Chapter 13

Everything changes when the person you love is dying. I’m flipping out. I am pacing back and forth.

“Stop you’re going to wake Prall,” Piece tells me.

“I don’t give a fuck!”

The room is shaking. It must be my mind. I don’t know how I’m doing it. I don’t really care either. If Prall was going to wake up he would have woken up by now. Maybe he’s up pretending to be knocked out. I don’t know. Right now, the only thing that matters is the fact that Piece just told me that the bomb was in him.

I’m breathing heavy. I want to destroy this entire hotel. I want to rip it down to the ground. Right now, I feel like I can do it. Antietam could collapse tunnels. I wanted to tear this hotel down. I wanted to tear this city down. That’s how angry I was.

“Calm down,” Piece is telling me, “This is why I didn’t want to tell you.”

His voice is calm and soothing. Usually it would have worked but I’m past that right now. Right now I’m somewhere else mentally.

“Is this what you’ve been hiding from me this entire time?” I ask Piece, “Is this why you’ve been holding back from me?”

Piece is crouching right now. Maybe he is too weak to stand. Maybe he’s too embarrassed to look me in my eyes. Right now he’s just staring at the rug as though it is the most interesting thing in the world. I don’t know where to place my anger right now. I want to scream at him. I want to shake him. But I’m sad at the same time. All these emotions flood through me like a tidal wave when the moon is too close. There is a pull at my chest. It tugs trying to rip out my soul.

Piece speaks so low that I have to stop pacing around to make out what he’s saying, “I never meant to fall in love with you. The plan was that I was supposed to do Antietam a favor…give her son some Ambrosia. Initiate his receiver. And somewhere in that things changed.”

His voice is so low. He’s in pain.

“You regret your feelings towards me?” I ask him.

He doesn’t hold back to save my feelings, “Absolutely Jamison. I am a walking, talking…TICKING time bomb. And in a month I’m going to go off.”

I don’t get it. Maybe I do get it but I refuse to accept it.

“This is you playing a joke again isn’t it?” I ask him shaking my head, “You trying to play some sort of game? You’re not funny you know that Piece? This isn’t fucking funny to me. This shit hurts.”

“No games. No tricks,” he replies.

We exchange glances one more time but he quickly turns back to the rug. He stares at it. It’s like he’s counting the fibers in them. His voice is dwindling. The sadness and embarrassment is reflected in his body language. I am starting to realize that maybe my anger isn’t the best way to deal with this but right now I don’t know any other way to respond.

“Piece. Why would your own father do that to you?”

Piece shrugs, “A kinetic bomb is one through the mind. It has to be catered to. It has to be brought up from the beginning. I was always my father’s favorite test subject. We aren’t talking about a man with compassion. This man wants to destroy an entire species of human. He wants to wipe out the homo sapien in the same way that the homo neanderthalensis was wiped out. You think a man like that gives a fuck about his son?”

I’m pacing the room.

“I’d kill him. If he wasn’t dead…I’d kill him.”

I meant it from my soul. The room is shaking more and more. Words can’t express what I’m feeling right now. Nothing can calm me down.

“He called me his legacy. He told me it would be an honor. And he used his technology to set a bomb within me that is going to go off within two weeks, Jamison.”

“This whole time you knew?”

He nods.

“How the fuck is that possible?” I respond, “How is it you smile every day? How is it you run around acting so happy when you have a bomb inside of you?”

Piece looks over at me.

“You just enjoy the time you have I guess,” he responds, “The date we had meant the world to me, you know that? The time we spent together is what mattered to me the most. That’s all I really ever wanted to do. I always planned on giving myself up to Antietam. I just wanted some time to live. You know, Truly live…”

“I’m not giving you up to anyone,” I tell him at that moment with all true intention, “I’m not going to let you die.”

I mean every word I am saying to him. The time we spent in the pizza shop, kissing in the rain and making love all come back to me. They enter my brain I can’t suppress the memories. I remember how happy I was when I told him that I wanted to leave with him after this. I wanted to start a life with him. I finally found someone who challenged me. But this person wasn’t right.

This person was dying.

He is breathing heavy. He is trying to be strong, “There is no stopping it. Jamison. Not unless I die before it goes off.”

“You’re NOT going to die.”

“I’m going to die,” he acknowledges abruptly as though he’s come to that conclusion a long time ago, “The only difference is will I die alone or not. And I’m tired of killing. I want to save the pizza man who made us our pizza on our date. I want to save your friend Cedric. And when I’m done even the Gods will understand that mankind is there to be loved…and cherished…”

Piece walks up to me. He touches me on my face. He’s so gentle. My heart is breaking.

