Balancer's Soul

by H. Lee Morgan, Jr

  ***

  “Another start to a great and terrible day!” Connor yawned airily while walking into the lit kitchen to first notice his mother, Jenny, and his little sister, Kara. Kara was sitting at the dining room table eating a scrambled egg and cheese omelet and a piece of wheat toast. Jenny was already busy cooking eggs on the skillet for herself. They both turned to look directly at him.

  “Awe… Quit your bellyaching and have some breakfast!” Remarked Jenny with a light laugh. Jenny is your typical mom of two young adults. She’s fun, loving and relentlessly overprotective. She is of average build of a forty three year old woman, but that is all that’s typical about her. Just keep out of her way when she is in a hurry… if you know what’s good for you. Being the son of the head nurse at the biggest hospital in the county, you learn to move out of the way when she needs to do something immediately.

  “Brother! Why don’t you do something about those bullies at school? I know for a fact they won’t be a match, you need to stick up for yourself.” Blurted out his rambunctious eighteen year old sister, Kara. It wasn’t the first time she expressed this sentiment. She is barley five foot one and, dripping wet, weighs one hundred and five pounds. She has three hobbies that she is passionate about; cheerleading, painting and annoying the life out of Connor. She is a true master of all three. Her personality is akin to a Jack Russell terrier who mainstreams caffeine. She is small, annoying, won’t be quiet for more than a thousandth of a second and he somehow adores her very much. She makes his life just a little more interesting and difficult at the same time. An odd balance.

  “Because Kara. If I fought those guys, nothing would ever be solved.” Connor answered blandly with a yawn at the end of the sentence.

  “What do you mean, Brother?” She asked somewhat innocently. She then threw an apple at him from off the counter and he caught it mindlessly. Also ever since Kara was little she has only ever called Connor, Brother. She’s never once called him by his given name since she was born.

  “He means that he is nineteen, six foot and two and weighs 240 pounds. He’s larger than your average high school senior, even for a football player, not to mention he’s built like a tank.” Jenny leaned closer to Kara and lowered her tone meaningfully. “Think Kara, what would happen if Connor so much as punched one of his classmates without holding back?” She asked while being serious and looking Kara in the eyes with a quizzical expression.

  “Hopefully the bully will get a concussion. Better yet! Brother would knock him into a coma. Oh, and maybe Brother will break their bones like dry twigs.” Kara squeaked and grinned up at Jenny innocently.

  “And? What else would happen because of his actions, Kara?” She asked, waiting for more. Kara started shrinking away because Jenny started to give her The Evil Eye when she realized her mistake.

  “I would be suspended or worse, expelled. Then Granddaddy won’t take me out camping because of our agreement to not fight for myself. Also this is our last semester as high school students and then it will all be over. I can put up with their pointless and childish drama until then, Sis. Besides what would I have to gain if I hurt them?” Connor had to speak to get Kara out of Jenny’s spotlight. “Hey Kara! Go get my things ready, I’m in the mood to run this morning. Get a move on.”

  As Kara gladly left the kitchen she said under her breath “Yes! This is going to be a fun ride today.” She said it obviously not only to help in Connor’s training, but to get away from Jenny’s piercing glare.

  After Kara left the kitchen, Connor felt his mom’s eyes on the back of his head burning a bald spot there. He could always tell when someone was watching or something strange was about to happen. David, his grandfather always called that his Sixth Sense or as Connor calls it, Instinct. To this day it has never been proven wrong. “What’s wrong, Mom?” He asked without turning around. He then took a bite out of the green apple in his hand. “Yea… What a great morning breakfast…NOT!” He thought to himself. Not a moment later the toast popped up out of the toaster, he caught it in midair, without looking, and took out a large bite in one fluid motion. He has always had exceptional reflexes.

  “Why do you always help your sister out when I try and ask her a serious question? I’m trying to teach her that she can’t always be so rash and impulsive.” She asked in a tone that was quite obviously annoyed.

