“Nathan?” Gerry asked, almost whispering.
His mother nodded. “He was killed, Gerry. That's the main reason I believed the men who came afterward. Nathan lived long enough to tell me that you were safe. That he had protected you.” She began to cry but her voice stayed strong. “He had no one else, so your Dad felt it was the least he could do to, well, to make the arrangements.” She swallowed and wiped her face quickly. Then she looked at Mr. Denofrio again. “You are one of these people? The ones who are taking care of my son?”
He stepped forward and stood beside the pool. “I am,” he said. “Your son is safe for now. And he will remain so, if he stays with us for a while. But that is up to him, and to you.”
“You mean, he can come home?” she asked.
“Yes, of course, madam. We are not jailors. But remember what happened yesterday before you decide to tell him to return.” He nodded once to her then backed away from the pool.
Gerry's mother looked at her son. “I want you home, Gerry. But I also want you safe. And if it's a choice between the two, I'll pick safe. For now, at least.” She smiled at him. “But what do you want to do?”
Gerry looked like he was still in shock after learning about his cousin's death but he took a deep breath and answered his mother. “I think I'd better stay, Mom. Now that I know you both are protected, I think this is the best place for me.” Then he smiled back at his mother. “For now,” he said.
She nodded. “Okay then, I won't ask any questions. What I don't know, I can't tell.” She looked at Mr. Denofrio again. “Will he be able to write to us at least?”
The man nodded. “Oh yes, madam. That he will certainly be able to do.”
“Good,” she said. “Gerry, when you can, I want you to write, tell me how you are and whatever else you are allowed to. Okay?”
“You bet, Mom. As often as I can.”
“Time is up,” Mr. Denofrio said. “The others have to contact their parents as well.”
:Okay Mom, I have to go. Say hi to Dad for me. Tell him I'm okay.”
“I will, honey, I will. You be good!”
Gerry smiled broadly but Justin saw tears course down his face as his mother told him to be good. “I will Mom. Love you.”
“Love you, son. Bye.”
“Bye Mom,” Gerry said and took his hand out of the liquid. The pool went black at once and again the liquid began to roll and bubble.
Gerry stood up and quickly wiped his face before turning to the others. “Thanks, Mr. Denofrio,” he said.
The man just nodded. “Now, who's next?” he asked.
Norm took his turn next. It was more difficult to contact his parents, because they weren't in any rooms that had water in them. Finally, in exasperation, Mr. Denofrio put his hand into the pool beside Norm's and somehow focused the Ocular into Norm's bathroom. Justin and Aaron kept turning away and clapping their hands over their mouths as Norm's voice echoed out of his family's toilet.
Finally, his father entered the bathroom and, once he was convinced that he wasn't hallucinating, which took a few minutes, he called in Norm's mother and they had a similar discussion to the one that Gerry had had with his mother. And once more, the parents decided that it was safer for their son to remain where he was than to come home.
After the connection was broken, Mr. Denofrio indicated that Aaron should go ahead. He refused.
“Sorry, sir, but I've already decided to stay. I don't have to ask my father for his opinion,” Aaron said stiffly.
Mr. Denofrio looked surprised. “But, don't you wish to reassure him? Tell him you are all right?” he asked, sounding puzzled.
Aaron shook his head. “No, I don't.”
Mr. Denofrio stared at him for a long moment and then shrugged. “Your choice, of course. All right then,” he nodded at Justin, “it's your turn.”
Justin hesitated and looked at Aaron, who seemed to know what he was thinking. “It's okay, Justin. Take your turn. I'm fine not talking to him.”
Justin nodded and moved to the edge of the pool.
“You know what to do,” Mr. Denofrio said. “The same as the others. Concentrate on one person, think about where they should be and,” he glanced at Norm and rolled his eyes. “hope that we don't have to communicate via toilet again.”
