by Bella Knight
Kat grinned. “No rush. I’ll be out for about six weeks to two months. I can be here all this week and half of next, though.” Wraith went in the other room to make notes for herself.
Sarah came in the room, all gangly knees and elbows. “Mom, you’ll make me rotund.” She rolled the word around in her mouth.
Kat shook a pair of tongs and snapped them at her daughter. “Dina needs us. She needs, I deliver.”
Sarah grinned. “We deliver.” She turned. “Hey, Saber. Dad says you were on some super-secret job, and ended up in the hospital, but you’ll be fine.”
“Where’s your dad?” asked Wraith, as she came out of the back room. She opened the window. “Get in here and wash your hands!” she said to Sigrun and Warren. “All of you, same thing.” They all went to the bathroom and washed up. Jaime, Sarah’s dad, came in, kissed Kat, and washed up in the sink. They sat down, and Sigrun sang a song to Odin. Then, they ate like pigs.
After dinner, Saber sat on his recliner and watched while Sigrun, Wraith, Kat, and Jaime made sure everyone’s schoolwork was done. Dina especially had a lot of catching up to do, since pain tends to ruin concentration. They finished off everything, and the work went back in bookbags on hooks by the door, except for Sarah’s, which went directly in front of the door. Then, they had milk and caramel chocolate pie.
Then, Game Night ensued. Warren and Saber played Uno, and the rest of them played Monopoly and Splendor, and traded players back and forth. Dina came over for Uno, and lay back. She was obviously sore, and put heat packs on. Warren went over to play Trouble with Kat and Sigrun, and Wraith put blankets over Saber and Dina while they went to sleep.
Jaime, Kat, and Sarah kissed everyone, and went home. Sigrun got Warren into the bath, and read the first book of Eddings’ Belgariad to him. Wraith got first Dina, then Saber, to bed. She went to read to Sondra, who loved John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars.
Both women slipped into the bed with Saber. He opened one eye. “They’re amazing,” said Saber. “They’re…” He began to cry, silently. Sigrun wrapped her arms and legs around him from behind, and Wraith gave him tissues and stroked his face. “I could have… not been here,” he said, once his tears ran out. “And this house is huge! Where the hell is the bathroom?”
Sigrun let go of his neck long enough to point. “Got a bathtub big enough for all three of us,” said Sigrun.
“Why the house?” asked Saber. “Wait, dumb question. Too many kids, not enough space.”
“Sleep, love,” said Sigrun. “We’re here, our kids are…”
Warren poked his head in the room. “Mama, I need some water.”
Wraith kissed Saber, got up, and hugged the little boy. “Of course, love,” she said, and took his hand. “Do you want me to look under your bed?”
“Yes,” said Warren. “I can fight monsters with my sword, but it’s better if they’re not there.”
Saber looked up at Sigrun. “He’s afraid of monsters under the bed?” asked Saber.
Sigrun unwrapped herself from Saber, rolled over him, and looked into his eyes. “Yes,” she said. “He has a plastic sword. I’m showing him thrust, parry, and riposte.”
“Of course you are,” said Saber.
“Sleep, love,” said Sigrun.
“Can we afford Kat?” asked Saber.
“Wraith will figure it out,” said Sigrun. “I’m taking so many classes to get my degree, and I’m at the print shop all the time. Alo’s bought another printer for some hydroponics project of his, and we can run it when he isn’t. I’m getting closer to a 3D printed blade leg. The new one has some meshy stuff that fills out the pants when you’re wearing jeans. The Soldier Pack love the design. I think I can print to the US military specifications, get them out to soldiers, for a tiny fraction of the current cost. Make just enough of a profit to keep the artificial hands and arms for kids going. The Soldier Pack says that once we have it, people will order the blades super-fast, because it’s cheaper than the deductible on their insurance.”
“Busy beaver,” said Saber, his voice low and rough from a lack of sleep. The nurses had kept waking him up all night at the hospital.
“And Wraith is always with a headset on an op. We’ve got all three kids at the Nighthawks’ school. Sarah’s at her old school, with lots of friends there. They all do homework on the kitchen table. Kat keeps us fed, and Dina’s weight is going up very well.”
