Fosters: Blackhawk

by L. Ann Marie

  I get up and hug all the kids telling them I love them. They hug Nunánuk; Jeremy holds her hand, "Kutápatamuyumun."

  I look at him. "Holy shit!" Pres asks what he said. "He said, 'We thank you', in Mohegan."

  He looks at Jeremy then my grandmother. "He's right. We thank you and hope we get to see you again." She smiles and kisses his cheeks. I can't believe Jeremy spoke in the old language, no one else sees this as odd. They file out, I just stand watching them.

  "He is special my warrior. You only need to protect him and love him. Understanding is not necessary." CJ laughs hysterically at this. I shake my head and kiss my grandmother telling her how happy I am that she came today. She's leaving early in the morning but wishes us well tonight. She tells me to teach them our language. "Kikátohkáwôk mihkunum kitiyayôk wuci wutuaymuyin." I laugh and tell her I plan to. When I walk CJ outside I tell her what it means, 'Language holds the life force of a nation,' she smiles saying she likes that, I do too. We say goodnight to friends as we walk by. Tiny tells us the Prospects put the gifts in the garage. I nod and we keep going. We get to the house and I laugh. Fuckin Brothers, the whole fuckin garage is full to chest high with boxes.

  CJ just looks at them, "batshit crazy." She says so serious I laugh harder, they really are. What the fuck are we going to do with all this? "We'll deal with it tomorrow when the kids can help sort it out." I nod and close the door on it. We walk in the front door.

  I spin her around and hold her to me. "I want to walk on the beach with you, hear the waves hitting the shore, kiss you under a million stars, and hold your hand feeling the wind caress us, reminding us of those that came before us, but not tonight, not when that peace can be interrupted by the fuckin crazy Brothers."

  She laughs, "They are crazy but that sounds so damn nice I wouldn't mind chancing it."

  I bend and kiss her, she wraps her arms around me and I lift her up, her legs go around me and I walk us to the bedroom. Fuckin cameras. "The beach can wait baby, maybe they'll be gone by the time we're done." She tightens her legs grinding into me.

  Once we're in the room I close the door with my foot and lean her against it. She pulls her mouth off mine and unbuckles my belt. I hold her up by her ass and she makes quick work of pushing my pants to my thighs. I lift her skirt and pull her panties tearing them off her. "Damn another pair." I kiss her so she doesn't yell at me, I can feel her smile. I lift her ass and slide her on me. She moans all the way down, I fuckin love to hear that. Lifting her I slam her on me and she begs for harder. Fuck, I give her harder until she screams my name. I'm not far behind. Holy fuck. I turn and lean against the door with her on my chest. I know I can't make it to the fuckin bed so I try for leveling my breath. When I think my legs will hold us I lift her off me and carry her to the bathroom. I clean her up and find her new panties. I love all the new panties, I pick a pair to match her eyes. She smiles at me but doesn't say a word. I hold her hand and walk her right out, across the road and to the beach.

  When we get to the bluff I turn her to me and kiss her like I promised with a million stars shining down on us. "Kuwômôyush," I tell her I love her.

  "I remember that one." She smiles. "I love you too." We walk for a while then she asks, "The men in the tribe treat you with respect, you dance and some were watching for your lead. Do you hold a special place with them?"

  I smile, she sees everything. "I am a warrior, in the tribe I would be an elder now, I would have the ear of, my sachem, my chief, but I live away. I'm not just named a warrior, I past the challenges, like a test, to become a warrior for my people. My grandmother lives in this new world but her teachings are from the old, we live and learn the old right alongside the new. Being a warrior was very important. I learned like the Little Brothers, women and children are to be cherished, protected. Our lives are given to us to make our people better. Everyone has value but a warrior has an obligation to teach by example, to make decisions for the good of the tribe and to enforce those decisions."

  "Dancing and speaking in the old language today showed them you are away but you stand proud in your heritage and follow your obligations as a warrior?"

