Disclaimer: See Part 1
Summary: Brin spends her first July 4th outside Manticore and gets a visit from someone special.
A/N: Wow… It's been a long time since I updated this O.O
Little Almond EyesPocos Ojos De la Almendra
By
Brin~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 3: Kabooey
"SPEAK SOLDIER!" shouted the inspection officer, having to bend down halfway to be eye-to eye with young 734. "State your designation!"
734 gulped and said, "X5-734, Sir."
"LOUDER!"
"X5-734, SIR!" yelled 734, suddenly feeling very dizzy. She closed her eyes to avoid falling over.
"EYES OPEN!"
734 snapped her eyes open, and the dizziness grew more intense. "Sir, Yes, Sir!"
"THIS is not acceptable. I will inform Colonel Lydecker and you WILL be punished!" And with that, he was gone, slamming the door behind him.
The children were frozen with shock for a few minutes after he had left, but the silence was broken when 734 collapsed, unconscious.
"Brin!" exclaimed Max, running over and shaking her sister. "Wake up. Wake up before they take you to the 'nomlies, Brin!"
Syl and Krit ran to the door to make sure no one was coming. Zack knelt next to Brin and felt her neck for a pulse. He almost smiled in relief when he felt it—almost. "She's alive."
They all looked up at Ben, their eyes begging for answers.
Ben gulped and placed a hand on Brin's forehead, rousing her. "Her lungs aren't well. Remember when she was a baby and she had the coughing sickness, Zack?"
Zack nodded sternly. He and Ben were the only ones old enough to remember the days when the others had been brought in as babies. X5 memory stretched back as far as when they were two years old, but usually no further.
"Am I gonna die?" asked Brin quietly.
"It's the officer. He makes her sick," declared Ben gravely. "The colonel explained this to me in medic training when Brin was still a baby. Brin's lungs are too small because of a 'nomlie in her DNA and when she is too stressed her lungs don't work too well. Didn't he tell you that in medics, Tinga?"
Tinga nodded. "He said we should be careful with Brin."
"Brin's got a 'nomlie in her?" asked Syl, jaw dropping.
"A small one," relied Ben. He pulled out the card of the Blue Lady. "But the Blue Lady will take care of Brin. Don't worry."
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"iPocos Ojos De la Almendra! Could you come down here please?!"
Brin jolted awake, her dream—no, it was a memory—fading away into consciousness. She sat up and rubbed her hand down her face, her nap leaving her feeling groggy and disoriented.
A days ago Lisa had left for college despite the Pulse. She had gone early so she could get her own apartment and get settled in. She was going to UCLA in the fall. Abuelo and Abuelita had left as well, taking Carlos with them since he was going to grad school in Louisiana. That left just Alex, Brin, Mama, Papa, the members of the house staff, and the farmhands. The family lived in the east wing of the house whereas the workers lived on the west wing, so they were rarely seen besides when they were working. So, in the end, Brin had received Lisa's stereo, her CDs, VCR, DVD player, and her stuffed animals.
She jumped out of bed, pulling on a pair of khakis and a large t-shirt. Then she ran down the stairs to find Mama and Papa sitting on the couch, waiting for her. "Yes?"
"We were just wanting to tell you that we're spending July 4th with some family friends. Is that alright with you?" said Mama.
Brin shrugged. "Yeah. Sure. What's so special about July 4th?"
Mama's eyes widened. "Are you serious, Brin?"
"Yes."
"You really don't know?"
"I really don't know what?"
Mama looked at Papa, who sighed and said, "Brin, July 4th is the anniversary of American independence. How long have you been living in America?"
Brin stared at him for a long time, trying to figure out how she should handle this. She could lie and tell them she had moved to the country not too long ago, but then how would she explain her excellent English and her fluent Spanish? She didn't exactly look like she had come from a Spanish-speaking country, and most kids her age still barely knew proper English. After considering several scenarios, Brin found that telling the truth would be most productive.
"My orphanage never told us about it."
Well, it was pretty truthful. Manticore was sort of an orphanage, but it didn't take children in… or let them out.
"Well that's appalling!" said Mama with a frown. "Everyone should know about July 4th. It's the day the country's first leaders signed the Declaration of Independence. We all go outside and shoot off fireworks in their honor."
Brin suddenly remembered learning about the Declaration of Independence a long, long time ago. It was what separated America from Great Britain. She nodded and said, "Oh. I see now."
Papa pulled a few twenties from his pocket and handed them to Brin. "Go get Alex and ask him to go with you down to the marketplace for fireworks. He'll know what to get. Okay?"
"Okay," replied Brin, pocketing the money and running off to find Alex.
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"Last year Hernando and Luis accidentally set themselves on fire with one of these," said Alex as he picked a box of sparklers off the shelf. "They were being stupid by holding it in their teeth. One of them slipped out from Luis' and caught his pants on fire. Hernando, always close by, tried to put it out with his sleeve and ended up catching on fire himself." He laughed and tossed the box into the basket Brin was holding.
"Did they get hurt?" she asked, eyeing the fireworks with some apprehensiveness.
