Samuel shook his head. “Hailey’s right. Jenny—I think she needs someone to take care of right now. So if it isn’t too much trouble…”
“Of course not, now stop worrying and eat something,” Nathaniel said. “And tell me anything else you can remember about this Android bastard. I don’t know what might turn out to be important, but I do know I’m going to make him wish he’d never set eyes on you.”
“No,” Eli said. “If he feels any pressure, he could make Samuel’s life a living hell in here.”
“It’s already a living hell. Jenny’s right. He looks awful.” But Nathaniel did agree to proceed with caution.
Samuel felt weird sharing the rumors. Prison was a place where conspiracies were as common as spring rain, but it was only in telling the stories over to Nathaniel, a non-inmate, that he realized how truly crazy the stories were. But Nathaniel didn’t show his doubts. He only listened, occasionally taking down a note, until the door opened and Hailey came back inside, dragging in Darren and Jenny who were both wearing interesting expressions on their faces, as if they’d just been told that Santa was, in fact, real after all.
“It’s all settled,” Hailey announced. “When time’s up, I’ll go back with Jenny to help her pack.”
“I’m coming,” Darren said. He’d gone straight to Nathaniel to drape himself around his brother like a blanket, but he was looking at Samuel. “That okay with you?”
He had no idea why he was being asked permission. Darren still very much seemed to hate him. The contempt radiating out of him was like the smell of fish at a wet market. Nevertheless, he was waiting, so he gave him a nod. He was doing a lot of nodding, making him feel about as useful as a bobblehead.
He wasn’t sure what went on for the rest of the visit. He was mostly focused on trying not to stare too much at any one person. Especially Nathaniel, whom he couldn’t look at without his chest tightening in shame. It seemedneither Nathaniel nor Eli had given any more meaning to it than a younger brother’s anger toward unwelcome change, but he couldn’t help but be shaken. It didn’t help that he’d lately been wondering about Nathaniel’s significance in his life. He’d labeled him a friend, and even a mentor of sorts, but felt tied to him in a way that neither of those words explained. It felt like he and Nathaniel were in a contract—one that invested itself in the caring and protection of Eli. And if so, what did that make them? Partners maybe, as Darren had said. But that left all the connotations that the word “partners” signified. And what did it mean to be partners? Did they only need to accomplish their objective of protection? Or did that leave them with a duty to each other? Did protecting Eli also mean protecting Nathaniel? And how did he go about protecting Nathaniel anyway, trapped as he was in prison? He couldn’t even protect himself. The Android had proven that.
Eli’s hand on his shoulder signaled the end of the visit. “Come, puppy.”
He followed without a thought. He’d become so accustomed to being by the man’s side he hardly needed to be prompted. It didn’t really matter where they went, so long as they stayed together, but he recognized the path to the laundry room. It made sense. They’d dropped off some stuff that morning, and thanks to Eli’s help with Ernie’s psoriasis, they usually had express service with their clothes. But Eli stopped while they were still in the hallway, and Samuel, whose head was up in the clouds, nearly walked into him.
Before he could think to ask what was wrong, Eli whirled around to face him. “If anything happens while I’m in here, you’ll take care of Nathaniel, right?”
Only inches separated their bodies, and this close he could see the tiny scar that hinted at a long-ago nose ring.
He was instantly suspicious. “Did you start something? Who is it? One of the predators?”
“What? No, I meant in general. Just in case.”
But his wariness was already too high to be downgraded. “Was it Racer? I saw him looking at you in the shower yesterday. Did he touch you? Threaten you?”
“When would he have had the opportunity? I’ve been surgically attached to you since—look, will you do it or not?”
“Do what?”
“Take my place in case something happens.”
“Take your—What do you mean ‘take your place?’ What am I supposed to do, marry him?”
“If that’s what he wants.”
“What?”
Eli pinched the bridge of his nose. “Just tell me you will, and that’s the end of it. Needless to say, the reverse holds true. If anything ever happened to you—not that I would ever let it—Jenny would become a part of our family.”
The offer was like getting smacked in the face with a donut. He loved donuts, and they were always welcome, but a little warning before launching would have been nice.
“She would?”
The expression that bloomed on Eli’s face was a comical mix of surprise and insult. “Just what kind of man do you take me for?”
He couldn’t answer that without revealing a lot of complicated feelings, so he didn’t try. “I don’t like you talking about bad things happening.”
Eli rolled his eyes, but he still settled a warm hand on the back of his neck. “No one does. I’m just trying to be prepared, that’s all.”
He wished Eli would push him away. The man’s shoulder was right there and seemed to be exerting a kind of magnetic force on him. All he could think about was pushing his face intoit. “How can I protect Nathaniel from in here?”
“You won’t always be in here. Another five years or so, that’s what Jenny seems to think.”
