Bob, the Invisible Dragon

by David J. Wighton

  "Huh."

  "In the case of B.C. versus Lucas, Theo, Mathias and Reese, a prosecutor named Hank was preparing a case of piracy against four young men. He happened to bump into the youngest who was rather naive. Reese blurted something out to the prosecutor that revealed that all four of the men were guilty. The prosecutor hadn't even asked a question, but the judge ruled that the attorney had violated the rights of the accused to have a lawyer present and again, the case was thrown out of court. The four young men were never punished. No appeals were allowed."

  "Sounds like weird cases. Arguing over a name. How often would that happen? Or piracy?"

  "Exactly my point. These are very obscure cases. There's a good chance that Doc hasn't heard about them. How could he? He's retired. If he doesn't know about these cases, he could make a mistake."

  "So I let this Doc see me and approach me. What if he doesn't ask any questions?"

  "Here's the beautiful part. Even if he doesn't, you say that he did. This defensive tactic is called lying. You might be familiar with the concept. In this type of situation where the truth of the matter is unclear, the judge is going to favour the accused even if the prosecutor swears up and down that he didn't ask you a question. If Doc approaches you in this prison, you can start packing your gear because you're going home."

  # # # # # # # #

  Somebody else was packing gear because she was going home. Hold that thought while I start at the beginning.

  Lucas worked most of March and when the job ended, he received a tidy amount of cash from his boss who apologized for having to give it to him in coins. He hadn't expected Lucas to quit. He even tried to talk him out of it. Lucas said that he didn't mind the coins; he actually preferred them. He put them into the pockets of his jeans and jingled happily out of the new Wilizy Cloth and Dye building in Calgary. Then he headed for Surrey. Also happily.

  "Hey Lucas. Long time. Where have you been?" Candi with an i couldn't help but hear the jingle in Lucas' pockets. Jingle bells, Jingle bells. Christmas on its way.

  "Working."

  "Really? Where?"

  I'm sure the reader will want to skip through this part of the conversation. They were unimportant questions and answers. All you really need to know is that yes, Candi was still tutoring; yes, she was wearing the same clothes because she couldn't afford to buy any new ones since she was so poor. In fact, she was so poor that she was in danger of losing her apartment.

  "So, I was wondering..." Lucas began to explain why he was there.

  "Uh-huh?" Candi was putting red polish on the nail of her right pinky finger. Busy, busy.

  "You know, last time I was here, you let me, you know."

  "Uh-huh?" Candi shifted focus to the adjoining finger.

  "Touch you."

  "Oh, yeah. I remember now."

  "So, I was wondering if I, you know."

  "You want to grab my boob?"

  "Yeah."

  "I don't know, Lucas. I mean I let you before because you're so cute, and nobody was around. But I could have a student walk up here any minute. If he saw you with me, he'd think that I was doing something that a teacher like me should not be doing. I could lose my job. For a lousy nickel."

  "I could pay more."

  "How much more?"

  "I could pay ten cents."

  "Nah. Too much risk. A dime isn't going to make much of a dent in my bills." The third finger needed attention now. Funny. The nails had looked perfect a minute ago.

  "Twenty-five cents?"

  "That would allow me to keep the electricity on, I guess. You'd touch me on top of my sweater, right?"

  Lucas nodded, but he had been hoping for something more daring.

  "OK, twenty-five cents for a boob grab on top of the sweater for one minute. I don't think anybody will see us."

  "Only a minute?"

  "Busy neighbourhood." (If busy meant deserted.) "If you wanted something more, we could go back to my apartment. There'd be no chance of anybody seeing you and me together there. I'm only offering this because you're so nice, Lucas. I wouldn't do this for anybody else."

  "Kind of expensive."

  "I'll let you put your hand under my sweater if we're in my apartment."

  This was exactly what Lucas had been hoping for. "How much?"

  "One klabooie a minute."

  "One or two hands?"

