by Bob Dattolo
“They don’t…we don’t have any money.”
“Then you have pitched your ideas to businesses in the hopes of getting funding to patent or make a deal, correct?”
“Yes?”
“And no one listens because you are a goblin. It’s…it’s a painful thing to see, and yet I have seen it in my own life countless times. The problem that many people have is that many goblins that are working to their limit feel that they are the intelligent ones. A business idea or an invention that they pitch to someone may very well be the worst idea you have ever seen. I was once pitched a diaper cleaning process that involved putting the baby into a pot of boiling water. They believed it would save time and effort to do it that way.”
“Oh my God…please tell me no one bought in on that idea?” I had to ask.
“No, of course not. That, however, makes it difficult in some respects for those that are truly talented and gifted to rise out of the crowd. When it happens, though? When it happens and they become known for their intelligence? That’s when the money flows. The businesses come to them for their ideas.”
“Okay. That’s pretty cool then. In light of that, Tara has a supernatural dating app that she programmed, a phone interface for people with larger fingers, a VR program that allows people to see what it’s like to be a different supernatural, and a computer chip with…how fast is it?”
She stared at my phone, “They, umm, it’s a new chip architecture that I came up with? I’ve been able to create a few samples, and they clocked in at 12 Ghz. More, actually. They use less power than a current-generation 1.8 Ghz chip.”
Mom clapped and laughed loud enough to draw attention, “Oh my! Oh my, that’s wonderful. Daughter-mine, are you asking if I have contacts in the business world? Or are you asking if I have businesses that can run with these ideas?”
“Umm, either? Both? Or can we just fund her and maybe open a new business?”
Something tapped on her side, making me think she’s bouncing a pen on her desk, “Truthfully, you own a chip company now. They have been struggling and losing market share. This might be something worthwhile pursuing. I own an internet company that specializes in dating sites and social media. We both own enough of another company that works with phone and tablet hardware for the phone interface. We don’t currently own anyone specializing in virtual reality, although some might be a good fit unless it’s better to run with a well-known company instead.”
That’s even better than I expected. “Okay, so given that…if Tara’s interested, how do we proceed?”
She made a considering noise, “Tara? Not to put you on the spot, but would you be willing to demonstrate your ideas to me tonight? I will be working late, but if you are available for dinner you can eat over the house with Ceri and meet with me when I get in?”
“Why…why would you invite me over to dinner first?”
“My dear, I have seen countless people in your shoes. If your parents cannot back you financially, then there is a strong possibility that they are barely making it. Now…don’t think of this as pity. Goblins are a hearty people. Strong. Dedicated. And yet you are stymied by this twist of fate in some cases. That is something we can help you with. Now, will you do it?”
“I…uhh…yes?”
Marisela had a look in her eyes that had me nodding, “If Tara’s okay with it, could Marisela be there as well?”
One more laugh from Mom, “That is fine with me. By all means, have them sleep over if they’re willing? I know it is a school night, but that would be fine with me.”
Noise in the background let us know that others joined her.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me? It seems that some agents are here to talk without warning.”
“Thanks, Mom. I’ll see you tonight.”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
Both girls continued crying after I hung up, so I pushed their food again, “So…food?”
They started eating after wiping their faces. “How can you do this?” Tara asked.
“Which part? Call my mom for this?”
“Yes! You don’t know me! You don’t know if what I did is garbage! Maybe I’m one of the stupid goblins!”
They both twitched when I laughed, probably from the bells, “Well, I don’t think you are. After all, you’re in at least three honors classes. Granted, not the ones I’m in, but still. Beyond that? What does it hurt? I’ve never been pitched a diaper cleaning process that will kill the babies, so it’s not like I have centuries of that behind me. What you made sounds fascinating to me.”
They fell silent and continued eating, finally finishing about ten minutes later.
“Now…how do you want to do this? Do you want to come over for dinner? I can order in? I’m not much of a cook yet. She still has to teach me how to cook anything good. The stuff I learned at home…not great. Beyond that…sleep over? Or no, because it’s a school night?”
“I’ve never had a sleepover.” Marisela sounded so hopeful that it broke my heart.
“I may be able to do it. My parents…they may not even know I’m gone. If I’m not there for dinner, then that may make things easier on them, too.”
“All right. In that case? How about we get you two home then? Do you want to hang out until dinner? Or I can come back and get you both? I’m okay either way.”
They looked at each other again, “Can you drop us off and pick us up again? I don’t think either of us will have a problem getting permission for this, but you never know with parents.” Marisela nodded at Tara’s response.
“All right, let’s get you both home.”
We loaded up in the truck again, and I followed their directions. As you can imagine, the area got poorer and poorer. I’ve literally never been in an area quite this poor. It’s not inner-city bad, it’s rural bad.
Tara’s swallow was audible from the back seat, “This, uhh, this is my turn up here on the right.”
We made the turn, with me having to swerve around a dead animal in the street. I’m pretty sure it’s a cow of some sort, I just can’t tell for sure. Too much of it is gone. I’m seeing straight cuts, too, which means someone’s cutting pieces off…and they’re fresh cuts, too.
