by Nye, Laine
“Yes, we can take the divide,” Steve answered.
“Good. Can I drive?”
“You think you're ready for the divide? It's pretty narrow and steep. Aren't you a little worried that you could go off the cliff?”
“Only if it's a shortcut,” Brad joked. “Yeah, I'm ready for the divide Dad.”
Steve consented. Soon, they were on the road heading toward the mountain pass. As they started up the steep incline and began to go through its tight corners, Steve asked Brad a couple of questions.
“Why didn't you tell us anything when this all started? In fact, why didn't you tell us about this Belasco before any of the rest of this occurred?”
Brad shrugged. “It just felt wrong to me to tell anyone about it. It's not that I don't trust you guys, I just felt somehow that I was supposed to keep it to myself.”
“Well, you didn't do a very good job of hiding it last night.” Steve responded.
“I know. I think that keeping the secret from you was starting to bother me. It just felt like something really heavy was on me, and it got worse with each new thing that happened.”
“So, you let me discover you.”
“Yeah. I guess so.”
They crested the mountain pass and started down the other side.
From this height, they could look down and see the square patchwork effect of all the different farms with their fields of hay, grain, corn, etc. It looked the same as when one flies over farm country in an airplane.
“You are handling this road pretty good Brad. You seem to be very confident as a driver.”
“Thanks Dad. I suppose some of my confidence up here is that I know I could find a way to stop us from crashing down the cliff if I lost control. It makes me less nervous. Last year, I would have been a nervous wreck driving over this. But last year, I didn't know about this ability.”
“Last year you couldn't drive,” Steve said dryly. “Not without the wrath of your mom coming down on you.”
Brad smiled. Soon they were at the bottom and on the straightway heading towards Liberty. They were both quiet now, caught up in their own thoughts. Brad was enjoying the company of his father. They had not had much time alone together since moving to Florida.
When they reached Huntsville, after rounding a leg of the reservoir, Brad turned into the small town at the south entrance. There were only two entrances into the town proper. They passed their old home with both of them of them looking out the window at it as they drove by. In just two and a half blocks they were at the end of the road and looking down to the water below them. The road didn't dead end at the reservoir but turned left and soon petered out due to an old abandoned bridge that could not be crossed. Brad parked the car on the side of the road. They got out and started walking towards the trail that stayed above the reservoir.
After they had walked for twenty minutes or so, Brad began to slow down looking intently at the ground and at the small landmarks that were around them.
“It should be right around here somewhere,” Brad stated thoughtfully.
“You said that the hole was about three feet across?” Steve asked.
“Yeah, about that. I can't remember exactly where I saw it though. It was getting pretty dark when he led me here.”
They continued looking for another forty-five minutes and finally started giving up.
“Let's go to this Albert's house and talk to him,” Steve said. “He'll know where it is.”
“I think you're right Dad.” Brad responded. “I'd like to talk to him anyway.”
Brad parked the car in front of Albert's home and they walked up the still unrepaired walkway. Steve knocked on the door. A minute later the door opened, and Brad heard Albert's still familiar voice.
“Door's open. Come on in.”
They looked through the screen door but could not see him there. It was dark even in daylight.
“You heating my house for the winter months? I said come in. Shut the door behind you.” Albert's voice came from across the room this time.
They stepped through the door and shut it just as Albert turned on a lamp.
“Felt you'd be by soon. Knew you were back in town,” Albert stated flatly.
Brad was surprised by this. As far as he knew, Albert had no way of knowing they had been gone or had come back. Steve reached to shake hands as Albert sat down.
“I'm Steve Shaw. Glad to meet you Mr. Belasco.”
Albert did not reciprocate but asked, “Do you want to know my whole life history?”
“Well, no.” Steve said, a little taken back by the nature of this man who had such a strong impact on his son.
“If I take your hand that is exactly what will happen, and I'll know yours as well.”
Steve slowly withdrew his hand. Too many secrets in the DIA that could not be revealed. Steve was always careful to protect state secrets that he knew but could it really be possible for Albert to read his mind? Search his past?
“I know who you are,” Albert stated. “You look just like him.”
He pointed at Brad as he said this.
Steve thought, doesn’t he look like me? I'm the father. What a strange man.
“Started using your ability a little less than a year ago, huh?” Belasco asked Brad in a matter of fact manner.
Brad nodded, tipping his head slightly towards the right as he did so. Steve had noticed him doing that for some time and thought it peculiar. "Yes,” Brad answered. "How did you know?"
“Sit down there on the couch, both of you and I'll tell you.”
Steve and Brad sat.
“It's good to see you, boy.” Albert said warmly to Brad. That was the first time that they had seen any sign of friendliness from him. Brad had been puzzled by Albert's aloofness.
“It's good to see you too, Albert,” Brad said sincerely.
Albert nodded his head in a way that struck Steve as being amazingly similar to the way that Brad did that.
