by K. C. Hughes
He copied Karri and guzzled the first one down. He wanted the full sugar rush that he’d been missing from drinking the diet soda. Maybe he’d gotten used to the sugar-free brand because the soda tasted funny-a little stale maybe. He poured another one and sipped on it.
When he returned to the living room, something moved in him. Maybe it was the song coming from the speakers, none other than Rise Up. When he saw Karri, he zigzagged past other girls to reach her. At first he just stood next to her, sipping on his drink. Moments later his body swayed to the music.
She smiled when he began dancing and pointed at his drink. He saw her mouth move, but he couldn’t hear what she was saying because of the loud music. He kept dancing. They swayed, leaned and two-stepped so close to each other. Deakon had never danced before and he loved it.
No wonder people danced.
Karri’s body touched his in places where no girl’s body had touched his before. And it felt tingly. He held her waist and moved to the music. When a faster song played, they jumped together to the beat and when everyone started whipping their hair back and forth, Deakon joined them. He whipped his head until he felt sky high. That, along with the sugar and caffeine rush and being with Karri, made him feel like partying everyday for the rest of his life. They danced and drank for hours.
When the music stopped and the party ended, they walked outside for fresh air. People were shuffling out and heading to their cars. Deakon’s head felt woozy but he brushed it off as a caffeine overload. During the party he refilled his soda many times.
They leaned against someone’s car and Karri looked at him. With a courage he’d never had, he grabbed her arm and drew her to him.
“How do you feel?” she asked with a grin. A sly grin.
“Adrenaline high, maybe,” he slurred.
“I don’t think it’s adrenaline. I was trying to tell you on the dance floor that frat boys spiked the soda.”
“Huh?”
“Yup, you heard right. That adrenaline rush you feel is called being drunk.”
He scratched his head and staggered. His eyelids suddenly felt heavy but he wasn’t sleepy. The fearless dancing was booze induced.
“So much for me not drinking tonight.”
Deakon felt good. Karri leaned into him and looked up into his eyes. He knew she liked him. This was it! He was going to kiss her. He gazed at her welcoming lips and bent down to kiss them. Before he made contact with her them, he heard it.
“Dude, what the hell are you doing on my car?”
When Karri turned around, Deakon looked up. He squinted to see who it was. It was dark and he was drunk. When the guy came into focus, he could not believe his luck, or lack of it. It was Randall King. Karri grabbed his hand and tried to pull him away from the car.
When Randall and his friend approached them, his stare lingered on Deakon. “Deak the Geek, long time no see.”
Randall King’s timing couldn’t have been any worse. He had daydreamed about kissing her since the first day of sociology. And of all people to block the kiss, it had to be the bully who cemented him to the floor at Addeson Prep. Was it national bully week and no one told him?
“My name is Deakon. It’d be in your best interest to remember that.”
Karri pulled his hand harder. He pulled it away.
Randall was on his way to the driver’s side and stopped. “What did you say?” He walked to where they were. His friend followed.
“You heard me.”
Karri looked at Deakon horrified. “C’mon, let’s just go.”
“I’m not running away. Stay over there, this might get ugly,” he said, pointing at the lawn next door.
She didn’t move.
“Ok, I see now. You think you’re tough cuz you grew a couple inches,” Randall said.
In a instant, the other guy pushed Karri to the ground, and Randall did a single leg sweep that knocked Deakon down. Then Randall kicked him in the chest and stood over him and laughed.
Deakon’s breathing was fast and strong. He eyebrows lowered and his eyes blazed with the fury of a cornered wild beast. His body sprang from the ground with such speed that Randall and his friend took a few paces back. He gently helped Karri up.
Deakon looked at each of them dead in the eyes. The bullying had to stop. He wasn’t going to cower down, especially in front of Karri. Not this time. Not ever again. He stood up straight and held their gaze. His breathing was centered as he stared at them.
“You are not going to bully anybody ever again,” he said
“Or what, huh Geek?” Randall asked.
Deakon displayed a sinister smile. “You will be too weak.” He cupped the bracelet and for some reason, thought about that song.
“Rise up to the top!” he said.
Then something happened that would change his life forever.
Slowly, Randall and his friend staggered back a few paces and then stood still. Their faces contorted in terror as their bodies levitated above the ground. They rose above his and Karri’s head and onto the roof of the fraternity house.
CHAPTER 13
After Deakon climbed through his bedroom window, he threw the bracelet across the room and glanced in the direction where it landed. How could a piece of metal have so much power to levitate grown men? He needed answers. And until he found them, he promised himself that he would not call upon those powers again.
He couldn’t fault Karri for running off after what happened. Heck, he imagined he’d do the same thing. But being so close to kissing her ran laps in his mind. Never in his short life had he thought he would get that close to kissing a girl. Could he ever get that moment back? He sent her a quick text.
Please call me. I don’t know what happened.
But first things first. He had to figure out what happened, or how it happened. He sat in his desk chair to think, but rose again. He tried to sit on his bed to concentrate, but his nerve endings were doing jumping jacks beneath his skin. He rose and peered at his image in the mirror.
