Quantum Highway: Prologue Part One
"Lyla? Honey? Come on out so I can see how it looks. C'mon, babe, don't be like this."
"I fail to see why you feel the need to be so stubborn. Now that I'm General, we have to make sure we project the proper image to the community. General Buzz Grunt's wife can't be seen wearing just anything.I'll be buying all of your clothes from here on out."
"Buzz, I understand that your image is important to you. It's just that..."
"Lyla, listen to me. My wife must look respectable. There will be no more bikini swimsuits. No more low-cut blouses. No skin-tight jeans. Am I making myself clear?"
"Perfectly.There's one thing you're forgetting, Buzz. I am your wife, but I am also my own person. I have needs and desires. Dreams."
"Yes, we know all about your desires, don't we, Lyla? Even though you're not military wife material, you're going to at least look the part as long as you're living under my roof. My reputation will not be tarnished by the likes of you."
"Buzzy, please. I don't think I can go on like this. This isn't me. I'm not some Stepford wife. I've always supported you in your career and I've never done anything that would jeopardize your standing in Strangetown."
"Oh, that's rich, Lyla. I've seen how men look at you. What do you think attracted me to you in the first place? You were pretty and you were easy. If you hadn't gotten knocked up..."
"You would never have married a slut like me. I've heard this all a million times, Buzz. Maybe it would be better for both of us if I just go. I can't be what you want. Maybe it's time I was what I want."
"Lyla! Think about what you're doing."
Lyla couldn't think. All she could do was run. How had her life gotten so far away from what she had dreamed of as a girl?
As she reached the edge of the property, she heard the last words Buzz ever said to her.
"Fine. Go. Don't ever come back!"
Lyla spent the next several hours just walking around Strangetown. She figured if she walked long enough she could get her head sorted and figure out what to do next. The fact was that she didn't have anywhere to go. She had rushed out of the house without so much as a single Simoleon. Her parents were dead and she had no real friends in Strangetown.
As she approached the Beaker house, she noticed a teenage boy standing out on the sidewalk. She didn't remember ever seeing the boy around town. Strangetown was small enough that everyone knew everyone and although Loki and Circe Beaker kept to themselves, Lyla felt certain she would have heard about it if they'd had a child. Maybe he was a distant relative who was visiting. But why was he standing outside the house at three in the morning?
As she got closer, Lyla could see that the boy was clearly distraught. Disturbed. He stood there rubbing his hands together and mumbling to himself, seemingly unaware that another human was standing nearby.
"Punish for his own good. Be a good boy. Respect authority. So bad all the time. Must follow orders. Must not cause trouble. Must not make a mess. Stop talking. Stop talking. STOP TALKING!"
Lyla cleared her throat. "Are you okay? Are you in some kind of trouble?"
The boy finally noticed her. He looked up and saw the kindest face he'd ever seen. He saw an expression in her eyes he didn't ever remember seeing before. He didn't even have a name for it. It was compassion. He shuddered and composed himself as well as he knew how.
"You're the general's wife."
Lyla wondered how the boy could know who she was. She was pretty certain she'd never seen him before. She looked closer. There was something around the eyes that was familiar, but she couldn't place it. She struggled to bring the recollection forward but it eluded her.
"Um, yes. I guess I am. Have we met?"
"No."
Lyla was puzzled. "How..."
"I watch. At night. When they're sleeping."
"The General can get me out. Tell him."
Lyla was a little taken aback at the tone. It was almost like an order. This boy didn't seem likely to be in the habit of giving orders. Perhaps he was in the habit of receiving them, though. Perhaps that's all he ever heard.
"Well, I'm not sure I will be the General's wife after tonight, but..."
Before she could finish her sentence, the boy was running up the steps to the house.
Lyla hurried up the steps after him. "Wait! Let me finish!"
"What I was going to say was that I'll help you. I can't just walk away, knowing you're in trouble. I'm not sure how I'll do it, but I'll get you out. I promise." She drew him into a hug.
A woman's voice came from the house. "You! Nervous Subject! Who are you talking to?"
"I have to go," the boy whispered as he extracted himself from the hug.
As Lyla turned to leave, it came back to her in a flood of memories. She knew who he was.
It was the eyes--those almost black eyes. The reason she didn't connect it at first was because, now, those eyes were devoid of any life. They were dead, flat. The last time she had seen them, they were lively and full of sparkle.
When Tank was a baby, Lyla had taken him to the park nearly every day. Buzz thought she was doing it for the baby's good. Fresh air, and all that. That was part of it. Mainly, though, Lyla needed to get out of that oppressive house. She could sit and think without being hounded by Buzz about the house being messy or her hair and makeup not being perfect.
The only other frequent park visitor was Olive Muenda. Lyla knew that wasn't the name Olive used, but Olive had been married so many times it was hard to keep up. She was between husbands at the time, so who knew what name she was using. Olive was at the park almost as often as Lyla was, with her son and full-time nanny in tow.
Olive usually sat and observed as the nanny played with the child. Lyla guessed it was hard to walk around the park in those heels. That tight, expensive skirt wasn't exactly conducive to getting down in the sandbox, either.
After a few weeks of casually running into each other, Lyla decided to see about setting up a regular play date. Although Olive's boy was several years older, he and Tank seemed to be nearly the same size and at almost the same stage of development. Tank would be walking soon and Lyla was certain he would enjoy having another little boy to play with. Besides, it would give Lyla someone to talk to. Maybe she'd feel less lonely if she made a friend.
She approached the nanny. "I was wondering if we could set up a play date for the boys? I mean, we're always here together anyway and I...."
"You'll have to ask Miz Thanasia 'bout that. I wouldn't do it today, though. She don't take well to folks when she's in a bad mood."
Lyla waited a few weeks. Finally, she mustered up the courage to approach Olive.
"I'm sorry to bother you. I was wondering if we could set up a regular play date for our boys. I mean, we're here anyway, so..."
"Pardon me," Olive interrupted, "Do I know you?"
"I'm Buzz Grunt's wife, Lyla. Sorry I didn't introduce myself properly. This being Strangetown, I guess I thought you'd know who I was."
"You were mistaken. One must never assume that because one recognizes another that the recognition is mutual, especially when the two persons in question move in vastly different circles."
She looked more closely at Olive. Those expensive clothes, the shoes that must have cost much more than Lyla's entire outfit, the full-time help--Lyla should have known Olive would be a snob.
Olive looked up at Lyla. She didn't say another word, yet Lyla understood that the conversation was ended. She didn't think she'd ever met anyone like Olive before. The woman was so confident. So composed.
Not long after that, Olive stopped coming to the park. Social Services had taken her son.
These thoughts were running through Lyla's head as she stood outside the gate of Olive's house. How would Olive react to her showing up at her door at four in the morning? On the walk over, Lyla had decided that she would tell Olive where the boy was and then she'd go home and face Buzz. Sure, he'd told her not to come back, but he didn't mean it. He'd just spoken out of anger.
She'd find a way to work things out for the sake of her boys. If nothing else, she'd plan her escape, making sure she had enough money and taking her kids with her. Although she wasn't always a model mother, she loved her boys more than anything.
As she approached the door, a woman stepped out from the porch's shadows.
"I knew you'd show up here eventually."
The next thing Lyla knew, she was being pushed, hard. She fell backwards down the steps, her head hitting the hard ground with a thud.
And then everything went black.
(prologue part 2)
Editing to add: Lyla Grunt was made by strange_tomato.