by Aiden James
“I know,” she whispered to Julien while looking anxiously at Mom before glancing warily at us again. Grandpa motioned to us guys to descend to the floor. “It’s just….”
“It’s just you never really expected it to be true,” said Grandma, who had come up behind her and laid a loving hand on Meredith’s shoulder. “If it means anything, you are the first normal people that we have revealed ourselves to in a very, very long time.”
The last time my family had done this was before my birth. I silently prayed Julien or Meredith didn’t ask for specifics on that extra fun fact.
Though it took a moment to acclimate herself to the reality that a coven of witches and warlocks resided directly across the street, by the end of the evening she was smiling, conversing with us as before, and seemed at peace with the revelation. Grandma and Mom even talked her into doing a Tarot card reading—Meredith’s first in several years, according to Julien. I think Mom was hoping for an extra edge against the Mateis, but Meredith only confirmed what we already knew: Our enemies wouldn’t be going away anytime soon, and would most definitely pursue us to the ends of the earth if necessary. Fleeing to anywhere else would only exacerbate an already volatile situation.
Alisia and Mom were especially pleased by Meredith’s confirmation that staying put was the best option for our family, while everyone else in our family seemed neutrally affected. Everyone but Manuel, who restated his intent to return to Europe soon, regardless of how things turned out in Tennessee. Adrian playfully chided his youngest brother for reverting to the attitude of an obstinate child… but Manuel brooded just the same.
Despite my uncle’s sourpuss response, I felt optimistic about our family’s future. For the first time in my lifetime, normal human beings had been allowed into our private circle. And, rather than detracting from that circle’s sacred energy, Julien and Meredith seemed to add something. Maybe not extra power… but an extra perspective fed by two extra pairs of eyes from these highly intelligent people who accepted what and who we were. We now had a potential advantage, and although it had just started, perhaps it would deliver the upper hand we had long sought against the Mateis… unless they someday did the same thing.
But at least for that night I felt things had changed for the better. Things might work out for us after all. It was the second to last thing I considered that night in bed. The last thing, of course, was Daciana. If we could work out a way to remain in Denmark, then it stood to reason that maybe we could eventually forge a lasting peace with her family. And, if that happened….
Hope springs eternal, they say, and is carried forth on the wings of love. It was my final thought before surrendering my spirit to the realm of dreams.
Chapter Twenty
July 13th, Day 55.
Things started out heavenly that Monday. After enjoying the most restful night I could recall since my family’s move to Denmark, I surprised my sister and grandparents when I joined them downstairs for breakfast shortly after eight o’clock. The morning’s warm sunshine brought brightness to the main floor that I rarely witnessed. Grandpa commented on my unusually serene demeanor, while Alisia and Grandma eyed me curiously. Grandpa returned to his previous task of scanning the Denmark Gazette’s meager news offerings, as if looking for some hidden message, while my sister and grandmother continued to study me in silence.
“Just thought I’d get an earlier start on the day,” I said, while pouring myself a glass of orange juice. “Maybe I can help Harris work on the barn.”
“That would be great, Sebastian… except you wouldn’t have a clue how to use the power saws and other electric tools Harris is using,” Grandpa advised while Grandma brought over the first batch of pancakes. “You can’t use magic to bail you out of trouble. Harris is a smart kid and he’d likely detect anything odd you would do. I can’t afford for you to scare away the only local handyman I trust.” He laughed, but his eyes confirmed his seriousness.
“Maybe I can help him strip the paint off of the clapboards he hasn’t reached yet,” I said, after accepting Grandma’s offer of additional pancakes, since the first delivery was intended for Grandpa and Alisia. “I’m familiar with using a heat gun, and I promise not to do anything ‘wand’ or ‘naked spell’ related.”
“So, what am I supposed to do today, if you won’t be around to pester?” Alisia asked, wearing a fake pout.
