 
Tin Universe Monthly #6

By Brian C. Williams

Copyright 2012 Brian C. Williams

Smashwords Edition

The sale of this book without its cover....well, is, sort of, impossible since it really does not have a cover but let us go through the legal spray out anyways. If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that it was reported to the publisher as "unsold and destroyed." Hands up to you who have books like this in your collection? Now that I have put my hand down we can continue with the credits and copyright and legal and stuff that people just do not ever pay attention to unless it is pumping their own horn.

An Original Publication of BLOODWASTE BOOKS

A Bloodwaste Books book published by

System*Publishing, a division of System*Productions

Melbourne, Florida

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead or living dead, is entirely and very much so in the coincidental.

Copyright © 2010, Brian C. Williams, System*Productions. THE PAST FORWARD and all related titles, characters, and elements are trademarks of System*Productions. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. While unauthorized reproduction is sometimes needed, please remember us writers types are for the most part a poor lot just in search of a ways to tell our stories and enough money to add to our Doctor Who collections....well, at least that fits me.

First Bloodwaste Books ebook edition December 30th, 2010

For more information on The Past Forward, the artists who contributed to this book, and The Tin Universe please contact System*Productions at billy.was.here@gmail.com

Edited by Melinda Harold and Brian C. Williams

Photography by Brian C. Williams

Dedicated to

Mar, someone tell her I dedicated this to her. Then she might read it :)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Melinda for editing help, Mar for not killing me in my sleep, the cats for the dreams. This books will have never been possible if not for my friends past and in the now: Wave, Mo, Shortfrie, Alia Sun, Brave Summers, Tankgirl, Oracle, Speede, July, Touch, Calm, Ghost, and for those I forgot to mention just give me a good swift kick the next time I see you.

a little from the

STEREO
PREFACE

In this book, this universe, this world, this reality, this Earth upon which the stories of this book take place are much like our own. Much like our own but different in a few noticeable ways: Different in the sort of ways brothers are different from one another and sisters are not. The way cats are different from one another but dogs are not...
PROLOGUE

2009

Petra, Jordan

He is not at all comfortable with being in this heat. The being born part of his life happen on Victoria Island in the Western part of Canada, some nice weather there. Living there a person is always able to wear a jacket, even in warm times. Right now he would strip if he had a chance to do so and drop into a pool of cold water.

The youthful years of his life with his father were spent fishing the Grand Banks of Newfoundland after his mother left him with his father during one of his summer visits.

He could have been happy in the Navy for the rest of his life considering he spent more time on the water than on land.

As a young adult he entered the military. Soon he found himself in a Special Forces unit sitting around waiting underground for someone with superhuman abilities to go insane at the world, a certain someone whose name starts with a P.

During his time in Special Forces is where he developed a great love for music and reading, taking into consideration that that was just about all he had to do while playing military gofer sit and stay.

After the thoughts of that operation temporally died he got a transfer to London where at least it was a rainy sort of cold. That was a few more boring years spent listening to conversations about baseball, Leonard Nimoy, and the price of gas. Some spy stuff too.

Have you heard of the phrase "mind numbing boredom"? The movies would let you think a spy would never use such a phrase, as usual they are wrong.

He asked for a transfer to less boring.

He got a transfer to less boring.

He is standing in front of the Ed-Deir monastery on one of the hottest days of the year. One of the hottest days registered on temp anywhere in the world and he was waiting for a delivery. Standing around waiting isn't very 007.

His body is beginning to think he may run out of sweat at any moment.

The area was secured and cleared for this meeting by other members of his unit. The Norah are the kind of military black ops unit that scares you by how much people don't know about them. Some of the things people don't know about them: What does their code name mean? Who do they actually take orders from? And what mission statement is the unit truly following?

The day before this HOT one he was in the middle of a group of refugee camps mixed in with a million plus Palestinian refugees trying to find either someone who speaks English or even American, to find something to do while his men were out setting up today's events. His importance required him to stay put in a secure place and when Palestinian refugee camps are considered an out of harm's way place, the other place to a center sit sounds downright terrifying.

He didn't find anything to do and ended up back at his camp on the Jordan River listening to the latest from the music industries factory of disposable pop culture. His unit rejoined him one less and with their mission in hand, "All this way to wait for someone to tell me something. Having an unlisted cell number just makes things difficult."

He was ready to drift off into the good old feeling of prickly heat in his pants when he noticed someone walking up the path towards the Ed-Deir, in his general direction. You guessed it; the individual looked like he stepped out of a market in Syria. Well, a market in Syria depicted in hidden racist fashion by the latest Hollywood action movie.

When the new arrival was within spitting distance of him he could smell something diffidently not of any Souk he ever walked through. This person had just eaten the Coronal and as far as he could recall the nearest KFC was in Australia. This lingering scent meant this individual had the pull to pull power and push power and get him to Jordan very quickly and without any sort of red tape hassles.

The stereotypically dressed individual looked over Agent Peak, 'You're sweating?'

'It's either your charm or maybe the heat.' Agent Peak pauses, glares, and pushes his bottom lip out with his tongue, 'It's hot.'

'It is.'

'Well? You said you had information on him. Do you or are you just here to hold hands with me?'

'He has a daughter.'

'That's information not worth an original Go-Bot. She has a fucking Social Security Number.'

'But do you know he's pawned her?'

'Does she know what her family tree is knee deep in?'

'From what we understand, yes.'

'So he is going ahead with his plans since he was finally able to produce a female heir?'

'The movements we have seen him make of late show that things look to be going that way. If they need she'll be the sacrifice to control the next Pledge.'

'So what's our direction?'

'Stay put for now. You will be signaled if things seem to be getting out of hand.'

'And we come in and clean up?'

'That is what you Norah guys do best. It only hurts everyone if anyone controls that power again.'

Only a few thoughts passed through Agent Peak's mind as the walking movie stereotype walked away from him and not one of them had anything to do with his actual mission direction.

'Stay put he says.'

He sighed and put back in his ear buds to blast some old school T.L.C. as he made motions to gather his team to his position. Now they start planning how not to go nuts waiting here for what could be their home for a few days or years. This is whats hard on his thoughts.
CHAPTER 1

You may have heard of me if you closely follow your local news, the local news if you live in Central Florida, or watch clips of other people's local news on YouTube.

And that's so sad.

I live in Melbourne. No, not in Australia, weren't you paying attention? I live near the place where that thing fell from the sky and went all Deep Impact into the Sunshine state? They made a nice documentary called Stereo about it, well, that's what I was told happen. I only have the documentary and such and others to go by because I wasn't really able to notice even something happening as big as that in the state.

You may have caught mention of me if you have an online news feed addiction that you have been scrolling through over the past year or there is even more of a chance of you having heard of me if you pay regular visits to the best blogs, with the best blogs always being those that fall into your attention or those of your friends, and no I'm not talking about the cat ones. Those blogs with photos of cats with junk on them should be banned for being too cute for their own good.

Too Cute for Your Own Good should be made into law.

I'm too cute for my own good CUFF ME AND TAKE ME AWAY!

My sister just told me that sounded wrong?

My sister is wrong.

And since I was speaking of the law, before my sister tried to insert her perverted mind into my thinking, paragraphs like I'm doing in this introduction should also have a law against them to keep it from taking up the position of starting a book and driving an editor to snort Wonka Fun Dip. Glade I'm a character, grammar and spelling aren't my problem though I'm aces at that sort of thing.

It's your entire fault Brian, Right there, in your face.

I am "Coma Girl." There I said it, which seems silly to me to type, and the few times I have spoken it out loud it was overly surreal, even if it is in reference to me, personally, direction of the "I" that I am, and those events that make up the origin of Coma Girl did happen to me, but it still doesn't get any easier to think of myself along those lines.

Check out the free Cut Chapter: School Of The Blind for a little dip into my brain.

There was a lot of "me" up there. Please don't get the idea that I'm an ego maniac. Though to note, it is cool that I get a dollar for every Coma Girl t-shirt sold. Who else has t-shirts sold with their face on them? Ok, in the age of Cafépress almost everyone, buuttt I'm getting off track here, back to the track. Florida Yesterday calls me, "The Woke up from Coma Girl." One of the many home town free papers called me, "An Maple Accident." These publications excel at communication and the use of the English language.

They should hire some hack to write for them.

...uncomfortable pause...

Either of those descriptions I just pointed out (forget the "accident" one) or my grandma's, "Our Miracle Child" get on my nerves. I am not a "child" and "girl" is used in much the same fashion as calling a woman a bitch because some redneck thinks she opened her mouth without a nod from him in permission that she can speak. It's the under 18 form of bitch if you ask me. I am a person of 15 years of age, close to the 18 years of life point, and I deserve respect beyond being called a "child" or a "girl" no matter the situation it's being used in.

There was a little of my sister in my righteous indignation there.

But I am Coma Girl, that deserves respect. I know how to speak Dharuk, Polari; and Sotho, Do you?

Not that it does me any good because I'm still going to have to take French.

Sorry for another crazy group of writing there. It is not an easy thing to write an introduction to your life events. Breaking the fourth wall and all aside this just isn't starting out that well. So much for any best sales lists. I'm afraid I'm going to come off really bitchy in this introduction so I'm trying to be witty. I guess I'm not very good at it? When someone calls my sister a bitch she takes it on with pride, I need some bitch pride, though when it does happen to her she usually walks away with the title in pride after punching the proclaimed statement maker between the eyes.

I'm not much of puncher. I don't think Nancy Drew or Shirley Holmes ever punched anyone.

My heroes.

My sister has a criminal record...well, several. Yes, that did come out of nowhere. I might have "sister issues." Do you know she once peed on someone's windshield, a windshield that was attached to a formally brand new SUV which belonged to a very up the nose sort of person. The vehicle owner was a local councilmen who called her "mildly retarded" during a town council meeting about shutting down two local libraries, all in the poorer areas of Melbourne of course.

My sis is a gem.

Maybe I shouldn't have told you about her having a record?

She's giving me mean looks right now.

Back on the number seven train, meaning getting back on track, besides coma related names I go by Gail Busiek. When I was young... younger, a child, my mother would sometimes call me Gail Ellen Busiek when shouting fo...well, at me, which is hilarious since I don't have a middle name. Moms tend to do weird things with your name when searching you out for punishment. My sister's "only when she was in trouble middle name" was Crowe. Yeah, we haven't been able to find out why?

Ever since I came out of the coma things have been a little strange. Not strange in ways such as me coming out of it named Ellen or with the ability to see through walls or find out there are two worlds, one of my subconscious and one of our world. Nor do I have psychic powers and a love for walking sticks. All of those are interesting things to have in your story but not relevant here, just more of my wondering brain.

I do not remember anything from my two year hospital stay in a coma state. If you look up Coma you will find that it says: a coma (from the Greek κῶμα koma, meaning deep sleep) is a profound state of unconsciousness. When I told my sister how proud I was that I was something "profound" she also reminded me that I went into a coma because of head trauma, "You were in a brain dead empty bottle state."

"You fell out of a tree."

That's her.

It is a special kind of love we have between us, myself and my sister.

"Then you feel down some steps."

She's a flea market gem.

On the Ranchos Los Amigos Scale my head bonk was pretty bad. I do not recall anything from the year it happen. The RLAS is a more complex scale; which is one of those medical scales that confuses even genious like myself. The scale consists of eight separate levels, and is often used in the first few weeks or months of coma while the patient (which was me) is under close observation, when shifts between levels are more frequent.

But I go on with details, don't want to Bore You Into A Coma...

... I thought it was funny...course all of that Ranchos stuff could be complete bullocks because I looked it all up on Wikipedia. Plus Ranchos Los Amigos sounds way too much like a meal deal at T-Bell.

My strange out of the coma strangeness has me coming out of all of it smarter than how I went in.

Way smarter.

Like Dougie Howsier smarter, (old school Neil Patrick Harris for those who don't watch reruns, and wasn't that the best How I Meet Your Mother episode when he did his computer journal at the end?)

Many doctors have poked and studied me and decided something just clicked in my brain but no matter the how now I know things like: The Redtail Chub has a habitat of living in rocky runs and pools of creeks and small rivers. I know this though I have never been fishing in my life. Explain that?

I also know stuff like: In 1494 Henry VII's position was strengthened by the passage of Poyning's Laws and the fact that Neil Diamond was a fencer or maybe...?. I think I heard that last one on House the other night? Mom is in love with Wilson and watches it all the time.

Things seep into my brain from passenger side life viewing. Most of the doctors who have studied my brain have the opinion that I have a sort of total and uncontrollable recall of information which has entered my brain in passing. I'm sort of a super-computer with a glitch.

I'm a glitch.

"You're most defiantly a glitch."

That's close to bitch?

My sudden level of intelligence brings out for the most part one reaction from other people, they become haters. I got that from watching wrestling one night with Jeff, my sister's best friend. Jeff is cool and you will like him. Watching pro-wrestling is one of his many amusing inconsistencies.

After taking a special test I will be skipping ahead to my junior year of high school; which is something my older sister Karen is not the happiest about, though she will not say anything, a sister knows though, gem she may be.

So I guess we need to get on with things for this book because the writer is tapping his watch for me to wrap things up here with this introduction.

Here comes "Coma Girl" high school,

Here comes "freak brain",

Here comes the future editor of Doctor Who Magazine,

"Karen, does this shirt say junior?"

"That shirt says I'm a spaz who dresses like a comic geek."

Gem.

"Do you know some scientists think the moon may contain large mineral deposits of diamonds and gold?" Gail

"Stop the random facts!" Karen

"Like how Jim Parsons would have been a better choice for the new Spock?" Gail

"YES!" Karen

"That was more opinion and needless pop culture referencing than fact." Jeff

"Both of you, STOP!!" Karen

CHAPTER 2

In this book you will find people saying things like:

'I'm old enough to make my own underwear choices.'

And

'Can I kick your ass and it be ok if the E.R.A. passes? I'm a supporter if you say yes.'

And you will probably find way too many pop culture pitch outs.

Anything else on the high or low brow measures is highly due to delusions of grandeur on the part of the writer.

CHAPTER 3

2010, August

Melbourne, Florida.

'I just don't get what getting upset about it accomplishes? You can't change a whole fucking language based on mistakes at the beginning when people hadn't even invented vowels yet?.....had they?' Jeff

Jeff said those thoughts to Karen sitting on the Busiek's living room couch beside Karen and Gail; while playing on the TV was a BBC documentary on a comic book writer with a beard way past mad.

Gail downloaded the documentary from a website and burned it to a DVD for them to watch tonight. She is always planning out video viewing nights and such for her family, Jeff included, which also sometimes includes her creating flyers and email notices to give to everyone about what they will be watching.

Jeff is usually the only one who shows up for her DVD nights but tonight Gail was actually the only one watching anything. Karen and Jeff were text messaging people on their phones while talking to each other.

Plus, Gail made Jeff a copy to take home with him for later.

'And please don't go off on me for not understanding,' Jeff added to his previous line of thinking.

Karen flipped her phone closed, 'Sexist language and assumptions are so underlined in our society that the fight is just as much to get people to see what the problem is than to change how anyone speaks. And before you say anything about it being "generic" or "universal" that just pisses me off further because that's like saying universal is male and if you look at nature, that just ant so.'

Jeff thought about talking but a look from his best friend told him no.

'I have to look at text books that habitually speak about "his car." I hear about how in America anyone can be anything "he" wishes to be. Universal? Fuck that, "All men are created equal." "That's one small step for man." Am I the only person this pisses off?'

Gail paused the documentary with Mr. Moore standing on stage alone and stood up,

'You know there is a place in Virginia where you could use the gender-neutral pronoun, co, and no one would blink an eye. There are also reports of students in London using, yo, as a gender-neutral pronoun.'

'Wikipedia?' Jeff

Gail sticks out her tongue at Jeff, 'If I'm not mistaken this is referred to as Epicene pronoun usage.'

Jeff looks at Karen, 'I bet she aint mistaken.'

Karen shruggs her shoulders as Gail coutinues, 'Epicene pronouns have popped up time after time in some science fiction over the years. Not to mention internet instant message usage in some circles is quite common. There are people who think this totally liberates us from dependence on the masculine, "his." English has been oversimplified over the centuries.'

Karen and Jeff look at her, Jeff with a smile on his face, Karen slightly amused.

'What?' Gail asked in response to their facial reactions.

Karen stood up to go into the kitchen, 'Sister you are like a complicated squirrel.'

Gail sat down beside Jeff, 'Was that an insult?'

'It came from your sister.'

'HEY!'

Gail got up and followed Karen into the kitchen, 'Why do you go out of your way to be an ass to me.'

'Maybe because you go out of your way to make people think you're smarter than me.'

'I am. That hypnosis and view by others is acceptable to me.'

'You are a spaz in the sense of being worthless to anyone except mom and dad.'

'I would like to thank you for this distinction.'

'Aaaaaah!' Karen charges out of the kitchen, 'You can't even be normal when arguing.'

Karen sits down beside Jeff on the couch as Gail goes into her bedroom.

Jeff decides to change the tension, 'I want some Goddamn popcorn.'

'You insult my religion with your use of God in vain.'

'Bring me some notch-roundeye-squasho popcorn.'

'That fake edginess is sickening.'

Jeff shrugs his shoulders, 'And you being a bitch to your sister isn't saint worthy. I love you but you're more than a little harsh with her.'

'We've had this talk before Jeff. I'm glad she's not dead but she's not dead and I don't have to be nice to her and everyone can fuck off who thinks otherwise.'

CHAPTER 4

Jeff hates it when Karen goes off to take a shower and he is left alone in her bedroom. One reason is that he's always tempted to go through her collection of photos of Willow from Buffy and that would just setup feelings of wanting to be alone and then Karen would reenter the room and then confusion sets in.

But for the most part he gets uneasy in her room alone when she showers thinking her parents for some reason, even though they know nothing is going on, think that he is some sort of sex seeker in their oldest daughter's bedroom.

He is, just not for their oldest daughter.

Gail walks in eating an Oreo ice cream, 'Sis in the shower?'

'Yeah,' Jeff was sitting at Karen's computer desk, 'I don't have the chops for daily bathing myself.'

Gail sits down beside him on the floor scrunching up her nose, 'It's brutality for us all.'

Jeff non-accidentally pushes a folder off the desk to not so gently land on Gail's head.

'Watch it,' Gail says rubbing her head, smiling.

'Is that some form of self-deception to say that actually hurt?'

'No, my thoughts are just pain censors of their own.'

Jeff sniffs the air to catch the faintest smell of watermelon, the scent of Karen's body wash.

'Shouldn't you be off doing something scholarly, Scholastic Brain?' Jeff asked

'My enhanced intelligence does not make me a halo of school work,' Gail answered.

'I believe your thought processes have a splinter down the middle. You remind me of a small, less teethy, female version of Tom Baker.'

'That's a titanic comparison there Mister.'

'You would love to wrap yourself into a Time Lord identity.'

'Better than being a cyborg.'

'Who mentioned cyborgs?'

'Union Jack?'

'Dude, even I'm getting lost in this geeky conversation.'

Karen walks into her bedroom wrapped in a towel, 'Geeks, I'm surrounded. Gail, get out, we are heading out to buy the new Special Special edition of The Doors and you are not invited into our plans.'

Gail leaves with, 'I know the differences between The Big Bang, Oscillating; and Steady-State Theories.'

Jeff turns around in the desk chair he was sitting to face Karen who was sitting on her bed, 'I think she just called you stupid.'

Karen, 'I think she's a little asshole.'

'Gail's a blue chip stock, she is scary smart now, and even you have to admit that?'

'Pain in the ass smart is more like it. Do you want to watch my old edition of The Doors before we leave?'

'What is wrong with your taste in movies.'

That was a statement, not a question.

'How do you get away with calling us geeks when you are going to buy a special Special-Special edition of a Blu-ray when you already own the bare edition, the VHS, several DVDs, and even the laser disc?'

Karen leans into Jeff's face as they both are smiling waiting for it, 'Because you still have your Doctor Who underwear from when you were five years old, and Gail knows the names, and has them in a little journal, of all of the actors who have played Cybermen. You two are distinctive geek breed onto yourselves.'

Then she flashes Jeff, 'I just want Val Kilmer to see these.' And walks back to the bathroom as Jeff answers her, 'Yeah, but have you seen him lately? Picture a beached manatee. Not textually Simon Templar lately.'
CHAPTER 5

You might think having a father who is a restaurant owner, one time fast food fry cook. And a mother who is a professional cook, author, one time cooking television show host, would signal gourmet eating for Gail and Karen around the clock each and every time they sat down to the family dinner table for a meal such as breakfast?

You might think this and be very, very wrong.

Janet Busiek does not swim the way of bringing work home, that's unhealthy. She goes swimming in a course of opening canned grits and sometimes gets the bowls, bringing them to the children she loves oh so much at home, and to put the these activities in a different zone from everything else in her life.

Right now early in the morning before heading off to school Gail and Karen are just staring at their mother whose sitting at the oak and iron table their father picked up on a trip to Liverpool a few weeks ago. He's always buying things that need to be shipped later when he travels internationally with his life. For the most part purchases which make his wife's head shake.

'What?' asked Janet to the puzzled looks currently on the face of her teenage daughters?

The daughters picked up their bowls in comedic unification and looked them over like aliens looking at a ferret and then they looked at each other with wide playing eyes.

'You opened our cans?' was a question from Karen.

'So?' Janet

'You got our bowls?' was a further question from Gail.

'So?' Janet again.

'Are you feeling ok mom?' the daughters chorused.

'You two inherited your father's smart ass mouth,' she smiled, 'But you both got your IQ's from me,' pointing to her brain as she said that.

She exchanged more fake playful smiles in the faces of her daughters, 'Have a good day Young Ones and I'm leaving your presence now. Talk among yourselves.'

After she was gone from the house by the way of the kitchen door, Karen turned to Gail ready to spit a few smart ass comments, 'Did mom just call us an overrated British sitcom? I can't stand that show.'

'I don't think they call them sitcoms in Britain,' Gail responded.

'Hush coma brain, it was a joke. How come you went into the hospital cheerleader girl and woke up a love child of Bill Nye and Mark Waid?'

Karen stood and carried her bowl into the living room to watch the morning traffic reports leaving Gail in the kitchen.

From the kitchen younger sister shouted, 'Call me a geek all you want but you have the complete run of Mark Waid's Flash issues!'

An aggressive response was shouted from the living room, 'Get dressed quick little sis or I'm leaving you here. A wreck already has traffic backed up on Babcock Street.'

Gail knowing her older sister ran for her bedroom in a blur.

Karen's car was not speeding down one of Florida's most congested roads. In a perfectly boring fact her vehicle was only doing five mph in what was congested crawling traffic.

The crawling was overwhelmed by the appalling nature of way too many SUV's moving all around them. A fact that Karen had already noted and noted with more than few four letter words.

Inside the barley moving mini Gail was being irritated by something of her own, her sister's choice of music, 'Do we have to listen to Ani all the time? I like her but why can't we mix in a little something "anything else" every now and then?'

Karen put her head on the steering wheel frustrated at the slow progress of the traffic, 'The question ought to be, should I have given you a ride to school at all?'

'If you didn't I would have to walk stupid.' Gail spat out at her sister with such confidence in her comeback.

'And they call you a genius. Keep what you just said in mind. Think on it and contemplate your navel.'

Gail slowly nods her head yes in a understanding answer to Karen and then she turns up the volume on the cars mp3 player and begins to mockingly sing fanatically like a little folksinger fangirl on crack.

CHAPTER 6

Franz Kafka High School is Melbourne Florida's only school not named after an astronaut or president.

And it a damn brand new school.

Ok, that is not true but it is close to being the truth about it being the only school not named after an astronaut or president.

At least for this reality it is close to being the truth

The school's name itself is a mystery. It's not every day when you will find an American high school, in a largely conservative community, named after a German, Jewish, writer, whose sisters died in a concentration camp, and he himself died of starvation from the effects of tuberculosis.

The three large structure buildings of the school is totally aboveboard, honest; don't ask questions, it's not safe.

Plus I haven't thought of all of the details yet.

One big truth about F.K.H.S. is that there is absoultly no parking for anyone outside of a few faculty and staff. Everyone else, as everyone else means all of the studant body, have to park across the road from the school campus in the Ryan-Mart parking lot. Good thing it's a small school or Colin Ryan probably wouldn't allow it. Plus allowing the usage was good company PR.

After a bit of driving, up and down rolls, Karen and Gail find a space.

'Who was the genius who built a school with only 15 parking spaces?' Gail asked that with this being her first time seeing the newly built school.

'I think the architect went to F.I.T.' Karen

'You know if that burn was in a comic book, no one outside Florida would get that reference.' Gail

Karen stares at her sister, 'In what way does information roll around inside your head?'

The sisterly banter continued as they exited Karen's car and started their walk towards the school.

To me during mornings at schools the scene looks like ants arriving at a sugar hill from fifty different directions in one different group after the other.

Besides the groups there are the singles. The individuals students without friends to group with, or wait for, trying to fade away into nothing so someone doesn't notice how alone they are until the first bell rings and they can merge into classes. The same approach is used for hallway endurance.

One of the individuals bumps into Jeff who was walking still wiping the sleep from his eyes from his cats waking him six or seven different times during the night. Jeff recognized him as Albert Wallander. A normal by all means teenager by appearance who use to also attend the same school Jeff and Karen attended before seven schools combined into F.K.H.S. and two other new schools.

Jeff's first thought was how sorry he already felt for Albert. Even at their old school Albert didn't fit in and always was in survival mode day in and day out. F.K.H.S. consisted of a selected group of students from the closed schools; some called it the best of the best but more like the chosen of the masses. Albert was chosen because of his father being the schools grounds keeper. He thought he was doing his son a favor, he wasn't.

Albert quickly told Jeff sorry and hurried off to find somewhere to blend in within all of the groups. Jeff didn't even get a chance to say it was ok before Albert disappeared into the mass of bodies. He tried to trigger a reminder in his head to ask Albert about Naruto if he saw him later because he remembered him being a fan of the series.

Jeff's sleepy head forgot about Albert though pretty quickly and went back to rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he was waiting to meet Gail and Karen at the main school entrance. His last name is Borges by the way and if you spotted him walking down the road you would probably describe him as normal and skinny, though Karen describes him with the following words: senstive, painter; and owner of a British Shorthair cat named Emma and a Bombay cat named John.

Gail just describes Jeff as cool and odd. She likes how he doesn't edit himself and from a young mind, even a genius that's cool. The odd comes in the things he likes, loves, and enjoys an that's everything from pro-wrestling to Greek poetry. And there are those odd Russian t-shirts he wears.

He is a little absent-minded also so he came to the first day of the new school year without any school supplies or his books. Though that absent-minded tag is something others have put on him and he goes along with for laughs. He plays the stupid act at times also with self-defecating humor. If he was completely honest he would tell you the only reason he goes to school at all is to hang around Karen and observe people.

Jumping back a sentence or more Jeff does not describe himself because that would be more than a little weird and there are enough big egos in this book already with more to come.

Jeff and Karen have known each other since kindergarten and were good school friends but became best friends when he was busting tables at her father's resturant. During the summer he works full time there but because school is starting back he is back to a part time schedule of weekends only. He has become a part of the Busiek family having no family of his own and is paid the same wages daily by the family even though he is only working weekends in a deal he made for painting the resturtant and redesigning all of the funiture.

