We Come In Peace

by Lillian Francken

  John rubbed his cheek and then grabbed the two containers out of the console and set them down in front of Bobby.

  “This should do it,” he said.

  “Good. You’re coming with me tonight. Right now we have to get through dinner,” Bobby added quickly and then motioned to the containers. “Don’t say a word to Jenny about this.

  John nodded as if to agree but did not see why they had to be secretive about it. Things are so complicated in this world. Nothing is as it seemed.

  * * *

  Jenny set the food on the table. Mario Lanza was piped through the speakers in every room. John rubbed his ears, but it was useless. He just glanced at Jane nervously. He had a hard time not looking at her heaving breasts through the thin house dress that Bobby found for her.

  He and Jane had been together for a long time, and in that time he couldn’t recall ever experiencing the things he was feeling for her now. It bothered him, yet it was most pleasing.

  Elmer broke a piece off his roll and fed Spot, who gobbled up the morsel with expectations of getting more. John could not get over the devilish look in Elmer’s eyes.

  Bobby kept nervously glancing up at the clock, which did not go unnoticed by Jenny.

  “Do you have someplace to go?” Jenny asked.

  Bobby looked up with all the wide-eyed innocence he could muster. “Yeah,” he said and then cleared his throat. “John and I are going downtown this evening.”

  “What for?”

  Jane glanced over at John. It had bothered her that ever since they crash-landed on this planet, John seemed to be becoming insubordinate. Granted, he never disobeyed any order she gave him. It was just he seemed to be taking liberties and exerting a form of independence that was not conducive to their training. Plus, the fact their craft was still in disrepair. Until it was in operating order, they were stuck on this planet, no matter how primitive it was.

  Bobby startled Jane back to the here and now when he said, “Homework.”

  “Homework,” she snapped as she turned to John. “Why do you have to go downtown when the home is here?”

  John turned to Bobby. He knew this was not going to be an easy question for Bobby to answer. Jenny, on the other hand, was taken aback by Jane’s question. Bobby just rolled his eyes and tried not to look guilty.

  “Jane has such a sense of humor,” Bobby mocked.

  John turned to Bobby for the longest time. He then turned to Jane to see her reaction, which wasn’t good and then he looked back to Bobby.

  Bobby turned to Elmer. “So, Gramps, what are your plans for this evening. I hope you give Mario a rest. Otherwise, you’re going to wear out that tape.

  “The mail came earlier,” Elmer said with a confused expression on his face.

  “No, you have to give Mario a rest,” Bobby shouted.

  Elmer just gave Spot a piece of meat, ignoring Bobby’s remark.

  Jenny turned to Bobby with a stern look. “You didn’t answer me. Why do you have to go into town?”

  “I have work to do. You know graduation is coming up soon.”

  “So then you plan on graduating.”

  “Ah! Ah! Why wouldn’t I?” Bobby answered a question with a question, keeping the merry-go-round going.

  Elmer looked up with the innocence of a child. “We should get a dog,” he said.

  Jenny turned to him with a haggard look, frustration visible on her face.

  “That’s all I need,” she snapped and then quickly added, “You can’t even take care of yourself, much less a dog.”

  “I saw some Chocolate Lab pups for sale in the paper.”

  “Dad, don’t you understand English?”

  “I’ll call to see if they got their shots.”

  Jenny just shook her head. She looked at everyone at the table and then put her head in her hands. Jane and John followed suit and did the same. John turned to Bobby and shrugged for guidance. Bobby just shook his head.

  CHAPTER 20

  Elmer was in the bathroom washing up. He ran the electric shaver quickly over his face and then put on a splash of Old Spice. He glanced down at Spot sitting at his feet. Ever since the visitors came to live with them, Spot had become inseparable with Elmer. Elmer bent down and dabbed a little aftershave on Spot’s head.

  “The ladies go wild over this stuff.”

  Spot just covered his head with his front paws and whimpered. They were interrupted by the knock on the door.

