Genesis

by Kipjo Ewers

  “Why will you be gone all day?” Kimberly nervously asked.

  “Make yourself dinner, and find yourself in bed by 9 P.M.,” Sophia kept going while ignoring her questions. “I want you up at 5 A.M. the next day. You are then to go into my room and put on a uniform I have laid out for you on my bed.”

  “Uniform?”

  “I will be back at approximately 6:22 A.M. the next morning. I expect you to be dressed and on the airport tarmac before that time. God, help you if I land and you are not standing there waiting young lady.”

  “What about breakfast?” Kimberly sheepishly asked.

  “Go take those two arms, legs, and superhuman memory of yours and make your own breakfast,” her mother scoffed. “You think you’re an adult, you plan to become a hero? You going to find out what being both is about right now.”

  Sophia spun on her heel and prepared to walk out the door.

  “Mommy, I said I was sorry!” Kimberly said with a squealing pout.

  “I know you’re sorry,” Sophia said turning back to her with narrowed eyes. “This is not about that. Please do what I ask you to do and be on that tarmac tomorrow.”

  As she walked away a still pouting Kimberly made her cheeks bigger while roughly folding her arms in frustration.

  “This sucks.”

  She waited for her mother to leave the house before she went downstairs and found the written list of chores she had to complete before 5 P.M. that afternoon.

  Her eyes widen and blazed with shock and disbelief at the near five-page single-spaced list her mother left her.

  “Is she serious?” Kimberly howled.

  She then turned to see the five-half cinderblock thick medical books lying on the table waiting for her to read.

  “I take it back,” Kimberly scowled. “She sucks!”

  Begrudgingly she did as she was told first starting with making herself and Sir George some breakfast. Her eidetic memory of all the YouTube videos she watched allowed her to make her own chocolate pancakes. As she ate a stack of them with a vegetable omelet and turkey sausages, she began to speed read through the medical books her mother left for her. The task took her longer than she expected as she was forced to look up words that she did not understand in a regular dictionary. Eventually, she was done with all five books around 11 A.M., Earl showed up twice to check on her, and she gave him a legitimate excuse of finishing the reading Sophia expected her to complete before starting her chores.

  Before she departed to begin her responsibilities, she trotted upstairs into her mother’s room curious about the uniform she was expected to wear the next early morning. Her face contorted in confusion as she stood over it and slowly picked up the top looking it over.

  “A nurse’s outfit?”

  The top was the standard color green. Kimberly laid it down next to the matching pants and then stepped back noticing the pair of white shoes at the foot of the bed that nurses also wore. A nervous feeling washed over her as she wondered what her mother was up to.

  “Why does she want me to be a nurse?” Kimberly asked herself.

  “Kimberly! Kimberly! Are you finished with your reading?” Earl yelled from outside. “You know I have to stay on you and make sure you complete your chores!”

  “Coming Mr. Earl!” She yelled back.

  She huffed as she gave the outfit one final look before heading downstairs.

  With her speed and strength, she began to knock out task after task on her list from assisting with construction, painting, gardening, collecting all of the garbage and recyclables in the village, and making sure that all of the animals in the preserve were fed.

  It did not stop her from complaining about the unfair treatment she believed her mother was inflicting on her, especially to anyone who would listen. Akram and Nadiya Romanenko, the new junior wildlife Preserve Keeper of Sanctuary, stood attentively from a distance as she whined through the handkerchief covering her face while shoveling elephant excrement into a wheel barrel to be used later as fertilizer.

  “You all are witnesses,” Kimberly screamed. “This is child abuse!”

  “It’s called punishment!” Nadiya yelled back. “Where I come from, children get a lot worse than this for disobeying their parents.”

  “Well you never had a mother like mine,” Kimberly shot back in frustration.

  “My mother died giving birth to me,” Nadiya shrugged. “And my stepmother sold me into sex slavery.”

  Kimberly turned to an unapologetic Nadiya who refused to chime into her sob story.

  “Did you really have to make the kid pee in his pants?” Akram asked.

  “I didn’t make him pee in his pants!” Kimberly said with frustration laced her voice. “That is not one of my superpowers!”

  “No, you just got up out of your chair, which translates into any language as ‘Take back what you said, or I’m going to kick your ass.’”

  Kimberly’s eyes began to emit a brighter glow reflecting her building anger which did not appreciate Akram’s sarcastic retort. Akram stood unfazed by his friend’s little temper tantrum.

  “He equated my mom to a terrorist.”

  “You’re talking to the unofficial face of terrorism,” Akram scoffed.

  “That’s not funny,” Kimberly admonished her friend with a stern visage.

  “No, what’s not funny is watching your uncle dragged through streets, beaten and stoned to death, and then his body burnt beyond recognition because the person he chose to love was not a woman,” Akram coldly returned. “I would rather endure a million punkass white boys calling me a terrorist over that experience any day.”

  “I’d prefer to be called a terrorist than a mail order bride any given day,” Nadiya interjected. “Friggin Melanie Trump forced me to close my Twitter account.”