“Well, you can’t be around Harris when he’s supposed to be working, since you’d be a bigger distraction than I could ever be,” I replied. A rare moment for me to smile like a canary-eating feline.
“Meaning what?” She crossed her arms over her chest guardedly.
“Meaning you make him nervous,” I said, to which Grandpa raised his eyes above his reading glasses and Grandma regarded me over her shoulder. I guess I was the only one to notice Harris’ crush on my sister. “I think he likes you.”
“I barely know him,” she mumbled, when my grandparents’ gaze turned to her instead.
“Like that even matters,” I said. “He’s a good guy, and you could do worse—especially in this town—”
“Or, I could be like you!” she blurted out.
Uh-oh….
“True.” My smile vanished and I glared at her while imploring her silently to shut the hell up before she dashed all of my fantasies of a Radu/Matei exception to pieces. “You could be a lonely mess like me, sentenced to months—even years—of waiting anxiously for the next cool video game, since you wouldn’t have much else to look forward to…. If you were me, of course.”
“What about visiting cool places like the winery as a lonely boy?” she said.
“Is there a reason why you’ve become a Negative Nellie this morning?” I replied, trying to sound compassionate while Grandpa and Grandma watched our volley. “You and I doing things together is what makes places like the Winery cool. You know that….”
“Sorry,” she said, smiling insolently. Meanwhile, Grandma and Grandpa studied us both with keen interest. “I’m not ready for anything with anyone, so don’t worry about me hooking up with someone in the neighborhood.”
“We trust your judgment,” said Grandpa, who paused to get a silent affirmation from Grandma before continuing. “As Sebastian stated, you can do a lot worse than Harris Martin.”
“Well… for your information, it’s not a dating versus single thing,” she said, as she stood to carry her dishes and silverware to the sink. “It’s not even a black guy dating a white girl thing, either. It’s more about the question of permanence, as in, there isn’t any for us right now. It would be foolish to get involved with anyone until there is.”
Yes, those choice words were intended entirely for me, as she gave me a hardened stare that was much cooler than the one I delivered to her a moment earlier. Needless to say, finishing breakfast and getting the hell away from my sister’s ire became a top priority. I figured she would calm down by lunchtime, and maybe she and I could come up with something fun to occupy ourselves with that afternoon.
In the meantime, I asked Grandpa once more if I could assist Harris.
“As long as that nice kid is still happy to work for us when you’re done, that will be fine,” he said. “Otherwise, you’ll get to help me recruit the next handyman. Does that sound like fun?”
“No.”
“Good… make sure Harris is still our guy, then.”
I was beginning to think I should’ve slept in to around ten, like I normally did. But, before I managed to irritate anyone else that morning, I retrieved one of the heat guns left behind in the laundry room by Mr. Clarke, from when they moved, and headed for the barn. Walking along the gravel driveway’s course, and beneath majestic walnuts and butternut trees that apparently had survived longer than their normal life expectancies, is a remarkable experience. The tranquility and the noticeable pull upon my spirit whenever a breeze rustles the upper branches always draws my gaze skyward and lifts my mood. Grandpa told me a few weeks earlier that traversing the expanse of
our backyard reminded him of some of the wooded areas near the outskirts of Bucharest several centuries ago. Areas that now contain crumbling tenement buildings, and that have long lost their connection to the spiritual essence that was once strong in his homeland.
Harris was working on the outside of the barn that day, repairing loose planks from beneath the eaves on the westernmost edge of the building. Hardly anyone would notice this flaw, since a large pecan tree hid the affected area from view, unless someone stood directly below the spot… like me right then.
“Can you use some help?”
“Well, hey, Bas… what’s up, man?” Harris paused to look down at me, leaning over the side of the scaffold he had set up on that side of the barn. His smooth ebony skin glistened from sweat. “You comin’ by here to help out, or are you on the way to someplace else?”
“I came to see you, man,” I said. “I thought you’d be working inside before the sun rose higher, since it’s cool right now.”