“But…I love you…”

I don’t know how selfish it is right now to feel sorry for myself, but that’s what is happening. Here I was hearing from the man I loved that he was going to die. Here I was listening to him and not knowing how to react to this.

The same strange mystery boy who came into my world and turned it upside down also made me feel more alive than ever. And now he was going to die?

He leans into me, “What do you think I feel about you?”

He stands up at that moment. There is no Pest in front of me. There is no boy who is trouble. There is no guy who just runs around causing mischief. The person standing in front of me is someone who has been betrayed since birth and was only seeking a way to be normal. All he ever wanted to do was live and his own father robbed him of that a long time ago.

He crosses his arms and he hugs himself. He looks so alone. I am beginning to feel bad. A single tear is falling down my eye at that moment.

“You think I’m a weirdo? A stalker? I dunno…” I respond.

“All of the above,” he laughs.

“Oh really?” I ask him.

I grab him up. I can’t help it. I pull him close and put him in a headlock. He doesn’t fight it. He lets me control him for a moment. He is so calm. He is so comfortable. When I release him from the headlock, we are staring in each other’s eyes.

He leans in and whispers to me, “I fell in love with you the first moment I met you. That’s how I really feel about you Jamison Reid. And dying is so so much sweeter because I knew love. And you ate pizza with me. And we made love in the rain…”

“But fell in love in the sun,” I remembered him telling me.

Piece smiles at that moment, “Yeah. That’s all I ever wanted. You know. Come lay down with me Jamison. I’m so happy right now.”

He’s happy. He’s smiling the same Piece smile that I knew so well. Only now, I knew he was never really up to anything. He never had any bad intentions. He was just a boy trying to live his life before he died.

“How can you smile?” I ask him again.

“Because you were the best distraction Jamison Reid,” he smiles at me.

Piece wraps me up in his arms and he falls asleep almost as though he’s comfortable.

I can’t sleep. Prall is on the other double bed in the hotel room. Piece and I are on the same bed wrapped up together. He looks like he’s at peace. He is tossing and turning. Piece looks like he has found true happiness. It was enough for him that he met me. It was enough for him that we went on a date and ate fucking pizza.

This was happiness for him. Fuck that.

I loved this man.

My world has just been turned upside. The man that I was in love with was telling me that he has two weeks left to live. How could I sleep? I stay up the entire night just staring at him watching him sleep. I want to protect him. That’s all I wanted to do.

In chess,…you’re supposed to protect your king. That’s the whole point of it. If you move all your pieces around the board, you still have to remember your king. You always keep him well guarded. Piece was my king, but how the fuck was I supposed to save him from a threat that was already inside of him? How the fuck was I supposed to stop this?

I had no one to turn to.

“Prall…Prall…wake up…”

It’s early in the morning. It may just be around 6am. I tossed and turned all night. I took about four baths to calm my nerves but every time I came out of the bathroom, I’d go over to Piece and all the emotions would start back up again. I’d run back into the bathroom. I’d start crying my fucking eyes out like a little pussy. I’d run the water so it wouldn’t disturb Piece. I wanted to be strong for him. I didn’t want to seem like a little punk. But right now the pain was something that I couldn’t deal with.

“What…what is it?” he asks.

I grab him off the bed and take him into the bathroom. I don’t want to disturb Piece. I don’t want him to think that we are up to something. When we get in the bathroom Prall is looking at my face with this stressed out look.

“I need your help.”

I’m on the brink of tears. I can barely even talk. You would think these fucking tears would stop. You would think I’d get over it. I wasn’t. It was getting worse.

“Are you ok?” he asks me, “Is it Antietam?”

“No. It’s not that,” I reply shaking my head, “I just need your help ok?”

“What do you need my help with?”

“Do you know how to find Bombard?”

“Bombard and the others?”

“No…just Bombard.”

“I know some usual hang out spots that they may be in. But I have no way of contacting them…”

“Prall. Listen to me closely. I don’t need you to find them. I just need you to find Bombard. Is that clear? I need you to go to where Bombard usually hangs out. I need you to bring him back here ok?” I ask him.

“What’s going on?”

I’m struggling with this. My emotions are high. I can’t tell Prall. I can’t let Tonnet or Old Man Keeper know. Who knows what they would do if they found out that Piece was the bomb. They’d have every reason to kill him right now before Victoria found out about it and kept Piece safe. They’d want to hurt Piece.

Bombard was the only one who knew what it was like to be in love with him. Even though Piece turned him down, he was the only one who could help me figure out a way to stop this bomb. And I planned on doing anything possible to save Piece.

