Johnny (Part Three)

The meal was finished around seven-thirty and the Cramblit's company stayed with them for a while talking in the family room. Johnny's parents, his aunt and uncle, and the Neasons sat together drinking coffee and discussing politics and current events, now more safely because Nanny had excused herself and gone off to bed. Joshua joined them, but kept quiet. Johnny also sat with them for a while. A few months ago he would have gone down to the cellar with the other teenagers to listen to music and play pool, but he didn't feel much like a kid anymore. Six months of training had changed him, matured him, and the uniform he wore made him feel out of place with the kids who were roughly his age. But he soon realized after about half an hour with the adults, that he didn't feel right there either.
It was a strange feeling, stuck between two ages and two very different worlds, and he found himself longing for the company of the other police cadets at the academy. It almost scared him to think that they were the only people he would ever feel comfortable with again, but it also filled him with a sense of pride. He was a part of something that the people in this room could never understand. He hadn't realized what the training and education would do for him.
But he stayed with them for most of the night, not because he wanted to join in their conversation, which he did to the best of his ability, but because he wanted to keep an eye on Joshua. He was concerned about the strange things that Joshua had told him, and while Johnny was sure that his brother was neither a Christian nor a Christian Sympathizer, he was afraid that if Joshua said any of those things around Peter Neason, or even Uncle Howard who was also very anti-religious, he could get himself into the trouble.
Whenever the subject of religious deviance came up, Johnny watched his brother closely. He didn't say anything to either attack or support the fanatics. There were times that Johnny was sure Joshua was biting his tongue to keep from saying something, but he was careful not to say anything at all. The others were so into their conversations that nobody noticed Joshua's silence. Johnny noticed, though. Joshua had never been a quiet person. He had always been respectful and polite, but never quiet. His opinions had always been known, except for tonight. Maybe he was worried that if he said any of the things he had told Johnny an hour before, the others might miscontrue his statements and attack him, maybe even report him.
Finally, Uncle Howard decided that it was time for him and his family to leave. He asked Aunt Anne to go down and get Harold, but Johnny, anxious to get away from what he considered to be a rather boring and redundant conversation, offered to do it. He went down to the cellar. Sure enough, loud music was blaring from the stereo and Steve and Harold were busy playing a game of pool. Steve was winning.
Johnny looked for Aimee and Kelly and found them sitting on the sofa at the other end of the large cellar talking and giggling in that annoying way that girls had. When they saw him come in, Aimee whispered something to Kelly. Kelly acted as if what she had just heard was disgusting, but Aimee looked at Johnny and waved. Despite feeling like an adult and proudly sporting his uniform, Johnny could feel his face flushing bright red.
Taking a deep breath and trying to ignore the girls, he went to the pool table.
"Harold," he said. "Your dad wants to get going. You better get on up there."
"Fine by me," Harold said. "Your fat brother's beating me anyways."
Harold took one more futile shot at the seven ball, scratched, and then went upstairs without saying another word.
"Awe man," Steve said. "I was kicking his a__!"
"Too bad," Johnny said. He turned to go back upstairs.
"Johnny, wait!" Steve called. "Can't you just finish out the game? We haven't played in six months."
Johnny looked at the table. Harold had been shooting solids and had six balls left on the table compared to just two of Steve's. Harold would have lost in two more shots, but Johnny was a little better than that. He picked up Harold's cue, grateful for a diversion from the boredom upstairs. It was Steve's shot, and after Harold's scratch, he had a good one. He sunk one ball easily and managed to set up the second shot nicely. Johnny was sure that he wouldn't even get a chance to play, but Steve missed and it was his turn.
"So," Steve asked as Johnny prepared to shoot, "how was the academy?"
"Not bad," Johnny said. "It would have killed you."
"That's why I ain't gonna be a cop," Steve said. "But it seems right for you somehow. That uniform looks right on you."
"Thanks," Johnny said, and he shot at the seven ball that Harold had missed. He sank it easily and went for the next ball.
"Yeah, and with Joshua as a doctor and Kelly getting a scholarship offer in her junior year," Steve went on, "mom's been on my case to start cracking down and do something with my life."
"You're fourteen," Johnny said, as he sank another ball. "You've got plenty of time."
"Yeah," Steve said. "But you knew what you wanted to be when you were five, and look at you. And Josh has always wanted to be a doctor."
"Your music..."
"Yeah," Steve said. "Mom's not too thrilled about that."
Johnny sank a third ball and then a fourth.
"Hey, does Josh seem different to you?" Steve asked.
"What do you mean?" Johnny said.
"It's like, oh I don't know. It's like he's changed or something. He's quieter, but he seems happier. Do you think he met a woman at medical school or something?"
"If he did," Johnny said, "I think he would have told us."
"Something's different, though," Steve said. "I can't figure it out, but I'm sure of it."
"He's growing up," Johnny said, sinking two balls in one shot and moving towards the eight ball. "We all are." As he said this, he glanced over at Aimee and he was sure that she was looking at him with a whole lot more respect and even affection than when they had last met. Johnny sank the eight ball.
"Good game," he said smiling. He put the cue on the rack on the wall and left the cellar. He probably would have stayed a while longer, but he was uncomfortable discussing Joshua with Steve. He wasn't the only one to notice, but he was probably the only one who had heard his opinions of Christians.
Back upstairs, Uncle Howard and his family had left and it seemed that his father's conversation with Peter Neason was coming to a close. Joshua was nowhere to be seen. Johnny went to look for him and found him at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee.
"Hey," he said, sitting down across from his brother.
"Hey," Joshua said. "What's up?"
"Just wanted to get away," Johnny said. "You know, I thought I would feel more comfortable with the adults than the kids tonight, but I don't."