Jeff has also become a big brother type to Gail, 'Look Coma Girl's sporting the Darlek tee.'

'It's Dalek,' Gail responded with a smile knowing Jeff was joking with her.

They have bonded over a mutal love of British science fiction. A bonding which now has migrated into a weekend bonding ritual which makes Karen have several fits of nausea while they pop in DVD after DVD.

Karen put her arm around Jeff's shoulder, 'Maybe you should be her shaperon and escort? I sure don't want to be around her this much on my first day of classes.'

'Hey!' Gail said angery, 'Right here walking beside you.'

Karen did not even turn her eyes to her sister, 'I noticed. Now go to the principal's office and get your schedule. We will meet you in the lunchroom in an hour.'

'But where...?'

Karen angrily interrupted, this time look straight at her younger sister, 'Offices to the left and follow the signs to find the lunchroom. You are Einstein Coma Girl after all. You shouldn't have any problems finding simple locations should you?'

Jeff was ready to say something but Karen drags him away by the arm leaving Gail standing in the scrambling herds of the hallway traffic alone.

Jeff stopped Karen's pulling of him ten or twelve lockers down the hallway and got into her face, 'Beyond harsh?'

Karen rolled her eyes, 'Well, she isn't in a coma now.'

She walks away from Jeff in a march, 'I'm over the whole feel sorry for her deal. Way over it.'

CHAPTER 7

Gail closed her eyes as all of the people hussled and hurried and probably another "H" word around her, past her, and smellingly too close to her. Her last school was a really small school and this crowding feeling was the same she gets sometimes when she's in Ryan-Mart. Most of the time she's fine but sometimes when they go there she starts to feel, not claustrophobic, but still kind of claustrophobic?

The halls were crammed with hope, fear, and fear. It's the same old, same old of high school angst. People dressed in young emotional states of preepy, goth, slut, emo, jock, the stereotype of your pick is there for your viewing pleasure. Most want a fast track to some kind of youthful identity that will make them feel happy. The road to those identity searches are paved with unpleasantness and pain and most when they arrive at the end of the road will find nothing about the same time someone tells them they're an adult and need to get past trying to find out who they are.

For a moment all Gail could think about was the accident and that's sort of pointless since she does not remember anything about it. She is almost living within a nothing thought as this passage of time passes. The only thing she knows about what put her into a coma was what her parents and Karen told her.

She was told what happen when she finally came out of the coma. The story goes that her and Karen were playing in Wickam Park when Gail climbed a tree and fell and hit her head. A rather 1950's thing for her to be doing climbing a tree. Karen went to get help but in the meantime Gail recovered enough to stand up, stagger off, and fall down a set of high cement steps that lead down to the mini dog park. The nice lady who worked checking dog tags in the mini park held her until the ambulance and her sister found them.

As she daydreamed about head, crash, hurt, coma, the only other thing to enter her audio focus was the sound of footsteps, the sound of loud heel, toe, heel clipping footsteps. This was high heels against new school floors, the sound of money.

Why had this become her thought focus?

Destiny?

Gail opened her eyes as Joanna Osip ran face to face with her at a pace that knocked them both on their ass.

A very cliché movie scene that was and I really can't believe I wrote it, nor the fact that I was able to spell cliché first attempt....ok second attempt...SHUT UP!

When she first started in kindergarten the teachers called Joanna Osip the little albino rich girl. Some people have no feelings at all but that also has a lot to do with the very nature of being around so many young minds for so many hours out of the day. You want to film a documentary on cruelty, set a camera secretly in a school for a year or day.

That is was too deep of a topic to get into here.

Karen even admits with delight to starting the mantra many called her in 3rd grade, "Whiteout Stick."

The next year after 3rd grade Joanna was hardly recognizable to anyone who knew her. She started then and still does go a long way everyday to change how she looks. Her hair color is keep to a dark brown but not too dark, the designer outfits she wears cover most of her body, and it is hard to catch her without sunglasses on.

Karen once called the way Joanna dresses as a self-hatred form of racism but more important pure racism on her families' part for encouraging her to try to hide who she is at each opportunity. No wonder she has a hard on hate for most of the rest of the world.

What most do not know about Joanna and her family is the illegal and painful skin darkening treatments her parents put her through on summer breaks. The treatments didn't work even in the slightest but to make Joanna learn how to deal with pain on many levels.

Joanna was ass on the floor in the hallway of the school after the hallway collision like a tossed to the side Barbie as Gail finally got a full look at the person she had collided with. Her first thought was that she had just knocked down Malibu Stacey.

Joanna slapped away Gail's reached out hand, 'God, you stupid people should be shot!' Joanna shouting caused everyone in the halls to stop and look at the crash scene, 'Every last one of you dissidents to good taste, lined up against the nearest Goodwill and executed.'

Gail handed Joanna her handbag, frightentened about how fast she is screwing up on her first day in high school. Her heart was beating so fast she was starting to get sick. She did not want to start school this way was the rapid verse repeated over and over in her head.

'Sorry,' was the best Gail could think of to say out loud.

Joanna looked around to snap everyone's eyes away from her and then she looked Gail over like she wanted to dissect her with a small melon baller. Matter of fact she probably would have done so if given the chance since the collision ripped one of the straps on her new pair of high heeled shoes.

Joanna made another pass setting her cold stare in Gail's direction. Then she looked her over up and down, 'Tennis shoes, jeans. Shopping across the street are we? A geek t-shirt and right out of the gate the year shows me pathedic personified. You really should boycott the Easter sales at Ryan-Mart dear.'

Joanna is the Queen senior class princess of the school and where you find Joanna Osip you will also find Lisa Rowe, her junior in walking preppy attutuide, her lacky if you need it said that way.

Lisa helps Joanna to her feet. She patted non-existent dust off her cloths once Joanna was standing upright shifting into a stature of nasty grace.

'What happen?' Lisa asked.

'The ugly here happen,' Joanna pointed at Gail, 'Stepped into my path like a cripple just off the bus. They should embargo these.'

'They should keep her in the band storage rooms with the other retards,' Lisa said in support like the good tumble weed that she pretends to be.

Then in unison Joanna and Lisa walked off together as if Gail did not even exist. Joanna shoved her books into Lisa's hands, 'She's probably a voucher transfer.'

Gail gets angry watching them disapear into the unherded hallway. From behind her a calm voice speaks, this moment needed a calm voice, 'Joanna hasn't been right since your sister hit her with a Sloppy Joe in first grade. I think she has been running on anger every since that moment. Maybe anger and Victoria Secret?'

Gail turned around to see a young woman standing there about the same height and weight of her older sister but dressed like a model right out of an issue of Gothic Beauty who was showing off a sense of Victorian vampire fashion that rivials patroints of The Beautiful Mind club in Vancouver where she was known by name on sight.

Gail was puzzled thinking she knew this person standing in front of her, but mostly her brain keep saying, "Cool cloths," over and over. The pressure of the day must be interrfering with her total recall.

You know how it is for us normal people, you meet someone knowing you know them, but you can not even remember their name or anything else about them, and hoping, and praying nothing comes up in conversation that will let the person you should know "who they are" know that you can't for the life of you remember who they are. It is as aquaward of a situation as a first kiss.

'You know my sister?' Gail asked the person who she should know the name of who dressed very cool.

'We use to be friends when you were barely walking.' She picks up Gail's trapper keeper giving it a glance before handing it over, 'Spaced? This has to be bootleg?'

Gail starts putting pages back into the trapper keeper which were poking out from the sides ready to fall from it, 'Yea, I got it online. You've seen...?..' She stops talking when she sees the person who was standing in front of her was no longer there.

Gail turned around and now the goth girl was behind her.

'You should probably try to avoid Joanna and Lisa or they will become a pain to your life.' was directed at Gail and the stylish person walked away.

As she walks away Gail recalls a few memories fast and a name, 'Fox?'

CHAPTER 8

Although it was the first day of classes and it was pretty busy as the classroom was filling fast with students claiming spots for the year for this period of Ms. Dry's art class, Victor San was still finding enough time to remind everyone out loud how last year he had scouts from some of the biggest colleges come to see his games.

He also had time to start to bully Albert out of a chair the shy ginger haired young man had quickly found in the back corner of the room before Jeff tapped him on the shoulder and ignoring Victor completely moved past him and started talking to Albert. His actions sent Victor and his friends to sit up front where even Ms. Dry could see him doing absolutely nothing in class.

'Hey, Albert.'

'Hey, Jeff.'

Jeff was ready to sit down in the seat in front of Albert when he noticed Karen had came into the room after a last second run back to her locker and was sitting down in the other back row corner seat on the other side of the room.

Jeff turned back to Albert, 'We should talk Naruto at lunch one day. I'm just now getting into the series. I'm going to head over and sit with Karen. Hope your first days cool.'

Albert nodded and pulled out a notebook from his backpack to nervously sketch in until class started.

Jeff felt back but knew Karen wouldn't sit with Albert. She always thought he was really creepy calling him a, "School shooting waiting to happen."

Victor watched Jeff cross desks in the middle of the room to get over to Karen. He was talking to his friends about how he should have kicked Jeff's ass when he pushed his way between him and Albert. But even his friends agreeing with him to his face knew that's not how things turned out last time he had a throw down with Jeff.

There were other students standing by and sitting at their desks wondering just what this school was going to be like and really what it would be like to fail an art class because that might be a scar not only on their permanent record but a scar beside their name in the book of life. Though all of them knew beyond first class, first day nerves, that art classes were usually easer to ace than gym.

I myself never failed an art class.

I did fail gym once but that wasn't my fault.

Funny the only person really afraid of failing the class was Jeff, 'What class are we in again?'

Karen is his best friend and most knowing when it comes down to how much bullshit he is releasing into the world and how much truth. There is truthful bullshit also but that's just complicated.

'This is why you always do bad in art classes. You have this stick up your butt that your too good to be drawing trees and fruit baskets.' Karen

'I am.' Jeff

'No shit, you should be teaching this class but it's not helping your GPA any if you fail.'

'I don't have a stick up my butt by the way. I've passed that phase. Too many splinters anyways.'

'Bad joke alert.'

'You sounded like Gail right there.'

'Shut the fuck up alert.'

'Don't even for a second act like I'm the only one not happy about having to take this class, you go together with art like...?...?'

'Well?'

'I don't know... me and having to take a freaking art class.'

Ms. Dry came in and closed the door just as everyone was finally finding their seats. Before saying anything she starts handing out sketchbooks and art pencil packs to everyone.

'Who ever made the deal with the Devil to fund this school deserves extra praise. Go Devil Worship.' Jeff

Ms. Dry was either trying to be the cool teacher or the sexy spankbank teacher by sitting up on her desk and crossing her legs, 'I'm not going to surprise you people in this class. Nothing off the wall..'

'Nothing worth doing.' Jeff

'...what I am going to do is give you a fundamental understanding of what it takes to create art.'

'I would learn more about art in my sleep.' Jeff

'Only because you have exotic dreams about Van Gogh naked.' Karen

'It's the ginger hair. It drives me nuts.'

'Is that why you were talking to Albert?'

'Give the guy a break. Not everyone can rage against the machine like you do.'

'I will pose no questions to you as your teacher. I will give you no answers. I will give you...

'Empty sketch pads and pencils, man Disney should give her an award. High school art classes are like Congress. They are always there and always have been but what's the point.' Jeff

'You only say that because you actually don't know what Congress does. And you should really be careful about referencing the mouse, those ears are huge when it come to lawsuits.'

'Oh, go three finger Minnie.'

'That jokes as old as that old drawing of Bart giving Maggie the pacifier.'

'I need a drink.'

'You don't drink.'

'I need drugs.'

'I'll give you something after class.'

'Most boring class in high school and they give it to a teacher named Ms. Dry to teach.'

'And this is how this class is going to go day in and day out for the whole year. You complain, don't do your assignments, I mother hen you, and you make boring political comments or old jokes that you probably don't understand.'

'Just like when you're on the rag.'

'I hate art classes.'

'I hate art classes.'

Ms. Dry slides off her desk and circles around it to sit in her seat. She pulls her copy of the class textbook from her bag and opens it. She looks out and around the class at her students, 'So you're going to love taking this class.'

Art classes.
CHAPTER 9

The Busiek family does not like Principal Carol as a whole. See here comes what some would call a bit of back-story. My old Philosophy teacher would have called that sentence a sort of repeating the essay question to fill half the page but you know what? I really liked my old Philosophy teacher and agree with him on most things.

Bit of back-story or just story. The Busiek family has had a long tradition of being sent to the principal's office or just ending up there for one reason or the other. To be honest most of those times were not of the pleasant type.

Well, this one isn't either as no one is on the verge of being hit by wooden boards or being expelled. Gail just has to put up with a media or just attention in general attention seeking Principal.

The only thing Gail was paying attention to in the whole room was a set of books Principal Carol has bookend on his offices window ledge, five books on finding fame in the modern world.

'What do you think about the campus Gail?'

Gail froze for second because he phrased that question like used car salesman and it gave her a little chill. He raised his eyebrows waiting for an answer.

'Everything is very new.' And right away she knew that sounded more than little smartass and she had not intended for it to. She didn't even want to do this meet with him on her first day of classes, being already nervous enough, but her mom said she should do it and maybe he would leave her alone for the rest of the year.

Her dad just wanted to tell him to fuck off because Principal Carol has set up interview after interview with local newspapers and Tv broadcasts and anyone else who would listen about how his New school would also be the school that Coma Girl would be attending.

Not to mention the hundreds of calls he made to their home; which only stopped when Karen explained what a necktie torture was.

'I hope your family sees that I only have your best interests at heart. You are our little minor celebrity here and I just want the best for you.'

She didn't know what pissed her off more. That he was the only reason her name keeps popping up in news stories or that even with his slight obsession with her he called her a minor celebrity.

'I hope you will not only take your required classes but take part in many of the extracurricular activities we will be offering. I'm sure the cheerleading squad would like to have you on the team. I've seen videos of you cheering and you were pretty good.'

Just a little creepy that last bit was.

CHAPTER 10

Standing by a friends locker is a place of conclave and rebellion against all of the wrongs that have happen the night before school, during school so far, what may happen after school, and how they could or should escape from all of the stress of having no rights or freedoms under law, even though a lot of them may be of the age already to die for their country, no matter what blasted minded things their government maybe up to.

Karen was standing by Jeff's locker planning no rebellions as he puts away his newly purchased in the school supply store for way too much notebook. She hasn't even opened her locker yet today, carrying everything around with her in an oversized book bag and using Jeff's to store everything else she needed, much to his unlike.

'I'm just saying less American Eagle would not hurt you,' Karen said that while poking Jeff in the shirt. She coutinued her line of thinking, 'I'm going to go all stereotype here, even though you are very much as lesbian as any man can be, you really should know mostly lesbians shop there.'

'What about Old Navy, I shop there?'

'Gay boys.'

'I want to call you a cynic but I don't think that word means what I want it to? What's bringing on this discussion about the clothing styleings of Jeff today anyways because frankly it's creeping me out a little?'

'It's better than talking about Gail. I'm so fucking tired of everyone asking me about my sister today.'

'Only Ms. Dry brought her up. Way too early doors for this don't you think?'

Karen slams the door to Jeff's locker and walks away leaving Jeff to comment in a mocking tone, 'That's not healthy for the sisterhood!' as she moves off in anger.

Then he noticed Michelle Reid walking by.

Attraction is about the survival of the species right?

'Nothing like a girl walking by to push your happy levels back up.' Jeff

He thought about following like the other "grunt grunt cavemen were doing" but a hand grabbed him by the back of his shirt and pulled him back the other way from which Michelle Reid and her pipered mice males and one very shy 8th grade emo female were walking.

Karen slaps Jeff in the back of the head, 'No wonder I'm gay.'

'But she smells like pumpkins.'

Karen punched him in the arm, 'Butters, I'm going to make you listen to Tribe 8 until the stupidity drains from your ears.'

'Oh, quit name dropping man hating bands at me.'

He gets slapped again.

They wrestle each other laughing through a set of double doors scaring the shit out of a foreign transfer student from Germany.

Now we move onto a scene with two ladies who do not smell like Halloween smash fodder, though one of them does sometimes smell of green tea after all night study sessions. I will leave it to you to guess which one.

Joanna and Lisa walk into a computer lab which will be empty all day, an extra computer lab, with this being lunch period.

The room is packed full with desktop computer stations and a few metal free hanging shelves with laptops ready for check out. There were boxes upon boxes of 1gig usb drives, mp3 Players, and program discs ready for students to take as their own.

The one thing this high school is not is lacking in funding. Now actually where all this funding has came from is a muddy issue all together. A good deal came from Joanna's father's company, and a large amount came from the Ryan Industries Education Initiative Fund, but the rest came from "secret" donations.

Unoffically the principal is allowing Joanna to use the empty lab for all of her excriculiar activities. Basically this will function as her office on school grounds. She even has a key. This is complete bullshit in a zigzax way but with all the money her family has put into the school everyone understands and within reason puts up with it.

Wonder what I meant for "zigzax" to mean?

Joanna walks over to a window and looks out from the lab not thinking she is superior to everyone out there within her gaze but knowing this to be a fact. Facts come in a straight A average, facts come in taking all advanced classes and even some college ones, and facts come in knowing you are one of the elite and just knowing it as fact makes you far enough above all others around you to make you a different sort of royalty, a very American sort.

Lisa has seated herself at a lab table and was already checking Joanna's email when Joanna walked over to stand behind her ready to pass judgment in any way she sees fit.

'Your father sent you an email. The book is yours for the night of the dance.' Lisa

'Good, that should bring some press to the event.'

'I also continued your harassment of the Ms. Dry's abilities on the comments section of her favorite website.'

'Under fake name?'

'Yes.'

'Good.'

'I took your advocacy off that charity list, which it somehow got on.'

'Good, daddy was so displeased. I have no problems with anyone gay but father is another story.'

'I'm picking up your new dress after school.'

'Good.'

'Anything else I need to add to my schedule for you today?'

'Find out who the midget who ran into me this morning is. As far as this school is concerned I want to make her an "was."'

'What about outside of school?'

'She isn't worth outside of school actions.'

Joanna returns to the window.

CHAPTER 11

Jeff sat down with Karen and Gail, who were already seated, in the lunchroom handing them each a tray of F.K.H.S. caferteria food, the finest food F.K.H.S. has to offer, really, it's not that bad, as far as school meals go and they all started digging into their lunches.

The quality of the food has more to do with this being a new school and the crud on the friers hadn't had time to build up yet, the rest has to do with the dollars this school has at reach. Push comes to shove; the food wasn't bad at all.

In one corner of the caferteria Janet Stefani is alone at a table with her packed lunch and papers for the plans for F.K.H.S.'s first yearbook skattered over the surface of the table. She once had a big crush on Jeff but never admitted it because he is miles away from being someone anyone, including Jeff, would consider cool or popular.

Man, screwed up already and have two characters named "Janet."

Albert was sitting in a chair beside some still unboxed kitchen equipment without a table with his tray in his lap. He was stabbing at his food but trying to eat enough as quickly as he could before his father could show up and try to have lunch with him. It was going to be rough trying to avoid having lunch with his dad everyday but today he will live on tatar-tots and downing a juice to get out of the lunch room quick.

Behind Gail at a table was a group consisting of Jennifer Child, Britney Day, and Rumiko Francis where a discussion is getting heated over the design of the cheerleaders uniforms with Rumiko coming in on the side of competiation cheerleading and Jennifer and Britney singing the praises of pompoms and skin colored underwear. This conversation could explode into a fist fight at any moment because they are all still stressed having not filled out the cheerleading roster yet. Soon hydromorphone will be discreetly passed around.

The caferteria as a whole was detailed in facts with groups and singles sitting, eating, and consuming their lunch break, along with a heaping of school gossip. Some of which involves Gail and Joanna's head on collision that started Gail's first day of high school.

'How was the meeting with Principal Carrol?' Karen asked her sister without care one in her voice.

Jeff snapped a french frie from Karen's tray giving her a mean look as he did so. They are good enough friends to read meaning from the tone when one of them says something.

As Gail stuffed her face with seven fries she gave an answer, 'Guys a twit.' And then she started digging into her meatloff while trying to chew down her mouth full of fries. Once she was able to talk, but continued to eat fries, she said, 'Ok, I guess, ok, he, ok, he went on for about ten minutes about how much he was pleased with me being here at his school.'

Karen and Jeff stopped mid frie eat to look at Gail.

'You already gone stupid?' Karen said smiling commenting on what her sister just said.

'Not my best sentence?'

'Was it really a sentence?' Jeff added.

Karen turned and gave Jeff a look, 'Like what do you know about grammar?'

'He knows enough not to start a sentence with "Like."'

'No he doesn't.'

CHAPTER 12

Not even a hint of hand soap or other unmentionable odors have attached themselves to the newly christened bathrooms of F.K.H.S. I really want to mention the unmentionable but as a man never lingers in a bathroom for long, unless he's a Congressman, I won't linger writing this chapter very long.

Even if it's about a girls bathroom and not a boys.

That bit just doesn't sound how I wanted it to.

The bathroom had a smell of lemon drop candies, from cleaning, but soon in traditional high school girls bathroom manner it will smell of cigarettes, too much perfume, and the everyday everyone bathroom smells.

In one stall a toilet lid is lowered down and a dress that cost as much as the whole bathroom sits upon it. This is actually a very rare place for her to be considering she has always had a phobia about public restrooms. Not that anyone besides her knows this but it is a fact.

Am I ashamed that I could not come up with a better setting description to use here?

No.

The bathroom was one of the third floor bathrooms and because there are very few classes being taught there to start the year, the bathrooms on this floor for the time being are off limits but she knows there are not too many people at F.K.H.S. who will question anything she does or start a fuss.

She just needed a few moments to get away from everyone for a quick phone call, even away from lackeys.

'Gail Busiek?' on the non-bathroom side of the phone connection. This connection from a phone moving in a private jet somewhere over China continued in a not so fatherly voice, 'A Busiek maybe the body?'

'I've finished all of my research into the story of her coma and how she has been acting afterwards. I'll securely send you all the information I've gathered. If there is anything else you can send me about her I need it.'

'You have what you need for now.'

'Can I go ahead?' echoed in an up tone in pitch from within the empty restroom.

There is a lot to be said about a person by their body language, posture, and the such, but you don't get the whole story. You never do. The body tells you about as much as the mouth does and we all know how much you can believe from what comes out of some people mouths.

'Yes, yes, we totally agree with your ideas. You may put your plans into preparation. This is your first chance to prove you are more than just another pretty face.'

The signal ends for both phones and the fliptop on one of them is broken and the two parts tossed into a trash can as she leaves the bathroom.

CHAPTER 13

After too many fries Jeff needed a breath mint and a pain pill.

That was atmosphere building there.

Jeff has been having a lot of trouble with his teeth since about a year and half ago when he broke his jaw. The injury damaged the roots of most of his teeth and because he refuses to go to a dentist his teeth are dying one by one slowly.

Doesn't help that he drinks four bottles of soda a day either.

Bad breath and molar pain be dammed Jeff ate his last frie and then he threw one of Karen's fries at Gail, 'You ok?' who was in a starring off into space act.

'Stop perjectiling food!' she answered back.

'Has high school already shaken your spirit Shortshit?' Jeff

'Developing non-curricular insanity?' That was the older sister's comment.

'No, king dork.' Was the younger sister's insult.

'Then what's wrong?' Older sister ignoring and continuing, 'Did Carol bug you again about that Time Magazine article he wants to write about you?'

'Tell him to fuck off.' Jeff added.

'Mom already did.' Gail.

'Dad threatened to break his fingers after he suggested it at the hospital on a visit.' Karen.

'That's wicked but what is it with you Russians and breaking fingers?' Jeff

Woo Jeff, you're going into a humor danger zone buddy.

Gail and Karen both threw food at him, at the same time, in unison.

Gail began swirling the ketchup on her plate with her finger nerviously creating an ink blot like pattern that if read correctly would have revealed all of her secrets.

'I ran into two people you know. One quite literally.' Gail

'Who?' Karen

'People know you?' That was Jeff.

'Hush Indian boy.' Karen redirected and continued the conversation with her sister, 'Who did you meet?'

'Joanna Osip and this mini-her.....well, not actually mini but...not a nugget or...'

'Lisa Rowe.' Jeff interrupted a genius in ramble.

'Yeah, that is who Fox said she was.'

'Fox?' Karen calmly questioned but with a hint of bird skatter in her eyes.

'Yeah, her, so what's the deal with the Regina George wannabes?'

'Did you say Fox?' asked Jeff as Karen was looking sicker by the second.

'Yeas Jeff, Fox, what's the problem? She use to hang out with my sister? Ovecourse that was before you got old and started losing your memory. Though to be honest I didn't remember her at first either.'

Jeff takes Karen's hand under the table.

'It...' Karen could not finish her thought. There wasn't much of one there anyways.

'I heard she was in jail?' Jeff said looking to Karen.

Karen answered him, 'That's stupid, her and her mom moved.'

'So why are you both being all mysterious about the subject of this conversation? From what I remember she was nice. She stomp on someone's puppy or something?'

Karen pauses for a moment to pick at her food. Jeff offers her a breath mint but she waves him off, 'Maybe later.' He looks at him almost to ask if she really wants to talk about this.

'Our friendship ended after her father was exposed as a child molester.....mom, dad, and her mom confronted him...' Karen

Gail's eyes went all anime and her mouth fell open.

'Cannon Avery's mom said your dad kicked his ass?' Jeff sort of asked.

'Well, from what mom told me dad only punched him once after he admitted to having sex with Fox, but mom and Fox's mom kicked him until they literally kicked him out of the house.'

'Then her dad disapeared?' Jeff.

'And they moved to Vancouver to live with her mom's side of the family.'

'But why did you two split as friends?' Gail asked.

'When everything first came out she defended her dad and tried to say I was lying when I said he trie...'

'The worst part was...' Jeff stopped and looked at Karen to see if it was ok to coutinue. She nodded yes. He continued, 'A stupid rumor spread also quick that Fox and Karen were willing and actually together suduced Fox's dad.'

'Who would believe that?' Gail.

'Just about everyone. When it comes to sex and underage girls things can go in crazy directions you never expect. It's an emotional volcano.' Jeff.

Gail kisses her sister on the cheek, 'That is some messed up shit there sis.'

Karen smiled at her sister but moved over away from an incoming hug from her.

Gail gave her a fake frown, 'Is this why you're so anti-social?'

'Nay, she was always a bitch, even in pre-school.' Jeff's two cents to change the subject and he was happy Gail did also.

'Shutup.' Karen

'Wha...?' Jeff

'Ok, I'm going to tell her about you, Chris Sweet, and Frank Hover in 6th grade.'

And this folks is where the story starts heading in a direction.

Everyone turned their heads for a few minutes after Mr. Josh, the music teacher slid on something near the tray drop off area and went face down shattering his nose on the cafeteria floor. As he sat up upon his knees with blood pouring from his nose and a few cafeteria staff members running over to him, you could find a few laughs, a few, "Oh, shits," and even one or two, "Poor guys."

'That was ick,' was Gail's reaction to what Karen had told her a minute after Mr. Josh's slip and slide routine, 'I think I was too young to hear about that. I need a moment to cope. Moment happening....coping....I'm getting there.'