“Shit, that damned tin roof makes it hotter than hell inside there!” he said. “Once the sun gets goin’, it’s like bein’ inside a fryin’ pan, man. As hot as it is right now, I’ve got little chance of courtin’ the Devil out here. But not in there.” He laughed as he pointed toward the lone window that Grandpa was thinking of either changing or removing altogether, and I laughed with him. He’s often funny, and it felt good to give in to the laughter.
“I guess a heat gun isn’t exactly the thing to have around when it gets like this, huh?”
“You got that right!”
“Maybe I can help remove the paint inside the barn on a cloudy day?” I said. “Can I help you with something else?”
“Depends on what you’re good at, Bas,” he replied. “Really, I’ve got a good pace goin’. Your grandpa’s been pleased so far, and even with me havin’ to work just a few hours a day beginnin’ next week when early football practice starts, I should have most of the basic structural shit done by September. I’ll resume the inside work in December, after the season ends. There’ll be plenty of need for your heat gun then!”
Since I wasn’t prepared to help with anything else, and I didn’t want to return to the house where Alisia’s temper might still be simmering, I offered to bring any supplies he needed up to where he was perched, and keep him company for a little while.
“I appreciate the offer, man, but honestly I’m good,” he told me. “But you can hang around and talk if you’d like.”
“Okay,” I said, feeling awkward without a common task to help feed a meaningful conversation. “So, what do the team’s prospects look like this fall?”
“Well… if our quarterback takes Coach’s advice to see an eye doctor for his apparent colorblindness, we might be pretty good,” he joked. “Seriously, man, I don’t know… I’d like to get at least one more winnin’ season under my belt before I head to Knoxville next year.”
“You guys went pretty far last year, didn’t you?”
“Yeah… after Jamie—our current quarterback—got hurt in the third game. Sly White came in and damn near took us all the way to state.”
“Why isn’t he the current quarterback?”
“He graduated and went to Baylor… leaving Jamie and a really green frosh named Fred Jones to play quarterback,” he said, pausing to set a new board in place and drill in the screws. “I’d say we’re like these boards up here.” He smiled and drilled in the screws the rest of the way.
I love this dude’s subtler sense of humor best.
“Are you plannin’ to go to college, Bas?”
“Not yet,” I said. “Unlike you, I’m not much for sports, and I haven’t picked out a potential career either. At this point, I’m not sure…. Maybe I’ll try to knock out some of the basic classes at UT Martin.” No deceptive tale here, as this was exactly the plan before the Mateis showed up.
“Not a bad idea,” he said, setting up the next board for the current patching effort. “I had thought of goin’ there, and if not for the scholarship to UT Knoxville, that’s probably where I would’ve ended up.”
“Well… I might chill until November and decide then if I want to get started with some classes in January,” I said, feeling the first bead of sweat course down the top of my head before cascading along my right temple. “Would you mind if I step into the shade for a moment?”
“Not at all... in fact, I might just take a short break myself. See ya in a moment.”
Harris brought a water jug and joined me beneath the full shade of a massive black walnut. Based on the trunk size, my guess was the tree was a sapling long before the house was built using lumber from its unfortunate cousins, or offspring.
We chatted for the better part of half an hour, and I was surprised how easily our conversation flowed from school and sports to family, the neighborhood, and even a brief dalliance about what Alisia’s plans were. While I couldn’t tell Harris we might be gone in a matter of days, if tensions worsened in our feud, I did mention my sister’s plans to eventually pursue a career in cosmetology.
“Well, she’s pretty enough to make any other woman believe they could be pretty, too,” he said, rising to his feet from where he had sat upon one of the tree’s protruding roots. I joined him, brushing off a small deer tick that had climbed aboard my jeans from the lush grass and weeds surrounding the tree. “Lord o’ mercy, here she comes.”
At first, I wasn’t sure what he meant. But when I looked toward the house, Alisia was on the way to where we stood. On the way and looking incredibly angry. I worried that Harris might notice her feet were barely touching the ground as she walked briskly toward us.
