Responsibility by Bernice Low

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Responsibility 2/4
by Bernice Low

"Hey Uly." True slowly walked up to young Master Adair, who was sitting on a cargo box, seemingly preoccupied. "Whatcha looking at?" she asked, squinting in the morning sunlight in the direction Uly was staring.

"Julia and Alonzo." Uly replied.
"What about them?" True asked in a disinterested tone. She dug the toe of her boot into the sandy ground, and started to burrow a hole.

"They're always together." he remarked, watching Alonzo planting a kiss on Julia's nose and Julia laugh playfully, kissing him back on the lips. "And they're always.." he wrinkled up his nose, giving True a slightly disgusted look.

"It's 'cause they love each other." True replied in a superior tone. Boys are so dumb - she thought to herself. Can't they figure out *anything* for themselves?

"But all that kissing stuff is kinda gross." she agreed, nodding her head as they watched Julia and Alonzo gazing into each other's eyes deeply.

"Yeah!" Uly agreed firmly with her. "Julia and Alonzo are always kissin' whenever they think no one's looking." he said to True, who now sat down next to him on the cargo box. From a distance, it looked like they were engaged in a deep and meaningful conversation.

"Like last night." Uly continued in a serious tone, as if he were discussing quantum nuclear physics instead of Eden Advance's most watched couple. He watched Julia slap Alonzo on the arm, unaware that they were being observed by the two children.

"Last night?" True asked, mildly curious. Of course she'd seen Julia and Alonzo kissing - but they always stopped whenever someone else appeared or when True came into the room. Alonzo would give her a big grin and Julia would get all hot and bothered - like her dad did when Devon called him by his first name. True never understood why anybody got so worked up about it. She thought it was all rather revolting.

"I bet they were kissing each other in that thing Mr Danziger's building." Uly snorted.

"You mean dad's shower?" True kept up the conversation, her mind wandering to watch her dad as he talked to Devon.

"Is that what it is?" Uly asked, excited and forgetting momentarily Julia and Alonzo's nocturnal activities.

"Yeah - dad says it's the only way they can make sure Morgan doesn't smell!" True said, lowering her tone of voice, as if she was telling him a big secret.

"Morgan doesn't smell." Uly said, slightly puzzled. "What do you think they were doing in dad's shower?" she said, changing the subject now that she was mildly curious herself. Her father had not even allowed her to go in and look at it and she wondered what Julia and Alonzo were doing in the dead of the night looking at her dad's project.

"I dunno. But there were weird noises." Uly said. "I bet Yale or mom would." he continued earnestly.

"I think we should ask my dad - it's his shower." True suggested. "But Yale knows everything." Uly protested. "Yale gives really long, complicated answers." True moaned. Yale never had a short, snappy answer to give. And he *always* liked to play teacher and talk for a looooong time about anything True asked. What was that word? True wrinkled up her nose.

Comprehensive. Hmmm.
"He does not." Uly defended his tutor. "Does to." True answered quickly. "And why does everything has to be a school lesson?"

"Yale's our teacher." Uly replied simplistically. "Watch your words Ulysses Adair, he's *your* teacher!" True snapped and regretted it immediately.

"He's your teacher too!" Uly said, raising his voice slightly. "Well it's dad's project and I think he should be the one to tell us. He knows lots of things too!" she asserted.

Morgan sat nearby to the two children, trying to count ration portions, but he kept losing count. He glared over at the two bickering children, his eyes narrowing. Little brats - shouting and yelling like that - how the hell was he supposed to get anything done? Bess was already bugging him to finish doing his counting and he still hadn't been to see Julia about that whole business of suppressors - Morgan felt severely irritated.

"Devon! Danziger - how am I suppose to work when your offspring persist in creating that racket?" he hissed to the two parents, making clear that if he had his way, corporal punishment would have made a return on G889 long ago. How in the world could Bess ever want children? Those two brats were enough to put anyone off fatherhood for life!