Justin stifled an urge to giggle and closed his eyes, thinking about his mother. Of course he knew where she would be. Where she always was. On the sofa in front of the television. And she always kept a water pitcher on the table beside her head, to save her from having to get up too often for a drink. He concentrated and when he felt he had her image as strong in his mind's eye as possible, he looked down and touched the liquid in the pool.
It was warm, which surprised him. And it felt thick, heavy like oil or cream. It was almost a disgusting sensation, but he tried to ignore it and kept thinking of his mother.
The pool began to glow again and the image floated to the top. Yes, there she was, staring at the screen, the glow of the TV casting moving shadows over her face.
She looks more tired than usual, Justin thought, concerned as always for her health. He watched her for a moment and then spoke softly.
“Mom?” he said.
Unlike Gerry's mother, she didn't jump as she heard his voice. Instead she just turned her head toward the table so that she was looking out of the pool into Justin's eyes.
“Hey sweetie,” she said weakly. “I knew you'd get in touch soon. How are you doing?”
Justin was surprised by how casual she was taking the bizarre form of communication.
“I'm fine Mom, fine. Um, you don't seem too surprised to see me talking out of a pitcher of water.”
She chuckled. “Wilson told me about his mission a few years ago, when you began to go through your changes. It took some time but he finally convinced me. I got used to surprises like this. Well, sort of. Besides, my new bodyguards said that you might be getting in touch and that it would be a bit...unconventional. They were right.”
“Bodyguards?” Justin said in surprise.
“Oh yes, two nice young men who look quite capable. And I believe there are others outside the building as well.” She smiled. “I'll be feeling like a celebrity if this continues.” Then his mother's voice became serious. “Are you all right, hon? I mean, really all right?”
“Yeah, Mom. I really am. This place is amazing. I can't talk about it, I guess, but one day...anyway, I had to tell you I was okay and I had to know that you were too.”
“I am, Justin. You know about poor Wilson?”
Justin turned away for a moment as his eyes blurred with tears. “Yeah, I know. They told me.” He turned back to look at his mother. “He died for me, Mom. That's another reason I wanted to talk to you. To tell you that I think I owe it to Wilson to stay here, to learn what I can. I don't want to think that he lost his life for nothing. Although I don't think I'm worth anyone's life, especially his.” His tone was bitter.
“But Justin, you are worth it,” his mother replied simply. “At least, you are now. He's dead. And he gave his life so that you could live. And me too. I agree with you. Stay there, wherever you are. Learn, grow, become what Wilson wanted you to become. I'll miss you terribly, but I can be strong, as long as you can be.”
“What did Wilson want me to become. Mom? Did he ever say?”
A tear rolled down his mother's cheek. “A good man, Justin. That's what he said to me more than once. 'I hope Justin grows up to be a good man.' That's all he wanted. And so do I.”
Justin pinched his leg hard to stop himself from crying. He had to get through this.
“Okay Mom, then that's what I'll do. I'll stay for as long as I have to. I think I'll be able to write, and if I can, I'll write as often as possible.”
She smiled through her tears. “You'd better, young man,” she said with mock severity. “I'll write too. Maybe the old-fashioned way.” She winked slightly. “Take care, hon.”
“You too, Mom. All my love, always.”<
br />
“Mine as well, hon. Bye.”
Justin pulled his hand from the liquid and stood up as the pool went dark again. He looked over at Mr. Denofrio who nodded.
“Well, we're done here, gentlemen. Please follow me back out.” And the man headed for the exit, the four teens trailing behind him, each lost in his own thoughts.
Chapter 11
As the boys left Mr. Denofrio in the courtyard and headed back toward their rooms, they passed several groups of other teens being led by several of the Guardians. Some of the others smiled or nodded as they passed but no one said anything. Most of them looked either worried or hopeful.
“Want to bet that they are all going to be calling home?” Gerry asked the group.
“Why do you say that?” Norm wondered.
“Makes sense, doesn't it?” Gerry winked. “If they're anything like us, I think a lot of them will stay if they know their folks are okay.”
“So you think this is a way that Mr. Fitzgerald and the others are using to convince them to stay?” Justin asked him.
