Chapter the Seventh
In which our young Heroine's true Colors are revealed
Delia had not wanted to go to the birthday party, but had acquiesced mainly because Alexander wanted her there. The party was for Matthew Patterson, the son of the head of the legal department at Thorn. He was turning seven, the same age as the Thorn children would be in December. However, the morning of the party, Delia was reminded by her father that she didn't have to go if she didn't want to.
"Alexander wants me to go, so I'll go."
"You don't have to do something just because your brother wants you to do it."
She rolled her eyes, "I'm not just going because Alexander wants me there, I also don't want to stay home by myself." Delia put her last slice of bacon on a piece of toast and put it in her mouth and then held out her plate for Cecile, "May I have more, please?"
Cecile placed another plate of bacon, toast and fruit salad in front of Delia and she was eating when Alexander came downstairs. He hugged his father and went over to his sister and they put their foreheads together, "Morning, Deedle."
"Morning, Xander."
Cecile placed Xander's plate of food on the table and he sat, "Are you excited, Delia?"
"What for?"
"For the party, dork," Alexander attacked his breakfast with his usual gusto.
"No."
"I thought you wanted to go?" He reached out and quickly found that she was truly less than enthusiastic at the thought of having to go to the Patterson's. Alexander put down his fork, "Then you don't have to go. I don't want you to do something you don't wanna do."
"It's okay, I'd rather be with you and father than stay here."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure, dork," she stuck her tongue out at him and went back to eating.
Now that things with his sister were resolved, Alexander turned to his father, "Can we play twenty questions?"
"And what happens if I say no?"
"Then I make my sad face," Alexander pouted and scrunched up his face like he was going to cry.
Damien shuddered, "With a face like that, you could turn people to stone. I'm assuming you have someone in mind?"
"Yep."
"Male?"
"Yes."
"Alive?"
"Yes."
"Is it me?"
"First, that should be 'is it I' and second, it's not you," Alexander finished what was on his plate and without asking, Cecile simply replaced his empty plate with a full one.
"Thank you, Captain Grammar, do I know this person?"
"Yes," Alexander smirked and continued eating.
The game got down to the final two questions, when Delia gasped, "It's Milo. Father, it's your dog!"
"Delia," Alexander turned to his sister. This time frustration and not concern that forced him to stop eating.
"Sorry," but the half-hidden smile on her face suggested otherwise.
"Why do you have to be such a show-off?"
"Shut-up, I am not," she picked up her cloth napkin and threw it at him.
"You shut-up, show off," Xander picked up the napkin and threw it back at his sister.
"Stop it, or there won't be anybody going to the party, and yes, Delia, you are. We all know you're smart, so you don't have to prove it every time you open your mouth, am I clear?"
"Yes, sir, and Xander, I'm sorry I ruined your game."
"See the things I have to endure, father?" Alexander shook his head and faked an exasperated sigh.
"Yeah, kid, you got a real hard luck life."
After everyone was done eating, they headed out to the car. Damien opted out of driving, so all three of them sat in the back. Alexander wanted to remind Delia that she wasn't the only smart one, so he asked Damien to quiz them on American history...and then proceeded to beat the metaphorical pants off his sister.
Once they arrived at the Patterson's estate, the driver pulled into the long driveway and around to the back of the house. Damien turned to his daughter, "Still think there isn't any fun to be had here?"
Matthew's birthday was in July, so his parents had decided to hold the festivities outdoors and the vast grounds of their home had been transformed into a carnival with games, events and rides.
"You two go have fun and I'll see you later," Damien hugged the children and then he went off to the tent where most of the men were drinking.
As the children made their way to the main tent, they noticed older teenagers putting zinc oxide on kids' noses and handing out new hats.
"There must be two hundred kids here," Alexander could feel his sister's uncomfortableness with idea of having to interact with that many people.
Once all children were organized into teams, the birthday boy, who was hosting the events with his nanny, was given the task of picking team captains, with most of the choices going to his closest friends and eight-year-old brother Benjamin. Before he was done, he attempted to follow his father's instructions and make both Thorn children captains; but Alexander, who recognized that his size and their ages put him and Delia at a disadvantage, conceded so that they could be on the same team. After he and his sister chose Aaron Chambers, Alexander, who knew some of the kids, was in charge of deciding would be on their team. Once team names had been pulled out of a hat, Delia and Alexander's side was Team Hedgehog, the events got underway.
