“Move your fat ass!” I’m shoved over hard into the vehicle door.
“Are you sure it’s my ass that’s fat? You’re the one who scarfed a whole bag of scala mix.” I was surprised they had it at the fuel station, but it was pretty swanky for what it was. They must get their fair share of tourists, but I didn’t check or ask what was around there. I kind of regret it now.
“You said you weren’t going to mention that again. I can’t help it if I’m stressed.”
“What do you have to be stressed about?” My sister stares at me blankly. I stare back. A choked snort comes from the other side of the vehicle. My sister is squished between me and the probably…maybe sleeping kid we promised we’d drop off midway through our trip. I say kid because he looks so young, but it’s hard to pin down the ages for people in his race. He could easily be my young adult age or older. The suddenness of the noise from Elan broke our standoff and we look at the stranger we are obligated to spend too much time with in the narrow confines of a vehicle.
“I can’t believe we have to take this trip with a Citza.” My sister, Deema, is whispering, but it’s entirely too loud.
“And I can’t believe what a bigot you are.”
“What? We all know what kind of people they are.” My sister clearly thinks “Citza” is enough to justify feelings that have trapped Elan’s people in oppression since the beginning of the Nethraverse. They are mostly free now, but for some the technicality doesn’t matter because things can still be so horrible. Listening to her spew such ugliness makes me regret feeling a little hostile that he was pushed to join us on this trip. It’s long enough without the million stops we need to take. But that’s an excuse. I need to do better, especially when I don’t do dick to help them out. I go about my day and don’t give any Citza a second thought. What kind of person does that make me?
“I don’t even want you to explain that because he’s going to wake-up and realize that he’s stuck next to someone horrible.” Frankly, he might very well be faking sleep. I would. It didn’t even occur to me that he might not be at all that happy about his travel companions either.
“What did I say that was horrible? They aren’t really people.”
“You are disgusting. Just stop it before I tell Ronan to drop you off at the side of the road. It’s people like you that force Citzas to roam around looking for a place to call their own without a collection of assholes treating them terribly.”
My sister has nothing to say to that, so she takes out her Mobile Data Access Card that she’s using to document this experience and put it out on the Date Networks. She’s always been desperate for attention. I’d like to say that she’s shitty at recording, editing, and promoting her work, but she isn’t. But now I need to pay attention because I don’t trust her to not take advantage of the Citza.
I can’t say I know any Citzas personally prior to this moment. They are pretty reclusive. I don’t even know how my parents met Elan, but they did, and asked us for the favor of dropping him off at the nearest jump gate, which is several hours away. I don’t know Elan’s story, but my parents indicated that he’s alone in the world after his family was subjugated or something. The Kintar can be a nasty bunch, but I might be making an erroneous assumption there. Most people don’t treat Citzas well, so it’s not only at the Kintars’ feet. My sister is just a sampling of the hostility he probably faces on the regular. It’s sickening.
Now that I know Elan, albeit barely, he’s a decent guy. Guilt churns in my stomach once again how uncharitable I’ve been about the extra effort to take him to a jump gate that may or may not result in something better for him. I didn’t ask, and he doesn’t offer information he doesn’t need to. I know he’s an artist with a quiet strength. I can see why my parents felt compelled to help him out. Providing the means and resources for the jump gate, of course, but they probably set him up in other ways as well. It’s their attention to humanity and the drive to support others in a meaningful way that gives me a swell of pride and admiration. I don’t know how they spawned a child with my sister’s heinous attitude, but maybe it’s because she’s the youngest of five. I make a mental note that I should do more volunteering.
Deema holds up her phone to get her best angle, elbowing me in the shoulder. The conversation forgotten. “Quit it.”
She ignores me.
“Will you two knock it off? I’m tired of your bickering.”
“Ronan, you are welcome to swap places with me, and I’ll drive for a bit.” He immediately shuts his trap. He definitely doesn’t want to be dealing with our fame glutton of a sister.