  “Gramps, you’re not the only one living here.”

  Elmer opened the door and leaned out. “Someone on the phone.”

  Bobby looked at Elmer. He got a whiff of the aftershave lotion and was apparently startled by what he saw. In the six months he’d lived there, he never saw his grandfather do more than shave three times a week, whether he needed it or not.

  “You’re not the only—oh, never mind,” Bobby said and then quickly added, “You got a date?”

  Elmer walked past Bobby, ignoring his question. He walked over to the desk with the phone and then turned back to Bobby.

  “Did someone call me?”

  Bobby just shrugged. The door at the end of the hall opened. Jenny walked out of her bedroom in time to see Elmer. A puzzled look crossed her face as she frowned and turned to Bobby, who in turn just shrugged, walked into the bathroom, and shut the door.

  Elmer picked up the receiver and, hearing the dial tone, hung up the receiver and then walked into his bedroom and shut the door.

  Once in the confines of his little sanctuary, Elmer took the package he received earlier off the dresser. He studied the envelope for a moment, quickly opened it, and wet his lips looking at the tiny bottle of Viagra. Elmer tossed the bottle in the air like a little kid with his first hardball. He quickly put the bottle in his pocket and then walked out of his room, followed by Spot.

  * * *

  Bobby was anxious about what he was about to do but fearful of explaining it all to Jenny. She had such high hopes for him, and he didn’t want to disappoint her once more. Bobby promised himself if he got out of this mess, he would stay on the straight and narrow until graduation.

  It was hard getting out of the house that evening. Jenny sensed something was up with Bobby and John and it had nothing to do with homework. It took some doing before Bobby was finally able to leave for the evening. He drove while John nervously glanced out the passenger window while holding the bottle from the spacecraft.

  “Is it right, what we are doing? John asked.

  “It’s not right to expel me for something I didn’t do.”

  There was a concern in John’s voice. “Maybe if you explain.”

  “Old man Rowe has had it in for me ever since I came here.”

  “I’m not sure what effect this will have on humans,” John argued while holding the bottle tight. He regretted telling Bobby what the compound could do.

  “We will only use a little,” Bobby said assuredly.

  Thank goodness, it was a short drive to the school, and once they got there, Bobby parked near the football stadium. He quickly got out of the car, and when he saw John not moving, he walked over to the passenger door and opened it.

  “Come on. I need you.”

  John reluctantly got out and followed Bobby to the back of the school. They looked at the row of basement windows, and when they saw one cracked open, they knew it was their way in. Luckily no one was there yet for the staff meeting. Bobby glanced at his watch and figured they had a good half-hour before the staff meeting would start.

  Walking through the empty halls was unnerving. Their footsteps echoed unlike ever before. Bobby led the way, with John following close behind. As they entered the principal’s office Bobby glanced around. The evening sun illuminated everything in the office. It was then Bobby saw the folder sitting on the corner of the desk. He quickly picked it up and flipped it open. Bobby studied the computer sheets showing his grades and frowned. He had not realized just how poorly the teachers were grading him even though he was get
ting A’s and B’s on all the quizzes and tests.

  Bobby walked over to the computer and turned it on. Once the desktop screen came up, he stared at the screen that asked for a password. Bobby opened the center desk drawer, rummaging through the drawer until he found the piece of paper he was looking for. Bobby hoped it was the user name and password.

  Quickly he typed in the user name and then the password, but the only thing that happened was an error message. John motioned for Bobby to move over. Bobby quickly obliged. John sat down, went into the guts of the computer, and typed in a series of numbers and then clicked the enter button. Bobby watched the screen and hoped the system was not set up to lock up after a few failed attempts. To Bobby’s surprise, a large ‘Accepted’ crossed the screen.

  “How did you do that?” Bobby asked.

  “All computers recognize a cryptic code to bypass the security system.”

  “We got to talk later,” Bobby laughed.

  “Did I do something wrong?”

  John pulled up Bobby’s grade history while Bobby watches over his shoulder.

