Chapter Thirty-Two
Initially, while thinking about dinner that day, Rocky worried how he would come across. Would it be obvious he still was suspicious about Reed's involvement with MedoCal? That he wondered if there was a chance that the friendly dinner was a means to be in one place at the same time so to get rid of them sooner? He wondered if it made him a bad person for being that worried about it.
Yet as the night went on, Rocky found himself slowly opening more and more. Reed and Renee were nice. They asked questions to get to know them. At first, Rocky knew Colt felt the same way about his suspicions, his worries. Because he answered every question in short, stunted answers, eyes practically narrowing to slits when they turned to be a little more personal than the ones before. Tum-Tum, on the other hand, practically glared at his brothers every time they tried to hold themselves back from response. It was their idea to teach the Jacksons ninja, Tum-Tum had reminded them of that on the way to the house that night.
Nevertheless, Rocky slowly found himself confiding in them with the questions they asked. They were the same he'd received many times before; college, his plans for it, after it, what he was doing in his senior year. But he found himself answering the questions he was asked with ease.
"Senior year is a pretty big year," Reed pointed out, spearing the pile of green beans that sat to the side of his plate. "Sure, there's lots of tests and papers, and getting ready for college. But there has to be something fun that you're interested in."
"Well, I try to keep myself focused with my ninja training especially," Rocky said. "So that I don't let things like that stress me out too much." He bobbed his head. "I play basketball for school. And we all play baseball for the city team."
"Your dad coaches it, doesn't he?" Renee asked. She brushed her hair back from her face and motioned to her husband. "Reed only lasted coaching Julius's soccer team before realizing the stress with the others weren't going to be worth it." She laughed when Reed shot a lifted eyebrow toward her.
"That didn't stop him from being the loudest parent at games," Patrick pointed out, the side of his mouth turning up in a lopsided smile. "May as well have been our coach, yeah?" He gestured toward himself. "And we turned out fine!"
"I reckon the jury's still out on that," Reed joked, making Patrick laugh but the others to roll their eyes.
"Who's Julius?" Colt asked.
"Our eldest," Renee explained.
Reed's eyes popped open as if it were new information. "We have—love, since when do we have six kids?" He asked. "When did our family get so big? Did we put up a sign outside that says, 'Jackson Hotel; We turn nobody away'?"
Rocky, Colt and Tum-Tum smiled, laughing quietly to themselves while the Jacksons all laughed uproarisly. Renee merely shook her head and said, "Ignore him. He likes to think he's funny." She then made a sound of disbelief and made a move to cover her mouth at their curious expressions. "Oh, we must not have mentioned. He's in college back in Australia, didn't make the trip over with the rest of us."
"And I thought we drove mom crazy, and there's just three of us," Tum-Tum said. He tapped his chin. "I don't think I can imagine what it'd be like if I had three more brothers."
"As long as they're not all like you it should be fun," Colt said.
"Shut up, spaz."
Reed and Renee laughed.
Rocky smiled politely. He thought for a moment then asked, "What does he study?"
"Sports Management." Reed shrugged and glanced toward his wife. "We always wanted him to be a doctor, but he's had basketball in his blood ever since he could walk…and ran right into the middle of a pickup game in the park." He started to laugh. "Bloke nearly got his head knocked off, but he was enamored since."
"So, Rocky, what do you want to major in?" Renee asked. "Your parents mentioned that you're going in some AP classes in school. Is there anything there that's caught your attention?"
"Is it obvious our mum is a teacher?" Noah asked, quiet voice dripping with sarcasm.
But, Rocky noted, it was evident he was proud of her. That all of them were proud of what their parents did, and weren't embarrassed by it; he would probably avoid his mom if she was a teacher at her school. Only for the very slight potential for her to embarrass him in some way. He knew Colt would at least duck his head and pretend he didn't know her, especially as he was her favorite. Tum-Tum would've treated it like the best thing in the world…until he realized why I wouldn't be.
Rocky's attention shifted to the question he was asked. Paused.
The dreaded question finally came up gain. What did he want to do in college? Where did he want to go? What did he want to do after? How many times was he going to hear those questions? When were people going to ask him other, more mundane things? Like, whether he was enjoying all his current classes. What did he think of the Dodgers in their last game? Hell, what was his favorite color? (As if that weren't already obvious).
"My parents eventually want me join the FBI," Rocky replied, almost as if he were reading it off a sheet that'd been set up for him when he was born. A checklist of things he'd accomplished to make sure he did, in fact, end up following in his father's footsteps. In which, many ways, it had been. "So, criminal law, criminal justice. Things like that. AP classes pads my application, but also prepares my critical thinking. They're alright, nothing too bad." He noticed the two give each other a look, couldn't stop himself before asking, "What do you think?"
"I think I asked the wrong question."
Rocky blinked in surprise. Confusion. "What do you mean?"