Jeff straightened himself in his chair in an acting proper fashion, 'Isn't it time for next period?'

Karen looked at her watch smiling, 'How convenient.'

'What do you have next Gail?' Jeff asked dancing away to a different topic.

'Government.' Gail

'Hey, that's a senior class and what I have next.' Jeff

Karen suddenly jumped up and grabbed her bag startling Gail and Jeff, 'Then you can take her to class.' And with that she marched off leaving Gail and Jeff puzzled.

'I guess you're coming with me Sarah Jane.' Jeff

'I'm more of a fan of Leela, Ace, or Rose. Take your nicknaming from that list please.'

While walking away from Gail and Jeff Karen left the area with, 'Fan wank speak.'

Jeff picks up Gail and his book bags and they headed out of the lunch room.

'I thought only pervert dads liked Leela?' Jeff asked Gail.

'Kidding, right? She's the Emma Peel of time travel.'

'That's almost sacriligies.'

'Um.'

'Don't "um" me shorty, I have seen more first Doctor episodes than you.'

'Hey!' Gail said fakenly pissed, 'Yes but you can't recite the individual episode titles.'

They gave each other friendly smiles as they walked, 'Well, you can't?' she stated, changing the subject to avoid possible geek conflict, 'But I do love your passion for classic Cybermen episodes.'

'Well...' he hesitated, 'The Tomb is over rated, I'll even admitt that.'

She coughed, 'Sock heads.'

'Better than most Trek,' he said dryly.

Gail snorted and Jeff burst out laughing because it reminded him of Karen who does that also at times when she gets tickled laughing. Gail's mouth went embarrisingly open with a large grin at her snorting laughter.

Both of them turned around to run almost right into the golf coach Mr. Gibbons. He hands Jeff a team tryouts flyer, 'We are holding full tryouts so give it some thought Borges.'

After the coach walks away Jeff looks at the flyers and then to Gail.

'I could see you in a Payne Stewart outfit.' Gail

'See that's weird since I think he died before you were born.' Jeff

CHAPTER 14

In high school gym classes you will hear people called everything from Shit Head to a Lob's Pound. You will smell everything from new and over used gym cloths to a Crispy who uses her own product too often.

And all of that is just in girls gym classes, I will not get into boys classes because their gym classes are made up of nothing but bad jump shots, circle wonderings, and quick as lightening so no one can see showers.

Ms. Gardner is the girl's gym teacher and she believes gym classes should consist of one of three things. These three things are her experiment of trying to make her job interesting when otherwise she just feels it's a numbing experience. In other lines of work people entertain themselves by stabbing others in the back, oh; you know you've done it to get through a shitty day.

Ms. Gardner tortures the youth under her watch. She wanted to be a corperate accoutant but ended up a gym teacher after something went wrong during her time at Ryan & Woods University in Boston.

She also subs for the art teacher when illness arises.

She hates artists.

Too many bad dating experiences I think.

The young ladies in Ms. Gardner's classes run laps for twenty minutes, or play close quarters dodge ball, or they have to do archery. The state did away with all requirements for gym classes after a ruling was passed that sports count as gym requirements.

And for the others who are not all ra-ra about being on a school team?

You screwed.

Who really cares about the rest anyways?

Good old fashion archery is all kinds of "could lead to interesting days of classes." The preepy stock usually vote for archery while the rest either go for laps or close quarters dodge ball. Not that voting in Ms. Gardner's class means anything. She usually decides by how pissed off she is on a perticular day. Laps for sadist days, archery for bored days, and close quarters dodge ball for days she is in the mood for seeing a good old fashion gym class dodge ball torture exercise in violence.

Fox should be grateful that Ms. Gardner was stood up last night waiting for hours outside a movie theatre because today is a laps day and no weapons are around when Karen charges through the gymnasim's double doors, catches sight of Fox as she is circling around into the portion of the gym where laps that take them right by the gym doors, charges up to her and kicks Fox in the stomach with everything her former soccar playing self could muster.

She's a Chelsea supporter by the way. I'm a Liverpool man myself.

Fox didn't see the attack coming and for a few seconds as she dropped to her knees her hearing cut out and like a lot of moments in sports things went sort of like a slow motion replay. She was holding her stomach and couldn't breathe but her mind was focused on a piece of paper someone dropped on the gym floor that had the word CRACKED on it. Cracked sort of fit the situation and maybe that was reality trying to tell her something.

When Fox looked up she did so holding her stomach and gasping for air. She sees Karen and smiles knowing that is not the right expression for this situation. Karen is in her face with punches making contact with each one. In no time a circle of students are around them and Ms. Gardner is running from the other side of the gym shouting profanities I shall not repeat in this paragraph, though some of what she said went something like this, "I will never agree to go out with a doctor again and I Will Not have this in my CRAPPY LIFE OF MINE CLASS!"

When Ms. Gardner reached them she pulled Karen off Fox, the force of which threw them both onto the gym floor. The boys gym teacher and assistant football coach, Coach Stern, by this time had made his way to them having heard the ruckus from his office.

Coach Stern pulled Karen by an arm and her hair dragging her out the double doors into the concession area outside the gymnasium, 'What is wrong with you Busiek!?'

Once outside the gym he let go of her, she spun away falling to her knees doing so, and then jumped to her feet just as quickly and got right in his face, 'Nothing!'

'You have always been nothing but attitude!' Coach Stern screamed.

'And you have been nothing but a small dick desire for 8th grade girls!'

'Bitch!'

'What's next Mr. Originality? Maybe I should bring up Fable Westbrook and the real reason she pushed her mom to move back to Orlando?'

He advances to hit Karen but just at that moment out from the gym comes Ms. Gardner.

'Fox is in my office awaiting the nurse. I will escort Ms. Busiek to the principal's office Coach Stern.'

The toes of his shoes inched forward and Ms. Gardner stepped inbetween Coach Stern and Karen and looked him right in the eyes ready if he moved an inch more towards her student. She has heard all of the stories and each and every time she has had to look into his eyes it has made her angry and sick that she has had to work with him so closely. He turned away from both of them and walked over to a heating unit and sat down on it like a sulking child.

Ms. Gardner turned now from Coach Stern to stare Karen down. She pointed for her to begin walking out of the gym building, and she did with Ms. Gardner to follow.

They both left Coach Stern fuming and in a minute he released his anger by punching a hole in the side of a trophy case as several studants watched from down the hall outside the Health class rooms.

Smart.

Ultra jock smart.

And he's sitting on heating unit.

CHAPTER 15

The first day of football practice isn't "officially" a practice since schools cannot start football practice yet by Brevard County School Board Athletic Association rules which state you cannot start practices until at least one week into the school year.

The coaches are getting around this by getting as many of the players as they can into the same gym class and have them run non-stop for a whole class period in full pads.

Who it really sucks for are the few students who are not football players who ended up stuck having gym during this period.

You have a few people puking, a few faking asthma, one even tried faking his period, but the most disgusting thing was the couple of football players who shit themselves to keep from stopping and thus losing their spot on the starting squad.

Or is it "shat themselves"? Hell, doesn't matter.

Not the weirdest thing happening during this "practice" though is people shitting themselves. The weirdest thing would be the conversations the small groups making their way around the track are having.

One group consisting of Victor San- captain of the football team (also quarterback), Zom Ian, and Zeck Frank where leading the pack. There were a number of others who will probably end up starters in this pack also but they were staying a little back from Victor's group because frankly most everyone thinks the guys a boring asshole.

When F.K.H.S. got who most college scouts consider the best three high school players in the county people started calling them Z.Z.V.

Well, high school papers started calling them that. All the other papers just published comments by other Brevard County schools about how unfair the situation was and how they would be playing every game against F.K.H.S. under protest.

Zom and Zeck are also seniors and besides both having pretty unusual names, both are also considered Victor San's tagalongs. Not lackeys or second in commands like Lisa is to Joanna. More like how....?......?.... I don't know?

–INSERT APT THINGEE HERE-

And yes that is how I solve that problem as a writer.

Zom was a mirror of Victor in pure athletic abilities and the only one of Victor's friends who ever stood up to him and got away with it. Called the Indian Tank at his old school, Zom was the listed by ESPN as the top running back prospect in the whole state of Florida and that's saying something with how serious this state take high school sports.

Zeck comes in as the second rated running back in the state and second also to Zom in many other ways. Because this talented athlete was also Native American he was always mistaken as Zom and his personality of letting both Zom and Victor kick him around makes a lot of the teams coaches doubt how strong his mental state when it comes to competing on the field is. Every group has a weak link and with these three that's Zeck.

'Did you hear about Karen Busiek?' Victor said breaking a conversation Zeck started about masturbating after numbing your hand by sitting on it.

'God, first day of classes and she already goes off on someone.' Zom

'Her and that freaky little sister of hers. Though I'd do both of them.' Zeck

'Zeck, you fucked a jar of marshmallow cream so stay out of this conversation.' Victor

'What made her freak out this time? At our old school she was always running her mouth about something.' Zom

'Always complaining fucking bitch is what she is.' Victor

'Doesn't her and Joanna have history?' Zeck

'They fucking hate each other.' Victor

The next group of runners consisted of Ross Vosburg, Hip Palmiotti, Luke Ennis, and Ripon Dillion, and Merritt Wein. All also members of the football team.

With those names you'd think their parents selected their names at random out of an old Braves cap or were smoking crack while going through the Wikipedia Baby Names Site.

There is a Wikipedia Baby Names site isn't there?

'I have to get into football mode again. I spent the whole summer being drowned in soccer and cricket by my mom's relatives who stayed with us.' Ross

'Soccer isn't that bad.' Luke

'I don't mind it but how do you get into a team or player when you have to follow all these leagues and your favorite player can go from one team to another on loan? What the fucks up with that?' Hip

'You have leagues in different countries or regions.' Luke

'But there's more than one in countries.' Hip

'There have been more than one football league here.' Luke

'What about this Champions League bullshit?' Ross

'Basically the best teams from each league compete against each other. I think it's pretty cool.' Luke

'You some sort of soccer dork?' Ross

'I follow all sports a little.' Luke

'Whatever, soccer isn't that bad but they drove me nuts talking cricket and trying to get me to play. You know cricket smartass?' Ross

'Not much. They don't show cricket on any sports channels here. All I know of cricket I learned from All Creatures Great And Small and Doctor Who.' Luke

'Ok, then shut up and let me complain.' Ross

'Did you learn how to play cricket?' Merritt

'Fuck no. I just stood where they told me to and tried to avoid their eyes when talking about the shit.'

'You know who tried to start some shit with me today?' Victor

'Who?' Zom

'Jeff Borges.'

'What happen?'

'Albert Wallander was mouthing off to me in Dry's class and I was ready to jack up his shit when Borges stuck his nose in.'

'Didn't you two tangle once before?' Zeck

'Tangle? Who the fuck says tangle?' Victor

'I remember that. It was outside the Dali Museum on a school trip. Everyone had always thought he wasn't much because he didn't gets fights much but he sure showed you.' Zom

'Didn't show me shit.'

'Come on Victor, dude kicked your ass. Nothing wrong with that, we've all had our asses kicked.'

'Guys a fucking faggot. Always hanging along with that bitch Busiek.'

'So you up in heat because your ladies don't get along?' Zeck

'Shut up. He isn't dating Busiek. She's lesbian from what people say.' Victor

'People being you because you once got shot down by her.' Zom

'I shit on you or something man, why you fucking with me today?'

'Sorry Vic, just pushing your buttons. I don't care much for Borges either. I don't think he has any friendship with Albert so why don't we find Albert later and let loose some steam?'

'I need some kick the ginger.'

The last and slowly dying group of football players consisted of C.B. Melville, Class Chapppell, Horn Logwell, Ashel Slott, and Mint Das. Mostly offensive and defensive linemen. Though Horn Logwell is one out of shape widereceiver.

'No hair off my balls.' Ashel

'Poor Mint back there shit himself and you don't care?' Class

'No, Horn shit himself also and you don't see me caring either?'

'Well, yes, you weren't asked by the Coach to keep an eye on Horn.'

'Just because the Coach wants to blow a pack in the ass of Mint's sister and thinks because I'm want to play wideout I'm going to buddy buddy up to someone who couldn't make special teams more less start but still would rather shit himself...' Ashel takes a breathe, 'Fuck, man, I'm don't give two shits about Mint so stop talking to me. I'm out of shape and running my mouth and running at the same time isn't easy.'

The little worlds that exist within a sports team are like the little worlds that exist within a school as a whole. There are mundane circles within a team, there are strong forces within a team, there are parasitical lines within a team, and there are unknown actions working within a team.

The same thought processes can be applied to a school as a whole. No matter what sort of school you are talking about, those ticks are there. Little checks off boxes of what everyone faces in their youth. Those groups are there and no matter how we want to address the worlds that exist within schools; those ticks are split between different levels of predators and prey.

High schools have no invisibles. No matter how much you might want to not be noticed. You will be. You cannot hide, you have to choose- predator or prey.

CHAPTER 16

For some reason beyond Joanna's conception there are still things that even an Osip cannot control and one of those things is government paperwork.

Britney Day needed to earn more points towards her State Sponsored Bright Futures Scholarship but also needs to be near the school so she could cheer on the heart and bodies of the fine athletes who put on pads and pay games; so instead of volunteering at the local chapter of The White Elephants or at one of the few public libraries still operating, she talked Principal Carol into letting her volunteer as an assistant Guidance Counselor and since they forgot somehow to fill the Guidance Counselor position when they opened the new school known as Franz Kafka High, it places Britney as the only person in the school, who is in any sort of position to be any grief in the life of Joanna Osip.

She would never have gotten in at one of the libraries anyways because all the volunteers there are court ordered. Wait, that doesn't make any sense: "court ordered" " volunteer." Yep, still doesn't make sense saying it twice.

Also she did not plan to have any sort of confrontation with Joanna but Joanna came into the situation irritated. She was ignorant to the situation though thinking she could try to gain some sort of advantage on Joanna and her just roll over and take it.

That's just stupid.

A lot of people believed Britney's family to have money on a pretty good level. Not Osip level but most believe them to be very well off. The truth is, the only reason Britney's family can afford a pretty nice house in Merritt Island and afford to give Britney things such as a nice car, nice clothes, and to pay for things of "Love Today And Throw Away Tomorrow" is her father happens to be working two jobs and her mother is working also working two jobs.

All of that work to push up a lifestyle for their children in the communities eyes.

Principal Carol was worried about Britney dealing with Joanna but she convinced him that if he let her handle this she would do everything to make sure the cheerleader squad would compete in the Orlando Championships this year. And the only thing we know that equals Principal Carol's fear of Joanna was his love of attention.

The part of the job that Britney liked the most was the fact that grades really didn't matter. After a certain state law was passed Guidance Counselors had to look over the students work and give them points based on their grade and the judgment of how much they have learned. A student ended up graduating more on a point system than a grade system, but that fact was one of those underlined government movements that most people did not know about.

Another reason why Florida has always been rubbish.

The knowledge that grades would not drive even Joanna Osip through graduation put Britney in what she thought was an equal position in front of Joanna for once and she wanted to live this up. Not to be mean or cruel but for a little bit of sensation of power.

Joanna walked into the G.C.s Office and the first words out of her mouth directed at Britney were, "Why do I have to deal with your stupid ass?"

Britney has to admit that Joanna came to her high grades honest. The lady was super smart and though some thought her father pulled to get her grades changed because she never seemed to study or pay attention in class, she in fact was one of those people who school work was a breeze.

Don't hate those people.

But Joanna was also the person who once in front of a locker room full of girls in grade school for no reason at all took it upon herself to announce that Britney was scared to use tampons. Something Britney told her foolishly thinking Joanna would never tell anyone. And she would have never told anyone if Britney hadn't talked to a boy she liked.

So this was sort of a duel in a way. Though different from most duels, one member of this duel never really intended to shot but when you holster a gun, the other guy will think you may plan to use it.

Britney was playing teacher. Too bad she was the only one playing, 'Joanna, I just don't know. I know you aced Government last semester but after reading your essays I don't know if they had the spirit needed.' You can really tell when someone is trying to control a situation in conversation because they start by using your name which is outside of an angry parent the only time anyone does that.

Britney smiled with her buttoned holster.

Joanna flipped the button off hers.

'Fate has dipped you into something you're not set for.'

Britney gave Joanna a questioning look and Joanna saw the holster was also empty.

'And as Fate didn't also drop you a safety manual you did not see the danger of what having real control over someone else can mean. You are trying to play me.'

'Joanna...'

That's fear.

Joanna left the room but before she did so she left with a thought for the school out of place Guidance Counselor, 'Maybe I could help you earn some understanding points.'

CHAPTER 17

Karen asked Jeff to give Gail a ride home because she has something she wants to do, even if she knows this would not help the pains coming from the ulcer geistating in her stomach.

Maybe there is a flight to Houston she could catch instead, be about the same to her because the urge to fight, flee, or fly to a city under martial law seemed about the same to her stomach.

There were only two vehicles remaining in the studant portion of the Ryan-Mart parking lot, making it the perfect movie style showdown setting. One of the remaining vechiles was Karen's beat up, light blue, Cowley plant mini, and the other vehicle was even older, and barley holding itself together 1982 GMC pickup truck.

Karen was sitting on the roof of her car as Fox came walking across the parking lot from the school to her truck.

She jumped off the roof of the car and started walking over as Fox was putting her keys in the door of her truck acting as if she didn't see Karen.

Fox sighed as Karen got closer, 'You planning to kick my ass again?'

Karen speed up her pace towards Fox with anger and questions in her steps, 'Why didn't you fight back! You didn't throw one punch? You fought better than that in preschool?'

'I thought you had something you needed to get out of your system thus making me a punching bag. You can write me a therapy check later.'

Karen grabbed Fox by the arm and spun her around so they were now face to face with each other, 'Bag Bitch, you could have called!'

'Your mom had our number also. Don't go all shits with me. No one around here made effort one to see if we were ok.'

'I had to live here with the fall out, you didn't.'

Fox shoved Karen almost knocking her on her ass. As Karen got her footing stumbling backwards a couple of steps her eyes woke up and noticed the bruises she had beaten into the face of her former best friend.

By now Fox was boiling over with emotions, all red faced, 'Fall out?! You have no clue about having to deal with what happen. It wasn't your Goddamn family! We had to move to another country for Christ's sake. CANADA! Have you ever watched Canadian porn? No fun.'

Fox got into Karen's face like an angry bulldog, 'At this moment you're being a real monkey ass.' Then she opened her truck door and climbed in.

Karen's face turned blood red, 'You lied!! I was a kid, those lies have followed me ever since. There hasn't been a week were someone didn't bring it up to me or someone in my family.'

Fox started her truck, 'Poor you, try dealing daily, I was a kid also, a kid who by the way was being raped by her father! My father!! That sort of exsperince may stray a kids brain a little, don't you think?'

They stared at each other for a few minutes in silence.

Karen spoke, 'Why did you even come back? Why bring all this bullshit back into m...our lives?'

Fox slammed the truck into reverse and peeled out of the parking space nearly hitting Karen before slamming her brakes to a sudden short stop.

Karen ran up to the driver's side window, "You bitch!"

Fox, 'I'm sorry. I'm sorry I came back to bury my mom, is that fine with you?'

The trucks tires screamed as she left the parking lot.

Karen had been doing a standing still statue like impersonation in the parking lot for going on an hour after Fox got into her truck and left. She was in an emotional pause.

A typical Florida rainstorm had started, stopped, and dried up in the time she stood in a trance like state by her car thinking about all the rage and other variations of feelings racing through her mind.

The night shoppers were arriving and the only other car now in the school section of the superstores parking lot was the school janitor's truck. Sitting in the truck was Albert waiting on his father to get off work. He watched the whole scene between Karen and Fox and now starring at a soaked to the bone Karen he looks around wondering if he could get off before his father does.

Finally noticing how wet her cloths had gotten was what finally shook Karen from her trance and she started flailing away with her arms and legs at nothing, almost falling a few times in primal screams looking like a mixture of pictures of a wet cat and a dog with fleas.

After a few minutes of channeling Yoko Ono she walked back to her car and grabbed her cell phone and dialed Jeff's number while the open door to the car bounced back and forth to the strength of after storm winds.

'Jeff I need pizza... things are really messed up.'

CHAPTER 18

Lisa time after time has found herself walking through a high-end clothing stores with Joanna snapping her fingers at clerks and pointing out things they will have wrapped for arrival to her house before she arrives there herself.

This store was the type that if you have never walked into you would think about how surprisingly bare in the actual amount of merchandise they have within view. Most clothing stores would have racks upon racks of clothes hanging around for browsing but this type of store is in visuals a couple samples of clothing neatly folded upon pedestals that makes the setting more resemble an art gallery showing that a clothing shopping experience.

This type of store has a method to its madness and that method is you come into the store and being seen there is just as important as actually buying anything. And if you buy something it's as much about how much your ass is kissed than what you bought and how much quality the product contains.

Basically snobs own it, work there, buy there, and talk about shopping and being there.

Joanna stopped just inside the entrance door and Lisa could swear she saw her sniff the air to test to see if she liked the smell of the place before moving into the heart of the store.

She stopped again in the middle of the store seeing that one of the sales clerks noticed her out of the corner of her eye. Notice in the way she knew who she was, 'Bring me a rack of winter coats.' Joanna demanded to whoever should be listening to her bellows.

'Winter coats please', Lisa added without hesitation but without as much venom. "Tart it's the middle of freaking Florida," was what she had wished she had whispered where Joanna could have heard.

'I do think a winter coat is a great fashion choice.' Joanna was agreeing with her own thoughts.

'Find out what is taking them so long Lisa.' She prompted even though they had just got there.

'I will try and speed things up Joanna', with a bit of desperation that Joanna as usual did not notice.

The sales clerk who noticed Joanna as she entered the store was already in the back picking out some of their newest coasts and another had radioed back to her about what Joanna wanted.

'You would think Queen Bess herself was here today', another customer said grinning to a friend out of ear shot of Joanna or anyone else besides her friend.

As Lisa was talking to one of the sales clerks Joanna received a text on her cell:

YOU HAVE BEEN GRANTED A GROUP OF LU XUN SWORDS.

She deleted the message and watched Lisa walking back to her from talking to the staff in the back. Lisa could see in her eyes how much she was judging every movement she made.

Lisa stopped in front of Joanna with the thought of kicking her in the cunt but as usual it was just a thought, 'It might take a week for them...,' Lisa began, but Joanna finished her sentence, 'But it won't because father owns the shares that pay their salaries.'

'Ok.', Lisa suppressed a smile to how stupid Joanna could be sometimes and downed a container of Tic-Tacs in one shallow to suppress a day by day without withdraw battle.

In other words she really needs a drink bad.

'We are not a publicly owned company,' A sales clerk standing behind them made the mistake of correcting Joanna.

Joanna spun around in the graceful way that always reminded Lisa of a spin kick, 'If my father decides to buy this place today, on my word to do so, you will be nothing but without a job.'

Lisa sighed as the sales clerk walked off tearing up.

Joanna turned her head to Lisa seeking a target she could get away with abusing in a different way, 'If I had higher expectations for you I might be disappointed. Sighs are weak Lisa.'

Lisa started playing with the pack of cigarettes in her pants pocket to keep from killing someone, with the someone being Joanna.

Joanna on her part decided once again to just ignore what she had just said to someone and goes on talking to the store as a whole, 'I was ready to spend at least several thousand here today. Maybe if I get word that mouthy bitch is fired I will come back,' and she shouted that so the whole store, including the dressing rooms, and especially in a way the clerks boss could hear from her office.

'Joanna please...' Lisa said but then she hesitates before also saying, 'I think we should just leave.'

Joanna gave her a slightly disgusted look but turning and walking towards the doors, 'I have enough to do today. Enough idiots to get in line, dealing with shop workers who think they are anything different than Ryan-Mart floorwalkers is wasting my time.'

Lisa follows her once again questioning her life in many ways.

After Joanna and Lisa left one of the stores sales clerks turned to another customer, 'All of that money sure bought someone a gigantic ego.'

CHAPTER 19

Gail clicks on her laptop as she sits down, in her room, on her bed with her computer sitting in front of her. Also on her bed was a bottle of water and a bag of salt & vinegar chips. She stops what she was doing, puts her finger in the center of her forehead as if a light bulb has just appeared over her head, 'I need some Who.'

'Are we still going to talk about comics tonight?'

'I can do both.'

At one time Gail's room was all cheerleading competition photos and Disney live action show posters but times have changed. And so has Gail from those times.

'...so your actually getting rid of a lot of your back issues?'

'Yeah, we plan to give a lot of them away instead of candy for Halloween this year. My room stacked over with long boxes as it is. My comic shop said they would trade me trades for a lot of them.'

Taking a camera look around the room as it is now from her bed found under her bedroom window you will see corner stacked almost to the roof in long boxes in both sides of the corner.

Then you will spot her closet which is for the most part crammed with more long boxes but also with clothes thrown in. Literally, thrown in, not hanging, thrown in on top of the boxes.

Another corner has a huge skinny lamb that resembles octopus arms.

The inside of her door is decorated in comic book trading cards poster putted to the door.

'...do you think your mom would share her recipe for Monster Hamburgers on her website?'

'I'll ask but if it's not in one of her books her agent gets pissy with her letting them go for free.'

In the corner on the other side of the door a bookcase of action figures. For the most part stuff Jeff has given her.

A whole wall of her room is nothing but bookshelves.

Gail walked over to one of those many bookshelves and picked off a dvd. The simpler times of everyday life moments like this are coming to an end soon but no one knows this.

And no one will for a few books.

Gail sat back down on her bed with DVR remote in hand.

She has been talking to one of her online friends by internet video, '...they would have to eat their poop like any other potential box of fish fingers.'

'Everyone takes shots at Aquaman. What did Aquaman do to deserve this mass of hateful feelings?'

CHAPTER 20

The Osip's estate is the largest house in all of Melbourne Florida. The local people who were alive at the time the family moved to the area from Boston say the Osips came in like an invasion buying up land. Others say one of the ways they got so stinking rich was forcing Disney to pay large amounts for shitty land. They got in right before the mouse and they made a pretty penny because of it.

No matter how you want to address the home of the Osip family the house defiantly sits on the largest personally owned for dwelling piece of land. One of the largest personal dwellings in the state you may ask? Oh, yeah, there is that other house on Lake Washington but no one likes to speak about that family. There is a sorrowful story there for another point in time.

With her father in and out all the time Joanna usually has the run of the place by herself, for the most part, but the majority of the time with Lisa around at least until she gets all of Joanna's activities, appointments, and plans stream lined and addressed.

Tonight besides five servants Joanna is alone with stacks of free coats in nice boxes with apology notes attached. She has always seen shopping as a hunting expedition, the way her father taught her, "You get what you want if you leave others behind in your steps knowing who you are and who they are not."

The head butler and man in charge of the entire house staff is called Fennell, who Joanna calls Butler. It was cute when she was three, not really, generally vulgar spits from a crude way of seeing the world from a spoiled child who still acts with similar actions.

Fennell is from Great Britain of course, as all good butlers and spies are, and once was a famous horse trainer but that was a deep cover job. Besides being Butler, he is the grounds keeper, and controls the family stables on the property. He finds himself where he is now because of black mail and if we went into that we would have to also explain why he once used the codename Travesty.