“Good,” said Saber.
“Sleep,” said Sigrun. She sang him a little song, pulled him into her arms, and he slid into sleep.
Wraith came in, and held Sigrun. “Made it back,” she said. She suddenly sat up in bed. “The dogs!”
Sigrun waved her hand. “They’ll be adopted. Skuld and Rota will get one. The really big one was undernourished and, it turns out, trained as a K-9 dog, so he went to the police. The guy who adopted him, Roger, is an Iron Knight. He’d just lost his dog due to cancer, and was delighted to get a fully-trained dog. They’ve bonded.”
“And the other one?” asked Wraith.
“She’s been tested as being good with children, cats, and dogs, and she’s…”
The doorbell rang. “I’ll get it,” said Sigrun, gently shoving Saber off of her. Wraith took over, and Sigrun opened the door. The first German shepherd dog, the one that had kept by her the whole way, ran into her arms, and kissed her face.
“Her name is Asia,” said her handler, an Iron Knight named Stone, a man the size of a small boulder. He slipped a huge backpack off his shoulder. “Toys, food, bedding, harness. She’s super-intelligent. She eats like a small horse.”
“Good,” said Sigrun. “You bring her with a sidecar?”
“Yes,” he said. “Not for sale,” he added, referring to the sidecar for his Harley. He grinned. “She loves it.”
“Wonderful,” said Sigrun. “I’ll get the Soldier Pack to get one for me.”
“Bonnie has an extra,” said Stone. “I checked.”
“You rock,” said Sigrun. She stood up and hugged Stone. “Safe roads.”
“Wild stars,” said Stone. He turned and left. She shut the door behind him.
Rimmel was nervous. The sniffing happened while Sigrun unloaded the pack. She dragged the food into the kitchen, and gave Asia food and water, well apart from the other animals. She then walked back to the bedroom.
“This is Asia,” she said. “She’s lovely.” Wraith held her hand out for a sniff, and Asia kissed her hand.
Rimmel ran back to Sondra’s room. Sigrun laid the dog bed out at the foot of the bed. She knew it wouldn’t last. Sigrun put the dog’s toys in there, and climbed into bed on the other side of Saber. She laughed as the dog stretched out at their feet. Wraith giggled as Asia kissed her feet, and then they all slipped into sleep.
Sigrun took the morning, all alarms going off and wet dog noses shoved everywhere. She got the kids out of bed, fed, and into Henry’s van. The kids acted as if they’d always had a German shepherd in the house, all the way to Warren scooping out the large-dog dog food into Asia’s bowl. The kids loved their breakfast sandwiches and orange juice, and rushed out to be in the van to get to school on time.
Henry hopped out to hug her. “Glad to see you,” said Henry. Asia sat at attention, willing to be introduced. Sigrun introduced Henry as a friend, and Asia politely sniffed Henry, and then kissed his hand. “She’s lovely,” he said. “See you in the afternoon.” He drove off as the kids sang a popular song about a snowy mountain at the top of their lungs.
Sigrun cleaned up and walked each dog separately. She got used to the neighborhood as she carried poo bags everywhere in the dawn light. This particular neighborhood had busy people driving off or returning home at dawn, a neighborhood of casino floor managers, medical personnel, and company officers.
Sigrun got her wife coffee and a pastry. Wraith ate mechanically in the office, talking into her headset. Sigrun scrubbed her body in the shower, dressed in her painting clothes, grabbed her backpack of art supplies, and
went to school. She spent the entire day going from class to class, with time in between for lunch and 3D printing.
Saber surfaced slowly. One of the German shepherds from his dream of incarceration licked his hand. He ended up on the other side of the bed, wide awake. “Sitzen,” he said, and Asia sat. “What’s your name?” he asked, in English.
Wraith came in with a tray with a breakfast sandwich, orange juice, and a napkin. “Asia,” said Wraith. “She’s an excellent dog.”
“They underfed them,” said Saber.
“I know,” said Wraith.
“I told them. They didn’t believe me.”
“Or they didn’t want to spend the money,” said Wraith, sitting on the edge of the bed. “Some of the kids looked pinched.”
