Fighting the Fire

by Jennifer Conner

  “Other than letting me know he was bringing someone for me to meet, Cy has nothing to do with any of this,” Orenda's voice boomed loudly. “I believe he brought you here to help you.”

  Mia stopped before she got to the swinging beads at the partitioned door. The next words stuck in her throat, “Then how could you know about it?”

  “It? You mean your powers? Look at you, you can’t even say it, much less live with them. How have you gone on this long...by yourself ?” Orenda dropped her head. After a long moment, she raised it. “How long, child?”

  Mia would have kept walking but seeing tears in the old woman’s eyes she took a step back into the room. She tried to steady her legs, but they felt like they were going to buckle.

  Cy stood and walked toward her. He said in a low voice, “Please Mia.” He put his hand low on the back of her -T-shirt, making sure to avoid contact with her skin. “I swear, I didn’t say anything to her before we came here.”

  She saw him swallow, the emotion raw on his face. He cared. “Orenda just knows everyone in town. I thought she’d be a good start to maybe find some answers.” He rubbed her back in soothing strokes. Mia closed her eyes. The power was so close to the surface, it frightened her.

  “Why didn’t you say where we were going?”

  “Please, for me. Just hear her out. If you can’t do it for yourself, then do it for me,” he pleaded. “I don’t want to see you live your life this way.” .

  He cared. Shit. He really cared.

  “Please, sit.” Orenda motioned to the chair again, softening her tone, “Honey— please…sit down.” Orenda sniffed deeply and wiped at her eyes with her hand. “Well hell, this wasn’t what I expected this day to turn out like. I need some tea. I need something stronger, but I don’t drink that stuff, so tea it is. What about you?” She pulled her girth from the chair along with the walker and headed out to the kitchen.

  Mia sat slowly in the chair. Cy scooted closer and placed his hand again on her back, rubbing, always trying to make things right.

  “It’s bad right now,” Mia choked out just as the old woman came back though the door with a tea tray.

  “What is?” Orenda asked pouring scalding water into three cups.

  Mia swallowed. “My powers, they’re bad.”

  “There, you said it. Your powers. Good job. Cy, I made you some cookies.” She lifted the plate which held four large oatmeal raisin cookies and handed them to him. “He’d ride his bike all the way over here just to get some of my cookies. He was always such a good boy. He’d mow my lawn and never want money, just cookies. He’d be out there for hours in that blistering sun and never complain once.” She flopped back into the chair.

  Mia met the woman’s gaze. “My name. What does it mean to you?”

  “Your name ?” Orenda shook her head, her chins folding in on each other. “I can’t believe no one ever told you. Your powers, how long have you had them?”

  It was difficult to talk about the secrets she’d hidden away for most of her life. “I was ten years old.”

  “And you didn’t know what happened? Did your mother talk to you about your powers?”

  “Yeah,” Mia said with a sarcastic laugh. “She talked to me as she dropped my ass off in front of C.P.S. and said ʻgoodbye.’”

  Orenda's mouth dropped open. “No, no, no.” She closed her eyes. “We were so afraid she’d do something like that. Why didn’t she call us, and bring you back here?”

  “Bring me back?”

  “Mia was put into foster care for a while.” Cy tried to help by filling in what she’d told him of her past. “She was afraid she’d hurt the family she was living with, so she ran away. Right?” He looked over to confirm what he’d just said.

  Mia leaned back into the press of his hand. If it wasn’t for his touch on her back she felt as though she’d unravel like a ball of yarn onto the floor.

  “Wait until I get a hold of your grandmother. She’s going to be so happy,” Orenda said with a big, toothy smile.

  Mia almost dropped her cup but instead held it trembling, in her hand. “I don’t have a grandma,” Mia stated plainly. “C.P.S. would have found her.”

  “Her grandma? She’s alive?” Cy asked. “How would you know it was her grandma? If Mia doesn’t know who her family is, how could you?” His eyes were dark with the same questions she had.