Mirror, mirror on the wall…
He stopped before he finished the fairy tale spell because he was terrified something would actually happen. Deakon moved the curtains back and looked out the window. He still felt the effects of the alcohol. His mouth was so dry it felt like it was full of cotton. And his breath smelled like ass. He crept to the hallway bathroom and filled a Dixie cup with water. He had an idea.
He went back to his desk and focused all his attention on the wireless mouse.
“Rise up.”
Nothing happened. He grabbed his wrist to cup the bracelet but it wasn’t there. He fumbled behind the dresser until he found it. He put it on his wrist and went back to the mouse.
“Rise up.”
Still nothing. He stood up and tried it. He stared at the mouse harder and tried it. He tried to levitate other objects in his room. Same result. He then thought about a living object and went to Spanks’ favorite napping spot.
He quietly opened his door, peeking his head out to check for the glare from the TV. He left his room, hugging the walls and tip-toed through the family room. He scooped up the cat and headed back to his room, closing the door behind him. Spanks meowed by the door in protest of being disturbed.
He focused all his will on Spanks, following his every move. He took a deep breath.
He cupped the bracelet. “Rise up.”
Slowly, the cat’s small body began ascending. Spanks twisted and meowed in objection of the unnatural feeling. Deakon willed him higher and the cat's body obeyed.
Freakin amazing!
When his concentration was broken, Spanks dropped to the floor, fast and hard. Thank goodness cats had nine lives because Deakon was sure one of them was used on the landing. As soon as he opened the door, Spanks ran out of the room. Deakon heard the cat meowing under its breath.
So he was able to levitate people and animals but not objects. What had been embedded in the bracelet that could defy the natural laws of physics? He thought h
ard and couldn’t come up with anything. He was awed by his powers.
He took a gulp of water and swiveled in his chair. The affects of the alcohol were wearing off, making him sleepy but he was too wired to be tired. He tried again to find information on German adoption but nothing came up from Passau. Was he hoping that his real mom and dad were Wonder Woman and Superman and that he’d inherited super powers? He knew it was a crazy thought. But deep in his mind he knew that finding his bio-mom would lead to the truth about the bracelet.
He checked his phone to see if Karri had replied, but there weren’t any messages. Maybe she inboxed him on Facebook. She hadn’t. It was weird, though, he had twenty-seven new friend requests from the girls at the party. He leaned back in his chair with his hands holding his head and stared at the screen.
Just then, his mother popped her head in the room. Pink sponge rollers covered her head.
“Deakon, what’s going on?” she asked.
He jumped and turned quickly towards her. “Um..nothing.”
She stepped in, holding on the door handle and sniffed. “Have you been drinking?” she asked.
“Mom, no. Well, not really, but yes, I had alcohol,” he said, averting her glare.
“It’s either yes or no young man,” she said, moving closer to him with her hand on her hips. “And not yes and no.”
“Let me explain.” He stood, rocking back and forth on his heels.
After he told her about the spiked soda at the frat party, leaving out the part about levitating Randall and his friend, he sat on the bed, expecting a lecture. But she seemed okay. She didn’t even scold him for sneaking out to the party.
“You need to be more careful, Deakon.” She bent down to pick up Spanks, who followed her in the room. It was almost like the cat woke her up and ratted on him.
“Mom, something happened tonight, and, well, I really want to get away for winter break.” It was true, something did happen. But he really wanted to go to Germany to find his birthmother.
She sat on the bed next to him. ”Honey what happened?” she asked, touching his hand. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Deakon really hated lying to his mother. But on the other hand, he couldn’t tell her what’s been going on since he’d left the hospital. “Nothing, really, but I made some new friends tonight. They even asked me to go to Rocky Point with them.”
“Out of the question.” She rose from the bed. “That place is full of those drug cartel men.”
“Mom, that’s just the media sensationalizing the news to get higher ratings.”
“Oh, really,” she said hesitantly. “I never thought of it that way. But what about school?”
“It’ll be Christmas break. I want to hang out with my new friends. Please Mom, can I go?” he asked, turning on the charm.
“We’ll see,” she said, twisting her lips.
Deakon knew what that expression meant. She had tried to be a strict disciplinarian but he’d been able to read her body language. And that look meant yes.
After making online reservations for a flight and a room, he tossed and turned all night, thinking about Karri. He wondered if she’d ever speak to him again.
At school, he found he had something of a cult following. Girls he’d never met greeted him with flirty eyes. Guys nodded at him. And others motioned for him to sit next to them in class.
Most cool!
He scanned the lecture room in sociology hoping to spot Karri but didn’t see her. Worry consumed him. She hadn’t responded to any of his phone calls or texts. He needed to see her before he left for Germany. Even though he enjoyed his new life, it meant nothing without her.
He needed to take his last midterm and get a passport in time for his redeye flight. Because he needed it immediately, Deakon had to drive to the passport office in Tucson. He didn’t have time to apply for it through the post office. That could take months.