“I can’t tell you Prall,” I respond, “If I could…”

“I trust you,” Prall responds, “I’ll find Bombard. No matter what…”

The day passes quickly. I lay back down with Piece. He wakes up and smiles at me. He leans over and gently kisses me on my lips.

“What do you want to do today?” Piece asks me.

“We can do whatever you want. I just have to wait for Prall to come back.”

“Where’s he at?” Piece asks me.

“He is around.”

Piece looks bummed about it. He sighs a little bit, “I wish he’d hurry up. I mean I do just have two weeks left. We should make a plan. You know?”

He’s smiling again. He is all happy. How does he do this? How does he smile when he knows he’s going to die? I’m trying to force a smile. I can’t do it for more than two second increments. I’m in pain right now.

“Yeah…sure…a plan. Sure.”

I’m struggling at this moment.

Piece leans over at that moment, “Give me some ideas. What do you like…”

“You.”

He smiles, “C`mon Jamison. You know what I mean. What do you like to do?”

“I like spending time with you,” I respond.

I’m being blunt. I’m being clear. Right now, there is nothing else on my mind then saving Piece.

“We’ll do that regardless,” Piece explains before smiling and opening the window, “Why don’t we go to the zoo, since we can’t get to Antarctica. You never know. They may have penguins. You know? Why don’t we …”

The window shatters.

It’s me. I know it’s me even though I didn’t mean to do it. Luckily, Piece isn’t hurt by any of the shattered glass. He just steps away from it all and takes a look at me. There is so much pain in me. I can’t help making things shake and shatter using my mind.

“Piece I don’t care about penguins. I don’t want to make plans with you for two weeks. Piece. I want to make plans with you for a lifetime.”

How could he not see the difference?

Piece grabs my hand and pulls me to the open window. I don’t know what he’s doing but I see him pointing down on the street right now.

“You see that man right there with the Dre Beats on?” he asks me.

“Yeah…so?”

“That man may be in love. For all we know he could be in love with the woman with the pink dress walking next to him. Hell…he could be in love with the man walking towards him. Mankind has so much hate but there’s so much love you know? So much love to be shared. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made. Antietam sacrificed her family for a bigger purpose. I believe that purpose was love. There is a love that links us all to everything around us. People like us…with the special gene, we have tapped into that link. We have tapped into our Receivers. I feel like that’s why we can move things because we understand love so much more.”

“That is not the case with Victoria, or her fucking people.”

“Victoria can move people. Hell, maybe one day she will be able to move mountains,” he responds, “But at the end of the day she’s weak if she can’t tap into that link. She’s weak if she can’t truly tap into that love. Do you understand?”

I look over at Piece.

“I never understand you Piece.”

“Never at first. But in the end doesn’t it always make sense?” he asks me.

He’s right about that. I don’t get what he’s trying to tell me. Right now, though I guess it doesn’t matter. I find myself holding him…staring out the window. He is dreaming. He’s dreaming with his eyes open and I don’t understand it for a minute. He’s going to die. He knows that and I know that. At least he wants me to know it. He wants me to accept it.

I have other plans…

At 5 pm, there is a knock on the door and Bombard is there.

“Who is it?” Piece asks me when I open the door.

Bombard looks over at me.

“Is that Piece?” he asks me, “You told Prall to meet me here so that you can show off the fact that you are sleeping with Piece?”

Bombard doesn’t trust me. I can see it in his eyes. He never trusted me. Right now, however trust is not a requirement for us to work together…

“Where’s Prall?”

“He’s with Tonnet and the others.”

“Did he mention why I asked you here?”

“No.”

Good. Prall really was asleep. He wasn’t pretending like he was asleep when he really wasn’t. He hadn’t told Tonnet and the others.

I step aside and let Bombard walk into the room. Bombard and Piece lock eyes at that moment and I can tell Piece is a little confused.

“What is he doing here?” Piece asks me.

“Nice to see you too…” Bombard replies.

Piece shakes his head, “I don’t mean it like that. It’s just. Jamison…what is going on right now?”

Bombard looks over at me. He’s just as suspicious as Piece if not even more so. He crosses his arms and just stares over at me.

“Yeah…Jamison,” Bombard asks lifting his eyebrow and exposing his gray eyes, “What’s going on?”’

I look at the two of them and cross my eyes.

“Piece is the bomb…” I say.

Piece looks at me like I’ve betrayed him. He takes a step back. I feel bad saying this. Bombard just looks confused. He looks at Piece then looks at me then looks back at Piece.

“Fuck is he talking about?” Bombard asks.

“I was going to tell Antietam before she died,” Piece explains, “My father put the bomb inside me Bombard.”

