Read Online Alien Taste by Wen Spencer - Free Book Online Page B

wine with the other adults. When did I become one of them? It had happened sometime when he wasn’t looking. Was it this year? Last year?
    When he had arrived, he wasn’t sure, but he could recall the signposts along the road. The first had been certainly Max taking him on as a partner. The second probably had been buying his motorcycle. If he was going to work full-time with Max, he had to be able to commute into Pittsburgh daily. Max and his moms took turns teaching him how to drive, with some vague notion he’d drive Mom Lara’s ’95 Neon to work. He found the whole process of driving a car awkward, and it left Mom Lara without a car all day. He pitched the idea of the motorcycle to Max first, pointing out that he had ridden dirt bikes on the farm for years. He could put a down payment on a brand-new, reliable machine with his first paycheck and only use Mom Lara’s car on days of bad winter weather. It took a while to get Mom Lara over the amputation rate in motorcycle accidents, but his moms agreed. Max drove him to the bank and then to the dealership, but he let Ukiah pick and buy his machine, stepping in only at the end to haggle down the price and help fill out the registration paperwork.
    Another signpost had been his moms telling him but not Cally that Mom Lara had a brain tumor and might not survive the surgery. Ukiah was never sureif this was a blessing or a curse. Cally had remained happily ignorant the day of the surgery while Ukiah was sure he’d die of worry.
    Another had been when he discovered that the medical bills were driving his moms into bankruptcy, so he used his paychecks to pay off the debtors. At first they protested, but he pointed out that if he was working, he should pay rent and his share of the food. Then he extended his health benefits, covering Mom Lara as part of his family, something Mom Jo couldn’t do, despite their marriage.
    Â 
    Mom Jo took Cally off to bed and then went to exercise her pack of ten wolf dogs. Mom Lara was in the kitchen, watching the Mars mission on the NASA channel as she washed up dishes. Max sat rocking back and forth on the glider. Ukiah lifted the wine bottle to pour himself another glass and discovered it was empty.
    He glanced over at Max, realizing that he had been quiet for some time. Max was a quiet, introspective drunk. “You okay?”
    Max waved a hand at the empty bottle. “I never know when to stop anymore.”
    â€œStaying the night then?”
    â€œLooks like it.”
    Ukiah stood, holding out his hand to Max. “Want a hand up?”
    â€œI guess so.”
    In the guest room, as he helped Max with his shoes, Ukiah realized how much Max had become part of their life. His alarm clock was on the nightstand. A change of his clothes was in the dresser. His spare toothbrush hung in the guest bathroom.
    â€œThere are times,” Max said quietly, “that I wishone of your moms would marry me. I wish that this was my place, that these were my kids, that this was my life. When I was young, this was the life I wanted, it was the life I thought I was going to live, it was the life I worked hard to have.”
    Ukiah wasn’t sure what to say. He gripped Max’s shoulder, a little ashamed at the inadequacy of the gesture. “I’m sorry.”
    â€œKid, if you ever find a girl that loves you, that you love, grab hold and never let anything happen to her.”
    â€œI will.”
    â€œGood night, kid,” Max muttered, sprawling out onto the bed.
    â€œGood night,” Ukiah whispered, and closed the guest room door on Max’s quiet misery.
    Downstairs, he heard the click of dishes and soft drone of the news. He drifted down to the kitchen. “Anything I can help you with, Mom Lara?”
    â€œNo, thank you, dear.” She patted his cheek with a soapy hand without taking her eyes from the kitchen television. The NASA channel showed an odd still picture of closed-quarters