Kitty Katt 11: Alien Separation Read Online Free PDF

I’d been gone for
ages
.
    Would have said it was nice to be back in my own clothes, but technically I’d never
not
been in my own clothes. Still, I enjoyed my own selection of concert T-shirts. Based on all that was going on, I chose an Aerosmith T-shirt, because it was always wise to go forth with my boys on my chest. Jeans, my Converse, and a No Doubt hoodie completed my ensemble. Ready for anything. I hoped.
    As Jamie woke up there was a knock at our door. I opened the door while Jeff got Jamie to find Chuckie standing there. “Hey, Kitty. How are you?”
    â€œUm, fine? Why are you asking me that at this time of the morning?”
    Jeff came out with Jamie. “Hey, Chuck.” He looked and sounded guilty. Not good. “What’s up?” I trotted over to give Jamie a kiss and hug and hopefully distract Chuckie from Jeff’s expression.
    â€œI . . . wanted to talk to Kitty. Alone. For a few minutes.”
    Jeff and I looked at each other. “Fine by me.” I figured I had the best shot of lying and besides, Jeff was about to give away that something was up.
    Jeff nodded. “Don’t be too long. We need to do a big, fast debrief. And bring you up to speed on our latest early-morning phone call.”
    Chuckie nodded and spun on his heel, seemingly uninterested in our phone call. I quickly followed him out of the room. “Where to?”
    â€œMy room here is fine.” He led me a few doors down and we went into a room that looked just like the one we’d just left, only a bit smaller. The A-Cs were all about conformity.
    We sat on the couch. “So, what’s up?” Figured it was going to be a lot safer for him to lead the conversation.
    â€œA couple of things.” Chuckie looked at his hands, which were clasped together, his forearms leaning on his thighs. “What was he like?”
    â€œWho?”
    â€œThe me in the world you were in.”
    Knew he wasn’t asking lightly, so I considered my reply before I gave it. “Basically you. With a slightly different life. But you.”
    â€œWas he . . . happy?”
    â€œMostly, yeah. He’d been lying to Other Me for years about what he really did, and that was taking its toll. And he blamed himself for their Jamie’s presumed autism. I, ah, fixed both of those, I’m pretty sure. And you guys over here probably did, too.”
    He nodded but didn’t say anything, and he still wasn’t looking at me.
    â€œUm, why?”
    Chuckie sighed. “Because everyone’s hiding something from me, and it started shortly after the other you arrived. I think . . . I’m worried that there’s something awful about the man I am in that other universe.” He looked up at me. “And if he’s got a bad streak, then I do, too.”
    And here was the problem with everyone lying to the smartest guy in any room—it was too easy for him to come up with believable scenarios that were both wrong and detrimental to his mental and emotional health. And he was just as likely to freak out if he thought he was some kind of monster in another world as he was if he knew what Cliff was really up to.
    â€œThere was nothing wrong with the you in that universe, Chuckie. Nothing at all. If I’d had to stay there forever, I’d have found a way to stay happily. As your wife. Because, just like here, you’re still one of the greatest guys I’ve ever known.”
    Pondered my next statements carefully. Everyone was walking around Chuckie as if they were stepping on eggshells. And I’d been worried about Chuckie’s reactions to the truth, too, in part because everyone else was worried. But, despite what Buchanan and Jeff said, I knew Chuckie better than anyone else alive. And while everyone wanted to tell me Chuckie would go all Mr. Hyde on me if he knew what was really going on, I was the one with the life experience with him, and I