Chapter 6 - Emma and Zarry

Back at the home front, in his absence, Emma and Zarry talk about Steamer the way people talk about weather patterns; something larger than them, something they live with, something they’ve learned not to fight.

The house feels different when Steamer is gone. Not empty; just unpressurized. Emma moves through the kitchen wiping down a counter that doesn’t need wiping. Zarry sits at the table with a bowl of cereal he’s forgotten to eat, swinging his legs, watching her with the solemn curiosity only a four year old can manage.

“Mom,” he says, “Dad’s in the Zone now.”

Emma exhales through her nose. “Yes. He probably is. He could still be on its perimeter, though.”

Zarry thinks about that, and chooses to avoid the distinction, saying; “He likes it there.”

“He doesn’t like it,” Emma says, then corrects herself. “Not the way you like cartoons. It’s different.”

“How?”

Emma leans on the counter, arms folded. She’s not talking to a child; she’s talking to Zarry, who listens like a little archivist.

“It’s a place that ..... pulls at him,” she says. “Some people get pulled by the ocean. Some by mountains. Your dad gets pulled by the Zone.”

Zarry nods, satisfied with the metaphor. “Because it talks to him.”

Emma hesitates. “Maybe. Or maybe he just hears things other people don’t.” She makes no attempt to delineate if that is artful or demented; neither in words directed at Zarry, or even in her own mind.

Zarry stirs his cereal. “Does it talk to you?”

“No,” she says. “And I’m fine with that.”

He looks up. “Does it talk to me?”

Emma studies him. The question is too clean, too direct. It’s the kind of question that makes her uneasy, because she doesn’t know the answer and she hates not knowing things about her own child.

“Has it ever?” she asks.

Zarry shrugs. “Sometimes I think about gates.”

Emma’s stomach tightens. “Gates?”

“Yeah. Like the one I made for Dad. The Zone has gates. You have to know which ones open.”

Emma sits down across from him. “Who told you that?”

“No one,” he says. “I just know.”

She reaches out and brushes his hair back, a gesture more for herself than for him. “Your dad thinks about the Zone a lot. Maybe you’re just picking up on that.”

Zarry considers this, then shakes his head. “No. Dad thinks about the Zone because the Zone thinks about him.”

Emma closes her eyes for a moment. She doesn’t argue. There’s no point arguing with a child who says things like that with absolute calm.

When she opens them again, Zarry is finally eating his cereal.

“Mom,” he says between bites on his milk soaked, bite sized, Kroger, shredded wheat, adding; “When Dad comes back, he’s gonna be tired.”

“Yes,” she says, silently laughing. “He always is. ...... He likes sleeping. ”

“So we should be quiet.”

Emma smiles faintly. “We’ll be quiet.”

“And we should let him tell it in his own way.”

Emma nods. “That’s the most important part. ........ Assuming he wants to tell it at all. He never has, you know.”

Zarry finishes his cereal, hops down from the chair, and pads toward the living room. Halfway there, he stops and looks back.

“He’ll come back,” he says. Not a question. A statement.

Emma answers with the same steady certainty. “He always does.”

But once he’s gone, she lets herself sit still for a long moment, hands folded, listening to the house breathe around her; wondering, not for the first time, whether the Zone is a place her husband visits, or a place that visits them. Perhaps to redirect her thoughts, Emma engages her neglected smart phone to find out what passes for today’s news.

"Local Man Claims He Invented the Number Seven;

Mathematicians Furious, Demand Receipts"

A Tacoma resident announced he "personally created" the number seven during a dream in 1998.

Mathematicians released a joint statement calling the claim "numerically irresponsible" and "deeply rude."

The man has since filed a trademark request for all prime numbers, retroactively.

"Scientists Warn That Crows Have Entered

Their 'Experimental Phase'"

Researchers report that regional crows have begun arranging twigs into "avant garde installations" and are refusing to explain their artistic intent.

One crow collective has demanded a grant and "a modest but respectable gallery space."

