Of course, it also came to Nadine Bauer's ear, his mother, who wanted to know more about the incident, the day after she came home from work.
«I don’t know mom, I just saw him come in, but as soon as I stood up, well, how could I say ... he was not there!» Patrik said without taking his eyes off the television.
He didn’t like the talk.
«What do you mean with he was not there?!» his mother said.
«He was not there, but after he came, mom, your stupid friends told you that after he arrived, right ?!» The tone was irritable.
«What friends? What are you talking about?» she tried to calm him.
«I know very well that you talk about me, everyone talks about me! But I'm not strange!» he shrieked. «And if you really want to know, I'm not crazy either! He came through the door as I’d seen him do, and then Christina was going ... oh, go to hell!»
«Patrik, please do not be like that». But the sound of the door slamming thundered into the dining room and she decided to let the talk end like this.
Nadine knew very well that her son had something special, something that she had always suspected and always feared. The Chicago episode was still the cause of many of her sleepless nights.
Even now.
After all these years.
*
Patrik's father, Lt. David Jones, and his mother met in Germany when he was posted at the Babenhausen American military base.
The two immediately fell in love and after the birth of their son they moved near Chicago because after the unification of the two Germanies, the base would soon be closed.
At that time Nadine was a beautiful girl with long blonde hair like Patrik’s, a sunny face and a bright smile that David had loved from the very first moment. He met her one evening in an Aschaffenburg nightclub and he couldn’t get her out of his head.
He came to her house a few days later with a military Jeep, three hundred and sixty-five red roses and a big three-headed hat with little bells on it, telling her that he would have loved her every single day of the year like a madman.
David was tall, dark and with a beautiful slender body worthy of his uniform.
A long family military tradition had brought him to Europe with the precise intention of making a brilliant career in the army, and he always did his best to succeed, even if his Italian mother taught him not to take himself too seriously.
Patrik was born in the hospital of Erlenbach, a year and a half after his parents met, in a mixture of English and German languages that united two families who did not understand each other so well.
Fortunately, these situations, as we know, require few translations.
The transfer to the United States was not so dramatic for Nadine. Her husband's mother helped her as best she could when he was on a mission and the fascination of a new world, so different from her own, was attractive to her in a special way.
And then it happened.
Patrik was not yet three years old when something so strange occurred to attract even the attention of some local newspapers.
That day the wind seemed to be calm in the "Windy City" and Nadine took the opportunity to go out with her baby for a walk on the shores of Lake Michigan, near the University of Chicago.
The temperature was pleasant and, as usual, the shore of the lake was filled with so much life. David was on a mission and he would come back in a couple of weeks, so what better time to break the monotony of a cold winter spent at home than with a nice walk?
«You see Patrik? That's basketball» she said to her son, watching some guys playing in a public playground.
«In our country you would play soccer with your future classmates, but I think I'll see you play something like this soon!»
«Ahaannna!» her son answered and even though Nadine didn’t have the faintest idea what he wanted to say, she smiled at him, hugged him, untied her hair, wedged her sunglasses on, then started walking with him again.
Within a few seconds, near the jetty about twenty meters away, two ladies began to scream and Nadine immediately realized that a person, perhaps another woman, had fallen into the water. A black boy nearby immediately took off his sneakers and T-shirt and dived in to rescue the unfortunate person. Thanks to other people rushing to help, they managed to rescue the poor woman and Nadine, breathed a sigh of relief for the near miss, and reached out her hand for her son's, but Patrik was gone.
«Patrik ?!» she called turning her head in all directions.
«Patrik ....» The child was not there.
«Oh God. Where is my baby? Paaatriiik!» she shouted, but nothing.
Vanished into nothingness.
«Have you seen a little blonde child?» she asked a couple nearby as the blood froze in her veins. The two looked at her without understanding.
«Paaatriiik?!» she continued without even waiting for an answer.
«Heeelp ... Patriiik!» She kept shouting louder and louder in all directions.
The same people who, with incredulous expressions, had witnessed the lady fall into the water a few moments before, turned their confused heads to look at a girl in tears who was shrieking someone's name.
Tears, screams and desperate running up and down the lakefront were useless. The child had literally disappeared, as if carried away by the wind. Police, firefighters and divers searched for him until late at night without success. David's mother and family friends went over the park, the hospitals and the streets surrounding the area over and over again.
Nothing!
And to make matters worse, David was unreachable, busy in the Atlantic Ocean on some absurd mission, and Nadine spent a night of anguish that seemed to last a thousand, crying by the phone.
Patrik was found the following day at about seven o'clock in the morning by a lady on a bicycle, who saw him all alone with his hands resting on the basketball net, while mumbling something like Aaahaanna.
No wound or sign of abuse of any kind. Both the child and his clothes were fine and judging from the cleanliness of his face, it seemed that he had not even cried.
The case was resolved but everyone was afraid.