“What the fuck!”

Bombard is pacing around the room. Regardless of how he feels about me, he loves Piece. He’s in love with Piece. It’s clear to see.

“I’m going to…die… in two weeks,” Piece explains.

“No FUCK THAT!” Bombard said at that moment. He’s pacing faster and faster before turning to me, “We have to stop this.”

“That’s what I said,” I say to Bombard.

“What’s the plan?” Bombard asks me.

“There is no plan,” Piece explains, “There is no hope. It can’t be done. I’ve already confirmed this with one of the strongest minds in the world.”

Bombard shakes his head, “Piece with all due respect, I wasn’t talking to you. I was talking to Jamison. Jamison. We can’t let him die…”

Bombard looks at me. It’s the first time he’s speaking to me as though I’m his equal. It’s the first time he’s speaking to me as though he gives a damn either way. For the first time ever we are on the same page. The look in his eyes is just as passionate as mine. We weren’t going to let Piece die…no matter what.

Piece is just shaking his head at that moment. Plan. I thought Bombard would come up with a plan.

“Wait…you said you confirmed with one of the strongest minds in the world that the bomb can’t be stopped?” I ask Piece.

“Yes,” Piece responds, “S.Dot?”

“The nerd under Victoria,” Bombard asks.

Piece shoots him the eye, “That nerd just so happens to be one of my best friends.”

“You told him about the bomb?” I ask confused.

“A long time ago, yes,” Piece explains, “He checked me out. He said there was nothing to be done. I trust him.”

I shake my head.

“So you trust the same person who let Mal Tiffany know where we took our date?” I ask.

Piece sighs a little bit.

“We don’t know for certain he told her.”

“How else did she know where to show up?” I ask, “You say he can hack into cameras and he monitors the city for Victoria. He told Mal Tiffany. He told Victoria.”

“I see what you’re saying,” Bombard replies, “He’s not to be trusted.”

“That doesn’t mean he was lying about there not being away to stop the bomb,” Piece explains, “He spent months looking into ways to stop the bomb.”

I want to shake Piece at that moment.

“Think about it Piece,” I respond, “Stop being naive. Victoria has been treating you like glass for years. No matter how much trouble you cause for her, she doesn’t attack you. What if he told her? What if the friend that you trusted so much sold you out?”

Bombard nods in agreement, “What if Victoria told S.Dot not to share a way to stop that bomb?”

“Everything can be unarmed,” I add.

We look over at Piece. I’m glad that I called Bombard here. We are tag teaming him. We are forcing Piece to think. I don’t know this S.Dot guy. He did stick up for Piece the one time I met him. But at the same time, he was on Victoria’s side. It took a certain type of person to be on the side of the Corporation and that certain type of person couldn’t be trusted.

I didn’t trust S.Dot at all.

Piece sighs a little bit, “Ok…”

“Ok what…”

Piece is thinking. He’s running it over in his head. He may be thinking about the past. He may be thinking about some funny things that S.Dot has done. He knows the guy much better than I do.

He has every idea. (← delete this )

“He may be lying…” Piece finally admits.

“Don’t stop…no matter what.”

We are at a local cyber cafe. Piece says that this is where S.Dot likes to hang out on his off time. I had to force Piece to tell me. He wanted to go talk to S.Dot himself. That wasn’t an option anymore. Bombard nor I was down with letting Piece just go off and be possibly tricked by someone he considered his friend. Piece was more naive then people thought. I wasn’t going to let his kind heart be taken advantage of.

“There…there he is…”

The cyber cafe is crowded with people. We see S.Dot on the other side of the wall. He has a laptop in his hands and is listening to music. His long hair flows down to his knees. He looks like a true nerd at that moment.

“Bombard, do your thing,” I insist.

Bombard looks over at me.

“I thought you’d never ask.”

He raises his hand in the air. At that moment the front door opens. We step inside. Everyone in the room is sucked up as though sucked into a vacuum. People are scared screaming not understanding what is going on. They are thrown right outside of the front door one after the other. Bombard uses psychokinesis to close the door and lock it behind him. As if that isn’t enough, he brings down the blinds in the cyber cafe.

There is only one person left.

S.Dot.

“Holy shit…” S.Dot says taking out his earphones, “Piece?”

He looks nervous. He looks afraid. I can see the guilt on his face. That isn’t the face of an innocent man. I can tell. And I’m angry. I’m more than angry. I start walking forward now. I’d do anything for Piece and I knew I was going to regret it.

It’s almost as though Piece can read my mind because he stops me. He puts his hand on my shoulders and pulls me back. He stands in front of me and looks over at his friend.