  The old woman laughed, then coughed and took a large bite of a cookie. “Everyone has a grandma and yours lives on the Colville Indian Reservation. Your grandmother tried to talk to your mother, but she was a stubborn woman. She was always thinking of herself. One night, she took off, and disappeared. Your grandma was never able to find you again.”

  “I have a grandma? She looked for me?” Mia was afraid to believe what she was hearing.

  Orenda looked surprised by her question..” Of course she did, honey. She loved you more than anything in this world. It broke her heart when your mother took you away. You don’t remember her?”

  Mia shook her head. “But how could you know she’s related to me?”

  Orenda smiled. “Because I knew you when you were a little girl... three or four years old.” She paused her dark eyes on Mia’s face. “And you look like your grandmother, or like she did all those years ago when we were younger. I knew who you were the moment you walked through the door.” She snapped her fingers.

  “I have family?” Mia asked, still trying to process the information.

  “When you told me your name, I knew I was right. What were the chances of finding you? And you’ve been living right here under my nose. I swear, I need to go into town more, but it’s hard for me to get around. I’m sure she still lives in the same place. I haven’t talked to her for a few years, but still, we’ll find her.”

  “How did the two of you know each other?” Mia asked.

  “Ahhh, Hell.” The old woman laughed causing her arm to ripple. “When we got together, we’d call it the Misfits Club. Did you ever see the movie The Misfits? Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, and Montgomery Clift?”

  Mia shook her head.

  “Dating myself. It’s an old movie. They were a threesome that never fit in. That was the two of us. We were considered freaks and even our own people were scared of our powers.”

  “Freaks?” Cy started rubbing her back again, she figured, to stop her from running for the door.

  “It was always your grandmother and me. Since your mother didn’t have the powers, she never wanted any part of it. She never understood or wanted to, for that matter. Both your grandma and I feared you could have the same powers we did, but you were still too young. Your grandma tried to legally take you, but your mother left town before Donoma could get the paperwork through the system.”

  “Donoma?”

  “Your grandmother.”

  Mia felt like she was in a dream—a very strange dream. Her voice dropped. “I want to go home now. I can’t do this anymore.” Her gaze met Cy’s, pleading. “My powers.”

  Instead of arguing, Cy rose to his feet. “Hey, I think we’ve all had enough for one day. I’m going to take Mia home. I’m sure we’ll be back as soon as we all have a chance to let this sink in.”

  “I can’t wait to call your grandma,” Orenda said showing a missing tooth in the front.

  “Please don’t. Let me talk to her first.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “If you can get her information, I’ll get in touch with her. I just have a lot of things to process right now. I spent the last fifteen years thinking I didn’t have any family. I just need...”

  “Time. I’ll give you that,” Orenda finished her sentence. “But you have to promise me you’ll come back. It must have been so terrible to have been by yourself all those years.” Tears welled up in the old woman’s eyes again. “Let me help you. I will help you. Now you’re one of us. The misfits.”

  Cy helped the old woman stand and handed her the walker.

  “I bet I look a mess. But believe me, th
ese are happy tears !” she exclaimed. “And Cy, after I got myself all beautiful for you this morning. Look what you made me do. Boohoo all over.” She sniffed.

  He hugged her tightly. “You’ve always been beautiful, Orenda.”

  “Ahhh, cut the crap, Cy, but don’t stop, I love it.” She put an arm around his middle and hugged him tightly to her. She took his face in her hands. “Promise me you’ll bring her back.”

  “That has to be her decision.”

  Orenda whispered loud enough for her to hear, “She can’t do this alone. I don’t know how she has.”

  Cy smiled and kissed Orenda’s cheek. “She’s not alone, she has me. I promise to do what I can.”

  ****

  Outside, Mia’s heart still thundered in her ears as she tried to decide if she should punch him or hug him. The choice to punch him was still at the top of the options.

  It was too much to grasp. Mia opened her eyes to find Cy watching her, quietly, giving her the time she needed. “I know, you’re going to ask if I’m okay, right? I’m beginning to know what you’re going to say.”

