Read Online Liquid Cool: The Cyberpunk Detective Series by Austin Dragon - Free Book Online
Authors: Austin Dragon
Ads: Link
job interview early in the morning."
"You didn't tell me that," Dot said.
"I wanted to surprise you, but...don't let that spoil the evening. This was great. It was nice meeting you, Mr. and Mrs. Wan. I have to turn in early."
"Take some food home with you," Dot said. "I insist."
"Okay."
"I should walk you down too."
I laughed. "Going from here to the parking lot is like taking a shuttle to the moon. Stay. Don't worry about me."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm positive. Home-cooked meals and family time. You stay."
I didn't even notice that the Wans were gone from the dinner table. Dot disappeared into the kitchen again and there was that rapid-fire Chinese again. She returned with a brown paper bag. I peeked inside.
"Lunch and dinner for at least a few days," I said as I took the bag. "Maybe you can buy them those Berlitz tapes so they can learn English. I'm sure they'd love to say things to me in English."
China half-laughed. "I've tried, believe me, I've tried. They're too stubborn."
I looked up and there were Wans again, watching me. Dot's back was turned to them and they glared at me, but when Dot looked back at them, they quickly reverted to sweet, ol' impostors.
Dot walked me to the main door. "Job interview?"
"I'll tell you all about it at lunch tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed." We stopped at the door. "Good night, Mr. and Mrs. Wan." I waved at them. I could act too.
"I'm going to walk you down."
It was pointless to try to dissuade her.
She did all the talking as we descended down in the elevator capsule. My mind was elsewhere. I realized again that matrimony with Dot was a package deal. I get her and I get them. The burrito crack was to tell me that they had snooped into every crevasse of my life, a full, dive-deep background check on me. I had eaten a burrito once and it almost killed me. A friend (who ceased to be one after the incident) had spiked it with something I was allergic to and I spent a month in the hospital. But that was when I was like nine. My future Mother Dearest wanted me to know they really did know everything about me. What must have really galled them was there was nothing to find. No felonies, no misdemeanors, not even an arrest, unlike ninety percent of the world. Most of their booshy Elysian tower-mates probably couldn't boast the same.
Half a comedian's jokes were about evil mother-in-laws, but I had to be the lucky and get a real evil one, and an evil father-in-law as a special bonus. They couldn't get me by exposing some hidden, dark, criminal past to Dot, so now they had to resort to the last refuge left to them--naked violence. Moms would poison me and Pops would cut me. How could Dot be fooled by their innocent, Old-country, sweetness persona? Nobody gets to an upper-level palatial apartment home in Elysian Heights by being anything other than a bastard. Marriage to Dot could, in fact, be a very complicated matter in terms of my continued existence among the living. It would be such irony to avoid every street gang, government thug, and corporate knuckle-buster out there only to be offed by your future parents-in-law. It's happened before.
We exited the elevator capsule and the building parking bay was lined with black-suit-white-shirt-and-tie uniformed car attendants. There were on duty twenty-four-seven. No need for Run-Time's mobile car security here. Elysian Heights had its own and they were armed, too.
"You didn't have to walk me all the way down," I said.
"I wanted to," she said.
"Hello, Ms. China Doll," one of the car attendants greeted.
"Hello Guy. Keep sending me customers to the shop and we'll keep making you look nice for the ladies."
He laughed. "They say I'm like an Up-Top Don Juan guy, Ms. China Doll."
Dot took my car keys from him and pressed the front door button. I realized that the valet already had my Pony waiting--obviously the elevators had video surveillance too. She held the door open as I got in. She leaned over and gave me a kiss, but I knew it
"You didn't tell me that," Dot said.
"I wanted to surprise you, but...don't let that spoil the evening. This was great. It was nice meeting you, Mr. and Mrs. Wan. I have to turn in early."
"Take some food home with you," Dot said. "I insist."
"Okay."
"I should walk you down too."
I laughed. "Going from here to the parking lot is like taking a shuttle to the moon. Stay. Don't worry about me."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm positive. Home-cooked meals and family time. You stay."
I didn't even notice that the Wans were gone from the dinner table. Dot disappeared into the kitchen again and there was that rapid-fire Chinese again. She returned with a brown paper bag. I peeked inside.
"Lunch and dinner for at least a few days," I said as I took the bag. "Maybe you can buy them those Berlitz tapes so they can learn English. I'm sure they'd love to say things to me in English."
China half-laughed. "I've tried, believe me, I've tried. They're too stubborn."
I looked up and there were Wans again, watching me. Dot's back was turned to them and they glared at me, but when Dot looked back at them, they quickly reverted to sweet, ol' impostors.
Dot walked me to the main door. "Job interview?"
"I'll tell you all about it at lunch tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed." We stopped at the door. "Good night, Mr. and Mrs. Wan." I waved at them. I could act too.
"I'm going to walk you down."
It was pointless to try to dissuade her.
She did all the talking as we descended down in the elevator capsule. My mind was elsewhere. I realized again that matrimony with Dot was a package deal. I get her and I get them. The burrito crack was to tell me that they had snooped into every crevasse of my life, a full, dive-deep background check on me. I had eaten a burrito once and it almost killed me. A friend (who ceased to be one after the incident) had spiked it with something I was allergic to and I spent a month in the hospital. But that was when I was like nine. My future Mother Dearest wanted me to know they really did know everything about me. What must have really galled them was there was nothing to find. No felonies, no misdemeanors, not even an arrest, unlike ninety percent of the world. Most of their booshy Elysian tower-mates probably couldn't boast the same.
Half a comedian's jokes were about evil mother-in-laws, but I had to be the lucky and get a real evil one, and an evil father-in-law as a special bonus. They couldn't get me by exposing some hidden, dark, criminal past to Dot, so now they had to resort to the last refuge left to them--naked violence. Moms would poison me and Pops would cut me. How could Dot be fooled by their innocent, Old-country, sweetness persona? Nobody gets to an upper-level palatial apartment home in Elysian Heights by being anything other than a bastard. Marriage to Dot could, in fact, be a very complicated matter in terms of my continued existence among the living. It would be such irony to avoid every street gang, government thug, and corporate knuckle-buster out there only to be offed by your future parents-in-law. It's happened before.
We exited the elevator capsule and the building parking bay was lined with black-suit-white-shirt-and-tie uniformed car attendants. There were on duty twenty-four-seven. No need for Run-Time's mobile car security here. Elysian Heights had its own and they were armed, too.
"You didn't have to walk me all the way down," I said.
"I wanted to," she said.
"Hello, Ms. China Doll," one of the car attendants greeted.
"Hello Guy. Keep sending me customers to the shop and we'll keep making you look nice for the ladies."
He laughed. "They say I'm like an Up-Top Don Juan guy, Ms. China Doll."
Dot took my car keys from him and pressed the front door button. I realized that the valet already had my Pony waiting--obviously the elevators had video surveillance too. She held the door open as I got in. She leaned over and gave me a kiss, but I knew it
Similar Books
