Page 47 of Unmade

I eyed him up and down and stopped at his knees. Seriously? Don’t get me wrong, I knew all about the injuries we sustained in the Army, and I hadn’t exactly walked away scot-free. I’d pulled muscles, fractured bones, and dislocated a shoulder. Fun times. I used to be able to do thirty chin-ups; now I was lucky if I could pull off twenty before my shoulder acted up.

“Don’t look at me like that, punk,” Beckett said. “I’m not that old. I’m just aware of when we start damaging our bodies—and you need to take care of yours unless you plan on retiring at forty.”

I bit down on my lip to hide my grin, but he obviously saw it anyway, and he gave me a light shove as the elevator dinged with its timely arrival.

“Damn kids,” he muttered and walked in. “Luckily for me, I plan to attend your first martial arts session tomorrow. I’ll face you on the mat, boy.”

Oof. Was that a promise? Because I could think of worse things than grappling with Operator Bo Beckett.

I folded my arms over my chest and leaned back against the wall. “No dinner or drinks first? Cold.”

He snorted. “You won’t be so cocky after tomorrow.”

I wasn’t cocky now either. I was just having fun.

I smiled to myself.

Seconds later, we ended up in the basement, and immediately when the doors opened, a young girl lit up like a Christmas tree and flew at Beckett. Operator Payne stood there too, and he smiled at the exchange.

“Hi! You’re late, Uncle Bo!”

Well, this was an experience. Beckett picked the girl up with a grunt and claimed he was never late. In fact, he said, he was always on time.

Was she really eight, though? She was so small. When I’d been eight years old, my mom sure as fuck hadn’t been able to carry me on her hip. And I wasn’t precisely tall either.

The girl was definitely a Beckett. She had the same light brown hair and slanted grin. She had dimples too, unlike her uncle. Same eye color, blue and green.

My first impression of Beckett as an uncle made me wonder why he viewed himself as clueless with children. He asked her all the right questions and rolled with the punches when she rambled about her sleepover at Auntie Kat’s.

“She told me she’d send a box of those cookies,” Beckett said. “Did she?”

Operator Payne held up a container. “I may have sampled one.”

“Fuck yeah.” Beckett grinned and accepted the box. “You ready to meet my recruit, mouse? He’s gonna keep an eye on you a couple hours every day.”

I clasped my hands behind my back, and the girl eyed me curiously.

“Say hi to Leighton,” Beckett murmured against Alex’s cheek. “You’ll have to be nice to him. He has so much homework that he can barely manage.”

“Hi, Alex.” I smiled politely. “For the record, it’s your uncle who’s given me the homework. It’s his fault.”

Alex gasped and turned to Beckett. “Why are you giving him homework?! That’s so mean!”

Checkmate. I could do this.

Beckett faced Operator Payne. “That backfired on me.”

* * *

August 9th, 2024

My first babysitting round wasn’t until the next day, and while the other recruits made fun of me for my “lame-ass duty,” I didn’t mind it, actually. Alex was a cool little girl. I didn’t need to use baby talk, and she had a chip on her shoulder.

I liked that in an eight-year-old.

“Why are you only eating one hamburger, Leighton? My uncle can eat three.”

“Because your uncle thought it was a good idea to schedule a workout right after lunch,” I replied, sucking burger sauce off the side of my hand. I didn’t know how it’d gotten there. “If you work out right after you’ve eaten, you can get a stomachache, and you won’t perform as well. You don’t want your stomach full of food.”

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