by Kim Jewell
Lexi took the cloth from Leesha and placed it on Clint’s forehead to try and battle the burn they all knew was raging in his body.
“Get. Clear. Of. Me.” Clint struggled through gritted teeth. “I’ll hurt you.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Clint.” Lexi argued, her eyes brimming with tears. “We’re here to help you.”
“Yeah, man. We’ll get you through this.” Sam chided in.
“You don’t know what my body is capable of during this,” he pleaded for the three to back away.
I can’t stand this. I don’t want to hurt anyone… Please let this pain stop!
But no one left. The three stayed, talking him through the fire, lending moral support. They had all been there through the worst of it, and knew how helpful it was to support each other through the roughest of patches. The room was silent, all except for Clint, who continued to moan and writhe in torture.
Sam heard Clint’s mind clear first. He checked his watch. “Seven minutes, fifteen seconds. You okay, man?”
Clint sat up, Lexi still supporting his back. He took the wet rag and ran it over his face and neck. “Yeah. Fine.”
“Will you please tell me what just happened?!”
The four kids had forgotten the two additional audience members in midst of the ruckus. Sam turned around to face his mother, tears of panic streaming down her cheeks. Dan, his face white, just stood there with his mouth open.
“Mom, it’s okay now. It was just a flash.” Sam tried to sound nonchalant, but didn’t quite pull it off with his guilty shrug.
She flopped back down in her chair, exhausted from the stress of watching this unfold. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Tell you what?” Sam’s innocent routine didn’t fool her either.
“Tell me how much pain this put you through! I’m not a moron, Samuel. How long did you think you could keep this from me?” Marcy was infuriated, feeling like she had been misled somehow.
“Marcy, calm down,” Dan looked at his wife, clearly concerned at her sudden flare of temper. “I’m sure they have an explanation. You do have an explanation, don’t you?” he said pointedly at all of them.
There’s really no way out of this now, is there?
The room was silent as each of the kids tried to sum up a gentle way of communicating this part of the equation to the Dixon parents. When no one spoke, Dan took control and started asking questions.
“Clint, you leveled with me earlier… Tell me what just happened.”
“Mr. Dixon…” he struggled with his words.
“Daddy…”
“No, Lexi, I got this,” he said as he turned back to Marcy and Dan. “It’s no picnic. What you saw was seven minutes of a burning sensation beyond anything I could ever imagine. It’s like my blood is on fire.”
Oh, that expression on Mrs. Dixon’s face is going to break my heart.
“But – and keep this in mind – it’s only very temporary. It lasts just a few short minutes, and the pain lifts as swiftly as it hits. Each time it comes it lasts a little longer, but the pain is a little less intense.” He noticed their skeptical expressions and added, “Believe me. This one was a whole lot easier than the three before it!”
“What did you mean,” Dan aimed his glare at Clint, “when you told the others to stay away, that you could hurt them?”
“Well, I’ve learned through my first flashes that I don’t have complete control over my body when this transformation is happening… My muscles are changing, and that – combined with the pain – makes me do things beyond my control.”
“What do you mean?” Marcy sounded horrified.
“The first one, I had a baseball in my grip. It was destroyed when I was done. I had no idea it was happening when I clenched my fingers around it. My second flash – at home – I gripped the edge of my deck and shattered the wood to sawdust. It’s my strength, and I’m too engrossed in the pain to realize I’m destroying anything in my reach. That’s why… well, since then, I’ve always gone to a clear spot where I can’t hurt anything.”
Lexi looked over at Clint. “Is that why you wanted me to move back?”
“Yeah. I couldn’t stand it if I hurt you,” he pleaded. “Or anyone,” he added, with glances at Sam and Leesha. “One wrong kick…” Clint shuddered at the thought.
“Have you told your father yet?”
Man, it’s just like a mom to ask a question like that. I should have known Mrs. Dixon would want to know.
“No, ma’am. Not yet,” Clint’s head bowed. “I haven’t found the right time. He’s already lost so much, and his work keeps him so busy.”
“Would it help if we were with you when you talk to him?” Dan asked.
Clint’s eyes lit up. Besides his father, he never had the help of other adults, the parental support. “I think it might. You guys have been awesome about all of this. It might be the buffer I need to ease him into understanding this.”
“We’ll have him over for dinner then.” Marcy stated, like it was obviously settled. “When is he free?”
“Um… I’m not sure. Can I ask him tonight and get back to you?”
“You sure can. Leesha, of course you’ll be here too, yes?”
“Yes, ma’am,” she nodded, like she had a choice.
“Have you told your mother?”
Leesha sighed, a grimace noticeable by all in the room. “No, I haven’t. Not yet.”
“Well, of course she’ll be here too,” Marcy announced, like there was no discussion to be had about it. It was a matter of fact, simple as that. “We may as well have a family meeting – all of us together.
The problem was, besides Sam, Lexi and Clint, no one else really understood how utterly embarrassed Leesha was by her mother. She was a touch trampy, flitting from one boyfriend to another at whim. She never held a respectable job – or even a steady one, for that matter. And she was not a “parent” in the most traditional sense.