"I was the same way when I was eighteen," Joshua said. "Eventually you force yourself to act like a grown up, and soon you realize you aren't acting anymore."
The brothers sat there silently for a moment. Joshua sipped at his coffee, which Johnny could tell by the smell was Martian Blend. The soil on Mars was richer than that on earth since the terraforming experiments and things grown there had a distinct rich flavor.
"So," Johnny said, "Mom tells me you hardly ever come home since moving back the city."
"Yeah," Joshua said. "You know how it is. You leave home for a while and when you come back, it's not the same. Besides, that Peter Neason is here almost all the time now, and he's really getting on my nerves."
"He's harmless," Johnny said.
"You think so?" Joshua asked. "When I was working on those Christian prisoners there was this fourteen year old girl. She reminded me so much of Kelly, same hair, same eyes. Anyway, she had been beaten, abused, and raped. No one cared because she was a Christian and she was past the legal age of religious consent. It was like she didn't matter, all because people hate Christians. The cops justified their actions using words from Peter Neason's tracks! Now, tell me he's harmless!"
"The government tracks do not endorse the abuse of religious dissedents," Johnny said, "and I can tell you as a cop, neither do the police."
"Officially, no," Joshua said. "But unofficially... Johnny, you didn't see this girl! Her eyes were swollen shut, her nose broken, three ribs cracked, bruises all over, and... I don't even want to tell you the rest. I still have nightmares about it. And it was all done because of the anger and hatred against the religious deviants propagated by those damned government tracks!"
Johnny didn't know what to say. He was disgusted by Joshua's description of the abuse, and the girl's reported resemblance to Kelly only made it worse, but Joshua was scaring him now more than ever. If Johnny didn't know better, he would have considered his brother a Christian sympathizer. But Johnny did know better. Joshua wasn't talking as a sympathizer, he was talking as a doctor who had seen a human being in distress. That the person was a Christian or the distress caused by police officers wasn't important. Most doctors would react in the same way.
Johnny didn't have to say anything. His brothers outburst had attracted the attention of those in the family room and they had come into the kitchen to see what was happening. Peter Neason stood in the doorway with the others behind him. He was fuming and he glared hard at Joshua.
"What were you just saying?" he demanded. "How dare you speak against the governemt!"
"I am not talking against the government, Mr. Neason," Joshua said. "I'm talking about the beating and rape of a fourteen year old girl who almost died at the hands of people quoting your words!"
"It is not my fault people take my words out of context to support their own crimes!" Mr. Neason replied. "But the girl was old enough to chose her religion, and she knew the consequences of Christianity, didn't she? Everyone knows that some cops can be a little harsh in their treatment of prisoners."
"A little harsh?" Joshua yelled. He stood up from the table and took a step towards Peter. Johnny could see his face clearly, and he looked like he was about to take out all of his frustration over the girl's abuse on Mr. Neason. On instinct, he stood up and grabbed his brother's arm. Mr. Cramblit stepped in front of Peter, who also looked ready to fight.
"Peter," he said, "I think it's time you left. Sorry about all this."
"You're right," Mr. Neason said. "I'm sorry too. I know that Josh didn't mean any harm."
"And neither did you," Mr. Cramblit replied. "Johnny, can you go tell Aimee it's time to go."
"Yeah," Johnny said, looking to make sure his brother had calmed down a bit before releasing his arm. "No problem."
He let his brother go and went back down to the basement. Steve was in one corner with a VR helmet on his head, playing a computer game, and the girls were still on the sofa.
"Aimee," Johnny said, "you're parents are leaving."
"Okay," Aimee said. She hugged Kelly, who had always been her best friend, and got up. She came over and stopped by the stairs and looked up at Johnny. "What's going on up there? I heard yelling."
"Nothing," Johnny said. "Just a little political discussion."
"Oh," Aimee said. She was well aware that her father's views often caused conflicts with even the most loyal citizen of the United Earth. She didn't move to go upstairs.
"Aren't you going to leave?" he asked her.
"In a second," she said. "I haven't talked you in six months."
"You barely talked to me before then," Johnny reminded her.
"I know," she said, "but I always wanted to. You look good in that uniform, Johnny. It suits you."
"Thanks."
"Maybe we can get together sometime before you ship out," Aimee said. "I'd like to catch up with you before you leave for another year."
"Yeah," Johnny said. "I'd like that."
"You got my number," she said. "Give me a call."
She went past him, touching his arm as she left, and went up the stairs. Johnny stood there smiling for a moment before his sister came over and punched him in the arm.
"I don't know what she sees in you," Kelly said. "It has to be the uniform, cause she never liked you before!"
Johnny ignored her. He went back upstairs to make sure that Joshua and Peter Neason didn't end up attacking each other before the Neason's left. The Neason's left without incident and Mr. and Mrs. Cramblit immediately began scolding Joshua for turning their holiday dinner into a big fight. He didn't yell back at them. He just sat there for a few minutes listening to their shouts, and then got up, apologized quietly, and, it seemed, insincerely, grabbed his jacket and left the house.
Johnny went out too, catching him on the porch before he got to his car.
"Josh, wait up!"
"What?" Joshua said. "You want to yell at me too?"
"No," Johnny told him. "I just wanted to make sure that this wasn't the last time I saw you before I left Earth. Let's meet for lunch as soon as you're free."
"I'm off tomorrow," Joshua said. "I'll pick you at eleven."
Johnny nodded and Joshua got into his vehicle without another word. As Johnny watched him fly away towards the skyway, he was more concerned than ever. Even if it turned into a huge argument, he decided then and there that during the next day's lunch, he would find out once and for all what was going on with his brother.
TO BE CONTINUED