  “The problem with this world is that everyone is in everyone else’s business instead of dealing with the business that really matters,” Akram lectured his friend. “And we’re all too damn sensitive! You keep talking about how you want to be a hero like your mom someday. Well here’s a reality check, not everyone likes your mom, and not everyone is going to like you, many will even hate you that is the world we live in. You’re going to need a thick skin against words as well as bullets if you’re going to be the great hero you want to be.”

  An impressed Nadiya nodded at the words of wisdom from a young Akram. A stubborn Kimberly glancing at the ground responded with her most robust comeback.

  “Whatever.”

  “Kimberly, when are you going to tell your mom what happened between you and Kyle’s father?” Akram asked.

  Her eyes met her friend’s eyes that had a genuine concern for her. She answered him with sadness in her own eyes before she turned her back to him and continued to shovel so that she could finish and move onto her next chore.

  Chore after chore chipped through the mountain of anger and frustration within her as she breezed through them. It also helped that Earl though stern was kinder than her mother currently was, and kept her giggling with his off-key humor that he kept rate PG.

  Kimberly stood with her arms folded and her eyes narrowed as he carefully inspected the framework she put up for one of the new houses.

  “Mr. Earl, you do know I’ve done this like bazillion times.”

  “Don’t sass me, girl,” Mr. Earl retorted while checking the sturdiness of the frame. “And even if you did it a bazillion times, which you haven’t, it doesn’t hurt to have a second set of eyes to make sure it’s been done right.”

  Kimberly secretly responded with an irritated eye roll as a satisfied Earl gave a nod of approval over her work.

  “Another job well done. You want to start on the foundation for the next lot, while I get some guys in here to do the walls?”

  “I don’t understand why you don’t just let me do it all,” Kimberly shrugged. “I could …”

  “I’m pretty sure you can,” Mr. Earl cut her off. “You know who could also probably do this by herself?�
��

  “My mom,” Kimberly muttered.

  “But she’s not here doing it all by herself, even when she’s here. She depends on us mere mortals to make all of this work, including looking after you.”

  “Mr. Earl, do you know where my mom went?” Kimberly cautiously asked.

  Earl who had a horrible poker face fidgeted, it was a natural give away that he knew.

  “Your mother made me swear not to tell you, honey,” Earl half smiled. “And as much as I would love to tell you, I think one of us on your mother’s bad side is enough.”

  “My mother doesn’t want me on the web, or any type of communication device because she does not want me to know what she is up to …right?”

  “What do you think?” Earl with a fatherly tone asked with his arms folded.

  “I think this sucks,” Kimberly pouted with her head down.

  “That’s life,” Earl said with a shrug. “Sometimes it tastes like barbecue, and sometimes it tastes like Buckley’s cold medicine.”

  “I don’t understand what that means,” Kimberly answered with earnest confusion.

  “When your momma comes home ask her to let you get a little taste of some Buckley’s,” Mr. Earl smirked. “You’ll figure it out after one sip. Ready to do some foundation work?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜

  As the day came to an end and she completed all of her chores, Kimberly went home as instructed, cleaned herself up, made herself dinner, and found other ways to entertain herself that did not involve an electronic device. Bored between teaching Sir George how to execute a double backflip and breaking Joseph Odhiambo’s four hour and fifteen-minute record for spinning a basketball on her finger, she got ready for bed and spent the rest of the night catching up on reading some manga novels she purchased during her many visits to Japan.

  That night Kimberly sat on her bed, but she could not force herself to go to sleep. She stared aimlessly out of her window wondering where her mother was, and what was she doing. Kimberly stayed awake all through the night watching the clock on her desk until it turned to 5:30 A.M. She slowly got out of her bed and made her way to her mother’s room switching out of her bedclothes putting on the nurse’s outfit. Kimberly took her time walking to the airport. The second she stepped onto the tarmac nervous jitters radiated through her frame as the sun softly rose over the ocean.

  Already waiting on the tarmac was Earl, the other Council members, and other villagers who caused her stomach to swirl. The swirling was created by the uneasiness she saw on all of their faces. Most of them were also wearing medical clothing while standing next to gurneys and medical apparatuses. On the tarmac were several transport vehicles lined up next to one another.

  Kimberly timidly walked up quietly standing next to Earl and another villager waiting for what was to come next. Her heart began to flutter as she heard the sound of thunder. It sped up as her keen eyesight picked up her mother soaring towards them in cruise mode. The reason for her not going faster, was because she was escorting the two humongous jumbo jets that were following behind her. She increased her speed breaking away barreling towards them. Kimberly’s entire body began to spasm out as Sophia slowed up and started to descend. Her touchdown was soft and graceful as her eyes locked onto her daughter’s eyes causing the young girl to fidget in her spot.

  Earl was the first to notice the battle damage and scuff marks on her outfit.

  “What happened to you?”

  “Bastard sent an anti-aircraft vehicle and two fighters in an attempt to shoot the jets down.”

  “Are you serious?” Earl asked with a face of disbelief.