...oOo...
Two and a half hours later, after much screaming, cheering, laughing and crying, the final event of the day was taking place: a large obstacle course that had been cleverly devised. The course was divided in two, with each half hidden so that neither opponent could see the other. It had been decided that only the team captains would do the event and Delia and Benjamin Patterson were paired together as the second to last people to run the course. However, as Delia watched the children emerge, she noticed that the ones who had chosen the left hand portion of the course generally finished first.
Delia grabbed her brother, making sure that Benjamin didn't notice her leave, and she and Alexander ran until they got to the object that she wanted, a tree, "Climb up, look and tell me what you see." The obstacle course was covered on all sides, but not on top.
Alexander assessed the situation and then quickly shimmied down and the two of them ran back. "Pick the left side. The right side looks easy at first, but it's more difficult in the middle," they came back just as it was Delia's turn.
The assistant running the event blew her whistle, "Captains to their starting positions."
Delia took up her place on the left hand side of the course, a decision which was met with a derisive laugh from Benjamin.
The teenaged assistant blew her whistle again, and Delia and Benjamin raced to their respective entrances.
Even from inside the obstacle course, Delia could hear cries of 'Hedgehog! Hedgehog!' and she knew it wasn't only her team, but also the other children who were fed-up with Benjamin and his side, Team Anaconda, cheating. As she stumbled out, she knew she had won as all her screaming team mates came over to embrace her. When Benjamin finally emerged, he was red-faced and frustrated. Delia's reward for her effort was a remote controlled helicopter, which she gave to Alexander.
The last two captains completed the course and it became official as Team Anaconda, which had been comprised of Benjamin and his older and larger friends, had managed to beat Team Hedgehog by only five points.
After the games, the original plan had been for Delia and Alexander to eat with Damien, but the other members of the team wouldn't hear of it, especially after one of the girls came back and said that the top three teams were getting trophies. They would all eat lunch together and commiserate over the fact that they would have come in first if it hadn't been for Team Anaconda's cheating. Everyone would go stow away their winnings and then meet up inside the dining tent.
However, the goings on of Team Hedgehog had not gone on unobserved. Benjamin Patterson had inherited his father's dislike for losing, so after leaving his friends to stand guard, he came over to the Thorn's, who had just decided that Delia should go get Damien to help them bring all their stuff to the car. However, clutched in Alexander's hand was the helicopter. He knew that he wouldn't be able to take it on the rides, so he wanted to hang on to it for as long as possible.
"You think you're pretty smart, don't you?" Benjamin blocked the way in front of Delia, not allowing her leave.
"Smarter than you are," Delia's reply caused her brother to let out a snort of laughter.
Benjamin snatched the helicopter from Alexander, but quick as lightning, Delia grabbed it back. However, before she could return it to her brother, Benjamin smirked and then reached out with both hands and shoved Alexander, who, staggered backwards on his heels until they hit something solid. His arms cartwheeled and he looked like he was trying to do the backstroke and then there was a clang: the sound of his head connecting with a pole and he slid down, crying. Red began trickling out of Alexander's mouth onto his shirt and he put his hand up to his face, pulled his hand away and looked at it and Delia was suddenly awash in her brother's terror.
She had been looking at Alexander, but she turned and faced Benjamin, who was laughing, but he stopped. It was as if they were connected and Delia somehow understood that she could now get the boy to do anything that she wanted him to do, but it was his life for which Delia yearned, to crush him until he was nothing and then...she pictured thick, long, dark green constrictors wending their way around the boy, tightening around him as they made their way up his body...
...oOo...
Damien had spent the day in the tent watching sports, eating and enjoying a beverage or two with the other men. Reports of his children's deeds had come to him through the day, filling him with pride every time someone told him of how it was only Patterson's son who was preventing them from being in first place. Damien knew that there was a possibility that the boy would cheat, the apple didn't fall far from the tree, but it would be a learning experience for his children...until they were old enough to take care of people, like Benjamin Patterson, who stood in their way.
