Oracle

by Amy Reece

  We waited until Megan was off taking her bath and getting ready for bed to have a conference about the recent developments with my nightmare/visions.

  “Do you realize that we can communicate now?” I asked Mina and Rémy. Both nodded. “Maybe it does have something to do with Kai. This worries me. Should I keep Megan from playing with him? Should I let him into our home?”

  “I have a hard time believing a small child could have anything to do with blocking our thoughts,” Mina said softly.

  “Always so soft-hearted.” Rémy lifted her hand and kissed it. “I’ve never heard of a child having any power like that, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen.”

  “So, you think I should keep Megan away from him?” I asked.

  “On the contrary.” He stood up and poured another glass of wine. “You’ve heard the saying ‘keep your friends close and your enemies closer’?”

  “How could a little kid be an enemy?” Jack asked.

  “I don’t know,” Rémy mused. “But I have a feeling that things are beginning to happen. We must be ready.”

  ***

  My phone buzzed during lunch the next day. I was sitting in the teacher’s lounge having a lively conversation in French with Camille Harris, planning a Saturday lunch outing with her, Mina, and Rémy to a local French restaurant she raved about. I saw that it was Megan’s school and I excused myself to answer, tendrils of dread creeping over me; this couldn’t be good. It wasn’t. Apparently Megan was sitting in the principal’s office because she got in a fight. I told Charlie I had to go, which he was super nice about, and I drove to the elementary school, sure there must be a mistake. There was absolutely no way my sweet sister-in-law would ever get in a fight! She was sitting dejectedly in a straight-backed chair along the wall of the office, her blouse and jeans torn, her face dirty and tear-streaked. Kai sat beside her looking even worse, with a rapidly blackening eye and a bloody nose he was holding a tissue against. They were holding hands so I assumed they had not fought with each other.

  “Meg! Sweetie, are you okay? What happened?” I rounded the secretary’s desk and knelt in front of her.

  She threw herself in my arms and clasped my neck tightly. “I’m sorry, Ally! I didn’t mean to.”

  “Okay, okay,” I soothed and pulled back to brush the hair out of her face. “Tell me what happened.”

  “They were making fun of Kai and me, saying horrible, nasty things. I told them to stop, but then one of the boys, Tyler, pushed me and I fell and ripped my pants and it hurt and I skinned my knee,” she rambled as her little chin trembled.

  “Okay. Let me see.” I sat her back down and looked at her ripped jeans. I didn’t see any wound through the hole in the knee, so I rolled them up. Nothing. Just perfect brown skin. “I thought you said you skinned your knee?” I looked up to see her exchanging a guilty glance with Kai.

  “Oh, um, I guess I, uh, just thought I skinned it.”

  “What happened to Kai? He looks like he got the brunt of the fight.”

  He shook his head miserably. “No. I’m fine,” he said quietly.

  “You should see Tyler,” said Megan. “Kai beat him up for pushing me.”

  Well, what was I supposed to say to that? I, of course, didn’t condone fighting, but the kid had stood up for Megan.

  “Mrs. Ruiz?” the principal called to me from the doorway of her office, gesturing for me to join her inside.

  “Okay, wait here, Megan. Kai, did they call your dad?”

  He nodded. “My nanny is on her way.” Of course. The nanny. I was beginning to wonder if he really had a father.

  “Thank you for getting here so quickly. Please have a seat,” the principal, Ms. Perez, offered. “First of all, please understand that Megan is not in trouble. We needed to ask her some questions about the fight she was involved in and felt it was appropriate to inform a parent about what was going on. She’s pretty upset and I think it would be best if you took her home after I talk to her.”

  “I agree. So, you haven’t talked to her, yet?”

  She shook her head. “No. You and her brother are listed as guardians on Megan’s information card, is that right? I didn’t see a parent listed.”

  “Megan lives with us. Her father does not have guardianship. Were you able to reach Kai’s father? He said his nanny was on her way.” I was concerned that the boy’s father had yet to make an appearance.