  “Is this what we came for?” John asked.

  Bobby stared at the screen. “What are you doing?”

  “You want to remain in school, don’t you?”

  “Yeah, but isn’t what you are doing illegal?” Bobby asked.

  “And us being here,” John asked motioning to the principal’s office, “Isn’t this illegal?”

  “You have a point.”

  Bobby looked at the “D” he was getting in Mr. Rowe’s class.

  “I’m doing at least ‘B’ work, and he’s giving me an ‘D’—that isn’t fair.”

  John clicked on the record and then changed the “F” to an “A.” He quickly modified other grades on the screen and then printed the page. Bobby grabbed the sheet from the file folder. He folded it, put it in his pocket, and replaced it with the new modified sheet. John turned the computer off and then just watched Bobby and waited for his lead.

  Once done with modifying Bobby’s grades, they left the principal’s office and then walked down the corridor. John glanced curiously at the lockers with their combination locks. He walked over to one of the lockers and touched the lock.

  “What is the purpose of this?” John asked.

  “It’s where we store our belongings while we’re in school.”

  John played with the combination lock for a moment, and then it suddenly opened. Bobby just stared at John.

  “How did you do that?”

  “These are primitive devices,” was all John said, adding no more explanation of how he opened it.

  Bobby walked over to Shelby’s locker and motioned for John to open it. John reluctantly turned the combination lock a few times until the lock quickly released. Bobby slowly opened the locker and looked inside. Although there were no lights on in the corridor, Bobby could still make out the sketch of himself taped to the back wall of the locker. On the corners were penciled hearts with arrows through the heart.

  “Oh shit, she does like me,” Bobby said with a grin.

  Bobby closed the locker with renewed interest. He glanced at the clock on the wall and then quickly hurried to the teacher’s lounge. He feared the secretary would be there early to set things up for the meeting.

  * * *

  The teacher’s lounge wasn’t far from Shelby’s locker. Bobby had a purpose now. Granted he wanted to graduate, but he had to make sure that, along with his SAT score, he had the grades to reflect that that score was not a fluke.

  Bobby quickly walked over to the teacher’s lounge door followed closely by John. Bobby opened the door slowly, hoping above all else that no one came early. As luck would have it, the lights were out. As he opened the door, the chairs were placed around the room for the meeting that was to take place shortly. Off in the corner, there were two pots of coffee on hot plates where the secretary put them earlier.

  Bobby knew they would have to hurry because he was sure if the secretary would be back to finish setting up the room before the meeting started.

  Bobby turned to John. “The show’s almost on the road,” he said, walking over to the pots of coffee. “Give me the bottles.”

  John hesitated a moment. “I don’t know if what we are doing is right.”

  “Now is not the time to back out,” Bobby snapped.

  John looked concerned. “What effect it will have on humans, I can’t be sure.”

  “I’m desperate. I can’t get expelled.”

  “Maybe they won’t expel you.”

  Bobby looked at John with disbelief. He was not going to chance that this would go his way. “Hurry, we don’t have all day.”

  John took the bottles out of his pocket and reluctantly handed them to Bobby, who in turn quickly twisted the caps off and poured each into the two pots of coffee.

  Once they were done spiking the coffee, Bobby and John quickly left the way they arrived, hoping not to run into any of the teachers or the principal. They made it out of the parking lot long before any of the teachers showed up for the special meeting.

  CHAPTER 21

  Once Elmer readied himself, he quickly got in his old Cadillac convertible with the extension ladder strapped in the passenger seat. Spot sat silently on the back seat waiting in anticipation for what was to come. It was a short drive to Widow Megal's house.

  Once Elmer pulled up to Widow Megal’s house he took the extension ladder and placed it under the second story window that was lit. He quickly took the bottle of Viagra out of his shirt pocket and then popped one of the blue pills into his mouth and swallowed it. Then he started belting out Mario Lanza’s “Santa Lucia” with all the gusto he could muster up, still clutching the bottle of Viagra. Spot sat patiently at Elmer’s feet.