"Nothing serious, and no one felt sorry for them," replied Alex, pulling a huge box of fireworks off the top shelf and tucking it under his arm. "Okay, we got everything."
"So… you guys actually shoot these things off?" asked Brin as she read the WARNING labels on the large box.
"Yeah. Why not?"
Brin shrugged and turned her eyes downward. Explosives. They had been taught at age six how to blow off a three-foot-thick steel door. At age eight, how to time grenades to blow up on a certain spot. On their last day of training something had gone wrong and Jace nearly blew her head off, literally. After that, training in the use of explosives was never even mentioned. The only X5s who liked blowing up things were Jondy, Ben, and Syl. Then again, those three never liked Jace more than they were obligated to.
In the middle of her reverie, Brin bumped into someone and fell back on her butt with a yelp of surprise.
"Hey, are you okay?" a crackly voice asked.
Brin looked up and froze. Dark blonde hair. Piercing emerald-green eyes. Oh, there was no mistaking those eyes.
"Tell us a story, Ben."
"Only the best soldiers get to go to the Good Place," he explained with a small, dreamy smile. "The ones who fail… you know what happens to them."
"They disappear," Max answered.
"To the Bad Place. Where they open you up and drink your blood until you're almost dead. Then they leave you there for the nomlies."
There was a resounding gasp from several of the X5s, even though they had heard this story many times before.
"They crawl up from the basement through special tunnels. And when you're not looking... BAM!" More gasps. "They break through the wall and drag you away," Ben continued solemnly.
"Well… what do the nomlies do to you?" asked Zack, who had always been most alarmed Ben's description of the Bad Place.
"They keep you as prisoner of war and eat you up, little by little, forever."
"Ben?" Brin's heart jumped into her throat.
The young man's eyes widened momentarily, but he didn't lose his composure the least bit. It was obvious to Brin that he was trying to remain cool in case this was a trap. "I'm sorry, have we met before?"
Alex, who was watching the exchange with intense curiosity, looked between the two suspiciously. He shifted closer to Brin, and she could practically smell the protectiveness as it came off him in waves.
Brin slowly got to her feet and poked the young man in the arm. He squirmed and jerked away. Yup, it was Ben alright. The only X5 to be ticklish on his bicep. "Ben!" She threw herself into his arms, nearly knocking them both over, and kissed his warm cheeks again and again.
"People are staring," Ben whispered in her ear, though his tone was joking and light.
"Let them stare. Maybe they think we're aliens!" Brin replied in a mocking whisper.
"Get off!" Ben shoved her away and stood, jokingly walking around her in a circle like a hawk around its prey. "So you've found me… what are you going to do now?"
Brin shook her head and kicked dust at him. "Shut up, Ben."
"Did I miss something?" Alex interrupted with a frown.
"Alex, this is Ben. He's…" She stared at him for a bit. "He was one of the kids at the orphanage with me."
"Hi," said Ben without showing much interest in Alex. Instead, he took Brin's arm and started leading her away, "If you'll excuse us for a minute…"
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"What are you doing here?" Brin asked as Ben bought her an ice cream cone—double-scoop; chocolate and lime sherbet.
Ben got himself a double-scoop with vanilla and strawberry. "I was about to ask you the same thing. And who was that boy with you?" he queried nonchalantly.
"This is where Zack's letting me stay, so blah," replied the young girl, sticking out her tongue at him. "And 'that boy' is Alex Lopez. A friend, as a matter of fact." She poked him in the chest with every syllable of the last sentence to accentuate her words. "So now you tell me what you're doing here."
"Well, I was just passing through. I'm heading to New York, on the east coast. They say there are thousands of people there… more than you've ever seen in one place. And everything goes up. The buildings go past the clouds!" said Ben, his eyes full of excitement. "Zack says I can stay there because everyone else is staying on the west coast."
"That's far away," said Brin sadly. "Why do you want to go there?"
Ben shrugged. "It sounds like the kind of place I'd like to go. Remember, it has the Empire State Building? It's the tallest building in America… I could go up there and talk to the Lady whenever I wanted. The High Place. Maybe you could come visit me?"
"That would be so cool, Ben!" replied Brin excitedly. She took a large bite out of her ice cream, smearing it all over her face.
"Hey, I gotta go now… gotta keep moving," announced Ben, who had finished his cone. "I'll keep in touch, okay, Baby Sister?"
Brin nodded sadly. Would it always be like this? Seeing each other for fleeting moments at a time? She didn't know if it was bearable. To have her siblings dip in and out of her life like this was heart-wrenching. "Alright. Bye, Ben."
"Promise you won't forget me?" he asked cautiously, hugging her tightly.
"Yup." Brin held onto his hand as they broke the hug, wanting to stay with him as long as possible.
With a smile and a wink, Ben turned and walked away, soon disappearing within the folds of people in the Kingsburro marketplace. Brin sighed sadly when he went out of sight, then turned around and headed back to the place she and Alex had been buying fireworks like nothing had happened. Get over it and move on, Zack would've said, and she did. She felt sort of bad for just blowing Alex off like that and it helped get her mind off Ben more quickly. In fact, the more she thought about, the worse she felt about Alex and the less she thought about Ben.