  "You're a tough person to bargain with, Lucas. OK. You win. Two hands at the same time for one minute."

  "Done."

  Candi packed up her gear (fingernail polish) and headed home. Lucas had to trail well behind her so that her reputation couldn't be hurt.

  Candi with an i cleaned Lucas out that afternoon. She put her claws on his last ten klabooies by reluctantly agreeing to lift her sweater. For five seconds.

  Back to the Table of Contents

  Chapter 19

  Granny had just finished a conversation with Stu this sunny warm day at the end of March. Their communications into the prison were hit and miss. Prison rules prevented Stu from wearing his pinky-ring computer into his cell, and he certainly wasn't going to have his sling with him where it could be accidentally discovered. The warden had arranged for Stu's pinky-ring computer to be kept hidden in the prison kitchen's storeroom. It was from that storeroom that Stu had told Granny that it was time for Doc to appear in the visitor's area. Granny was personally looking forward to this scene in their play and had already tried on her costume.

  But that was a pleasure that could only be anticipated. Right now, she was looking forward to the immediate pleasure of a steaming mug of hot chocolate complete with marshmallow froth. Doc was working in the WZBN office, so she was alone. Granny put her feet up on the foot stool in front of her, cradled the hot mug in both hands, and closed her eyes.

  A tap-tap on the outside door prompted her to open one eye. A face appeared in the crack of the door. "Wizard. Come on in. There's hot chocolate on the stove. Help yourself."

  "Uh. That's OK, Granny." Wizard sat down on the sofa opposite.

  Granny asked, "What's up?" and took a long pull on the mug.

  "I was wondering if it was alright for me to touch the boobs of a girl who's been molested."

  Granny choked and spewed hot chocolate into the air around her.

  # # # # # # # #

  With both parties to the impending conversation now thoroughly embarrassed, and with the spillage being mopped up energetically by a young man who was more comfortable looking at the floor than at his granny's face, and with both parties now holding fresh mugs of hot chocolate, and hopefully with no more surprises to come ... with all of that out of the way, their conversation began.

  "Are you talking about Dreamer?"

  Wizard nodded.

  "Why would you even think of doing that? She's been molested. She's just coming out of a very bad time." Granny didn't put any heat into these words, but she was surprised that Wizard wasn't more sensitive.

  "I'm pretty sure that she wants me to, Granny."

  "And you? Do you want to too?"

  "I wouldn't mind. But it's not like I've been thinking day and night about it."

  "Why do you believe that she wants you to?"

  "Uh. Well. We've..."

  "Stop right there, Wizard. See that armchair in the corner? Go sit in that. Turn it so that it's facing the corner first."

  Wiz did.

  "Better?"

  He nodded.

  "I can't hear a nod, Wiz. Tell me why you believe she wants you to touch her breasts."

  "Can I say that word out loud?"

  "Sure you can. So the two of you have been kissing, right?"

  "Uh huh."

  "A lot."

  "Uh huh."

  "And you like it."

  "Uh huh." Wizard was beginning to think that talking about this with Granny wasn't as difficult as he had thought it would be.

  "And she likes it."

  "Yeah. She really does."

  "How do you k
now that?"

  "Cause she's always the one who starts the kissing. We could be sitting in the community hall studying a bot, and there'd be nobody there, and she'd turn to me, grab me, and plant a real hot kiss on me."

  "Is this after she saw her dream about the flowers?"

  "Yah. She's back to normal now."

  "And this is beginning to bother you because..."

  "When we're standing up and kissing, she'll take my hand and put it under her neck, where it's very close to her..."

  "Breasts."

  "Yeah, those. I have to concentrate hard to stop my hand from dropping lower. Sometimes, we're in the middle of a kiss and I'll feel her stand on her tiptoes, and that's going to move my hand right on top of her...

  "Breasts. You can say the word to me, Wiz."

  "... breasts, and I take my hand away and put it behind her neck instead. Now she has started to put my hand under her neck when we're sitting. I think she's trying to tell me something."

