Invisible Justice

by Kim Jewell

  Oh, that feels good on the dry throat. Wait… This tastes normal, but it’s bottled water. I wonder if I drank from the tap…

  He took a glass from the cupboard and turned on the tap water. As it ran, he remembered the horror of smelling it earlier in the afternoon – same smell, individual elements. This time he tried his taste buds.

  BLECK. People really drink this stuff? I’m not sure I’ll ever BATHE in it again. Taste buds, check.

  Satisfied that he was able to wrap his head around these heightened abilities and keep his cool all at the same time, Sam realized he was too amped up to go back to sleep. He didn’t dare turn on the television, which would wake his parents. So he sat on the couch and reached for the sports magazine on the coffee table.

  How cool is this that I can read in the dark?

  He flipped through the pages, read a few articles, but found he couldn’t concentrate on the stories in the magazine – his head was too filled with questions about what was going on with his brain. He didn’t want to see a doctor – how could he explain any of this to a physician without being sent directly to a shrink? He would just have to do more research online and see if he could find an expert or specialist who might have some direction or answers for him.

  And then it happened. Again. Everything shut off. Sam found himself sitting in the pitch black of the living room, and his sense of calm flew completely out the door.

  He sat there for a full five minutes, muttering four-letter words, hoping it would come back, scared that it wouldn’t. And when it didn’t, he fumbled his way back to his bedroom, crawled back into his bed, and laid with his eyes wide open until his alarm went off at 6:45 a.m.

  Chapter Three

  Sam spent Thursday going through the motions at school, just waiting for the pain to hit. Nothing happened.

  At home he was quiet and withdrawn, which was pretty typical of a teenager, so his parents weren’t overly concerned. But Sam was. He was convinced that something – whatever this thing was – should happen again, and hopefully bring with it some new answers. But nothing surfaced.

  Friday came and went about the same. By Saturday morning, Sam was so frustrated, confused and moody, he just needed to get out of the house to get his mind on something else. Anything else.

  His father asked him to go out to the local home store and pick up some landscaping stones. His was the only truck in the family, since his father upgraded to an SUV, so Sam found himself doing a lot of the running and hauling for the family whenever the need arose. A small price, he guessed. Except for the fact that his twin sister ended up getting a brand new Beetle when she got her fifth high school report card in a row with straight A’s. Show off…

  But he was not in the mood for a quick run to the corner store to do his business. The great thing about the metro area where they lived in the outskirts of St. Louis was there were several different sections of town, and plenty of space in between. He needed time in his truck, quiet time for his brain, and a place where he wouldn’t run into anyone he knew. So on to the west side he was headed.

  While he drove, Sam thought about the fact that he seemed to be waiting, anticipating when the next weird anomaly would happen to his brain. He spent more time researching, but still hadn’t found anything close to explaining what was taking over his body.

  I’m going out of my mind about this crap. I need to stop obsessing… Just put it out of my head.

  Sam was grateful for the long drive. It gave him an opportunity to calm down, think over the events of the past few days. He pulled into the parking spot nearest the lawn and garden end of the store and turned off the engine. He walked toward the gate and pulled a flat bed cart from inside the door. His dad gave him plenty of cash to cover the supplies, plus a detailed note with a description of the stones he wanted for the side yard.

  As he walked through the store, he stopped by the display of rose bushes, which reminded him of his mother. On a whim, he picked out a rose bush with vibrant orange blossoms to surprise her.

  That oughta earn me some points with Mom! Now, on to the rocks.

  At the far side of the garden center, the entire end was lined with the heavier items – like bags of soil and mulch, bricks, stepping stones, edging tiles, and ceramic statues that Sam could never figure out why people would bother putting in their yards. He went straight to the stones his father wanted and loaded up the quantity his father requested.

  He knew it was a fairly heavy load he just put on the flat bed, but he was surprised when suddenly he felt a little light-headed. He started toward the checkout, thinking that perhaps he just needed to get out of here and to a drive-through for a Coke. Then, out of nowhere, the burning hit.