It was a mystery that the police did not even try to solve because the baby was safe and the Jones family was not so wealthy to suggest a kidnapping. The great doubt remained though. Where, and especially with whom had little Patrik been all night ?!
Fate had been mild in that case, but it wouldn’t be for long.
*
Nadine spent the next twenty-four hours virtually attached to her son, without ever losing sight of him. It was nine thirty in the morning and the baby was sleeping soundly. She decided to get under the shower to try and resume the appearance of a normal woman. After, with the bathrobe tied at the waist and her hair inside a towel she came out of the bathroom to see if the baby was still sleeping, but when she opened the door, what she saw completely took her breath away.
Patrik was standing on the bed and smiling, while his puppets and some toys circled around him, suspended in midair, as if attached to invisible threads.
«But what…?!». The end of the sentence snapped in her throat when she saw that Patrik's feet had begun to rise from the bed.
The boy smiled, and as soon as he noticed the presence of his mother, she felt herself being lifted by a mysterious force which made her lighter than air for a moment and then ...
Riiiiiiing!
The sound of the bell broke the magic and everything fell at once, as if gravity had been brought back into the space shuttle.
All the objects fell and Patrik landed on the mat and Nadine found herself standing up and looking around as if in a dream.
Riiiiiiing!
Still the bell, but the taste of the incredible was too alive for her to notice.
Riiiiiiing!
The third ring brought her back to herself.
She left the room and headed for the door, but after three steps she stopped. Now that all her senses had returned to reality, she went back to her r
oom, took Patrik in her arms and went to see who was there.
She crossed the connecting corridor from the bedrooms to the living room, clutching her son to herself as never before, wondering what had happened a moment before. Whatever it was, she promised herself that no one would harm her son, who only a few hours ago had been brought back to her in strange and mysterious circumstances.
Together with her husband they would protect him, even if she didn’t yet know how to explain the last twenty-four hours.
«Just a moment, I was in the shower!» she shouted, so that the person ringing the bell could hear. «I'll be right there.»
She put the baby on the sofa for a moment, closed her bathrobe tightly, put on her slippers, and, taking Patrik up in her arms again, opened the door.
«Mrs. Jones?» asked one of the two men in uniform who appeared in front of her.
«Yes, that’s me. What is it?» Nadine replied.
The man took off his hat and brought it to his midriff, holding it with both hands. He looked down, then said «Mrs Jones, I'm sorry to inform you that your husband was the victim of an accident about a hundred miles north of Iceland, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean».
«But how is ... ?!»
«The plane on which he was traveling has crashed and sunk, we believe due to a technical failure. There are no survivors».
2
Three police cars were parked sideways on to close the road about seventy-eighty meters from the unidentified object. Others were still a little further back to act as a cork, preventing masses of onlookers from approaching any closer than necessary.
Many people came from all over the place, running in the direction of the object and demanding answers from the police, who also had to fight with their own curiosity. Groups of boys began to call loudly "aliens" in the direction of the ship, while the displays of their smartphones immortalized the event that would soon become a social media phenomenon.
The local police chief, with the one of the firefighters, who in the meantime had joined the party, talked about what to do without ever taking their eyes off the new guest of the village, which remained there, motionless and lifeless. A couple of army helicopters landed on the other side of the street while others flew nearby. The sky was dominated by the high altitude spirals of air force planes.
The colonel, sequins on his uniform, got out of the first helicopter. He wasn’t the Bruce Willis type everyone expected but judging by his walk and the orders he gave the other two who followed him, he seemed to know his business.
He reached the front cordon to hear the police report as he began to realize the size of the solid object before his eyes.
«Gentlemen, good morning. I'm Colonel Lehmann, who's in charge here?» he asked without talking at lenght.
One of the policemen from the Obernburg station approached him, shaking hands with the colonel. «So..» the latter asked, «...could you explain to me what’s happening here and what is that thing?»
«Well, sir ... to tell you the truth I was hoping you could tell me ... all I know is that that thing came down suddenly from the sky and settled where you see it».
«Signs of life or movement?» The colonel asked.
«Nothing. Nothing at all. It’s been standing there for fifteen minutes, completely silent».
«Did you notice if something was thrown from or left the aircraft during the descent?»
«I was in the office and I only saw the last part of the landing but from what people here say, it seems not."
«Thanks, Captain. Good job. Now please help my men keep civilians away. We'll take care of it from here ».
Lehmann moved his hand.
A dozen men in camouflage, with rifles in their hands, reached their superior as if in an exercise of war, while other troops took care of moving the civilians away.
And finally something happened.
A loud metallic noise from the ship crossed the air. The shouting of the crowd turned into silence. A series of repeated clicks sounded as the soldiers armed their rifles, half of which were then aimed at the UFO.
Thirty seconds later and a gap of about a couple of meters began to open right in the middle of the side facing the road.
