The stereo was playing a c.d. right now and I could hear some song quietly. Red Hot Chili Peppers. Yeah. That"s sounds about right for Phillip"s collection. There was a stack of no less than two hundred c.d."s on display on the wall shelf. It was here the whole time and we never knew.
I saw Danny mouthing the words to "Can"t Stop". "Knocked out but boy you better come to. Don"t die you know the truth as some do. Go write your message on the pavement, burn so bright I wonder what the wave meant. White heat is screaming in the jungle."
"Well, I wanted to come see you. Ask you how the lessons are going. Kay"s not working you too much is she?" Merrick asked.
We both sat down on the floor in front of them. Kay had been one of the Keepers giving lessons or cla.s.ses on how to control the new Specials gifts. They practiced their gifts on each other, sometimes for hours at a time, trying to learn to control them at will and in complete focus.
"Nah. She"s great. It"s Miguel that"s the freaking n.a.z.i!" Danny said and laughed. "He"s a slave driver, for sure. Him and Kay have been showing us how to use our gifts while training with the Karate and self defense lessons. At the same time. It makes me feel all Chuck Norris inside."
"Yeah. It"s awesome," chimed Celeste, just as animated as Danny had been, talking with her hands. "Like Danny will tell someone to duck in their mind at the same time that he knees them in the face or...like, Calvin can torch someone while Danny tells them to freeze or, Cain can blast them with his sonic boom hand thingy and then while they"re down, we all run over and stomp them. It"s awesome. The old stock room is totally trashed now."
The old stock room. The room behind Paul and Katie and Sky"s room, which used to be Trudy"s old room, but further down the hall. I"d never even been back there until a couple weeks ago.
"Well. That sounds interesting," Merrick said looking amused. "So everything"s going good then? I know it"s fun but you are making progress, right? Learning something?"
"Oh yeah. I"m not saying I want to invite the Lighters to a tea party but...if we ran into one, I think we could probably take them."
"Danny," I chided, "don"t get c.o.c.ky."
"I"m not. I meant all of us, not me by myself. I"m not that dumb. But you know what, you should see Lily."
"Yeah. She"s so stinking cute," Celeste said.
"I came to watch a few times, when I had a minute. Why do ya"ll have to practice right before dinner, huh? I"m always in the kitchen and miss everything," I say and feel a pang of guilt.
Everyone has their job and that"s mine. Someone had to take over for Mrs. Trudy.
"I know, little sister," Danny says as he always jokes with me that way. I"m his big sister but by looking at how short I am, you"d never tell it. "Little sister" has always been his endearment for me. "It sucks but it"s the only time when everyone is together and all the other stuff is done. Plus, we get to eat right after instead of raiding the kitchen when we get done for snacks. I am always famished when we get done," he said and then remembered what we were talking about and sat up straighter. "But Lily is so focused. Miguel works really good with her, knows exactly what to say to get her riled up. So far, the only thing she can do is make the person she touches choke. But hey, that"s better than nothing. She did it to me once in practice. It really does feels like you"re choking. It was wicked."
"Is it safe? To do that I mean. Calvin"s gift isn"t some minor thing. It"s serious. What if you hurt each other practicing, by accident?" I ask, picturing Danny choking and wondering if they had panicked or not.
"It"s ok," Merrick said, sensing my anxiety. He pulled me closer to him and laced our fingers. "Calvin only practices after everyone else has left the room. Miguel is there and he"s trained as an EMT. Plus, they have to practice so they know who to control it. They are being very careful. Even with Lily. Miguel told me that he only let"s her practice on him now. Just in case. It"s alright."
"I"m not just talking about Calvin and Lily though," I said softly. "I mean, like Celeste. No offense, but you"re gift isn"t proactive is it? It"s a means for missions and spying and definitely an a.s.set but how do you practice with the others? Are you always the target instead?"
"Don"t be silly, Sherry. I am the target sometimes, but I practice my gift too. See, I can only see a person by focusing on them so it"s not as cool a gift as I"d like but, I can alert the others to danger and things like that while they are fighting. I"m more of a scout. I"d be the lead on a mission so, it"s ok. It"s fun anyway. We all have our purpose."