  “Kara, rash? Who could ever put a muzzle on that mouth of hers… one that would ever work?” Connor said as a joke. He turned around and saw Jenny wasn’t even humored. “Ok. Ok Mom. The reason why I always help her out is because I can’t stand her not smiling. Also Granddaddy has always called me a protector, but with Kara, I try to make her smile so that she isn’t tormented… like me.” With that said Jenny’s face softened and became both proud and sad at the same time. Then he added “Kara is annoying, innocent and blunt. She keeps me on my toes. Just worry for her future husband. He’s screwed.” He finished with a wide grin which made Jenny smile eventually.

  “BRRROOOOTTTTHHHHEEEERRRR!!! I’M WAITING!” Kara yelled loudly from the garage. “Yes she is exactly like a Jack Russell… Oh well.”

  “Get going you big ox, before I find a way to get mad at you too!” Jenny said in a sigh, while throwing his heavy backpack at him. And yes they always throw things in his family.

  He waved goodbye to his mom with a piece of toast in his mouth.

  Walking into the one car garage, Connor spotted Kara already sitting in the wagon he built for her thirteenth birthday, with the help of his grandfather. She was waiting very impatiently in the wagon, it wasn’t out of the ordinary. Connor tossed his backpack to her and she handed him his chest harness. The harness was made in the shape of an X so that when he pulls it, the weight will be evenly displaced over his entire chest. On the back of the harness, a rope tethered to a metal ring and is attached to another metal ring at the fore of the wagon. For the past two years Connor’s grandfather has made him run to school every day. Actually Connor hinted that it would be a good idea, but made it seem as if it were his grandfathers. And their school laid just over eight miles away from their house, luckily only three houses are on the way to school. No one really see’s him doing the difficult training. And he felt happy that his grandfather will be here in the morning to take him camping this weekend. And during this past summer the two of them stayed out camping for a month together, for summer break.

  It was fun just hanging out with him.

  Kara just looked at Connor as if he had lost his mind as he simply stood there daydreaming, but all she said was “Well?”

  “Are you ready?” He asked trying not to look too pathetic.

  “Well DUH!” She said in a mocking voice, dramatically crossing her arms.

  Slowly, Connor began walking out of the garage, effortlessly pulling Kara in her wagon while trying not to jar her. Springs underneath greatly absorbed the road. At the end of their driveway he saw a moving van and a light blue car sitting across the street. What seemed strange was that he didn’t know the make or even the model of the blue vehicle. The house had been vacated for over five years after the original family moved. “Cool, it’s about time we get some new neighbors. He thought expectantly.

  Then he stopped cold when a voice from across the street yelled.

  “SARAH! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!” Yelled a tall man who Connor guessed to be middle aged, like his mother. He had a slim yet muscular build as he stood in the front yard. He wore blue jeans and a light blue t-shirt. Long silver hair cascaded over broad shoulders and came to an end at the base of his shoulder blades. He was clean shaved with very sharp masculine features. He was very handsome, yet all the hairs on the back of Connor’s neck stood on end, his instinct said that that man was extremely dangerous.

  Then came another voice in answer. One completely opposite.

  “Over here, Father!” The sound of the voice was like the softest of velvets. If he did not have extremely sharp hearing Connor wouldn’t have been capable of hearing her uniqu
e melody. It was impossible to see just who the voice belonged to though. And for some reason Connor felt very disappointed.

  The silver haired man turned to her voice and yelled again. “You are going to be late! Get a move on it…Girl!” He said in a condescending voice.

  Several things happened in the next frightening moment. The silver haired man turned and looked directly at Connor. He sneered at him with cold malice in his eyes and a chill shot down Connor’s spine. “What was that?” Connor instinct was telling him to run away, run away now, but couldn’t even draw breath under those deadly azure eyes. Then Kara kicked her brother and at last broke eye contact. He then turned to look at her. “Thank you!”

  “Go, Brother or I’ll tell Mom not to give you any supper tonight if we’re late to school.” She said while trying to look serious, which never works out for her. All it made him do was laugh. Kara hasn’t really had any dangerous issues to deal with because she’s so cheerful, or Connor settled the problem without her being aware. She wouldn’t be in any of those situations if he had any say.

  Without saying another word, Connor took off running at his fullest, while pulling Kara. All she did was giggle at the change of pace. What she didn’t know was that he was really trying to get as far away from that man as possible.