  “I spoke to him, but he’s out of town, so the nanny is the best we can do today.” She looked past me to the door and stood to open her office door. I was shocked to see two school police officers entering. Did an elementary school playground fight really merit police involvement?

  “Ms. Perez, what’s going on here? I thought you said Megan wasn’t in trouble?” I asked.

  “She’s not, but Kai may be. The other boy, Tyler, had to be taken to the hospital.”

  Holy crap! What had Kai done? He was so small! Was he really capable of putting someone in the hospital?

  Ms. Perez called Megan in for questioning; she looked terrified to see the police officers and I saw her eyes start to tear up.

  I pulled out the chair next to me and held her hand. “It’s okay, Meg. I’m here.” She tried to smile, but it didn’t quite work.

  “All right, Megan.” Ms. Perez sat down and opened her notebook. “We just need to hear what happened. Why don’t you start from the beginning? Tell us what you were doing at recess.”

  Megan looked up at me and I nodded in encouragement. “Kai and Mikayla and me were playing by the slide. Tyler and his friends came over and started making fun of us again.”

  “What did they say?” Ms. Perez asked. Megan shook her head. “Megan, we need to know what they said. Don’t worry. You won’t get in trouble for telling us.”

  “It’s really bad,” she whispered, looking up at me with her big brown eyes.

  My heart about broke in half. “Go ahead, sweetie. You can do this.”

  She took a deep breath and launched into her story. “Tyler said ‘Look at the freak! Let’s hear that stupid voice, Stone! I heard they kicked you out of England ’cause you can’t talk right!’ So, I told him to shut up and go away.” Of course she did. She always stood up for the underdog. “Then he pushed me down, hard, and kicked me. Kai got really mad and pushed him back. He knocked Kai down and punched him in the face and said, ‘Hey, Stone, bet you don’t even have the stones to screw your little girlfriend! But I don’t know who’d want to fuck a little Spic like her, anyway.’ Then Kai pushed him and Tyler hit his head.”

  God, what a foul little bully! I hated that my sweet little Megan had to hear something like that, but I knew elementary school kids could be brutal. I squeezed her hand and smiled crookedly at her.

  Ms. Perez nodded and continued writing. “Megan, did Kai stand up when he pushed Tyler the second time? Some of the other children said he was still on the ground when Tyler hit his head.”

  Megan bit her lip and shrugged. “I don’t remember.”

  “Thank you, Megan. Will you wait out in the other room?” She waited until Megan had left and closed the door. “Mrs. Ruiz, according to multiple witnesses, Tyler literally flew across the playground and smashed into the swing set. He was taken away in an ambulance, unconscious, and they think he may have a concussion. The other witnesses all say that Kai didn’t get off the ground until after Tyler hit his head.”

  “Who do they say pushed him? They aren’t saying it was Megan, are they?” I asked, appalled.

  “No, no. No one is saying that,” she rushed to assure me. “That’s the problem. No one is saying anything. They’re making it sound like Tyler just flew across the playground by himself, as if by magic or something.”

  That caught my attention. I was intimately familiar with what it took to make someone fly across a room or a playground, but how on earth could a child do it? Who was Kai? What was Kai? “Well, that’s impossible, of course,” I said. “What do you think happened?”

 
“I really have no idea, Mrs. Ruiz. I need you to speak to Megan tonight and see if she will talk more candidly to you in private. Please call me tomorrow if she tells you anything else.” She stood up and handed me a business card with her phone number on it.

  As I was walking out, Kai’s nanny was walking in. She was a young woman, maybe 25, with an English accent. “Kai Stone! What have you done?” She grabbed him by the arm roughly and pulled him from his seat.

  “Hey! Let’s dial it down, okay?” I rushed over to her.

  She turned to me, fury apparent in her face for a split second before she visibly changed her approach and body language, letting go of Kai’s arm. “Of course,” she said in a much calmer voice. “I was just surprised and upset. Kai has a history of, um, fighting in school. I had hoped he was past it, that this would be a new start for him. Apparently not.” She spared him an angry glance.