  “He will be attempting to send me a bill for those two jets. He’ll also be busy rebuilding the west wing of his Presidential Palace after I sent his anti-aircraft vehicle back to him.”

  “Well, we’re all set here,” Earl motioned.

  They all looked up as the first jet came in for a landing while the second went into a circling pattern.

  “Mom …what’s happening?” Kimberly timorously asked.

  Her mother did not answer her question as she turned to the jet powering down. As the cargo door came down and was locked and secured, gurneys were rolled out and down the ramp of the plane, two in a row with people on them. All of them had medical bag drips which were attached to each man, woman, and child that was on a gurney. Some of the stretchers had plastic covers protecting the patient from the outside element to avoid infection depending on how detrimental their illness was. Some of the patient’s family members were around them. They nervously surveyed their new surroundings as they descended the aircraft with their loved ones.

  “Alright people, let’s get to work!” Earl yelled clapping his hands.

  Everyone scrambled heading for the jet to assist, leaving Kimberly and her mother standing there while the other plane came in for a landing.

  “Those …are …Syrians,” Kimberly fretfully uttered.

  “Yes,” her mother answered. “Victims of the current civil war which includes the Russian Syrian Sarin attack; these are the ones that can be safely transported here for treatment. Did you read the medical books I instructed you to read?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then get to work,” Sophia motioned to the direction of the jets.

  “I …I can’t …” Kimberly stammered.

  “You wanted to be a hero,” her mother cut her off with a soft stern voice. “This is where you begin. You will start by helping with the transport to the new medical facility, and then assist with basic treatment of the patients that will be assigned to you. And they’re going to need a lot of care.”

  “No …I can’t …I don’t want to,” a frightened Kimberly shook her head, “I don’t want to!”

  She turned to fly off only to feel the powerful grip of her mother grabbing her wrist and spinning her around. She shrunk and coiled in fright at the scowl on her mother’s face as her blue eyes blazed brightly.

  “Oh no, you’re not running away from this young lady. You don’t choose to act like you’re an adult and then switch to a little girl the second you get scared.” Sophia snapped at her with a thunderous voice, “Now, if you read the books, then you know what to do. You’re not doing brain or open-heart surgery. All of the patients, for now, are stabilized; all they need is your care. You will not be alone, and any help you need you will get if you ask for it.”

  “Why are you doing this to me?” Kimberly blubbered. “Why?”

  “What’s being done to you, Kimberly? Tell me, what is being done to you?”

  Sophia released her placing her hands on her hips waiting for an answer. Kimberly stood with her head down frozen, unsure what to say.

  “The little girl, who likes to shoot her mouth off about how she sent the big bad Draugr into space, is afraid of tending to sick people who are terrified because they had no idea what is happening to them? People, who are not sure if they’re going to make it until the next day? And if they do, there is ninety percent chance they will never lead a normal life ever again. So, help me to understand what I am doing to you, and why you are so afraid?”

  Kimberly slowly lowered her head filled with shame.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Well, that is a shame because I know why I am doing this to you.”

  Sophia took a step toward her daughter and reached out lifting her daughter’s chin so that she could look her in the eyes.

  “I’m doing this because you need to understand what the hardest part of being a hero is about,” Sophia said while pointing to the aircraft still being unloaded with patients. “Anyone can throw a punch, shoot a gun, or topple a building. Violence is easy. Feeding a person that cannot feed themselves. Periodically turning them so that they do not get bed sores, and cleaning them when they soil themselves, showing love and compassion to a human being whose health might not improve after everything you’ve done
…that is hard. That is the makings of a true hero.”

  Sophia removed her hand from her chin. Kimberly kept her eyes trained on her mother who was back to being calm again.

  “Having the power to stop evil is not enough,” Sophia softly concluded. “Because no matter how strong you are, how fast you are, you will never be in two places at the same time. While you’re stopping a robbery on one side of the world, someone is being beaten or worse on the other side. This is the other side of my watch, making people whole again. By bringing someone back from the brink of destruction and helping them show evil that it did not break them. That is the greatest victory you will ever achieve if you can accomplish it.”

  Kimberly wiped her eyes and then turned to the refugee patients and their families on the tarmac. She watched as Earl and the other villagers worked to quickly coordinate and transport them to the new medical facility based on the severity of health. Luckily, they loaded the sickliest last so that they would be the first to be taken off the jet.

  “What do I do?”

  “Earl and the team seem to have it here,” Sophia observed. “Head to the facility and help Head Nurse Adetokunbo with getting each patient to their assigned beds. Anything she tells you to do, you do, understood?”

  “Yes ma’am,” Kimberly nodded.

  She turned walking away heading toward the new hospital.

  “Kimberly.”

  “Yes, mom?” She asked diffidently turning around.

  “You can fly there if you want.”

  Kimberly’s eyes filled with glassy tears as she nodded and quickly wiped them away with the sleeve of her arm. She turned on her heel and took to the air flying off.

  Sophia let out of huff of air watching her soar off before turning back to monitor and observe her newest responsibility.