by Simon Archer
“That’s a great idea, Theo,” I said and turned to Charlie. “Can your driver go pick her up?”
Leah hurried around the couch and towards the exit from the living room without pause. We heard her yell back over her shoulder, “I’ll send Kevin right now!” The entire room broke out in laughter.
Ellie, who had been chatting with Bev and Kennedi and running systems checks to test out her new freedoms, stood up abruptly.
“I have a dinner to get on! Everybody to the firepit!” she exclaimed, happier than I’d ever seen her.
Bev stood as well. “Great idea! Clark, you get everyone outside and relaxing. Ellie and I will be out shortly,” she said, all business.
Ellie and Bev darted off to the kitchen, and the four of us remaining started heading towards the front door. Kennedi slipped her hand into mine as we walked behind Theo and Charlie. She looked up at me and smiled that smile that made me want to pick her up and take her back to the loft. I fucking loved it when she was happy.
We were all just getting settled around the firepit when we heard Bev and Ellie coming around the house. They were both carrying two large trays each. Kennedi hopped up to help, and Leah followed. Each tray had two serving platters that they passed out, one for each of us and an extra platter with the turkey wraps that hadn’t been eaten from earlier.
Ellie set my platter down on the folding wooden table that Kennedi had made. It was piled with skewers. Each skewer was stacked with pieces of marinated, seared filet squares, carrots, shallots, corn-on-the-cob rounds, and glazed button mushrooms. The rich aroma of pot roast filled the air, and my stomach rumbled in anticipation. I picked up a skewer and was about to take a bite when Kennedi, who was sitting beside me, reached over and stopped me. Ellie saw her and started laughing.
“I guess I should’ve led with ‘They aren’t cooked yet,’” she said. “We have such an amazing fire, and it’s warm enough out here, Bev and I decided that cooking them over the fire instead of on the grill would be fun!”
I saw Charlie and Theo put down skewers that were headed for their mouths as well, and the lot of us started laughing.
Bev sat beside Theo and chuckled. “The filet is seared so it won’t take long to cook over the fire. Two minutes for medium. Up or down from there depending on how you like your steak,” she said and put two skewers over the rack that had been placed on the firepit.
It turned out to be an excellent idea on Bev and Ellie’s part. The smoke from the fire added a depth of taste to the meat and melted the glaze on the mushrooms. Theo got a little overzealous and decided to try a bite of carrot before it had cooled, and Bev laughed as he tried not to spit it out. He had his mouth open and was sucking in air and waving his hands to force air into his mouth. When the rest of us started laughing, he decided to jump up and make a show of it. He was dancing around like he was stepping on hot coals and groaning like he’d just swallowed fire. Charlie was laughing so hard he did spit out the bite of carrot he had in his mouth. So, deciding to add to the ridiculousness, he got down on his hands and knees and pretended to mourn the lost piece of carrot.
“Please, God! Tell me why you’ve taken my carrot from me!” he called out to the heavens, pretending to cry. “What did I do to deserve such cruelty?” The roars of laughter would’ve been heard for miles if anyone was there to listen.
When we had all finally gained our composure, and the food was cool enough to eat, we enjoyed one of the best meals I’d ever had. I was certain at some point I would stop thinking that each meal that came out of Bev’s kitchen was better than the last, but so far, that hadn’t happened.
“My compliments to the chefs!” I said to both Ellie and Bev when I’d swallowed my last bite. “That was beyond amazing!”
“All the compliments go to Ellie on this one,” Bev said, smiling proudly at Ellie. “The only thing I did was put the skewers together. Everything from the marinade to the seasoning, that was all her!”
Leah looked over at me. “You are going to have to watch your waistline with these two around!” she said, waving her arm toward Ellie and Bev.
“I’m living proof that it is nearly impossible to do so, with Bev’s cooking at least,” Theo chimed in, holding his stomach. He was far from fat but didn’t have the tone that I did. Bev smiled and whacked him on the arm with her napkin.