Damien had taken a sip of beer when he felt Alexander's fear and he excused himself and made his way to where the last game was finishing up. He had no idea what could be making Alexander that scared. Both of his children were pretty tough and it generally took more than a skinned knee to get either of them this worked up and then...he could feel white-hot rage coming from Delia and his jog became a full-fledged sprint.
As he came running around the corner, he saw his son, who was scared, but fine. Alexander was calling for him, but Damien had a bigger problem on his hands. He had processed the blood on Alexander's face and understood that the boy now thrashing around at his daughter's feet was the cause of the injury and even as Damien was reaching out for her, he was more than a little tempted to let her finish what she started, but instead, he grabbed his daughter and spun her around. "Delia!?" He shook her by the shoulders.
She blinked and looked around, as if she were unsure of where she was, but the sight of her brother with blood on his face quickly brought everything back. Delia wiggled out of her father's grasp and pointed accusingly at the boy on the ground, "He pushed Alexander!"
Benjamin had recovered himself and someone had gone to get Glen Patterson, who was now striding across the lawn determined to find out what had happened to his son.
"Damien, Benjamin cheated in the games, but I still won this fair and square," Delia had not let go of the helicopter and held it up. "He got mad and grabbed it from Alexander and I took it back…then he shoved my brother," her voice was like ice and she was now addressing herself to Matthew and Benjamin's father.
Damien had stepped in to take care of things, so Delia went to Alexander, who was still sitting. She knelt and put her hand inside the bottom of her her t-shirt, reached up and tried to wiped the drying blood from her brother's face, "Are you okay, Nander?"
"Yes, Deedle," they said each other's name quietly and if they had been at home they would have put their foreheads together for comfort, but that was something private, so instead, they were silent and Delia felt calmly at Alexander until he was ready, and then he held out his hand and she helped him up.
The two of them went over to their father, who was talking to Glen and he was being profusely apologetic about the incident.
Damien was saying that he understood about what had happened...it was kids being kids, but inside, Delia could feel something different: pride, rage, love, all swirled inside of him, but how she was feeling what her father was feeling, she didn't know.
Benjamin was now holding out his hand to Alexander, who looked at it and then turned to his sister and after a pause, Delia nodded, then Xander reached out and took the other boy's hand and shook it.
Assuming all was forgiven, Glen returned to the group of men with whom he had been drinking. Alexander pulled his hand away from Benjamin's and then Delia held out the helicopter to the boy, "Do you want this?"
Benjamin, who took her gesture to be one of her understanding her place and showing regret about beating him, held out his hand ready to receive his belated prize; Damien Thorn's daughter had other plans.
Delia let the helicopter fall; it hit the ground and bounced once, but she wasn't done. She lifted her foot and brought it down with a resounding stomp, turning the expensive toy into junk. Benjamin, who was not used to being treated in such a manner, looked at the Thorn children.
"I think your helicopter is broken," the tone of Alexander's voice was dark, unlike his usual happy-go-lucky self.
Delia giggled, taking no small amount of glee in Benjamin's defeat, as the boy turned around and slunk off towards the house.
Damien let a smile briefly sit on his lips and then bent down and examined his son, "It's okay, Xander, you just bit your lip." However, he knew that if Alexander was anyone else but his son, Damien might be suggesting a trip to the hospital.
"He hit his head, what if he has a concussion?" Delia looked at her father.
He could feel her fear and concern, but shook his head, "Alexander doesn't have a concussion; do you feel dizzy or nauseated?"
"No, I'm okay, mostly, I'm hungry."
Everyone gathered up the booty and Damien lead the way to the car, "You can both eat when we get home." He continued on, but stopped when he realized that the children weren't following. When he turned around, they were both rooted to the spot, their disappointment was palpable. Damien went back, "You don't want to leave?" He looked from one to the other.
"The only reason that stupid Team Anaconda won was that they cheated; we're the ones who really won. We have a trophy coming to us and we want it."
That his son wasn't keen on leaving was understandable; Alexander tended to slough off most problems like the proverbial water off a duck's back, it was his daughter's refusal that was the surprise. She hadn't wanted to come in the first place, but now it would take a direct order from either her father or the Patterson's for her to leave. "Delia, you don't want to go home?"