Alex was waiting for her, having already purchased the fireworks, with a sour look on his face.
"Hey, Alex, sorry for leaving like that," said Brin, giving him her best doe-eyed look.
He narrowed his eyes at her. "Whatever. Let's go. We've got what we came for."
Brin's face dropped as she felt the anger in his voice. "Alex, I'm sorry… Ben is like a brother to me. I haven't seen him in months."
"It's fine," grumbled Alex, brushing past her.
Brin stuck her tongue out at his back and stomped after him, grumbling under her breath about stubborn boys.
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That night, they traveled a few hours outside Kingsburro to a vineyard. It was larger than even the Lopez farm, with row after row of grapes, and a forest lay behind the great ranch house. They drove up to the house—almost twice as big as the Lopez house—and stopped outside the front door.
A middle-aged Spanish man came out and hugged Papa fiercely. "iRecepción, mi hermano!" Welcome, my brother! he said happily.
"Gracias por invitarnos," Thank you for inviting us, replied Papa with a smile.
"Hola, senora, es un placer verle otra vez," Hello! It's a pleasure to see you again! continued the man, also giving Mama a hug.
"iHola, Francis!" replied Mama with a huge smile. She gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"Le veo haber traído a los niños," I see you have brought the children, Francis added, winking at Alex, Luis, and Hernando. "Pero quién es éste?" But who is this?
"Pocos ojos de la almendra," Little Almond Eyes, said Mama, putting her hand on Brin's shoulder lovingly. "Brin."
"Hello, Brin. Welcome to the Lopez family!" said Uncle Francis, embracing her in a bear hug. "Come in, come in! The party's just begun!"
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The party, which was being held in the back yard, was so extravagantly decorated that it would take an extraordinary fireworks display to top it. There were colorful banners everywhere, hanging from trees and power lines and the roof of the house. The ground was covered with multi-colored bits of paper, giving the illusion of rainbow snow. Music blared from a large speakers in the trees. Colorful, bright lights shone down upon the party, and dancers dressed in extravagant outfits put on shows every few minutes. There were long, long tables set up with plates and plates full of finger foods and treats.
Brin moved through this confused disarray of brightly-colored costumes and Lopez family members, feeling very out of place. They spared her fleeting glances, but paid no more attention to the young Korean girl as she wandered aimlessly with a glass of punch in her tiny hand. Mama and Papa Lopez had long been swept up into conversations with old friends and relatives, while Alex, Luis, and Hernando were busy making friends with the girls of the party – at least, the girls they weren't related to.
After only about thirty minutes, Brin couldn't stand it anymore. She wandered into the forest that was on Francis Lopez's land and found a brook with a small bridge over it. Her dark eyes darted about to make sure no one was around, then, graceful as a cat, she leapt onto the bridge rail, caught a low branch with her right hand, and swung herself onto a higher one. Now at least twenty feet in the air, it was almost like being in the High Place again.
She never figured out how much time she spent up in that tree, and in later years she would spend even more time there, but all she knew was that it felt good to be alone again, as an X5 likes to be sometimes. The wind trickled through the leaves and cooled her hot, red cheeks and her skinny arms. Her short hair was brushed into her deep brown eyes, wet sweat of the heat of the night, and the great trees groaned and swayed every now and then, sounding like ancient cellos in the night air. Underneath her hands, the bark of the great tree in which she sat was cool and rough against her smooth skin.
The young X5 was finally brought back to reality when the sound of someone calling her name was heard. She peeked over the edge of the wide branch and spotted Alex moving through the underbrush, hands cupped to his mouth as he called her name, "Brin! Brin, where are you?!"
Carefully, quietly, the girl crept down the side of the tree on which Alex couldn't see. She then moved through the growth and cut him off. "Alex?" she said innocently as she stepped out from behind a tree in front of him.
Startled, the boy nearly fell back. "Brin! There you are! The fireworks are about to start! Come on, then!"
Brin nodded and followed him back to the party. Everyone was sitting on blankets that had been spread out upon the ground, silent. The two children took a seat towards the front. No sooner had they settled themselves when two bright explosions burst into the night air, startling Brin and evoking "oohs" and "aaahs" from the other onlookers. The embers had just dissipated when yet another explosion happened, bigger and more colorful than the two before.
The fireworks show lasted at least forty-five minutes, an extraordinary display unlike anything the young X5 had seen before. At the beginning, she found herself stricken with fear that the embers will fall down and set something on fire, but no matter how close they seemed to the ground, nothing caught fire. So as the show progressed she grew more and more confident, and by the end she was clapping and cheering along with everyone else.
Alex was sitting pretty close to her due to their lack of space on the blanket, and more than once they had bumped hands or shoulders or hips in their joy. This was quickly shrugged off with an embarrassed laugh and red cheeks, but neither of them complained. So, as the grand finale lit up the sky bright as day, Brin finally felt some peace with the turbulent world. She felt like, finally, she had a place outside Manticore where she belonged… and she wouldn't have it any other way.
TBC…