“Hey Auntie Violet. Didn’t expect to see you callin’ me.”
“Now ain’t you just soundin’ as uppity and proper as they come! Here I thought yo mama and me were fancy! That school done made you into a whole new man!”
Her thick drawl took him back, reminding him of how far he had come. As she had stated, even for the people he knew, she was among some of the most well-spoken, and even then, she now seemed uncultured. He wondered if this is what it meant when people called him a bumpkin, or a ‘country boy.’ It was good to see she seemed to be in high spirits though, considering he had nothing but negative thoughts in his head for why she could be calling.
“Now why you gotta go and be like that? I’ve been workin’ real hard at speakin’ right.”
“I’m just sayin’ I’m proud of ya’s all. I’m glad ya doin’ good in school, ’bout make me wanna not say what I got to say.”
“What’s wrong Auntie?”
“It’s ya no good ass daddy. He… He got real drunk and…”
Dan could feel his throat tighten. Every cell in his body shook in fear. He knew his father had a drinking problem. He knew that he would often spend what little money they had on liquor and beer rather than paying the bills, which left Dan to pick up the slack. He knew that without him there, no one could pick up the slack. The Headmistress had given his father a massive raise to ensure his brother would be taken care of, but he knew firsthand how self-destructive his father was.
“He got real drunk and what?!”
“Now Dan, this why I wasn’t even sure I should call you…”
“Jest fuckin’ tell me! What he do?!”
“He… He beat Hekiah somethin’ terrible. I know that boy ain’t did nothin’ to him! He is the sweetest boy!”
Dan could hear the fear and distress in his aunt’s voice as she uttered the words. He could tell she was truly unsure if it was a good decision to tell him, yet she must have understood he would need to know. Heart beating so violently he could hear the blood thrumming past his ears, his body was so tense he felt like a deadly viper coiled to strike.
“He in the ICU and it don’t look so good-”
Everything in Dan exploded. His guilt at leaving his brother alone. His inability to properly protect him. His idiotic plan to better himself to give Hekiah a real life. His happiness in the life he had come to know. None of it could be contained, and as a result neither could his powers.
Paper gushed from everywhere, his holsters, books in the room, paper towels, toilet paper, cereal boxes, they all took on a life their own and they seemed to seek the blood of anything present. Maggie screamed as the streaming paper flew past her, slicing her in a number of places, causing her to tuck herself into the fetal position close to the counter in hopes she would be protected. Even Dan was not spared the wrath of his own rampaging abilities, leaving him pouring blood from various lacerations on his body, though in his mental state he completely ignored it.
It was not until a tiny voice screaming at him finally reached that he was able to regain his senses and the brutal vortex that left Maggie’s room riddled with cuts and notches, furniture completely cloven in twine and an absolute disaster subsided. When he could focus on the voice, he could hear it was his aunt’s.
“What is all that ruckus? Who screamin’?! Dan! Dan you there?!”
“I’ll kill him.”
The gasp through the phone clearly indicated his aunt’s shock, not only at the disappearance of the noise, but also Dan’s words.
“Now Dan, he ain’t shit, but he yo daddy, and Hekiah is in the ICU getting’ good care. Yo daddy in jail anyhow, so unless you plan on killin’ a bunch a police to get him, you ain’t doin’ much. That baby ain’t never deserve none of the pain in his life, and I done made my own mistake sending y’all away before. I was young, and a damn fool. I shoulda never gave you back to yo daddy. I’m sorry, I ain’t gonna let that happen again ya hear? When he get out the hospital that baby comin’ home with me for good.”
If his aunt said anything after that, Dan was unable to hear her because his thoughts consumed him. Had he not just been thinking about how great his life was? How he had such a good woman, a woman he did not deserve in a million lifetimes. How he was adjusting to the culture and finally feeling as if he could stand proud to be a Sophangence student. All of it meant nothing now. Just proof of his selfishness.
His mind was so enraptured that he apparently had forgotten to breathe, because he was shaken furiously by something which forced him to draw air into his lungs, his face returning to its ruddy undertone from the blue it was becoming. It was Maggie who was before him, shaking him, caressing his face, trying to elicit any sort of response from him. Dan’s eyes focused on hers, beautiful and brown, tears welled in the corners, concern outpouring from them.
“I’m quittin’ school. I gotta go home.”
Maggie’s eyes grew wide, the light catching them perfectly. Dan gazed into the pools of honey looking back at him, and once again his throat grew tight, it felt sore, as if he had been screaming all day, no doubt the result of his attempt to hold back his emotions. Dan expected Maggie’s normal flood of questions and statements, and he knew already he had no time for them. He was instead taken aback by the softness of the few words she did say.
“Is Hekiah in trouble?”
He was so ready to shut down her normal aggressive inquiries that he did not know how to react to such succinct warmth. “My deddy beat him so bad he in the hospital.”
