May 5, 2440 3:30 PM
“That was awful,” Eric said, slowly sitting up, and realized he just heard an approximation of his voice coming through a translator in English.
“You are not the first to say that. I am told most of the V’ren don’t like it all that much,” AJ Marmaduke told him, dreading her own time in the machine later. “K.C., on the other hand, is handling it like a rockstar.”
“My name is Srang Jumo,” the technician said in V’ren. “Can you understand me?”
“Yes,” Eric said, amazed that he could.
“You did well. Please count for me?”
“En, twee, drei… dorz.”
“Very good, you know about 40 phrases and 200 other words,” Srang said and switched to English. “H’stal D’yem has suggested my friend, Tell Rarz, as your V’ren helper at your apartment. She speaks good English and some Spanish.”
“I will speak better Spanish tomorrow,” Tell said with a friendly smile.
“Well, that will come in useful,” he said with a smile he couldn’t control. “I’m Eric. Let’s talk while my daughter is finishing. How much longer do you think?” he asked, looking at the other two women.
“No more than one hour and twelve minutes. The interface will pull her out at a day twelfth,” Srang said. “You should practice your V’ren. It will help it set firmly in your head.”
Eric looked at his tablet as he sat down and banged out a text.
“Mags, I need 20 of your friends in 90 minutes. Matt will pay standard rates.”
“There are already 30 of us. Already shamed them into doing it for free. Making meatloaf, mash, corn, and Kiera’s mom sent raspberry pie. Pam said you were bringing a girl home that was not my sister.”
Eric scooted closer. “Smile for my daughter.”
“You have a second daughter?” Tell asked, curiously.
“Two daughters and twin boys. How did you learn English, or why might be the better question?”
“I like movies where things blow up,” she smiled.
Eric nodded slowly. He liked them too and fell into the rhythm of just talking to someone with a shared interest. He knew Pam was right. He would be bringing Tell home for dinner, though his reasons and hers might not be the same. Then again, if she was pulling an Angelina and playing matchmaker, maybe the reasons were the same. He really didn’t want to go down that path again, not with another tenant.
They talked until the jeepneys full of V’ren and Marmaduke Logistics vans full of supplies started pulling up.
K.C. Garcia had found her people in the back of the jeepney. They had orders from their captain to not join internet chats or start accounts of their own until Matt could put his spin on things. That didn’t stop her from taking selfies with them. Insta said her account now had a million followers and her pics were viral.
None of that mattered right now. She was making V’ren friends she could talk to. Dad was bringing one home for dinner. Best of all, the impossibly cute boy across from her wanted to learn trumpet. His mouth shape said a good lip for the instrument and, if she was lucky, also for kissing.
The column crept north along Eighth Street. Every dog in town had to be out this afternoon with nothing better to do than hold up traffic.
“Do they always do this?”
“The dogs? Sometimes. They have the right of way in town. They keep vermin down and opportunistic predators away,” he explained, just happy to have the afternoon with no place he had to go fast, even if he didn’t know how to explain that to the tall green woman.
May 5, 2440 4:30 PM
Eric looked at his new neighbors as they piled out of the jeepney fleet. He looked at the blue and white cargo vans and the box trucks that followed. He thought about the 285 people he had to assign to 100 apartments. He pulled up the list and was thankful he knew the kids Maggie had assembled by name.
He lowered the tailgate and climbed up, using it as a platform. “My name is Eric Garcia,” he said, pronouncing it in the traditional soft Filipino way, emphasizing the “sha” sound rather than the “sia” of Spanish. “I want to welcome everyone to North Park Apartments. We have four buildings in the complex, but all of you will be in buildings one or two. As I call your names, one of these fine young people will take you to your new apartment. I ask that you stay there for now, as we will also be making deliveries of other items over the next few hours. Meals will be distributed as soon as they arrive.”
Eric liked that Tell had already climbed up next to him and was ready to deliver his message in V’ren to assure everyone understood and wasn’t relying on their translator only.
Tell turned to him. “That was a question about whether they can sit outside on those benches or leave their doors open. They mostly want fresh air.”
