The Big Ten: The First Ten Books of the Beginnings Series

by Jacqueline Druga

  Dean grunted when the table slammed into his gut.

  “Sorry. Too Close?”

  “Yes.”

  Frank moved him out again. “How’s that?”

  Dean extended his hands. Feeling air, he lowered them and felt more air. “Where’s the table, Frank?”

  Snickering, Frank put his chair closer again. “Sorry.”

  “All right, I’ve been walking around your house for over an hour. Tell me why we’re doing this? Why are you helping me eat? I can eat, Frank.”

  “Really? Then why wouldn’t you eat with your children. You told me and Henry you’d prefer to wait. Right?”

  “Right.”

  “Then that tells me you feel awkward about eating in front of them like this.”

  “I do. I get lost and drop my food.”

  “You’ll learn not to.”

  “Yes I will, eventually. You don’t have to show me.”

  “Ah, but I do.” Frank held up his hand. “Henry, hurry with heating that food. You, Dean, aren’t confident enough to eat with your own kids. That is just a minor thing too. The whole premise to overcoming any obstacle is confidence, which you lack. Contrary to what your hormones are telling you, sleeping with Ellen isn’t the way to build your confidence. Starting from scratch and learning how to do each task over again is the key.”

  “I get it.”

  “Get what?”

  “Why you’re having me move in here. You brought up me sleeping with Ellen. This is a ploy, Frank, isn’t it, to keep me away from Ellen at night.”

  “I don’t need to.” Frank looked at his watch. “Seems our new guy has taken that responsibility. But that’s a good idea, Dean. Thanks.” Frank’s eyes lifted to Henry who walked in the dining room holding a plate. “Henry’s in the room.”

  “Thanks.” Dean heard his plate being set down. “So Ellen is with the new guy now?”

  “Well, Ellen is at Containment so I guess she’s with the new guy.”

  “What’s he like?” Dean asked.

  “Different. Very nice and friendly guy. Don’t you think, Henry?”

  Henry stood on the other side of Dean. “I don’t trust him.”

  Dean was curious. “Why?”

  “I just don’t. He’s too nice, Dean. Too nice. I bet he’s some psycho in disguise.”

  “Frank?” Dean called to him. “What do you think?”

  “I told you, Dean, he’s a nice guy. Wait until you meet him. He’s smart, builds things, invents things, fixes things. I think Henry’s problem is he’s just jealous.”

  “Rightfully so,” Dean said. “I think I would be too.”

  “Guys!” Henry called out. “I am not jealous. Can we let Dean eat? He’s probably hungry.”

  Frank adjusted the plate in front of Dean. “All right, Dean. Now it’s one thing to eat your food, it’s another to know what you are eating. You want to be prepared to eat a soft food, because if you think you’re gonna eat something hard and you eat something soft, man, that can kill your jaw. Get it.” He waited for the nod. “Basic and simple. You set up your plate like it’s a face of a clock. Unless you’re eating pasta then you say piss on it. Anyhow, we have set your plate like a clock. You should always set it up the same way. Twelve o’clock is the bread, three is the vegetables, six is the meat, and nine is the potato. Got that?”

  “Twelve bread, three veggie, six meat, nine potato. Got it.”

  “Good. Go on and get the meat.”

  Dean reached to the side of the plate and grabbed his fork, he lifted it to the plate and dove in at six o’clock. He brought the full fork to his mouth and placed the contents in. “Aw, Frank.” Dean cringed. “You said six was meat. That was a green bean, not chicken.”

  “Yeah I know.” Frank snickered. “I was kidding.” He rotated the plate. “Go on, it’s fixed.” He saw the hesitation in Dean. “No, I’m serious, it’s fixed.”

  “You have a warped sense of humor.” Dean started to eat.

  Henry watched Dean’s slow indulgence and then he looked to Frank. “What’s next to work on tonight, Frank?”

  “Hide and go seek,” Frank answered. “I’m gonna test Dean on how well he’s learning the house. I’ll send him after things, work on his perception. El gave me something she wants him to work on. She said she might be here when he’s ready, but I doubt it. I think she’s hanging out for a while with the new guy. Dean.” Frank tapped him on the shoulder. “Ellen was doing that tossing of her head and flipping her hair thing.”

  “Already?” Dean stated as he ate. “With a Survivor?”