Maggie’s small yelp caused her to quickly clasp her hand across her mouth. She knew how much Dan loved his brother, something she did not fully understand as an only child. What she did know was that everything Dan did, it was for the good of his brother, so he could have a better life. As much as it broke her heart to hear something so awful happen to a child, she knew it was her responsibility to refocus Dan on his objective.
“So you leave, then what? You are saddled with hospital bills you can’t pay, a constant reminder of what your absence caused when you look at him, and you will have been no better off than when you first came here. There is no way child protective services would give Hekiah back to your father after putting him in the hospital. That would leave your aunt or foster care. Either of those are better than you rendering inert everything you have done in the past year and a half.”
“But he ain’t got nobody! And he in that situation cause of me!”
“No, he is in that situation because your father is refuse that does not deserve life, and your mother, god rest her soul, was taken from this world too soon. Neither of those in any way reflect your actions, or poor decision making on your part. What does however, is you throwing away the life you can give him, for the suffering you will saddle him with.”
Dan could feel the tears welling in his own eyes as his emotions began to flare again. “You just don’t get it. You never will. You ain’t never had to know what it is like to want for nothin’, or to be responsible for nobody else!”
She gently places her hand on his cheek, and he realizes it is wet. From what he can see there is blood running down her arm. He is about to jump with a start, but her eyes seem to tell him to stay put.
“I’m responsible for you. When we decided we would go on this journey together, it was not to simply be two separate entities that shared each other’s bodies and spent time together. We decided we wanted to help one another reach their goals. You are right, I don’t know what it is to feel bereft. That is something most Earth Affinities don’t have the luxury of saying. Because of such, maybe I don’t have the right to say this, but I am going to say it anyway. Stop being selfish and finish what you started. The road may be long, it is going to get tough at times, but you have me here to help you along the way.”
“Selfish?! How I’m being selfish?!”
“Because you think that going home will help Hekiah. All it does is releases you from the guilt you feel about things you honestly have no responsibility nor contr
ol over. You feel like if you suffer with him, it will make it okay. No, you don’t get to do that. You don’t get to take the easy way out. You made that promise to yourself and to him. Don’t forget that.”
“You ain’t makin’ no sense Mags. How is leavin’ the easy way out?”
“Because you get to be the ‘hero’ who gave up everything to save your brother, when in actuality, you had nothing worth giving up, and you only doomed him to a life just as bad or worse than your own.”
“Dat ain’t-”
“Right? Isn’t it though? What happens when you have those moments you begin to resent your brother for what you ‘sacrificed?’ How does that make you any different from your father? To him, Hekiah took your mother away. To you, he will have taken your life away. Hekiah just turned eight Dan. That is at least ten years of trying to make it scraping by. What is better for Hekiah to look up to? The brother who begrudgingly takes care of him and accomplished nothing, or the brother who through all the pain and adversity, made it through and will do everything in his newly acquired power to pass that along to his little brother?”
“You make me out to be like my deddy! I ain’t gonna be like him!”
“Aren’t you though? He was no more fit to raise you than you are to raise Hekiah now. I’m sure at some point he may have been a good man, otherwise from what you tell me, your mother would have never loved him. People break though. He should have given you two up, and supported you monetarily. You said part of the reason your aunt sent you back was because she could not support you. She recognized how unfit she was. Unfortunately it put you into a worse situation, but that is the way of the world sometimes. I can’t sit idly by as you ruin so many lives.”
“What I’m gonna do though? My auntie say she gonna take Hekiah back, but she ain’t got much neither. Maybe if it’s both of us-”
“If it is money that is bothering you, wouldn’t it make more sense to stay here and ask for help? Not only are you securing your future, but you have people who love you and will be more than happy to help. After my whole fan fiasco I don’t think my dad will be giving me much money, but I know Anaar has more money than he knows what to do with, and if you are too proud to ask directly, he is always going on some mission where he makes tons of money! You can find out how you can go too! I know he would do anything to help you, just like I would.”
From what he had heard, Anaar’s missions were messy and led him to do things of questionable moral character. He was not boastful, but he was transparent about the fact he had taken lives before. He definitely could not ask for the money outright, but maybe he could tag along on some of the less complicated missions if it was allowed. From what Anaar told him, he would be making more in a mission than he could reasonably make in a year if he was lucky, seeing as he only had a high school education.
Dan conceded to Maggie’s point, saying he would look into going on missions so he could help support his brother financially. He could not believe something so simple was available all along and he never considered it. Perhaps Maggie was right about him using his dropping out of school as an excuse to free himself of his guilt. He was no doubt in a better situation to help with money while he did not need to spend it on himself. He was reminded again just how much he did not deserve Maggie, when the slight moisture and smell in the air caught his attention.
Looking down he noticed how battered she was, and all at once he became aware of his own state. His clothes were in tatters, he was bleeding all over, and he felt as if he had been put through a shredder. When he looked around, he noticed the utter disaster that was Maggie’s room, and was horrified. When she followed his gaze, she realized he had finally become aware of the situation.
“Yeah… So… care to explain all of this?”
