Chapter 26
The unwelcome home-
I didn’t sleep, for I had too much to think about. Who would I return to live with? Both of the families had potential, but there were also negatives to both.
With the Sanibels, I would have a large family. I would live in their unique yellow house by the reservoir. I loved the reservoir. I loved the campground and being in the canyon; however, I hated the messes. I hated being hungry. I hated how disconnected the Sanibels were with the kids. I liked the shed and sleeping in it. I liked Taz. I liked the freedom to come and go as I pleased. I loved Mandy. I liked my school and my friends. I didn’t like how they made me go to church.
With the Petersons, I liked the smallness of the family. At least until the baby was born, I would be the sole recipient of the Peterson’s attention. I was sure if I needed clothes, they would buy some for me; however, I had the nice collection from Dr. Van Hassel. Erin had taken them to the dry cleaner earlier, because of the water from the sprinkler system. Also, with the Petersons, I would get enough to eat. I wouldn’t have to fight for my food. But, I would hate living in their small stucco rambler right there in the middle of a sea of ramblers. They barely had their own yard and it felt like everyone was on top of each other. I liked how they didn’t make me go to church.
I couldn’t make a choice. There were pros and cons to both decisions. When the sun rose, I was so tired from not sleeping. I felt foolish. Why had I allowed myself to become so tired? I quickly gathered some energy. Making myself feel like new. I would never have to be tired again. I wondered if I could sell my energy to tired college students. ‘Safe energy for cheap’. I could probably make a fortune.
Carlson came to my dorm and carried my two luggage bags to the limousine. I was glad to be leaving. Summer was almost over, and I wanted a little bit of time to myself. I still hadn’t decided where I was going to live. In the back of the limo, Dr. Van Hassel was waiting for me.
“I take it you had a lovely time here?” he asked.
“Oh yes I did. Thanks for everything.” I realized I hadn’t seen much of him over the month.
“You earned it, so don’t thank me. It came from a scholarship.” He looked so prestigious in his black suit, vest, dark gray tie, and white, crisp shirt. I was glad I had the chance to personally rub shoulders with someone so important.
“I heard you gave me the scholarship and clothes,” I said. Dr. Van Hassel’s face became red. The mood became uncomfortable as he looked away.
I decided to quickly change the subject.
“Do I get to come back next year?” I already knew I did, but I was trying to change the mood.
“You know you do. But Alora, I have an offer even better than that.”
“What is it?” I asked as I took a sip of the grape soda he had offered me. Just then we went over a bump, I spilled quite a bit on his white leather seat. My heart felt like it dropped into my stomach. He had been looking out the side of his window. He hadn’t seen what I had done. Quickly, I slid my body over the purple stain so he wouldn’t notice it.
As I sat over it, I used my Zen to remove the stain out of the leather. I lifted my thigh and snuck a peak underneath. The stain was gone. I loved my Zen!
Dr. Van Hassel turned to me as he sat up tall. “Alora, we expected great things from you when you came this summer. Your abilities blew us away. I don’t even think you realized what you were capable of.”
Little did he know.
“You have managed to use your brain to a level none of the rest of us can hope to aspire to. It would be a shame to watch nothing happen with your gift. I for one do not want to see it go idle. What I propose to you, is to return to the school this fall and we will really open your potential.”
I choked on some of the soda. I coughed until I cleared my lungs. “What kind of tests?” I blurted out.
“Similar to the ones you already took. What we are looking to do is place you in a program. If you are good enough, we can put you in some accelerated programs and work toward your doctorate.”
“You mean, I could get a doctorate without taking anymore classes?”
“Well yes, and no. You could test out of some classes, but that isn’t our intentions to let your mind go idle. We would still like to see you learn.”
“But what if I don’t have anything left to learn? What if I know it all?”
“You are certainly pompous.”
His remark cut into me, and I felt silly for my statement.
“Sure there are always new things to learn. I imagine, and I could be wrong, you are well versed in the sciences, but what about other areas of life. Do you have a good grasp on history? Could you write a haiku? How are your grammar skills and English skills?
“I don’t know. Why don’t you ask me a question and we will see if I know the answer to it,” I responded.
