His mother held his brother’s hands. “Good boy. Thank you for bringing him. Have a seat, Nicky.”

Nikodemus stood rigidly where he was for a moment. The woman he was seeing… he didn’t want to accept that she was his mother. When she was like this, she was just the shell of his mother. Nonetheless, Nikodemus trudged to the table and sat next to her. “Good morning, mom.” He said amiably.

He mother brushed his cheek with the back of her hand. “My special boy… I can’t wait to show you how to play.”

Nikodemus jerked his face away from her; his mother always treated him like a baby when she got into one of her moods, and he didn’t like it one bit.

She had a stack of cards next to her on the table, and she began dealing them out. “It will be nice to spend some time together.” She whispered.

Nikodemus watched her deal out the cards in a slower-than-molasses way—recognizing the signs that she wasn’t well. Not only that, but he touched her mind with his and could feel that it was drenched in sadness. Nikodemus cleared his throat. “If we’re going to spend some time together, I should probably go get dad. I’ll be right back.” Nikodemus attempted to get out of his chair, but his mother slammed a hand down on top of his—making Carl jump.

“Stay. Your father is very busy right now.” His mother nearly hissed at him.

Nikodemus was disturbed when he heard an errant thought going through her head, besides. He hates me anyway.

Nikodemus gulped, his hand smarting from how hard she had smacked it. He dared to say, “Are you feeling okay, mom? Maybe we should get you to bed?”

Carl pursed his lips, not realizing how tense the situation was. “C’mon Nicky, you can’t fool me. You’re just scared that you’ll be beaten by me.”

Nikodemus looked at his mother’s dark, sallow face, and he nodded—frankly frightened. “Alright. Let’s play.” Nikodemus assented.

His mother finished dealing the cards and they began playing. At first, things were going fine. Nikodemus even thought he had overreacted to his mother’s mood for a time. They played a round of Go Fish, during which they made comfortable conversations about family matters.

“You two have been keeping up with your studies, right?” his mother asked them while Nikodemus asked his brother if he had any one of a number.

“I’ve been keeping up, Mom.” Nikodemus replied stiffly.

“I’ve been trying to keep up, too, but Nicky’s behind on tutoring me.” Carl said, making a face at his brother. Nikodemus snorted. “Puh-lease. If I help you too much, you’ll always have to rely on me to get your stuff done.”

Carl chuckled. “I already do that for everything that isn’t physical, Nicky. Your brain is the only thing you’re good for.”

He had exploited something that was a genuine sore spot for Nikodemus. Nikodemus made a face. “Yeah, well, I doubt your brain will ever be used for designing efficient irrigation systems or designing lethal weapons like mine is.”

Carl stuck his tongue out at his brother. “Doesn’t matter. I’ll be the one to actually use the weapons with dad since I actually have the muscles and height for it.”

Suddenly, their mother slammed her fists on the table. “Shut up.”

Carl was so surprised that his eyes went wide. He said awkwardly, “Geez mom. We were only joking.”

“Well, it’s not funny.” She hissed lowly, and Nikodemus couldn’t help but notice that her long nails were digging into her palms so much that she was bleeding. “I don’t find the idea of one of my sons entering battle with his father and possibly dying to be funny. Perhaps you should treat yourselves with care.”

“Don’t worry Mom, we will…” Nikodemus said weakly.

His mother stood up abruptly, knocking her chair over. Her back was facing them as she muttered, “I doubt it. You’ll end up dead like the rest of the men, just you wait. And I’ll be here to mourn you…”

“Mom, please…” Nikodemus whispered. “Carl’s right here.”

Nikodemus looked at his brother. Carl was staring at his mother’s back with wide eyes. He had rarely, if ever, seen his mother acting so strangely. Because Nikodemus could tell his mother might only get worse if they hung around, he was quick to clear his throat and say, “Carl, go find dad. See if he needs any help on the ranch.”

Carl wordlessly obeyed; hastily scooting his chair out from the table with a noisy vrump, and running outside to look for their father.

Now that he was alone with his mother and no one was at risk, Nikodemus felt himself relaxing. He only had to worry about himself and his mother now. He said to her, “Hey Mom, I know you’re worried about the ranch—especially with the male population dwindling—but I just want you to know that me and Carl will do our best to help keep everyone safe. So you can relax.”

Nikodemus watched his mother wordlessly for a moment. She had gone as still as a statue.

A cloud covered the sun outside, blocking out the bright light that had previously been lighting up his mother as if she were an angel. Now, she was drenched in gray shadow, and Nikodemus felt distinctly uncomfortable—like he wanted to leave the room, but couldn’t because he was worried about what might happen to his mother if he did.