Stepping Out, Ch. 8
Title: Stepping Out, Ch. 8
Author: ladyspock
Word Count: 4000 (appx)
Rating: pg-13
Summary: Fifteen year old Megamind has had it with prison life, and decides to strike out on his own. With Minion, of course.
Chapter Summary: The warden deals with the drama. More of Ronnie the gas station attendant. Megamind causes alarm. Minion the guidance counselor.
Warning: Chapter may contain copious amounts of backstory. Secondary characters threaten to take over the tale. By next chapter, however, our main characters take center stage again. I do not know quite how the warden grabbed the spotlight here, but he needs some attention anyway.
Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7
It had been a bad moment, when the police asked for current photographs of the fugitives and Parker couldn't find any. After some rummaging in his desk he finally uncovered one, from about three or four years previously. It showed Megamind bent over a circuit board with a soldering wand, a look of eager intent on his face that was so different from his usual sneer. It wouldn't do, of course, the photo was a little too old and didn't really give a very good view of his features anyway. Minion wasn't even in the shot. Parker stared at it. He didn't remember who had taken the photo. He suddenly felt extremely tired and had to sit down.
The room was quiet, but John Parker could not trust himself to speak. His throat was too tight. One of the police officers shifted his weight and there was a muffled cough.
Schmidt took over. "We don't have mug shots. I'll give you their descriptions. Will that do?"
Parker gave the prison's security chief a grateful look. Schmidt gave a little nod back and led the officers out of the room to call in a sketch artist.
Parker sighed and tossed the photograph onto the desk, next to the miniaturized coffee cup. He took out a handkerchief and blew his nose. He had no idea how the boy had managed to shrink all the cups and plates in his office, but it's meaning was clear enough. Megamind might as well have written "Screw you" on the wall.
It was amazing, he thought, how children could make you feel such anger and worry and grief, all at the same time.
-----------------------------------------
Certainly there was no shortage of photographs now. It seemed like there was a new one featured on the news every other night. Catching the alien fugitives on camera was practically a new city-wide past time for a while, until people realized it brought a real chance of getting mugged, or blasted into cube form, after which there was a considerable cooling of enthusiasm.
All the photos did nothing to bring them any closer to capture. Despite their life-long institutionalization, Megamind and Minion were showing a remarkable ability to avoid the police. At first Parker hoped that the shock of being on their own in the confusing, sprawling city would bewilder them enough to lead to an early apprehension, but no such luck.
Though avoiding the police, Parker thought grimly, was probably not too difficult. He couldn't help but track their movements. He bought a city map, and marked down all confirmed sightings. He got rather excited when he saw the cluster of dots in the neighborhood of the public library.
Naturally, Megamind would be drawn there like a moth to a flame. There was no sign that anyone had been breaking into the library, but Parker managed to convince the police to set up a stakeout.
Out of curiosity, Parker casually drove by the library, just to see how the stakeout was being conducted. He drove home fuming.
Even he spotted the unmarked car! And the black and white squad cars stood out like goddamn lighthouses! Boy probably saw them a mile away. Did they think Megamind would just walk up and surrender?
Not surprisingly, the police did not catch so much as a glimpse of the fugitives. Three different bookstores were robbed that week. It was always the same. The store employees would arrive in the morning to find the doors unlocked, the security system dead, and a chunk of the inventory gone. The university library was robbed, too. Twice.
He knew the police would not appreciate being told how to do their job, and he knew he had been overreaching his authority by insisting on that stakeout, but he called Detective Buford anyway, and, very tactfully, suggested that maybe the stakeout was just a bit too obvious. Later that day the police captain called Parker and told him to stop harassing his officers. Very tactfully, of course.
We will keep you informed of our progress on the case, he was told. We appreciate your concern for your wards, but we expect to have them in hand soon. Wayne Scott has agreed to scout out the library and surrounding regions every night, after he finishes his homework and gets permission from his parents. If anyone can catch them, he was told, then our Wayne can!
Parker thought the police department was beginning to depend far too much on young Wayne Scott. Super powers were no substitute for real police work.
---------------------------------------------------
They'd escaped from prison the very night before Joyce was released from the mental ward at the hospital. She had been hoping to re-establish some sort of relationship with them, to visit them again as she once had, before her depression made even the smallest tasks overwhelming.
