When Robert heard the rattling in his truck, he was less afraid of what he’d find and more afraid of what he’d do. He had a history and that’s why he was in this town to begin with. He had been kneeling on a pathway that ran through the convent gardens and pulling the larger weeds from the pebbles. The path lead to a Marian grotto and when he stood, Robert found he had been kneeling before the Blessed Virgin herself. He smiled, perfectly capable of feeling more than one emotion at a time. Then he set off to beat the shit out of whoever was in his truck.
Who would’ve even spotted it? He’d parked it out of sight behind the main building. The convent rose among grassy dunes that gave way to the beach, which on that brisk March morning was empty save for a few kite fliers. It’s massive blue clapboard facade, visible from distant trawlers on a clear day, made a defiant stand against time and tides.
Robert rounded the corner and he heard the radio. Tired of its owner turning it off, the radio had apparently decided it would turn itself on from here out. It always played the same thing, that damned Reagan and his evil empire speech.
The rear doors were open and Robert jumped in to find a teenager rifling through a stack of Tomorrow’s Man mags and pocketing the cash secreted between the beefcake photos. In one move, Robert yanked the little thief by his collar and tossed him into the side of the van. Bills fluttered about in the dusty air.
Robert punched the kid twice, drawing blood from his nose. Robert cocked his fist again, but a voice from behind stopped him. Both boys turned to see Mother Susan standing beneath a shock of sunlight revealed by a retreating cloud.
“I’ll toss you out of here if you hurt him.” she said. She looked over the mess of ones, fives, and tens. “Even if he was stealing from you.”
They scrambled out of the truck. Mother Susan inspected his face while the kid whined to her in a screechy voice.
“Sister do you know your gardner’s a fagot?” he said. “I’ll tell the cops that he raped me or something.”
“It wouldn’t do you any good.” she said. “I saw it all and they’ll believe me over you. Besides, this man has bigger things to be afraid of than the police.”
“Yeah, well… does the Pope know you got a sadomist working for you?”
“You mean sodomite?” Mother Susan grinned like a living statue taking pity on the stupid mortals mingling around it. That is, after all, what she was. “I really don’t give a fuck what the Pope thinks. This is a sanctuary.” Using a long fore finger and thumb, she plucked a glossy page from his pocket. It was a naked body builder the boy had ripped from one of Robert’s magazines. “You’re welcome here too.”
“No.” said Robert. “He’s just a kid.” Turning to the boy he said. “Go home.”
“I can’t.” He pushed his sweaty hair back from his brow. “My dad found out and if I don’t go to some Jesus camp he’ll probably beat me worse than you.” He tried to spit on the ground, but the mix of blood and saliva stuck to his Joy Division tee shirt instead. “So I guess I’ve got bigger things to worry about myself.”
Robert nodded. He looked back in the truck, where he spotted an open knapsack spilling clothes and more of his goddam magazines. The man gathered up a bunch of the cash and sorted them into a neat stack. He handed it to the kid.
“Get in.”
Mother Susan’s face lost its serene composure. Her muscles drew her face shut, with slit eyes and a tiny, stiff mouth. The transformation made the kid jump back. Robert grabbed the boy’s collar again, this time repeating his order and giving a hearty shove. He didn’t take his eyes away from the woman, but he heard sneakers pounding the ground and a truck door open and shut.
“I’m going, Mother.” said Robert.
“You won’t survive out there.”
“I know, but he might.”
Robert climbed into the driver’s seat and pulled away from the convent. The dirt road wound among trees and then the truck bolted out of the shade and onto the main road. Reagan was still on the radio. He had begun his speech over again. This time it was different. It always was, but the tone never changed.
“You said Mother like she was your real mom.” the kid said. “What the hell is going on?”
“Hell is exactly what’s going on.”
Robert smashed the dashboard with the palm of his hand. A cry of static squelched the president and relented to Tom Petty singing “Something Good Coming.” It was nice to hear the twenty first century again, even if it was the early part. Robert wondered if the reception would get better as the distance increased.
“What’s your name?” said Robert. “Sorry I didn’t ask earlier, but it’s best Mother didn’t know anything about you.”