  Henry folded his arms. “Funny, Frank. I’m not letting you get to me. So ... go on.”

  “Oh yeah. That’s about it. Of course we have to work on Dean’s shaving.” Frank grabbed Dean’s chin and swayed Dean’s head back and forth. “Yeah, he’s in need of a good shave.”

  Henry was a little shocked by this. “You’re gonna give a blind man a sharp object.”

  “Oh sure. I’ll be there, Henry, to make sure nothing goes wrong. But then again, I want to be there first and see it if it does.” Frank winked. “How’s it going down there, Dean?”

  Feeling like a child being watched by his parents, Dean ate. He was way too hungry to stop eating just because Frank got on his last nerve. He listened to Frank and Henry ramble on. He chuckled at how dense Henry was being about what Frank was doing to him with Danny. Dean could have opened his mouth to Henry and enlightened him, but instead he opted to open his mouth for food.

  Without knocking, and bitching loudly as he did, Robbie walked into Frank’s house. “Frank, whatever you do, don’t go over to Dad’s. It’s like the fuckin Twilight Zone over there. Andrea, she’s possessed by something or other, making dinner, baking brownies. I swear, Frank.” Robbie walked into the dining room. “I swear if she’s gonna be hanging around all the time, I’ll have to make Dad give me my own place. I should have my own place. I’m thirty-three years old, right? Why are you guys watching Dean eat? Hasn’t he been a good boy? Dean, are you not eating all your vegetables?” He saw Dean drop his head down to the plate. “Oh I get it. You’re finally both mad at Dean for last night and now you’re punishing him by making him eat Ellen’s cooking.”

  “Robbie.” Frank interrupted Robbie’s rambling. “How come you’re here?”

  “To bitch. I had to bitch and tell you about Andrea. Why? You want me to leave?”

  “Yes.” Frank nodded.

  “Why?” Robbie asked.

  “None of your business.”

  “Is there something I don’t know about you three?” He didn’t get an answer. “OK, I see that I’m not welcome. Just know you were warned out of the goodness of my heart about not going over to Dad’s. But I’ll tell you, Dad’s, even with Andrea bopping along, singing, cooking, and baking, I’m thinking it’s a lot less weird than this house. Three grown men huddled at the dining room table, one of them eats while the others watch closely. People talk about things that I do. I’m out of here. At least my entrance was more received at Dad’s.” Robbie started to walk to the door. “Even if it was by whacked-out Andrea.” He stopped midstride. “Oh, Dean?”

  Worried and not wanting to make Robbie think he was blowing him off, Dean raised his head.

  “Dean, I fixed the disposal in the mobile lab.”

  “Good. Thanks.”

  “Yeah found your problem.” Robbie reached into his back pocket. “Did you lose a penlight? It must have fallen down there. Here, Catch.” Robbie tossed Dean the pen and it sailed across the room beaming Dean in the forehead. “Dean, you were supposed to catch it, or make an attempt at it, not sit there and be a target.” He noticed Dean still stared forward and the snicker on Robbie’s face left him. “What’s going on? I know something is going on. Never do you three hang out together unless you did something and you’re trying to figure out a way to cover it up.” Robbie had to wonder at that moment if they really thought he was that stupid that he couldn’t see through the fact that som
ething was going on. “That’s it, isn’t it?” He walked back into the dining room. “You guys are way too quiet right now not to know something you want no one else to know. What is it? What did you do?”

  Frank looked at Henry’s face, so at a loss. Then he looked down at Dean. “Dean?”

  Dean lifted his head up. He knew and he felt what Frank wanted. “Go on. Tell him.”

  Just as Robbie was about to ask ‘tell me what?’, he saw Frank move from Dean. At that moment, quietly, and seriously, Frank told Robbie everything.

  <><><><>

  In just enough time so as not to be too late for Andrea’s dinner and hear her complain or possibly make him sit on the couch for holding things up, Robbie returned home. His mood had changed from his upbeat one to a somber one. He was in shock over what Frank had told him about Dean and a little upset that he wasn’t included in the big ‘help Dean and cover up’ plan. After all, he was good at keeping secrets. He could keep the truth from the community for their best interest. Opening his door quietly, he saw his father still in the same place he was when he left, probably because Joe couldn’t move around too much at that point. “Hey, Dad.”