“I did this?”
She slapped him in the arm, causing him to wince in pain as it connected right with a spot with a particularly deep cut. “Well last I checked I’m not the one who can turn household goods into dangerous weapons! I don’t think I’ll ever be comfortable using toilet paper around you again…”
“Mags! I’m sorry! I ain’t mean it! Honest!”
“Well no duh, that much was obvious. The day you intend to destroy my room, you die.”
“I’ll help you fix it! I promise!”
“Do you see this place? Don’t think a broom and mop will fix this. I will have to ask them to fix my room. I guess I’m staying with you in the meantime. For now we should probably go to the hospital to get healed up.”
“What about that food?”
Looking at him with a deadpan expression, “Really? That is your current concern? I already turned off the stove, just in case you hit a gas line or something. We’ll eat in the Cafeteria. I’m sure everyone will love hearing this one. Get some clothes. Neither of us are exactly presentable.”
Moving to her bedroom, trailing blood behind them, the two of them packed a change of clothes and headed across campus to the hospital. Though her wounds were superficial, Dan had done quite a bit of damage to himself. According to the doctors, he was in shock, which was why he did not feel much.
Though she could not count it as a victory given the circumstances that caused it, Maggie was happy she was able to talk Dan down. She was worried about the violent outburst of his abilities however. If she had her way, his father would feel some serious pain. What the incident did was give her a glimpse of what Anaar had been telling her. According to him, they had only been seeing a small fraction of Dan’s true power, like looking through a peephole. If they had been in any normal household the damage would have been far more severe. Luckily for them, as Dan often pointed out, Sophangence was horribly lacking in paper. She resolved to talk to Anaar about the situation as soon as possible, lest it become a problem that became difficult to handle in the future.
17
Waking up naturally was the best feeling in the world. In a place where there were obligations like work and early morning classes, nothing was better than being able to simply sleep in. When Codi took notice of what she was feeling, and whose hand was in her underwear, she decided waking up naturally was the second-best thing.
It never occurred to her just how much of a difference being in a relationship would be. Maybe it was unconventional for most people, but it was perfect for them. She was not certain if it was a result of their arrangement, or if men in their inferiority thrived on chaos, but going strong for months without even the slightest issue was heavenly. With how much she knew of the nagging issues in Maggie’s relationship, or the seesaw that was Phavian’s she had expected the worst when embarking on this journey.
She had not decided how she would spend her weekend, but with Phavian and Anaar comfortably on solid ground, and Maggie putting more time in caring for Dan after a rough situation with his brother, her options were becoming more and more limited. She thought of just spending it in bed all day long with Pryshka, perhaps inviting over some tasty side dishes to spice it up, but she noted that seemed to be her go to when bored, and worried it could become troublesome.
Little did she know the decision of what to do would be made for her sooner than she thought. After dragging herself out of bed from the snuggle of the woman next to her, she went to the bathroom and was just walking out when she received a message. The last time she received a message like this, she got a bombshell dropped on her that she did not appreciate. Groaning with a huff, she checked her Vizer to see there was not much time before she needed to attend the impromptu meeting which had just been sprung on her.
By her estimation, she had just enough time to properly get ready and make it on time, something she did not care for. She did not like being rushed, but there was not much she could do in her current situation. Showering and getting ready, she let Pryshka know what she was up to and advised her to not wait around. Catching the train, she arrived to her destination just in time be within her five minute early minimum for engagements.
She was not aware the Administrat
ion Building was even open on the weekends, though with how self-contained the campus was, it was not overly surprising. Thinking about it, she was fairly positive all buildings were pretty much always open, so making her way to the office was easy since she had been there before and there were plenty of signs. Once again she had been beaten, as if the man sitting in front of her had no life other than being ready to respond to the summons of the beautiful, but overbearing woman.
“Ms. Aya, you could stand to learn something in the way of punctuality from Mr. Gilchrist here.”
When Codi awoke unsure what she would do with her day, she could not have imagined much worse than starting it with her irksome mentee and the Headmistress. When she received the summons, she hoped it would have been for something at least halfway decent. Why else would the Headmistress bother her on a Saturday morning? Now seeing the little man she had been saddled with months ago, the impending dread she felt was completely founded.
“You seem to think it is appropriate to miscellaneously summon people for an immediate audience. That may work for Anaar, or this one here, but some of us have better things to do than stay curled up in your twat.”
The flash of amusement in her eyes betrayed her smoldering stare. Of all the people in the world, Codi was likely one of the few who did not fear Ixnes Sastre. The reverence shown to her seemed completely unwarranted, even though she could not help but subconsciously root for any woman in such a position of power. It seemed Peter had not caught the brief amusement from Ixnes, because he became so visibly uncomfortable, he began to sweat.
Doing his best to sound as confident and chivalrous as he did terrified, “Codi! How could you-”
“Shut it twerp. So do you want to get on with telling us what we are doing here so we can get about our day?”
Apotheosis (Song of Sophangence Book 3) Page 21