There are several personal servants, one apiece to each member of the family: Courtney, Leslie, and Page are their names. The kitchen staff is master chef Damon and his crew is: Desiree, Nancy, Neka, Melinda, and Nadine.

The cleaning crews are lead by Mrs. Barber and her crew goes by the names: Malina, Cristina, Marlena, and Sara.

I speak of these people because they daily, like in, day in and day out, put up with Joanna Osip and they at least deserve to have their names known though I hope to do with them more later in the book.

Just returning from the kitchen Joanna is sitting at the desk in her bedroom eating a cold plate of chopped vegetables; while watching an old news report on her laptop. Now your normal laptop would die of embarrassment if placed beside this laptop on a table.

Joanna's father has many contacts within the business and governments sectors all over the world and recently he gifted his daughter with a tool that will be of great use to her.

Her laptop is a MirrenGlass laptop. The only people who have these computers are certain individuals involved in government black operations and business who do not want anyone get a hold of even a drop of their information. It's never an overstated how much power comes from the control of your information and the ability to obtain the information data from others.

The MirrenGlass have keys which only operated to the finger prints of the user the laptop who built for. It runs at faster speeds and has more storage space than commercial computer can even dream of reaching. With built in programs for cracking passwords and hacking systems with an invisible nature to almost all forms of online tracking this laptop is not only a tool but a weapon.

The only way a MirrenGlass is not an assist to its owner is that if you do own one people then know you are into some deep shit and you're protecting your digital footprint from the eyes of others.

A messenger window pops up on Joanna's desktop which was a photo wallpaper background of a cave painting of The Spider God Cupisnique, which is an image of large spider mixed into the body of a humanoid cat. The image is from a temple discovered recently in the Lambayeque Valley of Peru.

NOIL134: I'M CHECKING WITH A CONTACT ABOUT GETTING THAT POLICE REPORT YOU ASKED FOR ABOUT.

JOSIP1: GOOD. ANYTHING ELSE YOU CAN GATHER ON THE ACCIDENT THAT PUT HER IN THE HOSPITAL WOULD GO TOWARDS THE CONSIDERATION OF YOUR SEAT.

NOIL134: I'LL SEE WHAT I CAN DO.

JOSIP1: BRB

Shut up, everyone types BRB because it's now part of our fathered in vocabulary now.

Joanna puts the empty plate on her desk and walks over for her cell phone which was sitting on her bed and she dialed a number. Her cell phone is similar in class to her MirrenGlass laptop but is so new no one has even given it a name yet, codename or otherwise.

I would do a series of "ring, ring, ring, rings" here but that would be a really bad way to end this section of this chapter with some things that I quite like. And anyways I took it out while writing the 1st draft.

A very long way away from Melbourne on the balcony of a hotel in Paris, on a table on that balcony, a phone is ringing. The phone is vibrating against the metal of the antique table sending out sounds into the night air.

Two people are standing on the balcony sharing a bottle of wine. A woman and a man who very much look like they belong in the type of places most of us will never get a chance to set foot one in.

The woman is dressed in a long black party dress with her blonde hair and unfair naturally beautiful features; which would match up beside any runway model if it was not for two scars cutting across her face from each ear.

A human being who has been through a lot in her life she is smiling like a cunning jackal at what the man learned earlier in the day.

'It will be amazing if this is truly a factual case of Absorption.' He said to the woman.

'Your family is preparing to start testing her right away?' She asked.

'Yes.'

The man stood in his perfectly fitted suit almost a stone statue of emotions with small, crisp movements to everything he did, including his breathing. Everything is measured, everything sending out signals he wishes to send. Layer upon layer to mask, hide, and reveal, but never let on which is really the truth.

The phone continued its ringing and the people on the balcony below are starting to get annoyed and voicing that announce.

'Maybe you should answer it?' the scarred woman questioned.

'She needs only the bonds of the mission. Anything else may create a weakness within her. There is quite a long test in front of her.'

He turns with quick speed and a predator nature you would expect on first appearance seeing him and he grabs the woman by the throat. Then slowly he leans into her face close enough were she could smell the hint of cinnamon on his lips.

The phone continued to ring and the shouts from the balcony below got louder as he pushed her back into their room from where they had been standing.

'You have tests ahead of you also my dear.'

Joanna closes her phone and tosses it back onto her bed. Well, actually she more or less did a under hand throw up into the ceiling of her bedroom causing her phone and some plaster to fall not so gently onto her bed.

She sits back down at her desk, clicks off the messenger program, closes Media Player, and opens up a word document with a file titled: DANCE-STEP ONE.

CHAPTER 21

Jeff sat across from Karen in the restaurant booth as the waitress was getting their drink orders and Karen was soaked head to toe dripping all over her seat and the floor.

Whenever Karen called Jeff and mentioned pizza it was code between them that said, "Need help, need to do the talking." When Jeff needs to talk with her about any problems he's having he calls and says, "I need to see some boobs."

That's subtle man code for you.

Rather male stereotypical also for a young man full of contradictions.

'In Sci-Fi Club Chris Sweet said saying Sci-Fi was like saying nigger.' Jeff

Karen's attention is snapped into a facial expression of WHAT?

'One. Hello, Sci-Fi Club? Two. Did you slap him in the fucking mouth or do I need to mark that into my calendar?'

'Yeah, put it between lunch and bitch slapping former friends.'

'There has to be something else we can talk about here?'

'We can but we are going to talk about it also.'

'...'

'You waited for her didn't you?' he asked his friend who was currently resembling a wet beaten street rat sitting in the restaurant.

'Yep,' she timidly answered and plumped her forehead on the table.

'Any deadly marker action?'

'That's fiction.'

That was subtext of best friend speak.

'Any more punches thrown?'

'Only the emotional kind.'

'What happen?' Jeff asked fishing to get deeper and just get her talking.

'She moved back here because her mom died. She came back to bury her mother Jeff...and I...'

Jeff tapped her on the top of the head with a spoon, 'And you kicked the shit out of her?'

Karen looked up, 'Match point.'

'Feeling like shit?'

'Like talons on a bunny.' Karen's head went back to the table with a good thud this time

'Afraid of who you feel you are right now?'

'Drifting in the feeling, wallowing like an emo kitten,' she looked up and meets eyes with him again, 'Not my best day today.'

'You also got expelled on the first day of your senior year of high school. That is some day for the brain to process?'

Karen dropped her head back with another thud to the table.

The waitress returned with their drinks.

'Ready to order?' she asked.

Jeff sarcastically but sympathetically patted Karen on the top of her head but Karen had the feeling he was patting harder every other touch.

'I think this is a three topping night.' Jeff told the waitress.

'And those would be?'

'Mushrooms, pepperoni, and...'

Jeff flipped the top of Karen's head with his index finger in the form of a question.

'pineapples.' Karen said as she slid under the table like a dead 4 year old.

'Pineapples?' The waitress asked.

Karen raises her head from under the table to show tears flowing down her face.

'pineapples accommodate my feelings.'

As the waitress left shaking her head thinking she has a meth head at her table tonight, again, Karen slid back under the table.

Jeff started doodling on a napkin as if nothing unusual was happening.

'I brought some CD's you left at my place for the ride home.'

'What did you bring?' Karen questioned from her location under the table.

'The Pretenders.'

'Nom, Chrissie Hynde.'

'Joana Jett.'

'Joan Jett.'

'That's what I said.'

'Ok, forget it, I only listen to her while working out.'

'How about Fanny?'

'Must have for historical measure. One time listen though.'

'People who sit under tables don't get full opinions.'

'I am not listening to any Tori tonight Jeff.'

'How about Bonnie Raitt?'

'See live and rush to the nearest alone corner of the world to catch your breath. Not for driving though, too dangerous.'

'The Pussycat Dolls?'

'That shit ant mine, must be Gail's'

'Actually...'

Karen raises herself out from under the table to sit up in the chair.

'Jeff, I'm so disappointed.'

Good friends, best friends have all sorts of ways of distracting or bringing their friends out from feelings that have them down to the knees of the world. But a really good friends will not let the person they care about hide in the least from what is facing them also.

Karen took such a deep breath it hurt her lungs, 'I feel a clown in an insane asylum.'

'Karen in the gym for the win.'

'I'm dedicated to being stupid sometimes.'

'You know the difference between us. I rage but your rage is different. It's never stupid. I spit out things to make my anger flow into that of others. Say things to stir the pot. Spit white noise for the sake of shouting obscene things in the face of virginities. You rage to the focal points of things that matter to you. I admire that about you. What happen in the gym wasn't you.'

'As you said. Karen in the gym for the win.'

CHAPTER 22

Fox slammed on her brakes, punched the stirring wheel with a rush of adrenaline, and twisted the wheel with one hand whipping her truck into the driveway of her house taking out a small gated area beside the house which her father once built to hold recycling containers.

Fox rolled down the trucks driver's side window and looked at the house where she lived much of her early life. She wanted to spit but all she could do was scream at the top of her lungs, 'Corn shelled mother stroking creature tits!'

This day has been the start of the ultimate reorientation into a new chapter of her life.

The family home which now belongs solely to her didn't have any sort of answer back to her screaming. It was silent in it emotions and opinions. For a while she sat in her truck angry about not getting any sort of answer from the ghosts within her head and she was sitting head lowered playing the bowling game on her cell phone before she looked up at the old house again remembering happier times she had here before everything about life was turned inside out.

Then she screamed again, 'Dog pit shit haven interrupted bull crap!' and thrashed about a bit in her truck.

A little manipulation of her anger does not hurt.

No interoperation needed.

Having only been in town for two weeks still has her mind spinning with memories and the neighbors looking at the crazy young girl who dresses like a funeral march who has moved into the old house and tends to scream random things directed at no one at all.

She is not adjusting well to being back and it seems neither are others to her being back (Karen) and I ant talking about her neighbors either (Karen.) I'm talking about a certain mini driving, combustion orb, who loves pineapples on her pizza sometimes. (Ka...ok, you got the point.)

Her mother was put into the ground only a week ago and no matter how she has felt about the relationship between herself and her mother over time, her mother died. Her mother is dead.

Now the course of her family line was in her hands. In these instances she has a house, a truck, and money in the bank. And also there is this focus to somehow put her past away for good. Well, maybe not a focus, more like a panic ready to explode from a disillusionment of "Things could be ok or at least better than they have been."

Maybe that is way unrealistic but pain tends to do that to you.

CHAPTER 23

Britney was glade the day was over. Nothing had went right today and all she wanted to do was sit on the steps in the shallow end of her families pool, lean back, close her eyes, and listen to music cranked up to the highest volume level her little waterproof mp3 player could hit.

The first meeting of the cheerleaders so far was nothing but everyone talking about what happen at their old school.

Her "Big" Guidance Counselor jig went tits down on day one.

Her class schedule is nothing like it's suppose to be and if she doesn't get it straight she will not get to graduate early.

She just found out her father lost his secondary job at the prison.

Her concentration on blanking out with her music is interrupted her hearing the footsteps of her mother walking across the wet surface of the pool area.

But then she remembered her mom had to work tonight and opened her eyes to look up to see Joanna Osip standing over her.

'Wha..' but before she can finish even one word in surprise Joanna stomps down a foot onto Britney's face. The sharp heel of the boot barely missed taking out an eye, but instead went right into Britney's ear canal. The flat of the boot busted her nose.

Britney staggered up the pool steps onto the poolside area crawling on her hands and knees, scrapping knees adding more blood to the scene mixing with water all over the scene.

The pain was overwhelming as she held her ear with both hands and somehow her attacker had been washed out of her attention by the degree of pain attacking each and every sense and feeling her body could produce.

Joanna reintroduced herself into Britney's attention with swift kick to her back. Britney fell forward gasping trying to find the air to scream but losing that battle. Her eyes were blinking out with spots filling her vision.

Joanna grabs her by the hair and pushes her face into the concrete surface, 'If I followed my instincts I would rub your face into this concrete until you passed out but for my plans to work I need the school to have the best image possible and you add to that image for now Britney. It seems like you thought the only threat I offer is one of power pulls by my father and school politics.'

She releases Britney who crawls onto a sun chair feeling fear like she's never felt. She's was in tears as she watched Joanna walk away toward the pools outside exit, the way she had entered.

Joanna turns around before exiting, 'Oh, in case you are as thick as some say you are. That feeling you have right now mixed with fear and pain were you know a call to the police would be worthless. That's control.'

Joanna was gone and Britney was being overwhelmed by the pain. She tried to stand but stumbled from dizziness and crashed into her father's double sized grill. She fell hard to her knees and began to black out as she lay down in front of the grill. Her last thought before losing consciousness was a hope that someone would find her soon. She believed was going to die.

She was wrong.

She would live.

She would say someone broke in and she never saw who the person was.

The school would have a few conversations within the different groups when they find out what happen to Britney.

Britney would recover with new eyes to what the world could offer up in front of her and she would also only have hearing in one ear now.

But she also would know what a lesson was and how it felt to learn one.

CHAPTER 24

Janet Busiek knocked on her youngest daughter's bedroom door, just noticing at this moment and not previous that Gail had changed her door poster from an A-LIST promotional poster to a MAN-BEAR-PIG one she must have found on the internet somewhere.

Janet has always respected her daughter's privacies but she misses when they had to include her in all the details of their lives. She misses the times when they went through their C.S. Lewis obsessions, were Girl Scouts, decorated Easter Eggs.

After what she thought could have been a, "Come in." she opened the door and peeked her head into the darkness of the room. The only light in the room was coming from a screensaver on Gail's old never used desktop computer which was a slide show of Doctor Who book covers.

'Karen hasn't come home yet, do you know where she is?'

A dazed, groggy, half asleep voice spoke from the darkened bedroom, 'She's probably with Jeff...or her alien overlords.'

'Do you know what happen in the gym?'

'No more than you.'

'Ok, go back to sleep.'

A head returned to the pillow and the door was closed.

Joining Janet outside her daughter's bedroom door was the father, Neil Busiek, 'Anything?'

'No.'

'Then let's go to bed.'

'It's 4a.m. and she's not...'

'She's with Jeff. I trust him more than Karen.'

'Neil.' Questioning her husband's comment about their daughter.

'Karen's a hothead, especially with all of this coming back into her life. Jeff will keep her safe.'

The parents walk the upstairs hallway towards the houses master bedroom.

'This mess is bubbling up again.' Janet.

'This mess never really left.'

4:30 a.m. finds Karen and Jeff in an all night café now. They moved on from eating pizza to downing caffeine in large doses.

The café was simply decorated in 1950's décor. Actually decorated in 1950's style would not be true, more to the fact the owners just never redecorated in all the years after the Beatles put on suits and dropped the black leather jackets.

Jeff sits down at their booth which had a small jukebox playing something by Buddy Holly with drinks for both of them as Karen was putting her phone back into her school bag.

'I got a text from Gail.' Janet

'The parents are checking up.'

'I guess you have to face the music at some point.'

'Way to state the "I know that much" Chim-Chim,' Karen paused and closed her eyes, 'Just about the only thing I know at the moment though.'

'Yeah, what you need right now is a large Expresso.'

'Espresso, Espresso, There's No "X" in it.'

'See. Caffeine. Bad idea.'
CHAPTER 25

When she was younger she never thought her family lived in a large house but at 5:30a.m. while trying to sleep off a night of beans in her old bedroom she can feel every empty inch of the place. If she closed her eyes she could swear she would fall into a giant hole of darkness.

That extra bathroom inbetween the upstairs bedrooms feels like a vast tomb right now as she sits in the heat pissing in the dark. If she wasn't still a little high the whole thought of "pissing in the dark" might click to her as that was something her mom use to say to describe their life.

The past moves within the whole house, the living room, the den, the kitchen cabinets, the upstairs and downstairs bathrooms, and the two other bedrooms which are empty except for a pair of rats' nests.

She has not slept a wink and the old faded and tattered B.S.B. poster on the inside of her bedroom door is haunting in so many ways.

The day before school she picked up some supplies at the local 7-11 and at this late hour several boxes of Slim Jims were calling her name sitting on the kitchen table where she left them.

All of her years living in this house and she never learned how to get the air conditioning going and her normal sleeping habits of wearing a skull patched pajama set was a no go. The heat and history was suffocating. It was a naked trip down to the kitchen after pissing for our heroine. Each step was creaky to the barefoot plants upon the old oak wood that runs throughout the Boggs family home.

The rest of her high is ripped away as she is attacked by a memory. When she was three she was making her way down these steps when she tumbled down to the bottom ending up with a banged up ankle, a broken arm, and a busted lip. She remembers how much the busted lip hurt more than the broken arm and how odd that made everyone think she was when she told them.

After a trip to the hospital three year old Fox was terrified in a cast, terrified for the first time in her life. A cast to a young mind can do that. That broken veil of innocence that a lot of us never had was ripped from her. But not by the fall but the events that followed.

The next day her mother, who worked as a nurse, went back to work, but her father stayed home with her. That day was the first time he raped his daughter. I say raped because that is what it was. Not sexually abuse. Not incest. Don't say a thing to make it different from what it is. Its rape, it was rape, and it began a string of moments followed by her father always saying, "If you tell anyone I will stop loving you."

He decorated her life with gifts and favor and many would come to say things such as, "He loved that child and would never..." "She was a no-expense-spared of any life to him, why would he..." It is a counterfeit casket of behavior for the family, friends, and community and their words were in themselves add on to what her father did to her.

The shadows of her father seemed to linger all around the house. What some people might call crazy is that in no way does she want to live anywhere else. She wants to reclaim this houses spirit for her family...for her mom.

But that might be a little crazy.

The tones of her father's voice seemed to seep from the walls. His ghosts stunk up the joint, as they say where I'm from, and the bastard was not even dead yet.

As far as she knew.

Fox stopped in the den for a moment to shake a few memories out of her head. She wishes she could do that whole Harry Potter thing of pulling them out with a wand but all she had handy was pocket knife and that would be messy.

Even when she catches herself remembering happy moments she has to slap her memories down for they only lead to thoughts of other moments also in a leading her down to those memories without shielding sort of way.

What her mother never got was how people when talking about her husband always acted like besides rapping his daughter he was a saint. He wasn't. Her mother use to have drunken rages sometimes after they left Florida about how no one ever questioned the amount of bruises she would have that everyone could see. Matter of fact the only person who ever got into her husband's face about it was Neil Busiek.

Karen and Fox's families use to do a lot of stuff together but after a fight at a barbecue one 4th Of July were Neil confronted Fox's dad in a tool shed about how much a piece of shit he was.

Fox remembers that night because her father took what happen that day out on her mom and she heard everything from her room.

There is a lot of thing we do about things that disgust us in the world. And sometimes when we do things and don't think about how it effects others our actions can turn into the hands of the abuser.

Closing her eyes and sniffing the air brings about memories of the first time she ever made a fire in the fireplace. She has her suspicions that some homeless person or just someone getting away from things at some point made a fire in the house in the past year or so. Back to her childhood she nearly burnt down the house and it was the last time they ever tried to make a fire.

Her mother actually use to yell at her sometimes about how she use to love sitting by the fireplace but now because of her she couldn't do that anymore.

Opening her eyes from one of the many memories racing violently through her mind she could make out the vague shape of what was in fact an issue of some magazine on comics that is out of business now.

The magazine was probably Comic Scene or something along those lines.

Speaking out loud to herself, 'Maybe a hotel would have been a better choice.' She was beginning to feel like she was being attacked by the past being within these walls.

Then she walked into the kitchen to see her father sitting at the kitchen table eating her Slim Jims. He stood up with a huge smile on his face and opened his arms to welcome his daughter in for a loving embrace.

Thoughts punched her mind, "Those were her Slim Jims."

Thoughts punched her mind, "His hair is gray now."

Thoughts punched her mind, "Hey, he's eating my Slim Jims."

He sat back down at the table and calmly opened another Sliim Jim, 'I think you should sale the house love.'

He rubbed her hands together trying to do away with the grease from the Slim Jims, 'I need the money.'

Thoughts punched her mind, "My father should be dead."

"Why isn't my father dead?"

CHAPTER 26

Would you like to get to know Lisa Rowe a little more? I figured you could use the break from all the gritty drama for a bit for some quick hits of character building. Otherwise known as I'm still trying to figure out proper ways of character building and until then you will have to suffer through little gimmicks of writing.

Yes there is more to Lisa than being Joanna Osip's trained crank monkey. She is more like a chipmunk anyway, more cornbread than Entertainment Weekly and quite cute, if you can get past the smirks she gets when you view her reading the obituaries.

Here are a couple of quick facts about Lisa Afre Rowe:

Lisa is an only child. She had an brother but he died as an infant when her mother was bathing him a year before Lisa was born. Her mom has always spoken of Justin like he lived to a much older age and always refers to him as Lisa's older brother. This fact alone has always twisted Lisa's views on what family means. In what was the twist goes we'll have to see as we get to know her.

Lisa's parents, Joy and Commer Rowe, are both college professors and now they live out of state except for the summer semesters. They teach at Ryan University in Boston. She mostly sees them when they come back to catch up on bills or redecorate the house but even then they are off again back to their lives or vacations as soon as possible. Sometimes people grow strong from being so individual with so much freedom from such an early age but most of the time they just grow hardened to the world.

Lisa once got lost at Magic Kingdom when she was younger. She was there with a church group and was distracted and led astray by a limping big dog that ran afoul of a group of brats. She ended up behind the scenes of a concert for some group or the other and now has had for years the personal numbers of the World's Greatest Band.

Church was another substitute babysitter her parents used to keep from raising their child. That ended though after the Magic Kingdom incident which was the final straw for the church as it was the third time Lisa had gotten in trouble on a church trip.

The second time was when Lisa was kicked out of Bible World Joy Land when she was caught making out after hours near the Easter ride with someone she meet at bible camp. She told them she was homeless and they just kicked her out to the street thinking she wasn't worth a call to the police but another camp member reported her to a church elder.

The first church trip incident was when Lisa was really around four or five and they were attending a conference of churches. For the most part it was televangelists with bad haircuts and bad suits talking about tax laws to each other. Lisa got into trouble when one of the televangelists went to shake her hand and she screamed, "STRANGERS TOUCH! STRANGERS TOUCH!"

That day someone gave her the first Tic-Tac she's ever had and she downs Tic-Tacs all the time now.

Lisa loves Cranberry juice but only 100% no sugar added kind. She developed the taste for the stuff when her parents were doing a lecture series that landed them one winter in Canada. She's also got a jones for Jelly Babies during that trip.

Lisa drinks beer but never when Joanna can see or when her parents or their friends are near by. She had her first drink of the stuff when she was twelve and her private tutor got her drunk so he could as he stated to another scumbag, "Bedroom her."

She smokes cigarettes and cigars when out of Joanna's gaze also.

Lisa owns The Compete DVD Collection of Farscape. She owns a poster of Claudia Black but keeps it under her bed. There are a lot of secrets under that bed and it functions very much like a closet.

Lisa once had a little bird named Catnip for a pet and now she has a Maine Coon cat named Snap. No, not Snape, Snap, God, Why don't editors believe it when you tell them your stupidity is on purpose.

"Because..."

Lisa is in the closet with the door locked and double bolted from the inside, but that is her business, so stop being nosey.

When Lisa is alone at home and drinks, which she rarely does, and gets wasted to the drink, she sings Australian pop songs. Just thought I would throw that in for embarrassments sake.

No one knows any of these things about Lisa because no one ever looks past Joanna, including Joanna. This is a weakness in others. Lisa knows how to use other people's weaknesses for her own gain. If you think of her only in terms of someone else you maybe putting yourself in danger.

Lisa Rowe is a character worth her own book but she may not survive to have that chance but I'll try to keep her alive so I can write GOING HOME FOR SNAKES at least.

Keeping me alive is another story altogether.

In Ryan-Mart where Joanna Osip would never go Lisa is meeting up with her girlfriend, Hines.

Show of hands of people who get excited when someone tells you to meet up with them at whatever superstore is in your area? Ok? A lot of hands. I guess those are the new coffee shops.

Lisa was sure even if she ran into someone she might know they wouldn't recognize her as she wasn't dressed in one of her normal "dressed by Joanna" outfits.

She walked into Ryan-Mart, not the one that shares its parking lot with F.K.H.S., they're all over the place, and she does so dressed in one of the outfits she wears when she goes out to let off some steam. Hines calls her party clothes her lesbian Halloween costumes, which consisted of tennis shoes, large camouflage shorts, a t-shirt from American Eagle, and slicked down hairstyling.

Neither the clothes she wears when around Joanna nor the clothes she wears out with Hines are clothes that fit her very well. She's still trying to find out what fits her well. Everything else is just an cover image to show a side of her she thinks people want to see.

Hines on the other hand today is wearing her nursing scrubs from her Vet-Tech job when they meet up in stores pet supplies area. She's wearing her scrubs because she just got off work and hasn't had time to go home and change. That would have been her choice before meeting up with Lisa but with all the stuff Lisa is involved with and her work schedule they hardly get a chance to see each other.

As a meeting area it was Lisa's idea and it makes Hines smile when she waits for Lisa because drunk one night Lisa revealed that she comes to this area of the store sometimes when shopping because she is missing Hines.

'You know that costume always brings a smile to my face.' Hines

'Fuck you. It's not a costume.' Lisa

'But I've seen what you wear to relax.'

'Being out isn't easy for me.'

'You're about as in as anyone out can be.'

'You should talk.'

'The situation would be totally different with me being out.'

'So you're not coming to the dance with me?'

'I promised didn't I? Are you sure you want to come out to your school friends at a high school dance?'

'They aren't my friends. And I have my reasons for wanting to do it there.'

'None of which has anything to do with me. I just feel like this is all about making me into "I'm the lesbian arm candy."'

'You're my girlfriend.'

'But what would those people think if they knew I was Pre-Op?'

'Only a hand full of them probably knows what Pre-Op is.'

'Do you?'

'I know...'

'Not the technical bullshit. Do you know what it would be like for me to come out? It's not the same as a lesbian coming out.'

'So you're special?'

'You don't really fucking understand.'

Hines walks away in anger leaving Lisa standing thinking being in this area probably won't mean the same thing to her now.

CHAPTER 27

Jeff meets Karen and Gail in the Ryan-Mart parking lot shared with the school so he can talk and walk Gail into school, 'How did my favorite set of parents react?'

'They're giving me the silent treatment. I don't know if they have decided what sort of angry they are going to throw at me, if any. I'm hoping for an instant onset double case of Alltimers.' Karen

'Onset actually means...' Gail

Older sister glare at younger sister.

'Maybe a parental punishment tackling your rage issues?' Jeff

'My sister has flashback rage, road rage, and once she raged against the cancellation of the Clerks Animated series for weeks. Rage issues? Nay, not her.' Gail

'Thanks little sis. Why don't you go play with the football team, help them discover fire.'

'You know I heard Joanna Osip and her sidekick talking earlier, you know Ms. Repile, the Principals secretary?' Karen nodded, Jeff went on, 'She came out earlier this morning and they talked to her. Fox called in and said she's transferring out of state.'

'So?' Karen asked with a little twinge of anger in her own question.

'Go settle this shit Karen.'

Karen closed her eyes and stewed within her thoughts for a while but was brought out of that state by a punch to her arm from her best friend.

'Go.'

After Karen walked off in search of someone she once called friend Jeff's phone went off. Jeff looked at his phones display, 'Ok, how did Mr. Gibbons get my cell phone number? I've never played golf in my life.' Jeff pushes a button on his phone, 'Text block you teacher man.'

