HUM by Dan Hawley (chromebook ebook reader TXT) 📕

utensils scraping in the kitchen. She thought the smell of salmon that now seared and hissed in the pan would beckon him like a sailor to the siren’s call.

Not today.

Samantha grabbed the seared meat with metal tongs and placed a piece on both plates. She spooned out the potatoes—fried crisp on the outside but light and fluffy on the inside. Sam cut a grapefruit and set one half on each plate. She finished the dishes with powdered sugar, sprinkled gently over the grapefruit’s juicy, pink flesh.

A little sweet for the sour.

She set the plates down at the usual spots on the island and paused.

“Lunch is ready!” she called. She waited for a moment. “Jay?”

Samantha walked over to the door with a sigh and opened it slowly. She called his name once more, just a decibel above a whisper.

Inside, Jason was sitting stiffly at his desk. He was staring straight ahead with a blank expression, cleaning his gun. Samantha stood quietly in the doorway, frozen in place.

The office was dark but not completely black, as the small desk lamp gave off an orange glow that mixed eerily with the computer monitor’s pale white light. The strange orange light hit Jason’s features in an odd way that made him look different. Sam barely recognized him. His face showed no expression, and his body showed no movement except for his arms and hands.

Francine sat cold and imposing on the desk in front of him. He was holding her barrel with his left hand and gently running his cloth over her stock with his right. Samantha looked for the box of shells but didn’t see them on the desk. She felt a small pang of relief that calmed her, but only a little. Jason did not acknowledge Samantha’s entry, nor did he indicate he was aware of her presence at all. He just sat, staring ahead, running his cloth in circles over Francine’s smooth wooden body. Many thoughts passed through Samantha’s mind. Was he angry and ignoring her? Was he sleepwalking again? Sleep-cleaning his gun, for Christ’s sake?

Was he going crazy? Was she?

Sam stood paralyzed by the strange sight and her racing mind, until finally the thought of quietly backing out of the room and closing the door came to her.

That’s what she did.

She stepped back once, then twice. She grasped the cool, brass handle of the door and swung it shut with a single, quiet click. Scared and confused, she stared at the door she had just closed.

She was frozen, stuck there, not knowing what to do. What else could she do? She went to the fridge and opened it. Her hand reached out to grab the bottle of rose, but suddenly stopped. Her eyes ogled the seductive curves of the bottle longingly as her arm floated in the cold light of the refrigerator.

“Damnit,” she said and closed the door.

* * *

“Did I miss lunch?” Jason said as he appeared from the office room. He looked disappointed. “About an hour ago,” Samantha replied from the couch. She had her laptop open on the coffee table. “Damn,” he said. “Was that it?”

Jason looked over at the cold plate of food on the island.

“Sorry, babe, I guess I fell asleep. I’ll throw it in the microwave.”

“You guess you fell asleep?” Samantha asked accusingly. “You don’t know?”

Jason’s face took on a puzzled expression as he removed the grapefruit and deposited the plate in the microwave mounted above the stove.

“Well, I dunno,” he started. “After you left, I picked my sorry ass off the floor and had a quick shower. I felt pretty good and started working, getting lots done, and then…” he trailed off.

Samantha waited impatiently.

“And then?” she urged, annoyed that she had to prod him along.

“Then I dunno. Here I am.”

He shot a meek smile at Sam, and he could tell she was not impressed.

“Sooo…you don’t remember cleaning your gun?” “What!?” Jason gasped. “Don’t screw with me, Sam; I’m not in the mood.”

“I’m not screwing around, Jay. I made lunch, and normally you come out when you hear me in the kitchen or the smell or whatever, but today you didn’t. I called your name and knocked on the door, but you didn’t answer, so I went in. You were sitting there like a zombie just cleaning your gun. I thought you were ignoring me or something from our fight or whatever this morning.”

Samantha’s words trembled as she spoke, realizing the gravity of the situation.

“You don’t remember at all?”

“Goddamn sleep-cleaning my shotgun? What the fuck Sam? What am I gonna do?”

Jason’s words came out rough and halted, and his voiced squeaked a little at the end.

Samantha got up, and they walked towards each other and hugged. She grabbed him hard and pressed her face into his chest. Jason winced from the pain in his shoulder, his thoughts preoccupied with the realization that he might be going crazy after all. “When’s your sleep doctor appointment?”

Jason’s shirt muffled Samantha’s words.

“In a few days,” he replied.

“Jason?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m pregnant.”

CHAPTER 15

Friday came like Christmas, slow and full of hope and anticipation. The sleep appointment was slated for late afternoon, and Jason could think of little else. Except, perhaps, that he was going to be a dad soon. He desperately needed Dr. Luu’s help. How could he be a father and look after Samantha and the baby if he was batshit?

Jason was sitting in the apartment’s office, the door open today, staring blankly at his computer monitor. He had work to do but couldn’t focus. And he had been getting behind lately. Jason had had a video meeting the previous day with his fearless leader, William, and it had not gone well. Jason had fallen behind, and the work he had submitted was mediocre at best.

“I know the situation isn’t ideal,” William had said. “But I’m counting on your big brain to deliver what I know it can deliver.”

Jason had just sat there, trying not to look tired and distracted.

“Sorry William, I’ll get it together, I promise.”

“If you