  “Just in time.” Joe looked at Robbie, returned to his work, then looked quickly back at him. “What’s wrong with you?”

  “I can’t believe it.” Robbie slowly shook his head, walking around the couch to the arm of the sofa.

  “Can’t believe what?”

  “I didn’t even see it coming. I didn’t know. I don’t pay much attention to him. But how did I miss it. I lived with him for a week straight. Was I the one who was blind? I consider myself a perceptive guy.”

  “Robert? Where are you going with this?” Joe asked, not wanting to come straight out with it.

  “Dean.” Robbie tilted his head. “I understand why you are keeping it from the community, but me too? I could help like Frank, but I still can’t believe it.”

  “Robbie. This is not to be mentioned to anyone. Got that?”

  “I got it. Frank told me. He wouldn’t have, had I not hit Dean in the head with something I tossed at him. Then again, Dad, people are gonna know something is up if Dean and Frank are hanging out together.” With his hands on his hips, Robbie looked so much in disbelief.

  Joe looked up at his son, and just under Robbie’s arm he saw the vision of Andrea walk into the room. “Robbie.”

  “I can’t believe Dean is ...”

  “Robbie.” Joe tried to halt him.

  “Blind.”

  Joe’s hands immediately covered his face when Andrea zipped around and into the living room.

  “Robbie?” she questioned. “What did you just say?”

  Joe shook his head. “Robbie.”

  Robbie looked at Andrea. “Oh I know, Andrea. I found out, don’t worry about it. It’s safe with me.”

  “What is?”

  “Oh you’re good acting all dumb. I was just over Frank’s. Dean’s blindness.” At that point Robbie didn’t even notice that Joe was hunching more.

  “His ... his what?” Andrea’s mouth dropped open. “Dean’s what?”

  Robbie spun to Joe. “She doesn’t know?”

  Joe peeked through his spread fingers. “She does now.”

  “Dad, she is Council. How can she not know?”

  “Robert,” Joe scolded, “enough. Thanks for adding more fuel to her fire.” Joe looked up to Andrea and he waited for the Andrea-blast at him for holding back the truth. “Andrea.” Joe held up his hand in a calming fashion. “Dean didn’t want you to know. He was afraid you’d pull him from everything when he is perfectly capable of doing things, just differently. He is working really hard.” Joe wondered if that did it. Did it do it? He didn’t think it did when Andrea’s mouth dropped open even wider. Joe hunched and cringed in preparation for what he wasn’t in the mood to hear.

  Andrea let out a strong gasp. “Sweet Jesus. Sweet Jesus. Sweet Jesus.” Her hand covered her mouth. “Oh ... my ... Sweet Jesus.” She heaved out with emotional dramatics. “Oh.” Her other hand fanned herself. “Dean is blind? He has lost his sight?” Faster she fanned herself. “Oh that poor man. That poor, poor man.” With her trembling hands out, Andrea made a painful squeezed up face, shaking her head back and forth. “Oh Dean!” In such fifties-movie-fashion, Andrea covered her mouth with the back of her hand, let out a single short sob, raced from that living room, and out the door.

  “Damn it.” Joe turned as fast as he could. “Where is she going?”

  “One guess.” Robbie walked to the door. “I’ll go chase her. I know you’re crippled.”

  “Stop her before she gets us both is deep shit.”

  “Got it.” Robbie flew out.

  <><><><>

  “Dean!” With her loud blast out, the front door to Frank’s house opened and Andrea charged in.

  Frank let out a surprising shriek at the sight of Andrea racing forward.

  Dean whispered up to Frank and Henry, “What, what is going on ... Uh!” Suddenly he felt the tight embrace of someone and felt himself being pulled into a body. He knew it was a woman because he could feel his head pressed between the breasts.

  “Oh, Dean. Oh, Dean! Sweet Jesus.” Andrea grasped him tightly to her. Her hands ran through is hair over and over. “What has happened to you? You poor man. You poor, poor man.”

  Dean’s arms flopped about. He was in Andrea’s control as she cradled him. Muffled and from within her grip, Dean called out, “Frank ...” In such struggle he sounded. “I’m ... suffocating.”

  Frank winced and stomped his foot. “Andrea!” He reached out to pull her away. “What the fuck?”

