Rosaline is good to him, and he loves her. She takes care of him and is always trying to make him feel safe and to make him laugh. She's funny when she tries to be, he likes that. The sun is still high in the sky when Mikey finishes cleaning the porch area, his last daily chore. Zee came back before he was finished to check on him. She hung around to help him so she could take him to where Rad is.
Zee didn't stay long after they met Rad in the vegetable garden. She said she still had a lot to do. Rad is digging holes. He's already dug four.
"What're these for?"
"Tomorrow Rosaline and Sweetie are gonna go get some eggplant. These holes are where they go. Zee says we gotta transplant them fast."
"I don't like eggplant."
Mikey's response was unexpected. It halts Rad's digging. He wipes the dirt from his face as he chuckles.
"Yeah, me neither. Zee says they're good for us, and we don't have a lot of options, but I don't care. They're bad."
Rad grabs one of the trowels laying near him and extends it to Mikey.
"Come help me."
Mikey plops down on the ground on the other side of the small hole.
"Here, like this."
Rad holds the trowel up then teaches Mikey how to properly dig the hole. They sit quietly digging for several minutes. Rad is the person Mikey has interacted with the least, with this being the longest conversation they've had yet.
"So you and Rosaline really out there alone for three years?"
"Yeah."
"What was that like?"
"I don't know." Mikey replies, shrugging his shoulders.
"Do you remember living in that community before you guys were by yourself?"
"No."
"Just you and her. That must've been scary, huh?"
"Sometimes."
"You don't really like talking to people, do you?"
Mikey shrugs his shoulders again, as he keeps his head down. He hasn't made eye contact with Rad once since they started digging. This kid hasn't had any experience with people other than Rosaline. Rad suspects this entire process must be difficult for him. Even though he's not sure if he trusts Rosaline or not, he can't fault this little boy.
"Yeah, I feel you. I don't like to talking to people much myself."
Rad lets their conversation dwindle and continues digging. He doesn't want to press the kid too hard, but he feels sorry for him. He and the rest of The Family grew up together in a community and didn't have to deal with the real world for a long time. He can't imagine what he'd be like if that's all he ever knew.
"Sometimes we would be attacked and that was scary."
"Attacked by the diseased?"
"Yeah, and real people sometimes."
"That must've been rough."
"Yeah, but Rosaline kept us safe."
"By killing?"
"Sometimes. She says it's better to be not be seen."
"She's right about that."
"Sometimes she's funny and shows off."
"Shows off by killing the diseased?"
The boy timidly nods his head, “She says they're not real people so we don't have to feel bad about it. We don't like it, but we have to do it."
The hair on Rad's arms stands at attention. He can't believe the morbid words that just came out of this young boy's mouth.
"But, sometimes..."
Mikey's sentence trails off. He fidgets, moving to a different seated position.
"Hey man, it's cool. You ain't gotta talk about it if you don't want to."
Mikey bobs his head, but doesn't audibly respond. Rad thinks this is probably the first time anyone has ever asked him about this. It's clearly making him uncomfortable, but he also knows that people need to talk about things or it'll drive them crazy. He doesn't like what he's hearing from this little child.
He hadn't expected to actually care about this kid. He's fought within himself against getting to know Mikey or Rosaline, but being here with this child has moved him in a way he never saw coming. He's just a kid, and he's probably seen more death than everyone in the family combined. That's a rough start to life.
"Sometimes Rosaline has to kill the bad things. Sometimes people are the bad things. It makes her angry when people try to hurt us."
"You don't like it when she gets mad, huh?"
Mikey shakes his head, his lips scrunching to the side.
"She's scary when she's mad."
"How do you mean?"
"She hurts things."
"She ever hurt you?"
"No."
"She hurt other people? Real people?"
"Yeah, if they're bad."
"She ever hurt people that aren't bad?"
Mikey hesitates for a moment. He looks up from the hole and makes eye contact with Rad for the first time. He nods his head. His eyes break from Rad's and move back to the dirt. A chill runs up Rad's spine.
"Why does she do that?"
"She says sometimes we don't have a choice. She says people are dangerous and mean. They're only nice if they want something. We can't let them hurt us, we have to hurt them first."
Such devious words coming forth from such an innocent little child. Rad didn't trust Rosaline. Something about her rubbed him the wrong way, and now he knows why.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
He saw the way she looked at him. He suspected she didn’t believe the story he told her. Kylie is an intelligent woman, that’s always been one of his favorite things about her. It’s been a long time since he’s thought about his wife in this manner. He misses her, he misses himself. He regrets the way he’s handled their situation these past years.
That visit to Pete’s house broke him. Seeing their bodies has haunted him. Killing his nephew changed him. He felt himself becoming disconnected, becoming distant, and he didn’t stop it. He allowed his heart to grow cold. Fighting against it was too much for him.
Despite his new found nihilistic outlook he still felt a responsibility to take care of his family, and that’s what it became
