“The Catalyst” Series
Chapter 1: The First Encounter
I’m deeply honored to have been granted the honor
of writing this incredibly important biography for you, my people. I consider
it a generous gift and a terrible obligation and I plan to do the best that I
can with it. I’d just like to state though that I think you may have committed
a grievous error, as I must state that I'm certainly no writer. I've tried to
wrap my head around how I can properly do the story justice but haven't been
able to convince myself of any inherent skill. About all I have going for me is
a certain familiarity. And like the subject, my familiarity had nothing to do
with any inherent talent on my part.
Anyone reading this will already know the effects
the central character has had on all of our lives. You wouldn't have been
trusted to read this without already having a vested interest in our community
and that would assure that you've already been exposed to many tales and yarns
about his many activities. Yet, for the fundamental impact he's had on so many
people all over, no one outside of our community has likely ever heard of him.
He was certainly no celebrity and he never did anything to label himself as
someone famous. In fact, he went to great lengths to make sure he never stood
out in any way other than to those he included in his life. He tried his entire
life to lead a low key life. Probably the most central thing about him was that
he never expected any of the events that soon became his life.
What I'm trying to say is that in my limited abilities
I've had real trouble properly portraying him. You'll notice the story is
primarily in the first person narrative. I tried writing it in the third person
form, and it certainly was easier to write like that and certainly explained
everyone's involvement in his life much better, but it never quite captured the
essence of his experience. I soon found myself drawn to the back to the first
person perspective because it was the only form where I could convey what was
so essentially him. That is his own sense of self depreciation and wonder that
all these things and all these people that found him so utterly fascinating. He
simply could never get over it. Even after he'd built quite a following, he was
still amazed whenever someone strange would walk up to him with this glare in
their eyes and would say something glowing about him. He never really
understood the initial attraction, the powers themselves or the potential
explanations of the source of those powers. Oh sure, he was always kept
appraised of all our theories concerning them, but he could never quite believe
that any of them were true. But then again, he could never see what any of the
rest of us could so clearly see, even if our first initial glance was our last
view of him we'd ever receive. For that we all owe the inventors of photography
a deep debt of gratitude.
You'll also notice a distinct lack of details in
this book. This was because of his own desire to avoid any sense of worship
about him. He didn't want any memorials, any kind of ceremony, any sort of
remembrance akin to Elvis's Graceland. He didn't even want anyone to remember
his birthday for fear it would become a yearly holiday after he passed away.
Again, he was so surprised by everyone's fascination with him that he simply
couldn't understand why anyone would want to lavish such attention on him. He
was, and will always be, a very low key, unassuming young man.
So here is my rendition of his life. Most of the
dialogue is, quite simply, invented by me. Most of those who followed him can
quote quite accurately a great many things he told them, word for word, but
trying to flesh out a man's life requires one to invent many things about him
in order to reveal what it is we feel necessary to convey about him. If I
misquote something about him, blame me as a poor biographer. He never gave me
much input, once again telling me that nobody would ever care about his
specific words and that anything I wanted to say would fit much better. However
I like to believe that I've captured his essence, if you'll pardon my misusing
that term that's so often used to describe him. I think I've captured what he
would've liked to have said even if I didn't capture his words exactly.
In any event, this is but one perspective of his
life, and unfortunately for me, the only one selected as his 'official'
biography. It will never have a wide readership and will certainly never be
published by an official publishing house, but I know many, many people will
keep it close to them and will read it repeatedly, trying to remember central
events or to explain to their children and grandchildren just what he
accomplished. Just keep all of that in mind when you read the misspellings and
the frequent use of repeating words.
My mind vacantly drifted as beautiful scenery floated by;
vast expanses of misty twilight waters, little shacks housing potentially proud
families, pelicans drifting by on the breeze. I glanced to my right and
observed my sister Cate, who sat studying one of her various popular science
books. Not that science is ever terribly popular, just that this was a mass
market book on science regarding DNA theory or something. My sister is a cute
kid, not really beautiful yet, still a bit awkward and bookish. She has
somewhat chubby cheeks with a nice shy smile with a gentle sprinkling of
freckles across her cheeks and nose. She also has a really big, heartwarming
smile, but her best feature is her eyes, which are large and round with an
incredibly penetrating stare. She's not very social, neither of us is actually,
but I'm simply shy. In her case she's too busy studying.
My parents, Frank and Linda Jennings, are typical parents,
always watchful and ready to comment or respond to something we do. Well, maybe
they aren't that typical after all. My father is tall and
thin, with a little paunch and a receding hairline making inroads into his
scalp on both sides leaving a little island of hair in the center of his head.
He's got a long hooked nose, a strong chin and forehead, none of which I
particularly share. I'd describe him as kind and generous but also bearing firm
and foreboding looks.
My mother is where Cate and I both get our looks. She
was beautiful when she was younger, although she's gotten a little plump during
the years due to her own excellent cooking she still retains her classic
beauty. She has the same curly, twisty hair we inherited that frames the face
so picturesquely, with a bit of a pudgy nose that curves up, beautiful little
dimples and, also like us, long, curving lashes. Like my sister, Mom started
off small chested but has since graduated to a fairly ample chest, providing
lots of cleavage when she wears a low cut dress, so at least she gives my
sister hope for the future. Cate is flat. There's no other word for it, she
just doesn't have much of a chest. Not that I have any problem with that, she
looks good as she is, with her slightly chubby cheeks, freckles and small
chest. She has a nice total package that works well for her; that is it would
if she'd use it instead of hiding behind books all the time.