“What is the Defense of the Realm Act, and when was it put into place?”
My mind was blank. “I don’t know,” I admitted.
“How about, what happened July first, nineteen sixteen?”
“Don’t know.”
“Just as I thought. You see Alora, you still have a lot to learn.”
…
During my flight home, my mind raced. There were so many choices to consider. I had to decide where I was going to live, and if I was going to return to Harvard in the fall. Did I really want to kiss away my childhood by spending the remainder of it in college? The last few weeks of the camp had really dragged on. I was sure if I returned in the fall, there wouldn’t be kids my age there. It would probably all be adults. I really wanted the experiences of getting my driver’s license then cruising around places with friends. I wanted to go to parties and dances and all the things the Sanibel kids talked about. I would have my whole life to be an adult. I had only one childhood, and most of it had already been stolen.
Of course, I was also afraid to return to Harvard. What if Dr. Moody was right? What if they wanted to run experiments on me? What if they hurt me or zapped my brain, or filled me with drugs?
I wanted to return to the Petersons. They were kind and they would treat me well. It would be nice to no longer be poor and filthy. The only problems was, I hated where they lived. I couldn’t be trapped in their small stucco rambler, with only a suburbia subdivision to explore.
I loved where the Sanibels lived, and I even liked them a bit, but they weren’t the greatest family. Although they boasted about how amazing they were, they really weren’t. I sure had a hard decision to make.
…
Mr. Cox met me at the airport and took me back in his black car. I told him a little about the camp. I also told him about Dr. Van Hassel’s offer. When he heard that, he became adamant I return to Harvard in the fall. He said one in a million foster kids get a chance like that, and I would be an idiot if I turned it down.
Back at Child Protective Services, I sat in the meeting room as Mr. Cox awaited my decision. He said he would call whatever family I chose and they would be there shortly to pick me up.
“Don’t put too much stress into figuring it out. You will only be there for two weeks, before you have to return to Harvard.”
Who said I was returning to Harvard?
The decisions weighed heavily upon me.
…
I was crushed by the lack of welcome I received when I walked into my home. Mrs. Sanibel was sitting in her recliner eating a big bag of chips while watching a movie on TV. The other kids were running around the house, like usual. The place seemed extra dirty and smaller than I had remembered. There was a stench of something rotten.
Mike was the only one who had come and picked me up from Child Protective Services. The drive home had been painfully quiet. I tried to tell him a little about camp, but when it became apparent he wasn’t listening, I stopped talking.
Mrs. Sanibel looked up from her chips as she wipe
d her greasy hands on the chair’s upholstery. “Mercy me, you missed dinner. Don’t worry, I didn’t get enough to eat either.” She took her hands and licked the salt off them, then she dived them back into the crinkly bag. She grabbed another handful of chips and shoved them into her mouth, then held the bag out to me.
“You can have a chip if you want.”
My stomach turned as I imagined her slimy hands swimming through the other chips and making them soggy.
“I am fine,” I said, which was a lie. I had left for the airport before breakfast was served in the cafeteria. I didn’t have any money to buy anything on the flight. When Mr. Cox picked me up, he hadn’t stopped to think I might be hungry. I hadn’t eaten all day.
“There might be some bread in the kitchen,” she said in-between licking her fingers.
I was hurt. She didn’t even say hello. She didn’t say, “Oh Alora, I am so glad you chose to come and live with us, you know how much we were missing you. I understand you could have gone and lived with that nice Peterson family where you never would be hungry and where everything is nice and clean, but you chose us instead, and I am so touched and honored by that.” She never said that, or anything to me.
Disappointed, I dragged my heavy luggage up the stairs. Each step I took, the luggage banged against the steps and wall. After three steps up, Mike came storming out of his room. “Who is making all that racket? It has to stop now!”
He looked over and saw me trying to get my luggage up the stairs. I expected an offer to carry my luggage for me. Instead he said, “Try to be more careful! Watch my walls!”