“Sure. Why not? They already let us know that they want us here. If this helps them, that's cool by me. Why, do you think they're being sneaky or something?”
The group turned into the corridor leading their rooms. Justin shook his head.
“Maybe not,” he said. “But it convinced us, didn't it?”
They grew quiet as they all thought about it. Justin and Aaron opened the door to their suite, waved at Gerry and Norm and went in.
Once in their room, both teens collapsed onto separate couches. Justin kicked off his shoes and put his feet on the table. He sighed deeply. Aaron copied him and put his head back, staring blankly at the ceiling. Neither one spoke for a few minutes. Finally, without looking at him, Justin spoke hesitantly to Aaron.
“You okay?” he asked.
Aaron didn't say anything but when Justin glanced at him, he nodded.
“Good,” Justin continued. Then he put his head against the back of the couch and closed his eyes.
“Justin?”
“Hmm?”
“Did I do the right thing?”
Justin looked over at his friend, who was still looking up blankly.
“The right thing?” Justin asked.
“Well, you know. Not talking to my Dad and stuff.”
“I don't know, Aaron. Do you think you did?”
“Yeah, I guess so.” He finally looked over at Justin. “It's just that, we don't get along. At all. And I know it probably sounds horrible, but I'm actually happy to have a reason not to go home.” He stared at Justin. “Does that make me a bad person?”
Justin sat up and returned Aaron's stare. “Of course not! Look, Aaron, I don't know you well yet. But I think that you're okay. Really. And maybe, when all this is done and you go home, things will be better. My Mom used to use that old saying 'absence makes the heart grow fonder'.” He grinned at the other teen. “Well, maybe it will.”
Aaron smiled a bit and sat back. “I hope you're right, Justin. And thanks for that.”
Justin didn't answer, just sat back and closed his eyes again. It had been a very full day, he thought. He was tired and his feet were sore. He opened his eyes slightly and glanced over at the clock. Five-thirty. A half hour until dinner. He closed his eyes again, just for a second.
He sat up and looked around wildly. The door chime rang again and as he looked over at Aaron, who was staring at him with a bleary, blank expression, Justin realized that they both must have dozed off. The clock over the door read five-fifty-five and he knew they had only slept for a few minutes. He yawned and sleepily said “Come in.”
The door slid open and Mrs. Mallon was standing there. She glanced in, noticed the boy's dazed expressions and smiled widely.
“Sorry lads, I think I woke you up. But Mr. Fitzgerald would like you all in the Court for dinner tonight.” Neither of the guys spoke, just grunted as they tried to wake up. She laughed. “Now get a move on. The food's already being served and the Commander doesn't like to be kept waiting.” She nodded at them both and turned away, the door closing behind her.
Justin leaned forward and grabbed his shoes, while Aaron stood up, gave his head a shake and ran his fingers through his hair.
“I'm just gonna use the bathroom, Justin,” he said as he walked toward the bedroom. “Be right out.”
“Okay,” Justin said, yawning widely again. “I'll wait.” He tied his shoes, stood up and stretched. He felt like he could sleep for hours but he was also very hungry and he waited impatiently for Aaron to come out.
The two teens joined several others as they headed for the Court. Three girls were walking together and Aaron greeted them cordially and introduced two of them to Justin.
“Just, this is Amanda and Janice. And, um...” he looked at the third girl who grinned, her bright curly auburn hair bouncing as she walked.
“I'm Denise. And you guys are...?”
“I'm Aaron. Mr. Talkative here is Justin,” Aaron said with a teasing grin. Justin felt his face flush and poked Aaron in the ribs
“I talk, Aaron. But I'm still trying to wake up.”
The girls all laughed. “Did you guys nod off too?” The two boys nodded. “Us too. All this walking around today, I guess. This place is so big, it'll take days or weeks to explore it all.”
“So, are you three going to stay?” Aaron asked as they approached the door to the Court. The girls looked at each other.