“Yet, they wanted to spend thousands on guns,” said Saber, his voice low and angry. “I am so happy they took my deposition at the hospital. Those men don’t deserve their women, families.” He took a bite of his breakfast sandwich. “Mmmf,” he said.
Wraith grinned at him, and went to eat her own chicken salad. She came back for the tray, and found that Saber had stumbled into the shower. She was concerned; he’d lost weight again.
Wraith ran High Desert some more in her brand-new office, with three screens on her wall. Saber stood in the doorway, drinking a strawberry smoothie, just listening to her line up clients, set up interviews, tweak contracts, and move operatives around like chess pieces.
She stood for a break, and he clapped. “Amazing,” he said. “You rock.”
She took a bow. “I do. Aren’t you supposed to be relaxing in your favorite chair?”
“I wanted help relaxing,” said Saber.
“What kind of help did you need?” asked Wraith. She kissed him deeply.
“I need help with reality,” he said seriously. “Ketamine is nasty, and I keep having these strange delusions.”
She kissed him again. “Which ones?” she asked.
“I have this strange delusion that one of the captor dogs is now our dog.”
“It’s true,” said Wraith, leading him out of her office.
“And I seem to be a father of three children you told me nothing about,” he said.
“That’s a real one,” said Wraith, picking up dog toys. She threw an orange ball in one direction and a fat blue alien the other way, and the dogs ran to pick up their toys.
“And, I think we hired a transvestite who now wants to be a woman who is an amazing chef to watch over our kids.”
“True,” said Wraith.
“You told me about Kat. She’s amazing,” said Saber, as his wife led him back to the bedroom.
“She is,” said Wraith. “She’s picking up the kids after she picks up Sarah, her daughter,” said Wraith. “So it doesn’t give us much time.”
“For what?” asked Saber.
“This,” said Wraith. She pulled off his shirt, pushed him onto the bed, and kissed him soundly.
He came up for air, and said, “Oh, that.” She let out a wild laugh, and pretended to punch his shoulder.
He pulled off his shorts, and was stunned at Wraith’s warm hands grabbing at his balls. He gasped, and just let her kiss her way from his neck down his chest while moving one finger at a time. He bucked as she found him with her mouth, her teeth, still moving one finger at a time. He stood at attention, and she slid onto him.
“Condom,” he whispered.
“Why?” asked Wraith.
“We have three kids,” whispered Saber, as she tightened around him, so the last word ended in a squeak.
“So?” said Wraith. “We could always use more.”
“House is big… enough,” gasped Saber, as she clenched on him and began to move.
“So are you,” said Wraith.
She stole his breath and his kisses, and made him lose his mind as she went slowly, slowly, ratcheting up his tension. She came twice, screaming into his mouth, before she sped up and let him come. She arched her back, and he exploded into nothingness. She cleaned them both up, slid his underwear and shorts back onto his limp body, and half-carried him into the living room to sleep on his recliner. He felt his shirt going back on, just before he leaned back and slid back into deep sleep.
He woke with Warren doing spinning kicks in front of him. “Good job, buddy,” he said. “Definitely a gold belt. You going for orange?”
“Two weeks,” said Warren. “Maybe three. I’ve got to practice.”
“Do it,” said Saber. Warren resumed his kicks.
Saber looked over at Dina. She was in the other recliner, with a lap desk on her lap. She giggled as Roxie leapt on her stomach, and began kneading to get her human in the right shape.
“How’s your schoolwork, Dina?” asked Saber.
“Getting there,” said Dina. “I’m finding the holes. Henry and Callie say there’s holes in my education because of my pain, surgeries, and teachers who didn’t understand what I was going through. So, there were holes, and so I missed stuff. Some of that stuff built up on other stuff, so I felt like I was stupid.”
“You are definitely not stupid,” said Kat, who slipped some sort of chocolate drink with a straw into the slot on Dina’s plastic desk tray. “Drink your peanut butter and chocolate chip shake. Put some meat on those lovely bones.”
“That sounds incredible,” said Saber.
Kat dimpled. “It is, love, would you like one?”
“Yes,” said Saber. “Where’s Sondra?”