  His face was drawn. Even with his tinted sunglasses, she could tell he was worried. Mia pulled in a long, calming breath and rubbed her hand over the hot, steel bumper of the truck. “That was just all so...crazy. Crazy! I don’t know if I can believe her or not. If it’s true then how come I don’t remember having a grandmother?”

  Cy shook his head. “You were young, and it looks to me like you’ve spent a lot of years trying to block out your past.” He reached for her hand.

  “Not now.” She pulled back.

  “Mia, come back to my cabin with me. I don’t want you to be by yourself. It’s okay, I’ll be on my best Boy Scout behavior.” He held up three fingers in the salute and smiled. “I was never a Boy Scout, so I guess I’ll just have to make up the creed. On my honor, I will try—”

  “You’re an idiot.” She tipped a look at him and grinned. How did he do that? Make her smile when she felt miserable?

  “I have a few more hours before I have to be back at the engine house. I’m pulling a long shift tonight, but then I’ll have three whole days off. Let’s have dinner together before I go. I’ll cook.”

  “You? Cooking?” Mia asked sliding into the seat beside him.

  “I’m game if you are. No promises of your survival rate. Pancakes for dinner?”

  Chapter 10

  Mia bit into the thick grilled cakes. “Pancakes?” she asked, savoring the first bite.

  “And real maple syrup,” Cy added and took a bite of the cakes. “But it’s pretty damn good, isn’t it. Breakfast for dinner, I have it often.”

  She nodded, it was perfect comfort food. “With the real maple syrup, you’ve turned gourmet.”

  “Hey, everyone has to start somewhere. I haven’t branched out much. I just stick with what I do best. When I had a bad day with my dad, I would always make myself pancakes and the world seemed a little better when I ate them.”

  “World leaders should try it. They are good. World peace could be just a breakfast away.”

  Cy laughed. “I could be the ʻofficial’ pancake maker for the U.N. I can see my name in lights now, ʻCy the Pancake Guy.’

  “I think that’s supposed to be Broadway?”

  “Not with these babies, I would deserve lights at the U.N.”

  Mia dipped a corner of the pancake into the syrup and then asked, “Do you think Orenda’s on the level? All those things she said. I just don’t know what to believe.”

  Cy scooted the camp chair closer. “I know about her visions of the future. Orenda’s a local legend around these parts.”

  “You knew about her?”

  He held up his hands in defense. “As I said, she’s a local legend. I never saw anything with my own eyes, but then I met you. Now I am a believer. Orenda’s the real deal. When I got to know you, I thought of her over anyone else who might understand what you’re going through. Whatever she told you is the truth. She may look old, but don’t let her fool you, her mind is as sharp as a tack, sharper than yours and mine combined.”

  “So, she’s on the list?”

  Cy raised an eyebrow, before understanding her question. “The people I trust? Yeah, she’s definitely on the list. But, I mean, what were the chances that she knew your grandma? Vegas odds I’d say.”

  “What if my mother’s alive too?” -She pushed the empty plate away .

  “You’re such a worrywart.” He brushed a thumb over her knuckles. Hearing a snap of electricity, he continued to move his hand to the other side of the table. “Little baby steps. Let’s deal with your grandma first. I’ve found that I want to seek out the people that want to be with me. Then deal with the other ones later.”

  “But you’re talking like my grandma wants to see me. What if she doesn’t?” Mia hated her insecurities, but they always seemed to surface, and now she confessed them to Cy.

  “Didn’t you hear what Orenda said? Your grandma loved you and tried to take you from your mother, but time wasn’t on her side. Your mother decided to take you away. Don’t blame your grandma. As long as I live, I’ll never understand people who keep others as possessions. They don’t want you, but they don’t want anyone else to have you either. Then they do anything they can to keep you from the people who genuinely love you.”

  “Personal experience again?”

  “How’d you guess? My dad didn’t want me around. He hated me. He hated everything I ever did. But he didn’t want me living with Malcolm West or Sally Parker either.”

  “Why?” Mia asked standing to look out the window.