What jerks, the both of them. Why had I chosen to come back to the Sanibels? I wanted to bawl. My stomach growled at me, reminding me it was empty. I was so angry. I looked over at Peggy whose attention had returned to some rambling commercial. I hated her at that moment. With my anger, I sent my Zen out and grabbed her chip bag. I took the bag and dumped its crumbly contents all over her head. She snapped out of her TV trance and screamed. The bag landed in her lap. She picked it up with the tips of her fingers, as if she thought it was possessed by evils sprits. She chucked the bag to the side of her chair. She was covered in chips and chip crumbs. It was perfect!
“Mercy me, how did it happen?” she jumped up and the chips scattered even deeper into her chair and onto the floor. “No, no, no,” she bellowed.
Mike came storming out of the room. “What’s with all the noise tonight? How can I complete this level with all this racket? Don’t you guys understand how hard this level is?” he looked over at Peggy as she danced around and spread her chip mess everywhere. “What are you doing? What is with your mess? I bet you are going to leave it there, huh? I bet you won’t even get off your fat butt long enough to clean it.” What was he talking about fat butt? His was even wider than hers. He never cleaned anything, so how could he justify being critical to her? Satisfied with the chip disaster, I continued to drag my luggage upstairs, taking extra care to bang them as loudly as I could.
“My walls, my walls,” he turned and screamed up at me.
Upstairs, I noticed Alashia and Emma had moved their things into my room. They were both on the floor playing dolls. They looked up at me, and both groaned.
“I’m not giving my room back,” Alashia said.
“Me neither,” said Emma.
I was downhearted as I stared at the trashed state of my room. They had put a bed on top of mine, creating a bunk bed. Another dresser had been put in. All of the girl’s clothes and toys created a mountain of mess. The room was crowded and out of sorts. I wanted to cry. Why had I come back? I thought about the nice tidy room the Petersons had made me. I turned from the girls and lugged my bags back down the stairs. It immediately sent Mike flying out of his room again.
“My walls, my walls!”
I was so tired. I wanted to curl up on the stairs and cry like a baby.
“If you put a hole in my wall, you will be fixing it,” he threatened. He could have been a gentleman and offered to carry my bags.
I had enough. I didn’t have to be tired, and Mike didn’t have to be yelling. I could solve both of those problems in one quick move. I sent out my Zen and took half of his energy and added it to mine. Instantly I felt happy, despite the situation at the moment. I looked at Mike. He had lowered to the floor and sat against the wall. His face had a green tint to it.
“I don’t feel good,” he groaned. He looked pale. I finished dragging my luggage down the stairs and deliberately wheeled them over his outstretched toe as I went by him. “Watch it,” he moaned, lacking the strength to yell.
Peggy never even looked up to ask me where I was going. I know she must have seen me out of her peripheral vision. I dragged my bags out onto the porch. I went back in the house and found the phone. I tried calling Mr. Cox to come and get me, but there was no answer. I tried calling London, but there was no answer. What was I going to do? I had made a bad choice, and I didn’t want to live there. I wanted to leave right that minute.
My stomach growled at me again. I wondered if I had any more fish in the freezer out in the shed. I wheeled my luggage out there. I opened the outside freezer to find no fish in it, empty except for a thick layer of ice buildup. I decided to go and get the bread Peggy had mentioned. I walked back in the house, down the hall, past the dining room, through the family room, and into the kitchen. There on the floor was a bread bag with both of its ends ripped open with a few slices still inside, but they were dry and crusty. In desperation, I grabbed them. I looked around to see if there was anything else to eat, but there wasn’t. I took the bread back to the shed with me.
I took a bite, and the dryness almost shut my throat down. I wish I had grabbed some water on the way out. I thought about going back in the house to get some water, but I didn’t want to go by the Sanibels again. As I debated going back during my second bite of bread, a thought hit me. I should make water. There was hydrogen and oxygen in the air all around me.
I would first need something to put it in. I looked to see if there were any cups in the shed. There weren’t. I saw an old milk jug out there. That would work. I grabbed the milk jug with my Zen and rearranged the molecules until I had crafted a 16oz cup. I gathered the hydrogen and oxygen in the air and filled my cup up with fresh water. I wasn’t sure how it would taste. Taking a drink, I found great relief from my parched throat, and satisfaction to my abilities. The water tasted really good and refreshed me. I was going to take another bite of the stale bread when another thought hit me. Why didn’t I turn the bread into something worth eating? What was I in the mood for?
