[cont. from the previous chapter due to character limit]

Natan and Moishe had returned only recently, and Natan’s wife was serving them dinner while also trying to calm down her daughter, who was once again upset for her unknowable toddler reasons. Neither of them knew what exactly had happened but were clearly aware that Robert was in trouble. Natan asked for an explanation and Hershel provided one in the worst way possible. Moishe burst out laughing, refusing to believe Robert could have beaten up anyone.

Rob didn’t listen. He rushed upstairs, a mix of anger and fear churning in his stomach. His bedroom’s door stood open. Nikolai sat on his bed; his back was straight and his hands were squeezing his knees, a small shiver running through his whole body. An interface was lying next to him, deactivated. He didn’t react when Robert stepped through and sat down heavily on his own bed.

They stayed silent for several minutes, only echoes of the downstairs conversation reaching them. 

“Kolya…” Robert started.

“Why did you try to kill Ehud?” Nikolai’s voice was pitched higher than usual. He sounded terrified.

Robert’s insides made a somersault and he felt sick. “How do you even know?”

“Pep told me in chat that you almost killed Ehud.“

“I didn’t! He- he was talking shit! I didn’t mean-” He gasped for air, suddenly hating this tiny room and being so close to this boy, who had no reason to be scared but was. “I thought he ditched you in the middle of the city to come and mock us! I thought you would get lost and someone would take advantage of you just because Ehud cared more about messing with me than about you!”

This wasn’t helping. Nikolai’s expression filled with dread, whatever conclusion he drew from the explanation, it wasn’t good. Robert tried to elaborate.

“I had no idea where you two were even meeting, you know? Could be at his house, but could as well be anywhere else! You shouldn’t have just run off in the morning like that. If you got lost it would be Ehud’s fault, but it would also be mine, because mom thinks it is my responsibility-”

“Stop!” Nikolai pulled his legs up on the mattress and pressed his forehead to his knees, arms wrapped tightly around them. His whole body was shaking, the skin of his knuckles ghostly pale from the pressure. It’s been a long time since he fell into one of these episodes. “It’s not my fault! You hurt Ehud!”

Robert blinked, leaning back as if slapped. “What? I didn’t-”

“Stop saying it’s my fault! Not my fault! NOT MY FAULT! NOT MY FAULT!”

“I DIDN’T SAY IT WAS!” Robert yelled back and jumped to his feet. He also felt like crying and he hated that. He hated this stupid misinterpretation of his words. He hated Nikolai’s stupid fits.

He hated himself for not knowing any other way to resolve this but by yelling over the yelling.

“I swear, Rob, if you don’t shut up-” Hershel stepped into the room half a minute later and glared down at him with hatred. “Leave him alone! Go downstairs!” When Robert didn’t move, his brother grabbed him by the back of the t-shirt and dragged him into the corridor. “Downstairs, I said!” Then he stepped back and much quieter, but still angrily, said “You also shut up,” and threw a blanket over Nikolai to somewhat muffle the screaming.

Robert rushed downstairs and ran past the living room despite Natan calling for him. Instead, he busted through the back door into the garden (which was a four-by-four plot of land, surrounded by tall concrete walls, where they grew vegetables during colder seasons), rushed to the far corner over the dried grass and squeezed himself behind the barrel of mulch. He dropped his forehead on his hands, elbows propped on his lap, and let the tears out. This was the worst day of his life, and it wasn’t even over yet.

A minute later, Natan also stepped into the garden, called Rob’s name a couple of times, then sighed and left. There was no way he didn’t see where he was hiding, but he decided to leave it for now.

Natan returned an hour later when the garden was wrapped in evening shadows in contrast to the bright pink sky overhead. “Mom is back,” he said grimly. “We need you in the living room. There’s a lot to discuss.”

Robert let out a grunt of acknowledgement. By that time, he wasn’t crying anymore; he felt drained, squeezed dry from any thoughts or emotions. He found an old rusting tool and was trying to fix its handle with a short blade and a piece of universal tape he always had in his pocket. Even though there was no way anyone would ever want to use this tool again, he hated abandoning the started project. With a huff he got up, left the tool and its handle on the barrel’s lid, shoved his hands into the pockets of his shorts, and walked back inside.

The whole household was in the living room, even Natan’s wife who rarely involved herself in the family drama. Her daughter was sitting on the floor and tapping on her mother’s interface, thankfully silent. Moishe was clearly watching news on the muted media screen but tried to act like he didn’t; Hershel was typing something on his work interface despite his earlier claims of being on leave; and Natan sat down and leaned back heavily in one of the chairs with a sigh, pointing for Robert to take the last empty seat. Two others were taken by Nikolai, much calmer now and drinking herbal brew from a large mug, and his mother, who looked ready to cry. Despite wanting to be anywhere but here, Rob sat down.