"I'm the captain, I helped Team Hedgehog win. They're going to give out the trophy but I won't be there?" Delia could only shake her head. "Alexander is right, if we leave now, Benjamin will think he won and that he hurt us. You always say Thorn's don't give up; leaving is giving up." Delia moved closer to Damien and lowered her voice, "I won't get mad again, I swear," she crossed her heart for good measure. "Please, father, as long as the Patterson's don't make us leave, please let us stay."
It didn't take long for word about the incident to spread: Benjamin had hurt Alexander and the second Mrs. Patterson heard about it, she came out and insisted that the Thorn's stay. Someone went and got their driver and they brought Delia and Alexander's stuff to the car. Damien retrieved clean shirts for his children from a duffle bag in the trunk, which they quickly exchanged for their bloodied ones.
Mrs. Patterson then brought them into the house, taking them first to the kitchen so that Alexander could rinse out his mouth with warm salt water. Next, after Damien was handed a washcloth and some ibuprofen, they went into one of the downstairs bathrooms and he helped Alexander wash the blood of his face. Damien handed his son a small paper cup filled with water and he took the medication, "Better?"
Alexander crushed the cup and threw it in the garbage and then belched "Yep."
Damien put his fingers under his children's chins and lifted up their faces so they were looking at him, "I've never been more proud of both of you than I am right now. Alexander, you especially have every reason to walk away and there wouldn't be anybody who would blame you, but you're sticking it out."
"Thorn's don't give up," Alexander had responded and Delia backed him up with a curt nod of her head.
"Trust me, there are those who have us do just that," Damien kissed both of their foreheads.
Everyone had needed to use the bathroom and each did so in private and then Damien lead Delia and Alexander out to the tent where the children where being fed.
When the other members of their team saw Alexander, they applauded and whistled and the chant of "Hedgehog! Hedgehog!" issued forth from the table in the far right corner of the tent.
Enormous quantities of food were consumed, including birthday cake, and before the kids went off to enjoy the rides, where the birthday boy and his chosen companions would get first crack at them, the awards were handed out. Everyone received participation ribbons and the captain of the third-placed Team Aardvark went up to accept the team's trophy and paused while the photographer took his picture and then sat down again.
When the announcer called for Team Hedgehog to come up, Delia, who had learned a thing or two from her father about managing people, insisted that the whole team come up with her to accept the award. Everyone had their hand on the trophy while their picture was taken, though Delia did get a shot of her holding the nice-sized trophy on her own.
The announcer called for Team Anaconda to claim their prize, but no one stepped forward to accept the dubious honor.
Delia gave her father the trophy to put in the car, the others agreed that Alexander's confrontation with Benjamin had earned him the right to have it first, and she could feel a surge of pride emanating from Damien, but she didn't want to think about that for right now and took off after her brother and the other members of their team to enjoy the rides.
...oOo...
It was after six o'clock when the party came to a close. Most of the other children had decided that Delia was okay, a little shy perhaps, but she was not as off-putting as they had first thought. They knew that it had been her strategizing, along with Alexander keeping his team mates in good spirits, that had allowed them to nearly beat Team Anaconda. Everyone promised to get together again and with that, Damien loaded his kids into the car and they left.
Once on the way home, Delia turned her attention to trying to make sense of everything that had happened, starting with how she had felt what Damien had felt. She knew that she and Alexander could feel things that the other felt, but they were twins. Not only that, but she was trying to work out the things she had felt, which had been mostly pride and rage. Damien was somehow proud of what had happened, the fact that she had won the helicopter seem unlikely, so Delia could only guess that it had something to do with what she had done to Benjamin, and how she had done that, she didn't know.
She also knew that her father had been furious, as mad as she herself had been. Delia looked at him...mad enough to have had her finish what she had wanted to do: kill Benjamin. She tuned into the conversation that Alexander was having with their father, but instead of listening to what was being said, she paid attention to what her father was feeling.
Damien was getting Alexander's rundown of the day, which had resulted in her brother laughing when he retold, complete with sound effects, his sister crushing the helicopter.
