“Don’t know what you mean. What craters?” Breeze tried to bluff.
Jacob waved him off as he picked up his cup and took a sip. In the faint kitchen light, the lines of stress and strain were etched across his face. “But this time, several days go by and I begin to get worried. Your not returning meant you figured out how to travel longer distances. Or you were lost, maybe hurt. Or worse.” Jacob shut his eyes tightly for a moment before opening them again. He rubbed his temple. “I drove around town looking for you, figuring you were scared about how I would react to you being gone for so long. Maybe you were hiding out with some friends. But you don’t really have any. I checked your school, but they don’t have much of a record of your attendance. Seems you like to skip a lot. They didn’t seem all too concerned. From what they tell me, you’re not doing very well there anyway.” He smiled. “No matter. You’re not much different than your old man. I was never much of a student.”
“Yeah, I guess that’s why we live in the middle of nowhere and run a scrap yard.” Breeze heard his words but quickly regretted them when he saw the pained expression on his father’s face.
“That’s all right, son. You do have a point. I guess I didn’t give you the best life a father could’ve given his son.” He leaned back in his chair. “And this scrap yard is not much of a legacy to leave to you when my time comes to be free of this world.” He nodded. “It’s not much of anything, is it?”
Breeze nodded, then shook his head and waved his hands. “Dad, I didn’t mean to make it sound that way—”
Jacob pointed a finger at him. “No, don’t do that. Don’t second guess yourself. What you said originally was the truth. That come from in here.” He tapped his chest. “Never be a stranger to the truth, son. It can be hard to hear and tougher to swallow. But I promise you this; once you come to grips with it, you will never be more free.”
Breeze shivered in his wet clothes. “I flew pretty far to the east. Then I crash landed next to a forest. A really, huge forest.”
Jacob gripped his coffee cup.
Breeze continued. “I walked through it for several days trying to find a town or some way to get home. That place scared me. I never saw so many trees.”
Jacob grunted and nodded as he looked out the window. The rain had stopped and the only trace left of the storm was the distant rumbling of thunder. As the sun rose, its rays exposed the aftermath with puddles of water spread out across the property and debris strewn haphazardly everywhere.
Breeze spoke a little louder. “I got scared of something, but I don’t know what it was. That’s when I decided to take a chance and try to fly my way out.” He told his father how he ended up by the shore of a lake and his encounter with the wild man. “I took off again and flew for I don’t know how long and I ended up at a farm of a really nice old couple. Gil and Maribelle. They say they know you.”
Jacob’s eyes lit up. “There are many people I know, son. I travel far and wide for the business and make a lot of contacts.”
“Gil said his son was a flier just like me. Only he disappeared.”
Jacob’s coffee cup cracked in his grip and the hot black liquid splashed onto the floor.
“Damn that old fool! Can’t even keep his mouth shut and perform a simple task.” He grabbed a towel and wiped the table, then tossed it to the floor to soak up the puddle of coffee.
“What are you talking about dad, what task?”
“Breeze, it’s no coincidence you ended up at Gil and Maribel’s. I put the word out to everyone I know to keep a look out for you. And if they did find you, they would also help you get home. You may not believe this, but you were guided to that farm. No matter what, you would’ve ended up at Gil’s or some other safe haven.”
Breeze stepped toward him. “Why do I have to be so afraid to show my powers? What’s the big deal? I can do a show. We can travel around and make some extra money.”
Jacob shook his head vigorously. “No, don’t ever say that. It’s too dangerous.”
“That’s what Gil said when he drove me to the land port. He started to get stressed out and he…bulged. His hands and arms got huge and he started to expand. I could see the bump in the roof of his truck from his head hitting it. Guess it wasn’t the first time.”
Jacob threw his hands up. “Amazing. Just amazing. That old coot could never contain his emotions.”
“Dad, can you do anything?” Breeze ventured.
Jacob stared down his son. “No. If you’re asking me what I think you’re asking, the answer is no.”
“Anything?” He persisted.
“Boy, don’t go getting any ideas about me. I do what I do. Nothing more.”
Breeze stepped back. “Then that explains everything. You’re ashamed of me.”
Jacob slammed his fist onto the table. “I’m not ashamed of you. Just want to keep you safe. There are people who would harm you if they could and use you for their own crooked ways.”
“Who? I don’t see anyone trying to harm me.”
Jacob chuckled. “Son, you do have such a long road ahead of you.”
Breeze tilted his head. “That’s what Gil said to me.”
Jacob snorted. “At least he said something right.”
“How do you know them?”
“How is not important.” He got up from the table and while walking to the counter he thought about the disk and the message from Oslo. “Son, I think you should leave. Just for a little while.”
Breeze’s eyes narrowed. “Where?”
“A place for you to go far from here. Very far. Somewhere you can go and get a handle on your flying or at least to be able to control it. I guess you can say it’s a place where they can teach you how to stop making holes in the ground and I can get a break from filling them in.” He smiled.
Breeze did his best to look innocent. “Still don’t know what you mean.”
