He did have to wash any pans he used, and silverware, but that wasn’t so bad. Anytime he could get away with just using a paper plate and the microwave, he did. He put the plate in the garbage bag he had by the sliding glass door and then went upstairs to shower and get dressed. When he came back down, he gave Ricky a small can of dog food. While the dog ate, he went back upstairs to do his daily check of the neighborhood with Justin's binoculars. He grabbed the binoculars and went up one more flight of stairs to the roof. There was a modern version of a widow's walk up there and he perched himself on it while he used the binoculars to scan the area. Where he stood, he could see them but they couldn’t see him, so to speak. As usual, there were no living people in sight. A week or so ago he had thought he heard a truck drive past his house, but he was just waking up and decided it was his imagination. He went downstairs three at a time this time and told Ricky to get a move on. He opened the door and he and Ricky walked the two blocks into the shopping center of town. They walked past the stores that Jason had cleared of bodies and rotting food. “Buddy, I think I need some new shoes. Let's hit the shoe store.” Jason opened the door of a small surf shop and held the door for Ricky. There was plenty of light from the sun today so he was able to see the racks of clothes and shoes. He picked out a pair of Converse Pro Leather Sneakers, cargo shorts, and some graphic tees. Jason looked at the underwear and grabbed those too. Most of his clothes were getting too small. Dragging and lifting bodies for two weeks had pumped him up and he continued to lift weights over at Justin's. His chest was getting bigger, as were his arms and thighs.“You see anything you like, Ricky?” Ricky made a sound that greatly resembled a harrumph. “Guess not.” Jason threw the clothes in a bag, left the store and headed home. When he got back to the house he was hungry again. He popped a frozen pizza into the oven and set the timer so he wouldn't forget. He had 15 minutes to kill and now that he had finished cleaning up the neighborhood, he was finding it hard to fill time. Last week he had entered his mother's office. He had been avoiding that room for fear it, too, might smell like her. But while he was throwing bones into the sea the day before, he had the strangest memory. It hit him out of the blue. He was listening to his mother talking to her friend a few days after his father died. Her friend made a strange remark about how his father and Teresa had created a purple baby and how it was too bad Antonio had never been able to make that drug. Teresa had nodded her head. When Jason asked what they meant by a purple baby, Teresa told him they had been talking about a movie. Jason had forgotten all about it until that moment. He knew his father had been a biochemist who grew these weird plants in the basement. He knew that his dad had given them to an old man named Vinnie. Jason and his mother used to visit Vinnie until the old man died. Jason had been about 12 years old then. He remembered seeing the plants at Vinnie's greenhouse. He knew they were poisonous. Then he remembered they were also very purple. When he got back home from clearing the bodies that day, he stripped off his clothes before entering the house. He went inside and looked around the greenhouse to see if any remnants of his father's lab still remained. There was nothing left. Teresa must have had it all removed at some time. He then went upstairs and took a shower. After he ate, he reluctantly went into Teresa's office. The scent was different in there. There was an old air freshener on the table by the air conditioner vent. There was an ebony desk with very little on top. Teresa had been neat. There was a small safe in one corner and a file cabinet next to the desk. Teresa's laptop sat on the file cabinet. Jason sat on the chair behind the desk. He tried the drawers and they all opened. Inside he found the usual office stuff, paper clips, etc. He opened the file cabinet and flipped through the files. Here again were the usual things like utility bills and bank statements. In the second file drawer he found a filed marked “Jason.” He pulled out the file and opened it on the desk.The file contained his birth certificate. He had been born in St.
What do You think about But The Children Survived?
