by B D Grant
“I’m almost eighteen so thanks, but no thanks.”
He straightens up, getting even taller, “Sorry if I made it sound like it was an option.” He steps past me, walking into the house, “Pack a bag and lets go.”
He’s walking farther into my house like he was invited in or something. I get in front of him, stopping him as he gets to the living room.
“I know the law and you have no right to snoop around. I’ll get my things. You can wait by the door.”
His eyebrows shoot up and his hands rise in front of him like I’m sticking him up, “Okay, big guy. I’ll wait by the door. Don’t make me come looking for you.”
I get some clothes and essentials from my room. On the way out the room I think about the photo album Gran gave me. When my mom left home Gran told me how she looked at Mom’s picture everyday and prayed. Even after her death I saw Gran holding her picture and praying sometimes. Gran made me a small album after I threatened to run away one time during an argument. She asked if I was ever going to make good on the threat to please take it with me. She said so at least when she would look at my picture she could imagine me doing the same with the album. I add the album to my bag.
I walk through the living room to the side door and the cop isn’t there. I walk past the door into the kitchen and there he is looking through the refrigerator.
“Dude, what do you think your doing?”
He looks around the open fridge door at me. “Apple slices?” He asks me, while he closes the refrigerator with a plastic bag of apples in his hand.
I walk up to him and snatch them out of his hand, “That’s not yours to offer!” I look down at the open bag. “You already ate some?!” I can’t believe this dude.
When I look back at him he’s grinning at me.
“I was hungry,” He says mid-chew. “I like your spunk kid. Lets go,” He says while he finishes chewing MY food. He grabs Gran’s bag as he opens the door.
“How did you know that bag was…” I see the zipper is half open. He follows my eyes to Gran’s half open bag and grins again at me, “Those are some good apples.” And walks out the door.
I hope he liked finding her underwear on top when he dug through her bag. I make a mental note to not leave my wallet around this dude.
He makes me sit in the back seat like a criminal, obviously sore about not getting to finish my apples. His cell phone rings when we get on the road.
“You were right he was at home. Oh yeah, definitely an only child. He has major issues with sharing.”
“I’m not the only one with issues,” I murmur to myself. He looks at me through the rear view mirror for a second then back at the road. I take a loud bite of apple just in spite.
“Wow, two in one day. Does that happen often? …It’ll make the transition easier. Where do you want me to meet you? …Okay, bye.” He sets his cell phone down, “Good news you get to drop your grandmother’s bag off yourself. We are going up to the hospital.”
“I thought you were bringing me to the place I’m staying at until Gran gets better?”
“I am but the social worker wants to meet you first. You know, to make sure you aren’t deranged or anything.”
Perfect.
At the hospital he says I can go drop Gran’s bag off while he stops by the cafeteria for a bite to eat. I find Gran is still unresponsive in her room. The nurse informs me that I will be contacted if that changes. She takes Gran’s bag for me and gives me a moment with her.
I tell Gran about the weird cop and packing the photo album. My chest gets tight so I decide to kiss her bye before I have another break down today.
The cop is standing at the nurse’s station when I walk out the room. The nurse that was on the phone talking about me earlier is now talking to the cop about how I took good care of Gran after her first stroke, and that this is breaking her heart. The cop is nodding as he listens to her ramble.
“Oh hey, kid. Let’s go see if she’s here yet.”
“Who am I going to meet again?”
“Her name is Lia. She is your social worker. She had a case she’s been working on a couple weeks so we might have to wait.”
I follow him to a hall full of offices, and we go into the one marked “Family Affairs”. The office is pretty bare. It has a desk with nothing on it, half-filled bookshelf behind it, two chairs in front of the desk, and a raggedy couch against the far wall. He calls her from his cell and tells her we’re waiting in her office.
He turns to me, “Have a seat. Don’t look so glum about it; she really does change lives.”
He walks out the room once I sit on the couch. I take out my earphones, letting him know I’m done acting like I’m listening to him. The wonderful music of an angry guitarist drowns out my thoughts and I close my eyes.
The door to the office opens and closes. I keep my eyes shut a while longer nodding my head to the beat, not wanting to deal with more people.
I feel couch vibrate from someone sitting. I open my eyes in response and look next to me. It’s not the cop, or any other adult for that matter. The chick, sitting as far from me as she can on the couch, looks maybe fifteen with short brown hair and heavy black eyeliner. I turn the music down.
She glances over at me. “Is the cop out there for you?” she nods toward the closed door.
“Yup.”
“Runaway?”
“Nah, my grandmaw is in the hospital and seeing as how I’m not of age I have to be watched after like an infant until she gets better,” I tell her sounding pathetic.
I should have said I robbed a bank or something.
“Must be nice,” She says.
I look at her like she’s insane.