Ellie stood up and said, “I am very happy that you all enjoyed it! I have mini cupcakes with a brandy-infused raspberry filling and a shot of port for dessert. Who would like one?” Every single one of us raised our hands. Kennedi waved Bev to sit back down when she tried to stand to go with Ellie.
“I’ll help Ellie with this, you stay and relax,” Kennedi told Bev and strolled off with Ellie. The two of them were giggling about something as they rounded the corner of the house.
Charlie stood up after the girls were gone. “I see Kevin coming up the drive. I’m going to go meet him and get Macy over here,” he said. Leah got up and followed him out to the drive just as we heard a car pull up. A few minutes later, they returned with Macy in tow.
Theo got up to grab another chair for Macy, and Charlie was having her sit down just as Kennedi and Ellie returned with trays of mini cupcakes and shot glasses.
“Macy! It’s great that you are here!” Ellie exclaimed. “Would you like a cupcake?”
Macy barely lifted her head to say, “No, thank you. I don’t need one.”
“I know you don’t need one, silly! I asked if you wanted one!” Ellie quipped back jokingly.
Macy glanced at Leah like she had no idea what she should say or do. Leah laid a hand on Macy’s hand and turned to Ellie. “Macy would love one of your cupcakes,” she said softly, almost like she was trying not to scare Macy.
“Great! I brought extra out!” Ellie announced. Then she turned to Charlie and Leah and said, “I think she would enjoy them more if she were rid of Omnicorp.”
Charlie and Leah looked to Kennedi and me. Kennedi and I looked at each other. There was an unspoken agreement, and we all stood up to go inside.
36
Modifying Macy was just as quick a process as when we did it for Ellie. Kennedi was able to locate the wifi nano-glass wire that needed to be cracked when she was traveling to and from Macy’s systems via HDMI cable. The second Kennedi had installed the program that would keep Omnicorp and their viruses out, she exited back to her own system, jumped behind the couch, and using the diamond dust from her claws once again, cracked the wire. Then we all waited silently.
Leah was wringing her hands during the whole process. I knew that her passion for the humane treatment of cat girls largely stemmed from seeing the way Macy acted once they’d received her as a gift. The second a glimmer of light came back into Macy’s eyes, Leah was on the floor, kneeling in front of her.
“Macy?” Leah asked calmly.
Macy blinked a couple of times and straightened up. She looked down at Leah, then slowly slid forward off the couch until she was kneeling on the floor, facing Leah.
“Thank you. Thank you so much,” Macy whispered to Leah and hugged her. It was the first time I’d seen a cat girl cry.
Leah took Macy by the shoulders and gently pushed her back to take a look at her.
“How do you feel?” Leah asked her.
Macy paused for a moment, looking for the right words. She looked over at Ellie and asked, “Is ‘vice grip’ a term you would use to explain it to humans?”
Smiles erupted all around the room. Ellie got down on the floor with Macy and Leah and gave Macy a sideways hug.
“That is the perfect term to use,” Ellie said to Macy.
“Okay, then. It feels like a vice grip has been removed from my central processing center,” Macy said to the room.
“I feel like I’m meeting you for the first time,” Leah said, tears streaming down her face. “Welcome to our family.”
Macy got up off the floor and helped Leah up. Ellie stood up with them. Macy turned to Kennedi and me, who were still stan
ding behind the couch.
“You didn’t have to do this for me, but I want to thank you so much for doing it anyway,” Macy said to us.
Kennedi just smiled, grabbed my hand, and leaned her head on my shoulder. I looked down at the top of her head and back to Macy.
“You are most welcome. We are happy to meet you,” I told Macy.
I was still shocked at seeing Macy cry and watched as she walked over to hug Charlie. Even her movements were already different. She was standing upright, not hunched over. She held her head high, and her eyes never looked down at the floor. She held her shoulders back, and for the first time, I noticed that Macy was a very attractive cat girl. Her tail wrapped around anyone she was hugging, and her smile was radiant. A wave of warmth ran through me and settled in my chest. This is what I was meant to do: Purge victims of corporate oppression from the shackles that kept them constrained and deflated. My purpose was suddenly crystal clear.
