Ruby cracked the blinds again. "Children, hide in the bathroom. I got an idea."
We did what we were told, Michael locking the door behind us.
A moment later, the `exterminators' came stomping around in our hotel room.
"Oh thank God!" I heard Ruby saying. "This place is just crawling with bedbugs. I turned over that picture on the wall, and it's like they're having a party. And don't get me started on the duvet and the closet."
More stomping. I heard the oil can clicking of one of those manual pump sprayer things. "Anything in the bathroom?" a man asked.
"Haven't really checked in there, but you know how those things hate the light."
The knob turned and clanked as the man tried to enter.
Ruby laughed. "Oh right. Sorry. My boyfriend's in there. Poor baby got the squirts. Swears it's from my cooking, but I know that can't be it."
Mike let out a dramatic groan, squeezing a large shampoo bottle into the commode. The bottle, near empty, did kind of sound like diarrhea. Me and Gertie, hiding inside the bathtub, suppressed giggles.
"You got some Pepto?" Mike called.
"Hold on, let me check..."
"Your boyfriend sounds young," said the man outside the door.
"What can I say? I likes `em young...You know it's good you're spraying for cockroaches too, `cuz I saw a couple crawling around the set."
"Ma'am, we're spraying for bedbugs."
"Then how come you're not turning over the bed? I know how these things work! Are you going to do it right, or do I need to go complain at the front office?"
I heard the bed banging on its side. "Ma'am, I'm going to need you to clear out of here for awhile. You and your boyfriend."
She knocked on the door. "Tom, you done in there?"
Mike continued making noise. "I don't think so! Where's the pink stuff?"
"Sorry, baby. Fresh out. Need to go to the store." To the man, he said, "Can he just...stay in there awhile and hold his breath when he comes out? I don't think he's in a condition to move right now, unless you want to do his laundry..."
"Ma'am, that's fine. We'll come back. We, uh, need to get some chemicals from the main warehouse anyway...You haven't seen a couple small kids around here lately, have you? A boy and a girl? Gray uniforms?"
"You talking about prep school uniforms or what?"
"They're kind of prison jumpsuits. They broke out of juvie. The boy's older, brown haired, got a little sister in pigtails. You'd know if you saw them. In fact, here's their picture."
"So they got pest control searching for missing children now? What kind of operation you running?"
"Ma'am, we serve the community. Anyways, I hear they've been kidnapped by a stocky white guy and a black woman. They might have an older boy with them."
"Could you describe the black woman for me? `Cuz that could be anyone on the entire east side."
"I'm sorry. We have pictures, but they're back at the main office. The woman was a secretary for the Department of Defense. She may be dressed in uniform."
"A black woman...in the DOD. Now there's something you don't see every day!"
"I'm sorry ma'am. Not meaning to be insensitive or anything. If you see them or hear anything, could you give us a ring? We'd really appreciate it. There's a phone number on the back."
"I'll definitely keep an eye out."
The men stomped out. I heard the hotel door clicking shut, then a long silence.
"I'm glad that's over," said Michael. "'m out of dad's shampoo."
"Is it safe to come out now?" Gertie asked.
A moment later, it was like was having an epileptic fit. My eyes rolled backwards in my head as I convulsed in the tub.
"Brother?" Gertie cried.
Mike grabbed me. "Elliott! Snap out of it!"
And then it was like we weren't in the hotel anymore. We were on ET's ship, all three of us standing in the lower level, gawking at what we saw.
ET hadn't moved from the plant...couch...thing. He appeared to be resting, though, his debriefing ending some time ago.
"Is ET dead?" Gertie asked.
"I don't think so," my older brother replied. "I see his chest moving."
The fronds of that tree thing were growing into his arms and upper body, but he smiled when he saw us. "Mich-ael. Ger-tie. Ell-i-ott."
"We're safe, ET," I said. "For the time being. Are you okay?"
ET nodded. "Good."
Gertie reached for him, but it only made the vision fade in places like a shimmering mist.
"Your power is fading," ET said. "But will always be here..." He pointed to his head.
His finger glowed as it pointed in my direction.
I saw a flash of something, an electronics diagram. For some reason, it made sense to me. I felt I could build it, whatever it was.