“Explain yourself,” his mother demanded with a dangerous tremble in her voice.

Robert took a deep breath and opened his mouth to, once again, declare that it was all Ehud’s fault…and then he couldn’t. He exhaled and stayed silent, glaring at the cracks on the simulated wood of the table surface.

“Is this really how I raised you?” Golda turned her palms to the ceiling. “A brawler who can only prove his point with fists?”

“I did not-” Robert looked up at her but couldn’t find a good enough rebuke.

“What’s next? Joining a street gang? Using your skills to beat money out of others? Assaulting people on the streets? Forcing kids to take drugs to get them addicted?”

He could feel his face burn again for the unfairness of these accusations. That wasn’t even how street gangs worked, as far as he knew. 

Natan, who could also see the conversation rolling down into the conspiracy theories their mother so loved, said gently: “Mom. Don’t start.”

She gave him a stink eye. “This is how we got here in the first place. Me being soft, agreeing not to punish. And look at this? The first son to be on the watch list!”

“Moishe was literally on the watch list at school.” Natan said evenly. 

Moishe rolled his eyes. “The teacher with access to the system hated my guts.”

Their mother didn’t let them distract her. “That was a school list! Robert will now be monitored by the enforcers! That’s a black mark for the rest of his life!”

“Not if he shows his good behaviour,” Natan argued patiently. He gave Rob a meaningful glance as if inviting him to chime in, but Rob stayed quiet.

“Behaviour-shmehaviour.” Hershel hissed and put his interface down. “Robert is starting community work tomorrow and will be doing it until school starts again. That’s his best bet to get off the list. I’ve already organised that with the Administrator's office.”

“Who gave you the permission to decide for me?” Robert couldn’t keep it inside, even if it felt like a stupid thing to say out loud.

“I don’t know, you showed your decision-making skills earlier today, so I figured I can do better.”

Their mother pressed her palms to her cheeks and let out an unhappy wail. “Administrative sentence! Like a delinquent! For everyone to see! Shaming the family!”

“Mom.” Natan rubbed his face. “It’s the opposite of shame. Community work is important and shows his willingness to right his wrongs.”

“That’s true,” she hesitated but then was pulled back into a pool of overwhelming emotions. “But others wouldn’t see it that way! What would they say?!”

“Nothing worse than what they are already saying, knowing what happened to the Katz kid.”

Robert tried to imagine himself picking up trash and changing dust filters. It sounded like the most boring and disgusting thing you could be doing. And also, how much of his day would that be taking?

“You are grounded, so-so grounded.” His mom moaned and finally focused on him again, holding one hand on her chest as if fighting heart palpitations. “Community work and then immediately home, staying in your room!”

“But I have school projects in my workshop!” Robert argued. His lower lip betrayed him and started trembling.

“No workshop! You are telling Natan where it is and we are welding that thing shut! We are asking the enforcers to patrol the Drown better so as to not let kids in anymore!”

“No!” Rob’s eyes went wide. “You can’t! That’s my life!” He was hyperventilating and squeezing his fists so hard, his knuckles hurt. It couldn’t be happening. There had to be a way to stop this from actually happening. 

Nikolai, who didn’t seem to even listen to the conversation before, went still. The familiar tilt of his head and an empty stare was indicative that the kid reacted to all the anger around him.

“What about Nikolai?” Robert grasped for the straw. “If I am doing community work, who’ll be looking after him?”

“Oh, that is no longer your worry.” Hershel smiled nastily. “Nick got a scholarship for the Base Academy and will be leaving next week. To settle in.”

Nikolai opened his mouth letting out brew that he has been apparently holding all this time. It splashed on the table and left dark droplets on his chin. Not paying any attention to it or the exclamations of Nate and Golda, he said in a small voice: “But Professor Kamelka said I won’t be able to go…”

“Because we couldn’t afford the accommodation charges.” Hershel nodded. “Now, we can.” He turned to their mother with a theatrical smile. “I have been promoted to the Assistant Manager position today. Didn’t expect there to be more dramatic news to overshadow it like this.”

Mom gasped and jumped to her feet, throwing her arms around Hershel and bursting into tears, happily this time. Moishe was surprised by the revelation and hurried to congratulate him and ask him a million questions about what would be happening now. Only Natan frowned and glared at the interface in Hershel’s hands that he didn’t let go of this whole time.

Robert looked at Nikolai, both of them now forgotten by the family, and he didn’t look away. Despite the earlier fight, they both understood what this meant. Kolya was moving to Base, a town on the other side of the Canyon Valley, reachable only by hoppers or planes. He would no longer be Robert’s responsibility. They would no longer be roommates. 

They would no longer be friends.