“This turn to the left.” Her voice got quieter as I turned, finding only one house left standing on the small dirt road.
Not that it should be standing. It’s in rough shape. Very, very rough.
She fidgeted in the back seat as I pulled to a stop. “I…I need to go.”
“How will I know if you can do this? Can you call me?”
She blushed hard, opening the door, “I don’t have a phone.”
“No, I mean on your home phone?”
“We don’t have one.”
Oh my God… what the heck? “I’ll tell you what, I’ll be back a little after five? You can tell me then if you can’t do it.”
She slid out of the truck, “You don’t have to do that. I can…I can just see you tomorrow.”
She looked up as I clapped my hands, “Nope. You’re showing me the cool things you created and we’re having a sleepover. So get your stuff ready.”
I was shocked when she nodded, “Okay.” Her voice was quiet before she closed the door, stepping back as I pulled away.
It hurt to drive away from her. It really did.
“Why are you doing this? Seriously? No one cares about us. Orcs? Goblins? We’re a step up from animals to most humans. Good enough to talk to in school, but not to hang out with. Not to drive around. What are you getting out of this?”
Continuing to drive was an easy decision. What to say was not. “A month and a half ago I lived on a walled compound controlled by my parents. There were seven of us kids. I was the oldest. There were eight older brothers and sisters, but they left the compound on their 17th birthdays. Every one of them. My parents raised us to believe that all supernaturals are evil. They’ll take our souls to hell. We spent hours every day praying. Fasting. Flogging ours
elves. Being punished. Hot boxes. Sleep deprivation. You name it. That continued until I happened to overhear my parents saying how they planned to kill me when I turned 17, just like they did for all of the other kids.” She gasped. “I took a box cutter and ran, jumped the fence, and ran away. I found an old factory place and hid in the dark and tried to slit my wrists…and a vampire stopped me. That led to everything else. The vampire nearly killed me, although he was actually helping me. I ended up with the FBI, and they raided the house based on what I told them…and my parents destroyed the house, killing 31 agents and my younger brothers and sisters. Until that point in my life I was literally never allowed out of the compound. I was never in a car. Never touched money. Never bought anything. Never met anyone not in my immediate family. My parents would invite one or two people in every few years, but we were never allowed to talk to them. They were…evil.”
I expected tears, but none fell. Maybe I’m over it? Nah, I doubt it. “I was sent off to the school realizing that I went from being a norm…to a mage. My parents are over 400 years old. They were using us as batteries. Draining us when we turned 17 and stealing our powers. Powers that they blocked away so that we didn’t know we had them. When I was at the school, I realized that I may never have met a normal human. One without powers. So, you ask me why? Because the fact that you’re green means nothing to me. Nothing at all. That Tara is gray? It makes no difference to me. You look at me and see a human…but I’m not. I may have mage-like powers, but I’m not a human. You heard my mother? You got that she’s a fey?”
She nodded, “Yeah? I’m not sure I understand that. The fey don’t care about humans.”
“Possibly? I don’t know for sure. For me? I knew I loved her with one under 10-minute-long conversation. She showed me more honest love in that conversation than I ever had at home. So…I don’t care what you are any more than I’d care if you were Jewish. Or from England. Or left-handed. You seem nice. Tara seems nice. Hell, most of the kids today seem nice. Except Mark, Warren, Eric, and Chuck. They don’t seem nice.”
She snorted, “Yeah…yeah, they’re not too nice, usually.”
“Do they cause problems for you? Or anyone else?”
She shrugged, “You’ve been around supernaturals. There is always some tension at first until the pecking order is established. I don’t go in for that. Either does Tara. We’re only slightly more prone to doing that than humans are, and it’s typically with our own people. Orcs, trolls, and goblins tend to keep that kind of fighting in-house, so to speak. We’re nothing if not vicious to each other if they’re not in our families or allies. Outside of that, we don’t seem to care much.”
“So they don’t pick on you?”
“Not anymore.”
“They did at one point?”
“Yeah. Freshman year was pretty bad for most of us. Those that didn’t bubble up. Nathan had it good that way. Most don’t want to mess with a vampire, even if they’re new at it. Otherwise, the mages tended to make our lives hell with their spells.”
“What would they do?”
“Pretty much anything they wanted to. Destroy homework. Wreck reports. Tear up books. Steal things from lockers. That ended up in some fights, and some threats…and now they mostly leave us alone. They focus on the freshman and the norms, typically. I guess finding out some of our more animalistic friends are willing to tear them to pieces helps.”
“They had to be threatened?”
“Yeah. Pretty much.”
She gave me directions as we drove, and her road was even worse than Tara’s. We ended up on a rutted driveway with a tar paper shack at the end. I’m not entirely sure it would house my truck.
“This is me.” She fought looking ashamed, but I wouldn’t have any of it. I’m no better since I live in a mansion. Not at all.
“I’ll be back to get you. Same timing.”
“You don’t have to do this, Ceri. You don’t want to be seen with us. The mages will tear you apart for this.”
“Let me put it this way. If they literally tear me apart and somehow kill me? Mom will show up and wipe them from the face of the Earth. Them and anyone and everyone they’ve ever loved.”