Parker tried to shield his wife as much as possible, but there were some things that couldn't be hidden. He couldn't hide her from the news. She passively, relentlessly, watched every newscast, and he knew that she was keeping track of their movements, counting every robbery and mugging they were accused of. Whenever some new photo was aired, she'd just sigh. Sometimes she'd leave the room abruptly, go into the bedroom, and close the door.
----------------------------------------------------
About three and a half weeks after Megamind and Minion escaped, Joyce made a surprise request.
"You want to formally adopt him?" John Parker said. He stared at his wife in amazement. So many problems sprang to mind that he hardly knew where to begin.
Joyce was sitting on the bed. It was late, and Parker was getting ready for bed. Joyce anxiously twisted her hands together on her lap. "Minion too," she said. "You always forget Minion."
"I do not," Parker said, stung. "But Minion isn't the problem. Joyce. You haven't seen him in nine years. He's not a sweet little boy anymore. You should hear the mouth he's got on him now. Boy doesn't respect anybody---"
"I'm not stupid," she snapped. "It's not like I think adopting him will turn him into an angel, I want to do it because it's the right thing to do."
Parker walked over to the window. He felt, irrationally, angry. He was the one who had brought up the issue of adoption, years ago. Joyce was the one who said she couldn't handle another child, and he'd had to agree. Even before the alien space pod landed in the prison yard and further complicated their lives she'd been showing very strong signs of being...overstressed.
He picked idly at the frost on the windowpane. The days were slowly getting longer, but it was the time of year when everyone was weary of the cold and the snow, and the darkness.
He struggled with himself for a while, then decided to focus on the most immediate issue.
"I think it's a little too late for adoption. And it's not like we can take them home with us, Joyce. They may not have had criminal records before, but they will now."
"But they've been in prison all this time," Joyce said. "Won't the courts take that into account?"
Parker ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "I think they probably won't," he said. "He's not exactly acting like a frightened runaway. That doesn't help. And Minion just goes along with everything."
"But Blue deserves a chance, they can't just---"
"He doesn't answer to that name anymore!" Parker flared. He couldn't help himself. He should have been more frank with her about this whole situation, but he'd been trying to protect her, and the doctors were always saying how he mustn't upset her.
"How could you let him pick such a ridiculous name, John! 'Megamind.' It sounds like something out of a comic book."
"Oh, you think he listens to me? I don't have any influence over him, he's impossible to control, he---"
"Well, you know all about control, don't you?" she shot back.
"What's that supposed to mean?" he snapped. But Joyce turned away and shook her head. He stared at her silent profile for a moment, then he left the room before he could say something that he'd regret.
He stomped down the stairs. Their daughter Melanie was doing some college coursework at the dining room table. Their youngest, Sam, was sprawled on the sofa watching TV. Parker frowned. Sam should be in bed, it was a school night, but he was sick and tired of always being the one ordering everyone around. Melanie looked up at his heavy footsteps.
"Everything all right, Dad?"
He had to get out of the house. "I'm going for a drive," he muttered. She started to stand up, but he grabbed his overcoat out of the closet and went out to the garage. He was so angry he almost forgot to open the garage door before he backed the car up. Then he went.
He drove. So this was the thanks he got, for practically being a single parent all this time. Accused of being a control freak. She'd accused him of being over-controlling before, when he had to tell her why he'd kicked Daniel out. "Why do you have to be so strict?" she'd said, as if their eldest son's drug use were just some little quirk that happened to bug him. That was when she had been in that facility up north, two years ago. She wondered why he didn't give Dan another chance, and he explained that he'd already given Dan chances. Five rounds of rehab were plenty of chances.
He could have had Dan arrested, for dealing drugs right out of their house. Hell, if the cops had raided the place, the whole family could have been taken to jail, because of the new draconian laws that made everyone in a house with drugs in it vulnerable to prosecution.
Instead of calling the police, he just told Dan to get out, and to never contact anyone in the family again. Danny didn't even try to deny it, he just grabbed the paper sack out of his father's hand, packed a duffel bag and left.
Parker warned Melanie and Sam to hang up, if Dan ever called, which he still had the nerve to do occasionally, to ask for money. Parker suspected that Melanie sometimes sent her brother money, but he simply didn't have the strength to confront her about it.
