by Kipjo Ewers
“Thank you!”
Indrajit raised his hands in victory doing a little dance in his seat while the seniors of the Council balled up wads of paper throwing it at him.
“The time is now 10:30 PM,” Vincent announced vocally projecting from Sophia’s tablet.
“And this meeting is officially adjourned,” Sophia smiled at everyone while tapping the desk. “Next week we’ll be back to the noon meeting schedule.”
Ms. Gertrude trotted over to give Sophia a kiss on the cheek before leaving.
“Taking myself home to get some rest, later child.”
“Have a good night Ms. Gertrude, Bong-Cha and Chung Ae could you both please hang back a bit please?” Sophia asked.
Both nodded and anxiously awaited as the other members said their goodbyes minus Earl and left going home. Sophia got up giving them a soft smile as she closed the gap between them. She began addressing them in their native tongue.
“I just want to make sure that you understand that you and all the new arrivals are included in this conversation. Even though you arrived in the middle of all this, as long as you are here, this is your home. You are both on this Council because I see great leadership qualities in both of you, so don’t be afraid to jump in and speak up.”
They smiled and eagerly nodded back at her.
“Thank you again for giving us this opportunity,” Bong-Cha answered back.
“And for making us feel so welcome,” Chung Ae interjected.
“Thank you both for being here, have a very good night,” she smiled.
As they both walked away, Sophia turned to Earl waiting to walk out with her.
“You know there was a tribal meeting concerning Indrajit,” He coughed out while leaning against one of the chairs.
“We’re not kicking him off the island Earl,” she chuckled.
“The boy’s too high strung and city savvy,” Earl grunted. “In one meeting he suggested us going from diamond selling into the weed business.”
“The precious stones and gold in our reserves ensure the island’s stability especially during emergencies, so I just don’t want to sell it off for cash especially in this fluctuating market with the uncertainty of BREXIT and the state of the US and its new President and administration,” Sophia sighed. “Not to mention word gets out we’re in the diamond business, undesirables might attempt to grow a spine like the crew that came for Pop-Pop and our herd.”
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Earl gruffed a nervous chuckle as he remembered with her the day a group of poachers actually came via a small merchant ship. They intended to invade, kill, and take the horns of Sanctuary’s steadily growing population of White and Black Rhinos which was now at three hundred strong and building between the two species after almost eight years.
Most of the Rhinos were willing given from other reserves around the world who felt they could no longer successfully defend the animals from poachers.
The television channel Animal Planet got wind of this and feverishly begged Sophia to do a special about how her reserve was protecting and steadily replenishing endangered species with the rhinos being the feature of the interview.
Pop-Pop named by Sophia was the first male White Rhino successfully born on Sanctuary. He became an online social media sensation when the camera crew caught him squealing and running vigorously away from his own mother to nuzzle up to Sophia for attention.
Almost two weeks after the show aired, the poachers showed up the day Sophia was handling a matter in the Middle East.
Earl with Kimberly standing next to him holding her computer tablet video recorded the invasion on the shores of the beach while he blared over a bullhorn politely informing the poachers that they had exactly one minute to begin the process of turning around and leaving their shores before they were met with brutal retaliation.
The poachers chose to show that they came with heavy armament and eight powerful superhumans for the extra muscle to get the job done.
With Kimberly still recording, and unfazed Earl with Sophia on speakerphone told her they chose not to comply.
Without so much as a warning, Sophia flew from the Middle East in less than a minute tearing the poacher’s ship in half with one hit. Although she pulled her punches, she made sure the EVOs that dared invade her shores felt her wrath for a lifetime.
Kimberly recording the entire beat down uploaded it with some skillful editing and the brutal musical hook to Rob Bailey & The Hustle Standard’s “Beast” minus the profanity as a warning to future poachers and superhumans brazen enough to approach their shores looking for fortune and glory.
The video went viral and almost shut down YouTube.
Sophia ordered Kimberly to take the video down and grounded her for the musical hook for a week.
As with everything that is uploaded, the video was copied, spoofed, analyzed, and memed to death.
It further dived the world into debate as it was the first actual recorded footage of her destructive power that was longer than three minutes.
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“As far as selling cannabis,” Sophia shrugged. “We do grow it here for medicinal purposes, and hemp can be used to create a variety of products. As long as we stay within those guidelines, it’s not really an issue. You just don’t care for his NYC Wall Street swagger.”
“He’s just loud and obnoxious sometimes,” Earl growled.
“It’s a defense mechanism Earl,” Sophia softly defended Indrajit without diving too far into his life. “You had one too remember? Underneath it all, he’s trying to use the tools that he has to prove to himself he can be a better person. It’s a work in progress.”
“The boy still irks me …sometimes.”
Sophia gave Earl a smile shaking her head allowing him the final word on Indrajit.
“I know I practically see you every day,” Earl said changing the subject. “But how are things?”
“I’m okay.”
“Wanna talk about why you zoned out earlier?”
She slowly exhaled knowing that was the next question out of his mouth.