As for myself, I'm Alex Jennings. I have the curling hair,
the freckles and broad nose. I don't have a smile as big as Cate, but I try.
Unlike her, I have really heavy eyebrows, but then again, maybe she just plucks
hers in secret. I seem to be unique in the family for my eyebrows. I've
also got a bit of my father's strong, pointy chin. Actually it's more pointy
than strong, which is why I still claim it isn't my father's chin. Otherwise
I'm slim, not skinny and definitely not built. I've been on the Gymnastics and
Tennis teams, but just to join something, not because I'm in any way athletic.
That's another thing we both inherited from my mother.
Both Cate and I are currently in high school. Cate is a
Junior and 16 with a relatively new driver's license whereas I'm a Senior, my
last year, 17 years old and just a month and a half away from my 18th birthday.
Guess I'll have a big birthday when it occurs, being officially a man and all,
but it'll still be awhile before I can drink. Cate is actually more than a year
and a half younger than me, but the combination of my birth date and her being
so bright meant she was only behind me by a year in school.
Anyway, the reason why I was staring at drifting pelicans
and little shacks on the water's edge was that we were nearing New Orleans where we were going to be spending our Spring Break. 'We' being Cate, my
parents and I; Cate and I were the only kids currently living at home. The trip
was kind of a send off for me as they'd told me they'd allow me this trip if I
managed to do well in my last year of high school. Yep, it's true, I was off to
college, out of the ol' homestead. I had images of coeds prancing around campus
in my little head. Whether it was true or not I didn't really care, it kept me
in a pretty good mood, even though I spent most of my time reacting badly to my
parent's inquiries.
Cate had been invited along
because she always does well. She's really bright, at least in a bookish way,
and she has a decent sense of intuition to go along with it that certainly
helps her solve whatever ungodly problems she's trying to solve. I say “ungodly” because I can't understand most of the things she gets into
in her “Advanced Studies” classes. That, plus frankly, I'm not much
of a “god fearing” soul.
Now don't get me wrong; my
parents, Frank and Linda, are decent sorts, and they certainly tried
to teach me to be respectful and to pay attention in church. But, strictly
aside from all the hundreds of scandals continually following the church around
like a puppy dog, I basically just don't buy the central premise of the whole
operation. That's right; I basically don't accept the whole concept of a
'soul'. I've never seen any indication of one, no limited proof of an
existence. The best that's offered is a couple of folk reporting seeing a
'light' when near death, but that's hardly evidence, that just means the optic
nerves start to fry when starved of oxygen. I'm being facetious of course, but
still, you get the idea. And basically, once you've given up on the simple
concept of a pre-existing soul, then the rest of the idea of a religion just
dissolves in the wind. If there's no soul, then there's no possibility of
eternity, no paternal entity watching over us, no ultimate good or evil
scheming behind our backs. Nope, the only good or evil needed is right where
it's always been, sitting inside of us, waiting for an excuse to get out.
Of course, in the current mindset
most Americans are offended by anyone who disagrees with them on anything. For
as 'All American' as they like to proclaim themselves to be, they sure don't
seem to believe in ANY of the basic American values. No, I don't mean the
'modern' American values of profits, being feared and being agreed with, but
the 'old values' like freedom of expression, religion and personal options.
In case you haven't noticed, I tend to take after my sister
in being a bit of a brainiac. I don't do it intentionally like she does, but I
read extensively and did well on my verbal SATs without really studying so I
tend to drop big words at the drop of a hat.
When I call Cate a 'brainiac' I really mean it. She's really
smart and studies hard. She's effectively skipped a year but instead of jumping
ahead she just takes various advanced studies courses, a combination of high
school advanced placement courses, a couple of courses scheduled by the school
at a local college and one self-study Internet course. Quite frankly she's
obsessed. She fashions herself as a scientific scholar, always researching,
doing projects or trying to figure things out. I guess we can blame our older
sister Becky for that. Becky's several years ahead of us, working on her post
doctorate as a medical researcher. Cate decided early on she liked what Becky was studying and it fit in with her idea of 'interesting' college plans so she sees
herself as a researcher as well.
“Well kids,” my
father's voice issued back from the driver's seat, “we're here. Get your
stuff and let's get organized.” We quickly cleaned up all of our crap from
the backseat and stowed it wherever it would fit. The hotel was an old one,
apparently somewhat recently redone so it was nice, but still 'quaint', with
rough brick walls, only a couple of blocks from the nearby casino; not that I
expected us to be able to appreciate such facilities.
Our excitement at finally being
at our destination led to quite a discussion as to what was on the agenda.
Since it had taken so long getting here, we all knew that most of the
activities would take place the next day. Dad then firmly told us that, while
we could walk along the streets and visit the park until 10 p.m., he thought
our staying any later than that would only lead us to try sneaking into a bar
for a drink. Besides, he and mom wanted to do exactly that, by themselves. That
would leave Cate and me on our own in the hotel fairly early. We all decided
easily enough to spend most of the time feasting ourselves on wonderful Cajun
cuisine, and then simply wander along the avenues watching street performers
and listening to the sounds emanating from the various bars.