And now Joyce was talking about adopting Megamind and Minion! God, how many criminals did one family need? At least Megamind wasn't a drug dealer, so far as Parker knew.
"Just a thief and a carjacker," he said out loud, almost cheerfully. He smacked the steering wheel and shook his head. Talking to himself was not a good sign.
Still, Joyce could be right. Adoption, even at this late stage, probably was the right thing to do. Would Minion be his son then, too? It was strange to think about, but he supposed so. The main problem would be convincing a court, or review board, or whoever it was that decided these things, that Minion was a person and not a pet...
What was he THINKING! Adoption wasn't going to solve anything. But it nagged at him. He imagined discussing it with them, once they were caught, of course. Megamind would probably laugh in his face.
Why couldn't Megamind understand? Everything I've done, I've done to try to keep him safe. And now Megamind was out. He made the national news, which worried Parker. The last thing he wanted was for those somber government men to come around again, asking serious questions.
We were assured the alien would be adequately contained. Who, pray tell, is now on a major crime spree? It does not look like he is being adequately contained to us.
He'd done the best he could, for both him and Dan, and it wasn't good enough. Thinking of his eldest son made Parker angry all over again. All the effort he'd expended, trying to get Dan to give up the drug lifestyle he was so grimly determined to embrace. Dan had every opportunity to do something with his life, and squandered every chance.
Parker stopped the car at a curb that overlooked the wharf. He looked out over frozen, snow-covered Lake Michigan for a long time, as the car slowly cooled and he could see his breath fogging the air.
The main problem with storming out of the house in a huff, is that sooner or later you have to go back. Parker looked gloomily at the car's clock. It was a little after midnight. With luck, everyone would be asleep by the time he returned.
He should really fill the tank, though. Knowing he was delaying, he started the car and began looking around for a gas station.
----------------------------------------
Ronnie's face brightened when he saw the familiar van pull up. All right. This physics homework was a bitch.
While Minion filled the tank, Megamind went into the station building. He leaped through the doors.
"Cuz I'm T-N-T! I'm dyn-o-MITE! he shouted, playing air guitar. "Good evening Ronnie! How's the lawyer biz!" He laughed.
Ronnie chuckled along, a bit nervously. Last week when he told Megamind and Minion that he was planning on going to law school they'd burst into laughter. Minion did back flips in his bowl, guffawing. Megamind had been in real danger of falling onto the floor.
"You'll---you'll have to review our case!" Minion said, still laughing.
"Well, Ronnie," Megamind gasped, wiping tears from his eyes, "we definitely could use more lawyers like you around!" Ronnie, perplexed, had giggled uncertainly. He didn't see what was so funny but it was safest to go along with it.
Megamind graciously did his homework for him, declaring that he could have done it in his sleep, and left the same generous amount of cash as last time. Ronnie told himself it was okay, since he wouldn't really need to know any of this junk once he was a lawyer. At first Megamind had tried to explain a few things, something to do with 'quantum', but at Ronnie's dumbfounded look, he grew impatient, shoved Ronnie aside and did the work himself.
Megamind walked up to the counter with five packages of snack cakes and two bags of potato chips. "What do you have tonight?" He pulled out a small roll of twenties and tossed it at Ronnie.
"Physics," Ronnie said, showing him the homework packet.
Megamind raised an eyebrow. "I see you haven't even tried to work on anything. Just as well," he said, shrugging. "Saves me the trouble of erasing everything, huh?" He chuckled again and jabbed Ronnie in the ribs with a pointy elbow. Ronnie grinned sheepishly. He rang up the prices for the food, and the gas. Minion had just finished filling the tank. Minion got in the van. Ronnie knew he would park it behind the station.
Whistling, Megamind laid his coat on the counter and read through the worksheets. He seemed to be taking a long time. Ronnie shifted a bit uneasily. Megamind usually didn't stick around for long. This homework was due tomorrow. Megamind had a distant look in his eye. He was obviously thinking of something else.
Minion came in the back door. He picked up one of the potato chip bags and walked over to the snack aisle. Ronnie wandered over.
"Put this on the tab, okay?" Minion said, showing him a box of granola bars. Ronnie nodded.
