So, lotta stuff going on. But here we go! What are they going to discuss next?

What the heck was Vinny Lee talking about?

I mean, I knew a bit about how the Forcecuff operated. I knew it could summon any power I wished to scare up. I also knew it drained the Forcecuff to summon that power. But looking at it right now, it still changed color, mood-ring style, as it normally did when I wasn't using it, so the force field hadn't drained it at all – or if it had, it was so little as to be almost imperceptible.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked her.

"That force field you summoned? You didn't know you could do that?"

"Well, no." I hadn't exactly examined the Forcecuff's power that closely. This didn't feel the same as the powers I'd summoned with the Forcecuff in the past.

I got the feeling the force field had been a defensive maneuver, and thus used less power. That made sense. It doesn't take much effort to go on the defensive. After all, it's practically a survival instinct. Going on the offensive, slaughtering people, was quite another matter for the Forcecuff's light magic, I guessed.

Vinny Lee smiled, as if reading my thoughts. "It's for defensa, isn't it?"

"That's what I suspect," I responded. What else could I really say?

"Should we tell the others?"

"Wouldn't hurt to do that. In fact, I don't want them freaking out when the force field comes in again."

"I'm sure Amos would like to know."

"Amos?" Courtney asked. Jeez, she could be as sneaky as my mom. As if carrying her hair and eyes wasn't enough. "That's your Jewish friend, right?"

"Yeah," I replied.

"What's he like? Is he cute?"

"What? Courtney!"

"Well? Is he?"

Vinny Lee raised an eyebrow at Courtney. "You, hermana de DJ, are way too boy crazy."

"At least tell me what he's like."

I sighed. I didn't think my sister could be so relentless. Shows what I know. "Kind of short and scrawny. Brown hair, hazel eyes – wears a lot of pink. Looks good in it, though. It's not even fair how he rocks it."

"So, the adorkable type. Sounds like your kind of guy."

"Adorkable?" I hadn't thought of him that way. I'm not even lying.

"Hey, he sounds nice. Nicer than –"

"Courtney, remember what Mom said earlier." I knew my family's teaching on antisemitism – stay out of it and stay away from people who harbor such an attitude. Those people will not lead you anywhere good. And be nice to the Jews you do come across. Jesus was a Jew, too.

"Personality? That was always what you wanted. Not shallow, but someone with a heart. You were always complaining about how hard it was to find a man with personality, right?"

"It was Mom who complained, actually. I'm the one who took it to heart." I couldn't believe myself. I was supposed to lead my little army, and here I was talking about boys with my sister. I sighed. "He's pretty funny. Annoys the you-know-what out of Imira, but I like his jokes."

"And Imira?" Courtney pressed. "She's not too hostile to you, is she?"

"Heavens, no. She respects me because I saved her hide once."

"She's a tough one, isn't she?"

If only you knew, I thought as she put the last of the dishes away.

Mom walked into the kitchen to inspect the job. Courtney often half-did her job, something Mom – and Callie – were constantly getting on her about. I hoped I hadn't messed her up by talking to her.

"You gonna answer my question?" Courtney asked, turning to me. Still asking about Imira?

"Jeez, I thought it was rhetorical." I had meant it, too – that was normally a rhetorical question. I sighed. "A little more than tough. She's pretty superhuman. Not on avatar level, but impressive."

"I wasn't asking for a ranking. How about physically?"

"Well, she's tall, pretty muscular. Imagine the Rock as a girl in red. With a hijab."

"Holy crud. That's impressive, all right. And how many guys are looking at her?"

"What?" I couldn't help chuckling. Imira wasn't exactly looking for guys to date, and most guys did not normally go for someone as butch-looking as her.

Courtney laughed along. "They'd be glad when they find a strong woman. People love that stuff these days."

I couldn't help rolling my eyes at Courtney. Sign of the times. "I won't tell her you said that about her. She'd be ticked at people playing matchmaker with her."

"Good, Courtney," Mom said, coming back from inspecting the dishes. "You're actually making an effort."

Courtney nodded. I got the sense Mom had threatened to call off her date with Billy Kawatogama if she hadn't made an effort on the dishes. Ah, the things a mother will do to get her kids to do well.

"Mom?" I asked. Something still bothered me – something she'd said at the dinner table. "You said you know Amos's mom from the board. How did you get on it?"

Mom laughed. "I forget how observant you are, DJ. I managed to get a slot thanks to enrolling you. Any guardian or parent of a student is involved in Fairview."

That hadn't occurred to me, but I wasn't surprised. I guessed Fairview had incorporated this development due to recent events – specifically, Rona. The virtual-learning most schools took up during the pandemic (because everyone was supposed to stay in their homes) opened some eyes – and not necessarily in a good way. Many parents were disgruntled with the teachers prioritizing politics over students and withdrew their kids to either homeschool them or find some other alternate methods. Just goes to show what some parents will do for their kids.