After dinner we just felt like
quietly walking off some of our recent excesses. My parents had bid us adieu,
retreating to a nearby pub, so we were on our own as we started to wander towards
the hotel. While there was still a lot of activity in the streets, most of the
real activity, and the people, were all in the various bars playing variations
of Jazz and Blues. We could enjoy them, and we did, but it was kind of like
enjoying the music of a loud radio at a stoplight; it's just a bit hard to
focus when you're wandering from one storefront to the next.
At one point Cate nudged me with
her elbow and asked, “Haven't you noticed any of the
looks you've been getting since we got here?”
“What looks, are you crazy?
No one ever looks at me, I'm the most invisible person at Eldorado High School,” I protested.
“That may be, but ever since
we got here you've been getting these looks from various women. I've been
watching them. You may not have noticed but a girl always notices when the guy
she's with keeps getting looks from other girls.”
“Really? You're my sister,
you're not supposed to care who looks at me,” I told her
“Yeah, that may be, but it's
kind of an inbred trait, each female is always well aware of every other
female's interest in someone they're close to, even if it's only a close
physical proximity,” she explained.
“So, who's been looking at
me then?” I challenged her.
“I'm not going to point them
all out to you,” she told me. “First, it would be rude to point them
out, not to mention having you staring at them after I did, but the whole fun
of this kind of thing is for you to start to notice them on your own. It
shouldn't be hard, there are plenty of them.”
“Now I know you're kidding.
I don't think anyone has ever given me a second look, including the few I've
asked out on a date.”
“I know, but I'm shocked too.
At first I noticed a few people looking into our car, but I kept noticing they
weren't looking at the car, or at me, or Mom, or Dad. They were each looking at
you and it was always women. Granted, many of those looking weren't all
attractive, young high school girls, but still. It's just gotten worse while
we've been out walking the streets. At the hotel, on the way over here, in the
restaurant and while we've been wandering along, you've been getting a series
of people glancing meaningfully at you. I know you're too shy to ever do much
about it, but if you could get over yourself and recognize what's been going on
you might actually find yourself a cute spring break girlfriend or
something.”
“Yeah, as if,” I
scoffed but I was already scanning the people around us, trying to perceive
anyone who might find me attractive. I even tried to stand up a little
straighter and walk a little more 'manly'. While it wasn't Mardi Gras, the
streets were certainly crowded since it was a warm and lush evening and a
perfect Friday evening for a night on the town. As a result there were a lot of
potential female observers to consider. I tried to guess what someone
interested in me would look like.
“Don't be so obvious about
it,” Cate hissed. “Just act casually. You don't want to scare them
all away.”
“Hey, scaring attractive
people away has long been my trademark. If these women down here aren't scared
by my natural looks and personality then they aren't likely to be scared by a
simple glance back.”
That was part of the relationship
that Cate and I had. We'd frequently tease each other, I guess like most
siblings do. Ours was usually a bit more sexually inspired than most siblings I
guess, but it was something we'd started early and we'd always cloak it in
clever comments or smart word plays so our parents couldn't easily object. In
fact, we'd eventually won them over and now, as often as not, our parents were
as likely to make a ribald, off color joke at our expense as we would of each
other. We all knew it was in good fun and that we didn't mean anything by it.
We were all close enough to each other that we all knew how we felt about each
other. At least I hope we all did.
We walked a little more, although
I was a lot more conspicuous in the way I was looking around, trying to catch
anyone showing an interest in me in the act, but I did begin to notice quite a
few who seemed to be more than a bit interested in me. Most would look
away, embarrassed when I'd glance at them, but a few would steal second or even
third glances after that. I tried smiling at a few but usually got weak, unsure
smiles in return. Mostly they just seemed shy and uncertain so I wasn't' about
to force the issue by trying to walk up to one and start a conversation.
We wandered along a bit further,
with me still glancing around to see if I saw anyone looking at me, when
suddenly there was the sound of hurried footsteps behind us.
“Please Sir, please stop.
I've got to...” came an abbreviated greeting from behind us.
Turning, I saw this attractive,
older black woman. Older being relative due to the fact I was still a teenager
and considered anything over 18 as ancient! Anyway, she was rushing up to us a
bit out of breath from running. She was relatively light skinned, her hair
fairly fine and done in a short, ironed hair bob. She was a bit heavier set
than most of my thin classmates, but not as heavy as the other, inactive
classmates around the school. All in all, she had some relatively nice curves.
However, she was on us before I could observe anything else about her.
As she reached us she looked up
at me and our eyes met for the first time and suddenly she just stopped and her
head jerked back like someone had just slapped her and her knees seemed to grow
weak and she weaved a bit like she might fall down. I immediately leapt
forward, always being the perfect gentleman even if no one had ever shown the
least bit of appreciation for such behavior. Well, aside from Cate and my
mother that is. They both seemed to think women should fawn over me because I
was such a gentleman but I guess women had their own idea on that subject.
I ran up to her and tried to
catch her but she put her arms out, waving them back and forth a bit. “No,
no,” she stated unsteadily, “I'm OK. Just give me a second to get
used to this.”