Just because she gave birth to Leesha did not mean she was a means of support. For all intents and purposes, Leesha supported the household more than her mother did. And Leesha’s guidance always came from her grandparents, a responsibility they enjoyed, though one they initially picked up because Leesha’s mother was so young and negligent.
“I’ll see if I can pin her down, Mrs. Dixon.”
“Very well. Let’s try and shoot for this weekend. We could do lunch on Saturday, get to know each other, then have a meeting afterwards. You two let me know if that works for your folks, okay?”
Holy cow, how did she manage that?
Clint looked up at a red-faced Leesha. They were both stunned into silence, so simply nodded their – albeit reluctant – agreement. Suddenly, facing Blevins was the least of their worries.
Chapter Eight
Friday afternoon was lively at the Dixon house. Lexi and Leesha had just gotten home from the mall, shopping for the right thing to wear to Jade’s party. Clint thought the chatter wafting through the bathroom from Lexi’s room was deafening, even with regular ears.
The boys were sitting at dueling laptops, trying to get coordinates on Blevins’ activities, mapping out regular stops and patterns on a map. Between their combined efforts, they mapped out three different places he stayed at regularly – two of which he stayed at for long intervals – either during the day or at night.
“So I figure this is where he lives,” Clint said, pointing to a spot on the map with a number of green dated circles. “And this must be where he’s working.”
“Yeah, but what about this one?” Sam leaned in closer to look. “He’s spending some nights here too…”
“Girlfriend?”
“I guess that would explain it.”
“Well, anyway… We need to probably try and get to these locations and figure out which home or business is his, plus try and get a tracer on his car.”
“Agreed,” Sam nodded.
“You know, you’re the only one of us who has seen him.”
“Any one of us could pass him on the sidewalk and not recognize him.”
“I know.”
“How much has he changed? Since his hospital picture?”
Sam paused to compare the two images in his mind. “A lot. His hair is much shorter now, and he wears a goatee, which is mostly gray. He doesn’t wear glasses anymore, and I think he’s had a nose job. His face doesn’t look anything like his old hospital badge.”
Huh. So this guy has had a makeover.
“Why do you suppose he hasn’t tried to contact us directly?” Clint asked.
“I’m not sure. But it makes me a little worried about approaching him.”
“Next time my powers are back, let’s try and get over to scope him out.”
“They’re gone?” Sam looked over at him.
“Yep. Last night.” It sucks losing them.
“Sorry, man. I know it sucks. They’ll be back soon, though.”
“I know. It’s just frustrating,” Clint sighed. “There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to mine. Each of you said yours ramped up in frequency, and the powers lasted longer. Mine didn’t last longer this time…”
“I know, but you’re still early in the process,” Sam tried to reassure him. “Mine were a little erratic at first too.”
“Okay… Well, anyway, next time they’re back, let’s take a quick trip over and scope out these areas on the map. Between your brain and my brawn, we should be more than protected.”
“My brain? Your brawn? That’s a funny way of looking at it,” Sam laughed. “Though I gotta say, I’d trade my brain for your brawn any day of the week. Your power is so cool!”
I don’t know… I’d give anything to get into Lexi’s head. Know what she’s thinking.
“Stay away from my sister.” The warmth in Sam’s voice was gone.
“Really? I mean, you know me. You trust me. It couldn’t be all that bad a thing, right?”
Sam never got a chance to finish his thought. They were interrupted by Lexi coming through the door. She stopped dead in her tracks.
“You’re not wearing that, are you?” Her eyes narrowed at her brother.
Blank stare. “Um, no…” he said, trying to buy some time to think. “I just haven’t changed yet. I was going to wait until after dinner.”
“You know you need to make a good impression on Jade. You’re going to need to get near her, get to know her, get inside her head.”
“Lexi, I can do that from across the room! She’s not going to care what I’m wearing, for crying out loud.”
“Sam, shut it. You need to impress her. We need to impress her. We’ve got to figure out what’s going on with her! If she’s like us, we’ll need her help.”
“Lex, just get off my back and tell me what you want me to wear. It’ll be easier on both of us.”
She walked over to his closet and pulled out a pair of jeans, a yellow t-shirt and a navy and white striped v-neck sweater and laid them on the bed. From his chest of drawers she pulled out a belt, socks and a clean pair of underwear.
“Holy cow… I’ll look like I stepped out of a J. Crew magazine. Are you serious?”
“Yes. Now go get in the shower. You stink and your face is oily.”
“Great,” Sam muttered. “Cause everyone needs two mothers.”
Clint laughed at the two of them. She could mother me any day.
He looked up just in time to dodge a shoe flying in his direction.
It’s a good thing your aim is horrible!
They took Dan’s SUV to the party that evening, after Clint had done a thorough search for tracking devices. He did them on a regular basis, but decided to do another once over tonight before they left.
If this Jade is like us, we don’t need to lead Blevins to her.
The house was festively lit, and music was drifting out the front door as guests were entering the Hensley house. Sam found a parking spot and the four climbed out to join the gathering.