“I knew you were away for the same reason I knew you were back. I knew when you started using your gift the same way as I knew the first two things. It's a new ability I learned I had from one of my visits to the hole.”
Steve was amazed but did not react. “Well that's what we wanted to talk to you about was the hole. Brad and I could not find it. We'd like your help,” Steve asserted.
It was as if Albert had not heard him. “I keep track of all my students that way,” he said.
He turned his head to Steve. “Wouldn't do you any good anyway.”
Steve figured he must be responding to his request so he asked him. “Why not?”
“Doesn't work at this time of year,” Albert said.
“Why not?” Asked Brad, suspiciously.
“Moon is in the wrong place. The sun is not in the right place.”
“How could the sun not be in the right place?” Brad asked.
“It's not night time boy. You remember that part, don't you?”
“Yes, I remember it was night. If we came back tonight could you show us where the hole is?”
“Still won't work!”
“Why not?” Brad asked in a frustrated voice.
“I told you. The moon.”
“You are saying that the cycle of the moon plays a part in this,” Steve interjected.
Albert pointed at Steve and nodded in answer to Steve's question once again reminding Steve of his son. He looked over at Brad in a studious, thoughtful manner.
“Learned something new,” Albert said looking at Brad. There are two more of these holes in the world, maybe three.”
Brad asked immediately, “Where?”
“One of 'em in Philippines, another in Argentina. I think a fourth one could be in New Zealand.”
“How do you know, Albert?” Brad asked.
“I can feel the energy coming from them. Took me a while to locate them with an atlas and some serious thinking and detecting but that is where they are at.”
“Wait a second,” Steve said.
“You are saying that you feel the energy coming from these holes?”
Albert nodded, “When they are active I do.”
Steve turned to Brad, “Didn't you tell me that some girl from Clearwater felt the energy coming from you?”
Brad nodded, “Yes, Linda Day was her name.”
“A nonparticipant felt the energy?” Albert asked no one in particular. “That's a new one on me.”
“She knew,” Brad assured Albert.
“You taught me a new one there,” Albert said with a smile. “Look Steve Shaw, and Brad, I did not mean to come off as unkind towards you. You are welcome to be here. There aren't many around that are glad to see me. Even less that come by for a visit without saying something negative or condescending or picking a fight with me. In fact, I can count on one hand how many visit me kindly.”
He held up his hand as if showing five fingers then changed them into an O. “That's how many treat me with respect.”
“They are afraid of you just like I was at first,” Brad said. “Albert you really shouldn't go chasing kids around in the dark. It unnerves them, and I'm sure you get reported.”
Albert smiled. “What you say is true son, but you don't know the satisfaction I get when one of the few I have helped gets along better in life. They don't hurt you any more do they boy?”
“No. The bullies can't hurt me anymore. But something bad happened too.”
“Someone died from Brad defending himself,” Steve said.
“Well, the bugger is off your back. Isn't he?” Albert asked in a challenging manner.
Brad nodded in his peculiar manner, just like Steve saw Albert do it and he wondered why they both had this identical behavior. "I didn't want to kill him though," Brad said as he was nodding.
“It was very traumatic for Brad, Mr. Belasco,” Steve said gravely.
“Name's Albert. You call me that. I was sorry about the boy you killed Brad.” He stated in past tense. That meant he already knew.
“It was bad, Albert,” Brad said.
“Okay son. I’m sorry something went wrong for you, but you know what my real intention was. Don't you?” Albert asked in a kind voice.
“Yes. I know. But it took me a while to figure it out.”
“Good. I think you probably learned a lesson then about how powerful this thing really is and how much control you have to maintain.”
“What about when I'm sleeping and wake up floating on the ceiling? I'm not really controlling that.”
“Gravity control. That's what you gained from riding the hole.” Belasco stated with certainty.
“Yeah. That what it is.” Brad stated.
“That's harmless Brad, waking up on the ceiling like that. Nothing bad can happen from it except startling someone. It's what you do with it when you are awake that counts,” Albert instructed him.
“Why did you get Brad involved with this in the first place?” Steve asked. “He is my son and I should have been in on this from the beginning.
“You would have stopped me Steve. I saw your son's history and knew that some kids were making him miserable at school. I had the opportunity to fix that for him so I did it.”
“But before that, you chased him until you caught him. Why?”
“Brad was the slowest and the smallest in his group of friends. That's one of the ways that I detect which kid I reach out to. Not all of them are taken to the hole. Some do not qualify. When I shake hands with them, I always know which ones I have confidence in. Which ones deserve the chance to be given their ability.”
“Yet Brad's ability cost someone his life. Are you sure you should be messing with these kids’ lives this way?”
“I'm truly sorry for what Brad went through Steve. It is the first time something has gone this wrong with anyone I have taken to the hole.”
“How many have you taken there?” Steve asked.