  “Miss Landry, we’re ready for you and Kai now.” Ms. Perez waited by her office door.

  Megan stood up and walked over to Kai. She hugged him, whispering something in his ear before letting him go. They apparently had quite a few secrets. Hmmm.

  “Kai,” I said as he prepared to follow his nanny into the principal’s office. He stopped and looked up at me, apprehension written all over his serious little face. “Thank you for defending Megan. It means a lot to me.” He smiled very slightly and walked away, following his nanny.

  ***

  “He said what?” Jack was furious, pacing back and forth in our bedroom, running his hands violently through his hair. “I’m gonna kick his ass! Nobody talks about my sister like that!”

  “I know, hon. Calm down,” I soothed. “The kid is in the hospital with a concussion, so I think you’re going to have to wait to kick his ass. And you’re going to have to get in line.” I was still angry about the whole incident and worried about what effect it would have on Megan.

  “Is Megan all right? Is she upset?” he asked.

  “I think she’s fine. I need to talk to her some more. I’m not sure she understood everything that horrible kid said.”

  “Son of a bitch!” Jack growled. He sat down on the edge of the bed and put his head in his hands.

  I sat beside him and rubbed his back. “It’ll be okay, Jack. She’s a strong kid. She’s going to be fine.”

  He sat up and pulled me close, kissing my hair. “I hope so. Thanks, babe. You did good today. This parenting stuff sure is a kick in the pants, huh?”

  I laughed mirthlessly. “Yeah, for sure.”

  “So, tell me again how Kai put the kid in the hospital. I wouldn’t have thought he had it in him. He’s so scrawny.”

  “I don’t think he touched him, Jack. Most of the kids who saw it say Kai was still on the ground when Tyler ‘flew’ across the playground. That was how the principal put it, by the way. Does that sound familiar to you?” I raised my eyebrows at him.

  “Holy shit! Is that kid a Seer? How is that possible?”

  “I have no idea! I need to talk to Rémy and maybe Kate. I don’t know what to think. I’ve never heard of a little kid being able to do that. I’ve never heard of anyone except me being able to do that. And that’s not all. Megan said she was pushed and she scraped her knee. When I checked, her jeans were torn, but there was no scrape. She told me she must have been wrong, that she didn’t scrape it after all, but Jack, I think she was lying.”

  “What do you mean? What are you saying?” He looked perplexed.

  I let out a sigh. “Nothing. Never mind. I have no idea what I’m saying.” I shook my head at the crazy thoughts I was starting to have. “This is all crazy! There’s no way that little kid could have made a bigger kid fly across the playground. They must be wrong or exaggerating or something. Let’s go talk to Megan. That was some pretty foul stuff she heard and we should make sure she’s doing okay.”

  We found her sitting on the floor of her bedroom, playing listlessly with a Barbie doll. “Meg, are you okay?” Jack asked as we walked into the room.

  “Jack!” She threw herself at him; she had been in her room since we returned home and hadn’t seen her brother yet.

  “Okay, mija. It’s okay.” He smoothed her hair as she cried. I couldn’t keep my tears at bay either, as I realized she was more upset than I had realized. He calmed her down and asked her to tell him everything that had happened. His jaw flexed as she repeated the horrible comments Tyler had made.

  “Meg, do you understand what he said? Do you know what those words mean?” I asked hesitantly.

  She nodded slowly. “Yeah, mostly. I’ve heard Jack say it before.” Yikes. What happened to the innocence of childhood?

  “I’m sorry, Meg. I shouldn’t say it. That’s not what I mean when I say it,” Jack apologized.

  I calmly explained to her what horrid Tyler had been implying, realizing that it was better for her to understand than to be kept in the dark.

  “That’s awful, Ally. Kai’s my friend. He’s not my boyfriend. I don’t have a boyfriend. I don’t want one. Boys are gross. Except Kai.”

