The warehouse had proven to be a waste of time unless Cynthia could learn how to manoeuvre and fuel an aircraft. Unlikely. She shut the heavy door and debated breaking into another building with false hope or just calling it a night. She scanned the street. There had to be a car manufacturer or dealership nearby. Growing up with a mechanic for a father, she knew her way around an engine. The thought of family made her heart burn until tears filled her chestnut eyes.

“Cynthia?” A voice called out from behind her. “Cynthia?”

She turned around and knew exactly who to expect. The confused teen who knew her emotions about as well as rocket science stood before her. Her face was red and splotchy, her lips forced into a smile that fought dissolution.

“Vita, you shouldn’t be here, or yelling either. You could get yourself attacked. Don’t you realize how dangerous it is on the outside?”

“I’m not a child. I’ve seen what this world has come to.”

“I know you aren’t. You’ve made that quite clear.”

Vita fumbled with the sleeves of her grungy top. “I owe you an explanation.”

“You really don’t owe me anything. You are free to make your own decisions and that is your right. I may not agree with them, but I can’t stop them.”

“I’m scared. I’m scared this baby might be cursed.”

“Cursed? Vita, we should really find a safer place to have this conversation.”

Being out in the open for extended periods of times sent Cynthia’s heart racing. In the past month, she had experienced more things than she ought to in her thirty five years. They walked toward another large hangar-like building. It had a few more windows and a bright lobby shone in the daylight. A few plush gray chairs were still upright opposite an imposing oak desk. A water cooler! She nearly jumped for joy just at the mere sight.

The door handle offered much resistance, just as most other buildings they came across. Unlocking the door without breaking the glass was impossible. Cynthia looked around the parking lot for large rocks or sticks, maybe even a tail pipe. When she returned with a piece of eaves trough, Vita’s body hung out of a nearby window.

“What are you doing?”

How could the girl be so careless to put her unborn child in danger? There could be broken glass. Cynthia ran to her assistance since Vita had wedged herself between the pane and the frame like a puzzle. Her feet struggled in vain to find the ground in an effort to propel her through to the other side. Cynthia shook her head and helped ease the girl through before she broke the window.

“Thanks,” Vita said after she landed foot first on the other side. Not that she would have cared about the damage a fall could sustain to her womb.

Cynthia sized up the window and knew her hips wouldn’t fit through it. There was absolutely no way a grown woman would pull off that stunt. Vita must have had a similar thought as walked over and opened up the front door for her. Moments later, the girl flung herself down on the suede couch in the lobby with a sigh. Calmed features washed over her face as she closed her eyes. Cynthia pulled one of the office chairs across the light carpet to join her.

 “We should live here,” Vita said and snuggled into the blue pillow.

“We don’t even know if there are others in this building.”

“Who leave empty couches and free water? I don’t think so.”

“It’s suspiciously clean and well kept in here.”

 “Suit yourself; I’m staying. I’m sure if there are people, they can’t be as bad as the first batch I was stuck with.”

Cynthia got up to get herself some more clean water for her bottle. Her heart jumped when the jug let out two loud glugs. She froze and waited until she heard Vita’s voice again.

“Why are you so paranoid? There’s clearly no one around or else your water show would have them in here yelling at us.”

“It’s called vigilance. It’s something to consider if you want to increase your odds.” Cynthia hadn’t meant for her tone to come out so malicious.

Vita’s hard face dropped and her lip trembled. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“I just... well the whole baby thing. I didn’t mean to upset you or anything.”

“We have different views. You have the right to follow yours.”

Vita sighed. Her hand got stuck in a mat of tangles as she tried to run her hand through her hair. “I’m just scared. I just... well it’ll probably sound stupid. It feels stupid.”

“Vita, we all make choices and as long as you live up to the ones you’ve made, there’s no shame in making the wrong ones.”

She bit her lip and nodded. Redness began to paint her face, an emotion warrior. “I wanted to know what it felt like... sex. The world was supposed to end, ya know? So there was really no better time.”

“That’s fair.”

Cynthia found her own eyes tearing up. She wished she had thought along those emotional lines and spent one last night with her boys instead of running off to work. Why hadn’t she listened to her gut?

Do you have to go mom?

Winston’s words stung as strongly now as they did that night. She could have seen him play basketball one last time and hold John’s hand while they cheered him on. Vita had the sense to do what she didn’t, to shut down the functional side of her brain and follow her heart.

“Do you regret it?” Cynthia found her voice again.

Vita looked far off past the dirt speckled windows. Her shoulders gave a quick shrug. “I mean, I got what I wanted didn’t I? I got it far more often than I ever wanted.”

 “Was it consensual?”

The girl crossed her arms across her chest and avoided Cynthia’s gaze. “I did what I needed to do to keep him around. I wouldn’t have bothered if I knew he was crazy.”

“So you left him?”

“He tried to burn down a house with both of us inside of it. I couldn’t even understand why, something about his ass of a friend taking off.”

“He tried to kill you?”

“He was so high. I have no idea what was going through his mind. I think he said he was sending a message or some other crap. I just knew I had to get out of there fast.”

“How long were you keeping him around before that?”

“Probably three weeks.”

Cynthia’s stomach churned.  She spent three weeks doing god knows what with this unstable boy before things looked up. She recalled how malnourished and sick the girl had been when she came across her with Peyton.

“Since my baby’s dad is a psycho or was, I’m not looking forward to popping out my own little bundle of crazy.”

Cynthia nodded. “Genetics are only a part of why people turn out the way they do. Environment is pretty important. If your baby has a good environment, love and support growing up, he or she will have much better odds at turning out well.”

“Have you seen a good environment lately? Because all I’ve seen is death and destruction?”

“It’s still possible.”

“But what will I say when I talk about where the father is? What about the story of how we met? I don’t want to lie, but I sure as hell am not okay with the truth. There’s gotta be some kind of bad karma with all of this. A baby conceived from lies and manipulation, it’ll just know deep down.”

“I’m not sure it works that way.”

“They know. I knew a kid in high school, real piece of work. Friends with the guy who got me pregnant actually. Rumours used to go around about his mom. She used to perform favours for the senior boys for a little cash or drugs. Clearly, he wasn’t born out of love. I don’t want my kid turning out like that.”

“Situations like that are quite sad. I think you’re stronger than that.”

“Thanks,” Vita muttered as she ran a hand across her belly.

After a minute of silence, an excited voice carried over from the far corner of the lobby. “Mom?”

Both women froze as their eyes turned to an open doorway that they hadn’t noticed until now.