  Connor blazed down the long dirt road, almost out in the middle of nowhere, making nigh a sound or kicking up any dirt. The wagon was the only thing that gave them away. Here in this area all of the trees, plants and animals still thrive in harmony, with very little human interference. Twenty to thirty minutes away sat the local town, so it’s not too bad. Almost half of the year the trees are healthy shades of green and the other half is snow white, but it is so peaceful that no matter how bad a person’s day has been, the scenery just washes all the problems away.

  Their high school is about eight miles away from their house. Connor ran there in under an hour, barely breaking a sweat in the crisp spring air. About a mile down the road laid an old trail through the woods that he always used instead of running all the way down the street to get to school. Not only did it take unsuspecting eyes from them, it also felt great to run along a path instead of a manmade road. Running like this is a piece of cake thanks to daily training. It was the only way to burn off much of his stress and pent up energy.

  Luckily they arrived at school before any faculty or students showed up for another long day of droning boredom. Kara got out of the wagon carrying her school bag and also Connor’s. He picked up the wagon and placed it behind a dense thicket that grew off the side of the trail that led to the school. He always hid it there because the other students would find something new to use to torment him with. Afterwards he and Kara walked beyond the confines of the trees and entered the school’s campus.

  Their moderately sized school is made up with both middle and high school students put together and is three stories tall. It’s old and built mostly from red brick, back in the nineteen forties, and a few beige portables stood out in the backside of the campus. The teachers are usually nice and understanding to everyone, except towards Connor. The real problem isn’t primarily with the teachers, but with all of his peers. He had always worn long, solid black sleeved shirts and black pants or jeans. At all times, he’d wear hiking boots instead of sneakers. Shaggy, sandy blond hair was disheveled to hide his eyes, so the nickname he was grew up with was Black Sheep.

  People usually get startled when he looks at them directly for some reason so he keeps his hair over his eyes, to not make matters worse.

  Kara waited with him for a short time and then went straight to her cheerleading friends, when they arrived. She said “Later, Brother!” and then disappeared. When she left he looked into the sky and calculated it to be about thirty more minutes until the first class begins.

  Connor casually walked up to his favorite oak tree that grew at the tree line of the school. Effortlessly he climbed the tree, sat on a thick limb and closed his eyes. Being in a tree or out in nature calms him for some reason, but he simply figured that since he was an avid outdoorsman it was a love for nature and its beauty that eased his stress.

  About ten minutes later a familiar voice shouted “Hey, Buddy!” and Connor knew exactly who that voice belonged to, without even opening his eyes.

  “Hey, Mark. Are you ready for another fun and disastrous day?” he asked with his eyes still closed. Connor could easily smell Mark’s aftershave rising from below because there wasn’t even a gentle breeze to carry it away.

  When Mark eventually reached the Oak tree Connor was perched in, he sat down below in the solid roots. With a sigh Mark said “Yep and nope!” and then blurted out “We have a new teacher for our history class. Just found out a minute ago. She supposedly just moved over here from Washington State.” He ended his statement with a short laugh.

  When Mark said she Connor cracked an eye to look down at Mark’s expression, just to see him grinning up, waiting to see a reaction of his own. Mark is like your average size best friend and is also quite popular among the ladies, but he’s never dated anyone seriously for some reason. He’s always getting good grades in every subject and in every class, like he has done this before. He could charm any lady, young or old. Jet black spiky hair stood in every direction and practically liquid silver eyes made women sigh in wonder. He lives by himself in an apartment, so he works at the local diner on the weekends to earn enough income to live. Apparently his parents died a long time ago and he really doesn’t like talking about it so Connor leaves that particular subject alone. Mark’s said he’s been an emancipated teen since he was thirteen which is hard to believe, but he has all the legal documents to prove his case.

  Also Mark is Connor’s one, and only, best friend. Growing up together for the past seven years, Mark is the only person outside Connor’s family who knows his painful secret.

  When it came time to enter class, Connor jumped out of the tree, landing silently next to Mark. Agility like a cat he’d sometimes been compared. Mark always jokes about Connor’s nimbleness compared to his large size being impossible, like a cruel joke against nature. They both entered the school shoulder to shoulder, only to be greeted by most of the senior varsity football team. There was only one choice to choose from, either go around and be late or try passing through. He’s been late enough already.