Eric thought on it for a moment, really wanting them to stay home, but understanding the need for fresh air and to visit. “Of course, just be mindful of the people making deliveries. Some of their neighbors may come to introduce themselves and chat as well.”
Tell explained it to them, and they seemed mollified it was about ease of movement, not confinement.
“Some of your apartments will come with furniture that you are free to keep or, if you wish, tomorrow to trade with others, but for tonight, please keep it off the walkways.”
Tell translated and suggested he begin before they came up with more questions.
He looked to Ron and Roy, who had pulled the canvas work wagon to the truck. “Building 1 three bedrooms,” he told the twins, and took the offered box of keys. Then he looked to K.C., ready to log it. He looked to Tell, who nodded. “Pete Danforth, get your butt over here,” he called, looking to the awkward redhead who lived a couple of blocks away. “Matt isn’t paying you to stand around.”
Tell called the first three families over on the three-bedroom apartment list. She watched K.C. enter the names. She would have to tell her she was impressed by how well she transliterated the names after only one session with the neural interface.
“Pete will stay close by and answer your questions as you get settled tonight,” Eric told the Selvar, Torven, and Meros families. “Pete, report back to Maggie if they need anything and she will get us word.”
“Will do,” Pete said with a smile.
Eric smiled as one of the girls asked Pete about his Star Wars shirt as they walked away. He already knew the Star Wars vs. Star Trek fandom wars had crossed the galaxy after his afternoon with Tell.
Seventy-eight minutes later, every V’ren was placed save for one, and Eric would help Tell get settled personally. Parker Wattley was directing the delivery people on which apartments had no beds and which only needed mattresses. Ginger Graham was directing another fifteen kids on where to deliver the Welcome to Earth packages that Angelina had shamed Doug Meyer’s listeners into buying for the V’ren. Max Littleton was directing four food trucks and two dozen more kids to deliver dinner to all of his people, courtesy of Matt.
Maggie was calling him and Tell to dinner, and it was time to let his oldest shine in front of the V’ren, or at least this V’ren.
May 5, 2440 5:55 PM
Eric was more than pleased with his kids. They hadn’t just stepped up to help the V’ren, they had made the apartment the sort of place he wanted to bring Tell. Even the twins had managed to somehow get home and shower. He suspected there were threats of violence made by his eldest that he would ignore, since she was standing right in front of them leading the way with mano po.
K.C. was there and offered Tell a further greeting in V’ren. As the kid in charge of floors this week, she offered Tell not the guest slippers, nor ignored the woman’s shoes, but gave her a pair of Crocs for in the house as a welcome gift. She had even made space on the shoe rack with a personalized nameplate to match the rest of the family. He wondered if the stylized cartoon picture of Tell had also been done by Keria Park.
Maggie, who always thought proper food was the way to go, had not skimped. He knew she was being coy when she read out her proposed menu earlier, but he had not expected this on such short notice. Meatloaf had become embutido. Mash had become her favorite with full-fat coconut milk, patis, and crispy shallots and dillis on top. Corn had become binatog. There were two starter salads: hard sour apples and onions with bagoong, plus a seaweed salad. He wondered what she had traded for sea grapes.
Night had come hard at the Garcia apartment. He and Tell were left to their own devices when the kids peeled off to their separate rooms. He had not felt this way in a very long time. Contentment and falling for a tenant were probably signs of his declining good sense.
He had done that twice before. Once had been Pippa, just three years after Connie left them. She was still a mess after years of abuse and a twelve-year-old kid she didn’t know the father of for sure, but assumed it was a relative or someone they loaned her out to, to service a gambling or drug debt. She left him, then left Torrence at the fire station the following week. He still looked in on the boy now and again.
Lykke Chen had just wanted a sugar daddy. He hoped she found one. He didn’t resent her, just couldn’t be what the Boston nurse wanted or needed. He certainly wasn’t going to follow her back to Boston, nor to Portland, her next port of call. Eric’s life was here, with family and friends.
He wondered about what that life would look like with Tell Rarz and decided he was willing to chance it as she smiled at him from the other end of the couch as he poured two glasses of wine while she scrolled through the Netflix action movies.
She landed on a classic and moved to meet him in the middle of the couch for Romeo Must Die.