“Oh, not like that!” She says hastily seeing my expression, “I just meant, it’s got to be nice to have someone, you know. I have never had anyone worth caring about. Not that I don’t have parents, I do.” She was in a good mood but the more she talks the more it takes a negative turn. “After the state took me from them and put me in a foster home they were given a choice. Straighten up, take care of your child, or continue being worthless and sign your rights away.” She looks down at her hands, rubbing her bruised knuckles, “Take a wild guess what they picked.”
“That’s tough. How old are you?”
“Thirteen.”
“Wow, you’re big for your age. I would have guessed fifteen or sixteen.”
She looks at me like I just slapped her, “Well you look every bit of thirty, thank you very much.”
I can’t help but laugh. She’s got more of an attitude then I do.
“I meant it as a compliment. I thought girls want to look older. Is that what happened to the last person that complimented you?” I point to her knuckles.
She looks at her knuckles and a small grin emerges. “No. When I found out about my parents and what they did I took it out on a brick wall.”
“That poor wall,” I say as I give her a big smile.
Her smile widens but she still looks unhappy. I need to change the subject.
“Name’s Kelly,” I hold my hand out and she shakes it.
“Anne”
We lean back in our seats and sit silently for a minute.
“I don’t have anyone else either,” I say as an after thought.
“Then Lia’s sold you on our bright future too?”
“No, I haven’t met her yet.”
“Just wait, it’s a real treat,” she says sincerely.
Out of the corner of my eye I look over at her. She’s got a dreamy smile on her face. The door opens to the room.
A curvy woman with long blonde hair walks in with the cop close behind her.
“Hello I’m Lia,” She says as she walks to her desk. She takes a seat in the chair behind it. “How are you holding up, son?”
Wow we’re just going to dive right into the pity party.
“Better then most I guess.”
“I wouldn’t have expected anything less,” she says with a smile.
She turns to Anne, “You haven’t told him anything I hope.”
“No ma’am,” Anne replies.
I look from Lia to Anne and she’s smiling at me like I shouldn’t worry about this secret they’re keeping from me. Maybe they are about to tell me this is all a dream and I need to wake up before I’m late to school. “Good girl. Would you please wait with Officer Lanton outside?”
Anne nods, whispering, “You are in for a treat,” and leaves the room.
Lia turns from the door to me, “May I call you Kelly?”
“Why not?”
She cuts me a look that disappears faster than I can figure out what it is, “Kelly you are in a bad place right now. Someone you love is dying and no matter how much you want to you can’t fix her,” she pauses, giving me a sympathetic look, “Now because you are not yet considered an adult by the state they want me to put you in a home for teens in similar situations.
Other kids in bad situations, like you, will keep you company. You see, I have a lot of experience in these sorts of cases. You will be more likely to act out and that can easily turn into breaking the law.
Going to college is what most kids your age plan to do once they graduate but if you have a record that will be impossible. Simply being on your own even without a record and successfully finishing college is also a near impossible feat,” she pauses, I guess giving me time to stew in the rosy picture she just painted for me.
“The life you had planned, or was planned for you, Kelly, has drastically changed from this one unfortunate event. The only way to avoid such a sad future is to reach out to your surviving family.”
She stands up and walks around to the front of the deck closer to me, “Now they have told me you don’t have any relatives. Are you sure you don’t anyone, even distant, that I can contact for you and let them know what has happened?”
“No, my mom died when I was little and my grandfather followed her a few years later. It’s only me and Gran now.”
Lia leans against the desk shaking her head slowly as if I just told her that someone she loves is dead.
I wonder how far I would make it if I just ran for it. I could plow the cop down that’s outside the door and make it to the bus station in ten minutes. I didn’t think to grab my bag out of the cop car though, and I don’t want to leave it behind.
“Unless,” Lia says bringing me back to the room, “there was another option for you, Kelly. One where you can have a bright future.”
I sit up straighter so she knows I’m all ears.
“You are different, Kelly. I’m sure your mom and grandmother told you you were special like all parents tell their kids but in your case they weren’t lying. You have a gift that only a select few are given. It is a gift that is not fully developed until you are shown how to use it.”
This is getting interesting.
“Are you about to tell me I can fly or speak to the dead or something? If you are, I want a different social worker. Preferably one that isn’t off their meds.”
She jumps at me. I don’t even see it coming. She gets in two good blows to my face before I throw her off me. She lands against the desk, knocking a chair over, and takes off at me again.
I leap from the couch and yell, “Stop, I don’t want to hurt you!”
She laughs, “You wish.”
She comes at me again but I’m ready. I block two punches then she gets one by me straight to my ribs.
“Jesus lady, that hurt!” I think she cracked a rib.
She doesn’t stop. My anger festers. She gets another punch in to the other side of my ribs causing my anger to leap out of control. I no longer feel the sharp pain in my ribs. She swings again. I hit her first. Hard. Everything that happens next is a blur.
“That’s enough!” A voice from the door calls out.