I glanced at Cate and she had no
more idea what this woman was referring to than I did. For some reason she was
shielding her eyes and wouldn't look at me, although she kept glancing at
everyone and everything around us. She'd just look at someone and stare, wide
eyes for several seconds without regard to what they'd think about such
behavior before she'd shake her head and look at the next person in a similar
manner. I was beginning to wonder just who this off person was and even if she'd
been speaking to us when she'd called out a minute ago.
“I... I just need a few
seconds to adjust. I don't really know what this gift you've given me is, or
what any of it means. I knew you would affect me and my life in a very personal
way but I had no idea you'd affect it as directly as giving me visions,” she stated. This time it was I who had to shake my head.
“I have no idea what you're
talking about lady,” I protested, “I haven't done anything to you or
even seen you before. There's no reason I would have done anything to you and
I'm not the kind of person to do something to someone I don't even know.”
She immediately stepped forward
and dropped to her knees right at my feet and threw her arms around my legs. I
would have stepped back defensively, as one normally does when one invades
their personal space, but had no way to do so with my legs entrapped. She
didn't look up at me, but started wailing at me.
“Master, Master, please.
What can I do to serve you, Master?” this crazy woman started crying to
me. Now I knew she was crazy as a bat and was beginning to have my doubts about
all the others who'd been looking at me recently.
“What?” I brilliantly
responded, completely befuddled by the onslaught. I didn't know whether to
laugh or cry or simply run away from her.
“Master, Angel, Saint; I don't know what you are, but I'm here to serve you. You've opened my eyes and
let me see a completely new world; I never imagined it could be so beautiful or
wonderful. You've got to tell me what to do with it!” she insisted,
pleading with me and glancing up at me but without ever meeting my eyes, mostly
simply looking down at my feet as she continued to cling to my legs.
I wanted to yell at her to cease
and desist from any more strange behavior, but before I could even think of any
way of stating such a sentiment in an open forum she recoiled from me, never
letting go of the tight hold she had of my legs.
“I understand,” she
stated, head bowed before me. “I won't embarrass you,” she continued
more quietly this time, “just tell me what I'm supposed to do.”
“Excuse me, miss,” interrupted my sister, kneeling down beside the distraught woman, “but I
think you're mistaking my brother for someone else. He's never met you, he's
never been here before, and he's never given you anything or done anything for
you.”
“No, no, I can see who, or
rather what he is. There's no mistaking an Angel. I could feel his presence
from blocks away. He's the one that awakened my vision. He's the one that's
changed my life,” she continued to rant, although more quietly than
before, still tightly grasping my leg in one arm while she used the other to
gesture wildly to my sister.
Pausing to take all this in, my
sister remained quiet despite the stranger's awaiting a reply, but before she
could start ranting again Cate placed her hand under her chin and lifted her
face up to examine it. The woman let her do so; shifting her head away from me
and squinting, as if it were painful for her to look at me.
“You look normal,” Cate
stated to both the woman and I in her typical, analytical style, examining the
woman just like a bug under a microscope. “Your eyes aren't dilated and
you're speaking sensibly enough despite saying some senseless things. I'm not
sure what you have in your head about my brother Alex but he's just an average
kid here on vacation. He hasn't done anything to you. If you can discuss this
rationally then we'll humor you for a bit, but...” she let her voice trail
off with the implied threat that we'd only entertain her for so long before
we'd either have to leave or call for some help.
“Alex!” whispered the
strange woman at my feet, as if amazed by my very name. I quickly looked about,
noticing a quickly amassing collection of onlookers.
“Yes, that's Alex and I'm his sister Cate. Please, can we help you get up? I'm sorry, but kneeling at my
brother's feet, calling him 'Master' in the middle of the French Quarter is,
frankly, kinda freakin' me and everyone else out.”
“Oh. Oh, I'm sorry,” the woman replied, suddenly struggling to stand up, all without moving away
from me at all. Instead she moved her hands away from my legs to grasp my hips
to help herself stand without backing up.
“I have no desire to cause
any trouble for either of you, it's just that I had to find you. I was at a
dinner with a few business associates and we were preparing to leave when I
felt you nearby. I don't know how but I knew just where you were, despite my
being indoors and you're being a few blocks away, I could track you as you
walked away from me. I followed as quickly as I could, afraid I'd lose track of
you before I could reach you. It helped that I could feel you and didn't need
to see you but, what with all the traffic, I was afraid I'd lose you.”
“Yes, yes,” stated
Cate, in a calming, almost purring voice, attempting to placate the crazy lady
that was now standing beside me, “that's all very nice. But who the hell
ARE you?”
“Oh, I'm sorry. That was so
rude of me. My mother would be ashamed; to behave so badly, especially before
someone so important.”
“I'm not import...” I
began, feeling a bit overwhelmed at all the talk of my being her master and a
possible angel. It was very unnerving I'll tell you.
“My name is Shaniqua Sharp.
That's 'Shaniqua' with a 'Q'. I'm sorry to embarrass you, but I just didn't
know how to address someone like you. You're too magnificent for words,” she finished off, almost whispering the words, eyes still downcast, almost
closed as if she were ashamed by my wonder or some other nonsense.