“In her room,” said Kat, as she strode into the kitchen. “She wanted to concentrate on history, so she’s watching some podcasts about the Civil War.”
Warren stopped spinning. “It’s a stupid name for a war,” he said, barely breathing hard. “Civil means being nice to people, or relating to ordinary citizens.” He began spinning the other way.
“You’re right,” said Saber. “But, it’s called that because it has the meaning of ‘not international’ in that context. But, it is a stupid word to use for that.”
“People wouldn’t adopt me because I’m half Mongolian,” said Warren.
“That’s a great time to use the word ‘stupid,’” said Saber. “They had no idea what a great kid you are.”
“You can’t use that word,” said Dina. “You can use ‘uniformed’ or ‘prejudiced.’ The problem is, prejudiced people don’t know they’re prejudiced.”
“The ones I interacted with from the last month did know, and they didn’t care,” said Saber. He sighed. “The economy is changing. You have to find whatever slot you can, and the old types of jobs are leaving. It takes ingenuity to find a new slot for yourself, especially when the old ones go away. Thinking outside the box. Some people want back in the box that got taken away, so they climb in even smaller mental boxes to try to feel safe.”
Kat brought over the shake for Saber, and slid it into the plastic hole cut into the recliner for drinks. “Thank you,” said Saber.
“I agree,” said Kat. “But, these people have been kept down for generations in poverty. They don’t have the resources or knowledge to seek a new slot, as you say.”
Saber sipped his shake, and groaned. “This is the best thing ever,” he said. “You put banana in it.”
“You need potassium,” said Kat. “Drink up.”
“So that’s why we go to school? To find our slots?” asked Dina.
“Yes, and to have the ability to think in new ways, to put new information together in different ways to find new opportunities,” said Saber.
“I wish this were easier,” said Dina. “Sending a kid to school for so many years sounds stupid.”
“And that’s why you’re attending the Nighthawks school,” said Saber. “It saves time. You can dig deeper in any subject, cross-learn on several, like combining history with an English report and doing a scientific analysis of a historical situation.”
“Like what?” said Kat. She brought over a small tray of fruit, vegetables, and a tiny cup of veggie dip for Dina, and a second one
for Saber.
“Disease vectors,” said Warren, who was now breathing hard. The boy stopped spinning, and began punches.
Saber was startled. “Yes, exactly,” said Saber.
“The Black Plague in Europe, spread by fleas,” said Warren. “China did fine, while Europe slipped into the Dark Ages.”
“Smallpox in the new world,” said Dina. “Henry gets really sad when he talks about it. The natives in many parts of North and Central America didn’t have natural immunities.”
“What about space?” asked Warren, now changing the topic. Warren moved to stretches. “No air outside the craft. Not a lot of workarounds there.”
Saber smiled. “Go on, tell me more.”
“Spaceships, spacesuits,” listed Warren. “But there is something called redundancy. You have two or three of everything in case something breaks.”
“Kind of like how people had lots of kids in the past,” said Dina. “Used to die a lot.” She sounded sad. “Like my mom.”
Kat came over and hugged her. “Yes,” Kat said. “And it’s still that way in some parts of the world. So, study your brains out, honey, so we can change the world.”
“I can change the world,” said Warren, finishing his stretches.
“We all can, every day,” said Saber. “You’ve certainly changed mine.”
Trumpet Night
Jerry watched a tiny girl with blonde hair make horses dance. They let her put them on a lead, then a bridle, then a blanket, then a saddle, and then she rode them. Sometimes she rode the horse bareback, or with just a blanket. Sometimes she rode them without anything, not even a bridle. She fed them apples and sugar cubes, and laughed in the blazing sun. Her name was Damia, and she fascinated him.
It took him two weeks to be allowed to move out. The guys kept eyes on him all the time. They called his friend, Pete “Pomp.” Pete woke him up, drove him to see Robert, the Zuni guy who tore apart offroad bikes and put them back together with new parts. They were real careful of his hands. Robert called them “gifted.” So, he could unbox parts, lay them out, carry out old, crumpled parts to be junked, and clean the chrome. He learned his tools, and all the parts of the bike, and was allowed to clean the old parts. He ached to put his fingers on a bike, to build it from nose to tail.
