—I do mean. We’re getting a yotyot! You said you liked them, and it’s the closest thing to a cat I could find.
—Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
—Hey. It’s your birthday. At least I think it’s your birthday. The guy said they’ll eat anything, and they won’t grow any bigger. They only pee in water, apparently.
—Can we get it now?
—In a minute. There’s some sort of scuffle going on o—Shit! EVA! WATCH OUT!
—AAGH!
—Eva, are you OK?
—Yeah, I—He bumped into me pretty hard.
—HEY! ASSHOLE! YEAH RUN AWAY, YOU CHI— —DAD! I’m fine.
—Are you sure? There’s a guard trainee coming this way. I can get the asshole arrested if— —I said I’m fine.
[Eps eyiskeks akt?]
Ops. Eyesunt.
[Ast eyet Ekim.]
Eyet Eva.
[Eps eyesat Eteyat akt? Eps ast eyyetsek onyosk ant ot.]
At, at. Aks eyek ant asteks onsoks.
[Ast eyyekt. Ast eyapat yetsek eps epokt, Evat.]
Anyoks! Aks eyyekt eket ops. Bye!
—What did he want?
—Dad! He just wanted to know if I was hurt.
—Why did he ask for your name? By the way, how did you get so good at their language?
—He didn’t ask. He told me his name was Ekim. I gave him mine. I didn’t know it was a secret. And you taught me, Dad.
—I didn’t teach you all that! What does onsoks mean, anyway? Empty?
—Yes. I don’t know, Dad. I just …
—Don’t apologize for learning quicker than me. Just be careful with strangers, OK? And stop telling people we don’t know anyone, will you?
—He was just being nice, Dad.
—He’s a trainee in the Imperial Guard.
—And?
—And nothing. You’re right. We don’t know him. That’s all.
— …
—You think he’s cute, don’t you?
—Dad!
—What?
—Can we go get my yotyot now?
—Yes. Let’s. It’s right over th—Eva, don’t run!
…
I said don—
—Can I take this one?
—Let me catch my breath for a second.
—Can I take him?
—Eva, you can take whichever one you like. They all look the same.
—This one looks sad.
—You can pick any one of them, and you want the miserable one?
—Maybe he’ll be happier living with us.
—That is … very nice of you, Eva. Happy twelfth birthday! Can you carry him? I don’t have anything to put him in.
—Sure. Come here little fellow!
—Eyesunt.
—What did you just do?
—I thanked the man. I paid him, and I thanked him.
—You gave him the jar!
—Yes. I did.
—With your hair in it!
—I did. That’s what he wanted.
—That’s … You don’t feel bad?
—Why would I feel bad?
—You paid him with hair, Dad!
—Well, the hair is just something I threw in at the end. I already gave him my belt yesterday, but that wasn’t enough. Oh, and my New York MetroCard. Basically, I traded a thirty-dollar belt for some game. If anyone’s getting rip— —It’s not a game! It’s a pet!
—Not that kind of game. Meat! You know people eat these things, right?
—What? Nooo!
—The … I don’t know what they call themselves. The … tall, lanky bald fellows.
—They’re all sorta bald, Dad.
—The naked ones.
—Oh. Them.
—Yeah. They eat those. That’s why they sell them.
—That’s horrible! They’re so cute!
—Like a bunny rabbit?
—Yes!
—Well …
—Don’t listen to him. No one’s gonna eat you, Mr. Yotyot.
—That’s his name?
—What’s wrong with Mr. Yotyot?
—Nothing. It’s just like calling your cat Mr. Cat.
—I like Mr. Cat!
—Mr. Yotyot it is, then. Welcome to the family. How do you know it’s a he?
— …
—Oh. I see. Eva, before we take him home … You know we might go back soon, right? To Earth? I don’t know how long we’ll stay. I sure didn’t think we’d be here for eighteen months. And I don’t think we should—I don’t think we can take Mr. Yotyot back with us when we leave.
—I like it here, Dad.
—That’s good. I just don’t want you to get too attached if we’re going soon. I don’t even know how long these things live. Mr. Yotyot might be like a hundred years old already. Oh, before I forget. Rose is having all of us over for dinner tonight.
—You said we’d spend the day together.
—We are. We’ll be together, with Rose and Eugene.
—But it’s my birthday!
—I know! That’s the point! Rose even found something that resembles a cake!
—I thought we could just … hang out, just the two of us.
—How about this? We’ll have dinner with Rose and Eugene, then we’ll go home and … hang out all you want … I think I might be too old to use that phrase.
FILE NO. 2117
LETTER FROM EVA REYES TO VINCENT COUTURE
Vincent,
If you’re reading this, it means that guy came through on his promise, and I’m gone. I guess it also means that everyone in the GRU has combed through it looking for clues, some sort of secret code. How’s this? The pigeon is well done. The blind man can’t see a thing. Fuck you all.
This is it. I don’t think I’ll ever see you again. The truth is, I hope I never do. I wish I could tell you all this in person, or at least in private, but this will be easier on both of us. Katherine already knows I didn’t want to leave Esat Ekt, and I don’t give a shit what else she knows about me.
You took everything from me, Vincent. Everyone I knew. Everything I cared about. It was my home! My esat! You may not have liked it, but that was my home. I liked it there. I belonged. I had a life, my life, and you took it away. You chose to.
Even Ekim. You know he didn’t deserve this. He was innocent. All he cared about was helping people, and me. It probably doesn’t mean much to you, but it meant the world to me, having someone look at me that way, like I could do nothing wrong. It didn’t matter how much I tried to push him away, how mean I was to him, he kept looking at me that way, always. He also kept telling everyone I was his eputet. That made me mad to no end. He knew, that’s probably why he kept doing it. Every now and then, I’d let him get away with it. No shoving him against the wall, no mean joke. You should have seen his face. I don’t know if I was in love with him, but I loved how he made me feel. I liked me when he was around, and that hasn’t happened a lot. Now he’s gone. You took that away too.
There’s nothing for me here but bad memories. My parents, Kara. Everyone I ever cared about here is dead, dead because of me. People here made fun of me because I was different, they mocked me for who I was. Now I’m even more of a freak. They put me in a glass room, stick needles in me all day. What made you think I could possibly want that? Everything I had, Vincent, you tore it from my hands. You took the good away and sent me back to where it hurts. I hate you for it.
Was it worth it? Was it worth killing Ekim? I hate you if you say yes. I hate you if you say no. I hate you, Dad. I bet you tell yourself you did all this for me. Well, I didn’t yokits want it. That should have meant something.
I don’t know what I’ll do or where I’ll go from here, and I wouldn’t tell you if I did, but wherever I end up, it will be my choice. I choose this. Me. I want you to remember that. You’ll probably never admit it, but you’re better off without me, and I really don’t think I can be worse off. I know you tried your best. I know it wasn’t easy, and I’ll always love you for it. But I hate you all the same.
E.
P.S. Hey Katherine! Toodeloo!
Part Two
* * *
HELL OUT OF DODGE
FILE NO. EE098—PERSONAL FILE FROM ESAT EKT
Personal Journal Entry—Dr. Rose Franklin
Location: Assigned residence, Etyakt region