  No, not at all, Wiz. No signal there. No, siree. "Perhaps. Have you talked about this with her?"

  "My mind is kind of busy, Granny."

  "I'm not suggesting that you talk about this when you're kissing. Do you talk to her about this when you're not kissing?"

  "No."

  "Why not?"

  "She's been molested, Granny. That could be where her ex-dad touched her. I don't want her to freak out again. What if talking about it could cause her bad memories to come back? What if my touches bring back those memories?"

  "Is that why you're cool to touching her in any way?"

  Wiz nodded.

  "I'll take that as a Yes."

  "And if you talked to her about touching her on her breasts, that would mean you were planning it, and planning it would mean you'd be crude. It would be better for you to just touch her breasts accidentally and leave your hand there if she didn't turn around and swat you?"

  Wiz nodded.

  "I'll take that as another Yes."

  Granny knew all about the unwritten manual on how to hold hands the first time. She also knew all about the unwritten manual for men on the Oops, I'm sorry I accidentally touched your boob strategy. "I have to think about this, Wizard. Warm this up for me, will'ya? Grab some cake for yourself. Take a big piece. It's getting stale."

  Granny had baked the cake that morning. But she knew if she didn't encourage Wiz to have a big piece, he'd take a tiny sliver. To be polite. That's the way he had always been. Lucas would sit down with the entire cake plate on his lap and a fork in his hand if you'd let him.

  # # # # # # # #

  Another large slice of cake later, Granny had a good handle on the Dreamer-Wizard relationship. Dreamer had seen Wizard and liked him. She had enlisted Winnie who was more than happy to push Wizard at her. The same thing happened at the concert. Females happy to encourage Wizard into a date. They were cute together. Wizard was happy enough once he got there, but he'd have never agreed to the date without the female gender pushing him into it. Fairly typical at that age, she had thought.

  The first hand-to-hand contact. Classic. Dreamer going for the accidental skin contact but holding back from the grab. Wizard wanting to hold hands, but needing it to be an accident. Both happy to finally get there. No problem here, Granny had thought.

  The first kiss. Dreamer indicating that she was ready. Wizard didn't respond. Dreamer made first contact on the cheek. Hoping that he'd move his face a few centimeters. He didn't. She did.

  Now, their first intimate contact would be coming soon. Again Dreamer was sending very strong signals that she was ready. Wizard was holding back because of concern about the molestation. She'd be grabbing his hand and placing it where she wanted it soon.

  And after that? She'd be ready for the next step; he wouldn't be. She'd act.

  Where was this going for Dreamer? A trustworthy, honest man in her life for the first time ever? Babies to care for like she hadn't been cared for?

  # # # # # # # #

  "You and Dreamer have to talk together about what you want from life, and what you want from each other, Wiz. Dreamer's ex-father will be an issue for her for some time, even though she doesn't appear to be affected by it right now. You have to be on the same page on how quickly you want your relationship to grow. Talk about it. Not when you're clutching and grabbing each other. Talk when you're sitting apart."

  Wizard was back to sitting across from his granny and facing her.

  "It would be bad for her if I touched her?"

  "I can't say. You have to ask her, not me."

  Wiz got up to leave. He didn't seem too enthused by the message Granny had given him.

  "You've talked about sex with me. It won't be as hard with Dreamer."

  "OK. Thanks for the talk, Granny. Thanks for the cake."

  "Wiz?"

  He turned.

  "By any chance, are you carrying birth control protection with you?"

  Wiz looked horrified. "If I did, that would mean I was planning to have sex with her."

  "It might happen purely by accident. Come with me. I know where there's some hidden."

  On the way. "Did your dad talk to you about sex, and condoms, and things like that?"

  Wiz nodded.

  "Carrying a condoms is just in case, Wiz. Being careful doesn't make a girl into a slut, or a boy into a sex maniac. Have one with you always in case something happens that you weren't expecting or can't control."

