by C. G. Cooper
“Uh, okay,” he finally said, turning and walking back to the sprawling home.
When we weren’t sleeping on the flight home, I’d outlined what I was going to tell my dad.
“He’s not going to like it,” Lily had said.
“He’s gonna flip,” added Jasmine.
I hadn’t argued with them. It wouldn’t be easy.
Dad took us to his bedroom where there was plenty of space for all of us.
“So what’s on your mind?” he asked as he took a seat in one of the armchairs.
“I know things aren’t going well,” I said, trying to sound soothing. I didn’t want this to be any more uncomfortable than it needed to be.
Dad’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”
“I know why Rolf, Agatha and Wally had to come back. I know about the deaths and disappearances.”
“Who told you?”
“No one. I just know.”
“That’s impossible. There’s only a handful of us who—”
“You need to trust him,” Lily interrupted. “Things have changed.”
“Look, guys, I know you’ve been on a long trip, and I’m sorry you lost the mystic, but—”
“We didn’t lose Sybil, Dad. Her name was Sybil,” I said.
“I know her name. And what do you mean you didn’t lose her?” I’d never seen him so flustered. Not only was he exhausted, but his eyes were shifting back and forth. It only reinforced what I had to do.
“It doesn’t matter, she’s gone now.”
If it was possible, my dad’s face deflated even more. “Then we’re doomed,” he said.
“We’re not doomed, sir,” Roy said. “Benjamin knows what to do.” He said it in a way that reminded me of someone important being introduced to a crowd, the hero coming to save the day. I didn’t feel important, but it was obvious that the others now saw me that way.
“Look, I appreciate you kids trying to help, really I do, but this is my job. It’s my responsibility to run this place and look after all of you,” Dad said, regaining a part of his old self. That was about to flutter away.
“Not anymore, Dad.”
“What?” Dad never got mad. He was mad now though. “I think it’s time for all of you to get back to your room. I’ve got things to do.”
He shot up from his chair and went for the door.
“Please sit down, sir,” Roy said. His tone suggested that unless my dad complied, Roy was going to forcibly sit him back down.
Dad’s hand was on the door knob and I could see that his knuckles were white. This was the test. I hoped he would give me a chance to explain.
With a heaping helping of reluctance, Dad exhaled, his chin hitting his chest. He went back to his seat and slumped down. “Okay. Here’s your shot. Tell me.”
I wasn’t afraid. Not a bit of nerve tingled inside me.
“You guys were wrong, Dad. It was wrong to have us keep our pasts to ourselves. Where we come from is who we are, it’s probably the most important part of every one of us. To tell us to keep that to ourselves is like locking away the most special gift we have. I’m lucky. I have you here. Roy left his parents in Texas. Lily and Jasmine left their dad in California. And Xander…we’re the only family he has.” Dad’s eyes softened as he glanced over at Xander. I continued now that I had his attention. “If we’re going to win the war, we need to embrace our differences while we also hold onto our past. Do you understand?”
Dad nodded. “I want you all to know that we made that decision to keep you safe.”
“I know what you thought you were doing, Dad, but we’re not normal ten-year-olds. We never were, but now even more so. You need to trust us and learn to depend on us.”
“I’ll try,” Dad said. I could still feel his hesitation. Part one done. On to the harder stuff.
“I need the book,” I said.
Dad’s eyebrows shot up. I knew what he was thinking, that I’d told the others a family secret, something kids shouldn’t know. “What book?”
“They know,” I said, motioning to my friends, my protectors, my Praetor.
“Why do you need it?”
“We need to destroy it,” I said, watching my dad’s reaction. To his credit, he took it pretty well, like he was getting used to the new me.
“Can you tell me why?” he asked.
I nodded. “It’s too dangerous. If the Destructors get their hands on it, our kind could be changed into a weapon for their use. That can’t happen.”
“And you’re saying you don’t trust me to keep it safe?”
“It will never be safe, Dad. The mystics never wanted our history written down. They never wanted things like that to be out in the world. We didn’t listen to them.”
“So she told you?”
“Yeah. She told me a lot of stuff even you don’t know.”
Dad frowned. “Do you understand why we did it, why we’ve chronicled everything for over two thousand years?”
I did. It was pride and uncertainty that led our leaders, past and present, to hold onto something like that thick tome, a bunch of paper, when, in fact, they should have held on to two different things: faith and each other.
Lily acted before I did, standing and walking over to where I was sitting. She placed a hand on my shoulder, still looking at Dad.
“We’ve got Benjamin now, Mr. Dragon. We don’t need that book anymore.”
Jasmine followed her sister, placing her hand on my other shoulder. “You need to trust him, Mr. Dragon.”
Xander and Roy stood and joined us. Five against one. I could see the battle being waged in my dad’s mind. He saw five kids, his small son being one of them. He was supposed to be my leader, my protector.
Dad stood and I thought he was going to leave. He didn’t. Instead he cocked his head, a tiny smile springing to his lips, as if he sensed the changes in me and the role I now held. “You’ve changed.”
I returned the smile. “A little.”
He walked over to me and knelt down, taking my hands in his. He’d realized it without me telling him. I’d told the others on the trip home, and they hadn’t been surprised. That made me happy. I wouldn’t be a freak anymore, at least not to them.
Dad brushed a stray hair off of my forehead. “You’re the one, aren’t you? Like in the old days? You’ve got all four gifts.”
I nodded.
His smile was a little sadder this time, like I was being given some awful burden he couldn’t take from me, like dads were supposed to do. He said, “So what do we do?” His eyes searched mine, another who was seeing me for the first time.
I looked up at my friends, Roy with his determination, the twins with their mischievous grins and my brother Xander who’d taken up a position right behind my dad, closing our ranks. My eyes returned to Dad and I smiled. “We’ll figure it out…together.”
+++++
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