"How's it goin'?" Ronnie said. Minion was really okay, once you got past the teeth that seemed to follow you around the room, and he didn't scowl so much at Ronnie anymore. Minion smiled.
"Goin' pretty good," Minion said. Idly he gave the rack of sunglasses a spin. "So, you got any brothers or sisters?"
"Yeah, two older brothers," said Ronnie. Megamind was leafing through one of Ronnie's notebooks. Then he started writing in it.
"Uh..." said Ronnie, taking half a step toward the counter.
"They live in Metro City too?" asked Minion.
"Uh, one does," said Ronnie. He whirled back toward the counter at the sound of ripping paper. Megamind was muttering to himself. He balled up the paper and started scribbling on another one.
"What do they do?" Minion asked.
"One...one's an intern at Metro General, the other lives in New York, he does something on Wall Street, hey, are those my notes? 'Cause I really need---"
"He's just using some blank pages to jot down some ideas," Minion said, opening the chip bag. "Probably. I wouldn't worry about it. So those are some pretty big footsteps to follow in, huh?" he said, raising his voice over the sound of more ripping paper.
"Uh, it's due...due tomorrow," Ronnie said, as loudly as he dared. Megamind looked around as if surprised to find himself there. He frowned a little and Ronnie almost wished he hadn't said anything. "I'm sorry. But...please?" Ronnie said, gulping.
Megamind raised an eyebrow slightly and one corner of his mouth quirked up. With an exaggerated sigh he picked up the homework packet and started on the first problem.
"What made you decide on law?" Minion asked.
"Well...lawyers make a lot of money," said Ronnie. "My parents said it was a good field."
"Hm," said Minion. He held a handful of chips above his containment unit. He opened the dome, poked his head out, and neatly snapped them out of the metallic fingers. He crunched.
"Lots of ways to make money," said Minion. He gave the sunglass rack another twirl. "And some things are more important than money."
Oh, brother, thought Ronnie. I've heard that one before. "Oh, yeah?" Ronnie muttered, looking at the litter of wadded up papers on the counter. "Like what?"
"Well, freedom's nice," Minion said, reaching into the bag again. Ronnie looked at Minion in surprise, then glanced at Megamind, bent intently over the work that Ronnie should be doing.
There was a brief flash of headlights as a car pulled into the gas station's driveway.
"Car, Sir!" Minion said sharply, fins flaring. He headed for the exit.
Megamind grabbed some of the uncrumpled papers he'd torn out of Ronnie's notebook, the snacks, and his coat and was at the back door before Minion could even reach it.
"You're on your own, Ronnie!" Megamind called, and then they were gone. To the accompanying distant squeal of tires, Ronnie began clearing up the litter. He looked gloomily at the unfinished homework. Damn. Megamind had only done two pages.
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Parker pulled in at the slightly obscenely named Kum 'n Go. He heard the sound of tires screeching behind the store and he huffed out a breath in annoyance. Too many nuts driving around these days, always making a racket. After filling the tank he went in to pay.
The young man behind the counter was picking up some rubbish. A couple of text books were off to the side.
"Still accept checks?" Parker asked. He had a couple of blank checks in his wallet. Parker filled it out while the kid rang it up. He recognized one of the text books from a course that Melanie had taken last year.
"Going to university then?" he asked.
"Yeah," the kid said.
Parker handed him the check. His automatic parental responses were activated now. He had to ask. "You pick a major yet?"
"Yeah, I'm pre-law."
Parker was genuinely interested. "Really. Well, maybe we'll run into each other again sometime. Similar fields."
The young man looked at him. "Oh, you a lawyer, sir?"
"No, I'm the warden at the prison," Parker said. He frowned a little. Was it his imagination or did the kid go a little pale?
The young man grinned broadly. "Really!" he said shrilly. Parker thought the kid's voice was a little too loud.
"Why are you taking these science classes, if you're pre-law? If you don't mind me asking."
The kid chuckled nervously. "They make you take all these prerequisites. They're hard. But I got a...a tutor."
Parker nodded slowly. "That's good. Well, good night."
He went back to his car.
He didn't waste too much time wondering why that kid had been so nervous. Some people did act a little strange sometimes when they found out what his profession was as if they were afraid he was trying to find out what they'd done wrong. Police officers often got reactions like that. But if that young man were going to be a lawyer, he'd better toughen up.
