Passenger

Griffin glanced at me and shrugged, and I tried to give him a look that said to just go along with the idiot.

“And what’s your names, anyhow?” Qui

Some Odds didn’t have names, or didn’t need to remember them.

“Ben.”

And before Griffin could say a word, Qui

He smiled his toothy, freckled, redhead smile at Griffin, who was now going to have to endure Qui

“My name is Griffin Goodrich.”

“That’s fine, not-Ben. You just hang on to that memory. You never know when you might have to tell it to someone who cares.”

Now, I was sure, at least two of us wanted to punch him.

Then, naturally, Qui

“Heh-heh … we’re going to have plenty of new drinking water, ain’t we?”

And Qui

“Turning our pee into water. You’re just like Jesus in reverse,” Griffin said.

Qui

“Jesus,” Griffin said.

“I don’t know what that is. No one never showed me nothing about making water out of my pee. I figured it out on my own. From intellectual reasoning, not-Ben.”

Griffin said, “Oh. Okay, Qui

*   *   *

I think it rained harder that night than any time I could remember here.

I slipped into the shorts Qui

Ben and Griffin insisted that I drink first, and they watched my face to see if I’d show any sign that it tasted like anything other than what Qui

Eventually, everything had to be turned off in the night with the exception of one dim oil lamp, so we lay there, all of us just staring up at the ceiling, listening to the incessant roar of the storm against the concrete of the firehouse.

When Qui

So I said, “Do you remember anything, Qui

“What are you talking about, Billy? I remember saving your hide when you were two feet underwater with a big buck Hunter straddling you like he was going to make you his special boy, ha-ha!”

What a prick.

I sighed. “I meant, do you remember anything from before? From the begi

“Don’t you, Billy?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Well, what about your partner boys?”

“None of us do,” Ben said.

I heard Qui

“I remember being about half the size of not-Ben, without even the first strand of hair on my nutsack, and how we all were living inside a basketball gymnasium with wood floors. That is, to be honest, the first thing in my life I remember. Nothing else. I don’t remember having a mommy or daddy, or nothing about no brothers or sisters. Just us Odds.”

“How long was it like that?” Griffin said.

“Shit.” Qui

“Something like that,” I said.

“Well, not-Ben, it’s been like that forever. For-fucking-ever. But then there were a lot more of us Odds. Thousands, in places like that all over the city, too. Then, most of us started getting sick. We didn’t know what it was at first, but it was the bug. The Rangers came, took the sick ones. You know, just got rid of them. Who needs more Hunters, anyway? They took all the girls, too. That was … Shit, that was so long ago.”

“Yeah. Before you had hair on your nuts,” Griffin said.

“You fucking with me, not-Ben?”

“Well, it was, wasn’t it?”

I realized that Griffin Goodrich had a much more stylized way of fucking with people than Qui

“I suppose it was,” Qui

“How did you end up here?” Ben said.

“Well,” Qui

“What happened to the others?” Griffin said.

“Shit.”

I could tell it was probably the only time Qui

“How long have you been alone?” I said.

And Griffin blurted out, “Since he had hair on his balls. Oh, wait … he still doesn’t. Never mind.”

I heard Qui

“You fucking with me, not-Ben? You want to fuck with me? Let’s see who’s got balls, little shit.”

Something happened. I heard Griffin grunt.

“Get the fuck off me!”

Then Ben must have gotten up. From the sound of it, he threw himself onto Qui

“Don’t you fucking touch him!” Ben said.

I slid my arm down between the boys and pushed myself off the bed, taking Ben down onto the floor. Ben would have killed Qui

“Hey!” I pushed my face right into Ben’s ear and pi

For a moment, there was nothing, only blackness and the sound of the three boys panting like they’d just run a footrace. I felt around on the floor until I found Griffin’s bony bare knee and gave him a little swat.

“Apologize,” I whispered.

Griffin didn’t attempt to keep his voice down. “That fucking pervert had his hands on my fucking balls, Jack.”

“Apologize, Griff.”

“Screw it. I’m going to take a piss.”

And Griffin slapped his feet across the floor toward the shower room. In no time there came the echoing sound like someone was emptying a garden hose into a tin drum.

He called back, “I’m sorry, Qui

Which was just another way for Griffin Goodrich to fuck with the kid. But for all his ingenuity at game playing and survival, I didn’t believe Qui

Qui

“I made this place,” he said.

Griffin came back. “I filled that shit up.”

Then he lay down on the floor next to his brother, and I went back to my bed.