'Lame.....wait, how come you have his number programmed into your phone?' Gail

'Friend of an enemy.' Jeff

Gail and Jeff are walking in when Principal Carol stops them, 'Mr. Borges, are we going to be seeing your artwork decorating the posters for The Second Week Dance?'

'No.'

'No? The opportunity to...'

Jeff turns to face Principal Carol and Gail sees what Karen has told their mom about Jeff, that she has overheard, that you can tell when he is being really serious because he stands straighter, his tone of voice resonates older, and a lot of the softness they love about him drops away, 'Tell you what I'll promote this empty house with my art when you stop segregating the special eds into a basement storage room.'

'It is not...' Carol

'Duck, duck, quack, quack and I have to help this young lady find her class.'

CHAPTER 28

'I thought you would be going with someone like, maybe, Paul Hunt?'

Victor San was looking right into Joanna's eyes trying to be The Man so to speak. This was a "him standing his ground" moment...or at least an attempt by him at trying to stand his ground with his on again and off again girlfriend who has always chosen the on and off time periods.

Joanna opens and downs on energy shot drink. She drinks those little shot glass size energy drinks a lot. Lisa sometimes wonders how her heart doesn't explode from drinking so many of them. Then again sometime she wonders if Joanna has a heart at all.

Lisa was starring straight forward at her laptops screen. She was deep into acting as if she was checking something but actually she was just awaiting Joanna's response to Victor attempts at gaining level ground with his at times girlfriend.

Joanna stood from her chair behind the teacher's desk in the computer lab "her office". She walked over to Victor who was standing by the door with more than one urge to run as she approached him and she puts the energy bottle into his letterman's side jacket pocket.

Then she starts to poke him in the chest with her middle finger knowing that it is something that really bothers him. Joanna's long middle finger nail penetrated his shirt and skin each time in the same spot. One skill the lady has is finding out the weaknesses others may have. In this case she knows he really would love to punch her but would never do so and the knowing of such will lower his strength in the situation, make him feel weak.

'You are Victor San and he is Paul Hunt. If I need someone to accompany me who can talk intelligently and take part in conversations I will have Paul by my side,' She stops the poking, 'But with you Victor, you are window dressing. No need for a brain inside that head of yours. You serve your purpose as part of my ensemble.'

'Ok...god...I was just asking. You didn't have to get all upset.'

After she turns from him, he turns around and leaves the computer lab to call her a bitch several times to her friends but never to her face.

Joanna sits back down in her chair, 'I think I will take Paul.'

'When are you going to tell Victor?' Lisa

'I'll wait until the last moment. I think that way it will be all that sweeter.'

CHAPTER 29

The Boggs home was located at the far end of town behind an old Elementary School, on a hill decorated with palm trees.

They have hills in Florida?

Yes, Virginia, they do.

It took Karen a good two hours to drive to get to Fox's house from F.K.H.S. and a lot of feelings began churning in her stomach as she got closer and closer. She thought she may throw up at any moment and the last time she upchucked in her car it took her and Jeff a year to get the smell out.

A night of no sleep, pizza, a lot of stress, a bowl of chili, and too much coffee was not helping this situation one bit either. It all equals to large amounts of anxiety and gas.

Lots of fragrance or insert another word for farting if fragrance is too thesaurus and farting is too schoolyard for you.

Karen parked her car behind Fox's truck and slowly made her way to the front door.

Knock,

Knock,

Knock,

Knock, Knock, KNOCK!

I know, just as lame as "ring, ring, ring" but how would you do it?

I'm asking. Any real writers reading this?

The door opened after the repeated knocking and Mr. Boggs was standing right in front of her a little older in the face but the same man she remembered. He smiled at her knowing very well and recognizing who she was.

Karen stood there on the doorstep stunned as he dipped his trucker cap to her and walked past, down the driveway to a taxi, which had just pulled up in front of the house.

Karen barley moved and only silently watched as the taxi drove away. She really thought she might throw up...or just stop breathing.

'He showed up this morning.' Spoke a familiar voice from behind her.

'I thought your dad was dead for some reason?' Karen

'Mom and me always had the same false hope.'

'What did he want?'

'Money,' Fox answered meekly.

Karen turned around to see that Fox was standing in the doorway shaking almost in convulsions wearing nothing and crying, 'Fox?'

Fox collapsed into the outside with a sickening smack as her body made contact with the ground.

Karen snapped out of her shock and got to her knees to check on Fox.

The nosey neighbors looking through pulled curtains have even more stories to tell now to their relatives in Missouri. Their young prone to screaming neighbor, who just moved into the run down house, has now passed out on her door step naked.

Twenty minutes later Fox sat up and opened her eyes with a little dizziness in them to see she was now in her den, in her family's house, covered by a blanket recognized from one she left in the reading room yesterday.

"She was laying on one of the den couches" was the mantra she was using to try and regain her senses. She felt like her brain was trying to slap into consciousness. There is a part of her that hates the feelings that have been overwhelming her since she returned. She beating herself up internally screaming in her mind that she thought she had grown stronger than this.

Since coming back she hasn't had a moment to clean her house in the slightest and the rat fleas and dust on the couch was beginning to make her itch. "God," she thought, "How much must my life suck when rat fleas are down a bit on my To Do list?"

Sitting across from her on the other den couch scratching her own arm from bites was Karen. On the coffee table between them was two bottles of water Karen has retrieved from her car. Slapped into Fox's brain was her recalling how Karen always loved drinking water even when they were little and other kids, soda addicts, were always making fun of her.

Fox sat up making sure the blanket was wrapped all around her completely. Though not ashamed of her body and normally only modest at particular moments, at this moment she felt like a person who just discovered what shame was.

Then Slap Slap Slap into her brain goes thoughts of how could she have sat there and talked to him for what had to have been an hour without anything on? Now her brain was drowning in feelings of her doing something wrong. She knew those feelings weren't accurate but that didn't matter. The scummy feeling she has right now she is blaming herself for.

Fox looked at Karen with complete honesty in her eyes, 'Please tell me you're going to beat me up again. I need another" beat me up again."' Her voice was braking as she spoke to Karen. Not braking in word separation but broken in a shattered soul.

'Fox...a...did he?'

'I was coming down for a late night snack when I found him sitting causally in the kitchen,' Karen gave her a questioning look? 'He still had a key.'

Karen looked Fox over and really wanted to be able to tell her own parents how much she loved them right now at this moment. This, Fox having her father show up, was actually fucked up past words so she leaned forward and handed Fox one of the bottles of water in an attempt to reach out to her, try to connect, 'I'm sorry for...'

Fox fell back on the couch sipping some of the water.

When she settled, 'I understand. I actually do.'

'But...'

'Can we be friends again?' Fox said in a way that was almost as if a child was begging for something out of the blue.

'I have...' Was Karen's only reply to Fox but she continued with a question of her own, 'Is he staying in town?'

'I threatened to call the cops if he didn't leave right away. Well, I threatened to call the cops after standing there silent for twenty minutes as he talked as if this was our summer trip to The Keys.'

Fox so wanted to fall back into a good memory but Karen snapped her back to today with a question about now, 'I heard you were moving?'

'I don't want to,' Fox replied with a lot of exhaustion in her voice, 'Can't we be friends again?'

'A friendship of children.' Karen

'Only that?' Fox

Long uneasy silence in the room.

'I've changed a lot.' Fox paused and then went on, 'A lot more scars have set up house. Things didn't get much better after we moved and a hell of lot weirder. I'm not an easy person to be friends with but I do miss you. I always have.'

Karen just lowers her head with a little bit of a smile as Fox keeps talking, 'I know me coming back will get people talking again. I'm sorry for that but I need to be here right now. Honestly, I just trying to get my life back on track from the chaos it went into.'

Karen stands up, smiles, and reaches out her hand.

'My name is Karen Busiek, nice to meet you.'

Fox smiled back to her old childhood friend.

'Isn't your sister Coma Girl?'

CHAPTER 30

Hours later at the Busiek family home, the Busiek family members are gathered around the kitchen table eating cut pieces of fruit and veggies. That's the family's favorite snack when having a family talk. Several bowls of sliced fruits and vegetables served up with some cream and sugar.

Gail is a little weird though as they also have to set out a bit of salt for her to sprinkle on her veggies.

This is as close to Brady Bunch as this family gets.

'...Fox is going with me tomorrow to talk to Principal Carol. Maybe I can get my sentence shortened?' Karen

'What is she like now?' Mr. Busiek asked his oldest daughter.

'Broken down and hardened,' Karen shrugged, 'She told me her mom kind of lost it soon after they moved and was barely able to keep a job, always on the brink of totally losing it.'

'Did she stay in nursing?' Mrs. Busiek.

'I didn't ask? My mind was racing through eight hundred thousand questions I wanted to ask but not many actually reached my lips.'

Karen's father looked like he was ready to bite a brick, 'What did her dad...How did he look. Did he say anything to you?'

' No. He looked too well off for my liking I can tell you that much. Fox gave him some money to get him to leave, to get rid of him.'

'She has no idea where he is living now?' Janet

'No but he told her he wasn't back in town to stay. If you can believe a bastard like that about anything.'

Karen got up from the kitchen table where she had been receiving forty questions a minute from each member of her family after getting back from Fox's and was getting to a point of having enough it, 'I'm going to call Jeff.'

Karen goes to a cabinet to grab a jar of apple sauce and then a spoon, 'Can we talk about something else."

'I was watching R.I.N.N. the other day and they were talking about that family in St. Louis harboring their son who has sweet like acid.' Neil

Mother, head, desk...actually kitchen table.

Karen blood pressure just spiked, 'Harboring dad? Come on, it was their son. What were they suppose to do?'

'Obey the law.'

'The law?'

Gail and her mom looked at each other with, here we go, looks.

'We live in a world where we let our government imprison people born with special abilities as their only crime. What next, imprison people who are good athletes, people who have the wrong color hair?'

'That's pushing things. They are going after dangerous people.'

'People just trying to live their lives and the imprisoning isn't even the start. No due process, no court dates, no warrants, NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING.'

'But...'

'Don't but me dad. These people have either been executed or exterminated on...'

'The government has shown time and time they are kept in safe places.'

'Yes, and our government injected pregnant women with radiation for their own good.'

'That's totally off target and no matter what you think are you going to turn down medication that came from those experiments because of what you say happen?'

'Say? God, I wasn't trying to say the things were apt. I was showing that we can't trust the government to just take care of things and be kind in their actions.'

'People like that boy are dangerous and...'

'And what if they come after Gail because they think she's too smart?' Karen

'Don't bring me into this. No one's going to Magdalene Asylum me.' Gail

'If these people were like Pulpy they could be used in safe ways...' Neil

'Oh, yea, the mighty Pulpy, just like nuclear weapons we want the only big toys.' Karen

'Pulpy is an international p...' Neil

'Puppet for the U.S. military.'

Janet Busiek threw her palms down on the kitchen table getting everyone's attention, 'Stop! You two are giving me a headache.'

Karen storms out the kitchen backdoor ; while her father walks into the living room and turns on a Liverpool vs. Manchester City game.

'They always get into it when she's in a bad mood.' Janet

'Makes you wonder if dad does it to distract her?' Gail

'What?"

'Patterns. I see patterns. Also dead people sometimes.'

'Both of my children are nutters.'

'At least I'm here, hard telling what my dear older sister may get up to.'

Mom turns to youngest daughter and speaks with a quick whispered voice, 'Gail, you are my gossip agent. How does a dollar per snitch sound?'

Janet Busiek was really worried about how her oldest was reacting to what has been happening. From fights to trying to be friends again with the person you made bleed. Karen being a bit violent isn't unusual, Karen being excepting is.

Gail think about what her mother asked and then she looks at her with a mouth full of melon balls and holds up five fingers.

'Ok, five per.'

CHAPTER 31

Joanna and Lisa were getting out of Lisa's BMW in the local mall's parking lot and started walking towards the mall entrance when Lisa noticed that whenever Joanna walked by other peoples cars and saw their bumper stickers, be them liberal, conservative, faith based, or just rude, crude, and stupid, she looked at them like they had somehow debased her reality, dirtied it somehow.

'People are so stupid. They think putting a bumper sticker on their cars gives them worthwhile opinions. They honestly think it gives them any sort of say in how the world runs itself. It's the same with voting. They are play acting like children with toys when the parents run things.' Joanna

'I think it's tacky.' Lisa

'Once again Lisa you take one of my intelligent thoughts and turn it into stupid words of a degree from someone who is around me a great deal of time should not spout.'

Lisa goes silent, though with murderous thoughts.

Joanna stops Lisa walking by grabbing her by the shoulder, 'Do you understand me?'

Lisa stares at Joanna for a second through the extra large glasses that only celebrities and Joanna wear. She bites her tongue a bit and takes a small breath, 'Sorry.'

Joanna continued walking as if no tension filled seconds had taken place, the sun still shined bright, and she was still queen of her own little kingdom.

'Carol called me this morning.' Joanna.

'I can not believe he wants to saddle you with dealing with those two social outcasts, especially...'

Joanna stops and puts her hand over Lisa's mouth.

She almost lost a few fingers doing that. Restraint is a holy order.

'Karen Busiek.' Joanna spits out the name with distain and inhales some hate, 'Karen Busiek needs a lesson but I don't know if I have time right now. Something beyond a face stomp. But in the future. In the future.'

And with that off she walks of to torture more clothing store employees and a few fashion victims that make the mistake of being near a total bitch like Joanna. And total bitch is not even coming close to how people see her. There is some real hatred there.

Karen once called her an asinine albino marble.

Lisa was really surprised when Joanna called her and told her to pick her up so they could visit the mall. The mall really isn't Joanna's style but as with everything she does, she has her reasons.

The reason for this mall visit was a check in on one of her father's new businesses. Osip Inc. had recently purchased the 80/700 chain of mall bookstores and Joanna was placed by her father as one of the regional managers to watch over all of the stores in Brevard County malls.

Lisa thought this at least should be interesting to see how Joanna treats people when it comes to running a business. She has seen far too many times how her "friend" treats others when she is the costumer. Her first thoughts are Joanna's hardnosed attitude would either have the place running better and more efficient than ever or germ seeds of upheaval within the employee ranks.

Lisa's line of think is just why Joanna's father bought the chain of stores. Though they are a nationwide chain of store, he wanted to test and see how his daughter handled straight business matters.

Oh, and Joanna knows this also.

CHAPTER 32

They decided to go somewhere and talk. Not about anything specific but they have reentered each other's lives with flashback thoughts, fear, anger, violence, and all within a very short frame of time.

A couple of chapters by my hand.

They drove around in Fox's truck and after driving around for a few miles Karen suggested eating at Weaving's Chilli Snacks in Vero Beach.

After Karen's suggestion was agreed upon they parked Fox's truck and took Karen's mini instead. Fox was worried about a possible break down situation with her truck being a piece.

Once they arrived at Weaving's and were seat at a table Karen started the lunch conversation with a question, 'I have to say so much of this is clear of surreal to me.'

'When mom first died and I found out she wanted to be buried here I thought about letting some lawyers handle it but I can't let him keep doing that to us.'

'What?'

'He tore our lives apart and separated us from home and friends. But no matter how hard things maybe for the still living I know how hard the years were for her after we left. She loved that house. I just couldn't sale it like it never meant anything to her. I didn't want her dying to justify me into making decisions solely based on what would be best for me.'

'You're a better man than me Gunga Din.'

'Well, I'm still not sure I made the right decision. I want to reclaim my family name in a way that scraps over how he tarnished it.'

'You're taking hold of things. Pretty brave.'

'Or pretty stupid?'

'It's an either or that we all live within.'

'Are your parents angry that I'm back?'

'No, they don't blame you for anything that happen.'

'But the things I said that weren't true?'

'Because of a situation your father put you in. Dads not too happy about knowing you dads been in town but they asked about you and your mom.'

'Mom always liked your mom.'

'Everything was just so fucked out. Why we're sitting here trying to measure each word.'

'Are we?'

Karen grins, 'Maybe a little.'

'A little.'

Their drinks arrived.

'So explain this That 70'S Show theory you told me about in the car.' Karen

'I think Donna's younger sister was turned into Donna's cat Mr. Bonkers by a neighborhood witch Bob pissed off and this caused everyone to forget she existed at all. See that would explain Mr. Bonkers sudden appearance when Eric ran her over. The witch would go on to crackle with glee and get a starring role on Desperate Housewives.'

'You'll fit right in with our little group and I'm still the only normal one.'

'I have loved my time here on your planet.'

'Did Canada do this to your brain?'

'Don't knock the Maple Leaf unless you've rocked the Maple Leaf.'

'Eh.'

'Smart ass what's the deal with your car?'

'What? Why the sudden attack on my car?'

'It looks like it's been through Hell.'

'Long story.'

'Hey, we both ordered the 8 Chilli Samplers. We're going to be here a while to let the effects run through us.'

'True, ok, mom bought me the car new but last year Jeff and I went on a road trip to Tampa for a Rays game. Then Hurricane Garfield hit, there was many many midgets involved at a party, there was illegal muscle relaxer usage, and I ran a red light on the way home.'

'Sounds like a trip to remember.'

'Fun times. How about your truck?'

'What about my truck? This a senseless vehicle counter attack?'

'Yes, is that the same truck your mom use to drive us to soccer practice in?'

'Yep, I inherited it. I use to have a Ford Ranger but I ran it off a cliff in Utah.'

'Did that involve midgets?'

'No. But a nice Mormon family made me pie.'

CHAPTER 33

Probably the next day.

Karen and Fox were seated in front of Mr. Carol's desk after waiting outside the office for half an hour as they overheard him lecturing Albert Wallander to stay out of trouble and avoid people who might have problems with him.

They had heard through the school grapevine (Jeff) how earlier in the day a group of football players had forcefully stripped Albert to his underwear in a gym class and shoved him outside the locker room onto the basketball court where a girl's gym class was playing dodge ball.

The worst thing from what Jeff said he had heard was when Albert found his father cleaning up something outside the gymnasium building and told him what happen, in front of tons of students going to and from between periods his father told him that he just needs to grow up and be a man.

After his father failed him he went to his Principal like your suppose to do in a school setting. Funny how that never seems to work out how it does on 80's sitcoms.

'This place is such a step up from our old schools.' Karen

But they have found themselves now within the room readying for their own bit of injustice in an uncomfortable silence and equally unpleasant chairs as the moments in the Principal's Office ticked off.

The generic school wall clock with black trim and Times New Roman lettering functioned as a weight to the apprehension in the room. Each tick of time passed was a million thoughts processed and killed.

The office smelled of Raspberries which was a gift to the Principal from one of the head cheerleaders.

Karen had an active bodily function that was about to happen, she was ready to piss herself having drank three cups of coffee before getting there, in a nervous twitch she sat in her chair twitching. She just wanted to pee a little but as you know you can never just pee a little. You open that gate and you don't close it until the ponds empty of water.

Fox was just about ready to explode herself within the silence unless the sod said something soon. The one thing she could not ever stand was being in the position of having to sit and wait. Wait, the other sort of wait, in that I'm saying wait because there is another thing she hates more and that is having to sit and wait and know that someone is making you sit and wait on purpose. That really tightens her corset.

And I nearly busted a gut trying to get that paragraph to make sense.

Mr. Carol pulled out a pencil and legal pad from his center desk drawer as if a big meeting was starting. To people such as him chastising some kid for throwing a paper airplane in study hall was a big meeting. He calmly and oddly placed the legal pad in the middle of his desk and the pencil right in the middle of the pad.

Fox had thoughts of grabbing the pencil and stabbing him in the eye. It's a thought that sometimes is an ingredient to smiles for her.

As if you haven't ever thought of doing that to anyone.

He looked up from his compulsive setup.

'So you want me to believe you two have made up nice and are the best of friends?'

Fox grinned a Cheshire smile and spoke in her best slight hint of a southern accent, 'We are already planning play dates for our future childrens.'

This did not amuse Mr. Carol, mostly because he did not understand but knew humor was meant.

Karen crossed her legs and spoke up, 'It was just a lot of built up tension that I released in an unhealthy manner.' Gail gave her the wording.

'I know there are special circumstances to why this happen but if...'

'We are working through it.' Karen.

'Yeah, our pastor is helping.' Fox.

What a load.

Mr. Carol was thinking.

Fox was biting her nails tasting the over priced black nail polish smiling at him.

Karen was calculating how long it would take her to get to the bathroom down the hall once this was over?

'I will reinstate you Ms. Busiek, but to make sure you two have learned how to behave around each other I am adding both of you to Joanna Osip's Second Week Dance Committee.'

He smirked like a sexual predator.

And there are rumors but aren't there always about teachers.

Karen and Fox's faces dropped and they glanced over at each other with pained expressions at what they've just been told.

Karen peed a little.

Just a little.

Later in one of the hallways of the school, after a ladies room visit Karen and Fox were walking to leave the school to try and grab something to eat. Technically for today Karen was still expelled. Fox was just skipping out of classes for the rest of the day.

'What was up with the pastor bit?' Karen.

'We don't need science because we have Jesus.'

'You need Jesus.'

'You need Jesus.'

A friendship falling back into place. Maybe their rebuilding of friendship is happening really fast but as Jeff will state sometime in the future, "Ant like anyone else wants to be friends with you too."

'Wait, we need to head in the other direction.' Karen

Fox begins looking around, 'Why?'

'I see Mr. Gibbons harassing some students to sign up for golf and I've already turned him down five times.'

CHAPTER 34

This Osip Estate thing...well, the house is a large house and the surrounding grounds are a large chunk of land but it's not really an estate in the classical sense. The real Osip Estate is in Boston though I really need to learn how to get to the point and point here is that this house is a status symbol of the family for Joanna's place of birth.

The house in truth is more Joanna's house as her father hardly ever sets foot on the grounds. And don't get any impressions that the servants are any sort of replacement family for her because her father and Joanna herself have made sure they all know "Their place."

Sometimes, hell most of the time, Lisa identifies more with the servants than she does with Joanna. But that's Lisa and one of the core things that separates her from Joanna deep down. Lisa may do and what things done to get her way in the world but she doesn't go out of her way to make other people's lives miserable. Not much to point Lisa as a good person but that line of thinking helps her sleep at night.

Joanna sleeps fine at night no matter how she treats others or what may happen to others because only within her dreams does she feel the full force of what true power is. Don't believe me you can read the free Cut Chapter: Dhaka. Lady power trips big time when in The Dream Trail.

Today is one of the few days that Joanna has no control of what is happening to her and she does not like that and so Lisa is tasked with making sure everything is to her "friends" liking.

Man you really must be an ass if the only time people call you a friend is within quotes.

Lisa's first stop in keeping Joanna happy is making sure the kitchen crew are not only preparing what Joanna wants to eat but making sure it is prepared just the right way, with the right processes even.

Joanna once had a sue chief fired for using a cloth towel to dry lettuce instead of paper towels.

Courtney opened the houses front doors to let Lisa in. Courtney was the house greeter. Yea, this family is that rich. Courtney is a shortish British accented young woman who even dressed in the uniform of a servant still shined with a lot of joyful energy.

'Hello, Ms. Rowe, the kitchen staff has already started. Do you wish for me to escort you to the kitchens?'

'Don't worry about it Courtney, I've been here enough to know my way.'

Courtney left Lisa off to continue her work polishing door handles as Lisa crossed through the hall that leads from the front door all the way to the back of the house to the kitchens.

The house has four kitchens to be precise. One large one for cooking meals for the head of the house, one for cooking meals for any guests, one that functions as a prep kitchen and the last a very small kitchen is where the servants cook their own meals.

As she walked down the hall Lisa spotted other servants at work. Leslie who was the house librarian was weeding out certain books from the houses library while at the same time adding new volumes. Lisa also noted a stack of magazines on a table, there because Joanna has all new magazines delivered to the house as they come out, though she hardly ever reads even one of them. Lisa noted there presence because before she left she wanted to snag a couple issues of some of her favorites that Joanna never reads.

In a side office, through a cracked door, Lisa overheard Page, who was the on grounds rep for Osip Incorporated. A real head case was Lisa's view of her. Lisa put her general bad attitude to her being assigned to such a bullshit position for such a high profile company. Her job was to keep Joanna up to date on company matters and to answer any questions in the instances when the press paid a visit to the gates. Right now she was dealing with the last details on the bookstores turn over to Osip Inc.

Lisa pushed open the door to the main kitchen to find the head chief Damon screaming at his staff. All of that fury and fire but when he spot Lisa his face turns to one large smile.

'Hello Damon. How is everything?'

'Hello Ms. Rowe. Ms. Osip sent down a message a few minutes ago that she is changing what she wants today.'

'What's she want? Usually she eats the same thing during these days.'

'Instead of her usual meal of a baked potato with a side dish of fried mushrooms, she now wants us to fix her a three course meal of fried mac & cheese to start, followed by the main course of a deer steak on a bed of rice, ending with a large portion of chocolate cake for desert. Can I ask Ms. Rowe?'

'What is it Damon?'

'Is Ms. Osip ill or upset beyond the normal of these days?'

'I think she's tiring. Eating up her strength is an attack on her.'

'Yes, Ms. Rowe. My crew will still have everything done on time. Anything for you Ms.?'

'If you don't mind could you fix me some of that great stew you do for the other staff members. I love it. Just put it in the staff refrigerator and I'll pick eat when I come down in a few hours.'

'It will be waiting for you.'

'Thanks Damon.'

Lisa left the kitchen and jumped in the staff elevator to head up to the bedroom floor. She thought it was just her but Joanna has been in a different state from her norm. She was thinking it was because of the beginning of the school year and it being the first year of classes at F.K.H.S. or even the business dealings her father is throwing her into now but its more than that. She just hoped the "more than that" wasn't going to end up causing her too many pains.

Lisa's mind drifted away like that sometimes when driving late at night and found herself suddenly walking down the hallway to Joanna's room. That walk has always reminded her of driving down a blind alley anyways.

She knocked and after a "Yes." She entered to find Paul Hunt on his knees eating out Joanna sitting on the edge of her bed. Lisa's first thought was how into it he was with vitality and vigor, head moving all around.

Joanna grabbed him by the hair and pushed his head in a bit, 'Right there, and don't move until I tell you.'

'Should I leave?' Lisa

'No. He's almost done.'

And just as Joanna finished saying that Paul stopped dead in his movements. Joanna grabbed him and shoved him to the floor, 'Probably not much of a swimmer.'

'Is he ok?'

'He's only passed out. Drop the drama.'

'He could go into cardiac arrest I think.'

Joanna rolls across her bed to the other side and slides on a pair of jeans, 'When he wakes the first thing he will see is you holding Polaroid's of his blood face.'

'And the point of this besides general humiliation?'

'To file away in case he decides to mouth off against me.'

'These getting out would humiliate you also wouldn't they?'

'I pull a card saying he pressured me into sex during my period.'

'Don't the Polaroid's make the story stupid and uneven?'

'And the United States education system makes eighty five percent of the population the same.'

CHAPTER 35

The Second Week Dance is an F.K.H.S. tradition. The idea is to help the students ease into a new year with supervised dancing in the gym, to approved music, under cheap dollar store ribbon, and finger painted signs, because the cheapness is just high school dance custom.

Joanna does not in the slightest find that custom amusing.