“I have a superhuman eidetic memory, the reason I don’t zone out more is that I have a handle on it. And no, I don’t want to talk about it right now. Right now, I just want to go home, curl up on my couch and binge on as many episodes of ‘Outlander’ I can watch before Kimberly comes home while praying Vincent doesn’t alert me to some natural disaster or major crisis.”
“Miss, I receiving a call from the secretary at Kimberly’s school, there has been an incident at the school regarding her,” Vincent announced through her computer tablet.
“What happened, is she alright?” Sophia nervously asked.
“She is fine, but the secretary will only speak to you.”
“Put her on.”
Sophia picked up the earpiece from the table next to her tablet putting it on.
“Hello Mrs. Beans, this is Ms. Dennison is everything alright?”
Sophia’s eyes widened as if she had been tasered which made Earl step forward in concern. Her expression quickly changed to one of anger.
“I see,” she answered with a professional voice. “Thank you, Mrs. Bean, and please inform Principal Moe that I will be there shortly to see to the matter. Good Day.”
Sophia removed her earpiece tossing it on the table next to her tablet as she took a deep breath hoping it would extinguish the anger that had been stoked.
It did not.
“No Claire or Jaime for me tonight. I have to fly to Kimberly’s school.”
“Why?” Asked a concerned Earl.
She looked up glaring at him before she answered.
“So, I can kill her.”
CHAPTER 7
An hour and a half later a semi-calm Sophia stood in front of Kimberly’s middle school ready to enter.
Stopp
ing at Michelle’s house, she changed into a two-piece tan business skirt suit with a white blouse underneath, nude stockings, and brown pumps. She then took an Uber car from the house to the school. She made sure to wear shades to hide her eyes so not to unnerve her driver but ended up taking them off when he concentrated less on getting Sophia to her destination and more on hitting on her.
As she walked onto the grounds, all eyes were on her despite her civilian attire. Nearing the steps, she was greeted by two familiar faces. One she was glad to see, while the other belonged to Rogers.
“Dustin, what’s going on? Why are you here?” She asked with a voice filled with concern.
Dustin Mercer with a placid smile on his face descended the steps to meet her halfway holding up his hands in a calming gesture.
“Everything is alright,” he reassured her. “Unfortunately, this is just procedure.”
“What happened?” She asked with a bass filled voice not directed at him.
“Kimberly kind of scared the piss out of another kid …literally,” Dustin coughed. “Some of her other classmates were shaken up too. Police were called, now they tried to restrain her.”
“Someone put handcuffs on my child?” Her eyes blazed with rage.
“They took the hint after she busted a set!” Dustin held up hands begging her to calm down. “My office was called, and I came down here. Everything is calm; she’s in the principal’s office waiting for you.”
“So why are you here Rogers?” Sophia slowly turned with narrowed eyes towards him.
“Do you really need to ask that?” Rogers glared, “All superhuman affairs now fall into my lap. Also, the boy your kid threatened just so happened to be the son of a GOP whip, who wanted to press charges, but I have advised him not to go that route, especially since no physical assault took place. You’re welcome.”
A larger Dustin stood uncomfortably between the suffocating tensions of the two superhumans in his presence. Sophia finally backed down softening her mannerism.
“Thank you.”
“You can thank me by taking your kid home, and not further complicating my life. And then when you have a minute, thank your friend for sending a virus to erase all of the videos and live feeds of the incident before it went viral. Nice talking to you Assistant Director Mercer.”
Rogers getting in the last word walked down the steps past her and Dustin heading back to his vehicle.
As Sophia sighed while watching Rogers leave, Dustin asked the obvious question.
“Did you two use …?”
“No.”
“Okay.”
“Thank you, Dustin,” Sophia turned to him with a face full of embarrassment. “I am so sorry …”
“Don’t apologize,” he cut her off. “I have my own.”
“How are you doing?”
“I miss my friend, every day,” He lowered his head. “Other than that, I’m alright, how about you?”
“Wishing I was meeting you under better circumstances,” she shook her head. “But I am glad to see you.”
“We ended up becoming one crazy family, didn’t we?” He smirked. “Wasn’t oh so long-ago Mark and I were chasing you with a fleet of squad cars through Houston.”
“And shooting at me,” Sophia smiled.
Light laughter ensued putting them both a bit at ease.
“What am I to do Dustin?” Sophia earnestly asked.
“Go in there stern, but wait until you hear the entire story, especially from her lips,” he advised her. “After that, you’ll know what to do.”
“Kimberly might get suspended over this,” Sophia shook her head.
“Worst case scenario a week,” he shrugged. “Best case she gets a couple of Saturday or afterschool detentions. Kimberly is a great kid, but they will all test you at some point.”
“Your kid doesn’t try to fly to Mars behind your back,” she pouted.
“No, mine gets caught at a house party where the kid’s parents are out of town. So, he decides to pull a Project X inviting half the school, where refreshments like spiked fruit punch, a keg of beer, and a half pound of weed are served,” Dustin sternly knit his brows. “I wish my kid tried to go to Mars.”
Sophia covered her mouth to muffle her laughter as Dustin shook his head in disgust.