"Father, what happened to Delia?"
"What do you mean?"
"She was looking at Benjamin and then he started having a fit. Did she do that to him?" Alexander looked over at his sister and then back at his father.
"That's a topic for a later time, thank-you," Damien didn't want to say anything more since they were not alone in the car.
Delia could feel her father's anxiety; whatever she had done was serious, but Damien didn't want to talk about it, regardless of the driver. She never wanted to get that mad again...well, not where people could see her get that mad, anyway. Delia let a tiny smile sit on the corners of her mouth remembering Benjamin looking like a fish that someone had taken out of the water and left on the ground to flop in the sun.
It was seven by the time the Thorn's finally arrived home. Cecile had stayed and had prepared dinner, but everyone was too full from lunch to eat anything. The toys were left downstairs, only their trophy made it up to Alexander's bedroom, where it sat on his desk until a better place could be found for it.
Damien turned on the showers in the kids' rooms and after making sure that the water wasn't too hot, left them alone to clean-up.
Once she was dry, Delia put on her pyjamas, grabbed her pillows and went into her brother's room. After all the interaction with the other children, she just wanted to spend time with her family. However, before she could get into bed, Damien stopped her.
"Why isn't Delia coming to bed?"
"Because I want to speak with her first," Damien could feel her fear as he led her to the door.
However, before Damien could get out of the room, Alexander leaped out of bed and headed them off, having a good idea what the topic of the conversation might be, "Father, please don't punish Delia. She won the helicopter and Benjamin tried to take it. Whatever she did, she didn't do anything wrong. She smashed the toy, so what? Benjamin hurt me, he deserved it."
"I have no intention of punishing Delia; I just want to speak with her."
"Really?"
"Yes, I'll bring your sister back, I promise," Damien smiled at his son.
"I'll wait for you, Deedle."
"Okay."
She accompanied Damien into his room and he closed the door behind them. She climbed up onto her father's bed and waited for him to start the conversation.
Damien pulled up at chair and sat in front of Delia, "Tell me what happened with Benjamin."
She took a deep breath, "I got mad. That idiot pushed Alexander and when I saw his blood, I wanted to…" she stopped, fearing that what she said next would land her in trouble.
"What did you want to do to Benjamin?" Damien watched as Delia shook her head. "How many times have I told you that you can tell me anything?" However, she remained silent and now had lowered her eyes.
"Delia, please look at me," Damien's voice wasn't harsh, but she still could not meet her father's gaze. "Did you want to kill him?"
"Yes," she hid her face in her hands and he could feel her relief at the admittance of what she had wanted to do to Benjamin Patterson.
Damien reached over, lifted up Delia and put her on his lap; she buried her face in his shoulder. She wasn't crying, she wasn't sad, she wasn't sorry for what she had wanted to do, but it was a big admission for a small girl.
He understood all too well what she had been feeling. Damien had unknowingly unleashed his fury for the first time on an equally moronic twat who had been pounding the crap out of his cousin, but he had been twelve at the time. He was anxious again and didn't know what he would do if Delia pressed him about what had happened; he still wasn't ready for this from one of his children.
Eventually, she removed her head from Damien's shoulder, "Am I in trouble?"
"Deedle, I said no and I meant it. You were protecting your brother, just as Alexander was protecting you just now. I like that, but I want you to promise me that if anything like that ever happens again, you will let me handle it, okay?" Delia agreed and Damien felt her relax and he hoped that this was the end of the conversation.
Delia yawned. "I'm pooped, I wanna go to bed," she took her father's hand and they returned to Alexander's bedroom, where he had managed to stay awake until his sister had returned. They got into bed, but didn't lay down. Their dogs wandered in and curled up on the floor at the foot of the bed.
"So, I think there were some valuable lessons learned today," Damien sat on the bed and gave his daughter the hairy eyeball.
She sighed, "Yes, I was wrong, I had fun. Next time I won't be so quick to judge something before I've done it, happy?" Delia playfully stuck out her tongue at Damien.
"A little less sass, please, but very good, grasshopper, did you like doing those activities?"
"I especially liked being in charge," Delia nodded enthusiastically.
