Conflict of Interest Ch.6

Alice noticed Lucas crawling into his sleeping back and not taking any insulin.

“Aren’t you going to take an insulin shot?” She asked

“Nah, I don’t take any insulin unless it’s feeling like it's up over 350. I can’t waste it.” He wadded a blanket under his head as a pillow.

Alice nodded and snuggled down into her sleeping bag. She waited till he was asleep and quietly pulled out her syringe and insulin. She gave herself a shot and place her supplies back into her pocket. She looked over at Luca. His blood sugar was probably running at at 250. He had eaten a few carbs and hadn’t taken any insulin in about 48 hours. She looked at her bottle of insulin in the smoldering light of the fire. She pulled a syringe from her back and carefully drew out 5 units and slowly pulled herself out of her sleeping back. Carefully not to wake Lucas. His arm was extended out of the back and exposed. She quickly put the needle in his arm and pushed in the insulin. He moved his arm and grumbled in his sleep but, didn’t wake up.

Alice relieved crept back to her back and snuggled up with Carrot. That would be enough to keep him in range for the next day. She could spare 5 units for him.

They awoke the next day when the sun was creeping through the windows.

Lucas stretched and yawned and looked over at Alice, “I don’t know what was in that food, but I feel great. The best I have felt in a while. I feel like I have a ton of energy”.

She peeked out of her sleeping bag. “That’s amazing!”

“So, you never told me Lucas what happened to you before the quake? Do you have any family you’re getting back to? A girlfriend you're getting to? You have never told me about anyone,” Alice asked

_____

1 month ago

Music blared from the car in front of them. The light was green and the car hadn’t gone yet. Lucas laid on the horn.

Cora gently laid her hand on his “It’s fine, don’t worry, we will get there when we get there.”

Lucas looked over at her hand and then up to her big green eyes. “I just don’t want to be late the first time I meet your parents? Okay?” He was a little defensive.

Cora half smiled like she acknowledged his feelings but, she wanted him to slow down.

“Is your blood sugar okay? You seem a little adjusted.” She asked

Lucas felt his whole body get a little tense. “Nope, I’m fine,” He said with a forced smile.

They finally arrived at her parent's house and there was a huge American Flag in the yard.

“That flag kinda looks like it would be at a car dealership.” Lucas chuckled.

Lucas looked at himself in the rearview mirror. He took his nose ring out and put it in the cup holder and pulled his hair back into a respectful ponytail at the nape of his neck.

Cora reassured Luca “You don’t need to change, just be yourself and I am sure my parents will love you just as much as I do.”

“Well, no offensive, but I don’t want your dad to love me the same way you do.” Lucas smirked

Cora rolled her eyes. “Come on let’s go” and she got out of the car.

Lucas grabbed the baklava he had prepared from the back of the car and joined his girlfriend. The lawn was perfectly manicured probably by the sight of it probably an entire garden crew. The door opened before they could even ring the doorbell.

“MY PRINCESS! Come here baby girl” Her dad was somehow bigger in person.

“DADDY!” Cora yelled out and hugged her dad.

Lucas tried to stay out of the way, but also not try to look like he was hiding. He suddenly felt uncomfortable holding his crispy dessert. Baklava was something his greek grandmother had taught him how to make. Being raised by his grandparents had its downsides but he learned a lot about cooking greek food.

Just as he started to daydream he heard a booming voice “Hey Champ!” her father said as he extended his hand for a shake.

Lucas awkwardly shifted his baklava onto his hip like a square-shaped toddler and extended his hand.

“So, good to finally meet you all. Cora has said so many wonderful things about her family. I couldn’t wait to meet you all,” Lucas said as he tried to match the grip this marine veteran was giving to his palm.

It was then her mother came out. She didn’t look as threatening as her father but even pretentious.

“Come inside!” She scolded everyone as they stood in the doorway.

They all went into the house and the house felt sticky and warm from the number of people inside. Piano music was playing from somewhere.

“Hello, Mrs. Hall. I brought a pan of baklava for the party where should I put it?” asked Lucas

Her mother reached out and took the pan and looked down at the desert like it was an unwelcome surprise. “Oh, interesting…Is this one of your ethnic dishes our sweet Cora has been bragging about”? She spoke loudly the word “ethnic” like it was a dirty word she was scared to say.

Lucas felt awkward. He had never really thought baklava would be different than any other desert and he didn’t know that Cora had been telling her mother his food was “ethnic”. “Yes, I guess so my grandparents were both greek and my grandmother taught me how to cook” finally said

“You know my sweet Cora has always been friends with everyone she meets since she was little. Even when she was little she used to play with this oriental boy at school. It was like she wanted to collect friends in every color of the rainbow.” then she awkwardly laughed again and walked to the kitchen.