“Come now son, it’s a poorly kept secret between the two of us that you sneak out at night to teach yourself how to fly. You plow into the ground when you screw up a landing. Don’t tell me you don’t notice I start off my day with the tractor filling in all those craters you make in the desert floor.”
“You’ve known this whole time, but you never said anything to me about it. Why?”
Jacob sighed. “Son, what can I say? You’re a young man with an extraordinary gift. Sooner or later you’re going to want to use it. Explore it. Push yourself to the limit. How am I supposed to hold you back?” He patted his chest. “You know, I used to be young too. May not believe it, but I was,” he said as he gazed out the window.
“How come you never tried to help me? Maybe try to give me some kind of advice?”
Jacob shuffled back to the table and sat down with a groan. “Breeze, what would you have me say? I’ve watched you before. I’ve seen you on some of your night flights. You seem to be doing pretty good on your own. Your landings could use a little work, though.” He chuckled.
“What really happened to mom?”
Jacob shot him a sharp look. “What do you mean?”
“How did she die?”
He stared down his son, and then softened his stance. “You know what happened.”
“Tell it to me again. I just want to hear you say it.”
Jacob leaned back and swallowed hard. “You mother died while traveling along the service road into town when a long range hauler hit her. The driver was fatigued, been driving through the night to make his destination and get his pay. ‘Got to support my family,’ I overheard him say as he sat by his truck after the accident. They had to drag me away from him. They thought I was going to kill him.”
Breeze sat down in the chair across from him. “You never told me this.”
Jacob looked at his son vacantly. When he spoke the words came out slowly. “It can b
e hard to relive those moments, son. Sooner or later we all experience a tragedy that we can’t speak about for a long time.”
“Dad, I don’t remember the funeral.”
Jacob’s eyes widened. “What do you mean? Besides, you were so young, how would you even remember?”
Breeze shrugged. “I don’t even remember seeing her in the casket. Every funeral you hear about, the casket is open for everyone to see. I don’t remember that happening with mom.”
Jacob balled his hands into fists. “The accident left her badly injured son. There wasn’t much left to see.”
“If you say so.”
“You doubt me?”
Breeze shrugged. “I don’t really know who to believe. I just remember when I was really little you used to play with me a lot. But ever since Mom died I thought we would get a little closer, but you seem to just push me away. Heck, you don’t even have pictures of me on the wall past three years old. Why? Then I started to fly. I even showed off for you. You got so mad you locked me in my room for a week. I just remember screaming and crying until you let me out. Ever since then you pretend I can’t fly. Now you’re telling me you’ve been watching me the whole time, but you want me to go to some place where I can learn. Why now? Is it because of what I just did? I didn’t want to fly out that far. I really didn’t want to go to the air show without you. It’s just that you never really want me to do anything at all. Just go to school, then work with you. That’s it.”
“It’s important to learn the trade, son. It’s something you can do to support yourself in the future—”
“I don’t want to run a scrap yard!” Breeze stood and shouted. He saw the devastated look on his father’s face and he regretted his words.
“You’re right,” Jacob said. “I’ve said it before; it’s not much to leave behind for you. More reason for you to leave, even for just a little while. Get out and see a little bit more of the world then come back with a clear head where we’ll talk more about your future.”
“You just want to get rid of me.”
Jacob shuddered as if the words were like a sledgehammer to the chest. “No, son. I just want to give you a fighting chance.”
“When do I leave?”
Jacob waved at him. “Don’t be so hasty. Take a shower and get a change of clothes. I’ll be waiting for you in the living room.”
“Fine.” Breeze marched down the hall and straight to his room.
He emerged minutes later freshly bathed and wearing clean clothes. The sun was higher in the sky and shined its light through the house when it dawned upon him just how old their home really was. Everywhere he looked he saw peeling paint and heavy carpets covering cracked stone floors. He swore he remembered a time when the house was in better shape.
He walked down the hall that led to the living room when he stopped to look at the family photos that hung there with dusty pictures of him as a baby with his doting mother and father.
He sighed and broke away from them, turning the corner that led into the living room where his father was sitting in his favorite chair by the fireplace with its fading material and the foam stuffing that protruded from it. He never seen his father look so small in it. It was as if his oversized frame was being swallowed by the chair.
Jacob’s eyes lit up upon seeing his son and motioned for him to enter. As Breeze crossed the living room, Jacob pointed to the couch across from him. “I would like for you to meet some people.”
Breeze was startled to see two strangely dressed men sitting there. “Where did you guys come from?”
The two men looked at each other quizzically, then at Breeze. “We’ve been here the whole time.”
Breeze jerked a thumb toward the entrance of the living room. “I don’t think so. I was standing there and could only see my father. What gives?”
Jacob motioned for his son to sit down. “All is fine son, you’re just tired. These past couple of days for you have been stressful.” He nodded toward the two men on the couch. “Gentleman, I gather that you’ve managed to pull yourselves together? Can we proceed, or do you need more time to synchronize yourselves?”