“Wow. Is that a spotlight over there?” Leesha pointed at the large black machine which seemed to be projecting two beams of light into the sky, constantly rotating in a circular pattern.
“Yep,” Clint said. “Looks like no expense has been spared here.”
“Nice neighborhood, nice house…” Sam’s eyes gave the once over. “I wonder what we’re walking into here.”
“There’s only one way to find out,” Lexi said enthusiastically. “Let’s go!”
Inside, they were greeted by Jade and her parents. “Hi, Lexi, Leesha! I’m so glad you guys made it!”
“Hi, Jade,” Leesha said. “Thanks for inviting us – we’re glad to be here! Hey, I want you to meet Sam and Clint.”
“Hi, guys! Welcome. Thanks for coming!” Jade turned to introduce the group to her parents.
After they said their hellos, Lexi leaned forward to Mrs. Hensley and handed her a gold bag with shiny white and silver tissue. “This is for you. Thank you so much for having us tonight.”
“Oh, thank you,” Mrs. Hensley said, taking the bag. “We’re glad you could make it. Have fun!”
As they followed Jade downstairs to where the party was gathering, Clint leaned over to Lexi to whisper, “What was that you just gave her?”
“A hostess gift.”
“What?”
“It’s a gift you give to the hostess to say thank you. My mom won’t let me go anywhere without something in my hand.”
Leesha’s face went red with embarrassment. Lexi noticed, and linked her arm into Leesha’s. “Don’t worry, Leesh. I signed all of our names to the card.”
“Thanks. I didn’t even think…”
“It’s no big deal. It seems really old fashioned to me, but Mom says it’s the proper thing to do. It’s just easier to go along with her sometimes,” she shrugged. “Come on, let’s go see what they’ve got to eat!”
As they watched the girls walk off, Clint and Sam stood to take in the scene. The room was filling up quickly. It must have been designed to be a family room or game room of sorts, but the furniture was pushed back along the walls, and the pool table was covered and had refreshments set on top of it. The lights were low, a disco ball hung from the middle of the dance floor, and more strobe lights of every color and pattern were positioned throughout the room. The music was loud, and the crowd of teen chatter was even louder.
“What’s it like for you,” Clint leaned in, forgetting he didn’t need to scream above the volume for Sam to hear him, “to be in a place like this?”
“What do you mean?”
“Your senses. They must be on overload – the music, voices, food smells, lights…”
Sam laughed. “Yeah, well, it’s a good thing I learned to block it out quickly. I can stand here and pretty much keep the overload to a minimum – you know, keep it normal. I can tap into and out of what I want to at this point. You’ll control your power eventually too.”
“So you can pick which mind you want to listen to?”
“Yep,” he said, pointing around the room. “He wants to know the score of the football game. She wants a slow song, and that one over there,” he nodded to the corner of the room, “thinks you’re super hot.”
“Super hot?”
“Her words – not mine. You should go over and ask her out.”
“Nice try, Sam.”
“Eh, well,” he shrugged.
“Hey. I’ve always wanted to know…”
“Yeah?”
“You can see through stuff, right? Can you be selective about what and how much you see through?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Can you see through clothes?”
Sam smirked, and pondered whether or not he wanted to tell Clint the truth. “And you wonder why I want you to stay away from my sister.”
“Come on, man. I’d be good to her.”
“Right. Sure. I totally believe that.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”<
br />
“Yes, Clint. I can see through clothes. But I’m too much of a gentleman to do it.”
Clint grinned wickedly. “Right. Sure. I totally believe that!”
They stood there in silence for a few minutes, watching the crowd. Finally Sam said, “Let’s go over and join the girls.”
So across the room they went, Sam leaning in to get an update from Leesha, Clint working his way behind Lexi to watch the crowd from behind her. She smelled good, like always, and though it made him smile, he didn’t put words to it in his mind.
I’ll get past you knowing my every thought.
“Good luck trying,” Sam projected back, shooting a sideways glare over to him.
Just then, Jade approached the foursome. “Hey guys! I’m really glad you could come tonight. Are you having fun?”
“Yeah.”
“Sure…”
“Of course!” They all kind of answered in their own way, at the same time.
Not paying any attention to anyone else, Jade reached over Lexi like she wasn’t even there and grabbed Clint by the arm. “Come on Clint! You have to dance with me!”
“Uh… Sorry, I’m with…”
She didn’t even let him finish. “You must! I love this song! Come on.”
And off he went.
Lexi looked over at Leesha, her face a mixture of shock and envy. “What just happened?”
Chapter Nine
“I mean, I know he’s not technically my date,” Lexi almost looked like she was pouting, “but for appearances sake, he is. And she just took him from me!”
“Don’t worry about it,” Sam leaned over and bumped his shoulder against Lexi’s in support. “He’s just being nice. Besides, I always figured him to be a player.”
“What?!” she looked at him in horror.
“Shut your trap, Sam,” Leesha said, pointing a look of warning at him. “He didn’t mean it Lexi. Clint’s just dancing with her to be polite – she’s the hostess, and it would be rude to tell her no.”