Sonic approached Mom with Josh in his wake. I guessed the little terror had gotten quite attached to the hedgehog. That figured. Vinny Lee was presently glancing around the kitchen, keeping an eye out for any bit of trash she could use. Of course she was.

"Did you enjoy yourself?" Mom asked Sonic.

"Oh, sure," he replied. "I just hope this doesn't mess you all up."

Mom frowned, confused. "What do you mean?"

"This would be another reason I didn't tell you at first," I explained to her. "Just knowing what I go through could put us all in danger. I don't want to do that to my family."

"Of course you don't." Mom smiled at me. "But this family's been through plenty. I've been through worse." I noticed her clasping her fox-charm necklace as she spoke.

So she actually understood?

Mom smiled, as if reading my thoughts. "Don't worry, DJ." Then she spun on her heel and left to deal with Callie, who was struggling with her homework. Not surprising, since the girl had bellyached about not being able to pay attention in class.

"What does that bracelet do, really?" Courtney asked after Mom left.

Sonic shifted on his feet. "It's filled with magic. Allows her to assume an Alter Ego – an appearance with a certain power. And apparently, it generates force fields to defend herself or others."

"That must be nice."

"Ah –" I decided to just tell her. "I'm not the only one, either. With a magic item."

"Really?" Courtney got excited. "Your whole team?"

Vinny Lee developed a sudden interest in the tile floor of the kitchen. She hadn't gotten a magic item, and frankly, she didn't need one. She already had a strong enough offense with her claws, and could easily make a defense if she needed to.

"Not everyone, just the ones who needed it more," I responded. "Imira – you know the headscarf women in Islam wear?"

"Her hijab?"

"Yeah. It's bulletproof. And plenty flexible."

"Not much of a weapon. But from the way you talk about her, she wouldn't need one to whoop someone's butt."

Once again, she'd surprised me. "And Amos – he got a nice little pendant. Turns into any instrument he wants. Took it a while to figure out, but –"

"So he's a musician?"

"Of a kind."

"What about combat?"

"I don't worry about it. He's got his belt for that." I wasn't even joking, either. I'd seen him use it to great effect.

After a while, Vinny Lee and I got to our homework. Surprisingly, she'd paid a great deal of attention in class, and she actually remembered the lecture. Furthermore, she dropped some details that I'd never really thought about.

"There's a lot of dead bodies on this page," I remarked, going to a page in my textbook that discussed mummies.

Vinny Lee laughed at my observation. "Sí, hay. They wanted to preserve them for the afterlife. So that the deceased would still know what they used to look like, creo."

This wasn't the occasion for humor, but I couldn't help laughing at her remark. "That's moot. They're going to stiffen up, anyway. And they were mostly for pharaohs, right?"

"Up until the last days of the kingdom. Then it was de moda. Anyone who was anyone tried to get their deceased mummified, even doing it themselves, however poorly." She let out a snicker. "People get crazy ideas about muerte, don't they?"

"Yeah, like steering away from it."

"Or as a means to an end?"

"Whoa, V. Let's not get too carried away with this, shall we?" I scanned the book for something else besides dead bodies, and found the pyramids. "What do you think of those? My brother's computer programs could simulate that, and this was built before they called it geometry. What do you make of that?"

"Impressivo. How they get it right without even knowing how to balance it all. All that structure, all that stability – before they even have a name for it. Fascinante, indeed."

"They did have degrees to measure angles with, right?"

"Sí. Those are practically as old as civilization, amiga. From the Sumerians. I imagine it'll be the breakdown of humanity when that goes away for good."

I had to consider that. Humanity was breaking down – getting at each other when they should embrace each other's differences. Consider the good things they dealt out, the good things the old civilizations could teach us, rather than shunning them for the bad.

Of course, some cultures had some atrocious values. These days, people seemed to think indigenous peoples were underrated and unjustly treated. I never broached this opinion in front of Vinny Lee, of course, since she was partly Native American, but many of the peoples who were slaughtered had some horrific practices, like cannibalism and human sacrifice. I just thought to take account of those flaws while understanding some common cultural truths. I, of course, would not have abandoned the degree.

"So how do you make sense of the art?" I asked her, showing her a picture of a tomb wall painting. This one showed a group of women weeping dramatically. I thought the detail in the pleated skirts was quite nice.

Vinny Lee giggled. "It's not bad for that civilización. What do you see?"

I smiled as I thought of the retort. "Reminds me of Courtney."

We both laughed at that.

Once Vinny Lee and Sonic had both left, I was finally able to get some rest. Before I was able to settle down, I asked Courtney, "So, where are you two planning to meet? You and Billy? And when?"

Courtney glanced at me sideways. "Why?"

"Just curious."

She glanced over at the mirror. Then said in a low voice, "Tomorrow. After school. The St. Francis Inn. He's giving out some stuff there after school."

Now what is VLADJI going to do about it? Find out next chapter! Verse for the update: Colossians 3:11. No flames!