“S., we need to talk,” He responds.

“Piece you brought these people here? THEM? Are you serious?”

“I’m not the only one who likes leading people to other people am I?” Piece asks him.

“What are you talking about?” S.Dot says.

“PLAY FUCKING DUMB ONE MORE FUCKING TIME!” I scream out at the top of my lungs.

I can’t help it. The boy is dragged from his seat and thrown to the floor by my mind power. I am looking down at him. I’m ready to rip him apart. I’m that angry. The people that worked for Victoria were scum. Every last fucking one of them. I wouldn’t take it easy on him.

Bombard is laughing at that moment and clapping, “That’s what the fuck I’m talking about. Finally Jamison, you are growing some balls doing what you got to do.”

“You haven’t seen the half,” I announce.

I’m going to rip this boy apart. I have every need.

Piece grabs me again. He pulls me back. He leans over at that moment and does something I don’t expect. He helps S.Dot to his knees.

Piece then proceeds to dust him off.

“S., I know what you did. I know you helped Mal Tiffany trick Jamison into leading her to their hideout. The GPS technology… and all of that was your doing.”

“Piece…”

He breaks down at that moment. He’s crying. I’m shocked!

This boy is crying. It isn’t out of fear or anything like that. He’s crying because he is upset.

“I don’t know what she has on you. I don’t know why you betrayed me,” Piece explains at that moment, “But I’m going to die in two weeks. Actually less than two weeks. I’m going to kill myself before that bomb explodes if need be.

“Piece. Piece I’m sorry…” S.Dot is whining.

Tears are rolling down his eyes. He’s facing demons right now that he probably didn’t think he’d ever have to face. I recognize the look in his eyes right now.

Yes. There it is. It’s regret.

“Its ok. You know what? I’m fine with that. I’ve come to terms with death. However these two guys behind me. They really, really, really don’t want me to die.”

“And if he does die…he won’t be dying alone. You’ll all have hell to pay,” I threaten him.

I know it’s Piece’s friend. I know he feels regret. Right now I’ve gone to a dark place though. It’s the darkest place I’ve ever been in my life. I’m tired of losing people. I already lost Aunt Gloria. I wasn’t about to lose the man that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

Not that easily.

“There’s a way,” S. Dot admits, “But you won’t like it.”

“Holy shit. What is it?” Bombard asks, “What the fuck is it kid?”

My heart is beating fast. There’s a way to save Piece.

“Victoria knows about this,” S.Dot explains to us.

Piece shakes his head, “Tell me S.Dot. What is it?”

“Ambrosia,” he responds, “If you drink enough of it…it will disarm the bomb.”

“There is no more Ambrosia,” Piece says.

“That’s not true,” Bombard responds, “The corporation just produced some. The problem is Victoria is keeping all the Ambrosia locked away. She won’t risk it…now that she is so close to her goal.”

This wasn’t going to be easy. It was clear this wasn’t going to be easy. S. Dot was right. I didn’t like it. We’d have to go through Victoria to get to the Ambrosia. I look over at Piece. It would be worth it though. It would all be worth it.

“I’ll go through hell to save Piece,” I tell them.

“You won’t have to go through it alone,” Bombard acknowledges.

Bombard puts his hand on my shoulder. He has my back in this. Strange how I find my greatest ally in the man that I probably hated the most.

S.Dot lifts his eyes at that moment. There is something looming there behind his eyes. He was holding something back.

Piece seemed to notice it too, “There is more…isn’t there?”

“The amount of Ambrosia you have to drink…in order to disarm the bomb,” S. Dot explains, “It’s impossible.”

“How much?” Piece asks.

“I would have told you. I honestly was looking for a way but when I saw how much you had to drink, I realized that it was pointless to have you try. I couldn’t save you Piece. That’s when I turned to Victoria and let her know everything. I wouldn’t have turned on you if there was a true chance here,” S.Dot explains, “I calculated the amount. The odds are bad…”

“S.DOT how much ambrosia do I have to drink?” Piece asks.

“5 gallons.”

I don’t get it but I just see Piece look away at that moment. Bombard just drops to his knees looking defeated. I don’t get it. I’m looking at them confused.

“Does Victoria have 5 gallons?” I ask.

“She has it.”

I smile, “That’s a good thing right? Right guys? We just steal the ambrosia.”

Piece is looking at the ground. Bombard is crying again. What the fuck was going on? I didn’t understand it.

Piece shakes his head, “You don’t get it Jamison. If I drink enough Ambrosia to disarm that bomb, I would never wake up again…. that much Ambrosia will certainly kill me.”

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