  Oh shit! Really? Here?!

  His squinted eyes looked around for nearby shoppers and a place to sit down. Luckily, there was a concrete bench three paces away. He stumbled over to it and collapsed onto the bench. With his head in his hands, he tried to breathe as deeply as his cramped body would allow.

  C’mon. Now?! Damnshitdamn. C’mon! It’s gotta pass…

  Sam tried to slow his breathing, calm himself. As he did, he suddenly realized that he could hear the thousands of water drops from the fountain section of the store a hundred yards away. It was deafening. The smell of the mulch bags across the aisle was more than his stomach wanted to handle.

  If anyone knew the number of termites that were in each of those bags, they’d switch to river rock in a heartbeat! Wow… I can hear them crawling. And chewing. That’s disgusting! And cool.

  And then he felt it – the pair of eyes on the side of his skull. Hoping it would go away, Sam didn’t dare look up.

  Maybe it’s just another shopper looking at the potting soil behind me.

  Then he felt the eyes boring into him stronger, as if they were getting closer in proximity. Yes, in fact they were getting closer, as he could hear the soft patter of her flip-flops approaching him.

  Go away, please. I’m fine, this will pass. Just go away. I can’t take any questions right now. PLEASE.

  “Oh. My. God! I know what’s happening to you!” said the voice.

  Sam looked up through the sunlight and realized that he couldn’t completely make out her face between the glare of the sun and the haze in his brain. “What?”

  “I know what’s happening to you,” she repeated.

  “How could you…” he started, then thinking better of himself, he kept up his ritual of deep breathing. He felt her sit down next to him. Not close enough to touch, he knew she was keeping a cautious distance. Well, more like he sensed she was keeping a cautious distance.

  They sat there in silence for what seemed like an eternity. He couldn’t completely concentrate on his breathing, which in his recollection was supposed to speed up the process. His mind was muddled with the scent of her – a mixture of apricot facial scrub and some kind of floral shower gel. Sam was never good at girly scents, and with his brain all jumbled, now wasn’t even the moment to try.

  Focus, Sam. One breath… Two… Three…

  All of a sudden the weight seemed to lighten, the pain stopped. He exhaled sharply. As if she knew it was gone, she reached out and touched his shoulder. He looked up at her, finally seeing her clearly.

  “Is the brain burn gone?” She couldn’t have worded that question more accurately or efficiently.

  How in the world could she possibly know what was going on in my head?

  “Who are you? And how could…” he cut off his sentence, fearful of giving too much away. He rubbed the back of his neck, which he realized was wet with a cold sweat.

  “How did I know your brain was frying like someone poured battery acid into it?”

  Okay, perhaps she could get just a little more accurate. Bullseye. Pretty and smart. Who is this chick?

  She continued, “I’m not exactly sure… It was kind of weird. I felt the quick blast hit my forehead – it almost pulled my eyes toward you – I couldn’t help it. So cool! Then I saw
the reaction in your eyes. I haven’t had any in so long, and this one didn’t stay long. I figured it was some sort of signal… That maybe we’re connected, we can sense each other’s flashes when we’re close to one another. I knew there had to be more! Well, I hoped at least.”

  “What? Signal? More?” She’s speaking in code!

  “More people like me! Anyway, back to you. Once the quick flash in my head startled me, made me look at you, I could see the way it took over your body so suddenly – I’m surprised that you had the strength to even stagger to this bench. And I could see the way you looked around, hoping that no one else would see that something strange, something you can’t even explain if your life depended on it, would notice.”

  “And yet, here you are. All full of notice. How lucky am I?” he managed back, through gritted teeth.

  “Well, I can’t speak for you, but I’m feeling pretty lucky myself. I’ve been hoping, waiting to find you.” She laughed, her blue eyes sparkling. “I just never imagined it would be next to the garden gnomes.”