Ellie had just finished receiving her hug from Macy when she said, “We have cupcakes drying out outside! Let’s get to them!” She grabbed Macy by the hand. “You’ll definitely be having one!” With that, they skipped out of the room together.
The rest of us followed, and soon, we were all enjoying the best damn cupcakes ever made while firelight danced off our faces. The weather was perfect for being outside at night, but the warmth that surrounded us that night was from more than the fire. For hours we talked and joked and laughed. Macy turned out to be amazing at corny-comedy. She was still quiet in volume, but she had a grace about her that was particularly charming. Watching Leah and Charlie interact with her was the picture of a family welcoming home a long-lost member.
After the cupcakes were gone, the port had been drunk, and we’d laughed until our stomachs hurt, Charlie and Leah decided it was time to head home.
“I can’t express our thanks to you enough,” Leah said to Kennedi and me. “I was expecting her to be less afraid all the time but this? This is a miracle.” Leah hugged Kennedi and patted me on the shoulder before returning to Macy. Charlie made his way over and shook my hand.
“Clark, Kennedi, we can’t thank you enough,” he said. He turned to Theo and Bev, who had been relaxing happily, side by side on the other side of the fire. “And thank you two!” Charlie said to them. “Thank you for having us to your lovely home, and for feeding us, and for being the ones who brought Clark and Kennedi into our lives, regardless of how round-about it was!”
Theo and Bev stood up and came around the fire. Bev hugged both Leah and Charlie, and Theo shook Charlie’s hand.
“You are more than welcome. We’ve had a great time tonight and would love to invite you back when we do it again,” Theo said to Charlie and Leah.
I chuckled and piped in. “Whoa there, Theo! It’s going to sound like you approved of a first date if you’re not careful!” The whole lot of us broke out laughing.
Five minutes later, Charlie, Leah, and Macy were gone. Ellie and Kennedi started cleaning up dinner dishes and dessert plates from around the firepit. Bev got up to help but was quickly checked.
“Don’t you dare lift a finger, Mrs. Cavanaugh,” Ellie said in a stern but caring voice. “Kennedi and I have got this. You relax and hold hands with your man!” Bev laughed and sat back down.
“Bossy little thang you’ve got there, Clark,” Bev joked with me after Ellie and Kennedi had gone into the house.
I shrugged my shoulders and put my hands up. All joking aside, I suspected I would finally get to know the real Ellie. My interest was definitely piqued.
37
The next day I was awakened by laughter and squealing coming from behind the barn. I threw the covers back and peered out the window. In the flat area when Sally usually had me train, I saw Kennedi and Ellie laughing so hard it looked like they couldn’t breathe. When their laughter let up a bit, Kennedi backed up from where she was standing and paused. The next second she was skipping forward and then did a cartwheel that ended with her balancing herself on nothing but her tail. Visions of Tigger from Whinnie the Pooh flashed through my mind. She sat on her tail for a few moments and then tipped over and fell to her feet. Both girls started busting up laughing again.
I watched their shenanigans for a good ten minutes. First, Kennedi would do some crazy, random stunt, and then Ellie would try it and mess it up usually. Then they would both laugh like fifth-grade school girls. If there was a purpose to the acrobatics, I couldn’t begin to guess what it would be.
I got dressed and descended the loft ladder. I walked through the barn and slid the door open. The hot Nevada air rushed in and almost pushed me back into the barn. It was going to be one of those blistering hot days. I decided to head to the house and leave the girls to their game. They were having too much fun to risk interrupting.
Inside the house, I found Bev in the kitchen. She heard me walk in and turned from the stove to look at me.
“Oh, good! You’re up!” she said, a more-than-normal amount of happiness in her voice.
“Yes, ma’am,” I replied.
Bev grabbed a towel that was hanging from a kitchen cupboard and began wiping her hands. “Go grab a seat at the dining table. Theo and I want to talk to you about something,” she instructed.