The man sitting on the right side of the couch was the first to speak. He was dressed similar to his companion in a leather jacket with a woolen collar, along with pants that had multiple pockets lining both sides of the legs with jet black boots. When he spoke it was in an accent that Breeze had never heard before. “Thank you Jacob. I speak for my colleague when I say we have fully acclimated ourselves. Forgive us, but spending as much time as we do at Perihelion can make one forget about the world outside. We tend to suffer from a bit of a…lag, if you will, upon leaving.”
Jacob nodded. “Understood. I’ve been through that myself. Very well, let us proceed.” He turned to his son. “Paul, I would like to introduce you to Vermillion Sachs and Horton Goldmeyer. They are representatives of the place I had mentioned to you earlier. It’s called—”
“Perihelion. Yeah, dad, I heard him. I still don’t understand how you guys were just sitting there and I never saw you. What gives? Are you like me?” Breeze cocked his head at them.
The two men looked at one another and shrugged. Then Vermillion spoke up. “Breeze if you mean gifted like you, no, we are not so blessed. We are merely recruiters who believe in the mission of Ole Auken. We subscribe to his vision of bringing gifted and talented young men and women together to a safe haven where they can be free to explore their talents and spread their wings. Figuratively speaking of course.”
Horton chortled. “Oslo would find that amusing.”
Vermillion shot him a glare. “Not wise to be referring to him like that. It is a sign of disrespect.”
Horton nodded vigorously. “You’re right.” He looked at Breeze. “Ole’s nickname has been Oslo for such a long time. Ever since he arrived at Perihelion so long ago, in fact. He’s not from Oslo, mind you, but just outside the city proper. Very well, you have caught me in a bit of a white lie. Well outside the city proper. But no matter. I do believe he was the only recruit from Scandinavia at the time of his admittance to the outpost…I meant academy.” He swallowed nervously. “Anyway, everyone took to calling him Oslo due to his proximity to having lived so close to the city. Or something like that. It has been quite some time, you see.”
Vermillion held up a hand. “What my colleague is trying to tell you is that Oslo,” he grimaced and shook his head, “Ole is looking forward to meeting you. He and your father established a dialogue quite some time ago. He knows a lot about you and is very eager to render the assistance you seek in your quest for the mastery of flight.”
Breeze shrunk back in his chair. “This Oslo guy knows about me?” He turned to look at his father. “How long have you known him? What did you tell him?”
Vermillion threw his hands up in the air as he glared at Horton. “Oslo?”
Horton shrugged and muttered. “You have to admit, it is a rather clever name. Though again, he is not exactly from Oslo—”
Jacob cleared his throat loudly. “What Mr. Goldmeyer and Mr. Sachs are trying to say, son, is that Oslo runs a training facility that specializes in young people with paranormal abilities.”
“You mean freaks like me.”
“Breeze, listen—”
“No, dad, it’s fine. After all this time I’m just kind of glad that you acknowledge what I can do. And now, you want to send me away.”
“Paul—”
“Breeze, dad. Call me what everybody has been calling me ever since I was a kid, which is Breeze. ‘Cause he’s like the wind,’ they always say about me. I’m here now, but then I just wander off and never really stick to anything. That’s why that name stuck. And you know what? I like it.”
Jacob closed his eyes. When he opened them, they were narrow slits. “Son, you are going to have to listen to me. I couldn’
t be more serious with you, even if I tried.”
Breeze was not used to getting stern lectures from his father. His entire history with him since his mother’s death had been a mixture of avoidance with brief and awkward moments of conversation. If his father tried to teach him anything, somehow disaster would always ensue and he would find himself getting hurt or having to dodge something falling onto him. Every time they got together something terrible would happen. He was getting that feeling now.
“What I’m trying to tell you, what I’m trying to offer you, is that chance you were looking for. An opportunity to get away from Conception, just for a little while, to learn more about your skills and be with young people like you. Maybe make some friends.”
“You mean hang out with rejects like me. Losers, basically.”
Horton piped up. “Now hear this young man; Perihelion has quite the assembly of diverse, and dare I say, attractive recruits ever assembled. We are talking about candidates not just from Northern America, mind you. We have been reaching out across the globe to the other territories. Our attempts at establishing communications and entry into these territories have not been easy, but great efforts are being made—” he stopped when he saw Jacob glare at him menacingly. “As your father was saying.” Horton fell into silence and leaned back into the couch.
Breeze swore he saw Horton flicker for a brief moment.
Jacob continued. “As I was saying; Perihelion would be a place for you to gain the control you need, and to meet others like yourself. You’re probably going to see others who are going through the same struggles as you in controlling their powers. But no matter, think of it as a summer break away from here.”
“So, where is this place?” Breeze asked.
Vermillion perked up. “Excellent question. Off the Eastern Shores in the Atlanteanic Ocean. Not too far from the coast of La Floride, but just far enough from that forsaken place.”
“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” Breeze said.
“Doesn’t matter, just know that there is so much more than academics and training—”
Breeze Corinth (Book 1): Sky Shatter Page 7