  Chapter Four

  “What do you mean you’ve been waiting to find me? How did you know about me?”

  “Well, I didn’t really,” she replied. “I was hoping, actually. I spent the last year and a half struggling with this all on my own, hoping to find someone who might be going through the same confusion that my life has turned into. I’m Leesha, by the way.”

  “Sam.” His head was still reeling, but it was getting gradually better.

  “Nice to meet you. I mean, it’s really nice to find you. I thought I would be stuck with this secret forever, and now, out of the blue, here you are! Hey. Can you move stuff?”

  “What?” Could she ramble any more?

  “Can you move stuff? You know, with your brain.”

  This chick is making no sense at all. Who can move things with their brain? Wait… It’s not as if my brain hasn’t been doing some pretty incredible stuff.

  “No… Can you?”

  “Yep. It was pretty freaky at first, and then when the flashes of pain finally stopped, I decided it was a pretty cool parlor trick! Wanna see?”

  “Uh, YEAH.” Duh. Of course I want to see this.

  She set down the duct tape in her hand and looked around to make sure no one was watching or within earshot. All of a sudden the conversation had the feeling of some secret covert operation.

  “Do you see that sign right there – for the bird baths on sale?”

  “Yeah.”

  And then it happened. It moved four inches to the left.

  “YOU did that?” Sam was scared and amazed all in the blink of an eye.

  “Yep.”

  “With your brain.”

  “Yep.”

  “No way. Do it again.” Sam wanted to make sure his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him. Or worse yet, that she wasn’t playing tricks on him.

  “Okay, but let’s be careful. I don’t think the general public is ready for this kind of thing. Hey, that’s a nice rose bush you’ve got there,” she nodded to his cart.

  Sam glanced down and his plant was levitated about two inches in the air and turning a complete one-eighty. She set it down as gracefully as it floated, all without lifting a finger.

  “Does anyone know you can do this?” he asked Leesha. His eyes were wide, his mouth gaping.

  “No. I’ve been afraid to talk to anyone about it. I mean, who’s going to understand? Plus, I don’t really want to be the next NASA science experiment. Who knows what scientists would do with something like this.”

  This was all more than Sam could comprehend. There were so many questions he had for her, to try and get a grip on what was going on inside him. As his mind raced, he snapped back to reality and remembered his dad would be expecting his return with the landscaping stones.

  “Look, there’s so much I want to ask you, to discuss with you about this,” Sam started, “but right now my dad is waiting at home for me, and I’ve already been gone longer than I should have. Can we get together later?”

  “You bet we can. I just found you – I’m not letting you get away so easily. We’ve GOT to figure out some answers to all of this stuff. I hope you’re my key to finding them.”

  “What are you doing later on tonight?”

  “Nothing, now. My schedule is cleared for this.”

  Sam thought quickly. “Do you know the coffee shop on the corner of 3rd and Madison? Frannie's?”

  “Yeah, sure I do. It’s a dive.”

  “It is,” Sam replied, “but it’s always empty.”

  “Right. I follow you…”

  “Meet me there at eight tonight?”

  “You got it, partner. See you then,” she smiled widely. Sam couldn’t help but notice the gleam of hope in her blue eyes.

  “See you then.” His hope for answers was probably just as strong as hers.

  Sam bolted out of the nursery, loaded up the truck and headed for home as quickly as he could. His mind was racing, and he couldn’t quite get a grip on what just happened. Not only did he have another episode – and he had been waiting for this to happen – but he found someone else that has been through the same thing. So many questions were churning through his mind, which only added to the chaos in his brain from his extra senses that lingered from the last blast of fire.