Some other soon to be traditions at F.K.H.S. include the Middle of the Year- Grade Versus Grade Softball Tournament, the Blind Contour Paint the Lunchroom Party, and Senior Gardening Day, all of which will not be discussed here because even though they are traditions, they are traditions which have not started yet, new school and all, nothing like some good planned traditions to get things going.

Getting back to the subject matter of the Second Week Dance we shall move on.

Karen and Fox are standing in the middle of the gym, which is already smelling like the inside of a pair of old gym shoes, as Joanna walks in followed very snugly by Lisa Rowe with a clipboard in her hands like a good helper mouse.

They float over to Karen and Fox.

'I will not take long because I have better things to do than talk to you two. For some reason Mr. Carol thinks you can help with the dance. More than likely your stupidity will just make more work for me.' Joanna

'I...' Karen

As if no one had tried to speak, 'I don't think anything good can come from this but I guess we can always use some muscle.'

'Wait just a...' Fox

'You two look butch enough.'

'I'm not...'

'Be here tomorrow after last bell for our first planning meeting or I will let Mr. Carol know straight away and both of you will be expelled.'

The mean girl duo leaves as Karen and Fox both tried once more to say something.

Fox turned to Karen, 'She's a dick.'

Karen grinned, 'I bet she swims in her money pit.'

'Even someone like Joanna has reasons for being a cunt. Cunt with a capital C but still something built that C.' Fox

'Ok, let's open her head with a baseball bat and see what candies are inside?'

CHAPTER 36

The Busiek family restaurant, Karen's, closes at 6pm and Janet Busiek invited Karen, Gail, Jeff, and Fox to an after hours sampling of their new menu before they get all the table menus laminated.

She also wanted to mother into her oldest daughters life when it comes to her and Fox's friendship.

The restaurant building itself was once an old style mom and pop breakfast eatery- Kitties, but after renovations, helped by Jeff, it now resembles a mixture of an old school English pub seen through American eyes with a touch of a midnight dinner feel for flare.

That's old minimum wage flare for you who know nothing about design.

Jeff, Gail, Karen, and Fox have just arrived and are standing outside the restaurant having left straight from school after Karen ranted for a good twenty minutes on how many ways she could kill Joanna and cover it up.

Fox disagreed with all but two of them and of those two Jeff only thought one would work.

Then Gail explained the true nature of DNA testing to the three of them and everyone left the school parking lot in a sad state of mind.

'Are you sure your parents want me here?' Fox

'They invited you. Come on, we all can have a good night stuffing our faces.' Karen

Gail walks through the front doors first, 'Yeah, the way you stuff your face she is going to race back to Canada as fast as her feet can carry her after seeing that sight.'

Karen turns to Fox, 'Sisterly love is overrated.'

'So are doughnuts.' Jeff

'His brain sometimes fires with a hair trigger but never with a silencer.' Karen

Fox stops Karen from following Jeff in, 'He hasn't changed a bit has he?'

Karen walks in, 'Nope, still thinks Chocolate Fruity Pebbles are an affront to God.'

Fox smiles, she also has a vendetta against C.F.P.'s.

CHAPTER 37

Every Thursday F.K.H.S. will be having an assembly to start the day. Two pro... Three problems with this. One, no one cares what anyone has to say at 8a.m. Two, the shop students "Miss" every assembly. And Three, Karen is trapped sitting between Gail and Jeff caught in a geek talk crossfire.

This morning's assembly was a representative from Osip Incorporated doing his best sales pitch for the student body to "Think Osip I." as he called it for summer job choices.

'We at Osip I. are always looking for many ways to help the youth of our communities. Here in Brevard County, the original home to Osip I. we are creating different programs and opportunities that are open to all of you...'

Karen was doing her best to ignore a whispered conversation going on between Gail and Jeff.

'You heard me. There has never been a good zombie movie.' Gail

'Really? What about Shawn of the Dead?' Jeff

'That movie would have been great with mummies, vampires, or even attack dogs. It's British great.' Gail

'I liked Zombie Land.' Karen

'Mostly because you have a weird thing for Woody Harrison.' Jeff

Gail gave her sister a puzzled look.

'Oh, shut up, you use to have a Matt Hardy pinup on your wall.' Karen

'At least she didn't have David Beckham on her wall.' Jeff

Principal Carol shushed all the whispered conversation going on.

'CAROL'S A DICK!' some responded.

'CHRIS SWEET MY OFFICE NOW!!' answered.

Jeff leans across Karen, 'What about the Evil Dead movies?'

'I don't really consider those zombie movies either.' Gail

Jeff slaps his forehead, 'I can't talk to you. You're a zombiefobe.'

Karen flips Gail in the ear, 'See you broke Saka's brain.'

A few rows up Michelle Reid and Frank Hover are in a deep discussion about superhumans. Part of Michelle's life is like that Ani Difranco lyric about a secret hatred for the prettiest girl in the room. Another part of peoples hate on for her is assuming she's not that intelligent, when in fact she has the third highest GPA among all F.K.H.S. seniors coming into this first year of the school.

The top two are Joanna Osip and Lisa Rowe.

Michelle wants to attend HD America University in New York and get her PHD in Extra-Human Studies and that's why they are deep into their current topic of discussion.

Frank and Michelle are good friends because their moms have been friends since high school. Both were cheerleaders.

'There is no scientific evidence that we are on the verge of any sort of evolutionary spike.' Michelle

'We have people who can fly, can control energy with their minds, what about superhumans?'

'Extra-Humans.'

'Ok, Extra-Humans.'

'Well most so called powers have been so small in scale the best theory sits on the side of pollution mutations on a gene level.'

'What about Knight Book?'

'Alien.'

'Pulpy?'

'More than likely an alien.'

'The Raising?'

'Well, your trouble making conspiracy buddy Chris would say government experiments to win WWI and II.'

'SHHHHUSSSH!' several teachers.

About ten seats to the right of Michelle and Frank are Ms. Dry and Mr. Gibbons who are talking about the latest round of British elections.

'So what are the major political parties?' Ms. Day

'There is the Labor Party, the Old Wigs, and the Hellfire Party.'

'But what are their beliefs?'

'Labor is sort of like Democrats here but it hasn't always been that way. The Old Wigs are very conservative. The Hellfire Party are Britain's oldest political party and tend to be sort of random in how they go on issues.'

'FOR GOD'S SAKE I'M TALKING UP HERE!'

Back to our heroes.

'Assemblies are such a waste. The speakers never have anything interesting to say. What do you have after this?' Karen

'I'm volunteering as a special ed buddy again this year. You?' Jeff

'Study Hall.' Karen

'I have N.A.S.A. Studies.' Gail

'Who cares.' Karen

CHAPTER 38

Jean Green was a senior at F.K.H.S. She was going to be a member of the cheerleading squad and the girl's tennis team. Jean's B-Average kept her parents happy. Her obituary will read all of this and the following: Jean Yester Green, 18, survived by parents, Misty and Alister Green, and younger sister Jamie Steele Green, she was found dead late Monday night in the alley near the old fire station on Lake Washington Street.

The news report Karen watched on her laptop during study hall said the police believed this was the work of a sexual predator who had more than likely been stalking her for weeks and something went wrong within the stalkers mind that triggered the final violent act. Digging further online under the above ground news sources she found out Jean had been sexually assaulted for hours before her attacker strangled her. "Triggered the violence" That pissed off Karen when she thought about it because they did not even consider the sexual violations violence, only the wounds that finally took her life.

The library was quite, an island to thinking, as all libraries should be. This being study hall time hardly anyone was studying. There was one or two students here and there studying but for the most part people where texting on their phones, surfing the net, or trying to hack the school computer systems on their laptops.

Karen wasn't studying either, though she will wish she was looking back on this time later in the year. Her mind drifted to thoughts of the smile on Fox's father's face and her heart started beating faster and faster retracing the words that made up Jean Green's abit. The bile bubbled in her stomach and she quickly packed up her laptop, crammed her stuff into her bag, and headed for the bathroom to throw up.

Further back into the isles of the library sitting by herself was Lisa Rowe. She was sitting in the floor against the door inside a sound proof study room. Her fists where balled up and her teeth were grinding together with such pressure small cracks were appearing.

Three minutes ago she was with Joanna in Joanna's private little office classroom when Janet Stefani came in to talk to Joanna about some yearbook stuff. Though Janet is the editor of the yearbook Principal Carol has told her in no certain terms that everything has to through Joanna for a final approval. This in the most part is because her father's company is chief sponsor of the yearbook but also because Carol is using the yearbook as another way to kiss up to Joanna and thus in part kissing the ass of her father.

This setup angers Janet in great depths but she really loves working on the yearbook and was the yearbook editor before there was even an F.K.H.S. back when she attended Satellite Beach High. But it's a fact that she has to deal with, though others cannot and the whole of the yearbook staff is herself, Frank Hover, and Michelle Ried and not one of them will even attend a meeting with Joanna so it lays in the lap of Janet to deal with this issue that not one of them has say or any control of.

Joanna was already in a bad mood dealing with Janet because Janet Stefani is one of the few people in the school with not one bit of fear of Joanna, her family, her money, or any false or real power Joanna may have over others.

She would learn now how real that power was.

"Joanna, we need to start planning what events we want to attend to use in the yearbo..."

"Shut up Janet."

Lisa stood by because she knew what was coming. She was part of the plan of why Joanna thought this had to happen.

"Joanna, I'm not going to put up with your..."

"Shut up. Your father."

"What about my father?" Janet was confused.

"Your father works for my father's company."

"Yeah, so?"

"See Janet people see you as someone who isn't afraid of me. I don't like that so I took steps to make sure you let others know I Am the boss of you."

"Fu..."

"Hold still. Here is where you stop and shut your mouth. Your father handles the accounting for the division he works in. All of you falls at my feet or that on paper money he handles will turn up twisted to him being criminal embezzling money if you don't stop putting your nose into all of my activities."

"You can't do any...?"

"This is family facing family. Who do you think has the tools to win? Keep your mouth shut. This year I don't have much interest in the yearbook so as long as I have the most pictures I'll go with what you want but in other areas Shut your mouth or your family loses. This isn't some high school feud. My family always plays to win."

Joanna begins to leave the room with Lisa as Janet sits down in a chair not knowing what to say or do but before leaving the room Joanna turns around for another uppercut, "Oh, and don't think I'm singling you out because you mean anything to me. I have stood in the back of a jeep and shot a pink rhino and I have rubbed out the life of an ant with my index finger. To me, both are a good kill."

Then the room is empty of sound except for that of a young woman scared for her family.

Lisa was the one who came up with the idea of how to rein in Janet Stefani's mouth a bit. She told Joanna she should get some dirt on Janet or her family but she didn't think saying that was going to be like handing a child a mild fire cracker and then the child sticking it up a friend's nose.

For complete disclosed honesty she would have to say that wasn't the cruelest thing she heard Joanna say to someone today. After first period Mr. Gibbons asked Joanna about joining the golf team and he got a reply of, 'I've read your school employment file Mr. Gibbons. If you couldn't keep your wife from leaving you for another woman, then what hope are you to coach a team to a championship.'

CHAPTER 39

When you live in Boston you learn about Redcoats and stuff. When you live in Green Bay you know all the quarterbacks in the history of the Packers. But when you live in Florida it's all space program history lessons.

In this class Gail was getting the feeling in her stomach she got when Karen was teaching her something. This feeling is one part wanting to learn to prove something, one part wanting to rip her sister's head off.

In this situation it for the most part all boils down to nerves and the fact that people keep looking at her and whispering about her makes her thoughts of mutilation of her fellow classmates that more in touch with her heart.

She was ready to just not make waves and inaudibly walk her way through her first day of this class when the teacher called on her to answer a question throwing a rock into her inaudible.

And she aced the question because she's that damn smart.

Random student, 'So you're the super-brain who's going to make me feel stupid all year?'

Gail, 'Your birth did that just fine.'

'She's a bitch just like her sister,' another random student without enough staying power to deserve a name decided to go after Gail.

Gail turned around in her seat to glare at the other student aiming venomous words at her, 'Wasn't your dad the guy who was once caught trying to molest a stuffed animal at a Ryan-Mart in Jacksonville?'

Everyone in the class turned and looked at the student now red faced with anger.

'How did you know that?'

Gail points at her head, 'You know how everything that ever appears on the web stays forever? So does everything that ever comes across my sunset.'

'You probably think you're going to make us all look bad?'

'Little known facts about the space program: Challenges wreckage is contained in an abandoned missile silo on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Russia has its own space shuttle called Buran. Space shuttles are lined with kill switch dynamite in case a shuttle headed out of control in the direction of a populated area.'

'Bitch.'

Gail twisted back around in her chair now smiling and calm.
CHAPTER 40

Today is not just the first week of classes for Jeff. It's also the first week he starts working again with Special-Ed classrooms. Yes, they still call them that in some places. I've never liked it and see it as a mocking segregation of students. Even if the people in charge have never meant it that way, I think it has gone the way of people taking something that was meant one way and using it in a totally negative light to the point where people only see it in the negative way it has been used.

At his old school Jeff was first forced to volunteer helping in the Special-Ed classes after getting into a fight at school with a whole room full of football players, but even after his punishment time was up he wanted to keep working with the students. He told Karen a lot of people thought he wasn't worth working with at different times in his life, not worth taking time for, but he wanted to show that everyone wasn't like that, that circles have to be broken.

Karen finds the whole thing sort of fascinating in another way. Not the fact that Jeff wants to help people. As she says, "He's a good shithead." Her fascination comes about because of his spouting at times of many various retard jokes. The fact that he only does those jokes around her and her family still causes pause in her thinking about him working with the Special-Ed teachers? Now she has always known that Jeff says a lot of things just to test people's reactions.

But still?

This is also another reason Gail calls him the human contradiction. A guy who has problems sometimes spelling CAT with C and the A given to him but reads some of the most complex fiction books that have ever been published. A guy who has walked as an escort into clinics has also called feminism a different shade of sexist thought. This is a young man who exists as both simple and simultaneously multifaceted.

But the factors of why he does it or how strange some people may find him helping out, the classes themselves as with a lot of schools are a secondary thought from the rest of the schools operations. Hell, not even secondary, more like last place on all priority lists.

The Special-Ed classrooms themselves are located under the school's auditorium and placed between two storage rooms filled with band and sports equipment. It's basically one storage room with a cubical divider wall separating the room into male and female areas.

I wish to point out if it wasn't clear already that they aren't even in the same building as any of the schools other classrooms. That's a very important point to study and think on. These students don't take gym with the other students, they are seldom allowed at school functions during regular school hours, and their yearbook existence will consist of one picture each in the Special-Ed section of the yearbook in the back, after the ads. F.K.H.S. is keeping up these high school traditions.

If the school could have gotten away with it they would probably have put them in one of the boiler rooms under one of the buildings to get them totally out of sight, out of mind. Not saying any special needs situation is ever easy for a school to deal with but it is one of those "What, want a cookie?" type of situations. Dealing with it is part of their jobs.

If your thinking this is just out of my twisted writer's mind? This is basically how it was in my own high school but enough with the writer and more with the story.

Jeff was walking to the auditorium when he spotted the assistant teacher for all Special –Ed classes, Jesse Walker, heading towards him from the direction of the auditorium. He knows her from his old school where she was the head teacher for the classes there.

'Ms. Walker, I was just on my way to the classrooms.'

'Good, I never got my notice from the office about who we would have as a student volunteer. I'm glad it's you.'

Jeff and Ms. Walker started walking now together towards the auditorium.

'I have to say I was surprised they even have Special-Ed classes at F.K.H.S. considering how many students they keep out of enrolling here.' Jeff

'They tried to get out of it but a final vote from the school board struck down their wish to not have the classes as part of the school.'

'But they took a cue from our old school in where they put you and Ms. Bika.'

'Yes. Well. Let's just say we spent a good month screaming about that to silent ears. They said things like keeping our students away from the rest of the student body would be beneficial to the daily education of both groups of students.'

'Both groups? Assholes.'

'I think I hear a little Karen Busiek in you seeing how insulting that was.'

Jeff smiled, 'She is like a scarlet fever of thoughts.'

'Ms. Bika will be glad to hear your volunteering also. I told her all about you. We don't have that many students, six to be precise, but we are hoping you can help with one student in particular.'

'Really, what's his story?'

'Aaron Kenney is autistic but at his old school they keep saying he was only suffering from a form of behavioral compulsive disorder and acting up in classes to get attention. We just need to help him find things that confront him. Find a routine that helps him in his days. His mother is great but very busy working two jobs. We will need to work with him not only at school but helping her make plans for his home life.'

'Is he like Martin Singler was?'

'Sort of but as you know one of the biggest problems is people thinking all autistic kids are all alike. One of the reasons we want you to help with him is how well I saw you work with Martin.'

'Sounds good.'

Ms. Walker gets a big smile on her face. This year has been such a battle for her and Ms. Bika even before the schools doors opened so knowing Jeff will be there as a student youth influence on her classes makes her feel better about how the year might turn out.
CHAPTER 41

It was between classes so the halls were crammed with students coming, going, thinking about leaving, and stalling before doing anything much at all. These moments are usually the small pause when more than a few teachers think about quitting to go teach bad math skills to third world minds.

Math teachers should face hanging when they say being able to balance a checkbook is ok enough. It isn't. Not in a world economy. It really, really isn't.

Gail and Fox were standing by Fox's locker making a study of Joanna and Lisa's techniques of torturing freshmen and admiring the way they do it with only a few words as Karen pulled Jeff away from everyone else to talk about the news report and everything she was able to find out about the death of Jean Green.

'You really think it's her dad?' Jeff and Karen both looked over towards Fox. They think she didn't notice but she did. She notices everything.

'Do you think he could have done that, something like that?' Jeff.

Karen shrugged her shoulders, 'Clue, me, none, but you know what they say about things starting with plucking the wings from butterflies?'

'Seeing him again is driving you nuts isn't it?'

She half heartedly shrugged again.

Karen put her forehead against Jeff's chest.

Gail and Fox caught sight of them. Though Fox had been watching them the whole time since she saw Jeff say "her dad" and look in her direction.

Fox, 'Are they dating?'

'No, best friends.' Gail

'With benefits?'

'I think I'm too young for this line of speech.'

'Youth is a falsehood, plus didn't Karen say something about you having nude photos of Daniel Rat...?'

'Fo...'

'Is he dating anyone?'

'I'm not up on the celebrity gossip at the present. I did hear that Emma...'

Fox gives Gail a wide smiled look, 'Jeff?'

CHAPTER 42

For someone who has the ability to briefly come in contact with any information and absorb it in all of its details into her brains, you would think Gail would have grabbed a classroom map from the student room for a quick glance, but instead she is late for a Math class and somehow has found herself on the floor that contains so far an Art class, a class lecturing on studying history as the winners wrote it, and a class that could be about farming goats but then again she just stuck her head in that class for a few minutes.

In each classroom she was told her the Math class she was looking for was only one door down but now she only has one room left to check on this floor.

When she opens that door she finds a group of people singing 80's songs. They stopped singing, looked at her, she looked at herself, she closed the door to head to the office to report herself for skipping class, 'Man, they are letting anything be a class these days.'

CHAPTER 43

Joanna has always had pet spiders. While most kids were playing with robots or coloring in little church ark coloring books she played with spiders. They have always been a part of her life, a part of her family and mindset. She maybe an esprit chick, which means she is someone who wears designer cloths and there maybe some who may call her a trendoid but she has pet spiders. Is this a whisper into her predatory nature? That maybe the case or maybe sometimes some people just love things with hairy legs?

She may also be someone who enjoys being the scratcher on other people's happiness. A fierce force against those trying to get by, and an individualist who dabbles in darkly held cliques of essential life styles for power and control of others.

Or as Rumiko Francis once said, "She's a pale jerk in million dollar clothes."

But she just creeps me out because the lady plays with spiders. She just has to be the villain of the piece doesn't she?

Lisa does not mind the whole spider thing but tries not to be around during feeding times. Luckily Joanna does not wish for anyone else to feed her not so little friends.

What do you find spiders anyways?

Onward and upward to continue and keep things moving.

Is there a good slang word to describe Lisa's devotion to Joanna? Filth envy? I'm grasping at straws trying to build antagonists here without giving too much away.

Lisa believes Joanna to be her twilight to a better understanding of and path to power.

Bad word twilight, spit, spit.

Maybe these two would be good as examples. Do you know how slick to the spine business men claim to have studied Sun-Tzu's Art Of War for how they approach their business or how current military brats and future military bastards claim to study Alexander The Great for their battle plans? See that's why Lisa stays near Joanna and puts up with her bullshit, be it shit she agrees with or not.

I didn't make my point very good did I? Shit, ok, move on people, nothing to see here but a car wreck of a chapter.

The last bell of the day rang out and everyone had the rest of the day ahead of them.

When everyone thinks about Michelle Reid and what she would be doing after school I think most have images of...well, of things I can't go into here. Some of those thoughts are just weird.

Janet Stefani wasn't going to have a good day. Her dad had to work and he has been working really long hours the past few days only telling his daughter that he was trying to keep a mess in place thus triggering in her mind the conversation she had with Joanna. She wanted to tell her dad what happen but is afraid that Joanna would retaliate in some way for her letting her father know.

Jennifer Child, Britney Day, and Rumiko Francis had a meeting on the baseball field to audition maybe cheerleaders for the squad. They were expecting a huge turn out since F.K.H.S. was the combination of three smaller high schools and so there should be three schools worth of cheerleader worthy applicants.

And you might ask how Jennifer, Britney, and Rumiko got into the leadership position out of the gate from the start of the school year that they now hold on the cheerleader squad and the answer to your question would be Joanna Osip. She handpicked them.

Though there is no love fest between Jennifer, Britney, and Rumiko.

Principal Carol was doing what he does every day at this time. He was in his office working on his novel.

Yep, his novel.

Everyone has a novel in them after all. Firm believer in that.

Cannon Avery was at practice for his band that he has been working on songs with for a possible CD for a few years now. The band is made up of a few distant relatives and they have thoughts of being a alternative band, though isn't that what all high school bands want to be, but singing covers while writing songs that sit right at plagiarism of their favorite groups is where they end up eight times out of ten.

Chris Sweet and Frank Hover are attending a local gay pride group meeting.

Mr. Josh has a day planned at one of the local area libraries pulling books he finds distasteful and checking them out with a plan to never return them.

Ms. Gardner will go home alone, get drunk alone, but wake up with someone she doesn't know from her apartment complex or the pizza bar across the street from it.

Coach Stern has football practice.

Well, ok, everyone's day ahead was busy but not everyone had to deal with Joanna Osip so there is one kind of busy day's life and there are other kinds of busy day's life and then there are Soap Operas.

Karen meet Fox at her locker after they both shared a boring class hearing Mr. Josh talk about how it would benefit everyone to join band.

Fox needed to drop off a few things at her locker and Karen decided to stash her stuff there also to keep from having to visit her locker or Jeff's which both were located on the first floor of the building.

She couldn't remember where Gail's locker was, nor could she wipe up much care to recall that information.

Karen noticed that Fox somehow had found the time to paint the inside of her locker jet black without getting caught. She also has a thing for John Barrowman according to some magazine pages posted inside her locker, but who doesn't have a thing for him?

Karen, 'Ready for our Osip Torture Party?'

'Yeah, ready and feeling peachy about it.'

'Well, no skipping out. I need you there for support.'

'Speaking of needs, could you give me a ride home? My truck wouldn't start this morning and I had to run around the block to catch the bus.'

'No prob.'

'How's Gail getting home?'

'Jeff.'

'Seems like a great guy. Grown quite a bit since I knew him?'

Karen gives Fox a sleigh look, 'He has.'

'Then again, the last time I saw him he was probably still hairless. If you know what I mean?'

'Yeah, well, no problem there now.'

Fox grinned.

'You would be surprised how different he is now from the street kid he use to be.' Karen

'Just like family to you and Gail?'

'He is. My B.F.F. and like a brother to Gail. And I can't believe I just said BFF.'

'So you and him?'

Karen smiled finally getting the picture fully why this conversation had drifted to the subject of Jeff, 'Oh, we rolled around once but we were bored at home after laughing our asses off watching Fox News trying to be serious journalists while really high.'

'And speaking of changes. You've certainly climbed on board the hippy protest scream wagon haven't you?'

'I'm never been the quiet type. And I'm no over privileged ass in the 1960's'

'Yeah, I remember when you "accidently" told Cannon Avery's dad about his mom's special friend who was also at our Campfire Kids all night party.'

'Secrets are the problem, not the truth.'

'I love your bullshit lady.'

'Speaking of which, we better get our asses in gear head to the gym.'

CHAPTER 44

I would go into description about Jeff's mode of transportation but I like him too much to do that to him because of how it might askew your view of him. I will tell you this, his ca...ok, he has a car but that's all the exact detail you're getting.

I feel an influence of too many Top Gear marathons coming into this book.

As I was saying, I will tell you this, his car is not a 1974 Ford Pinto. Though that is the year I was born. His car is one of the worst cars ever to grace a road anywhere but it is not a 1984 Ford Tempo. But to be honest "worst" lists are always subjective so one person might love a 1970 AMC Gremlin; while another might love being behind the wheel of a 1978 AMC Pacer and neither of which are the vehicle Jeff's drives mostly from home to school and school to home.

Jeff tends to catch rides with Karen to other places. Ok, I'll let you know what Jeff drives for two reasons. One, I'm running out of cars I know about off the top of my head and two, this paragraph is at the limit of "enough already." Jeff's car seems to be a mix of a Pontiac Aztek and a Chevrolet Chevette. Yes, you guessed it. He drives a Ryan Motors Take-Off 6Z12.

He's had that car for years and not once has "his" Take-Off 6Z12 burst into flames for no reason. Very much going against its nature I might add.

Gail knows all the sorted history of his choice of car, which really wasn't his choice, but something he won at a church raffle. He went for hotdogs and left with the best Ryan Motors has been able to offer the U.S. manufactured car buying public in years.

Little Ms. Coma Girl has used it on more than one occasion to zinger her friend when he has the upper hand.

Karen doesn't say much, she has her own car problems.

After dropping Gail off at her house Jeff and his Take-Off headed in the opposite direction from the Busiek family's home base in the direction of the local comic shop to pick up Gail and his folder holds.

During the whole drive to take Gail home he was deep in thought and now pulled out his cell phone while at the wheel to make a call, 'Lion, Jeff... hey, I have someone who maybe in town who I need to find.......................The names Jack Boggs, he's wanted by the police...............................cool, can't talk, driving, bye.'

He tosses his phone in the passenger seat and rolls down the window since the air conditioning in his car hasn't worked in six months.

Florida heat. Is there any wonder so much crazy shit goes down in this state.

While Jeff drives a road melting in the heat inside his car in the home of a very well off in the money family someone is holding a conversation about curious footsteps that are happening.

'Get him the information he wants,' a new phone slides shut, 'Maybe I can find a place to play this information.'

Yes, yes indeed, I have been watching way too much Top Gear of late.

CHAPTER 45

Joanna had them lined up like soldiers in the gymnasium.

About twenty minutes ago when everyone walked into the gym they found little place seating cards on the bleachers directing where she wanted them to sit. No one believes Joanna took the time to do this, they knew she had her helper do it. It's not like she thinks everyone will sit exactly where she says for them to, it's the act of trying to order someone around and getting away with it that gives her an advantage.