I held the bread in my left hand while I used my Zen to gather all the elements I would need. Since I had studied Dr. Moody’s books, I knew the molecule makeup of most everything out there. With my knowledge, I borrowed from the elements all around me and constructed the atoms into a chicken. I took some more of the milk jug and turned it into a plate. I put the chicken on it, then decided to put mashed potatoes on as well. With the other piece of bread, I turned it into creamy potatoes. Things were a bit cool, so I used my energy and heated everything up. My meal tasted amazing, and I was so proud I had made it on my own. If I could make my own food whenever I was hungry, maybe life at the Sanibels wouldn’t be bad. When I was halfway done eating, Peggy came into the shed.
“You wanna take the boat out?” she asked. She saw my dinner, and I watched her salivate. “Where did you get that?” she asked.
“At the airport,” I lied.
“Oh, looks good,” she said, licking her lips. There was no way I was going to share with her. I watched her hook the boat trailer up to the four-wheeler. I had to suppress my laugh, because I could still see little slivers of chips embedded into her hair.
…
Life felt perfect out on the water. All my stress melted away. A calmness filled me as I return to one of my favorite places.
The night was still hot from the blazing hundred degree day it had been. A cool breeze blew over and felt perfect. Taz panted at my feet. I had my pole in my hand and a worm in the other. I wasn’t in the mood for getting worm guts under my nails. When Peggy wasn’t looking, I used my Zen to break the worm apart and put it on my hook. It was so great not having to touch it with my fingers. I cast my line out and relaxed. I was glad Peggy had forgotten it was Sunday. If she had remembered, then we wouldn’t be fishing. I looked up at the brilliant white stars, their light illuminating the dark sky. At that moment, everything was perfect. I was glad I had returned.
“Did you have a good time?” Peggy asked.
“Yes,” I said.
“Are you as brilliant as they had hoped?”
I was dying to tell her all about the camp, from start to finish. I wanted to tell her about Dr. Moody and our dinners together. I wanted to tell her how I could control elements and manipulate energy, but I didn’t trust her. I lost my trust for her the day she refused to let me return. It still hurt me she had turned her back to me so easily. I had put up a wall against her, and I wasn’t ready to take it down any time soon.
“I don’t think I would call myself brilliant,” I responded, even though I knew I was.
“Sure you are. I Googled their camp. Only twenty kids are picked out of thousands of applicants, and to think, you didn’t even have to apply. Mandy must have done a bang up job on tutoring you.”
“She did,” I answered.
“Well, tell me all about your summer camp, and don’t leave one detail out.”
I pulled the crumpled up agenda out of my pocket. I had memorized it, but I kept it close to me as a remembrance of my experience there. I handed the agenda to Peggy.
“What is this?” she asked.
“It was my daily agenda.”
“Well, it’s too dark out here to read it,” she said, handing it back to me.
“Try again. Hold it up to the lantern.” I replied.
She put it next to the lantern where she was able to read it. “Wow. That looks like a grueling way to spend a summer, worse than school. I hope you were happy there and it was worth it to you.”
“It was nice,” I said, underplaying the whole thing.
“Well, tell me more. Who was your favorite teacher? Was it hard? You better not tell me you made a boyfriend there.”
I kept my description short. I didn’t want to tell her about any of my discoveries. Peggy couldn’t be trusted. I kept it simple and very superficial. I told her the classes were hard and the tests were even harder.
“How did you do?” she asked. “I remember not very long ago, you couldn’t even take a test.” I laughed with what she said, and she laughed with me.
“I must have done well enough, because they invited me to return there this fall.”
“What about your eighth grade year? Don’t they realize you will be in school?”
“They want to graduate me with a doctorate in science. They said they would help me focus on one which builds my strengths, in return, they want me to join their research team and help them.”
“You, the girl who couldn’t speak a few months ago? What happened Alora, who are you?”
I felt nervous. Had I already told Peggy too much?”