“What’s up, Ali?” I asked, when she was within ten feet and hadn’t slowed down and her heated gaze continued to gain strength.
“That assbag!” she seethed.
“Huh?” I wasn’t ready for the mysterious third person reference.
“Manuel has lost his damned mind!” she continued, spitting out the words. I felt sorry for Harris, as she merely glanced at him before turning her attention back to me.
“What in the hell are you talking about?”
“You better come with me, Bas—it’s really bad!”
Her arms trembled and I noticed her fists were clinched.
She’s ready to pummel someone senseless!
“Sorry, Harris…. We’ll catch up soon, man,” I said.
He nodded and replied not to worry about it, and that he hoped everything would work out all right for our family. Alisia shot him a kinder look, and I wondered briefly if she saw him differently after our breakfast conversation that had surely planted the seeds for her current mood. I watched him nimbly climb back up the scaffolding while Alisia grabbed my right arm gruffly to pull me back to the house.
“Hey! What gives?!” I hissed.
She drew in a deep breath and released it slowly, shaking her head.
“Well?” I persisted
“Manuel attacked the Mateis,” she said.
“What?!”
“Yeah… that was mine and everyone else’s reaction.” She picked up her pace. I kept up with her and she released my arm. “He apparently hurt him pretty badly.”
“Who?”
“Serghei. He’s in the hospital, just like Dad was.”
“Shit!”
“Uh-huh,” she said, fighting back tears of anger. “I bet we’re headed into full-scale war!”
* * * * *
A new gauntlet had been thrown. A new Radu gauntlet.
Never before had someone in our family taken on the aggressor role in our ancient feud with the Mateis. It had always been them on the attack. Every confrontation began with a Matei pushing the envelope against us.
Until that fateful Monday.
Worse, it was Manuel who did the deed—the very offspring who was spared so that Toma Matei could perish in unspeakable agony.
By the time we reached the house, I could hear Adrian’s angry voice clearly, as he berated his brother in a mixture o
f venomous English and Romanian insults. And, not just him….
“How could you do this, son?!” cried Grandma, as we stepped into the dining room where everyone was gathered around the table. Seeing twin rivers of profound sorrow course down her cheeks deeply distressed me.
Mom’s eyes were also reddened from tears, as were Dad’s. Grandpa looked despondent with a faraway look on his face. Meanwhile, Adrian carried greater energy than I’d ever seen from him. His hazel eyes were completely on fire, and I feared their lethalness. Eyes that could incinerate anything unfortunate to be in their path. Eyes that could easily kill.
“What’s going on?” I asked, unable to hide my alarm. It was a silly question, as I already knew the answer.
Manuel looked over at me, raising his chin defiantly.
“I did what had to be done,” he said. “There can be no peace with the Matei vermin! They must be dealt with once and for all, and with a fate that is most fitting.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, interrupting Grandma and Grandpa, both sharing a rebuke of their youngest child. “You actually tried to kill Serghei?”
“No… but I should have!”
“Why?” My voice cracked. I pictured the asshole who has abused me, but not as the monster I had known informally for years. Instead, I saw Serghei as the brother of the girl who had stolen my heart. He could use a nice butt whooping, but didn’t deserve to die just for being a king-sized asshole.
“Because he couldn’t keep his damned mouth shut!” Manuel fumed. “I was picking up some donuts for Adrian and me, along with a cup of the breakfast cappuccino your mom likes, and the little shithead accosted me outside the donut shop. I couldn’t believe it! No one to cover his ass and he was so stupidly bold to challenge me to a duel in the parking lot…. I accepted, and promptly sent him flying across the street and into Burger King’s parking lot, where he landed head first against the drive thru sign.”
“Oh, and you’re so proud of that, brother?” sneered Adrian. “There were plenty of witnesses—and guess what? None of them think it was some circus performance this time!”