Author: ladyspock
Word Count: 4000 (appx)
Rating: pg-13
Summary: Fifteen year old Megamind has had it with prison life, and decides to strike out on his own. With Minion, of course.
Chapter Summary: The warden deals with the drama. More of Ronnie the gas station attendant. Megamind causes alarm. Minion the guidance counselor.
Warning: Chapter may contain copious amounts of backstory. Secondary characters threaten to take over the tale. By next chapter, however, our main characters take center stage again. I do not know quite how the warden grabbed the spotlight here, but he needs some attention anyway.
Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7
It had been a bad moment, when the police asked for current photographs of the fugitives and Parker couldn't find any. After some rummaging in his desk he finally uncovered one, from about three or four years previously. It showed Megamind bent over a circuit board with a soldering wand, a look of eager intent on his face that was so different from his usual sneer. It wouldn't do, of course, the photo was a little too old and didn't really give a very good view of his features anyway. Minion wasn't even in the shot. Parker stared at it. He didn't remember who had taken the photo. He suddenly felt extremely tired and had to sit down.
The room was quiet, but John Parker could not trust himself to speak. His throat was too tight. One of the police officers shifted his weight and there was a muffled cough.
Schmidt took over. "We don't have mug shots. I'll give you their descriptions. Will that do?"
Parker gave the prison's security chief a grateful look. Schmidt gave a little nod back and led the officers out of the room to call in a sketch artist.
Parker sighed and tossed the photograph onto the desk, next to the miniaturized coffee cup. He took out a handkerchief and blew his nose. He had no idea how the boy had managed to shrink all the cups and plates in his office, but it's meaning was clear enough. Megamind might as well have written "Screw you" on the wall.
It was amazing, he thought, how children could make you feel such anger and worry and grief, all at the same time.
-----------------------------------------
Certainly there was no shortage of photographs now. It seemed like there was a new one featured on the news every other night. Catching the alien fugitives on camera was practically a new city-wide past time for a while, until people realized it brought a real chance of getting mugged, or blasted into cube form, after which there was a considerable cooling of enthusiasm.
All the photos did nothing to bring them any closer to capture. Despite their life-long institutionalization, Megamind and Minion were showing a remarkable ability to avoid the police. At first Parker hoped that the shock of being on their own in the confusing, sprawling city would bewilder them enough to lead to an early apprehension, but no such luck.
Though avoiding the police, Parker thought grimly, was probably not too difficult. He couldn't help but track their movements. He bought a city map, and marked down all confirmed sightings. He got rather excited when he saw the cluster of dots in the neighborhood of the public library.
Naturally, Megamind would be drawn there like a moth to a flame. There was no sign that anyone had been breaking into the library, but Parker managed to convince the police to set up a stakeout.
Out of curiosity, Parker casually drove by the library, just to see how the stakeout was being conducted. He drove home fuming.
Even he spotted the unmarked car! And the black and white squad cars stood out like goddamn lighthouses! Boy probably saw them a mile away. Did they think Megamind would just walk up and surrender?
Not surprisingly, the police did not catch so much as a glimpse of the fugitives. Three different bookstores were robbed that week. It was always the same. The store employees would arrive in the morning to find the doors unlocked, the security system dead, and a chunk of the inventory gone. The university library was robbed, too. Twice.
He knew the police would not appreciate being told how to do their job, and he knew he had been overreaching his authority by insisting on that stakeout, but he called Detective Buford anyway, and, very tactfully, suggested that maybe the stakeout was just a bit too obvious. Later that day the police captain called Parker and told him to stop harassing his officers. Very tactfully, of course.
We will keep you informed of our progress on the case, he was told. We appreciate your concern for your wards, but we expect to have them in hand soon. Wayne Scott has agreed to scout out the library and surrounding regions every night, after he finishes his homework and gets permission from his parents. If anyone can catch them, he was told, then our Wayne can!
Parker thought the police department was beginning to depend far too much on young Wayne Scott. Super powers were no substitute for real police work.
---------------------------------------------------
They'd escaped from prison the very night before Joyce was released from the mental ward at the hospital. She had been hoping to re-establish some sort of relationship with them, to visit them again as she once had, before her depression made even the smallest tasks overwhelming.