"Sorry, mate, but we couldn't help but notice you keep saying what your parents want," Reed pointed out. He gestured toward Rocky, spinning his fork around his fingers. "Last I checked, you're the one who's going to uni."
Rocky started to answer, stopped. They'd hit close to home with that one. Was he really that obvious? Or was it just that they were paying attention? "They're paying the bills," he mumbled, cringing as soon as the words came from his mouth. He quickly recovered saying, "And it is a good path to go." Out the corner of his eye, he saw Colt and Tum-Tum exchange a glance. "I'm sure you've heard about everything we've ever been up to, obviously we can't seem to leave things lone." He flashed the charming smile that worked on all his teachers.
Reed quickly held up his hand. His eyes grew wide, quickly realizing his mistake. "I didn't mean they were giving you bad advice. They obviously care a great deal about you. And UCLA is a good school." His eyebrows twitched upwards, the only part of him visible when he lifted his bottle of beer and pressed it to his lips. "Is that why you chose it?"
Caught again.
Feeling himself blushing, Rocky said, "They both went there. I grew up looking through the yearbooks. I know all the fraternities on campus, even know the school song." He laughed to himself. "I could probably tell you everything about that school if I tried hard enough."
"You don't sound bitter at all," Riley remarked, then lifted her gaze innocently when both of her parents turned glares her way. "I'm just saying, mate, life is about choices, and right now, I choose not to have this conversation because it's not going to take long before they start to ask us what our plans are." She tipped her head toward her mother and father before getting to her feet. At the same time, Rhuben stood and the girls gathered their dishes from the table before Patrick, Noah, and Sydney moved to the cabinets for smaller dishes. "Right now, my plan is dessert."
That was perfectly fine with Rocky, he wanted to do anything but talk about school as it was. Relief lessened in his shoulders, grateful for the change in subject. His fingers tapped against his thighs, a precursor to his knees starting to bounce up and down, rapidly bouncing his weight against the balls of his feet.
"Would you like some?" Renee asked the boys.
Tum-Tum's head immediately shot up, eyes widening at even the thought. Colt laughed and motioned to his brother. "I think he's answered your question." Colt stretched his arms in front of him. "I wouldn't mind some."
Sydney's nose wrinkled. "Can you eat that much before ninja training?"
"It's never stopped Tum," Rocky remarked. This time Tum-Tum made a whining sound of annoyance. A noise that he'd made plenty of times throughout the years that, quite frankly, Rocky thought he'd grown out of. But there were still many things that surprised him about Tum-Tum, mostly with how he was able to handle the new curveballs life threw his way.
How would he react if we told him the truth? Rocky thought, watching as the boys took the dessert plates and filled each one with a piece of piece and ice cream. (Tum-Tum politely asked for a bigger scoop of ice cream atop of his plate, so big that Rocky almost didn't see the pie beneath it). What would he do if we told him about grandpa? Cry, probably, Rocky reasoned. Scream. Throw things. Throw his weight around. It was what got him into wrestling in the first place, he remembered. Tum-Tum was tired of people picking on him for whatever reason they could think of; his ninja name, his very crooked teeth, his pudge, his sensitivity. And while ninja helped him to learn how to defend himself, he was never to start a fight he couldn't finish it, wasn't supposed to use it as a work of aggression.
It was Mori who had suggested he learn how to wrestle, by really listening to Tum-Tum. And, it was obvious Tum-Tum was his favorite of the three. He was the most patient and understanding of Tum-Tum's waning attention, when he started to get "bored", or "tired", or "hot" and let him rest, while Rocky and Colt "who knew better" continued their training.
Maybe that was the start of everything. Maybe Mori had, somehow, sensed the time he had left, and worked to make sure that he wasn't too heavy handed on the lessons he was imparting on them when Tum-Tum came around. Maybe their grandmother's death had done that…she'd passed not long after Tum-Tum was born.
"I know the wallpaper is a little funny looking, but I don't think it's that interesting, Rocky." Rocky blinked, coming back to attention when he noticed Rhuben, who was sitting across from him, waving her hand in front of his face. He blinked hard, shaking his head to focus on what was being said around him, and smiled, feeling his cheeks flush.
His hands tapped against his thighs, only stopped when he picked up the fork and spun it through his fingers, as if they were nun-chucks moving in the palm of his hand. It, the image, instantly calmed him. He let out a breath and poked at the dessert to take a bite.
"So, how did you guys get into ninja?" Reed asked. "I mean." He waved his fork around his mouth. "We know your grandfather has taught you lot, you parents said as much when we were at the tournament. And it was really something seeing you guys up there doing your thing."
Rocky and Colt rolled their eyes when Tum-Tum turned a wide, cheesy smile their way. A reminder that he had won the competition when his two older brothers had not. It seemed to not make a difference to Tum-Tum that it was a fake tournament.
"It seems to be something you all take to task very fondly," Renee continued. "Is it something your whole family knows?"