“Go see your kid, we’ll catch up next time you’re in town.” He smiled.
“Yes, we will, and thank you again.”
After they embraced, Sophia stood there with a saddened heart watching Dustin walk down the steps to the parking lot toward his vehicle. Alone once again, she turned entering the school making her way to the principal’s office.
Sophia took a deep breath before she opened the door walking into the principal’s office. The secretary recognizing her on sight shot up from his desk welcoming her, before announcing and escorting her in.
Her eyes first locked with Kimberly who looked up to see the disapproving glare within her eyes. Kimberly quickly turned her head back down to her lap attempting to make herself as small as possible. Sophia then turned to Mrs. Moe who stood up from her seat behind her desk to greet her.
“Ms. Dennison, thank you so much for coming in,” she cracked a nervous smile.
“Thank you for notifying me, Mrs. Moe,” Sophia extended her hand while wearing a nervous smile of her own.
Mrs. Moe timidly shook it and then gestured for her to have a seat. As she sat down, Sophia gave her daughter another stern glare forcing Kimberly to straighten up.
“Now, what seems to be the problem?” Sophia asked while clearing her throat.
“First let me begin by stating that Kimberly is an excellent student,” Mrs. Moe motioned. “Who has never shown or gotten into trouble until now.”
Sophia’s brow knit as she read in between the lines of Mrs. Moe’s sentence.
“Were there other problems that I do not know about?”
“Not serious ones,” Mrs. Moe held up a hand. “Of late, Kimberly appears to be distracted, or bored with class, even though she continues to participate and get stellar grades.”
“Mrs. Moe,” Sophia stopped her. “Before I became superhuman, I was human, and a very reasonable one. The only person in this room who is in trouble is my daughter.”
Mrs. Moe nodded while calming herself.
“This afternoon in Mrs. Greene’s history class, Kimberly, and a male classmate got into a heated verbal debate. From her teacher and classmates account, the young man said some unkind things about you. Kimberly got up from her seat and proceeded to threaten him. Again, from her teacher and fellow classmates’ statement her eyes began to glow extra bright as if she was going to …well.”
“I understand what you are eluding to Mrs. Moe.”
“Unfortunately, it terrified the boy to the point he ended up relieving himself in front of the entire classroom,” Mrs. Moe sighed. “Some of her classmates and her teacher were also a bit scared.”
Sophia slowly turned her attention to Kimberly who slightly leaned away from her mother due to feeling her look on her.
“Is this true?” she asked with a calm, authoritative voice.
“Yes, but …” Kimberly meekly began her defense.
“Does the young man have powers and abilities?” Sophia forcefully cut her off demanding to know.
“No.”
“Then you are wrong,” her mother elevated her voice. “And even if he did have abilities, you are still wrong for so many reasons.”
“But mom …”
“I asked you a question,” Sophia silenced her. “I did not ask for an explanation.”
Kimberly lowered her head shrinking in her seat while her principal sat jittery in her chair watching the exchange. Sophia turned to her with a semi-pleasant smile on her face.
“Please, continue.”
“Unfortunately, due to the severity of this incident I have no choice but to suspend Kimberly for at least two weeks,” Mrs. Moe said with a swallow.
“Two weeks?” Sophia a
sked with a concerned knit brow. “Is that not harsh for a child who just made a verbal threat? She’s a straight ‘A’ student on the principal’s list who has never been in trouble before.”
“Believe me, Ms. Dennison, I know, Kimberly is a model student,” Mrs. Moe agreed. “But this is, unfortunately, a time where even verbal threats are taken very seriously, especially with her very …unique abilities. I am personally taking into account that this was Kimberly’s very first offense ever. Two weeks should be enough time for things to calm down, and to defuse this situation to prevent expulsion, which is what the young man’s father is asking for.”
Sophia took in some air and then blew out the frustration in her chest. She reluctantly nodded in agreement. She turned to her daughter, who raised her head feeling her mother’s look on her.
“Do you have anything to say to your principal?”
She made sure to turn directly to her principal as she gave her humble apology.
“I’m very sorry for what I did Mrs. Moe …it won’t ever happen again. I promise.”
“I know it won’t,” Mrs. Moe smiled at her. “I also know this isn’t like you, nor does it reflect the nice young lady that you are. People make mistakes. The important thing is to learn from them and do better next time.”
“I assure you, Mrs. Moe,” Sophia said while glaring at her daughter, “She will do better next time.”
Awkward silence twirled back into the office as Kimberly timidly lowered her head once again staring at the floor while Mrs. Moe stared at her desk as if she was the one in trouble.
“Will her teachers be in touch with any assignments or reading she must complete during her suspension?” Sophia asked breaking the discomfort.
“Of course, we will make sure of that,” Mrs. Moe nodded.
“Thank you, Mrs. Moe, I am very sorry that we are meeting again under these circumstances.”
Sophia rose from her seat which made both Kimberly and her principal jump out of their chairs standing up. She gave Mrs. Moe a formal goodbye handshake and then walked toward the door knowing Kimberly would follow behind her. She waited until they were back in the hallways of the school before she gave her daughter one order.