“Please,” I finally
managed to gather the wits enough to respond, “Let's get out of the street
where we can discuss this. I'm certainly not an angel. I'm just an average high
school student on spring break with his family.” I was watching a one-man
band walking by, loudly playing cymbals, blowing a horn, playing the harmonica
and playing a guitar. HE was attracting less attention than we were!
“Do you happen to know of
any place nearby where we can talk quietly?” Cate inquired.
“Yes, yes I do. Follow me
and I'll show you.” With that she disengaged herself from me and set off
like a woman with a mission, having to stop a dozen steps away to make sure we
were still following her. We both hurried to keep up with Shaniqua with a 'Q'
as she led us down the crowded street, away from the curiously gawking crowd
that had formed around us. I noticed several women staring at me now, but had
no of knowing if it was a result of that scene or whether they thought I was cute.
Guess there's no worrying about it now.
She led us to a small set-aside
that housed a tiny combination coffee/shake shop and pushed to the back where
all the tables were taken but positioned us so we could all stand along a
counter. The music from the nearby Jazz clubs reverberated through the walls,
but it wasn't so loud that you had to actually shout to be heard. We all
gathered ourselves, though no one took any effort to think about anything as
pedestrian as getting something to drink, we were all too fascinated by the
recent strange events to go anywhere.
I took a moment to regard this strange woman who had so
unexpectedly entered our lives. When I said she was older I really meant that
she older in relation to the two of us. She was actually relatively young,
clearly an adult but apparently only in her mid to late 20s or early 30s. I
certainly wouldn't mind being seen with her. She had full lips, a noticeable
gap between her front teeth and fine straight hair. But she had absolutely
beautiful skin with perfectly fine pores that made her skin look like creamy
silk that you just wanted to run your hands across. Cate had nice skin, the key
word being “nice". There wasn't anything wrong with my sister's skin,
but it simply didn't shine like this woman's did.
She also had large, deep set eyes that showed a keen insight
and seemed to reflect an inner truth and honesty, though I was sure I just
imagined that because how do you see inner truth and honesty?
“So, you say you felt drawn
to my brother despite you've never having seen him?” asked Cate.
“Yeah, it was unlike
anything I've ever experienced before,” she explained. “Somehow I
just felt this strong, powerful presence and when I stopped I could feel
exactly where it was in space and distance from me even though I was indoors
and couldn't see anything beyond the nearby walls.”
She continued on, without needing
any prompting, apparently discussing my other worldly properties seemed like a
fascinating topic for them to discuss. “Then, when I ran up to him and I called
out, you both stopped and, in that moment when our eyes met...” Her voice
simply trailed off at this point as if she were lost in the memory of it,
despite its only having just occurred. Both Cate and I were dying to hear just
what had triggered this strange event so Cate prompted her, “What happened
then?”
“I thought at first that it
was a dream, a vision or something but it wasn't really a dream. It was a
revelation. The moment our eyes met I saw this blinding flash and suddenly the
whole world changed. In an instant I saw the world in ways I had never seen it
before. I saw colors and images I never imagined. Everything had a new color. I
guess 'color' is a bad word, but I don't know how to describe it. It's like
describing a beautiful musical score to a deaf person, or describing a
wonderful perfume to someone who had never been able to smell. It completely
filled my soul with wonder and I instantly knew that my life was forever
changed.”
“Please,” I quietly
begged, “let's not get carried away. It can't be that wonderf...”
“Oh no,” she quickly
replied, briefly turning to face me before quickly averting her eyes again. “If anything my words are only a poor imitation of the wonders my life is
now filled with. It's as if the blind could see. It's like Helen Keller must have felt when she suddenly understood that those motions in her hand were
concepts. It's like you've spent your whole life with only 5 senses, never
knowing you were missing anything, then someone gives you a 6th and suddenly
the world is brand new. This new thing, you can't get enough of, yet don't know
anything about.”
“Whew,” I whistled,
overwhelmed by the intensity of the whole presentation.
“I'm curious Shan...
Shanita?"
“No, no, it's Shaniqua,
spelled with a 'Q'. 'S', 'h', 'a',...” she went on as she spelled out her
name. Finally my sister got it.
“Shaniqua? That's
right?” she asked again, pronouncing it slowly. Cate hated to get basic
things like pronunciation wrong.
“Yes, that's very
good,” Shaniqua replied, though I thought to myself, no, it would have
been good if she had heard it the first time, but luckily I didn't say anything
to anyone. However Shaniqua shyly lifted her downcast eyes at me a little, as
if to hint at some kind of meaning with that minimal motion.
“So when Alex first looked into your eyes you started seeing these... colors?” Cate asked
hesitantly, still not able to wrap her mind around the idea and asking for a
more definitive statement from her subject, again reacting more like a
scientist in her lab than a girl taking to an adult woman.
“No, colors doesn't do it
justice,” Shaniqua explained. “It's like I'm seeing the energy inside
of things. As far as I've been able to figure out, and it's only been a few
minutes I've been seeing these things, it seems to surround everyone and also a
smaller glow around plants and things. I expect it’ll show up with animals as
well. It seems to reflect a life energy of some sort. Except each one is
unique, each person has a different glow, a different color if you will, but
surrounding this central glow there's this constant dance of colors all around
them. I have no idea what any of it signifies but it's all fascinating to
watch.”
“So it's like you're seeing
people's auras?” Cate ventured.
