The ‘kids’ weren’t so all dolled up for their first outing - not that Aliyah needed much work to make a guy forget to breathe just by entering a room.  This was just a small friendly meal after shopping.  Gary had figured out that Duncan was mostly someone who said exactly what he meant.  It came with the whole military brat origin story.  Duncan had invited Gary along and explained that this was just that.  Tomorrow was the solo flight.

Duncan was glad he caught himself as quickly as he had.  But he was a little saddened when Aliyah boiled her family life down to a couple of sentences.  Her adult life wasn’t much better.  Oh she claimed to enjoy it.  But the truth was that she existed.  She had never really lived.

He nodded and thought about it for a moment.  Concentrate on the positive.  “Well, I turn 21 toward the end of September.  My life hasn’t been all bad.  I think I grew up under that curse, May you live in interesting times.’  Some paraphrase that as May you have an eventful life.  That would be my life.  Being a military brat meant moving around a lot.  You had to adapt a lot.  I got a chance to see a couple other countries.  But we were also very, very poor.  I used to get my clothes from dumpster diving.  We’d find things to fix up and sell at flea markets. I worked hard to put food on the table.  Yard work, firewood, snow shovelling.  Despite that my stepfather managed to keep a roof over our head and food on the table.  We got to see more of the world by the time I was 15 than most people see their whole life.  One of the last things we did as a family was a tour of the southwest.  That brought us through here.

“It wasn’t until I was 10 that my grandparents bought me a laptop.  They had to buy them for my stepbrother and stepsister as well.  They paid for some internet.  Their supposed reason was so we could Skype while we were in Turkey.  But the real reason was that I was bored in school.  Being a military brat meant I had to keep retaking courses in every new school system.  That is my biggest gripe about our educational system, by the way.  It needs to be federally controlled - by a single authority - and encourage development, not stifle it.

“There was no stifling me though after that.  I started writing short stories.  I won my first short story contest.  Published a short story collection at age 12.  That was how I started paying for my education.  Just one piece of good fortune - my grandparents.  It wasn’t enough to make me rich.  But I paid for my GED.  Then college courses.

“I wanted to play soccer in high school, gymnastics too.  But … well, bad stuff happened about a month after that southwest tour.  I ended up with this limp, reduced lung capacity, a left hand split in half, and no parents, no stepbrother.  I died, in fact.  Yep, 1 minute 8 seconds.   My stepsister had gone to a foster home.  My stepfamily took my little brothers.

“My grandparents were struggling with their own medical bills.  But after a brief stay in a foster home, I convinced them to take me on the condition that I start college and stay in dorms - which I could afford.  I managed to emancipate myself at age 16.  That ended the foster home problems.  All that also enabled me to finish high school - in a much nicer school free from gangs and violence.”

Duncan stopped and laughed a little.  “I hope your life was quieter than mine.  Nothing wrong with a little excitement now and then, but let’s just say you aren’t the only one who found libraries a sanctuary.  I devoured libraries.  If there was a sci fi book, a book on any hard science - non biology - I read it.  I loved books on fringe science and UFO’s.  My parents didn’t let us watch TV’s or go to movies.

“So … all that was my past.  Now I am looking at the future.  Now I actually have money - enough to enjoy it - and I am taking that advice you gave me about giving my brain a chance to relax.  Oh by the way, if there is a cute redhead in one of my future books …”  He stopped and grinned.  “Anyways,” he laughed and was blushing, “uhm … what was I saying?  Oh yeah …”  His confused look made it clear he was struggling to find his train of thought again.  

“Right!  Money … suppose you had enough money to go and do just about anything you wanted.  What would you do?  I’m taking some time off - except for some writing - and I can’t decide what I want to do.  You know how I am about picking something to eat?  Same problem.  I can’t choose.  I guess I could throw a dart at a map and go there.  But I plan to be careful about some areas.”