Parker tried to shield his wife as much as possible, but there were some things that couldn't be hidden. He couldn't hide her from the news. She passively, relentlessly, watched every newscast, and he knew that she was keeping track of their movements, counting every robbery and mugging they were accused of. Whenever some new photo was aired, she'd just sigh. Sometimes she'd leave the room abruptly, go into the bedroom, and close the door.
----------------------------------------------------
About three and a half weeks after Megamind and Minion escaped, Joyce made a surprise request.
"You want to formally adopt him?" John Parker said. He stared at his wife in amazement. So many problems sprang to mind that he hardly knew where to begin.
Joyce was sitting on the bed. It was late, and Parker was getting ready for bed. Joyce anxiously twisted her hands together on her lap. "Minion too," she said. "You always forget Minion."
"I do not," Parker said, stung. "But Minion isn't the problem. Joyce. You haven't seen him in nine years. He's not a sweet little boy anymore. You should hear the mouth he's got on him now. Boy doesn't respect anybody---"
"I'm not stupid," she snapped. "It's not like I think adopting him will turn him into an angel, I want to do it because it's the right thing to do."
Parker walked over to the window. He felt, irrationally, angry. He was the one who had brought up the issue of adoption, years ago. Joyce was the one who said she couldn't handle another child, and he'd had to agree. Even before the alien space pod landed in the prison yard and further complicated their lives she'd been showing very strong signs of being...overstressed.
He picked idly at the frost on the windowpane. The days were slowly getting longer, but it was the time of year when everyone was weary of the cold and the snow, and the darkness.
He struggled with himself for a while, then decided to focus on the most immediate issue.
"I think it's a little too late for adoption. And it's not like we can take them home with us, Joyce. They may not have had criminal records before, but they will now."
"But they've been in prison all this time," Joyce said. "Won't the courts take that into account?"
Parker ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "I think they probably won't," he said. "He's not exactly acting like a frightened runaway. That doesn't help. And Minion just goes along with everything."
"But Blue deserves a chance, they can't just---"
"He doesn't answer to that name anymore!" Parker flared. He couldn't help himself. He should have been more frank with her about this whole situation, but he'd been trying to protect her, and the doctors were always saying how he mustn't upset her.
"How could you let him pick such a ridiculous name, John! 'Megamind.' It sounds like something out of a comic book."
"Oh, you think he listens to me? I don't have any influence over him, he's impossible to control, he---"
"Well, you know all about control, don't you?" she shot back.
"What's that supposed to mean?" he snapped. But Joyce turned away and shook her head. He stared at her silent profile for a moment, then he left the room before he could say something that he'd regret.
He stomped down the stairs. Their daughter Melanie was doing some college coursework at the dining room table. Their youngest, Sam, was sprawled on the sofa watching TV. Parker frowned. Sam should be in bed, it was a school night, but he was sick and tired of always being the one ordering everyone around. Melanie looked up at his heavy footsteps.
"Everything all right, Dad?"
He had to get out of the house. "I'm going for a drive," he muttered. She started to stand up, but he grabbed his overcoat out of the closet and went out to the garage. He was so angry he almost forgot to open the garage door before he backed the car up. Then he went.
He drove. So this was the thanks he got, for practically being a single parent all this time. Accused of being a control freak. She'd accused him of being over-controlling before, when he had to tell her why he'd kicked Daniel out. "Why do you have to be so strict?" she'd said, as if their eldest son's drug use were just some little quirk that happened to bug him. That was when she had been in that facility up north, two years ago. She wondered why he didn't give Dan another chance, and he explained that he'd already given Dan chances. Five rounds of rehab were plenty of chances.
He could have had Dan arrested, for dealing drugs right out of their house. Hell, if the cops had raided the place, the whole family could have been taken to jail, because of the new draconian laws that made everyone in a house with drugs in it vulnerable to prosecution.
Instead of calling the police, he just told Dan to get out, and to never contact anyone in the family again. Danny didn't even try to deny it, he just grabbed the paper sack out of his father's hand, packed a duffel bag and left.
Parker warned Melanie and Sam to hang up, if Dan ever called, which he still had the nerve to do occasionally, to ask for money. Parker suspected that Melanie sometimes sent her brother money, but he simply didn't have the strength to confront her about it.