“Yeah, that seems like a
good description of it, it's like I can see their life energy reflected in an
aura surround them. I know there's some significance to these displays but I
can't even begin to guess what it might be. I was hoping you'd be able to tell
me, but you seem as surprised by it all as I do,” she told us, seeming to
trust speaking to Cate more than I. I still had no idea how to deal with the
whole thing so I just sat silently and tried to take it all in. I still thought
she was certifiable myself.
“So I guess that was what
made you react like you did. When Alex first looked at you, you wheeled back
like you'd been slapped or something,” Cate told her, trying to establish
exactly what had happened when. It was clear she was examining the whole
occurrence as a big, real life science experiment rather than a simple deranged
woman talking nonsense to us.
“Yeah, that's right,” Shaniqua explained. “I reacted to the bright light by pulling back. I'm
not sure what the light was. I thought at first it was simply Alex. I don't seem to be able to see him. Just like I told you, everyone seems to have their
own glow or aura about them, but Alex, just like I expected, has so much power
inside of him that his aura shines like a beacon, almost like a huge spotlight
shining straight into your eyes. Except that first vision seemed more like
something else, like maybe he did something to my eyes or my brain or something
and it kind of knocked me silly for a few seconds."
“Wait, wait, I've got to get
this all down,” Cate stated excitedly, reaching into the handbag she
always carried around with her that she always kept her ever ready art supplies
in so she could draw whenever the mood struck her. She pulled out a new
notebook - I've never figured out why a girl like my sister would carry around
science notebooks when most girls carry cell phones but I guess that's just her
- and immediately started taking notes and trying to document Shaniqua's crazy
ramblings.
“So you can't actually look
at him?” she asked as she began to catch up on her writings. “That's
the reason why you keep shielding your eyes and squinting whenever you look at
him?”
“Yeah, ever since he
awakened this new vision in me all I can see is this bright glare whenever I
look at him. If you think of it in terms of a person's life force, then most
people have a slight glow surrounding them, but your brother's is like a
beacon, calling in everyone around him. I could tell he was powerful when I
felt him in the restaurant and I just knew I had to reach him because he was
going to affect my life somehow, but I had no idea what he'd manage to do to
me,” Shaniqua explained. I hated to give her credit, but Cate was right,
this woman was well reasoned, spoke quite sensibly and told a reliable and
highly detailed story. I was almost willing to believe what she was telling us.
I would have except I was there and I'd had no part in anything she was
describing.
“Hold on, hold on,” Cate insisted as she jotted rapidly in her notebook, trying to capture every
damn detail.
“You could feel him...
through buildings, and his aura is so bright you can't look at him?” Cate
asked, trying to flesh out the details in her damn notebook.
“Yes. His brilliance is
overpowering. That's why I can't look at him. It's just too bright. I can
hardly make out what you look like because you're standing next to him,” she stated. Personally I found all of this a bit too fantastical to believe, things
like this just don't happen!
“Brilliance?” I
queried.
“I don't know if that's the
proper word for it. Aura seems like a better word but it just doesn't' describe
quite how much stronger yours is than anyone else's. Since you first looked at
me, I can see multicolored auras around people and certain living things.
However, yours is so strong that it's like a super bright floodlight. It completely
overwhelms the senses, at least my new senses anyway, as it doesn't seem to
affect anyone else. How they can stand under its sheer intensity is
unfathomable,” she told us, unable to comprehend how everyone didn't see
the things she thought she was seeing.
She gently touched the side of my
face, “Although I got a brief glimpse of you, I can't make out any details
of your face now. All I remember is you're light skinned, without much sun
exposure, wearing a bit of stubble with a cute little bookish look. I love the
little flowing bang you have with that unique curl, it gives you an almost
magical appearance. And I remember the heavy brows now that I can feel them as
well. Alas,” she sighed, “it's all lost to me now, as all I see is a
bright light.”
“You're very well spoken
Shaniqua. Have you had a lot of education?” asked my sister, quite
conversationally, ignoring the outrageous conversation going on at the
moment.
“Yes, quite a bit. My family
comes from Jamaica. Unlike a lot of Jamaican immigrants, my grandmother was
from a fairly well-to-do family, so we were all raised with certain
expectations concerning comportment and education.”
I'll admit it. I giggled a
little. I'm so used to silly self-absorbed high school kids that suddenly
finding someone so well spoken, that wasn't afraid to sound smart and actually
took immense pride in it, left me feeling insecure about my own feelings of
self worth.
“In fact,” she went on,
as if the prior discussion had never taken place, finally warming up to talking
to us as two fellow human beings and not a mythical angel and his sidekick
sister, “my roots go back to the early days of the Jamaican Revolution. My
ancestor was Samuel Sharpe. We've changed the name generations ago but he was
an early preacher in Jamaica and taught the various slaves. When he led them in
a general strike against some plantation owners, a riot broke out and the
British authorities reacted badly. Those actions eventually led to the end of
slavery in Jamaica. My family thinks we have some Carib Indian blood in us.
They were very warlike, and couldn't be kept in captivity because they didn't
know what it was. They thought that if they were captives today, then they'd be
captives forever, and would just die. However, it's that intense fighting spirit
that filled my ancestor with such strength, and that my family hopes still
infuses us; that it will carry us through anything we encounter.”