Karen, Fox, Jason Torch, and Kaya Pinelli stood at attention awaiting the arrival of the boss and her number one. They stood there like toys on the shelf of a store ready for a spoiled child to snatch them, toss them on the floor; and speak down to them.

I would talk about Jason and Kaya but I don't have them figured out. Stay tuned for future develops with them later in the book.

I do know they're both seniors so that's one thing to put in each of their file cards.

Joanna and Lisa walked into the gymnasiums like a cross between the leader of a marching band and the head gunner in a firing squad.

Joanna was walking back and forth in front of the bleachers like a Stalag Commandant with Lisa on her heels with each step, 'Here is my plan. Busiek and Boggs are the muscle. They will do the heavy lifting and sweat work. Torch you are in charge of decorations and refreshments with Pinelli being ticket salesman.'

'Will you beat her up or should I?' Fox

'I'm not a woman of violence.' Karen

'Tell that to my bruises.'

'Oh, yea, I guess I could kick her ...'

Joanna, 'Ahem, I continue despite the whispered shakings of others. Just remember everything goes through me. Please do not think you have any ideas of your own. That's all I need right now are your ideas and anyways it would be a complete waste of time.'

Joanna dismisses her troops (or prisoners of war if you like) with a wave of her hand and heads out with her Sergeant Schultz in tow.

Fox, 'I think she would be happier if Mr. Carol had assigned her a bunch of freshman and a whip.'

'Quite, you're making me picture her in Mistress Boots,' Karen.

'I can't save you from your own perverted daydreams.'

'I only dream of her tied to a large dart board.'

'Didn't you and Misty Webster duck tape her to a fence once in like 1st Grade?'

'No, we did that to Gail.'

'Where was I when this was going on?'

'Gymnastics class.'

'Oh, yea, I did that didn't I?'

'Yes, yes you did. Something you and Gail have in common.'

'Really?'

'Back before The Birth of Coma Girl she was a cheerleader freak and did gymnastics also to keep in shape. That and choir but I don't really know where choir fit into the rest of it?'

'I had totally forgotten about those Gymnastic classes.'

'Wasn't Joanna in them also?'

'No, her father paid the instructor for private lessons so she was there the first day of each month's classes to drop off the check.'

'A link with Joanna. Do you feel the disease of an Osip from the connection? I'm glad my only connection to her is the kindergarten incident.'

'What, you two are a perfect match. Joanna admires bored rich kids and you're all about Margaret Sanger.'

'Why Fox, you're getting me moist with the feminist name dropping.'

CHAPTER 46

Lion is one of Jeff's oldest friends.

Real name, Ernie Midring.

I think his family was originally from Iran. "I think" I should know shouldn't I being the writer and all? I don't yet though, haven't decided yet? The only thing I have decided on is that his family left the country during the revolution but that's all up to which revolution and whether they were from Iran or just working there. Since you will never see his mom, only maybe hear her voice in classic sitcom fashion and he being adopted none of that thinking really mattered in the slightest.

He says he gave himself the nickname Lion. Are you allowed to give yourself a nickname? I thought that was illegal.

Lion is a young man of all things in Florida, also a sort of urban legend, a mini one man black market for information and goods, mostly weird and unusual things. If you need, desire, want, or want to get rid of certain specified things, you contact Lion.

He works from The Lion's Den. It's his base of operations, headquarters, fortress of solitude, and compound. Ever see the Die Hard sequel with Kevin Smith in it?

It's also his den, in his house, and his mother lives upstairs...in his house, and his family may or may not be from Iran.

'Your mom home?' Jeff

'Nope, she's at the gym,' Lion

'Working her thighs?'

'Don't go there man.'

Lion hands Jeff a beer and they sit down on a raggedy old couch.

Jeff, 'Find anything on Boggs?'

'He's not in town.'

'You couldn't find him?'

'No. One of my guys found him and tracked him back to his home. The guy is living in Kentucky under the name Ripley Cloud.'

'Can you keep tracking him?'

'That's going to cost you.'

'How much?'

'Maybe your signed by Jon Pertwee Seven Doctors poster?'

'I'd rather you cut off a finger.'

'I have a buyer for those in Texas if that's your choice of payment.'

'You are most defiantly living a life in the weird.'

'Information. Even though I deal in goods also, information is the real money. Even having something that is worth something is worth nothing without knowing there are people who want to buy it. And speaking of information, I found something else about Project Garand. Any interest?'

'Nope.'

'This is deep government black shit here and I'm offering it for free?'

'No interest. My families past dealings have nothing to do with me.'

'My blind friend, in the age of information, anything and everything about us affects us.'

CHAPTER 47

'Ok, worst masturbation stories. Go.' And as Jeff always does he starts conversations by getting everyone's eyes open wide.

Karen, 'This how you take my mom saying we three should get together and talk to build our friendships. Really?'

'I like.' Fox

'God, two of them now.' Karen

Jeff claps his hand together in mock evil genius style, 'Who's first?'

Fox raises her hand excitedly, 'Me.'

'You have the floor.' Jeff

Karen pops a muscle relaxer and rolls her eyes while doing so.

Fox, 'Just let me start by saying this involves my aunts back massager as a little bit of a pre-warning if either of you are a bit aunt sex squeamish.'

Silence was how Jeff and Karen reacted.

'Ok, here's my story. My cousin Henry was staying over once...' Fox

Jeff steals one of Karen's pills before she gets a chance to down another one.

'Neither of you never meet Henry but he was cute.'

'When I first got on the internet I masturbated to stories like this.' Jeff

They both stared at him.

'What? I keep on topic.' Jeff

Fox, 'I shall continue. With Henry being over I got all touchy feely with my inner space and since we were the only people in the house...'

Jeff leaned forward in joking fun attentiveness which garnered a punch in the arm from Karen.

Fox, 'I went in my aunt's room and snuck out her back massager.'

'That's it?' Jeff

Karen, 'I have to say a little sick just came up in my throat but probably not that unusual of a thing for someone to do.'

'I didn't clean it first.' Fox

Double spit take.

'I had blue ovaries.' Fox

There was staring all around with three smiles.

'You are next Mr. Jeff?' Fox

Karen, 'Nope, nope, we aren't following sick with sick. I go now.'

Jeff, 'It's a win win for everyone.'

'Shut up and listen. This is my first outside the house time.' Karen

Jeff, 'Is this the Epcot incident?'

Karen, 'No it is not. Continuing I'm going to make this short because that's a face of what happen. I have only a words for you. Bathroom at comic shop.'

Jeff, 'That's a bigger sick in the throat than Fox's aunt juice sharing.'

'How is that?' Fox

'Have you ever gone to the bathroom at a comic shop?' Jeff

Fox, 'Point made. And your story?'

Jeff, 'I will say first how much I cannot guarantee this story to be true.'

Fox/Karen, 'Understood.'

Jeff, 'Because of drugs, Rebull, and electric shock.'

Karen, 'Ok.'

Jeff, 'Including that part.'

Karen, 'Tell. Your Story. Chim-Chim.'

Jeff, 'I was at the fish market...'

Karen, 'STOP!'

Fox, 'Why?'

Karen, 'He got this idea for this from Warren Ellis's website. Believe me, you don't want to hear it.'

CHAPTER 48

Karen and Jeff are spending time in her room watching The Avengers while downing Spaghetti Taco after Spaghetti Taco, chased by Ryan-Mart generic cola. This scene is one that they have repeated over and over.

Jeff is a huge, mammoth, dorkstar, Avengers fan. Last year for his birthday Karen got him the Mega Emma Peel DVD set to replace his Mega Emma Peel VHS set, which was donated to the library and the year before they attended a costume party for Halloween dressed as Emma Peel and John Steed. Jeff had to bribe her with rare Ani Difranco bootleg CDs to get her to wear the cat suit.

Karen, 'You really do know how to make me feel good.'

'It's what I do.'

Karen's smiles knowing she is so lucky in a lot of ways. This is what it's like to have a friend who will stand by her no matter what.

'Jack Boggs wasn't in town when Jean was killed, was he?' Karen brought up the subject out of the blue.

'No, he left right after he visited Fox. I also found out that they have a solid lead on who killed Jean Green and the suspect is so far away from Jack Boggs I'm sure he had nothing to do with it.'

'I guess I was thinking too much into things?'

'Man, you would never let me get away with a sentence like that.'

'Yeah.'

'Did you know Jean at all? I had seen her around but never spoke to her.'

'I think we had a class together once. She was one of the older cheerleaders who helped out with Gail's squad when she cheered.'

Jeff rubbed his eyes trying to rub the tired out of them.

'I never want to lose you.' Jeff

Karen snuggled up next to Jeff on her bed, 'No problem there. Most people hate me too much to get near me.'

Jeff put his head on Karen's.

From the direction of her bedroom door and the hallway came a sisterly voice, 'No snogging!'

'Do you want a sister?'

'Mom! They're snogging!'

'Nope, I'm fine without one.'

Gail stuck her head into the room, 'You know if you really wanted to snogg, I wouldn't tell.'

CHAPTER 49

Gail was running across the F.K.H.S. section of the Ryan-Mart parking lot at breakneck velocity in the direction of her sister and Jeff, who in their own points of time were standing by Karen's car when she spotted Fox, stopped dead, changes the course of her rush and almost tackles Fox in her excitement.

She likes Fox.

She found a new friend.

Fox, 'Am I being mugged? Please sir, take my wallet and take my husband but spare me my pearls.'

Gail looked sternly at Fox.

'I like the way you dress so don't be silly. Silly really doesn't suit you.'

'Yes ma'am. Goth shall stop the silly.' Fox said with a salute and a braking smile.

'I have news.' Gail.

'Share my brain wizard friend.'

'Guess who has been added to the dance committee?'

'Roger Moore?'

'Who?'

Fox, 'I feel really old right now.'

CHAPTER 50

A conversation between two people, long distance charges would apply but they don't in this case.

'Are all of your plans finalized and ready for the dance?'

'Yes, sir.'

'Good, I will keep in touch. This is a simple little first move so don't screw it up and you might get the chance to move up.'

Joanna put down her cell phone and pushed the button on the main houses intercom system.

'Ms. Osip?' beamed from the intercom box.

'Butler I need to talk with you.'

'On my way from the stables now Ms. Osip.'

Joanna lifted herself from her desk chair and walked over to her bedroom window. She knew day one of her true life was coming. Having to push down her excitement at what was coming was almost overwhelming but just another thing she would overpower.

A knock hit her door.

'Come in Butler. We still have many things to check and recheck.'

'Yes, Ms. Osip.'

In a Paris airport, in a private room reserved for a select few in the world to use you will find a room decorated with a few computers, a television setup, and clocks showing time dates from around the world.

Sitting in one chair in the room was a grey haired gentleman wearing what resembled a Victorian era undertaker's outfit, 'Are her people going to be able to handle this assignment?'

Sitting across a large table from the man was a young woman with a scar, 'He has faith she can. Plus Travesty is there to help her.'

'I hope that faith is not just blood given. What about Ryan?'

'His people seem to be staying out of things so far.'

'How much rope is her father willing to give her?'

'Enough to rope a star or her own throat.'

'His own daughter?'

'He is everything we know him to be. I have eyes watching her as she makes her moves. She has a lot of potential but I will say now on my mission that an American cabal will not jeopardize this. I promise you father.'

The older man grasps the hand of his daughter which was reached over the table for him to take.

'Those who are unwilling to grasp for the future must be left behind.'

CHAPTER 51

Gail and Jeff where spending some time hanging out in one of the local comic shops browsing through the back issue bins in the back of the store.

This is one of the few places Karen and Jeff don't go together. It's not that Karen does not read comics but she hates going with Jeff and Gail because they will spend hours upon hours just looking at stuff.

'It's not Wednesday, what are you looking for?' Gail

Jeff, 'Back issues of the first time they rebooted the Pulpy comic.'

'Who buys periodicals anymore?'

'I'm sending them to an online friend in Russia in trade for a Russian Avengers novel.'

'I thought they only read pirated stuff in Russia.'

'That's a pretty judgmental statement from you.'

'Facts are facts. One of the largest areas of pirating media in the world is in the former Soviet Union.'

'Don't know why they want to pirate our comics. Not like any of the big two publishers have any cool Russian superheroes.'

'There are a few.'

'A few which are always misused.'

'Are you arguing Russian superheroes? Your geek is bigger than anyone else's ge...and I'm sorry I get around comics and I get nervous wanting to read everything and sometimes I say something really too double meaning for someone my age to sa...'

'Hush Speedy Brain Busiek.'

'Hey, stop that. I have enough names people call me.'

Jeff pulls out a handful of comics from a long box and turns back to Gail who was inspecting a t-shirt rack, 'You want anything because I'm buying?'

Coma Girl's eyes turned anime.

It's a warehouse, which is perfect as always for meetings of the not so nice guys and gals. "Gals"? I don't know if that fit but, guys and ladies, didn't really fit in my brain either?

A grouping of around thirty or more, black dressed, masked, and were standing in the middle of the empty warehouse waiting for instructions and orders.

Then like in so many movies the speaker stands above them on a bit of scaffolding in the shadows. To one side of her was her families Cup-Bearer and for a long time to come he wouldn't be that far from her side because he has made his choice to the future.

'No screw ups,' Spoke the female voice from the shadows, 'Not one of you is a human being that anyone will miss if you die tonight. Not one of you is a human being that anyone cares about. You want to change that, tonight is step one. Tonight you can move a little closer to being more than a pound of flesh.'

Mr. Gibbons was reading a book on his iPad; while sitting in the back of a low quality coffee house. It has become a once per week routine he has taken up. Spend one day to read one book each week. Before in his life he never had much down time. Now he wants to fill in some gaps.

Today though the routine is broken by the sound of a voice he knows all too well coming from in front of him, 'Can you tell me why you had to meet me in person?'

Without looking up Mr. Gibbons spoke, 'Because I miss the sunshine you always bring into a room Envision.'

The man sits down across from Mr. Gibbons, 'The coded email let you know what you mission state is currently.'

'Yes, but...'

'You are a veteran of black ops and you called me here; which is sure to endanger you, letting others know your whereabouts. Care to explain that?'

'Maybe I just wanted to meet someone face to face from my real life.'

Envision stands up, 'Just watch things for now. Our focus has shifted for the moment to other things.'

Mr. Gibbons shrugs his shoulder as the man walks away and goes back to reading his book. Yes, he has been at this game for a very long time. And he knows perfectly well what he is doing.

This late night ends as some late nights end within a larger than needed by anyone bedroom as a solo toast of Asbin is made to an individual future.

'Mine will begin with this.'

Man she is really started to get comfortable in that skin of the super villain.

The Asbin is downed in one and Joanna walks over to her closet, which is the size of most people's bedrooms and ponders what she will be wearing to her talk with Carol.

The talk will be about his need to change his attitude about plans for the Football seasons homecoming night.

The current plans are just stupid beyond measure.

CHAPTER 52

The setting is the gymnasium. The gymnasium is a location of many future bad high school memories. With wide ranging uses from gym classes, basketball games, volleyball games, and then there are the dances.

Karen, 'Remember the time we went around to all of the neighborhood homes selling the school raffle chances putting the people's names down on the billing address but abandoned houses down for shipping the prize?'

'That's how I got my first CD player.' Fox

'Or the time we went to the base and went through all the mail boxes at base housing stealing birthday cards while everyone was out watching fireworks?'

'I bought some comics with my cash from that day.'

'Do you remember when we babysat that bitch Jessica Mothhouse's sister Sherlin and after her parents stiffed us we snuck back into their house and with a permanent black marker turned Sherlin into a faithful match of the one eyebrowed baby from The Simpsons?'

'You know I saw Sherlin years later. She is the most glamorous lesbian I have ever met in my life.'

'Don't look at me. Not like I put some sort of gay mark on the girl.'

Karen and Fox could have talked on and on for hours but Jeff jumped into the conversation, 'Where was I during all of this?'

Karen raised her eyebrows at him, 'Off dorking every day after school watching Doctor Who.'

Jeff and Gail were jokingly shaking their heads in unison, 'Always with the Doctor hating.'

Gail laid back down as she had been on the bottom level of the gym bleachers tired from three hours of work helping decorate for the Second Week Dance.

Above her spread about the bleachers just as exhausted as her are not only Fox, Jeff, and Karen but also Jason Torch and Kaya Pinelli, who are just as tired of hearing about Karen and Fox's good old days of friendship as Jeff and Gail are.

At the moment as all of them are ready to relax an inch, into the gymnasium walks Joanna and Lisa to remind them who are working with or in Joanna's words "for."

Gail pops up her head, 'Hey, it's the Fuhrer and her Gerbils.'

Everyone on the bleachers burst out into laughter, which was shut into silence when Joanna and Lisa stepped in front of them on the gym floor.

'How does she do that, create instant silence?' Jeff

'It's the eerie chill that follows her around,' Karen

Joanna stood silent until everyone was placing their attention in her direction and then she spoke when she felt the silence called for it, 'It would seem that somehow you miss begotten bunch managed to get everything right despite being who you are.'

'Misbegotten bunch?' Kaya

'Who says misbegotten bunch?' Jeff

Joanna turns around and Gail could have sworn she clicked her heals, and walks away leaving Lisa tapping a pen against her clipboard, 'Mr. Carol says all committee members must attend the dance or face being expelled. I say best of luck to all of you in finding dates at the last minute.' With that she leaves to trail after Joanna.

Gail gets up with a befuddled look on her face, 'Am I even allowed to date?'

CHAPTER 53

They are all gathered at the Busiek house to talk and make quick plans for the dance. Well, except for Jason and Kaya because they got in with dances are against their religion and Jeff really wishes he had thought of that lie.

Jason and Kaya are going to spend the night piled into the back of a Sysuki Esteem parked outside an all night folk concert.

'There is no Flying Nun way I'm going.' It's Karen, 'Nobody is forcing me to dance.' She proclaimed, and boy did she proclaim, you would have thought she was shouting out an official proclamation from Queen Elizabeth herself with her tone and posture, 'I will not be a duck in a row for Joanna's entertainment.'

'No one will be forcing you to dance,' her mother said while passing through the kitchen where Karen, Jeff, Gail, and Fox where gathered.

Gail was sitting on a little cutting table beside Jeff who was sitting on the edge of the kitchens double sink, 'Sis, I think this is cool.'

'What about dates cool girl, it's required?' Karen

Jeff leans in to Not whisper privately to Gail, 'You see dating your sister would require us paying her date hazard pay.'

Fox puts her arm around Karen, 'I'm brave enough.'

Karen turns to her, 'This would cause even more rumors to spread.'

Fox kissed her on the cheek, 'Plus I'm straight.'

Jeff notices Karen's face show a little sadness that only a best friend would notice.

Gail jumps down from the cutting table, 'I have it! Karen and I can go together and we can leave early before she gets violent saying it's my bed time and so that takes care of her anti-social meter.'

'And me?' asked Jeff.

'You tag with Fox.' Gail answered.

Everyone saw Fox's face turn red. To break the tension Jeff threw out a joke, 'I get the sexy one.'

God Jeff that was stupid.

Fox's face turned even redder.

Karen threw a severe look in her best friend's direction.

CHAPTER 54

The gym was decorated in blue and purple, the school colors of Franz Kafka High School, The Fighting Polar Bears.

GO POLAR BEARS!!! FIGHT!!! FIGHT!!! FIGHT!!!

The drink tables were lined with all kinds of fruit punches, sodas, and bottled waters. Lines started for a cue for these tables about as soon as the gymnasium doors opened. More than a few whispers could be heard such as things like leaving for a real party as soon as they have load up on chasers.

The same wide range of selections can be found on the snack tables but with even longer lines and bit more pushing and shoving. A couple of large football players have been put in charge of keeping the lines in order and that is turning out so well.

I must point out in all fair reporting that there are a few vegetarians gathered in a corner pissed that there is only one plate of fruit and one of veggies. But that table is really small, without much of a line, and sitting under one of the ventilating ducts that blow out from the heating system. All of the shaved baby carrots taste a little like the cotton from an air filter now.

But then again it's only the vegetarians causing any sort of fuss. And that's an official school view on the issue.

It is quite the sight to see the banners hanging from the rafters. Suspended by thin fishing line was purple boxing glove wearing polar bears. Don't think too hard, it has nothing to do with Franz Kafka. Stringers, streamers, all party store fun, and there you have the decorations.

Jason and Kaya thought about buying some semi-nice decorations for the dance at the local party store, Party Presents, but since they got out of having to attend the dance they just picked up some stuff for themselves and made the actual decorations themselves by hand using scrap paper from art classes.

All I'm going to say about what they picked up for themselves at the party store is this list and you can make from it what you wish: a couple dollar CDs for mood music, a LED mister fogger, fog juice....Yes, fog juice, I didn't make that up, God, give me some credit, and wedding cake candy.

Like the Queen of the proceedings at a table setup on one side of the gymnasiums stage, higher than the masses, was Joanna Osip and as her current accessory was future frat emo boy Paul Hunt, who was sitting beside her with his Baby Pomp hairdo looking pretty asinine.

Lisa was on the other side of the table from both of them feeling abandoned. Tonight was going to be a very special night for her self-confidence but her date no showed after texting that she would be there and fabrications remain concealed, but there is power in hidden secrets if you take ownership of them?

Self propaganda aside this secret is starting to eat away at Lisa and if she was able to be honest with anyone about it, it was pushing her away from everything she cares about in her life. She understands the no show but a "no show" is never just a "no show" when it comes down to someone you love so much.

Joanna is not completely unaware of the piano strings running along Lisa's heart but she simple doesn't care enough to address the issue. Right now she's watching over everything like a hawk and Lisa was trying to fight back a smile, having taken a little plur to change her mood. She was amused as Paul tried to talk or make contact with his date to only have a finger shushed in his face, a slap for trying to touch her intimately, and even nails dug into his hand when he tried to hold hers. This was going to be Lisa's entertainment for the night and she fucking needed it.

The gym was crammed full with students and teachers trying to entertain themselves as the latest pop, bluegrass, acid jazz, frevo, hip-hop, rock, dub, nortec, country, alternative; engineered music played loud over the gymnasium's P.A. speakers.

Nothing to dance to though, just people milling around doing milling.

Victor San, the captain of the football team was dancing with his long time girlfriend Lea Hertz, she was a college student attending Yale studying to become a disgraced high level corporate head or politician.

Lea gave a glance up at Joanna as Victor and her passed the stage on their way to the photo area. At one time they were friends. At one time they were friends in a phrase that is used a lot in the world and used for many reasons.

The art teacher Ms. Dry was talking to the golf coach Mr. Gibbons. A "the" and a "the" that don't really match up, art and golf don't normally go mutually together. Sort of like putting golf and sport together in the same sentence.

Ms. Dry and Mr. Gibbons were talking about how they wish they had stayed at their old positions at their former schools, even though the money at F.K.H.S. was splendid (who says splendid?), their former principal was a bigger ass than Carol and that was bonding and sharing.

Mr. Gibbons was in his lines of sharing in whole lying. His last boss was an ass in every meaning of the world they were using but the topic of him teaching at another school is total fabrication and will be an afterthought of sorts at the end of this book.

All over things were happening, not happening, and ready to happen (can you tell I'm writing late on Oxycodone?)....Some of these things are happening with students from F.K.H.S. rival school Blind River High or B.R.H.S. if you must, crashing the dance....see all up to Oxycodone...

A few football players from F.K.H.S. and a few from B.R.H.S. took off down to the football field for some late night roughhouse football for bragging rights. Better than switchblades and music numbers I guess?

Karen and Gail walked into the gymnasium wearing matching vintage 1950's dresses. Gail wanted to run into the middle of the half paying attention crowd singing, "Amok, amok, amok." but her idea was shot down.

She did love the vintage dress ideas though. Vintage being Karen's favored fashion choice and would be her everyday wear if not for the cost of shopping for the like online.

Both sisters had visited a beauty school friend of Karen's just before heading to the dance and were each ornamented in new hair styles. Karen was decked out in an Eye Blind haircut which is cut at the shoulders and has bangs that go down to the bridge of the nose, hard to see? Yes, but also a very smart look. Little sis was garlanded in a F. Scott Zelda hair approach with its really short cut and sharp wing like bangs.

I may hit you with a little more description than usual in this chapter. Don't mistake it for talent or anything.

Following in soon after Karen and Gail was Jeff and Fox arm in arm with Fox wearing a replica of a Victorian era prostitutes dress, black trimmed in crimson red, and Jeff was wearing black pinstripe dress pants, a black O.L.P. t-shirt, and a gray vest. Neither had shoes on of any kind and Karen had noted this being, "Jeff dressed up." Before they all left the home of Karen's hairdresser friend.

The friends name is Foster Hill, the beauty school student friend, and there goes another name I have to remember.

Joanna only to herself, 'Look Karen Busiek and her pawn shop friends just walked in.'

Such a simple statement layered with such venom that all those sitting at her table could taste it.

Standing to one side of the gym was a television news crew setting up to do a story on the rare book Joanna arranged to be displayed here during the dance.

A technician slash assistant, a camera man, and a Ken dolls haircut with a pocket dictionary were setting up and looking around wondering if their jobs have anything to do with journalism.

Karen noticed the news crew, 'How did she swing the news coverage?'

'She has her prodnose in everything,' Gail.

Everyone gives the youngest of their group a confused look.

'Her family has a boodle or two,' More looks, 'Money people, money,' Gail.

Everyone nodded their heads in understanding.

Gail, 'It seems Joanna's father was able to set up a showing of a Gutenberg Bible tonight to draw attention to the dance and the fine young lady who worked very hard to arrange it all.'

'The woman should work in P.R.' Jeff

'Beneath her, like the Queen Mother wacking off one of The Deputy Masters Of The Household,' Karen

'Hey, British stuff is my thing. And on that front I need the W.C.' Gail

'Really getting tired of your British Stuff.' Karen

'I need a pee.' Gail

Karen and Gail walked away in the direction of a snack table without leave or word leaving Fox and Jeff standing by the entrance doors. Actually they did tell them where they were heading but Fox and Jeff were distracted with each other.

Karen, 'You get to piss only after I get something with cheese.'

'It's always cheese, cheese, cheese with you.'

Jeff pinched Fox's arm, 'Would you like something to drink my lady?'

Fox scratches her head, 'Quite thirsty here I think.'

They smiled at each other sensing the shared, but for now ignored, sexual tension and headed to the refreshments table to get in line; which was a long line that will give them plenty of time for talking.

Jeff, 'Last night I was watching Bleak H...'

'You know I want to make a bet. I bet you, you Jeff The Stud, that you can't have a conversation more than a few sentences long without some sort of pop culture reference?'

'Boring you am I?' He smiles in a way most anyone, anyone including her would like.

'No, just wanting to get to know you beyond Blake's 7 references. Too much of anything besides stream lined human interaction is bad for the soul.'

'I'm not going to ask what that actually meant. What do you want to know about me as we wait for bad tasting punch worthy of kings?'

'From what I remember you were raised by a cousin?'

'Yep, my father died before he even knew I was going to be born and my mother giving birth to me. I never knew them but they never knew me either.'

'Sorry.'

Jeff shrugged his shoulders, 'If there are pointless deaths, there have to also be pointless lives, and frankly I don't like that thought. I never knew what it was like to have parents. My cousin Ester was my guardian but she was batty as a loon and I mostly raised myself. When I turned 16 I got a job and when I was 18 with my savings I moved out to live on my own.'