Devon and Danziger looked up from their discussion but ignored his sarcasm. Striding over to the two children, they cast their sternest expressions at them.

"Hey! Cut it out you two." he said in his deep voice, firmly grasping his daughter by the collar of her shirt and gently hauling her back towards him.

"Uly - what are you and True fighting about?" Devon asked in a firm voice, kneeling down on one knee to talk to her son.

"Nothing mom." Uly hung his head down, his blonde curly hair flopping over his eyebrows.

"Nothing?" Devon asked suspiciously, raising one eyebrow in a subtle hint that she wasn't buying his 'Nothing' story for one minute.

"I just wanted to ask Yale something - but True said that we should ask her dad because she says he knows everything. She said Yale gave answers that were too long." Uly confessed in a rush of words. He ignored the 'you rat' look True was giving him.

"Dad?" True looked up at him, as if for confirmation that she was right to insist they ask him.

Danziger stared disapprovingly at his daughter but before he could chide her, Devon interrupted.

"What was it you wanted to know?" she asked, looking at at the two children. "Maybe your dad and I can give you an answer now and you two can stop fighting." she said gently, looking at True.

"Come on True girl - now's your chance to ask." Danziger encouraged. "We just wanted to know what Julia and Alonzo were doing in dad's project last night." True explained matter-a-factly, as if she was asking for the answer to a Math problem.

Devon turned pinker than an overboiled lobster. "What?" Danziger spluttered.
"Your project dad - the shower? Uly saw Julia and Alonzo going into it last night." True explained with wide-eyed innocence.

"Last night?" Devon repeated, looking at Danziger. "It was so hot mom, so I went out for a walk." Uly told his mother. "And I heard weird noises." he continued in earnest.

"Uh huh..." Devon said, and shifted uncomfortably on her heels. She didn't like the way this question was headed.

"So what were they doing dad?" True persisted. She was determined to show Uly that her dad was just as smart as Yale, if not smarter.

"Well,errr... they were..I..errr...." Danziger stared desperately at Devon. Come on Adair, now's the appropriate time for you to boss me around and tell me how to raise my daughter.

"Dad!" True pestered her father to speed up with his explanation. When he continued to hem and haw, she started guessing.

"Showering maybe?"
"Well... " Danziger felt his desperation grow. Devon caught Danziger's harried expression. "Well True.." she started, bending over to look at True, ".. it's sort of like.." Then she remembered that her own son was also paying rapt attention to her every word and all of a sudden, Devon didn't know if she wanted to have this conversation anymore.

"..very technical.." she said finally, having failed to come up with a suitable answer.

Suitable answer? What suitable answer? There is no suitable answer! her brain screamed.

"It's...um... complicated.." Devon continued rather lamely. "Oh." True said, looking rather disappointed. "Maybe Yale can tell us." Uly said brightly, and he perked up at the thought.

"No son!" Devon shouted, grabbing her son's arm and holding him back then realising that she had been too hasty in her reaction. Uly looked at her with a puzzled expression.

"Mom?"
Oh God, Devon moaned to herself.I never thought this day would come. Then she hit on an idea.
"Ummm but... Julia will explain it to you." she said quickly, and hoping that would temporarily keep the situation under control and distract the children from noticing just how nervous this was making the her and Danziger.

She shifted her gaze over to Danziger, who was silently mouthing 'Adair? What the hell?..' at her. She gave him a 'Trust me' look and he shrugged.

"Julia?" True repeated.
"Julia." Devon confirmed. "Your dad and I will go find her now. Danziger?" she said, looking at him meaningfully.

He looked up at her and caught her thoughts. "True girl - you and Uly wait right here - Devon and I will be right back.." Danziger said, turning to this daughter.

"- and with your answer ok?" he added quickly as he looked at his daughter.

"OK dad. Uly and I will be waiting right here." she said firmly, with an expression that told Danziger that she wasn't going anywhere till she got an answer. Danziger felt like banging his head against the side of the TransRover. It was too soon for all this - he wasn't ready to answer those questions, especially from his own daughter. He stepped up his stride to catch up with Devon.