"I'm glad. I'd hate to leave the family business to someone who didn't want to be in charge. You know, Deedle, sports are good for the body and mind. I played sports when I was younger. You were a good captain today and you made some...acquaintances. I'd like to see you keep up those acquaintances. Doesn't mean that they're your friends, and it doesn't mean that you have to see them everyday, but I'd like to see you get involved in some things that will keep you sociable. You already know those children, so that makes it easier. See if they do anything in which you might be interested. Let me know and if it's some kind of formal activity, I'll see about getting you joined up, okay?"
"Okay."
"And now on to the hero of the day, good job, Alexander," both Delia and Damien applauded for him and he bowed while sitting up.
"How are you feeling?" Damien reached over and pulled down Alexander's lower lip; it was already looking better.
"A little sore, but I'm good," his gaze went to the trophy and he grinned.
"I agree," Damien jutted out his chin in the direction of the desk, "that there is bound to take the edge off any pain you might be feeling. And we Thorn's are fast healers. I'll bet by tomorrow, it'll be like you we're never even hurt. I really am proud of the both of you," Damien hugged and kissed both of them, but their tiredness was beginning to rub off on him, making him more exhausted than he already was.
"Okay, I'm officially calling it a day so under the covers." Damien got up and closed the blinds and the curtains. "I'll see you both at breakfast tomorrow where I expect you both should be ravenous enough to eat me out of house and home." He shut off the light, but it was still bright enough for him to see his children, "And Delia, no more making like Godzilla and crushing helicopters."
She frowned at Damien, "What's Godzilla?"
He laughed, "What a negligent father I've been in ignoring your and Alexander's monster movie education. I'm going to have to sit both of you down and show you one of the masterpieces of Japanese cinema. I love you both and I'll see you in the morning." I love yous and goodnights followed Damien out of the room as he closed the door behind him.
Delia and Alexander lay down and faced each other, "What did Damien ask you?"
"He wanted to know what happened with Benjamin. How are you?"
"I'm okay, I feel better than I did." Alexander paused, "Did you do something to Benjamin?"
"I don't know…maybe."
"I was scared, you didn't answer me when I called you."
Delia hadn't even realized that Alexander had been talking to her while she had been hurting Benjamin. "I'm sorry I frightened you," she reached out and touched his lip, which was a little puffy.
"I don't care if you hurt him. If he shoved you, I would have hurt him, too," sensing that they were treading into territory best left unexplored for now, he gave his sister a wicked smile. "Look at me, I'm Benjamin," Alexander started flopping around, doing a fairly good impression of the boy when he had been under his sister's thrall.
Delia started laughing, "Benjamin's a dweeb."
"Benjamin's a dork."
"Benjamin's a shithead," both of them giggled, still getting used to their newly acquired, albeit limited, swearing vocabulary. Silence descended on the room and the two of them put their foreheads together. "I love you, Nander, always and forever."
"I love you, Deedle, forever and always." They stayed like that for awhile and then Alexander opened his eyes, "Hey, Delia, do you want to know something?"
"No!" Her eyes sprang open.
There was no sound, but the smell of his fart hit her and she made a face. Alexander started laughing, but as quickly as Delia had snatched the helicopter from Benjamin, she pulled the comforter over her brother's head, trapping him with the stench of his own noxious gas and climbed on top of him for good measure.
"I can't breathe," but Alexander was laughing as he was saying it.
"You should have thought of that first. How do you like your fart now, Xandman?" She kept him there until she thought that the smell had dissipated and then got off him.
Alexander's face was red when he emerged from under the blanket and he looked at the trophy. "I'm going to quit while I'm still ahead, bonne nuit." He barricaded himself back under the blanket.
"Buenas noches," she waited and it didn't take long for him to fall asleep.
Delia hiked her blanket up to her chin. She had wanted to ask her father about what she had done to Benjamin, but she had felt his fear and decided to let it go. She knew that she had made the right decision because he was relieved when she had insisted on going to bed. Damien told them things when he thought that they were ready to hear them and she trusted her father in everything; she would trust him to tell her about this when he felt that the time was right. Delia could no longer stay awake and she rolled over onto her right side, closed her eyes and shortly fell asleep.
