interjected, shaking his head. "You really don't have any social skills do you? That's the woman who's been staying at General Malkovich's place. Abby clearly knows her."
"You know her, Hector?" Bobby gave Hector a weird look. "You hang out over there, don't you?"
"Oh he knows me," Samus replied, looking Bobby dead in the eyes and wearing a straight face. "I'm the one General Malkovich hired to keep an eye on him and take him out if he tries any funny business with the General's daughter."
Bobby stared back at her, an awkward look on his face as though he was not sure whether or not to believe her. It sounded absurd, but she was certainly intimidating and she had said it so seriously.
Deciding his friend had been mocked enough for one afternoon, Hector swallowed the lump in his throat and decided it was time to do something he had thought about doing since Samus had arrived a week ago. Of course, he had gotten her permission beforehand, not wanting to do anything that would endanger either of them.
"Guys," he said suddenly, his voice quiet but firm enough to grab everyone's attention. "This is Rhonda. She's not actually a hitman for General Malkovich, although they do know each other. She's an old friend of his… and my dad's. I just met her recently." He looked quietly into the confused and curious eyes of Bobby and Hikaru as Abby silently nodded. "Guys, this is my mother."
The two boys stared silently in disbelief. They knew, theoretically, Hector had a mother out there somewhere, although no one knew where. They had listened to his rants before about how he knew his dad knew how to get in contact with her but would never let him do it. Looking at the tough woman before them, Hikaru kind of wondered if she was an ex-con and that's why she had been out of his life for so many years, but that would not have explained where the generous child support checks had come from. Very few people knew about the small fortunes Hector occasionally got from his mystery mom, but he and Hikaru generally told each other everything.
"Hello, Rhonda," Hikaru said after a moment, trying to break some of the tension that had formed over the group. "It's a pleasant surprise to meet you."
"Yeah…" Bobby stared at her awkwardly. "Good to meet you, Mrs. Fields."
"Bobby," Hikaru hissed and elbowed his friend in the side. "She's not married to Hector's dad. She wouldn't be Mrs. Fields."
Samus just stared coldly at the two boys and gave a smile that stopped at her lips. "It's Sinclaire, actually. Ms. Rhonda Sinclaire."
"Oh," Bobby said with a shrug. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Sinclaire."
Hector turned back toward his mom and looked down at her as she leaned on the fireman's pole. "What's up, Rhonda?"
"Can I borrow you for a little while, Spawn? I need to talk to you about something." Something about her tone bothered him. She was generally pretty flat, but there was something forebodingly flat about it now.
"Sure, just hang on a sec."
Samus stepped out of the way as her son got up and jumped down the fireman's pole, barely having to grab it before he reached the ground.
"What's going on?" he asked as they finally stood face to face.
"Walk with me," she replied quietly as she put a hand on his back and steered him away from his friends.
When they had gotten a sufficient distance away, Samus sat down on one of the benches in a deserted section of the park. She looked around carefully to see if anyone was approaching, and when she saw they were truly alone, she turned to her son.
"I'm sorry, Hector," she said very solemnly as he braced himself for whatever news she might have next. "I just received a call from Chairman Keaton. I have to go back into space on Monday to meet with him. It's a matter of urgent importance, and for whatever reason, I'm the one he needs."
Hector looked at her quietly for a moment as a soft breeze blew by and rustled her long hair. "I'm guessing this isn't the kind of meeting you'll be back from on Tuesday then, huh?"
Samus shook her head. "No. It's not."
Hector looked off to the side and back. "I guess… it's the kind of meeting you're not sure if you'll come back from at all?"
"Those are generally the kinds of meetings I have." She looked at him sadly as she ran a hand through his sandy hair and studied his big green eyes. "I was hoping we had longer, but I can't ignore a summons from the Chairman."
Hector closed his eyes and nodded, fighting against the feelings welling up in his chest. "Yeah… You can't do that." He paused for a moment and took a breath. "But will you try to come back?"
"Hector Aran Fields," she stared at him very seriously, "believe me when I say, I will do everything in my power to return. Everything. There's no force in the universe that could stop me."
Hector looked at his mom, trying not to let on to the emotions suddenly eating him up but failing. "I… I'm really gonna miss you. I know it hasn't been long but—"
"Shh." Samus quieted him as she pulled her son into her embrace. "I know. Believe me, I know. I left you for fifteen years once. I swear that so long as I am living, I will never do that again."
Hector returned her hug and lay pressed up against his mother's shoulder as he felt her hand petting his head and the top of his back.
"Besides," she said after a moment. "We've still got a day and a half left together, and I intend to spend every moment of that with you. If you'd like that, of course."
Pulling away, Hector looked at his mom and smiled. "I'd like that."