She stared at me from the passenger seat, “You…you make your mom sound like a badass.”
“She is. She really is.”
My big friend waited for me to drive off before heading in. All the while I tried to fight off the tears.
She is close to six and a half feet tall, and she’s living in a place that is maybe 12 or 15 feet square. It looks…it looks hellish. I’m not sure how she can live there with her mom. As in physically. I have to believe her mom is at least close to her in height. Orcs tend to be taller than humans that way.
That doesn’t leave them much room at all. Why am I thinking they sleep on a small bed together? Could they even have a full kitchen? Do they bathe with a hose? Or…do they not have running water? She didn’t stink, so she’s bathing. Speaking of…if they’re that broke, how is she going to replace the clothes that got wrecked today in gym? Her shirt is destroyed. Her sports bra…those things aren’t cheap.
Then again, both looked worn. Well used. Maybe she buys at Goodwill or something like that?
I don’t know what to do. I could give her some of my stuff, but it won’t fit her. At all. The size difference is just too much. Would…would she be okay with me buying her what she needs? Maybe I can explain it as having stuff that doesn’t fit me? That might work.
Chapter 7
On my way back towards school to get to our place, I stopped at a secondhand store and grabbed a bunch of things that I thought would fit her, including a few sports bras, and then hit the road. Tara isn’t much smaller than I am, being within about four inches of my height, so I hoped she might take some of my things.
For now.
I also stopped at another store, and was in the car 20 minutes later with my purchases.
I was just about to turn away from the school area towards home when I caught sight of another walker. It’s a solid two hours after school ended, and I see someone familiar. They nearly stumbled off the road when I pulled up next to them and slowed down.
“Hey, Melissa.”
She stopped walking and turned, eyes wide. I swear I thought I’d have to jump out and catch her or something. As she realized who I was, she looked around wildly before turning back, “Uhh…Ceri? You…I…what?”
My God, what has happened to this poor girl? Her tense response had me practically whispering. “Hey…umm…would you like a ride home?”
She clutched her arms, holding herself, “No…no…I’m fine. I’m good. I can walk.” She hoisted a fairly big duffel bag higher on her shoulder, then went back to holding herself.
“You can walk, but I’m willing to drive you? Why don’t you hop in?”
She looked around again, “I can’t do that. Syl will…” She stopped talking.
“Please hop in? If you don’t, I’ll just follow behind you until you get home. Wouldn’t it be much easier to get in than have me do that? I’ll find some annoying radio station to play really loudly, too.”
She frowned, “I’m fine.”
“Please, Melissa. Please let me help you.”
Her head shake nearly had her falling over from the violence, “I don’t need any help. I don’t deserve…”
I was out of the car before I even realized she stopped talking. She barely had time to start to move before I pulled her into a hug.
The agony on this poor girl was like a blaring siren. It’s so loud and strident…and yet I didn’t pick it up in school. I picked up a quiet desperation there and a yearning for friends, but not this. She even seemed to get along with people just fine…except now that I think about it, she was getting along and talking with the norms more. Whenever Syl was around, her interactions with supernaturals was pretty much down to her being quiet and going with the flow. Any attempt to speak was crushed by him. Like he’s controlling her and stripping away
her ability to connect.
She trembled in my arms as I held her, finally breaking down and crying, clutching at me. The crying continued for most of 20 minutes before she started to calm down a little.
“I’m so sorry.” She wiped at her face and then pawed at my shirt, as if trying to wipe away the tears.
“Please don’t apologize for that. Now c’mon, hop in? I’ll drive you home.”
She shook her head again, “You don’t have to do that!”
I expected her to run when I opened the truck door, but that didn’t happen. Instead, I got to basically push her into the seat. Although I did rush to my side so that I could get rolling before she got away.
“You don’t need to do this!” She started crying again.
“Please don’t, Melissa. Just don’t. I have no idea what’s going on, but I know Syl is basically blocking you from everything. I have no idea why and…I don’t care. If you tell me that he’ll do something to me, then all I have to say is that he’ll be doing it over my corpse or never again.”
“You don’t know…he’s powerful. He’s fey!”
“I know what he is. I know you’re a fey as well. I can also tell that you know that I’m at least partly fey. My adopted mom is a fey, too. Whether or not he’s more powerful than I am is up for grabs. I don’t know, but I’m willing to put it to the test.”
“You can’t do that for me!”
“I can do it for anyone I want. I once went toe-to-toe with a shifter mage on the very first day that I learned I had magic. He ended up in the infirmary until he healed. I tore out his eyes to start. In the end? He’s dead and I’m not.”
“Please, I’m not worth it…”
Catching her flailing hand, she tried to jerk away at the same time she obviously wanted to cuddle into me.
“I don’t know you. I’m new to the school. So far, I like most everyone I’ve met. Four particular mages notwithstanding, almost everyone else has been nice to me. That being said? What I’m seeing with Syl doesn’t work with me. At all. I don’t know why he has a problem with you, but I’m starting to develop a problem with him. You don’t have to tell me what the issue is, but I’m here to talk if you’d like. Now…can you tell me why he treats you like shit?”
