Conscript
Chapter 2- Thriving From A Riff
The night was still young, but Gren wasn't thinking of what sort of amusements he could find in Tharsis. Instead, he was searching for the right gift to give his mother; something to soften the blow of the tragic news. He finally decided on a bouquet of white roses, and slowly walked toward his home in the nicer section of the city.
His father had worked hard to move the entire family from Earth, and while Valeria did not remember her birth planet and the beautiful palm trees that lined the sandy beaches of the port, Gren could appreciate how much his parents sacrificed to give their children the best life possible. That's what made him come back, no matter that he wanted to leave home or to tell them his secrets. It was far too important to let them have a happy twilight than for him to be selfish like Val.
The house was modest for one in this section of Tharsis, but was still bigger than the ones in Miami or Alba. With a quick turn of his key, Gren stepped inside the large entrance room, hanging up his coat and placing his shoes with the rest of the family's.
"Mother? I'm home early tonight. Are you still awake?"
A feeble reply came from the television room in acknowledgement. Hurrying to the room, he kissed his mother's forehead as she sat in her recliner watching her soaps before handing her the roses.
"Grencia, what's the occasion? It's not my birthday. Are you going to return to work for your father?"
Sitting cross legged on the floor in front of her, Gren sighed as he pulled the summons from his pocket, opening it gently before handing it to her. "I've been drafted. I leave for the army in two days."
Mother read the letter, sighing heavily as she let it drop to her lap. "You're too old for the military, and you've been to college. Why are they choosing such a sweet boy like you when there are so many urchins running the streets?"
Her gaze turned upward, as if she was thinking. Gren moved next to her, as a child would, allowing her to put her arm around his shoulder.
"Your uncle still lives on Earth, and you could pass for Valeria for the time it takes to get there."
"He's not going to dodge the draft." Both Gren and Mother turned to stare at Father, a short dark haired man of formidable stature and build. "This unit he's been drafted in to is comprised of all the affluent sons of Mars. Public outcry was that the rich send their children as well, so the first unit to be drafted has to be like this. Otherwise we'll all lose our claims to the opal mines."
Mother sighed as she accepted her husband's statement, but Gren remained catatonic. Boys, like those he attended school with, were all being sent to secure opal mines for their fathers? It was ridiculous!
"If that is the way it will be, then I see why Grencia must go."
"Mother!"
"You watch your tone! Her health is fragile, and you don't want to have her death weighing upon your mind for the rest of your life!"
Gren's eyes returned to the floor as his mother continued to run her fingers through his hair. "No sir."
"I'll take you to the base then. Enjoy these next two days, and when you come back, all of that nonsense about being a musician should be gone from your system."
He did not look at his father as he exited the room, only leaned closer to Mother's soothing hand as her nails gently scraped his scalp, mixing pleasure with contentment. She knew nothing of his secrets, and that suited them well. He would always be her favorite child, even though he would be forced to act as a man in less than a week.
"Grencia, when you come back, I'll find you a suitable fiancée. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"
"Yes, Mother." He leaned closer to her hand, closing his eyes. He wanted nothing of the sort, but if it would make her happy. . . . .
"Then you can have children, two or three of them, and hopefully you will be as blessed as I am to have the most perfect son any woman could hope for. We should have stopped having children when you were born, but your father insisted he needed a second son, in case something happened to you. But he had Valeria, and she's been nothing but a handful since the day she was born."
Gren heard the door open, certain his younger sister had entered the house by the stumbling and cursing coming from the entrance hall. Her hair was almost black, and cut to chin length in a crisp bob that was all the rage among her friends.
She entered the television room with her books slung casually over her shoulder, rolling her eyes at the scene in front of her.
"Mother, if you keep treating him like that, he's going to turn in to a fag, but God knows he's already there."
Gren backed away from his mother's hand as she folded it across her lap. "Valeria, where have you been?"
"Out."
"I don't want to hear about you being pregnant or failing out of university after only your second semester."
"I won't fail, Mother." The venom in her words made Gren wince, but not their mother. "I'll amount to more than the little queer ever could."
"You'll regret those words if he is killed on Titan."
Valeria's face fell at her mother's words, her entire posture changing from combative to dumbstruck as she turned to stare at her now standing brother. "I, I didn't know. Grencia, I'm sorry to hear the news."
He only smiled as he walked toward the door. "As Carl says, it will all work out. I only hope you treat Mother as I would when I'm off fighting some bloody war. Good night."