And now Joyce was talking about adopting Megamind and Minion! God, how many criminals did one family need? At least Megamind wasn't a drug dealer, so far as Parker knew.
"Just a thief and a carjacker," he said out loud, almost cheerfully. He smacked the steering wheel and shook his head. Talking to himself was not a good sign.
Still, Joyce could be right. Adoption, even at this late stage, probably was the right thing to do. Would Minion be his son then, too? It was strange to think about, but he supposed so. The main problem would be convincing a court, or review board, or whoever it was that decided these things, that Minion was a person and not a pet...
What was he THINKING! Adoption wasn't going to solve anything. But it nagged at him. He imagined discussing it with them, once they were caught, of course. Megamind would probably laugh in his face.
Why couldn't Megamind understand? Everything I've done, I've done to try to keep him safe. And now Megamind was out. He made the national news, which worried Parker. The last thing he wanted was for those somber government men to come around again, asking serious questions.
We were assured the alien would be adequately contained. Who, pray tell, is now on a major crime spree? It does not look like he is being adequately contained to us.
He'd done the best he could, for both him and Dan, and it wasn't good enough. Thinking of his eldest son made Parker angry all over again. All the effort he'd expended, trying to get Dan to give up the drug lifestyle he was so grimly determined to embrace. Dan had every opportunity to do something with his life, and squandered every chance.
Parker stopped the car at a curb that overlooked the wharf. He looked out over frozen, snow-covered Lake Michigan for a long time, as the car slowly cooled and he could see his breath fogging the air.
The main problem with storming out of the house in a huff, is that sooner or later you have to go back. Parker looked gloomily at the car's clock. It was a little after midnight. With luck, everyone would be asleep by the time he returned.
He should really fill the tank, though. Knowing he was delaying, he started the car and began looking around for a gas station.
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Ronnie's face brightened when he saw the familiar van pull up. All right. This physics homework was a bitch.
While Minion filled the tank, Megamind went into the station building. He leaped through the doors.
"Cuz I'm T-N-T! I'm dyn-o-MITE! he shouted, playing air guitar. "Good evening Ronnie! How's the lawyer biz!" He laughed.
Ronnie chuckled along, a bit nervously. Last week when he told Megamind and Minion that he was planning on going to law school they'd burst into laughter. Minion did back flips in his bowl, guffawing. Megamind had been in real danger of falling onto the floor.
"You'll---you'll have to review our case!" Minion said, still laughing.
"Well, Ronnie," Megamind gasped, wiping tears from his eyes, "we definitely could use more lawyers like you around!" Ronnie, perplexed, had giggled uncertainly. He didn't see what was so funny but it was safest to go along with it.
Megamind graciously did his homework for him, declaring that he could have done it in his sleep, and left the same generous amount of cash as last time. Ronnie told himself it was okay, since he wouldn't really need to know any of this junk once he was a lawyer. At first Megamind had tried to explain a few things, something to do with 'quantum', but at Ronnie's dumbfounded look, he grew impatient, shoved Ronnie aside and did the work himself.
Megamind walked up to the counter with five packages of snack cakes and two bags of potato chips. "What do you have tonight?" He pulled out a small roll of twenties and tossed it at Ronnie.
"Physics," Ronnie said, showing him the homework packet.
Megamind raised an eyebrow. "I see you haven't even tried to work on anything. Just as well," he said, shrugging. "Saves me the trouble of erasing everything, huh?" He chuckled again and jabbed Ronnie in the ribs with a pointy elbow. Ronnie grinned sheepishly. He rang up the prices for the food, and the gas. Minion had just finished filling the tank. Minion got in the van. Ronnie knew he would park it behind the station.
Whistling, Megamind laid his coat on the counter and read through the worksheets. He seemed to be taking a long time. Ronnie shifted a bit uneasily. Megamind usually didn't stick around for long. This homework was due tomorrow. Megamind had a distant look in his eye. He was obviously thinking of something else.
Minion came in the back door. He picked up one of the potato chip bags and walked over to the snack aisle. Ronnie wandered over.
"Put this on the tab, okay?" Minion said, showing him a box of granola bars. Ronnie nodded.
"How's it goin'?" Ronnie said. Minion was really okay, once you got past the teeth that seemed to follow you around the room, and he didn't scowl so much at Ronnie anymore. Minion smiled.