  “Hey,” Jack protested, pulling her onto his lap. “What about me? And Mat? Are we gross?”

  “No.” She giggled and I was glad to see her back to her more normal self. “You and Mat and Rémy aren’t gross, either.”

  “Meg, I need you to be honest now, okay?” I knelt in front of her and looked into her eyes. “I need you to tell me if Kai was still on the ground when Tyler was pushed into the swing set. Was he?”

  Her bottom lip trembled as she nodded.

  “Did someone else push Tyler?”

  She slowly shook her head.

  “How did he get across the playground?” I asked.

  “Kai,” she whispered. “He’s special.”

  Well, crap. That’s what I was afraid of.

  We fed and bathed her and tucked her in, telling her that we would sort it all out the next day. Of course I didn’t even know if that was possible. As I straightened from giving her a kiss, I noticed the drawings tacked to her wall above her bed. I narrowed my eyes as I realized the boy she had drawn was definitely Kai. But I had seen them long before she had met him at school. My heart pounded and I had to sit on the edge of the bed. “Those pictures. That’s Kai, isn’t it?” She nodded. “Meg, sweetie, how in the world did you draw Kai before you met him?”

  “I saw him in my dreams. He visits me when I’m asleep.” Yeah, me too. Crap.

  Rémy and Mina came over after we were sure she was asleep. “What are we going to do about the boy?” he asked.

  “What can we do? We don’t know anything about him,” I said. I told them about the drawings and the dreams.

  “His last name is Stone, you said?” Mina asked.

  I nodded. “I think so. That’s what his nanny said. Rémy, can you investigate him?”

  “I will certainly try,” he promised.

  “What do we do in the meantime?” asked Jack. “Should we question him? Should we let Megan be friends with him? I’m really torn because the kid stood up for her. A part of me admires him and is grateful. But another part of me is worried about letting them be friends. I mean, what the hell is he?”

  “I don’t think we should overreact,” I said. Everyone looked at me in surprise. “Listen, Megan and Kai are really close. You didn’t see the way she hugged him before we left. I think we need to trust her judgment, at least for now. Trying to keep them apart could backfire. Plus, how in the world do we go about keeping him out of her dreams? Why don’t we just keep an eye on them? If we keep them apart, we won’t be able to keep a watch on him.”

  “Should we question him?” Jack asked again.

  “Let me try to find out something before we do anything else,” Rémy advised. “Let the children be for now.”

  Chapter Nine

  “A man, though wise, should never be ashamed of learning more, and must unbend his mind.”

  —Sophocles, Antigone

  Because there was no evidence that he had touche
d Tyler beyond pushing him the first time, Kai was allowed to return to school the next day. I called Ms. Perez and told her Megan swore Kai was on the ground and did not push the other boy into the swing set; she had no idea how Tyler had hit his head. Ms. Perez had called Tyler’s mother and found out that he had a mild concussion and would be returning to school in a few days. He would be attending anti-bullying classes with the school counselor when he returned, as well. That wasn’t good enough for Jack and he started giving Megan what he swore were only self-defense lessons.

  “She needs to know how to protect herself, querida,” he argued. “That’s all I’m going to teach her, I promise. The next time someone tries to push her around, she’ll be prepared.”

  “You know she’ll be suspended if she punches anyone, don’t you? Even if it’s in self-defense.”

  “I’ll pick her up from school myself—proudly,” he said. “I’ll teach you too. Come on, it’ll be fun. You need to know how to punch someone without breaking your hand.” He kissed my knuckles as he said this last bit. “Next time you hit Rémy, for example.”

  I smiled reluctantly and pulled him close for a kiss. “I didn’t break my hand. I just split it open. And I have no plans to punch him again.”

  “A guy can hope, can’t he?”

  I picked Kai and Megan up after school, not even questioning the boy’s presence. “Hey guys, how was school? Kai, your eye looks so much better. Wow. I thought it would be swollen shut today.”

  “He didn’t hit me that hard,” Kai said quietly. “My nanny put some stuff on it. It’s okay.”