  Widow Megal hurried to the window to see what all the noise was. She opened the window wide while watching Elmer below with his arms outstretched. Fearing the neighbors calling the police because of the noise, she motioned Elmer to come up the ladder.

  As Elmer started climbing up the ladder with the bottle of Viagra in his hand, he slipped and accidentally dropped the bottle. Elmer hesitated a moment, he glanced down in time to see Spot grab up the bottle and run off with it.

  Meanwhile, the Widow Megal waited patiently at the window for Elmer. Elmer threw caution to the winds and continued up the ladder. Once he was near the end of the ladder, the widow grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him through the open window. For a brief moment, all that could be seen were Elmer’s legs waving precariously about until a hand reached out of the window, grabbed the seat of Elmer’s pants, and pulled him through. In an instant, the window was slammed shut.

  * * *

  The special meeting at the high school was delayed somewhat as no one wanted to deal with the situation at hand. The school year was almost over, and everyone only wanted to be home. It took follow-up calls to fill a quorum so that any decision that was made that night could not be contested.

  The secretary poured coffee for the attendees as more showed up for the meeting. She quickly passed out cookies in the hopes that the grumbling would soon stop. Once enough people gathered, the principal proceeded to start the meeting. Unknown to all it gave enough time for the mind-altering drug to take effect and because everyone was drinking coffee, no one seemed the wiser to know what was being discussed was not the intent of the meeting.

  “He is such a joy to have around,” the principal proudly announced.

  If truth be known, he admired Bobby Drews’s free spirit and secretly despised the jocks of the school who seemed to bully anyone who didn’t fit into their conventional mode of thinking. Anyone who was in high school and did not fit into a particular clique knew what he was referring to.

  Mr. Rowe stood up and announced, “I move to make him valedictorian.”

  The school secretary meticulously took down the minutes of the meeting. Unlike all the others attending the meeting, she was drinking her bottled water. Although she was puzzled by
all the brilliant comments about Bobby, she just did as she was told and took down the comments as they were said. She liked Bobby and thought he was given a bum rap by the jocks at the school. She was on the school grounds when the incident happened. Unlike Mr. Rowe, she had a different opinion as to who started the fight. She tried to explain that to the principal the next morning but her pleas were ignored, and it was Mr. Rowe who convinced the principal to hold this special meeting to have Bobby expelled. She secretly smiled to herself, listening to Mr. Rowe and his praises of a student that he had apparently despised four hours earlier.

  * * *

  Spot played with the bottle of Viagra behind Widow Megal’s old woodshed. Suddenly the cap loosened and fell off. Pills spilled out onto the ground. Spot quickly licked the ground and chewed a couple of the pills. After a few minutes, his eyes rolled, and he hurried off.

  * * *

  Bobby dropped John off at the ranch and then drove off to go cruising. He didn’t know if what they did would work and he found it difficult to sit home and wait for the phone call from the principal saying he was expelled. Worse yet, he feared his plans for him going on to school would never be a reality no matter how good his SAT score was.

  Bobby stopped for a red light and was in kind of a daze when he glanced into the ice cream parlor window to see the vision that had been in his mind all day. Shelby Mall sat alone looked forlorn and rejected. Bobby quickly parked the car around the corner.

  Spot hurried around town servicing female dogs in heat. When he could not find a warm body to release himself, he humped a fire hydrant with great vigor when he sniffed something in the air. He quickly took off, back in the direction of Widow Megal’s home. He entered a doggie door. It didn’t take long till he found what he was looking for, Widow Megal’s pet, Buttons, who was in heat.

  * * *

  Jenny was sitting on the couch reading 50 Shades of Grey, enjoying the peace because everyone seemed to have someplace else to be. It was nice not having to listen to Mario Lanza blaring throughout the house. John and Jane were in the shed working on some secret project that she had no interest in knowing about. Bobby was still in town under the pretense of school work.