I sat a little stunned by her profoundness and cool demeanor. I thought for sure she"d get all up in a tizzy with me about the "your gift isn"t proactive" thing.
"Well then. I just don"t want to see anyone get hurt, that"s all. Least of all you, Calvin or Lily."
"I know. But believe me, Lily can take care of herself. She"s got the deadly choke fingers and she"s got the total blond babe thing going for her, plus the rosy cheeks." She pinched her cheeks. "If they got past us and she was somehow compromised, just when they thought they had her she"d make them choke on their own stupidity and leave them laying on the ground like the heap of a loser they were. She"s gonna be frigging blonde awesome someday."
"Uh, baby? You"re blond," Danny said to Celeste, thoroughly enjoying the conversation.
We all loved to get Celeste riled up. It was quite entertaining.
"Yeah but not that kinda blond. She"s in a whole other cla.s.s of blond. Babe blond," she spouted while her hands were animated and her pointer finger wild as she explained.
I roll my eyes as Danny laughs out loud at her logic.
"Please don"t refer to her as a "babe" just yet, ok? She"s four," I said and could feel Merrick chuckling next to me.
"Hey. A babe"s a babe. She"s gonna be a heartbreaker. My miniscule ability to fool with the opposite s.e.x will be nothing compared to that girl," Celeste said it like it was the truth, she actually believes this stuff.
"Ok," Merrick b.u.t.ted in, trying to stifle his laughter. "Well. I"m glad everything is working out. Speaking of babes. Sherry," he chided, "Miguel said you"ve missed the last three lessons."
"I have. Katie"s been sick this week and Kay is busy with the lessons and sweet Maggie tries to help in the kitchen but doesn"t get very far before she breathing hard. There"s not a lot of people left to do the cooking."
"Well, Lillian"s here now. You can alternate or something. Everyone needs to take their turn with ch.o.r.es and get in their training and lessons," Merrick suggested and gave me a firm look.
"Yeah," Danny said as he got up to change the c.d. "and also the rest of the new ones aren"t doing much of anything either. I don"t think any ch.o.r.es have been a.s.signed to them yet. What About Polly and Piper?"
"No thanks. I"d rather slave alone than be put to that punishment," I say quickly.
"Oh yeah. Forgot about you and Polly"s little tiff," Danny said as he sat back down.
Now, Ok Go"s "Here It Goes Again" played behind us.
"Yeah. That," I say and clear my throat uncomfortably looking at Merrick. He smiles at me and quirks his mouth in a half smile-half sympathy look. "I just wanted everyone to get settled in and comfortable first before I started dishing out rules and jobs. You know?" I sighed. "I"ll get Lillian and Susan to help in the kitchen with the cooking. Polly and Piper can be...dish duty I guess, though I"m not sure how many dishes we"d have left if they helped."
"Why don"t you let me handle them," Merrick suggested thankfully. "Piper can help Cain with the new garden and store trip stuff and Polly can be on...uh, cleaning duty?"
"Ha! Like that"ll go over!"
"I can tell her she"s in charge of it on Monday"s and Wednesdays."
"But...our cleaning days are Tuesdays and Thursdays."
"I know. But this way, she"ll be out of everyone"s hair. At least the place will be really clean," he said and smiled.
"You"re a genius sometimes, you know that," I said and his face lit with amus.e.m.e.nt.
"Yeah," Celeste said, looking at her nails now. "She"ll definitely do it if she thinks she"s in charge. She"s a little nuts."
"A little?" I said and we all laughed. "Ok. Thank you, Merrick. I"ll let Lillian and Susan know and I"ll be at practice, I promise."
"Good, I"ll tell Miguel and I"ll join you. I haven"t had my b.u.t.t kicked in a while." He grinned at me and I glared at him for making fun of me. "What are we having for dinner tonight?" A subject change no doubt.
"Rice, baby! Rice and beans and more rice and beans," I answered with fake enthusiasm.
"Yuck" Danny answered while Celeste chimed "Gross" at the same time.
"Welcome to the apocalypse you two," Merrick said and stood up. He reached his hand to me to help me up as well. "Who has lunch duty today?"
"Uh, Laura and Margo. Why?"
"Come on, wife. There"s a little matter we need to discuss."