After the United States issued him a new passport, Deakon drove home and packed. His flight was scheduled to leave that evening and he almost forgot to include essential toiletries because he couldn’t get Karri off his mind. He texted her again before he left and called her while he stood in the security line. She never responded.
With his free time on the plane, fourteen hours, he studied Mastering German Vocabulary, a book he purchased at a store in the international terminal at the airport. He was able to read the entire 244-page volume and was confident he mastered all but the pronunciations. Being a whiz kid had burdened him all his life, but as he closed the book, he was grateful for it now.
When he left customs, following the hoards of passengers, he never had to leave the warmth of the airport to the train depot. He rode the Bahn directly to Passau and slept during the short, ninety minute ride.
He was stirred out of a deep sleep by other passengers rumblings. The train stopped and Deakon felt cold as he gazed out the window. The dawn was lifting over the sleepy town and it looked beautiful. He’d visualized an old dank city like Transylvania. But Passau was a not like that at all.
He hopped down the train’s steel meshed steps and looked around the colorful town. The royal blue sky reminded him of Phoenix. The houses and buildings surrounding the small train station were more Moroccan than Bavarian. Deakon was pleasantly surprised.
He walked to a waiting Mercedes Benz taxi cab. It was driven by a woman. “Hotel Residenz on the Promenade, “Deakon said in German, happy with himself for speaking the native tongue.
As he sat his backpack on the seat next to him, the smell hit him immediately. He breathed in quick, rapid sniffs like he’d seen Spanks do. It was sweet, pungent and strong. Surprisingly, it wasn’t offensive but pleasing, in an odd sort of way. But it was so strong that he rubbed his nose trying to ease the tickling sensation.
Deakon leaned forward. “What’s that perfume you’re wearing?” he asked in German.
From the rearview mirror, the lady cab driver cut her eyes at him with a curious expression. “You can smell it?”
“Um, yeah. Who couldn’t?”
“You’d be surprised. It’s called Patchouli.”
“It smells good.”
“Danke.”
He leaned back in the seat as the driver sped off. And sped she did. Deakon held on to the car’s oh shit handle with every turn. His torso slammed back and forth each time the driver applied the brakes. He knew they were going to get in an accident because she kept eyeing him in the rearview mirror, instead of keeping her eyes on the road. He felt woozy and didn’t have a chance to take in the beauty of the town that was nestled between three rivers. What he saw whizzed by him at break neck speed.
When the driver pulled into the hotel, relief washed over him. No wonder he didn’t see women taxi drivers in America, they drove like bats out of hell. He paid the lady and rushed out of the cab and hurried through the freezing wind into the front lobby. It was warm and inviting.
He walked to the tall woman standing behind the check-in desk. He couldn’t wait to settle down, take a hot shower and begin his search.
“I’m Deakon Metcalf and I have a reservation,” he said in German. He handed her his passport and read Ellen on her nametag.
“Welcome to Hotel Residenz,” Ellen said in German. She took the passport, looked at it and typed something in the computer.
Deakon leaned against the granite counter and glanced around the lobby. He selected Hotel Residenz because of the nice pictures he’d seen on the internet. There was a wood-burning fireplace adjacent to the window. Oversized chairs surrounded it. On the opposite end was a bar with guests sitting in high back stools.
“Excuse me, Mr. Metcalf,” she said.
He turned around and smiled. “Yes?”
“Are your parents with you?”
His eyes widened. “No, why?”
She reached for the passport and handed it to him. “I’m sorry but you can’t stay here without an adult.”
His mouth formed an O and he leaned in closer. “What
do you mean?”
“You have to be eighteen to get a room.”
“That’s just great,” he said cutting his eyes at her. “Why didn’t you people think to mention that on your website?” He yanked the passport out of her hand and stomped out the hotel.
He walked into the cold and wished he had a warmer coat. Living in Phoenix, the heaviest outwear needed was a windbreaker for the Santa Ana winds. But he felt more than winds in Passau. The icy cold temperature sliced through his jacket and shirt directly to his skin. After his teeth began chattering, he stepped into the nearest retail shop.
He sighed in relief when he saw coats for sale. He grabbed the first one he thought could fit and tried it on. It was a three quarter length black military styled coat. It fit. Good enough. He bought it along with a scarf, hat and gloves. He was grateful he had the foresight to request a credit card in his name from his parent’s account.
He left the store wearing the coat. He looked around and saw hotels and restaurants in walking distance. He had the pick of the litter of hotels to choose from.
And everyone of them turned him away because of his age.
Deakon walked the streets of town with his head held down. He shuddered as a wind gust tore through his new coat. He saw a sign that read Beergarden and peered in to see that it was a restaurant. He entered and took a seat at an empty table. He was so tired and he missed Karri.
Minutes after he took off his coat, a restaurant employee asked for his passport. After she glanced at it, she kicked him out for being under aged. Apparently, Germany had a stupid law that prohibited unsupervised minors from being in an place that served alcohol. And all restaurants in Germany sold beer, so he had no place to eat. He left the restaurant defeated. He was cold, alone, and wanted to go home. Maybe he was being punished for lying to his mom.