  “No.” She smacked at Frank’s reaching hand, then held Dean again. “I’m here for you, Dean. I am here for you.” She laid her lips to the top of his head, tears flowing down her cheeks. “Don’t you worry your little self one bit about me. Lord knows you have lost enough. I will not take any more from you. You poor soul.” Andrea’s head jerked up when she heard Henry’s laughing. Quickly she spun to face Henry, bringing Dean with her, bouncing Dean like a little girl holding a rag doll close to her chest. “You find humor in this?” she asked with a scold.

  Henry’s top lip quivered and he stepped farther back. “No, Ma’am.” Using long strides, Henry sneaked from that dining room, grabbing the towel from Frank’s shoulder. He walked into the kitchen, covered his mouth with that towel, and released the laughter that he had fought hard to contain.

  “I’ll pray for you, Dean.” Andrea gripped his head into her bosom more. “I will pray for you. What are these men doing to you now? Probably misguiding you. You know Frank does not like you.”

  Dean’s hand reached out like a quicksand victim reaching for shore, his fingers reached for Frank. “Frank!” So mumbled his words were. “Help.”

  “Andrea!” Frank yelled. “Let the man go. What are you, fuckin gone? He’s not a child!” Frank reached for Dean. “Let ... him ...” He pulled and struggled. “Go!”

  “No!” Andrea whipped Dean away from Frank.

  Frank brought his hand to his own face in a frustrated smack. Just as he ran it across the bridge of his nose he saw, over his fingers, Robbie walking into the room. “Robbie!’

  Out of breath, Robbie stepped forward. “Andrea, do you ever run fast for an old woman. Shit.”

  With his jaw twitching, Frank stepped to Robbie. “What did you do?”

  “I uh ...”

  “You told her, didn’t you?”

  “Well I thought she knew.”

  Grunting loudly through clenched jaws, Frank brought his hands to his head. “You’re killing me! You are fuckin killing me!”

  “Frank.” Robbie nervously tried to cover up. “Look, it was innocent.”

  “Look at Dean!” Frank pointed, his face so red. “He is clenched in the jaws of fuckin hell, and I can’t pull him out!”

  “He’s being nurtured, Frank. Maybe that’s what he needs right now.”

  “He needs to breathe!”<
br />
  “Don’t you think you’re overreacting?” Robbie asked. “So she found out.”

  “She wouldn’t have found out nothing, had you not been the stupid asshole who opened his mouth!”

  “Well you’re the stupid asshole who thought you could hide the fact that the man is blind!”

  “Oh I ought to nail your ass right now! I should have known better than to trust you with anything!”

  “No, Frank, Dean should have known better than to trust you!”

  “Fuck you!”

  “Fuck you!”

  “Boys!” Andrea screamed out so close to them. “Stop this bickering. Dean does not need this!”

  From staring at each other in a heated brother argument, both Frank and Robbie, at the same time, switched their views to Andrea. Not only had she made her way to them, but she brought along Dean, still held tightly in her embrace.

  Frank’s eyes went down to see Dean who was struggling not only to break free but also to stand up. His knees were against the carpet. “Will you let the man up! God!” Finally, knowing he had to get firm, Frank walked behind Andrea, took hold of her arms and pulled them outward and away from Dean.

  Dean dropped to the floor, and let out a loud gasp for air.

  Robbie reached down for him, knowing full well that Dean’s perception was off. “Let me help you up.” He led to Dean to his feet. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to tell her.”

  Dean shook his head. “Maybe it’s better that she knows.”

  “Thanks,” Robbie told him. “Oh and, Dean, your hair is messed up.”

  Frank saw Andrea stepping to Dean again and he blocked the way with his body. “Don’t.” He held out a finger at her. “Don’t. Back off.”

  “You back off!” She smacked at Frank’s finger. “Just who do you think you are pointing that Slagel finger at me? Dean needs me! He needs comfort.”

  “Dean needs to be treated like there is nothing wrong with him! He doesn’t need to be treated like an invalid, because he’s not! You hear me?” Frank blared at her. “Now settle your ass down right now or I will tell my father how you’re acting!”

  Andrea’s bottom lip moved up to meet her top lip. She crossed her arms tightly to her body. “Well I’m ...” She shivered a sob. “I’m telling your father how you’re talking to me.”