Was this guy for real, John thought, feeling his skin crawl just a little bit under the man's scrutiny. "I'm seventeen," he said pointedly, not bothering to play stupid or naive enough to miss the clear intent behind the question. Kinney had to be pushing forty, if not there already. Maybe things were different in this dimension, but where John came from that was illegal at the very least.
Creepy and disturbing, not to mention desperate, beyond that.
And this from a kid whose life had been a science fiction novel.
"Easy? Hm, never would have guessed." The sarcastic delivery was more sure than John was about this conversation. The abusive father part sucked, but after that introduction John wasn't sure he wanted to be on a first name basis with this one.