Whether the world was ready or not for the event, the three beings who got off the ship did not wait for permission. Their purpose was very precise and certainly was not done in order to make a show.
*
Patrik air-guitared the Message In A Bottle guitar solo by the Police that roared from his headphones while he threw a stick further and further away for the dog to fetch. Sometimes he checked the clock to make sure he got home on time to prepare lunch before his mother's arrival at one fifteen.
A sudden slap on the neck made him wince, he whirled around and saw Marco's face laughing at having surprised him.
«You're such an idiot» he said, taking his headphones off. «What’s in that frog brain of yours ?! You’re a loser!»
«Come on Patrik, can’t you take a joke?» his friend replied, a grin of satisfaction on his face.
«Eighteen years thrown away» he screamed, rubbing his neck, while Marco moved back still laughing
«It makes you laugh, eh ...? ». Now Patrik was laughing too, while approaching him threateningly. «You’ll pay for that one!» He said, and the two friends began to fight like two lion cubs, very enthusiastically but with no intention of hurting each other.
The fight lasted a few moments, until Billo threw himself into the fray and the two found themselves laughing on the lawn, while the dog licked his owner’s face.
«What were you listening to. You looked hypnotised?» asked Marco.
«Message in a bottle, The Police. A classic».
«I thought you were studying the Pink Floyd Comfortably Numb solo, but it’s well out of your reach».
«That’s already in me» Patrik said with the expression of a metal singer, waving the fingers of his left hand in front of his friend's nose. «Just think about beating in time, Sunday drummer.»
Marco lived not far from the Jones’ house and the two had always been friends. From an Italian family, perhaps he was the only one to accept Patrik as he was. He did not ask too many questions about the oddities of his somewhat special friend.
His father had moved to Germany from Italy many years before and he had been born there. At home they spoke Italian and, thanks to this, Patrik had learned a lot of the language, mainly all the bad words.
Marco was a nice guy, even if a little awkward. Tall, a little dark-skinned with dark hair, two broad shoulders and an unconditional love, which Patrik called obsession, for the female of the species.
For the young Jones, his friend’s house was virtually a second home. He had practically grown up between Mr. Almisi's pipes and the screams of his wife, who begged the two boys to turn down their music. Every weekend, and sometimes in the week, the appointment at Marco's home to see Lazio soccer team play was sacred. He enjoyed it when his friend literally jumped from the couch for some wasted goal or arbitrary decision that had been altogether too questionable.
Father and son gave Patrik the scarf and cap of the team as a gift and he, even though he was not very keen on soccer, wore them willingly to immerse himself in the stadium atmosphere.
Marco knew that the Jones boy was special. There was something unique and mysterious inside him, but he never touched that key in his friendship with him. His friend did not live it easily and it was good like this! At the age of fourteen, one day in February, he had looked the other way while Patrik replaced a history book without even touching it.
He always steeled himself. Every time.
He even pretended to be amazed when, strangely, Patrik took him to places where something was going to happen.
During his visit to the zoo in Frankfurt, a few years earlier, he had even punched Oliver Damm for offending his friend. On that day, while the teacher was talking to the class, Patrik moved slightly away to observe the monkeys who suddenly, had gone insane
looking at him. They waved their legs violently on the bars, screaming and gathering right in front of him. Patrik had been immobilized and incredulous in the face of so much anger.
A small crowd gathered to watch the scene, mainly because now the monkeys were trying to bite the safety fence in a mixture of blood and dribble, beating each other, as if they were competing for those who would first be able to kill the poor boy who, at that point, was starting to look around fearfully.
He began to run away, red in the face, afraid of being accused of doing something to those poor little animals and, while making his way through his classmates, the teacher asked «What's up Jones?!», but Patrik didn’t give an answer because he was now far away and running towards the exit.
It was then that Oliver said «I think he must have kissed one of those poor monkeys!"
The whole class laughed and the end result was a livid cheek for Oliver and three days of suspension for Marco.
He and Patrik attended the same music school playing electric guitar and drums respectively. They tried to put on a band to play in the nearby pubs or during the numerous summer festivals where rivers of beer flow. As with many groups, they could not find a bass player.
«Look at the day’s listing» said Marco, standing up. «Shopping center in Aschaffenburg for interesting meetings for ladies, (his face brightened up after he said that, as if he had just discovered the formula for turning lead into gold), soccer match with our Marienstrasse friends and pizza tonight with me! What do you say?».
«What can I say? ... you know, on Saturday I help mum with the garden» replied Patrik, almost annoyed. «If I don’t do it, she'll make up a lot of stories and then end up bickering» and he got up to continue throwing the stick for Billo.
«You can’t leave me alone today. Basically the whole school meets there. Not to mention all the girls who will be there only for us!»
«Yes,» laughed Patrik, «especially looking for you!»
Patrik Jones and the Code of the Universe Page 2