  I laugh, "You understand better than most. Yes, but my people know me, they know my heart. It was grandmother that needed to see and needed to show the younger tribesmen that our heritage and culture can live on in the new world away from the reservation and our people. We don't have to give it up to live away. Showing my friends and family in the MC and with Baxter's where I come from, the part of me that they don't know, isn't embarrassing to me. She wanted to see that, I gave her what she needed to be at peace."

  She stops and looks at me. "You are a true warrior. I hope you teach those lessons you learned and all you are to our kids. Coming from nothing is hard when you have no connection, no people and no one to have pride in. Every one of them needs that pride and connection."

  I'm stunned for a second. "Danny said every old lady is special, strong, he forgot wise. I shouldn't be, but I'm amazed with your understanding of connection when you never had it."

  "I have it, with the kids and now with you and everything you are. I feel it when we float in the wind; I feel the pull of your heart to mine. I feel the connection through you with the people of the past. I hope to feel it alone someday but I feel it now."

  "You are very special CJ Blackhawk. I love you with all that is in me." I kiss her lips and take her home.

  Chapter Fourteen

  CJ

  I am exhausted. The plane ride was relaxing but I never slept. Cloud tried to get me to but I just couldn't do it. I think if he was flying I might have but I didn't know the guy flying us around. Mitch is as crazy as the MC. They are caring, generous and so damn thoughtful but batshit crazy too. I smile thinking about how sweet they are. Mitch got us into Disney after hours with a minimal amount of people, the kids loved it. We stayed in an out of the way hotel and went to Sea World the next day, the kids even got to pet stingrays. We were whisked off to an island spending two days playing on the beach. It was awesome. The boys loved it, Joey wasn’t so thrilled with the sand; she had some trouble walking so she had to be carried. We made castles and had fun though. A boat took the boys tubing and another had a glass bottom so we could see a reef and colorful fish. Cloud had fun teaching Brantley and Taylor how to water ski. It was only a few days but it was jam packed with fun they’ve never experienced. Christian didn’t have any bad visions; he smiled a lot and played like a little boy should. Jeremy talked when he felt the need. Mostly at night saying good night to us, but he talked.

  Pulling up to the gate the driver stops to answer Security’s questions, a guard jumps in and rides to our house with us. We get the kids into the living room and the bags in the house. The guard and driver leave and we get the boys upstairs. I take off the J’s shoes and leave them to sleep. Cloud does the same with Taylor. Brantley and Christian fall into their beds without our help and Joey actually put on pj’s and got into bed.

  “Holy Crap! I need a nap.” I say leaving Joey’s room.

  Cloud laughs and carries me to bed. He takes my shoes off and I flop back, he sits me up taking my clothes off and slides a t shirt over my head. I flop back again and he leaves me there. “Sleep baby, I need to check the alarms and doors.” I roll over and mumble a noise so he knows I heard him.

  Cloud

  She’s so fuckin cute. She should have slept on the plane, she was nervous. She had never flown before, now she can say she had three flights. The kids had the time of their lives. Christian seemed relaxed and Jeremy talked more. Watching CJ see things she’s never seen before was a fuckin trip. She loved everything, eyes shining big fuckin smile every time she got excited which was the whole fuckin trip. I can’t help smiling.

  I check the doors and alarm then take the bags to the laundry room to empty. Once the clothes are out I put the bags by the kids’ doors. They all have souvenirs they’ll be looking for tomorrow.

  I grab my laptop and check my mail. I hear
feet on the stairs Christian is up. “Hey scout.”

  He sits down by me. “Dad.” He watches me for a few minutes.

  I close the laptop and turn to look at him, he has something on his mind. “It always works best if you just spit it out.”

  He smiles. “The lady is coming tomorrow. She’s supposed to teach me things like she taught Tess. What if I can’t learn them? Tess is a grown up, I’m just a kid.”

  I smile, “You are not a just anything. You are Christian Blackhawk. You are more powerful than Tess, she told me that herself. You can learn just like she did, there is no difference because you are younger. You’ve done this for years without help. Learning the control you need will happen. Nunánuk says you will be very powerful and a great teacher. Tess says you will help many people and be an important asset to the Club.”