“Only four. Over 35 years and I've only taken four.”
“You've spent all this time on this quest of yours?”
“Well it's not all I do in life Steve.”
“Do they all get the same ability that I got? Brad wanted to know.
“No, they do not. I never know what they'll end up with when I take them to the hole. But it has always been worth it to them.”
“What do you think Brad?” Steve asked his son. “Has it been worth it to you?”
Brad paused for a long minute then answered. “Yes! It has. Without it I could not have protected mom that night.”
Steve turned back to Albert. “Why don't some of them qualify for the hole?
“Because whatever ability they get they would use wrong. They would be worse than the bullies I try to protect them from.”
“When will the hole be active again?” Steve asked.
“Couple of months from now. Maybe a little earlier,” Albert answered. “What is it you intend to do?”
“I just need to see this thing for myself. Will you take us there when it's time?”
Albert nodded again, “But you're not a good candidate for the hole Steve.”
“Fair enough,” Steve responded. “But I still want to see.”
“Fair enough,” said Albert. “Give me your number and I'll call when it's time.”
Steve stood up, so Brad and Albert did as well.
“We'll be leaving now,” Steve said as he wrote their phone number on a piece of paper. He handed it to Albert. “Why doesn't the hole work every month if it goes with the moon cycle?” Brad asked.
“Can't answer that one for sure, but I theorize that the hole only builds up energy after a couple months,” Albert responded.
“Why would its activity be coupled with the moon?” Brad asked.
“Why do the tides work with the moon? There's gravity at work. The energy may be pulled to the surface of the hole by the moon. I don't know for sure Brad,” Albert explained. “Without the moon cycles, the tides would be nearly inactive. See any connection?”
“He could be right Brad.” Steve agreed.
Brad and Steve stepped out on the porch and Albert said, “I'll call you.” And shut the door.
Steve realized something that he had been thinking in the back of his mind the whole time the conversation had been going on with Albert. Brad had once shaken hands with Albert, and they had traded memories. It must have been at the time of those shared memories that they picked up some kind of mental connection with each other. They both nodded the exact same way and there were other subtle similarities that Steve had noticed between the two of them. Also, Albert knew when Brad was using his ability, even when Brad had been all the way across the country in Florida. These two were linked together mentally. "Did you shake hands with Albert before, like he talked about?" Steve asked for verification of that which he already believed.
"Yes. We did shake," Brad answered.
"Did you share life memories when it happened, like he said?" Steve asked.
"Yes. It was really weird," Brad responded.
"I'll bet it was," Steve observed. Now he knew his conclusion was correct. He hoped that this mental connection wasn't going to be a problem.
When they got back into the car, Brad was again in the driver seat. They pulled away from Albert's home and thought through things for a while as they left Huntsville.
“Take the canyon this time Brad.” Steve told his son. “I want you to get a little more practice on another winding road.”
They drove along the side of the Pine View Reservoir on the highway leading to Ogden Canyon. As they were passing the dam and starting down the hill from off the top of the dam, Steve spoke. “He's a strange man.”
“But very likable,” Brad interjected.
“He has a certain charisma about him, but he is strange.”
“I thought he was mad at us when we first got there,” Brad observed, and he talked so differently with you there, dad. With me, he used a lot of heavy slang. He sounded like a backwoods country man.
“I think he thinks
up many ways to keep people a little off balance so that he has most of the cards in his hand,” Steve said thoughtfully. “His communication style is one way to do this. He doesn't take chances that someone might gain advantage on him psychologically or verbally. He wants to keep the upper hand even with those he likes.” Steve's training with the DIA had sharpened his skills of perception considerably.
“I wonder why,” Brad questioned.
“I don't know. Will he call us Brad? What do you think?”
“I believe he keeps his word. He'll call, dad.”
“How do you know what he is trying to do when he talks different like that.” Brad asked.
“You pick up a lot of things about human behavior in my kind of work.” Steve answered.
When they arrived home, Kate seemed anxious to greet them. Particularly with Brad. She walked up and put her arms around him and hugged him tight. In his ear she whispered, “Thanks for saving us son. I had no idea that you had done something to stop those guys at the beach that night.”
Brad pulled back and looked at her. He was smiling. “I didn't know you knew yet.”
“Your father informed me last night while you slept.”
“You're welcome mom. You know, it was very hard not telling you that I had stopped them.”
“Well,” said his mom, “I have been thinking over everything your father told me last night while you two have been gone, and I realized just how important it was that you had this abnormal ability that night. Without it, we could have been killed. Now, what's this about you running outside during that tornado? Are you crazy?” She was avoiding the part about the Weathers boy.
Brad shrugged his shoulders. “I was just curious Mom. I had always wanted to see a real tornado.”
“Well, I'm glad we moved before a hurricane came along then.”
Steve spoke then. “If Brad had not had this ability, he would not have survived that thing Kate. We are fortunate.”