"Goin' pretty good," Minion said. Idly he gave the rack of sunglasses a spin. "So, you got any brothers or sisters?"
"Yeah, two older brothers," said Ronnie. Megamind was leafing through one of Ronnie's notebooks. Then he started writing in it.
"Uh..." said Ronnie, taking half a step toward the counter.
"They live in Metro City too?" asked Minion.
"Uh, one does," said Ronnie. He whirled back toward the counter at the sound of ripping paper. Megamind was muttering to himself. He balled up the paper and started scribbling on another one.
"What do they do?" Minion asked.
"One...one's an intern at Metro General, the other lives in New York, he does something on Wall Street, hey, are those my notes? 'Cause I really need---"
"He's just using some blank pages to jot down some ideas," Minion said, opening the chip bag. "Probably. I wouldn't worry about it. So those are some pretty big footsteps to follow in, huh?" he said, raising his voice over the sound of more ripping paper.
"Uh, it's due...due tomorrow," Ronnie said, as loudly as he dared. Megamind looked around as if surprised to find himself there. He frowned a little and Ronnie almost wished he hadn't said anything. "I'm sorry. But...please?" Ronnie said, gulping.
Megamind raised an eyebrow slightly and one corner of his mouth quirked up. With an exaggerated sigh he picked up the homework packet and started on the first problem.
"What made you decide on law?" Minion asked.
"Well...lawyers make a lot of money," said Ronnie. "My parents said it was a good field."
"Hm," said Minion. He held a handful of chips above his containment unit. He opened the dome, poked his head out, and neatly snapped them out of the metallic fingers. He crunched.
"Lots of ways to make money," said Minion. He gave the sunglass rack another twirl. "And some things are more important than money."
Oh, brother, thought Ronnie. I've heard that one before. "Oh, yeah?" Ronnie muttered, looking at the litter of wadded up papers on the counter. "Like what?"
"Well, freedom's nice," Minion said, reaching into the bag again. Ronnie looked at Minion in surprise, then glanced at Megamind, bent intently over the work that Ronnie should be doing.
There was a brief flash of headlights as a car pulled into the gas station's driveway.
"Car, Sir!" Minion said sharply, fins flaring. He headed for the exit.
Megamind grabbed some of the uncrumpled papers he'd torn out of Ronnie's notebook, the snacks, and his coat and was at the back door before Minion could even reach it.
"You're on your own, Ronnie!" Megamind called, and then they were gone. To the accompanying distant squeal of tires, Ronnie began clearing up the litter. He looked gloomily at the unfinished homework. Damn. Megamind had only done two pages.
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Parker pulled in at the slightly obscenely named Kum 'n Go. He heard the sound of tires screeching behind the store and he huffed out a breath in annoyance. Too many nuts driving around these days, always making a racket. After filling the tank he went in to pay.
The young man behind the counter was picking up some rubbish. A couple of text books were off to the side.
"Still accept checks?" Parker asked. He had a couple of blank checks in his wallet. Parker filled it out while the kid rang it up. He recognized one of the text books from a course that Melanie had taken last year.
"Going to university then?" he asked.
"Yeah," the kid said.
Parker handed him the check. His automatic parental responses were activated now. He had to ask. "You pick a major yet?"
"Yeah, I'm pre-law."
Parker was genuinely interested. "Really. Well, maybe we'll run into each other again sometime. Similar fields."
The young man looked at him. "Oh, you a lawyer, sir?"
"No, I'm the warden at the prison," Parker said. He frowned a little. Was it his imagination or did the kid go a little pale?
The young man grinned broadly. "Really!" he said shrilly. Parker thought the kid's voice was a little too loud.
"Why are you taking these science classes, if you're pre-law? If you don't mind me asking."
The kid chuckled nervously. "They make you take all these prerequisites. They're hard. But I got a...a tutor."
Parker nodded slowly. "That's good. Well, good night."
He went back to his car.
He didn't waste too much time wondering why that kid had been so nervous. Some people did act a little strange sometimes when they found out what his profession was as if they were afraid he was trying to find out what they'd done wrong. Police officers often got reactions like that. But if that young man were going to be a lawyer, he'd better toughen up.