“Ronan is doing his best with this trip. We could all do with a little quiet.”
“Why is your significant other here?” I snark. It’s not that I don’t like Syn, but…I try to limit my interactions with them. I don’t know what it is about them. They allow Ronan to walk all over them. My brother isn’t a bad guy, but Syn is absolutely spineless. It’s hard to respect them or take them seriously.
Ronan grumbles an answer, “We are checking out the falls after we leave you at school. The jump gate is close by, and we are never in the area.”
“It should be really romantic.” Ronan’s significant other sighs. I have to aggressively suppress my need to roll my eyes. Ronan just got out of a serious relationship. He was with her for three years. He still won’t talk about what happened. Syn is definitely a rebound, not that they understand that…or maybe they do and just desperate to be with a serial monogamist.
“Pull over!” My sister suddenly shouts, startling everyone in the car, and waking up Elan. Ronan jerks the car, almost venturing into the other lane.
“What the fuck was that about?” Ronan raises his voice.
“Just pull over. I’m gonna miss my shot.”
“Your…shot.”
“Yes.” She responds to Ronan like he’s an uneducated child. “I need to get some scenery for the week’s excerpt on my life.”
“I can’t believe anyone has the stomach to watch the details of your life.” Ronan expresses what I’m constantly thinking whenever we talk about her recordings for the Date Networks.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
I cut Ronan off because I’m spoiling for a fight after the Citza bullshit. “It means that you are a selfish, superficial brat who spends entirely too long griping about things you know little to nothing about.”
“I can’t believe you said that to me.”
“Someone has to.”
“I’d take you more seriously if you weren’t so obviously jealous about my fame.” I have trouble responding because I am a little…not the fame, but that she makes so much coin for something so useless. I truly don’t get her appeal. Sure, she’s attractive and knows how to sell it, but her personality is so lacking and she does nothing noteworthy with her time. I’ve tried to sit through an entire recording, but have yet to get past five minutes before I become frustrated and angry about how miserable a person she is. And then it occurs to me. That’s why she’s tagging along. She needs something interesting to send out to the viewing Nethraverse.
I look over and see Elan trying to be as small as possible, which is just sad. I’m sure he heard Deema, but we are all pretending as though he hasn’t. “Hey, Ronan, how long until we are at the jump gate?”
“Not long. Maybe 30 ticks.” I see Elan exhale out of the corner of my eye. Yeah, he definitely heard her. I wonder if he’s just uncomfortable or nervous for his safety. I can’t imagine not having other options besides relying on absolute strangers for something so important as my livelihood. Yeah…I’m definitely going to look into more volunteering when I get back to school.
I clear my throat, “Hey, Elan.” He jumps and slightly tilts his head to show that he heard me, but he doesn’t give me any more of his face. “Where are you headed to?” He stiffens. “Never mind…sorry.” He gives me a single nod. And in that moment I realize how absolutely terrified he is, and it’s not really about us or this car ride. He’s legitimately not safe and he’s probably desperate. Deema catches on something too because even she manages to not say anything.
The rest of the trip to the jump gate is oppressively quiet. Syn is humming a song I don’t recognize. It’s annoying and not simultaneously. Eventually we reach the jump gate. Elan stares at it, breathing heavily. I have to say something. “So…is there anything you need before you head out?”
Elan’s hand is on the door lift, about to exist. He looks back giving me a shingle head shape and a barely there crooked smile. He gives a nod of thanks to Ronan. Ronan gives a weird salute in return, and Elan leaves our lives.
Deema snorts, “He’s so weird!”
In a chorus all three of us tell Deema to shut her hole. She sulks into the seat with her arms crossed not saying anything. If I’m really really lucky, she’ll stay silent until I get to school.
(Image description: empty two-lane road with sporadic dashed yellow line down the middle. Open area on either side with low bushes. Clear blue sky with clouds. Maybe mountains in the very distance. Image credit: Adobe Stock)