***

"Adair! What the hell was all that about?" he asked her after they had rounded the corner away from the children and were safely [for the time being] hidden behind Devon's tent.

"Me? It was your daughter who was doing all the asking." Devon reminded him sharply.

Danziger shook his head. "Kids say the darnest things." "I'd start worrying about those answers now John." Devon muttered, hands on her hips.

"Well at least I didn't tell them it was 'very technical'.." he reminded. "I didn't see you getting any nearer to an answer, John Danziger." Devon snapped.

"Look, we're not getting anywhere with this." said Danziger, realising that this was one argument neither of them were going to win.

"You're right." Devon agreed. " But this isn't exactly something that's going to go away."

"Why'd you tell them Julia was going to explain it?" he asked, scratching his head.

Devon sighed. "Well logically, she's the obvious choice - being a doctor and all to explain these things..".

She paused.
"in a....biologically..accurate way." she finished. "Biologically accurate way?" he echoed, staring at her. "And seeing that she and Alonzo got us into this mess in the first place, I should think she could at least get us out of this hole they've dug." Devon said in exasperation, the words tumbling out before she could stop them. She pushed her hair back impatiently.

"I know it's not really fair John..." she continued. After all, Julia and Alonzo did try their best to be discreet and generally they were but it was difficult when they lived in a world without doors and concrete walls.

He nodded. "They are our kids."
"Yes, and parental responsibility is part of what we took on when we brought them into the world. But I'm just not quite sure I know how to..." , she fidgeted and tapped her foot on the ground, ".. explain it all." she said finally. "Or if I want to.." she added softly.

"In other words Adair, you and I are equally chicken." Danziger summerised bluntly,only a trace of a smile on his lips making his words less harsh.

"I just never thought he'd ask so....soon." Devon said, trying to justify her actions to herself and failing miserably.

"They grow up real fast these days." Danziger sighed and sat down on the ground, his muscular arms resting on his knees.

"Yeah - too fast." Devon reflected, as she slumped down next to him. She felt old all of a sudden. Her son was growing up. She absent minded tugged a strand of her raven hair - before she knew it, there'd be mini versions of Uly running around and she'd be a ...grandmother. The thought shook her.

"So .. Adair?"
"Danziger..." she replied, keeping to their 'surnames only' routine. "Who'd you ask?" he said, not looking at her, but down at the ground. Devon didn't have to look at him thought to know what he was asking.The meaning was clear.

Devon cleared her throat. " You mean about the..." "Yeah - y'know - the birds and the bees." he said, not looking up. Devon felt herself going red in the face and averted her eyes. "Well.. I sort of...". She hesitated. "..I kinda just found out." she said lamely before mumbling 'Biology classes.'

Pathetic Devon, really pathetic, she scolded herself. "Uh huh.." Danziger nodded and she was grateful that he didn't decide to pick on that particular vague answer.

Devon looked over at him.
"What about you" she asked back slowly. "Me?" his eyebrows shot up in surprised and his deep blue eyes stared back at her.

"Yeah - come on Danziger - I told, now it's your turn." she said, feeling her mood lighten slightly. She wasn't going to let him get away easily on this one.

"It was kind of a guy thing..erm...you know.. we just.." Devon felt a small smile play across her lips as she watched the big handsome mechanic fumble with his words - he was always usually so articulate.

"..there was this..place near where we used to hang out and one day we just snuck in and watched....uh...one of those...3 D movies..you know... those..." he said, his voice trailing off.

"3 D movies?"
"Yeah..." Danziger said, not looking at her. "Uh huh.." Devon said neutrally, lowering her eyes and playing idly with her shoelace.

Silence.
"So..." Danziger said finally,looking at her. "I guess we'd better get Julia." Devon said, as she looked up at him. She took the hand he held up and pulled herself up. He waited for her to dust herself off.

"I guess so."
"3-D movies huh? What were they like?" "What did you talk about in Biology class?"

End of Part 2.

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