“We're still debating that,” Denise said seriously. “But now that we've talked to our folks...”
“You contacted your parents too?” Justin spoke up.
“Yep. And it was such a relief...” The door opened and Denise stopped speaking as they entered the Court.
Most of the other teens seemed to already be there. The arrangement of the tables had changed somewhat. There were still a lot of them scattered around the large room, but several tables had been set end to end in the middle of the room and these were loaded with trays, pitchers, mugs and utensils. Mr. Fitzgerald was at his same spot on the dais as the night before and as Justin and the others entered, he stood up.
“May I have your attention?” The buzzed of conversation ended abruptly. “Thank you. Now that you are all here, we can begin. This may be our last chance to dine together as some of you may be leaving in the morning, so I thought that a buffet would be appropriate.” Several of the older Guardians moved forward and began taking the tops off of the trays. The smell of food suddenly wafted through the room and Justin felt his mouth watering.
“I know that we haven't given you a lot of time to make an important decision,” Mr. Fitzgerald continued. “But time truly is not on our side in this. So enjoy the meal, talk to your new friends, relax. After dinner, you have until ten o'clock to do more exploring or socializing. In the morning, we will meet here again and say our farewells to those of you who will be leaving us.” He smiled slightly and sat down again.
Everyone headed for the loaded tables. Justin piled his plate with chicken, roast beef, potatoes and several vegetables. Aaron did the same and, after adding gravy and grabbing knives and forks, they both found an empty table and sat down.
“You want something to drink, Just?” Aaron asked.
“Oh right. Sure Aaron. Anything, thanks.”
Aaron headed back toward the tables. Norm and Gerry grinned as they passed him, put down their plates on the table near Justin and sat down.
“Here's another reason to stay,” Gerry said around a mouthful of food. “Whoever cooks here is incredible.” Norm just nodded agreement as he dug into his dinner. Justin waited until Aaron got back before he started eating.
Aaron put glasses in front of his and Justin's plates. “Grape juice,” he said as he picked up his fork.
“Thanks Aaron,” Justin said with a smile and began to eat.
Gerry was right, Justin thought. The food was excellent. The room was very quiet except for a few mutters of conversation and the clink
of utensils hitting china. Justin saw that others must agree about the food because everyone seemed focused on their meals.
He continued to look around at the other faces in the room all through dinner.
“I wonder who'll be leaving,” he said finally. The other three looked at him.
“Good question, Justin,” Gerry said with a glance around. He gaze seemed to rest on one person. “I wonder if that Benson guy will leave?”
Norm snorted. “Course he will, Gerry. Didn't you hear him before? He doesn't seem too impressed by all this.” He waved his fork at the room. “Spoiled rich kid if you ask me.” Then he continued eating.
“Yeah, maybe,” Gerry said. He shrugged and grabbed his plate. “Think I'll have seconds,” he said and headed for the center tables. Aaron stood up. “Me too,” he said and followed Gerry.
“So, you're definitely staying, Norm?” Justin asked quietly. Norm just nodded as he continued eating. Justin grinned at the other boy's appetite and finished his own meal. Gerry and Aaron returned with helpings as big as their first portions and Norm left for seconds. Justin was full and didn't want any more so he sat back and looked at the various faces in the room.
Mrs. Mallon was watching the diners with an appreciative smile on her face. As she caught Justin's eye, she gave a slight wink and he nodded and kept looking around.
Mr. Fitzgerald wasn't eating. He was again reading from a stack of papers and, as had happened the night before, one of the adults would walk up, speak to him quietly and then quickly leave the room. I wonder what that's all about, Justin thought.
He noticed that Benson had been busy. He was surrounded by several boys and girls, all of them laughing at some story he was telling. Justin rolled his eyes, reminded a bit of his former friend Chris. Always wanting to be the center of attention.
It seemed that everyone had made a friend or two. There were clumps of boys and girls at every table and from Justin could overhear, the conversation seemed to be centered around who would be staying or going. He wondered how many would leave.
The Return of the Titans Page 11