I look from Lia, to the door, to the cop walking toward me. I look at myself and my arm is still raised mid-swing with Lia in front of me, my intended target, and she is smiling at me. My fist is lightly throbbing, telling me I threw more punches than the one I remember.
The cop gets between us, “I think that’s enough, Lia.”
He must not have seen anything. I was the one that just hit a woman like she was my equal and he’s telling her it’s enough.
“Did you not just see what I did to her?” I ask confused.
“Are you okay kid?” The cop looks me over. He touches my ribs and I jump back. “Calm down, I’m just making sure she didn’t cause any real damage.”
“I am calm.”
I was just about to kill someone but, I’m cool now.
Gran would be impressed by my control. On second thought she would probably beat me with whatever was close at hand if she had witnessed me hit a woman.
Mean while, Lia is still standing there with a smile on her face.
The cop touches my ribs again, “You may have a fracture, kid.”
“I was defending myself. I’ve never hit a woman before, I promise.”
“Don’t worry. I’m sure she started it.”
Lia is forced to look around the cop as he blocks her view to me, “I’m not done talking to him, Lanton, wait outside. You can baby him when we’re done.”
“It looked like you were done talking to me,” he tells her.
Lia goes to the open door and motions for him to leave.
He stops at the door, “Did you let him take the shot?”
“Get out,” she says coldly
He smiles and looks at me saying, “I thought so.”
She shuts the door, pushing him into the hallway.
She walks to the front of her desk and perches on it. I stay a safe distance away from her. She doesn’t say anything so I start, “I’m sorry I hit you. I promise I didn’t—”
She puts her hand up, “That’s enough. I was testing you to make sure I was right about you since you seem to have no idea what I’m talking about.” She looks at the closed door like she’s looking through it. “Seems there are more and more who don’t know their potential. Besides I’ve been hit by far better Dyna then you.”
“What did you just call me?”
I take a step closer because she starts fixing her hair. She wouldn’t do that unless she wasn’t planning on fighting again.
“Dyna. It is the name we call our kind with your ability.”
“What ability is that?”
“You’re strong kid, more so then others your age. If you don’t know already, you are also faster. You probably have a big temper too. That’s common for Dynamar but you should already have that in check,” she looks at me questioning.
“Yeah, uhh, I’m getting better at that.”
She frowns a little, “That would have been the first thing you were taught as a child if you were among your people. You have so very much to learn. You should be done with your training by now and in the field practicing to blend in.”
“I am almost done with school. What would I have to blend in for? I look like everyone else.”
She walks around her desk, to the bookshelf and grabs a book, “You are far more.”
She flips open the book and takes a loose paper out of it. She hands it to me.
The paper has written at the top “Southern Academy” and a picture of happy teens in front of a beautiful building.
“That is were you belong, Kelly. I can bring you there.”
Looking at the paper I think about the other “special” kids already there. The place is probably full of hormonal egos.
“What if I get there and don’t like it?”
She takes the paper from my hands and returns it to its home, “That won’t happen but you always have the other option of a temporary home that the state picks.”
“A house for future criminals? Such a tough decision, maybe I should flip a coin.”
“I can make the call right now. Tell them to set you up a nice room that you share with five other boys. I give you a week before you have a facial piercing.”
She takes out her cell phone. She points at my earphones in my hand, “And no music without it being screened first for violent or profane language.”
She dials a number and brings it to her ear.
I walk to the door. “Okay you talked me into it. I’ll go.”
She puts the phone back in her pocket.
“Lets see if this place is really all you say it is,” I say as I walk out.
The cop and Anne are standing in the hall.
Anne looks at me and her eyes get big, “You need an ice pack or something for that eye.”
I feel my face and she’s right, my left eye is swelling. It’s kind of tender too.
“Is this what you meant by real treat?” I ask Anne.
Lia walks out behind me and locks the door behind her. She looks at the cop, “He agreed Lanton. We won’t have any further need of your services. Thanks for all your help.”
“No problem.”
He has my bag in his hand already. “Here you go kid,” he tosses the big bag to me.
I catch it. All of us, including the cop, walk to the exit leading to the parking garage.
Lia and the cop are ahead of Anne and me as we walk to the parking garage but we can still hear them.
“The Southern Academy is where you’re bringing them?” He asks her.
“Of course. It is the closest. And the best if you ask me.”
“Did they rebuild in the same place as the old one?” He asks.
She looks at him suspiciously, “You know better than that. I couldn’t tell you the location if my life depended on it. Think of what would happen if it was found by the Rogues.”
He nods and looks at the ground.
“It’s not anything personal, you know that right?” She adds.
He continues looking down, “Sure. It’s for their safety I know that. I’ll call you if I find anyone else.”
Lia nods at him and keeps walking toward a dark SUV. The cop slows and we catch up to him.
“My card is in your pocket kid,” he informs me quietly.
He grabs my arm as I go to check my pocket, “I’ll keep an eye on your grandmother while you’re at school.”