  “Hell, that’s the million-dollar question. Can’t live with you, can’t live without you. Isn’t that the way it goes?”

  “We’re a messed-up pair.

  “‘Misfits,’ isn’t that what Orenda called herself and your grandma? Doesn’t that have a better ring to it? It’s only hard if you’re alone. It’s like if you love Anime. If you’re by yourself you’re a geek, if there is a bunch of you, then it’s a cool club. I know, I’m an idiot.”

  Mia shook her head and laughed. “No, I was just thinking how you always look at things differently than I do You take a situation and turn it around, always trying to find a bright side.”

  “The glass is always half full.”

  “And mine is always half empty.” Mia smiled and took her plate to the sink.

  “I guess that makes a full glass of...something between the two of us. Something good, like strawberry lemonade.”

  Mia bit her lip. “How will I know her? I don’t remember what she looks like?”

  “She's beautiful.” Cy watched her.

  “How would you know that?” Mia asked.

  “Because, Orenda said she looks like you, so I know she’s beautiful.” He stood and came toward her, brushing his hand against her hair. She couldn’t stop swaying into him.

  “What am I going to do?” Mia tried to convince herself she didn’t need him. She’d spent most of her life alone. How could she have become so dependent on someone in such a short time? But it had never been her choice to be alone. She had been forced into a life of solitude and secrecy. Now, for the first time, it was her choice.

  “Number one, you’re not going to worry about it anymore tonight. Number two...”

  “Is this an itemized list? You are anal, aren’t you?”

  Cy laughed and continued to stroke his hand up the small of her back, over her hair, and then down. “Number two, we’ll go to Orenda’s tomorrow and see what else she knows about these powers. Number three, you’re going to make love to me.”

  She felt the heat of his body through the cloth accompanied by a painful snap as her fingers grazed the bare muscles of his bicep. “I just don’t know if we’ll ever be able to do that. There’s too much –contact.” Mia clenched her fist into the cloth of his shirt. “I could hurt you. Maybe even kill you.”

  Cy leaned in and whispered close to her ear, “I’ve always liked cha
llenges.”

  Mia shivered, and felt her nipples bud through the thin material of her T-shirt, her desire shooting to her core. Cy’s gaze dipped down appreciatively. “I love the way I can make you react with just mere words. It’s a total turn-on.”

  Mia longed to rub her body down the length of him, naked on top of her, taking her.” There are challenges and there are challenges. I’m saying maybe never, are you ready for that?” Mia blushed and turned away.

  “I told you, I’m a patient man.” He paused, studying her. “Stay here tonight and be here when I get back from my shift.” He paused and then clenched his lips together tightly. “I wanted to call in, and stay here with you, but Ben has the night off and we’re short men.”

  “You need to go.”

  “I need a shower. I’ll be back in a few.” He disappeared behind the bathroom door.

  Was it better or worse to be around him? She couldn’t decide. She felt so alone when Cy wasn’t around. It had only been a week since the fire, but the memory of it was already fading. Maybe memories faded on their own. Good or bad. The water from the shower stopped and part of her hoped he would come bounding out again with only his towel on.

  She remembered the gleam of the water running down his toned abdomen. Her heartbeat increased even hearing the squeak of the bathroom door.

  When she turned, Cy was dressed in a clean pair of jeans and a T-shirt. Another glimpse of all that bronzed muscled skin would have been nice, but it could have put her over the edge. The power had subsided since they’d returned from Orenda’s. Mia had made sure of it by running cold water over her arms.

  Cy threw his backpack over one shoulder. “You’ll be here?” he asked, his face hopeful. He touched a thumb to her cheek.

  She looked up at him. “Maybe.” Cy looked deliciously sensual with his hair still damp from the shower. The water made his hair curl tightly around the temples of his strong face.

  “Hey, no snap.” He smiled that devilish, cocky grin she was beginning to love. He quickly pulled her to him and took her breath along with it. “Green means go.” His lips were on hers before she could say another word…or wanted to.