Ouroboros

Remembering the Ghost

"Well?" Matthew asked. "Are you going to tell us about her?"

"I...I don't know much about Mom. She died in a car crash when I was a baby." Roman's eyes bugged out as if in panic. "I...I have to go."

He fled into the bathroom and locked the door with a click. Matthew and Jim looked at each other. "Something must have gone wrong for Tatiana Kevan," said Matthew. "Otherwise, Roman wouldn't have..."

"I know," said Jim. "Roman is seventeen years old. The ICA shut down Marine Defenders International...a little under twenty years ago? That could have had something to do with it."

"Let me guess. She lost her calling in life and decided to drink her sorrows away?" Matthew shook his head. That's appalling, he thought. She ruined her son's life before he was even born. Instead of doing what a boy his age was supposed to do, he was stuck reading comic books and struggling with elementary school math.

"Probably," Jim admitted. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I'm sad for that boy," Matthew confessed. "He could have been so much more if his mother hadn't done what she did."

The bathroom door opened a crack. Roman's wide brown eyes peeked through, then he stepped out. He seemed not to be as scrawny as when Matthew had first met him. If not for the timid gentleness in his eyes, he might have looked quite formidable. "I'm not sad. Why are you sad, sir?" he asked.

"I need to talk to your dad, kid," said Matthew. "Why don't I drive you home tonight?"

Roman nodded. "My phone's dead. You'll have to text him and let him know."

When it came time to leave, Roman followed Matthew out to his car without a word of protest. He was so trusting, Matthew thought. It made him easy prey. More than slightly disgusted with himself, Matthew stared out the windshield for a long moment before starting the car.

"Is something wrong, sir?" Roman asked.

"No, not at all," he lied. "Think your dad will be home from work?"

"Yeah," said Roman. "He'll be there."

Matthew drove on in silence. Roman stared at the window, entranced by the sights outside. Eventually, he broke the hush. "I want to drive a car someday."

"Drive a car, huh?" Matthew chuckled. "It's not as fun as it looks."

"The motorcycle was fun." Roman broke into a grin. "Dad said I couldn't do it, but Fiver taught me how. I drove it twice!"

Matthew slammed the brakes as the light turned red. "You drove a motorcycle? That's not..."

"Safe?" Roman giggled. "No, it wasn't!"

Matthew smiled. When they pulled up to the apartment complex, Dr. Faustus was waiting outside. "Hey bud!" he called.

Roman ran over and hugged his father. "I did all my math with Tegan!"

"Great job, Roman," said Gregor. "The neighbors upstairs wanted to know if you'd help them clean up a little. Said they'd pay you. You too tired?"

"Nope. I'm on it." Roman waved to Matthew. "Thanks for the ride, sir." Once he disappeared through the door, Gregor looked at Matthew warily.

"I did want to talk," said Matthew. He pulled up the photo. "What do you know about this group? According to every database I've checked, all of these people are either dead or nonexistent."