"Find...me."
I heard hotel beds banging down, then a knock. "Kids, you in there?...Food's getting cold!"
Our shared vision disappeared, and we were back in the bathroom. All three of our bodies glowed, but the light dimmed as we regained our bearings. Gertie and I had to wipe blood away from our noses.
"Yeah, dad!" Michael called back. "Just a minute!"
We came out to find taco meals and bags from the thrift store awaiting us on the beds.
"Hope this stuff fits," dad said. "Kinda picked it out at random. Had to guess on the sizes."
"Are the exterminators gone?" I asked.
Ruby nodded. "They sped off the moment they saw me come back with a pink bottle."
Dad chuckled. "You always did have a flair for the dramatic."
"Your son helped."
"You're out of shampoo," Michael said.
We ate our dinner, silently watching Knight Rider for a few moments.
"Why aren't you with mommy?" Gertie asked dad.
The man sighed, sat next to my sister, rubbed her on the head. "Your mom and I never got along because I'm a Catholic and your mom's a Jew. It was kind of like oil and water."
"Holy water," said Ruby.
"Yeah, anyways, that was only the tip of the iceberg. Admittedly I'm not a great Catholic, being that I'm living in sin and all, but that's beside the point. We didn't get along. That's all. And that bank book (whew!) never could catch all those random checks she kept writing until we got in the red..."
"It wasn't because you didn't want to see us?"
"You kidding? I've been missing you every...dang day!" He gave his girlfriend a sideways glance. "Hey, I'm going to talk with Rubes for a bit. Behave, okay?"
Gertie nodded.
"That's a good girl."
Ruby and Dad stepped out. I spied on them from the window.
"All right," I heard Ruby saying. "We got a free moment. It's quiet, we're alone, explain to me why we don't marry."
Dad sighed. "Look, uh, I got alimony and child support, which, honestly is going to pose an interesting-"
"Don't care. Name another reason."
"Hey," he stammered. "Say, for example, that you didn't-"
"You think I'll divorce you and leave you with two debts? Is that it?"
"Uh, in not so many words?"
"Steve, baby. I love you."
"I know, but this ain't my first rodeo."
"Elliott," Gertie called from a spot in front of the bed. "Sit on the floor with me. I want to try something."
I sat Indian style in front of her.
Gertie grabbed my hands. "Close your eyes."
I did.
I saw a flash, then that same circuit board thing I saw before.
"Do you see it?"
The more I thought about it, the more the idea solidified in my head. "Yeah. I think I know how to build it."
I got up from the floor, grabbed a screwdriver I'd spotted while hiding under the bed, and, starting with the antenna screws, I dismantled the TV, piece by piece.
I had an idea where all the components and circuits should go. It seemed easy as hooking up a VIC-20.
"Hey!" Michael protested. "You can't do that! What if someone-"
"I know how to put it back together," I said, not believing the words coming from my own mouth.
Michael, who had been with ET and everything, just stared at me, wide eyed. "Okay, so what are you doing?"
"Dunno. I guess we'll find out when I'm done."
Dad had brought along a dufflebag full of interesting tools, I guess for assisting our rescue. Among the pliers, wrenches and associated hardware, I found a calculator and an analog multimeter. It seemed a good idea to take the things apart for use in this...thing I was putting together.
The door swung open, and dad stepped in, hand in hand with Ruby. I spotted a ring. "Kids, I have an announcement to make-" He frowned when he saw the mess. "Hey! We're going to have to pay for that!"
He scowled. "Is that my calculator?"
I'd just created a rough version of a computer, complete with monitor, keyboard (the calculator), even something weird that went into the phone, maybe to call another computer, plus a parabolic reflector piece I'd built from a ceiling light cover and a flashlight.
"Son, I don't know what you're doing with all this stuff, but I hope you can put it all back or there's going to be a problem."
I opened my mouth to say something, but then my improvised computer flickered into action, large block letters on the TV screen spelling out the word ELLIOTT.
"That's cute," said dad. "Maybe we can find you a job. Now put that stuff back."
That's when two more words appeared:
PLEASE REPLY.
"It's ET!" Gertie shouted. "He's talking to us!"
