Sorry it took so long to update. I haven't had any time between school and work. Thanks for reading!
"Hey, I'm just trying to be nice. You're lucky I'm making the effort" she half joked. "By the way, you got a name?"
"Jacob. Jacob Black. Not that it's going to matter for much longer..." he trailed off, and then he mumbled horrified, "Four days. Four freaking days left."
"Four days?" Portiana asked, confused, "What's in four days?"
Jacob laughed bitterly. "The rug gets ripped from under my feet. The shoreline crumbles beneath me. I get thrown off a cliff. My…"
"Hold on! I don't understand a word you're saying. You don't have to talk in riddles like Yoda. I promise I'm not Obi Wan in hiding. Besides which, you are way too tall to be Yoda."
"My Best friend is having a baby in four days."
There was an awkward silence as Portiana thought this over. The way he said it, having a baby sounded like the end of the world, but having a baby was a good thing, right? …unless it was his baby and no one knew about it… and Jacob could be worried about other people realizing that the baby looked like him… or maybe about his relationship to his friend after the baby was born… But she was jumping to conclusions. It would be best just to ask him.
"Isn't having a baby a good thing?"
"Usually. At least, with human babies; but this thing is ripping her open from the inside!"
Jacob began trembling from anger. The expression on his face said it all. His jaw was clenched, his dark eyebrows pushing together, eyes dark and stormy. She watched as his fists tightened on the steering wheel, knuckles turning from deep tan to white. When the trembling increased in violence, Portiana became alarmed; surely this man is completely insane. His words replayed through her head. "At least with human babies" So her theory had been wrong then. He must believe that aliens impregnated his best friend. Not only that, but also "ripping her open from the inside" He needed serious psychiatric help for sure. Maybe if she could convince him to keep talking, she could figure out which ward the wacko had escaped from. At the very least she needed to make sure he didn't throw himself off a cliff or something… Oh yeah, one more thing- she should probably check on the girl too…
"Umm... Jacob?" He seemed to have forgotten she was there. When she spoke, however, the shaking decreased some, and his eyes flashed towards her. He held eye contact, and raised his heavy brows, waiting for her to continue.
"I'm starving, and I figure since you're a guy… your probably hungry too. So if you want to, you can come with me and continue your… explanation." Could he tell how nervous she was? Man, she did not want to spend any more time with this lunatic.
"Thanks for the offer, but I don't need your sympathy. It's bad enough that my enemy feels sorry for me." Jacob snorted humorlessly. "It's obvious I'm not going to find what I'm looking for. See you around…" he trailed off, "… or not." He started the car with a swift twist of the key, pulling away.
"Bye," Portiana said softly as he drove off. She kind of felt sorry for the guy. More pressing on her mind, however, was the doubt in the back of her mind that said "There is no way it is safe for him to be driving." Then she had a thought, and quickly she read off his license plate number, committing it to memory. "753-HBB " she repeated, digging through the large peace sign decorated canvas bag that she used as a purse, searching for a pen. She found an old ballpoint and a folded gum wrapper on which she proceeded to write the number.
Portiana then returned to the swing set, groaning when she realized that her sister had disappeared.
"Hey! Susannah!" she yelled, scanning the expanse of plastic tubing, bridges, ladders, and slides. "The Ice-cream man is across the street! If you want something, you'd better move your scrawny butt!" Of course, there wasn't really an ice cream truck across the street, but it would make Susannah come quick, and Portiana had to get home.
Sure enough, "Where? I don't see it!" Susannah screeched excitedly as she ran over.
"You just missed it. But I know Mom bought some cookie dough ice-cream the other day."
"Awww. Wait, she does? Okay, let's go. Cookie dough ice-cream is my favoritest!" Portiana laughed at her sisters antics.
"I know. I'm your sister, silly." She said, ruffling Susannah's hair.
"Race ya!"
"Of course. Ready, get set… aaaaand, one for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, and away we… GO" Portiana waited for her sister to get a big enough head start, before racing out of the park, down the sidewalk, across the street, and up their driveway.