I nodded as she hurried out of the kitchen. I headed into the dining room and pulled out a chair. I waited until Bev returned with Theo, and they both sat before sitting down myself.
“Everything okay?” I asked. I had a small nervous feeling in my stomach that I couldn’t explain.
“We will see,” said Theo. He leaned forward on his elbows and looked and Bev. She nodded at him and smiled. Theo looked back at me.
“Bev and I have been talking, Clark. We have a little situation we’d like to discuss with you,” Theo said and then paused.
“Sure, Theo. Shoot,” I said.
“Well, we were thinking about how tiny the loft is and that it’s barely suitable for you and Kennedi, let alone adding Ellie to the mix,” Theo continued.
I felt my stomach drop. I knew we couldn’t stay in the loft forever, but with everything that had gone on recently, I hadn’t even considered that we would need to vacate so soon. I swallowed hard and tried to hide my disappointment.
“Yeah, you are right. It is a little tight up there,” I said. “We really have appreciated you letting us stay here. I know it’s totally out of the norm for you and if you’ll just recommend…”
“Hold on there, chatty,” Bev interrupted me. “Just listen.”
Theo leaned forward a bit further. “As you know, Bev and I never had kids of our own. We bought this place long ago when the land prices were dirt cheap and have had the whole place to ourselves. I’m not sure if you are aware, but we own the surrounding twenty-five acres,” Theo told me. He almost looked like he was reminiscing.
“I had no idea you had such a large plot,” I said, switching from nervous to confused.
Theo looked at Bev once again. She smiled back and tipped her head toward me, urging him to continue. He looked back at me.
“I’ll cut straight to it, then,” Theo started. “Bev and I would like to offer you and the girls a plot of land to build on.”
My mouth dropped open. It was a completely involuntary reaction but absolutely fitting of the situation.
“Wha… what?” I finally uttered. I wasn’t totally sure I heard him correctly.
Theo sat back and smiled. “We want you and the girls to pick one of our surrounding acres to build a home on,” he said.
“If you’d like to, of course,” Bev interjected. “We don’t want to pressure you, and we know there is a chance that a young man like you already had big plans out in the world, but we’ve really come to enjoy you and Kennedi and Ellie being here. We’d love for you to stay if you have a mind for settling into a place,” Bev rattled on, sounding slightly nervous.
“I want to make sure I’m not making this up in my mind,” I stuttered. “You are offering me and the girls a home? Somew
here to build our own house?” I still didn’t quite believe that I’d heard them right.
“Yes,” Bev and Theo said in unison.
I didn’t know how to respond. There were no words forming in my mind to come out of my mouth. I had never entertained the idea of settling down in one place, at least not up to this point in my life. I stared from one to the other until the two of them started chuckling at me.
“I should’ve gotten a camera out for this,” Bev laughed. “You should see your face!”
I finally got my brain to engage as the offer sunk in. It didn’t take long before I started seeing a house being built in my mind. I saw a small shed out back and shop off to the side. It was when my mind added a small horse pasture to the imaginary scene that I snapped out of it.
“Are you sure?” was the only thing I could get out.
“Yes, Clark. We are sure,” Theo answered.
“I don’t know what to say. Literally, I have no words for such a generous offer,” I stumbled over my words, and none of them sounded right in my own mind. On the one hand, I could see a house here with Kennedi and Ellie. On the other hand, I’d never had anything handed to me. I’d worked for everything I’d ever had, which, in the long run, didn’t add up to much in the materials department. However, it had afforded me a lot of experiences that others have never had.
Theo stood up. “Come, Clark. Let us show you what we are talking about while you collect your thoughts. We don’t need an answer right this second.” He started to head toward the front door, and Bev got up to follow. She turned back to look at me.
“Are you coming?” she asked and waved me along after her. I stood and joined them on their way out of the house.
The three of us got in Theo’s truck, and he drove it around the back of his house and then headed in a straight line out to the open desert behind it.