Look who suddenly had a life and completely ignored this story. My bad.
Vati's lips thin for just a moment before he pulls his phone out of his pocket, holds it to his ear and starts speaking French. ["Yes. Of course, yes. I will be right there."]
I shake my head. ["I have no words for how bad that subject change is. I believe you also forgot that you taught me French."]
He ignores me. "I am going to visit with Sharon. I will be back soon."
I'm getting livid. "Well, then you might want to know that they moved to that new apartment building three blocks over. It's really nice," I say with as much anger in my voice as I can manage.
"Thank you." I follow him to the door where he gives me a kiss on the forehead, despite my best efforts to avoid it. "I will see you in a bit, boychick."
The Yiddish word for son makes me take a deep breath and step back with a small, forced smile. And he leaves. For who knows how long.
Raven comes up beside me. "You made me drop the bowl. You clean up the damn mess." She walks away and Azazel pops in, right over the broken glass.
"Oh, c'mon! You did that on purpose!"
He shifts his weight a few times, breaking the pieces into smaller ones. "I would never do such a thing." He walks off, entering the kitchen to kiss Raven on the cheek. I'm left to grab the broom from the corner and sweep up porcelain –or whatever the stupid bowl was made out of- and leafy greens of various shades.
I'm not all that hungry so I climb the stairs and head to my room. Still a mess but no broken window anymore. That was a quick fix. I am impressed. I'm just about to fall onto my very muddled bed when I notice movement through the glass. Layla is growing the tree again. It stops when she reaches my level and smiles at me.
I open the window all the way and stick my head out.
"How's the head?"
"Not too bad, anymore. Thanks for your help, by the way. I never would have made it." It's mostly the truth. She did help me find the nurse's office. "Whose house is that?"
"Oh, it's Will's." I now live next to Stronghold? Warren's going to have a field day when he hears this.
"You make it a point to sneak onto his roof every night?"
Layla immediately blushes. I whistle. "You do? Scandalous."
"It's not like that, really."
I raise an eyebrow. "But I get the feeling that you wish it was. But whatever. It's not my business. I'll see you tomorrow." Wait, she's a sidekick. I'm a hero. "Or not."
I close the window before she can say anything else. Layla disappears with the tree. Walking backwards until the backs of my knees hit my bed, I fall back and fold my arms behind my head. I toe off my shoes and slide back until my comforter is bunched under me and I'm horizontal on the bed.
What should I do with my black walls? I stare hard, hoping something will come to me, until swirling pictures begin to form from the spots in front of my eyes.
R
"Boychick." The voice seems to waver, in one ear and out the other. My head turns, trying unsuccessfully for unconsciousness again.
"Boychick." It's more commanding this time, full of get the fuck up now.
"Hmmm?" More of a groan than a question but it works.
"I'm leaving now. I thought you might want to see me off." It takes a few seconds before I fully understand what's being said to me. I sit up so suddenly that my forehead collides with a resounding smack into Vati's. Twin grunts of pain are uttered before he steps back enough that I can get out of bed.
"What time is it?" I ask as we descend the stairs as quietly as possible in the darkness.
"About eleven thirty."
"Oh. You really think it's a good idea to go this late?" We walk out of the door and to the driveway.
"I would have left sooner but I was loath to wake you."
"Sorry. I didn't even realize I had fallen asleep. I was going to wait for you to get back so that I could talk to you about –about Mama."
Vati puts his arm around my shoulders. "You're not ready to know. When you are, I will tell you."
"That doesn't even make any sense. Why would you hide it?"
"You'll be ready soon. I promise you that." Is he incapable of giving a straight answer?
"How am I going to train? You don't seem worried, but I most definitely am."
"There is this great technology now; I believe they call them cellular devices. You received one from me just today, in fact."
"Hardy har har. You are sooooo funny. But seriously. The whole platform the school floats on is metal. What if I get really mad? Do you remember the last time that happened?"
Vati shivers from the memory. "I assure you, I've done worse. While you are here, I will coach you over the phone. You will be able to do things with your mutation –super power, they call it- that you never would have thought possible."
"Like what?"
His eyes search mine for a moment before he speaks. "You know how, when you walk into the room, you have to focus to feel the metal around you. And how only big pieces of metal call to you in their movement?" I nod, transfixed as always when he talks in a soothing cadence. "Well, soon, and with training, wherever you are in the world, metal will sing to you in your veins as it does mine. It will share its language with you and you will understand perfectly."
"So you're saying that metal will speak to me and sing and I'll understand? It sounds like I'll be going crazy soon."
"Say what you want, but it is an exhilarating experience. I must be off." With that, he holds his hands out to the side, palms facing down. And begins to float off the ground.
"How the hell do you do that?" I shout up to him.
"I can bend the magnetic fields to support you. Soon you will be able to do this, too. [I love you, son".]
["I love you, too, dad."]
I sit down on the driveway, watching him until he disappears.
"Amazing, isn't it?" I jump as a voice comes from behind me. It's Raven, smiling as if she knew why I was out here to begin with.
"What do you mean?"
"Erik. His power. You know, he came to me a couple of years after he and Charles got together. After I went crazy. After I tried to kill you. I don't quite remember what he said. I just know that he assured me that he wasn't my replacement and neither were you. He introduced me to Az. I don't know if you knew that or not. He made me better, you could say. I'm not crazy anymore. At least, not as much."
I stared across the street as she talked, more like babbled, with my arms hugging my knees. I didn't really want to hear this right now. My dad just left me here and my aunt wanted to visit wacky memory lane at midnight. Why did I suddenly feel bone tired?
"Y'know what? I'm gonna go to bed." I stand up swiftly and try to ignore the disappointed face Raven is sporting. But it's hard. And I feel guilty.
"Oh. Of course. It's getting late. You must be tired."
"Yeah. I'll, uh…..I'll see you in the morning." As embarrassing as it is, I nearly sprint to the door, up the steps and to my room. As exhausted as I suddenly feel, it takes me nearly an hour to fall back to sleep.