“I’m Danny. So you’re going to be nice to me now?”
“I’m giving you money, aren’t I? I’m guessing you were on you’re way out, which means I’m driving you to the bus station. How’d you even know about the money?”
“Sometimes I hide from my parents. I saw you smoking weed and looking through the magazines.”
“There aren’t many choices for me in 1982, but I make do. You can have them all if you want.” He tossed Danny a smirk. “But that place has a way of drawing you in. You don’t want that.”
“Are you and that lady into some weird incest thing?”
“Heh? That doesn’t even make sense. You people always turn to sex when looking for horrors. If only you knew what’s out there. The satanic ritual abuse thing hasn’t happened yet, right? Nevermind. You know the story of the prodigal son, Danny?”
“I guess.”
“You could try to make your own way or you can stay home, but either way you kind of end up in the same place. I used to be the prodigal son, but now I’m the other one and you’re going out.”
“You’re fucking weird.”
“Yeah? Well, I was born in the twenty second century. Everyone always thinks the future will be more enlightened, but sometimes it’s just the same shit for different reasons. In my time, sex and gender are… more fluid than you could probably imagine. But no one ever thought about it anymore than they thought about eye color, which is also kind of a fluid concept, by the way. Then the Superiors arrived.”
“What are those, aliens?”
Robert pulled into the bus depot and after parking he gave Danny a long stare before responding.
“Sure.” he said. “If you like. My point is, you have to take your chances. We’re here. Get out.”
The boy climbed out and walked a few paces from the truck before coming back to the driver’s side window. Robert cranked it open. Danny looked like he was going to say something when he noticed that Robert was looking not at him, but beyond him. He turned. There was a bus belching vacationers with their plaid suitcases and broad hats. Among this crowd there was a figure dressed in a black robe like the damn grim reaper. Despite this costume, no one around the thing seemed to notice it or the mass beneath it cowl, which looked like a fluid of molten metal that shifted among various colors.
“Um.” said Danny.
“It’s here for me. At least I think so.” Robert popped out and took the kid by the hand. They went into the depot store and pretended to look at the plush lobster toys and ball caps with anchors. “The population started to drop. People stopped having an interest in kids, or sex. More of the kids that were born turned out to be gay. People started claiming homosexuals were working with the Superiors to poison the soil.”
“So we’re talking gay aliens.”
“No we’re talking different century same shit. The Superiors say they want to help us. They say they adopted us and that we’re all their children. I just think they’re bored. Anyway, the Superiors felt that humans were getting out of hand and needed to stop. Just stop. So they shut down the baby making and offered everyone immortality in exchange for cutting all the bullshit and living under Superior control. Since no one wants to be treated like a child, humanity launched a war. Since every war needs a scapegoat, they rounded up people like me and dumped us in concentration camps.”
“And you escaped?”
“What is it you people say? Duh? The Superiors created sanctuaries scattered across time. I took up the offer and ended up here. I’m safe so long as I tend the gardens and don’t wander too far from the convent. Danny, my problem is that I’m not a good person. I’m a criminal.”
“Sounds to me like you got a raw deal.”
“I killed my parents and I stole their money. That hooded thing is a cop, and it has every right to take me.” Robert grabbed one of the anchor hats and tried it on. It wasn’t a very good disguise. “I’ve had a lot of time to think while at the convent. I realized that the world outside was repeating itself over and over, each time a little different. The sanctuary was stuck in 1982 forever. There are many pasts, it seems, but they all end up in the same future. You can get as many chances as you want, but if you don’t change the kind of person you are, how do you expect the results to really be all that different? Of course, you could hide away like me and never make any choices…”
“I get it. It’s sort of the same. So you’re going to tell me you’re here to change the future?”
“Danny, I’m just a convict. Besides, haven’t you been listening? It doesn’t matter. You want what celestial advice I can give you? Roll the dice. Take your best shot. Roll again. If better odds turn up then you’re lucky. If not, don’t go on hoping the future gets better. Just live.”
Robert walked away and departed the store. The bus was still there and the reaper was still standing next to it. The bus was empty. Robert climbed aboard and his captor followed. The bus drove away and disappeared down the road.
