Yesterday's Gone: Season One

laughing!” Charlie said, swinging the bat again, this time hitting Bob’s left arm above the elbow.
    Bob screamed out, but still forced a laugh from his lips, meeting Charlie’s eyes. Daring him to strike again.
    “Let’s just go,” Callie said from behind, putting a warm hand on Charlie’s shoulder. “He’s not worth it.”
    Charlie glanced back at Boricio, who smiled and nodded approvingly. Adam’s eyes were wide, scared. Callie’s were sympathetic, sorry for Charlie.
    But he didn’t want sympathy.  
    As Bob’s laughter grew, it dug into Charlie’s core, pulling a plug on a bucket of memories. As the self denial and selective amnesia flowed down the drain, Charlie was forced to remember all the shit Bob had ever done. All the little insults, orders, exploitation, and the many ways he slowly murdered his mother — a woman who had been so sweet and full of life. Charlie remembered a time before Bob, when he was putting on a puppet show for his mom. She laughed so hard. Smiled at him. Yeah, she missed her husband, and Charlie missed his daddy. But they had each other. And that was enough.
    Until Bob.
    Bob’s laughter mocked everything that was pure and good in Charlie’s mother. Mocked his father’s memory.
    Charlie turned to Boricio, Adam, and Callie, and said, “Get out.”
    “What?” Callie said, trying to meet his eyes. But he couldn’t look at her.
    “Go out there and wait for me. Bob and I have some shit to work out.”
    Boricio smiled the widest smile Charlie had ever seen, as he put his hands on Adam and Callie and led them from the room. “Come on, team; let’s give our boy some privacy.”
    “You don’t have to do this,” Callie said, looking back.
    Charlie turned away. “Please. Leave.”
    Boricio led them out and shut the door softly behind him.
    Charlie turned to Bob. They were alone.  
    And only one would leave the room.

    * * * *

LUCA HARDING

    “Boy, your dog was really getting worked up,” Paola said.
    “He didn’t mean any harm. He’s a good dog,” Luca said, arranging his battleships on the board.  
    “He’s cute.” Paola said. Luca looked up to see her smiling. She had a pretty smile.
    “What was school like where you were from?” Luca asked Paola, trying to make small talk and avoid any more conversations about scary stuff.
    “Sort of boring,” she said. “I just started middle school. I sort of liked it better because we changed classes and teachers, plus the school was bigger so there were more friends to talk to and play with at recess, but it’s still pretty boring.”
    “Why is it boring?” Luca asked. “Didn’t you get to learn neat stuff? I was already in division for my Rocket Math. I was almost on Q.”
    “No, not really,” she said. “I mean, I guess you’re supposed to learn stuff. But most of what we learned at my new school I already knew when I got there.”
    “How come?”
    “Because I used to go to this school called Oak Hill, kindergarten through 4th grade. It was really good, but I stopped going two years ago.”
    “How come?” Luca asked.
    “Because my dad said that only rich people went to that school, and he didn’t want me to be a spoiled brat like most of the girls who went there. But that wasn’t the real reason . Almost all of the girls at Oak Hill were actually really, really nice. I think my dad didn’t want me to go there because he couldn’t afford it, which meant my mom had to pay for it. I don’t think he liked that, even though he wouldn’t admit it.”
    “You liked your old school?” Luca asked.
    “Actually, I really like my school. The people are nice and I have, or had, a lot of cool friends. It was just boring. I couldn't learn anything there that I couldn't learn from reading books, and I’ve been reading everything I could ever since I knew how.” She looked at Luca. “Do you like to read?”
    “Yeah, I just started reading chapter books this year,” he said.
    “Oh yeah? What’s your favorite?”
    “I started reading Harry Potter , but I didn’t like it very much.”
    “You don’t like Harry Potter? Something is definitely wrong with you! What are you reading now?”
    “ How to Eat Fried Worms . Have you read it?” Luca said.
    “No, but I saw the movie. Is the book any good?”  
    Luca nodded. “Yeah, I liked the book better than the movie.”
    Luca felt Paola trying not to stare, could feel her thinking how odd it was that they looked the same age.
    “Don’t be