When All is Null and Void

Chapter Thirteen

After stopping at Starbucks to get a Pumpkin Spice Latte, bags of shirts and jeans surrounding them in the truck, Alexander and Caleb sat in silence as they drove up Silverton Road. 

"Ever had Indian food?" Alexander asked, turning down the radio and squinting through the rain. 

"A long time—" Caleb stopped. "Is it still a long time ago?"

Alexander glanced at him. "I have no idea. I find it's easier to think of your own timeline as distinct. For your brain, yes, it would be a long time ago. Literally... couldn't tell ya." He turned left into a parking lot with a thrift store and a Subway, movie rental store, and a few other restaurants. Across the street was a drive through Mexican food restaurant, and Caleb's stomach garbled expectantly. They parked, and Alexander led him into a restaurant. The scent of spices and roasting meat enveloped them like a hug. How long hadit been since he'd eaten? Caleb attempted to understand, but as Alexander had said: it was easier to let it go.

Caleb was lost in thought when suddenly Alexander was handing him a white bag full of contents smelling too good to be true. "We even have naan," Alexander said, showing Caleb another bag filled with steaming flatbread.

"How did you get it so fast?" Caleb asked.

Lifting up what Caleb had come to realize was a cell phone, Alexander just said, "I ordered ahead," and under his breath, "honestly, are you from the future or not?" He elbowed Caleb in the arm and led them back into the brisk afternoon air. The sun was already dipping to the horizon, even though it was only five in the afternoon.

As they climbed back into Bessie, Caleb nodded to the naan. "Can I have a piece?" he asked with a nod to the naan. "I'm starving."

Alexander laughed. "Go for it." He tossed Caleb a piece.

The light and airy bread blanketed Caleb's tongue with butter and garlic. Steam slid past his lips as he devoured the rest of the flatbread. Caleb groaned in delight.

Twenty minutes later the two were tearing through the lamb korma, basmati rice, and naan. They ate on the couch, and by the time they were done, Caleb needed to unbutton his pants. He was dull and exhausted in the way that comes after one has eaten far too much in a short amount of time. He patted his belly and let out a rumbling burp. "Thanks!" Caleb said after apologizing for the outburst.

"My pleasure," Alexander said. He hiccupped. "Oh!" he said, hopping up from the couch quicker than Caleb thought possible after engorging in so much food. Alexander ran into his own bedroom.

A few seconds later Alexander reappeared and a stack of novels tumbled to the floor behind him. In his hands, Alexander held a thin, hardback book, bound in a rusty maroon cloth. A shimmering, solitary circle lay on the book's cover. "This," Alexander said, handing it to Caleb, "is sort of our guide to the basics of being a Timewalker. Rhea wants you to read it, even if it is kind of dull."

Caleb's thumb slid against the scratchy cloth. He flipped to the first page. A History of the Rings.

Alexander frowned. "There will be a test on it, sadly."

"Gross." Caleb let the book drop.

"But it's open book."

"Then what's the point of making it a test, then?" Caleb lifted the book again and looked at the first line. He might be tired and stuffed full of delicious food, but he really did want to start reading this right away. He already had so many questions eating at him.

"I've never understood that either," his mentor said. "You can read it now or..." Alexander trailed off.

"If it's okay with you, I think I'm gonna head upstairs. I want to shower, and then I'll read the first couple pages." Caleb stood up and started packing the empty take-out containers into the plastic bags they'd come in.