'And what about your cousin?'

'Died a few years ago in a mental hospital in Virginia where our family is from. I was the only surviving member of our family line so I inherited her money and house.'

'No sixth cousins twice removed?'

'Nope, I'm not the black sheep of the family I'm the only sheep in the flock left. Not having family has its positions. At a forensics speech competition I did a comedy routine with my friend Ernie. He was Anne Frank and I was Hitler. If I had had any family I would've had to go home to yelling afterwards.'

'How'd that go over?'

'What?'

'The routine?'

'Oh, we had to home school for two years and neither of us will ever get any free hotdogs at any local church membership drives which is a shame since that's how I got my car. The Wailing Wall is probably off limits also.'

'How'd the routine actually go?'

'You really want to hear it?'

'Why not, my souls already corrupted and this lines getting us nowhere.'

'First I have to warn you we both were high on his mother's valium.'

'Dually noted.'

'Ernie walked onto stage as Anne-"Mr. Hitler I don't need your trains to remind me I'm Jewish." Hitler-"Oh climb into an oven and shut up." Anne-"If you go to Jerusalem may a gang of Israeli folk singers kick your ass." Hitler-"Why so hostile?" Anne-"Hello I had to keep an emo diary because of you. That's how history is going to remember me. You read that diary by this emo Jew, wonder if she ever even got fingered" Hitler-"I try to be a good exterminator and all I get is..."

Jeff stopped and gave an angelically evil grin.

'And?'

'A mob gathered like a Simpson's episode and charged the stage.'

'You're not complex, you're confusing, and that was a pop culture reference.'

'So was Anne Frank. She's on t-shirts the same as Chec Deviro. The name and image has gone beyond any meaning.'

'That cousin of yours?'

'Yeah.'

'The one who went nutty?'

'Yeah.'

'Did she do Nazi and Jew comedy routines also?'

'Don't worry if you like me tonight, I'll piss you off tomorrow. The reverse is the same also.'

'Good to know, keep me on my toes.'

Fox smiled and she likes how he makes her smile with his own insanity. That makes her feel normal.

'But enough about Jeff, tell me about you Ms. Stud Fox?'

'You know all of my families dirty little non-secrets.'

'But I don't. I think there is always more to add to the story to any single person's life. Please add.'

He's a fan of hers also.

'Well, here's a bit no one around here knows...'

And within that comes a dialogue interruption as over thirty people dressed all in various diverse sorts of black outfits each with masks burst into the gymnasium through different entrances, including the stage exit to the dumpsters door.

These dance invaders moved with military precision and knew exactly where they were headed and where each item sought in the room was to be found. The whole operation was as if someone with a quantity of intelligence had planned it out.

Lisa stands up and in actions that in retrospect would surprise some people she swiftly approaches one of the intruders but she is unceremoniously sent off the stage with a sickening slap against the side of her head and as she came in contact with the wooden floors below the stage with an even more sickening sound the whole gym went silent.

Pick up a fat baby, toss it into the air, and think about anything else for a few seconds and you will get the feel of the sound Lisa impacting against the gym floor made.

Before any teacher or tall older person could react to these masked intruders all of them were hunted by the trespassers, spotted, targeted, and beat down by them with collapsible night sticks they pulled out from their black outfits.

One of the intruders, the very one who punked out Lisa, took the stage microphone in hand as casually as a singer walking up to the mike at the beginning of a concert. A mechanically manipulated female voice came through the speakers, 'As the saying goes, no heroes and no one else has to be hurt. We are here tonight to introduce ourselves to the young Oracle back from Daniel's sleep. The rest of you can just think of this as a bad trip, to her we introduce ourselves as we are The Tefnut.'

Paul Hunt jumps up from the table with flashes of bad action films dancing in his head, Joanna rolls her eyes at this, and he charges the intruder on the stage and said intruder drops him with a straight right hook to the face.

FOOTBALL PLAYER DOWN! FOOTBALL PLAYER DOWN!

The mic she dropped to...well, drop Paul is serenely picked back up by her for some last words, 'Watch for our tests young one. It's going to be interesting seeing if you're the real thing or not. I am so good at the bad soap opera stuff.'

Then just as quickly as they entered the intruders exited rushing out the ways they came in leaving a gymnasium full of people wondering if they will ever find out whether someone spiked the fruit punch or there could have been a gas leak.

Students were checking on teachers and pulling out cell phones for calls, photos, texts, and blog postings. The news crew who filmed everything are making calls themselves and starting incident interviews with people. Now this is how a new school makes its mark. Forget the winning state championships in any sports or being an "A" school. A little violence around banners with polar bears and everyone knows your school initials and fight song.

Karen and Gail were helping Lisa up. Her arm was so severely broken. Her forearm bone had ripped through the skin and she was dizzy from what was probably a concussion and sick to the sight of seeing the state her arm was in.

It wasn't doing much for Gail's stomach either.

Karen turned around and looked up to see Joanna looking down from the stage with a very dissatisfied look on her face. Karen gave her a look that could kill and turned back to help her sister with Lisa who had now passed out and was bleeding all over Gail.

Gail, 'Now I will never forget my first dance. All we need is a little up'see, down'see and it will be memory book time for this night.'

'Stop being Ms. Unrealistic dialogue and help me get her into a chair.'

While all of that was going on Fox and Jeff had chased after two of the intruders. Not the normal action for either one of them, well, not the normal action for Jeff, while not a practicing turn the other cheek sort of guy, he wasn't prone to punch ups that often either...unless he needed to.

Anyone who has ever been in a school at night knows how creepy it can be. Fox has always compared it to the feeling you get when walking alone through a cemetery at the pitch of night. You have a familiarity with the place, you have felt safe in the place, but you also know of all the places where creepy things may crawl or stalk. Too many running off with those older than her for late night snogging sessions in locked up schools has her experienced in the subject.

She chased one of the masked intruders into the main school building. Not an easy feat in a Victorian dress and bare feet, though it is a Victorian prostitutes dress, probably made for a lot of running.

Fox walked by a bathroom but didn't hear any sign of what was going on inside; which is really unusual considering how she is trying to get a hint of any sign of anyone, though no one noticing him seems to be the curse for the young man inside this girl's bathroom.

While all the action was taking place Albert Wallander was trying to survive his first time ever using hard drugs. He was staggering around the bathroom scared keeping his feet only by leaning against walls, heating unit, and sinks. He thought taking the drugs would help him get over his nervousness going to the dance, but right now his heart is beating so fast it hurts and he is sweating as if in a room with the temp turned up to 200.

He got the drugs from his father's bedroom but didn't know what they were. He just took a couple of the pills his father had in a sandwich bag and began walking to the dance. But before he could even get near the gym he started getting dizzy and made his way inside the classroom building and to the nearest bathroom where he has been freaking out for the past 30 minutes.

Albert fell into one of the stalls and his face hit the toilet paper dispenser which broke his nose. The impact caused him to throw up all over himself and the stall floor. His hands were shaking and he was starting to see things as he scooped up two hand fulls of sick and while on his knees began to rub it all over his face, he threw up again and started thrashing with his arms and legs with fierce violence hitting everything in the stall which was braking parts of his body but he would not be feeling anything for days.

That is if he survived this alone without anyone to see his plight.

Fox is checking out a chemistry room and thinking about why recalling too many episodes of Buffy may not be that good to her piece of mind during this situation.

A voice comes out of the dark like in a bad B-movie, 'You have no idea who you are chasing girl.'

'You have no idea who's chasing you.' Fox responded

Almost like a mask the expression on her face drops to reveal something no one in Melbourne has ever seen from her before. This was the face of a predator.

'Fox Boggs, do you think your old friends here would like to know about Winnipeg? Would they understand what happen in Toronto or Vancouver?'

'Would you like to hear the details of what happen in Toronto? All of the details?'

Silence answered, "No." into the air through an uneasy stomach in recall to things he was told.

'Don't try to play compare with me whoever you are. Why don't you show yourself and we can chat?' Fox

'I'm going to disappear now.'

'Your type loves that defense.'

Fox turns and leaves the classroom to try and track down Jeff. This isn't some sort of school prank and she's worried how much it may have to do with her. Those thoughts scare her for what maybe happening to her friends.

Jeff had chased one of the intruders off school grounds, across the street, and behind the Ryan-Mart building. Now he was walking along the fenced in area of the garden section bouncing his fist against the fence as he walked.

Then he also has a voice coming out from the darkness. They must have watched the same B-movies, 'Trying to play hero Jeffery Borges?'

Jeff gives nothing back but silence.

'Soon you will be forced to make some hard choices Borges like remembering where your true family ties are.'

Jeff turned around and raced back in search of Fox. If this is linked to some of his family's dirty secrets he is scared shitless about the safety of his friends.

The police were all over the school grounds as Fox and Jeff came walking back together to meet up with Gail and Karen who were standing outside the gymnasium doors.

Karen punched Jeff in the chest.

'Hey!' Jeff.

Karen, 'You two were stupid running off after them.'

Jeff was rubbing his chest from the punch when Karen gave him a sudden big hug and Gail and Fox gave hefty grins to each other at the sight.

Gail threw out, 'Lisa's arm was gross.'

Fox, 'Anyone else hurt?'

Karen released Jeff from the monster hug, 'A lot of bruised teachers and Paul Hunt has a broken jaw.'

'Lisa's arm was gross.'

CHAPTER 55

She was once told a story about how her mother liked to bring her to this church when she was a baby. It was a place her mother found she could find comfort from everything else in her life. It was a safe haven from the things that ate at her soul, safe from family business.

She needed one more time to connect with her mother before she began moving forward completely into a new part of her life. What she considered her real life ready to start. A part that has been in motion since the day she was born. A fact that unknown to her shook her mother many time awake at night in sweats.

She called ahead and said some words, "I will fund you in memory of my mother but if the place is not empty by the time I get there with only you and the walls I will not only pull my money, I will pull the walls down around you."

Later after that phone call she was sitting in the confession box and she was sweating, which is not something she does, not that often, At all, 'I'm not here to deliver recitations or be told I'm a child of some deity weakness nor that I'm made of the blood of that deity. I'm here to talk, you are here to listen.'

'Yes, my child.'

'My mother was a great person. She helped everyone she could and she cried herself to sleep over those she could not help. My father thought he was marrying someone to add strength to his family's power but she had no time for power, she only wanted to help. She wanted to be whole and not part, complete and not incomplete, total and filled as a person of charitable acts to the world around her. All the times she gave all of her allowance to charities, held starving children, visited hospitals, and chased causes, all of it meant nothing. It was nothing because the day she died none of these people where in that alley for her as she lay bleeding even if they were there they could have done nothing to save her, the only thing that could have saved her was power, power she did not have. I will not die in an alley.'

'Why are you really here my child?'

'To tell God to move out of my way like all the others.'
CHAPTER 56

Jeff's house resembled what home decor for the poor would be as if it was designed by a very drunk Willy Wonka.

And a blind ginger.

All tables within the home are crates or metal storage boxes except for the dinning table, a used coffin. Bookshelves are building beams and cement blocks; while wall shelves are clipboards with rigged brackets.

This Borges guy ant right in the head.

The coloring scheme of the house is from red and gold combinations to browns and yellows. The bedroom, where sleeping happens; which only Karen has seen is painted neon blue with spots of green, resembling an back alley Scottish Gay Pub if you squint your eyes in just the right way. The bed itself is just a mattress on the floor but that isn't unusual as it's the sight seen in most bedrooms of the college student.

That and posters and magazine cut outs of Sophie Aldred are everywhere in the bedroom.

Who is Sophie Aldred? Look it up, that's what Wikipedia is for after all.

'I have a Douglas Adam's thought.' Gail broke the silence as herself, Fox, and Karen were sitting on an old couch Karen and Jeff found on the side of the road once. Jeff is off in the bathroom; while they are sitting around wondering if tonight did actually happen or if it all was just something Gail had written on the back of a napkin at Cracker Barrel.

'I don't need peeks into your brain right now. Things were strange enough tonight for me.' Karen

'Oh, let her talk about Pirates,' Fox

'She wasn't...'

'Or ninjas,' Fox

'She wasn...'

Jeff reentered the room from his little boys room visit, 'I have this theory about monkey's that...'

Karen closes her eyes smiling, 'No monkeys, ninjas, or pirates. She was talking about the writer Douglas Adams.'

'She could have been talking about the Doctor Who episode he wrote called Pir...' Jeff

'Someone save me, Fox?'

'Hey, a few days ago she helped me with my history homework through a discussion on one of Harry Turtledove's books. I still don't know what she meant by that though?' Fox

'I'm drowning in geek here. Is this how we are going to end the night?'

'Better than praying in a church isn't it?' Gail

'Who's praying in a church? What the Hell are you talking about?' Karen

'Sorry, too inside I guess,' Gail

'My sister is certifiable.'

'Mom and dad wouldn't approve if I was locked away.'

'Maybe if I get to a church God would give me authorization to kill you.'

Jeff turns to Fox, 'I feel like my brain has been keyed, how about you?'

'It's reference city,' Fox

'At least we didn't swipe anything from any other books. Though a few bits and pieces from book one,' Gail

'See, certifiable.'
CHAPTER 57

Hey, remember me?

I'm Coma Girl for Christ's sake and this book was supposed to star me? After my elegant introduction chapter everything just drifted around mostly about my sister and Fox. Don't get me wrong, I am happy about their renewed friendship and it even looks like a budding romance is budding but I like "me time" as much as the next well chummed ego does and more Coma Girl should equal more bucks at the register.

At least that is a theory I'm holding onto.

The story went kind of kooky at the end at the dance with this Tefnut bunch. And what did all of that business with an Oracle and Daniel mean? Maybe everyone should look it up online because I have my ideas already but I can't say for sure because that would ruin book two in this series which is suppose to be about "Coma Girl".

At least that's what I've been told.

The first draft of the next book has been written but for all I know I could be turned into a medieval field mouse in the next story.

Probably sale tons of books if that happen?

The next book needs more me though, I know that for sure, no matter what.

I need to have a little chat with the hack.

Even if we need to get a new writer to get my requests checked off that may be the course this series of stories needs to take.

Sorry, too much sugar for me today.

If you enjoyed this book, join us for, The Hillbilly Jungle, the next book in our story.

Bye for now.

I'm off to see Jeff about barrowing one of his rarer Doctor Who novels.

Gail Busiek.

AKA Coma Girl !

P.S. Don't leave yet, there is an Epilogue to follow as other stuff along with a few ads.
EPILOGUE

Melbourne, Florida

They spotted him leaving The Breakfast Café, bagel in one hand, copy of Sightings of Pulpy in the other. Just before stopping at the café he made a point of visiting one of the many Main Street used book stores. His iPad was damaged when everything went down at the Second Week Dance.

The used bookstore he visited today being his favorite of all the ones in the area. It was owned by an old conservative couple who listen to R.I.N.N. with joy as if those very to the right talking heads ever meant anything to anything logical.

Then again, the very to the left isn't much better.

The store itself was small and crammed with paperback books with shelves overflowing. A lot of people did not care for the place because it was pretty hard to find anything and was about as organized as a first graders brain. He loved that aspect of the place and felt like he was on a treasure hunter jumping into a lost city looking for small fortunes when he walked the cramped rows of the stockpile of books.

Having just received orders on what was to finally be done with their former partner, and they were walking around with beams for faces for the day, the two of them just left their holiday location of Cuba after two weeks of sun, drugs, and sex slaves on rent. Now they are well rested and ready for work.

The last time he ran into any of them was when he was in Winnipeg for a teachers retreat and that had more to do with what happen in Gabon when he was a teenager than anything else.

Two people he once worked with and has nightmares about each night he can actually sleep grabbed him in front of the hotdog restaurant on Main Street, familiar hands and voices not just because they belonged to former colleagues but also because they belonged to former lovers. Even though the touch and voices were familiar his first thought was, "I'm getting mugged" and he could hear the sound of his newly purchased items hitting the sidewalk.

Mr. Gibbons could not even believe it possibly might be anything more than a mugging, it was Florida after all, muggings happen, lots of types of mugging type activities happen, any thoughts of it being anything worse did not even cross his mind.

It was worse.

He was stupid because after what happen at the dance he should have known a player was making a move. Along with him drawing attention to himself this was bound to happen sooner or later.

The larger truth of why they had been sent after him now was that he was just no longer that immense of a threat to their overall plans and they had forgotten about him as a whole, but recently actions in the area have been activated and in a small manner his knowledge of them is a threat to their goals.

He changed sides for a lot of money from a group down the same war lines.

To the powerful people irritants like him need to disappear.

After a hit on the back of the head and being tossed into the street he looked up to see two familiar faces stalking towards him. It was Chow Curse and Angel Angelic. These two individuals are two of the most dangerous people in the world and the stuff of his nightmares as we mentioned before.

He tried to play it cool, but knew this was not good. He had just recently stopped carrying a handgun, once again stupid to him, and unless you have been attacked by an overweight white guy named Chow and a former security guard at Macy's called Angel, then you would not know how hard it is to keep "cool" in a situation such as this one.

'I see Jenny has failed you Chow.'

'See, Angel, do you see how insensitive he is to my condition? He has always been like this with my weight troubles. Now do you still think the wood chopper is a bad idea?'

Angel kicked Mr. Gibbons in the face knocking loose a few teeth.

'I just have never gone for the whole Grind House method of bodily harm. Anyways, he was always nice to me.'

Chow kicks Mr. Gibbons in the ribs knocking any thought of further wise cracks right out of him.

'But at least we would not have had to have done this in the bright of day if we had gone the chopper route.'

Angel picks Mr. Gibbons up by his hair and proceeds to body slam him on the pavement like someone right out of a pro-wrestling card.

Cars were beginning to back up on both sides of the beating as this little sadistic incident progressed.

'But the bosses want this public to send messages.'

'To who?' asked Chow.

'Chicago?' Angel shrugged.

'So I guess we will be spending more time in prison until they find replacements to die in our place?'

'Once again we are the suffers.'

Mr. Gibbons is on his hands and knees, blood dripping from his mouth and nose, looking up at his former friends, 'I hope some trigger happy cop blows both your heads off.'

Chow kneels down beside him, 'Wouldn't be the first time we've died. I seem to remember you killed us once?'

Then as Chow turned away from Mr. Gibbons, Angel pulled out a hand gun, twisted on a silencer, and shot the golf coach in the head twice as a large crowd of people watched in shock.

The silencer was totally for drama effect as this was in the view of everyone out that day for beer, hotdogs, and over priced down town shopping.

Chow turned back to look at the body as Angel put down the gun awaiting the arrival of the police. 'Angel, I just believe public executions to be vulgar.'

'This from the man who pitched the chopper idea?'

'You perceive the wrong meaning of the word vulgar.'

'Maybe, maybe. You know she must really hate this guy to have us do this to him?'

'Nay, just playing games as her type always do.'

Continued we have the

STEREO
PREFACE

If you would be so inclined to be interested

But you may ask further, in which ways is this reality different from our own.

And you may ask. No, go ahead... Go ahead! I want us to be up front with each other from the start. I do not mind a bit... ! ...Thanks for asking. Well, for starters there are no sharks in this reality. No, no sharks. The dolphins are fine, so take a breath, Flipper fans.

Plenty of whooping cranes mucking about too, but no sharks; so, the "Jaws" theme music no longer strikes the fear in the hearts of half naked women on the beaches of Maine like it once did.

Did you know Maine is the toothpick capital of the world? Good for them, it is always good to be a 'Something of the world.'

And you ask another good question about the huge reason for the sharks being extinct. Anything being extinct needs a huge reason for being so just to be interesting does it not?

And thanks again for the second question, things are moving along smoothly now.

The reason for sharks being extinct is just the same typical story of humanity acting with no respect to its surroundings. The story, as I am writing it, is like this. All sharks were killed off after a group of school children died while swimming in California. And no they did not die of indigestion. The events could also have happen in Florida, but I wanted to write California because I do not think I mention it anywhere else in the book.

I possibly should have made it Maine for a little pop culture tie-in, but I did the California thing.

To continue the extinct sharks story after another of my drug induced interruptions, a scientist genetically engineered a poison that he naively -- in a naive way scientists should not be naïve – thought it would just kill sharks off the shores of beaches. Instead it infected the entire species and wiped them all off the face of the Earth. It affected the entire ecosystem to be totally precise.

All Great Whites are dead as well as all hammerheads, and all the other kinds of sharks (which I am too lazy to do the research to find out about.. Hey, I already did research on snow globes, what more do you want.)

All sharks died out, gone, forever. The last sharks to die was the freshwater sharks of Lake Nicaragua. This punch to the ecosystem of the sea also is slowly killing off all sea life but human beings have not noticed and probably will not until it is too late to have a Discovery Channel special about it.

I could have this scientist man lynched by the PETA people if that will make all the herbivores happy. That is if PETA actually gives a shit about anything outside the eyeshot of a camera and off the runway. In truth he went on to be a very rich man who later also invented a poison that killed the Bed Bugs off little children's beds. Don't laugh: these were alien bed bugs with a taste for the blood of young children that were attracted to Earth by a new bug spray released by a chemical company that also developed chemical weapons for the military. Sort of a circle there, is it not? Or maybe not? I think I confused myself there at the end, so sorry if I did the same with you, especially you my favorite editor.

That is one way things are different. Actually several, if you count the bit about whooping cranes and Bed Bugs and maybe something else if I mentioned more up there?

Probably did but this is the second draft so I have forgotten some things from the first time around. God if I keep this up, this novella will turn into a novel, and boy will I be in trouble then because I may never shut up and it may cost me a fortune to have it published since I am probably going the self-publishing route. Some call it lazy, I call it less complicated. Why novella you may ask...or was that maybe just me hallucinating?

Well, you see by definition (at least a definition I found on the net so you know it has holy truth to it) a novella reaches a world count of around 17,500 or more. Then of course you have the novelette, which is about 7,500 words. I think I am going to end up at novella range so I will get on with it because this really has nothing to do with the story and more to do with me being really high on Nighttime PM's.

A few other ways things are different in this universe: well, more than a few. Dammit, I keep wandering around. Pay attention, writer boy.

Things are also different in ways like there was never a Gulf War. The Iraq Army was driven out of Kuwait by an unknown force The Iraqi Army called The Devil Made of Sand. Some believe it was American Special Forces units, but no proof exists to put fact to this speculation. The rest of the world has taken to believing that the Iraq Army saw the mistake they were making and ran? They saw the outcry from the international community and they changed their minds? Happens in combat a lot, I think? A small group of people in Texas believe it was an angel named Ensorcell who drove them out.

These people also believe all women are Succubus. (These people need to be walked away from slowly without making eye contact.)

With the Gulf War having never taken place, the Iraq War never came into being. The leader of the country, that Saddam guy, was killed mysteriously, and a coalition of Middle Eastern Nations now run the government and its oil fields -- supposedly with heavy influence from the United States, or under heavy threat, depends on who you talk to. The 9/11 attacks did happen, but in this reality, the United States reacted to the good will from the rest of the world by making closer ties to fight terrorism world wide and for the worldwide. Yep, he was still the President during this time but made better choices. All of creation is about choices made and not made.

Speaking of choices and wars -- and I am talking about things out of historical order here so bear with me \-- World War II ended with the help of an elite superhuman group from the Allied Nations called The Raising. Each member of the team was the national superhuman heroes of their individual countries who appeared as the first superhuman heroes did during WWI. This time their fights were not just for their countries but for the world's freedom. They united to fight against Germany and Japan who had their own superhuman soldiers.

Ten years before WWI started, twelve people, one each in as many countries, were mysteriously granted superhuman powers and a very slow aging bioinorganic chemistry.

Which is not normal in any sort of way for human beings. They hailed from America, Germany, Russia, Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, India, Egypt, Japan, China, and Scotland. The heroes that made up The Raising were Musketoon from France, Garand from America, Cardiff from Great Britain, Kitel from Russia, Yukon from Canada, and Humid from Australia.

The members of The Raising, whose identities were secret even before the war, disappeared and went underground after the war, for the most part never to be heard from again. Some say they were paid a large amount of money by their governments for their military service and retired. Others say they were forced into retirement by their own countries who had grown afraid of them. Some weird conspiracy theorists, probably from

Texas, years later would say their own governments captured them all after the war and did experiments on them to try and find out how they gained their powers. No one really knows why the disappearance of these heroes happened, but treaties were signed by many nations and between many nations banning all superhuman activities; private, domestic, and national. Although in many countries, vigilantes in costumes have appeared from time to time, with some people believing them to be members of The First Twelve or at least the descendents of those who first gained more than human abilities. More or less, the fact is, very few superhumans have been active since WWII.

A member of The Raising, Malcom Steed, who went by the code name Cardiff, is now the Prime Minister of Great Britain. No one knows of his secret past and no one would suspect him of being the orchestrator in getting laws passed banning all superhuman activity in the United Kingdom. Something happened near the end of the war that made him quit The Rising and fear all those with superhuman powers. Fear and hate.

The only superhuman who has been active, really, between the aftermath of WWII and present day 2007 is Pulpy. Pulpy is the very powerful hero who calls New York City home because New York just naturally attracts super heroes or at least it seems that way.

First appearing a few years after the end of the war, Pulpy gained the trust of many governments and was deputized by the U.S. after he held off an alien invasion almost single-handedly, and nearly died trying. The limit of his powers is unknown, and where he came from is unknown, but many governments are tracking his every movement in attempts to find out more about this very powerful alien.

The only other identified currently active superhuman hero is Dniknam Mask. And maybe "hero" is the wrong word to use when describing this sword-carrying vigilante. This whacked-out crazy in orange camouflage operates in Texas. You would have to be crazy to be a super hero there. You would have to be crazy to live there. Most who live there are, or they are heading in that direction -- toward being insane big-hats that is.

Dniknam is very violent in his actions against the criminals who cross his path, and that is needed in a state that has become one of the most violent in the country since all the pro gun laws passed a few years ago. But it is only a matter of time before this vigilantes past catches up with him.

His story I will get to in time.

But I have other stories to tell now.

For most of history this world is very much like our own, with only slight differences.

Mostly just a few superheroes flying around and causing property damage. Only one other superhuman hero is known, and he is not even human, but humanoid in appearance. But that hero, known as Knight Book, disappeared two years ago. The only friendly being from another world humanity has ever encountered. Well, the only person that humanity knows is alien and seems to be friendly.

So basically nothing really weird is different, like men having women's parts and women having men's junk. Though that would make them the same? ...but different?...different but the same...but different? Circular logic looping me into headaches creating loops. Though they taste good, maybe that is why people like them so much. I like them because they make editors sneeze.

Oh, sorry I was thinking of Amoxxicillin. Need a lunch break. Be back with the closing paragraphs sponsored by my local walk in clinic.

One other thing before the story starts that I want to mention. No one has brown eyes. So in East Mississippi a girl named Robin West, who is currently sneaking out of her house running from an abusive stepfather, and will go on one day to save the world, has purple eyes. But as so many have said so many times, and me a few times with a few more to come, that is a story for another time. Let's see if you like this book first before I start getting ahead of myself with other stories.

Let's see if I have any skills for this story telling gig but I have been told just about the only thing I am qualified for is being an urographis. Look it up...But not now! Later, take a look at the ads following this.