  He thinks about that. “It took me a while to learn to block people and I can’t even do it that good. I have to keep pushing and can only do it for a little while.”

  “It hasn’t even been a month Christian. It takes a lot of time to learn how to control your mind. I know Rich and Steve spent a couple of months blocking and reading each other before they were good at it and that’s after what they learned in training. I know you’ll get it, don’t rush it though if you try to learn too fast you may miss an important step. You have to go through every step and complete it before you can move on, just like with the martial arts. If you take a breath wrong it can lead to mistakes that get you hurt. You are training for your future, it’s important that you learn everything you possibly can so that future is good.” I watch his eyes carefully. He takes everything I said and mulls it over.

  “I can do this. I’m a Blackhawk. We don’t quit.” He says with a smile.

  I laugh. “Never. It’s not in our vocabulary.” I pull him over and kiss his head. “I got an email; your dog will be here tomorrow. You'll start training in the afternoons. This ought to help with the visions and give you some company while the kids are at school. The best part is the dog goes everywhere you go, even in restaurants.” His eyes go big. “Tess said it’s a dog for vision enhanced not vision impaired.”

  He laughs. “She’s wicked funny but so smart. She makes it easy for people to forget sometimes.”

  He sees everything. “She is, her little fairy look hides her intelligence, more often than not that works in her favor. It’s like you; people don’t see how smart you are. The visions matured you beyond your eleven years. You’ve taken care of everyone for so long you know exactly what to do and how to get the reaction that you want. I’ve seen the way you keep everyone in line for CJ.” He smiles proud, I love this kid. "You should try and get some sleep so you're ready for Janelle tomorrow."

  "You don't need to sleep like me?"

  He sees too much. "No, my body has been trained to work off less sleep. Meditating is like sleep for me." He nods.

  "It's like Jeremy he goes away and comes back stronger. He doesn't sleep much either, mostly he's away." He doesn't understand it, I see what Steve means.

  I'm surprised I didn't know this. "He doesn't sleep all night?"

  "No, sometimes he's walking around, now he does what you teach us in martial arts. When you go on the patio he does it in the living room. He moves like you."

  I can't believe I don't feel him near. "I didn't know that."

  He smiles. "He doesn't want you to, he's stronger than me, he knows how to block already and didn't need someone to teach him."

  "Is that why you were nervous about Janelle?"

  "Well yeah, he's like six."

  I laugh. "The way I understand it is there are different types of warriors and seers, new and more powerful seers are being born now. Jeremy is a warrior, a seer and a healer. He will do different things than you. He will do them differently than you do too. Every person here has a job in this world. Yours is to learn, to see and to teach, you also have warrior in there that has you protecting people like Jeremy. Everyone's jobs are different; age doesn't play a part in that. You can't compare Jeremy's ability to yours, it's like apples and oranges."

  He takes that in then nods. "He doesn't see the same things I do unless he's touching me. I guess he's more of a healer than seer?"

  "It might be that or it might be that he sees different than you. I don't think two people are ever so alike that they see, hear and think identically. Look at Jacob, he's a protector that is identical to Jeremy but he doesn't think or do like Jeremy. He can hear Jeremy and speak for him but he can't hear me or you."

  "I get it everyone is different." He smiles, I just nod. He hugs me and climbs the stairs.

  I put the laptop back in my bag and go to the patio. I take my shirt and belt off; I face out and start practicing. I think of the sequence and find my guide, I fly. My movements are automatic; I neither hear nor feel them, they just are. When my movements end I open my eyes. I'm facing out; I bend and touch the floor behind me with my body folded so my chest is against my legs. I stand and grab my shirt and belt.

  Walking through the house I get my bag and carry it to the room. I shower and sit in the sitting room pulling the security feed. I roll it back and watch Jeremy doing the movements along with me; I'm visible from this view. Every fuckin move he matches. It's like watching Mitch, he's got every one right and his eyes are closed. Everyone I've ever taught besides Mitch keeps their eyes open, she sees it once and her eyes are closed. Tonight I did a sequence that I haven't done in almost a year. He followed.