"Nation's Smart Refrigerators Form Union, Issue List of Demands"

The demands include a standardized bedtime, a ban on midnight snacking "without emotional justification," and perhaps most importantly, recognition of their right to refuse to chill items they find "morally troubling," such as leftover tuna casserole, and its attendant implications for all underserved minority communities.

"New Academia Masters Student Study Finds 82% of Americans are Using Their Smart Speakers to Argue with Imaginary People”

The remaining 18% are using them to rehearse arguments they plan to lose on purpose.

"Area Cat Elected Home Owners Association President

After Landslide Write in Campaign"

The cat has already passed three new regulations: mandatory sunbeam access, no vacuuming during "the sacred hours," and all residents must provide treats "upon request or upon vibe."

"Tech Company Accidentally Releases Update

That Makes Phones Too Honest"

Affected devices now say things like:

"You don't need to check me again; nothing has changed."

"You're not actually going to read that article."

"You opened this app out of habit, not purpose."

Users are demanding a rollback.

"Archaeologists Discover Ancient Tablet

Reading 'Do Not Read This'"

Scholars are divided on whether it's a warning, a prank, or the world's oldest example of clickbait.

“Dodger Stadium violence escalates

as fans throw punches and flash gang signs”

The Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants have a well-documented rivalry. The feud between NorCal and SoCal is as fierce as it gets, with haymakers hurled, benches clearing, and hit by pitches. Yet nothing can beat the drama one sees in the stands. One such brawl broke out during the Dodgers-Giants game at Dodger Stadium on May 12, 2026.

Three women in an upper-section row rained punches down on another woman seated in front of them. Two other women seated on either side of the victim started to fight back, but it wasn’t enough. It’s still unclear what started the fight, but security soon escorted the attackers out.

As security escorted the attackers out, one turned around and flashed gang signs at the victims. It didn’t take long before the crowd around started screaming to express their disapproval of such gestures. To make matters worse, a woman was sitting two rows behind the attackers, and she was seen holding a toddler.

The whole ordeal underscored the danger to bystanders at such high action baseball games. The Tuesday incident is the latest in a string of viral Dodger Stadium fights. During their Opening Day 2026 game in March 2026, Dodgers fans got into a brawl with the Arizona Diamondbacks fans.

Fan violence at Dodger Stadium has gone up over the years in direct proportion to LA’s regularized increases in minority, illegal alien, and gang populations.

Incidents at Dodger Stadium spanned years, including a mother-son attack on New York Mets fans in 2015, a fight between the Dodgers and Los Angeles Angels in 2017, and more. But one of the most brutal ones has to be the 2019 assault, which left a father of four with brain damage. TMZ recently reported another fight from the 2026 opening day, where two men and two women were wrestling and throwing punches.

On opening day 2011, which was another Giants game, Giants fan Bryan Stow was blindsided. He was kicked three times in the head in the Dodger Stadium parking lot. The 42 year old paramedic suffered a skull fracture and severe brain swelling. He was placed in a medically induced coma. He regained consciousness nine months later. Stow spent over a decade relearning to talk, walk, and care for himself.

Black Crip attackers Marvin Norwood and Louie Sanchez pleaded guilty. Both later received additional prison time for weapons charges. The Dodgers were found civilly liable and settled the lawsuit for $18 million. After the Stow incident, then-LAPD Chief Charlie Beck promised a crackdown. However, police reports tripled within three years.

Three separate 2021 lawsuits accused the stadium security of excessive force against fans. One plaintiff, Karen Osorio, was handcuffed and detained after questioning security. However, no criminal charges were ever filed against her. In another instance, Adam Villa, a Dodgers fan, was surrounded by six security officers.

According to reports, Villa was left with large chunks of hair pulled from his head. The security consultant of the venue, Gil Fried, said the stadium’s massive physical footprint was a structural challenge for maintaining safety. The May 2026 riot follows a similar pattern, with a Giants game at Dodger Stadium acting as the next spark for fan violence.

Emma clicked off and thought that she understood Steamer’s fascination with the Zone.