Shaniqua was clearly very proud
of her history and you could tell that her quick description was refined and abbreviated
over the years through repeated retellings. The fact that she was so highly
educated, so proud and had such a strong family background seemed to run
counter to the crazy-assed things she was telling us just moments ago.
“Anyway,” she
continued, “that's my history. So, you're really both still in High
School? Wow, that's amazing. So, you don't know any more about this than I do?
I'm like your first disciple?”
“Uh... look, I don't mean to
rain on your parade or anything, but I don't quite buy into this idea of my
representing angels or anything, and any parallel to collecting followers like Jesus did is just wrong. I have no idea what you think you're seeing, but I
certainly didn't do anything to allow you to 'see the world' in any new ways.
I'm just ordinary. I'm average. I've never done anything spectacular in my
short life,” I protested, still trying to keep my distance, despite her
constantly clinging to me and the loud background noises washing over us.
“He's really humble, isn't
he?” Shaniqua asked my sister, smirking at her
about me.
“Yeah, he's always been like
that. He hardly talks to anyone, but he's bright and has great grades. He seems
to lack motivation, which our mother blames on his own self imposed isolation.
There's no getting him to admit he can do anything.
“Again, getting back to the
topic at hand,” Cate interrupted herself. “I was curious, when you
first threw your arms around Alex, you shank back unexpectantly, much like when
he first looked at you. Was that a similar occurrence?”
“Oh no,” she informed
her, “That was when he told me to cease and desist. That's why I tried so
hard to calm down and not make a scene."
“Really?” Cate asked
her quizzically. “He didn't say a word. I was right there beside both of
you and he never said a thing.”
“No silly,” Shaniqua
laughed easily, as if what Cate was saying didn't amount to a hill of beans, “he spoke in my mind. He told me to be quiet and so I knew I'd better stop
making a spectacle of myself.”
“He spoke in your
mind?” Cate asked, quite unbelievably.
“Yeah,” Shaniqua
explained, “It didn't surprise me because I knew he had all kinds of
unexpected powers. Someone as powerful as he is wouldn't be expected to behave
according to the normal laws of physics.”
Cate turned and looked at me. “This is just crazy Alex, did you actually say something to her?”
I was about to protest that it
WAS crazy, but then I remembered the event, still crystal clear in my mind.
“Actually, that was exactly
what I was thinking at the time, but I didn't try to think it at her or put it
in her mind or anything like that.”
“Wow! So this is some innate
ability Alex just seems to have,” Cate stated, seemingly in awe about a
fictional power I clearly didn't have.
“I don't speak to people in
their minds,” I protested.
“Telepathically,” Cate
offered, in a completely unhelpful manner, “You don't speak to them
telepathically.”
“Right, I don't speak
telepathically to anyone. Look how long you've known me, have I ever spoken to
you or anyone around us telepathically before?” Cate sat and thought it
out logically, which is what I'd been hoping she'd do. I knew she'd see that
this was all too farfetched to be believed.
“No, but maybe there's more
to it than that. Maybe you had to trigger something in someone to do it. Maybe
whatever you did to Shaniqua enabled her to receive your telepathic
messages?”
“That's just crazy Cate,
there's no...”
“You know, I thought he was
going to change my life immensely when I first felt him. I had no clue how he
was going to do it but I could tell he had an incredible amount of...”
“Excuse me ladies, but let's
get this little fantasy factory under control,” I protested. “Shit!
You're talking about mind reading sis,” I gasped. Now I didn't have
problems with a single crazy individual but two, as my sister joined her in her
insanity. How could my otherwise intelligent sister, immersed in the whole of
scientific principal honestly expect us to believe anything as wacked out as
this whole crock of shit?
“There's no way I could do
what you're describing. It's just not physically possible, Cate,” I argued
with her, my mind reeling at the insanity of it all. “Mind reading is like
amnesia in Soap Operas. It's popular in stories and fantasy, but it has no
bearing on reality. I mean, if there was any 'telepathy', then there'd have to
be some kind of radio waves being broadcast from my head to hers.”
“You've got a point
there,” she conceded. “Luckily you've got a good scientifically
minded sister, plus another sister with access to medical research equipment we
might be able to use to test that theory out. I think I may have discovered my
academic calling. I can see the Nobel prize options in the offing.” She
was just soooo proud of herself at that moment.
“Just wait a minute
Cate,” I warned, “I'm not sure I want you experimenting on me. Not to
mention, if what you're saying is true, wouldn't we both be in a whole lot of
danger because of it? If word got out I mean.”
“What danger? You
communicate with one other person. Sure, maybe you could cheat in a single
poker game with one other person at the table, but you can hardly read minds.
You're the equivalent of a mobile phone, though to only a single person at a
very limited distance. If there were more of you, they might put you to use
like they put Native Americans to work during WWII, but that's about the extent
of your usefulness to anyone.”
“Still,” I hedged,
trying as much to protect my fears as anything, “we shouldn't tell anyone
about this until we know it's safe.”
“Granted,” she
acknowledged. “We'll keep it under wraps. After all, we don't even know if
it's real yet. It's just a crazy, cockamamie idea at the moment.
However...” she teased, drawing the word out in a lilting tune, indicating
there was more to come. I was afraid to hear what it might be, although I was
equally as intrigued by it.