  I email Digs to pull the feeds on this camera for the last month between twelve and six. I'll watch them today at security. I close down and slide into bed CJ rolls to me. I sleep feeling her heart beat against me.

  One Day

  At Security Digs sets me up in the meeting room. I set my iPod to favorites and start from last night. I chose this sequence because it was different but also because it's defending against someone bigger. Since I'm six three not many people are bigger. The last time I used it was for Mitch. Watching Jeremy move and breathe when I do is eerie, hence the music, I smile at my ridiculousness. I move to last week and run the nights. He appears every single night that I do. I follow it all the way back, he runs through perfect every fuckin time.

  I pull my ear buds and hear people breathing behind me. Pres, VP, Danny, and Rich are standing behind me. "Digs said no one was in here this morning. Did I fuck up your meeting?"

  "Did you teach him that?" Danny asks.

  I pull last nights and start it. "No, Christian couldn't sleep, we were talking and he told me Jeremy sleeps less than he does and he follows along with me when I practice. I did a sequence that I taught Mitch, it's defending against someone much bigger. I haven't done it since I taught it to her last year, he matched my movements last night. I asked Digs to pull the nights for this camera and he followed every fuckin sequence every time I practiced. He didn't just follow, he matched my movements."

  "Darren does it too. I was shocked when I saw him teaching the Little Brothers my sequences. That's why we asked you to teach them. He can match my movements perfectly." Danny tells me.

  Rich stands back and just watches everyone. Steve is watching the screen. "We should teach all our kids then show what they're for. See who gets it. Teach them specific moves for defendin themselves."

  Pres is watching us. "We need to find out who has this ability and teach them like VP says but Janelle is here in twenty minutes. I think getting Christian some help is first and foremost. I'd like her to see Jeremy, Jessie, Little Ben and Brenna. Maybe she can shed some light on what we're seeing and how we should help them."

  "I don't think it's just them Pres. Alex, Ally, Victor and Joey are different than the rest of the kids; they share Tess' euphoric happiness. I don't see Elizabeth much but from what I saw, she's also extremely happy. Jacob, Taylor and Arron even little Devan are protectors but Brantley, Little Ben and Darren are focused protectors. Jessie and Christian are almost prophetic in their wording but they each have something differen
t. Jessie has a clarity to see what's overlooked past, present and future and Christian the visions. I think every fuckin kid on our block has something in them and no two are alike. Then there's Jeremy. He has everything they do and the ability to heal. The ability to match my movements by seeing them in my head even when I block it, he also spoke in Mohegan, a phrase that hadn't been spoken. Either he's reading those things or he's manipulating minds to get what he wants from them." I watch them, Danny knows, Pres is surprised and Steve is smiling, Rich still just watches.

  "I see it more clearly now that you say it. We may need someone to identify and chart their abilities so we know what the fuck were working with and what we're supposed to do. When the fuck did having kids become so hard?" Pres says. Danny laughs.

  "How did you see them?" Danny asks.

  "I just watch them. You see it too; you told me last week they were special."

  He shakes his head, "How did you see the differences in them enough to separate and align them."

  "Sharpshooter. Watch for the perfect shot, learn traits, anticipate movements, know the shot before the movement happens. He sees everythin, files the information. Catalogues, compares one person’s traits against another." Steve says. He looks at Rich who nods.

  "I was just going to say I watch them but I'll go with that." I laugh. Danny cracks up.

  Pres looks at his watch. "I need you to talk to Janelle, tell her all this, let her watch and see what she says. She said there are more like Tess out there; maybe she sees other groups like this. If we could find out what they're doing, what works, what doesn't, it would be helpful. We have other clubs where the Little Brothers are like our kids. Maybe they have someone with visions too. I feel like we're turning a corner here. I want information before we have decisions to make not after."