  Did she really just move things with her mind? How cool is that?! I wonder if she can teach me how to do that… Okay, okay. Focus. You’ve got to figure out exactly what you need to know about her and from her. For crying out loud, you didn’t even get her whole name – or her phone number! Oh, I hope she shows tonight…

  As Sam sped home, his mind methodically checked off all the questions he wanted to ask her. He didn’t get a clear look at her – his head was reeling and burning the whole time they talked – but he figured she was in high school or college. She was there alone, so he guessed she was old enough to drive, but he suspected that she was a couple years older than him. He needed to know everything about her – who she was, where she came from, places that she had been – there had to be some sort of connection between the two of them. If they could find that connection, maybe they could figure out what happened to them.

  Sam parked in the driveway around four o’clock that afternoon and spent the following three hours helping his father unload the stones and place them according to his instruction. The work wasn’t hard, but in Sam’s mind, it seemed like the time dragged on forever. Finally at seven, they finished and Sam bolted for the shower. He hurried to get dressed and as he raced down the stairs, his mother stopped him.

  “Hi, honey. Do you want dinner?” Sam knew she worried about him, even though he tried his best to act normal.

  “No, thanks Mom,” he flashed his brightest smile at her, all the while knowing she could probably see right through his attempt. “I’m going out to meet a friend.”

  “Oh? Who are you going out with? Is it a date?”

  She is so totally on to me. “No, it’s not a date. Just a new friend I met – her name is Leesha. We’re meeting at Frannie’s, so I’ll grab some dinner there.” Keep it simple. The less info the better, but stick to as much of the truth as you can, just in case.

  “Well, okay then… Be careful. What time do you think you’ll be home? Do you have your cell with you?” As mothers went, she was totally thorough. She never ran out of questions.

  Sam’s curfew was at midnight, but he always tried to be home before then, thinking that he got extra credit for being reliable. “I’ve got my cell. I shouldn’t be out too late – maybe eleven or so. I’ll call if it’s later than that.” That should earn me a few points.

  “All right.” He turned to leave. “Oh, and Sam?”

  “Yes, Mom?”

  “The yard looks great. Thanks for helping your dad with that.”

  “No problem, Mom. Anytime.”

  “And Sam… I love my new rose bush. You picked out my favorite color. Thank you.”

  “You’re welco
me, Mom. You deserve it,” and he meant it.

  Sam knew that his family was pretty normal, kind of straight-as-an-arrow kind of perfect. His was the kind of family that everyone wanted when they saw “story book” families depicted in movies and television. His sister was a pain sometimes, and his parents were overly protective, but all in all, Sam knew he was pretty lucky.

  He turned and headed for his truck. He couldn’t wait to get to Frannie’s.

  Chapter Five

  She was waiting for him when he got there, in the back corner booth. He recognized her immediately, even from his muddled recollection of the few moments they spent together earlier, her jet black hair and quick smile made her an easy target to identify. He glanced at his watch. He was early, by about four minutes.

  Well, she’s prompt. Points for her.

  “Hey,” Sam started, sitting down. “Thanks for meeting me. My mind’s been racing since I saw you this afternoon.”

  “Mine has too! I gave up hope that I might be able to find any rational connection or answer as to what happened to me. I was so… Well, relieved is the right word, to find you.”

  “You said happened – past tense,” Sam questioned. “Do you mean you’re not having episodes any more?”

  “No. You call them episodes? That’s funny. No, the flashes are gone. All that’s left is the extra brain power it left.” She tapped her head and gave him a crooked grin that reached half of her face.

  “Okay, start from the beginning. Tell me what happened. I want to know everything – how old were you when it started, what it felt like, what you did about it, who you told – give me all your details,” he pleaded.

  “The first time it happened I was sitting in detention. It was maybe a year and a half ago, so the end of my freshman year.”

  “Wait. So you’re in high school? Where do you go to school?”

  “Central.”

  “Have you always lived here?”

  “Born and raised,” she continued. “Except for about nine months - I was seven - my mother wanted to move to the Gulf Coast. She followed some deadbeat boyfriend of hers down there. He was a fry cook at one of the casinos. We moved back right after they broke up. My grandparents are here, so it’s always been home base for us.”