Colt snorted loudly. Usually Rocky would have given him a look of reproach but couldn't help but shake his head at the thought. His father learning ninja, everything that went with it…it didn't just clash with his father, but it clashed with what he believed in, what the principles of his job taught him. He couldn't imagine what it'd be like to see his father interrogate one of his suspects by beating him up with elusive tricks and—maybe—a handful of jellybeans down the throat.
"I'll take that as a 'no'."
"I'd love to see dad actually take ninja seriously," Colt continued. "He thinks it's a waste of time." He didn't seem to notice the silence of all the Jacksons watching him closely. "They've fought about that for years. But grandpa still teaches us everything he can about it." He bobbed his head, then answered the second question asked. "Ninjas are usually born into being a ninja. The traditions are kept and passed down through the family. Usually they're trained from childhood."
"Mom says that grandpa taught her some ninja," Tum-Tum jumped in. "And that he also taught her about survival and poisons and stuff."
"She was just teasing you," Colt scolded him. "Do you really think grandpa would teach her all that and grandma wouldn't say anything?" He rolled his eyes. "Do you think grandpa would teach us something like that and mom and dad wouldn't say anything?"
"I have to say I don't really understand why your father would be so against it," Renee said kindly. "Any form of martial arts is athletic, teaches physical endurance and discipline."
"If The Karate Kid is anything to go by, yeah?" Riley replied.
"It's a lot of hard work," Rocky agreed. "A lot of long-distance running, climbing, weight lifting, swimming. Meditation…"
"You know," Colt broke in, making Rocky frown. "This is all starting to seem like an interview," Colt pushed his empty plate away and folded his arms. "When do we get to ask you some questions?"
A grin slowly stretched across Reed's face. "What else do you want to know? You already know where I work—and how bad the security is there." He laughed to himself. "You really gave those guys a run for their money. They've been shitting themselves since then, throwing in new security measures. They've even said they may put new monitoring devices on our computers." He noticed Sydney giving him a stricken look and said, "No worries, Little Man. I don't let you anywhere near my confidential stuff and Hardass would never be interested in what we're working on." He leaned back in his seat, pulling his cell phone out from his pocket. "Speaking of Hardass, that's him calling now."
Rocky sat up straight and looked to Colt, who did his best not to let anything on his face show. If JJ was calling then, there had to be something going on. And if there was something going on, it meant Harding was planning on doing something sooner rather than later.
"I don't want to bore you with this," Reed continued, not seeming to notice the three boys staring at him intently. "There's more interesting things in life…like you beating up my kids. I hope you really give it to them good, hopefully knock em down a peg, yeah?"
"Jack," Renee said in warning, though she smiled to herself.
"I'm just saying. Maybe it'll keep the house quite for more than five minutes." He turned to leave the room, bumping into the counter and knocking the stack of glasses off to the floor. The Jacksons barely moved at the loud sound of glass breaking. "Oops."
"Go take your call," Renee said with a wave of her hand. Reed smiled and left the room, putting the phone back to his ear. Renee stood, pushing back her seat, carefully stepping over the broken glass to go to the pantry and retrieve a broom and dustpan. "Don't mind me, I'm sure you all have a lot of work to do."
"So." Patrick leveled his gaze on Rocky. "What's the first lesson?"
"Uh…" Rocky reached up, rubbing the back of his neck. He hadn't really thought that far ahead, was more caught off guard with it coming so bluntly. Let alone the fact that he wanted nothing more than to sneak around the corner and hear what Reed was saying to JJ, which would ultimately be relayed to Harding.
As it was, it wasn't like there was some sort of a lesson plan you could come up with when you were going to teach ninja. It was ninja. It was something you felt. Something you lived and breathed. It was a part of you.
His thoughts suddenly shifted to his grandfather, and what he'd admitted to Colt that night. Their grandpa was dying, someday soon—maybe not too soon—he'd be gone. But, as Mori always said, he would always be with them.
And with that, Rocky smiled a little, remembering the first lesson that he'd ever taught him. The same lesson he'd taught Colt and Tum-Tum. And, from where he stood, Rocky could see the light smirks that came to their faces, knowing they remembered it, too. Remembered how they were trained—or, as it really went—tricked, into learning their first lesson.
What was it, again? Rocky thought, trying to remember what his grandfather had done to drive the point home. Oh yeah, he'd sent a strong tweak to Rocky's nose, after having gained his attention by a wiggling hand in front of his face.
"Lesson one, in ninja training," Rocky said, finding his voice was strong; calm, cool, and collected. "Expect the unexpected."
A/N: A bit of a slow down chapter, but I've had this in mind since I first came up with the idea of the story. I wished there was a scene like this in the movies, where they really talked about the boys, their relationship with their grandfather (and/or grandmother) and how they came to truly enjoy ninja.
But that's what fanfic is for, so here you go!