  Back to the Table of Contents

  Chapter 20

  It was early April. Winnie and Momaka were walking back to her garden plot after the end of Hank's meeting with the family. He had called the meeting to announce that the Wilizy members in the satellite compound had found a way to scrub carbon out of the atmosphere. Soon, Wilizy companies here in Alberta would be producing different-sized power units that would provide cheap, renewable energy for a small cost. Everything about this project was to be kept a secret and that's why Hank was holding back all the details on how the science worked. "The scientific work on this was done out of the satellite compound. But some of us will be involved soon in making and selling the power units. Dreamer and Wizard have already started the groundwork on that. For now, all you need to know is that the Earth is going to recover slowly but steadily. In time, you'll be able to actually see the difference if you're up in space in the submarine."

  Back we go now to Winnie and Momaka walking and talking ...

  "Did you know that William was planning on cleaning up the atmosphere, Momaka?" Winnie was chiding herself. There had been secret discussions and she hadn't known about them.

  "No. I'm glad that they're doing that though. We shouldn't have to suffer for the mistakes that the ancients made."

  "Did you get to see the Earth from the submarine when you were down at the satellite compound?"

  "Yes. It was very beautiful."

  "How will the Earth look after the atmosphere is cleaner?"

  "Clearer skies, I expect. In time, there'll be polar ice caps again. Glaciers on the mountains. The land will be greener when the rains come back."

  "Would you like some help with the hybrids?"

  "I would. I thought you said it was boring."

  "It is. Doing the same thing over and over to hundreds of plants."

  "Sort of like piano practices. Playing the scales over and over, repeating the same pieces. Is that why you stopped practicing?"

  "Yeah. I saw how the notes go together, and the chords, and they make nice sounds. But when you're practicing, you don't have to really think. It's boring."

  "So you're offering to help me do a boring job..."

  "In case your hands become sore. I could fix them."

  "I'd like that. Fair trade. You help me, I help you." Momaka filled up two water buckets and placed a bucket with an eye dropper at Winnie's feet. She took her own bucket and eye dropper to the start of a row of plants, knelt on the ground, and began rinsing off some dust from the plant's leaves.

&
nbsp; Winnie followed her to the beginning of the line but left her watering equipment where it was. "You weren't on the sub when all of us kids went up to look at the Earth. When did you go?"

  "Some of the adults went up separately."

  "Oh. I wondered where Doc and Granny had gone one day. I couldn't find them. Guess they were flying in the sub."

  "Probably. Did Patella and Scapula arrive back in one piece?"

  "Yah. They're probably going to do something like this every year. It will remind them of what real wolves do. Patella might want another litter."

  "Can Patella talk to the wolves like she can talk to you and Scapula?"

  "No. She says they're stupid. Lucas didn't look too happy after the meeting, did he?"

  "I didn't notice."

  "He was pounding the bag real hard. I asked him where he was going to spend all of his construction money, and he told me not to pry."

  "Lucas will find peacetime difficult. He lives to fight and compete."

  "How do you know that?"

  "It's obvious."

  "Do you think Uncle Stu is getting bored in prison?"

  "My goodness, your mind does jump around, doesn't it."

  "You think or not?"

  "I wouldn't know. I had one part to play in the show they're putting on. I don't believe they'll need me again."

  "Are your hands sore yet?"

  "No. Are yours?"

  "I haven't been doing anything."

  "I noticed that. Didn't we have an agreement about sharing the work?"

  "Fine. Make me bored."

  "I plan to."

  # # # # # # # #

  Double-Tom saw Doc the minute he walked through the visitor door. Like Mr. Stu had said, he was a big aboriginal with a shock of white hair. He had a visitor pass around his neck like everybody else had, but he wasn't meeting anybody. He was standing at the entrance, scanning the crowd. D-T went back to pretending to work while keeping an eye on Doc. He was good at pretending to work; not so good at watching Doc. He wasn't there the next time D-T looked up.