  Connor accidently bumped into the quarterback Mathew “Sorry, Mathew.” he said meekly. Mathew turned and saw who barely brushed his shoulder, then he laughed in Connor’s face. “Here comes yet another round of ignorant banter.”

  “Well! Well! Well! What looks like a cow, thinks like a cow and is built like a cow?” Some popular girls laughed along with the other players and a boy behind Mathew answered “Connor!” in an obvious reply. Connor put his head down out of both habit and necessity and started to walk away.

  Seconds later Mathew dashed at Connor while his back was turned. “Here he comes, should I side step or take the hit… I’ll take it so he can feel better about himself.” When Connor was successfully tackled to the ground Mathew yelled “And that is how you tip a cow!”

  Everyone in the locker lined hall laughed, except Mark. He knelt down by his head and asked “You alright, Buddy?”

  “Yeah, Bud. It will take a lot more than that to really hurt me, but you know that already.” Connor pushed himself up to his knees, slowly, and pretended to actually be hurt from that weak assault.

  And surprisingly Mark smiled and gave a knowing wink while whispering “Yep. It would take a tank to even scratch your thick hide.” With that he offered his hand to lift Connor up.

  Now a teacher came out into the hallway to see what all of the commotion was about. He was a short, balding man with a mean streak that knew few bounds and his name was Mr. V. Also Mr. V. is a science teacher that last year Connor singed the man’s eyebrows accidently. Ever since then he’s been returning guilt with interest. It was his fault for getting too close to the Bunsen burner when Connor was using a hydrogen fille
d bladder and an open flame. Also Connor’s well versed in many subjects, especially in sciences and knows more in that subject than Mr. V. does, but Connor pretends to be ignorant to keep trouble away. He doesn’t need a teacher who is overly prideful, but Mr. V. is all they have at the school for seniors and the credits to graduate were needed. Mr. V. looked solely and distastefully at Connor, but to the rest of the students he yelled “Get to class! All of you!”

  Everyone went away as ordered, but they were still laughing mostly because Mr. V singled him out yet again. “Ah, another day, another disaster.”

  The rest of the day went about the same. During lunch, Connor surprisingly received only had one carton of milk spilled accidentally over his shoulder and down his back. Usually he ended up worse on the average day. Meatloaf day always caused dread, especially trying to remove barbeque sauce from his clothes. Together he and Mark walked into the empty Home Ec. room and washed the milk out of his shirt before anyone could come back in and see the secret he hid from prying eyes. Mark was always there to keep a lookout. After lunch it was Science class with Mr. V.

  In science Mr. V. began asking what were the parts contained in atoms. The teacher looked directly at Connor and asked “What is this part?” he pointed at a representation of an atom.

  His only reply was to look silent and beaten while saying “I don’t know, sir. I didn’t have time to study last night.”

  Mr. V’s snide remark wasn’t original in the least. “What a surprise!” Connor thought to himself “Get over yourself. I really do know you pompous fool. There are three basic parts to an atom; the proton, neutron and the electron. And all of the elements are categorized by the atomic index and all matter…”

  Finally came the last period of the day, American History, and not a moment too soon. Mark sat next to Connor because it’s the only class they have together. “Ready to meet our new teacher?” Mark asked in a barely suppressed joy. The desks were designed for two people to share and individual chairs to slide in and out of the desk. The classroom held a total of twenty annoying students, if they all were present.

  “Thrilled!” Connor exclaimed in a chipper tone while actually being bored and wasn’t thrilled in the least. Mark knew his friend well enough to know when he was having another bad day so Mark jumped on to another topic.

  When Mark finished chatting on his Algebra assignment that he passed with perfect numbers, yet again, Connor looked out the window to see two squirrels fighting over an acorn. They chased each other up and down the oak tree merrily, in fast moving circles, sometimes jumping from one tree to the next. Their lively excitement became the perfect distraction and balm for his mood. Connor began laughing to himself quietly at seeing the jokesters of the animal kingdom. One of the rodents got a hold of the nut and began fleeing from his pursuer. But then another squirrel jumped out and began the chase anew.

  The final bell to get to class rang loudly.

  Just as the chime died Connor heard the classroom door open. Here we go again, someone new to laugh at me for their expense!

  This was the first day Connor met her.