Chapter 144
Jorick scrawled the directions to Oren's new den on the back of a junk mail envelope and stuffed it in his pocket. Katelina wanted to grab it and fling it out the window, but she knew it was pointless. He probably had them memorized.
It was two a.m. when they got to her mother's house. Despite the time, her mother was awake and Brad was waiting. There was another barrage of questions, but since the police released Jorick, her mother's opinion of him seemed to improve. With her new-found friendliness came the inevitable invitation to stay the night, which Jorick kindly turned down, much to her mother's annoyance. Katelina avoided a scene with a promise to return early the next day, so that they could spend some quality time together. Crisis averted, they made their way back to Jorick's old apartment.
Jorick's mood had improved with the promise of future intrigue, but he still felt the need to tell her about every moment of his horrific brush with the law. He concluded the diatribe by pointing out that they were all stupid humans and he could crush them easily. It was only because he didn't want to make a scene that he hadn't.
She knew she should be offended about the puny human remarks, but at the same time she also knew that he was just angry and venting steam. Carrying on made him feel better, and it wasn't as if he was directly insulting her, so she let it go and just forced a tight lipped comment. When he railed some more, she rolled her eyes behind his back, and then mumbled agreement about what a horrific thing it had all been, how terrible he must have felt having to put up with it, yadda, yadda, yadda. That seemed to pacify him enough to drop into silence. She filled the quiet with a comment about how tired she was, and a complaint about the lack of a bed. She mentally dared him to argue with her, to tell her that it wasn't important, but, to her surprise, he gave a sympathetic murmur and promised they'd be home, "soon", not that he specified when that would be, exactly.
Still, it was better than she expected, so with that she flopped on the bedroom floor to try to get a few hours of sleep.
She woke at noon and, after a quick change of clothes, she left Jorick huddled in the windowless bedroom and headed for her mother's. After two months of being a passenger, it felt weird to be in the driver's seat. She told herself it was like riding a bike, though she couldn't help but wonder if riding a bike was really "like riding a bike".
She parked in front of the ugly green house and forced herself out of the car and up the sidewalk. The winter sun seemed too bright, and the snow intensified it. She squinted against the light and shuffled to the door, like a shambling creature of darkness trying to get inside before she burst into flame.
Her mother clucked about the late hour. Katelina stopped short of telling her what late really was, and steered the conversation to the topic of her missing belongings. They spent two hours sifting through what Brad and her mother had been able to salvage. While they sorted, the subject of Jorick came up. Her mom was satisfied that he seemed the commitment type, and blatantly asked if she would see a ring soon. Katelina only groaned and changed the subject. Her mother was not to be detoured. When Jorick appeared, after sundown, she presented the question to him. He recovered from the surprise long enough to assure her that if they got married, she'd be the first to know, and then he skillfully hauled Katelina - and her four boxes of junk and two garbage bags of clothing- out to the car.
"You're leaving already?" Her mother trailed after them with a pout of disappointment. "You haven't even been here twenty-four hours."
"I know Mom," Katelina said apologetically. She looked to Jorick for help, but he busied himself with the boxes, so she lied on her own. "He has to get back to work."
"And what does he do, exactly?"
"Computer database technician," he replied effortlessly. Katelina stopped herself from giving him the high-five of brilliance while her mother looked baffled. To clear up her confusion, he added, "It's very lucrative."
She nodded as if that suddenly meant something. "Ah, of course." Then, she turned her attention to Katelina. "You'd better stay in touch, and get a phone. If it's half as lucrative as he says, he can afford it."
Jorick scowled into the trunk, but stayed silent.
"All right." Katelina gave her mother a tight hug. "I'll give you the number as soon as I get one, though we may be going out of state for a while."
"I doubt it," Jorick muttered under his breath. "Not now."
With a fake smile plastered on her face, Katelina took an inconspicuous step backwards and kicked him in the ankle.
It was almost half an hour before they climbed in the car and another ten minutes before Jorick started the engine. Her mother tried to keep the conversation going, but after Jorick mentioned the price of gas she relented.
He didn't make a sound until they were out of town, and then he heaved a sigh of relief. "I thought she'd never shut up." He grinned suddenly. "Now I understand where you come by it."
"I am nothing like my mother! Don't you even!"
"Yes, you are. You even look a bit alike." His words drew an evil hiss from her and he laughed. "You do."
"I do not! I don't look like her, sound like her or act like her! And if you say I do, you'll be sorry!"
"Planning on having me arrested again? Or perhaps you have some more relatives I need to suffer through? Or is it a wedding you intend to torture me with next?"
She shuddered at the last statement. "Hardly. I have no intention of getting married, thank you. I have plenty of time left!"
Jorick's grin spread across his face. "I don't know. As your mother pointed out, you're not getting any younger. You'll be past your prime soon and then what? What makes you think I want to be seen with an old lady?"
Katelina switched on the radio and drown him out, though his laughter tinkled over the top of the music.