Lucas looked at Cora for some reassurance then he had made the right decision to come with her to this party. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “Sorry, I know how you get nervous around new people.” She whispered

“I’m fine. I just feel a little out of place.” He whispered back

n

It was then she looked at him very seriously. “I have to warn you about something.” She said with a look of concern.

Lucas’s heart raced for a moment.

“Samual is here at the party.” She looked nervously up at Lucas.

Lucas exhaled and tried to ground himself. “You’re Ex-boyfriend of 4 years Samual?”

“Yes, but I told you he is a family friend. He’s going to be here I just wanted to warn you.” She said aggravated at Lucas’s reaction.

“Didn’t he cheat on you? Why would your family still want to be friends with someone that cheats on their daughter?” Lucas asked confused.

“I mean… yes… He did but it was kinda not a big deal as I made it out to be. He was making out with a girl at a bar, but he was just mad because I was texting this guy I had hooked up with a few months before me and Sam got together. But we made up and it's all good between us now. Plus I love you, Lucas. That was all before the US.” She squeezed his hand again this time for her own reassurance.

Lucas was a little dumbfounded. He was at a loss for words. He looked over at the mantel above the fireplace. The bottles of Kentucky bourbon seemed to be shaking and the liquid inside was splashing like tiny tycoons. It was then the chatter seemed to settle and everyone in the house was silent. Watching the bottles shake. Cora’s father was the only one that seemed to move with speed. He ran to the bookshelf and removed a large family bible that revealed a keypad. Bottles began falling and cracking on the hardwood floor. Thousands of dollars worth of bourbon spilled into the floor. Her father punched in the keypad while people began running out the door while others hid under tables.

Cora looked around the room frightened. “Samual!” “Sam?”

The bookcase opened up to reveal a large room stacked to the bring with gallons of water and goods. A wall of bunkbeds were on the other side. The room alone was bigger than any house Lucas had ever lived in.

Cora’s turned back to his party which had turned into a disaster. The high ceilings were beginning to crumble.

Cora’s mother grabbed her arm to stabilize herself from falling. “Honey, get in the shelter” Her mom yelled.

Luca’s grabbed Cora’s hand. “Come on let’s go!” He shouted. He didn’t have time to pull the jealous boyfriend. He just wanted her to be safe. It was then a tall blonde man in his 20s appeared from the back of the house holding a cat and ran into the shelter. Cora’s father tapped his shoulder like they were on a high school sports team. Finally Cora her mother and Lucas entered the shelter and her father closed the large door as the ceiling gave way to the sky.

“Sit down everyone” Her Father boomed

Lucas did as he said. Roaring sounds went on outside the room like a thunderstorm. They heard yelling like someone was begging to be let in the room. It was pitch black and Lucas couldn’t see his hands in front of his face. He prayed. He hadn’t prayed like that since he had begged God not to take his grandfather, but now he was begging for his own life. After a long 2 minutes, the noise stopped. Her father turned on a small flashlight.

“How is everybody?” Her Father asked

He walked over and turned on a switch and lit a dim yellow-like light above their heads. Cora and Samual were wrapped in each other’s arms holding Cora’s cat. Lucas didn’t even know what to say. He just glared at them while Cora ignored his eye contact.

Her Father stood up and began pulling a backpack from his shelf.

“Hey Champ, Lucas looked up assuming he was talking to him which he was.”

“Look, I think we both know by now that my daughter has been using you to get back at her boyfriend over there.”

Lucas looked over at Cora. A tear slid down her face, but she didn’t correct her father.

“We have roughly enough food for the 4 of us and the cat for 2 months, and to be honest Cora told us you got the diabetus. Look Champ, I get you are probably a good boy and all but you gotta leave. I’ll give you a week's worth of food, a gallon of water, and a sleeping bag. I’m not heartless but you’re not gonna stay here with us and I don’t want things to get ugly.”

Lucas was dumbfounded. He slowly got up and took the packed backpack from the man. He turned to Cora to say goodbye but she turned her head down and petted her cat.

Samuel looked up a little to smug for Lucas’s taste. “Go on, we have all been through enough dude. Just leave if you care about her don’t make this worse.”

Cora’s father again opened the door with the keypad and Lucas stepped out into the rubble that was Cora’s home. Lifeless bodies lay everywhere. Lucas walked to where his car had been. A tree was on top of it now making it completely undrivale. He reached inside and grabbed his fanny pack with 2 bottles of insulin and 2 bags of syringes. He also grabbed his nose ring that was still miracuously on the dash. His mirrors had fallen off the car. He looked at his reflection. A few cuts on his face, but nothing major. He put his nose ring back in, put on his backpack properly and he began his journey unknowingly to Alice and Carrot.