"Is there?" I stopped in my tracks, thought real hard, trying to think if I"d be in trouble for something.
"Yes. I hear Calvin"s birthday is in eight days. Ryan said he"d like to do something for it."
"That"s a great idea!" Celeste said and turned to place her feet on the floor.
"Well. We can try. It won"t be much of a birthday I"m afraid," I say feeling glum about even attempting to pull off something like that.
Must stink to be turning twelve in an underground bunker. Also we had realized earlier that we had no idea when Lily"s birthday was but already talked about it and figured she was probably four by now. Maybe we should make up a day for her and celebrate then.
"Calvin won"t care. We"ll all make a fuss over him and he"ll love it," Merrick said, and he was right.
I knew he was. Calvin wasn"t shallow.
"You"re right. That sounds good. I"ll see if we still have the stuff to make a cake or cookies or something."
"Good. It"s settled. I"ll let everyone else know. The ones who want to partic.i.p.ate can. Lana will be pleased I think."
"Yeah, she will. I"ll get her to help me. I want her to feel included in it too, you know."
Merrick looked down at me and grabbed my face between his big warm hands. He smiled.
"My sweet Sherry. Always thinking about everybody else. Your sister is a real saint, you know that, Danny?" he said but never took his eyes off me.
"Uh yeah, I do. Come on, Celeste. We"re heading outta this love fest," Danny said and Celeste giggled as he grabbed her hand and towed her away.
"That"s one way to get rid of him," Merrick said laughing and then brushed his lips against mine before taking them completely.
When he finally stopped the slow delicious torture that was the kiss I spoke to him again.
"Did I ever tell you how much I love it when you call me "wife"?"
"Nope, but I knew you would." He leaned closer and spoke in a loud whisper, like it was a secret. "I know everything there is to know about you."
And to prove his point he nipped that little spot behind my ear that I love, making me shiver and giggle.
"I see. So you know just how to torture me," I murmured.
"So, wife," he said smirking, "you"re ok with Piper and all that mess, right? You know there"s nothing to worry about with her. She"s just bitter about being here. She"ll get over it."
"No, I"m not worried about her. After all, I got you in the end didn"t I?"
"Nuhuh. I got you," he whispered in my ear.
And then he kissed me again.
Big Bold Black Letters
Chapter 12 - Cain.
"So, is that not the best P,B,& J you"ve ever had or what?" I asked Lillian as we leaned on the kitchen counter.
Biding our time until tonight. We"d just come from the garden and I decided to make us a snack.
"It was. Thank you." She finished her last bite and licked her finger. "I didn"t think you could really make peanut b.u.t.ter and jelly better but you sure proved me wrong."
"Are you cracking on me?" I asked and raised an eyebrow at her in jest.
"Nuhuh. I wouldn"t do that."
"Are you sure? Cause it sounds like you"re cracking on me."
She stifled a giggle with her hand.
"Ok. Maybe a little bit. But it was a pretty darn good sandwich."
"Ha ha." I b.u.mped her shoulder with mine. "So, are you ready for tonight?"
"Yes. Eighty six percent sure that I"m ready."
"Only eighty six? Not maybe say...ninety two?"
She laughed again and touched my arm across the kitchen island, making me smile even wider. It felt like forever since I"d genuinely smiled widely because I was actually happy about something and not just pretending. But I"d been doing that a lot this week with Lillian.
We"d spent everyday together in the garden and lots of time sitting and talking together inside, not always by ourselves but, still.
"Ok. Maybe ninety two. I guess I need to go get a shower. Thanks for letting me help. And for the sandwich. I haven"t had enough fun lately."
"Well, don"t worry. Tonight will be great."
"You"re not worried at all?"
"Me? Nope. Everything will be fine."
"Ok. See you in a bit."
"Can"t wait."
And she walked away backwards before turning, tucking her hair behind her ear and smiling.
In a few minutes, Lillian and I will be walking out the door to head to town. I"m not really looking forward to it. I am but I"m just as not looking forward to it too. I told Lillian is was fine earlier but I got o thinking. I mean, I have her to worry about instead of just myself. What if something happens? What if I blow my cover at the diner? What if Lillian freaks? There"s a million what if"s. But we need this. We need the information.
And I need to freaking get out and have some fun.