“We could do a little
'experiment' right here,” she suggested.
“What kind of
experiment?” asked Shaniqua, finally breaking the silence she'd held
throughout this whole diatribe of Cate's.
“Here,” she began. She
grabbed her backpack again and began riffling through it, finally coming up
with her sketchbook and two pencils. She opened up her precious sketchbook and
tore out a couple of sheets, handing me a single sheet of paper and a pencil.
“Now,” Cate continued,
seemingly intent on whatever it was she had planned. However, she pulled up
short.
“Shit,” she whispered,
a habit we both shared due to my mother's influence on our use of profane
language. “We can't do this without an outside, independent assistant. Oh
hell,” she temporized, “we'll just do it with us. Course, we may have
to do it again at some point to make it 'authentic', but it'll give us an idea
if my thoughts are correct or not.”
I took the sheet and looked at it
in confusion.
“Just stay here and hold
onto the sheet. Write down any sudden things that might pop into your head,
whether they're words, concepts or just images. Just don't write down 'Hot
girl, Want sex',” she warned me, giggling, which Shaniqua joined her in. “Try to keep it to things other than random synaptic
firings.” She grinned teasingly at me as she led our new friend across the
room and eventually out the door of the establishment.
I waited patiently, though it's
hard being patient when you are expecting something you don't know is coming or
not. I felt especially awkward standing there all alone, without a drink in my
hand, taking up enough space for three people. I was getting ready to walk over
to the service counter when suddenly some thoughts just popped into my head.
The numbers 9 and 13 were there. Not as numbers though, just the knowledge of
those amounts along with a questioning sense. I thought such an uncertain
response was strange, when Shaniqua claimed she had received such a clear
statement but I decided to go with the flow, whatever that was.
Damn, I thought, it's a question
about 9 and 13. What would Cate want to know about 9 and 13? Which is greater?
What's 9 + 13? What's 9 times 13? What's 9 to the thirteenth power? Nah, that's
just too far out. Cate would want an answer I knew off the top of my head. I
thought about each option for a second until I felt secure about one of them
and hoped it was the right answer. I quickly wrote 'What's 9 times 13?' on the
sketch paper and jotted the date and time beside it since I knew about my sister's
obsessions with her silly scientific principles. Then I tried the harder task,
I thought of the answer, '117'. It took a bit, I tried a variety of ways of
'thinking' it, and suddenly got a sense that it worked. Just like that.
I waited again, this time getting
quite excited, and again being frustrated that it seemed to take forever since
I was waiting so anxiously, when again I was suddenly struck with a response.
This time I got a questioning feeling along with a brief flash of red, but
couldn't figure out anything else. Figuring I missed something I tried to think
my confusion back, unsure if it would work, as I was unsure if any of this was
working, but making sure to jot times down as I was doing so. I knew Cate would be pissed at me if I forgot her protocols.
A moment later I imagined a rainbow in my mind and hoping it wasn't just random
neurons firing in my brain, guessed at the question and immediately wrote down
'yellow'. Well, to be truthful, it took me a few moments to remember what color
came next, not being an artist like Cate the answer wasn't quite as easy for
me, but I'd played around with Photoshop on the computer enough to remember the
basic color spectrum fairly well.
I started to force a response,
but noticed I was puckering my lips in an odd way and wrinkling my forehead and
thought I must look an odd sight and would certainly attract attention that
way, so I forced myself to relax and tried to do what I'd just done as simply
as I could. Again, I was met with a feeling of having succeeded, although I
really had no way of knowing if it was true or not.
Again, I waited anxiously for
another message to appear, but was beginning to grow nervous again when the two
girls came walking into the store, giggling at east other like lifelong friends.
“Well, it worked Alex,” Cate enthused, grinning wildly at her victory. “Wait here with Shaniqua while
I go buy us some victory juices. I think this deserves some celebrations. Nobel
prize here I come!” She walked off proudly, smiling the whole way. At this
point her new compatriot snuggled up against my chest and smiled, although it
was made difficult by the fact she still couldn't look directly at me.
“See Alex,” she cooed
teasingly, “I told you you're anything but 'average'. How many other
teenagers can read minds, draw people to them who can sense them, sight unseen,
or who have the ability to grant people with new abilities they've never had
before?” She had me there. I'd have trouble trying to pretend I was
nothing special from now on. Still, the thought I might be 'special' scared me;
quite a bit actually.
“I think we should be
careful throwing words like that around in a public environment,” I
whispered to her.
“Ha, I doubt there's enough
sobriety in here for anyone to notice anything we're saying. Still, you have a
point. But, you're whispering is just as telling as anything I'm saying.” She grinned at me, knowing she had a valid point. She let that thought soak in
for a moment then rubbed her chest against me as I stood against the counter
with her leaning against me.
“Now, what kind of things
can you think of for me to possibly repay you for what you've managed to do for
me?” she whispered sexily, with a low, throaty whisper that sent shivers
up my spine. I could feel her nipples pressing into my chest, despite the
layers of clothes between us. It was then that I suddenly noticed her clothing.
In all the strange excitement before a matter as minor as her clothing just
hadn't registered. However, now with her rubbing her large breasts up against me
it was suddenly very important to me.
I was wearing the typical Spring
Break attire. Namely a simple patterned t-shirt and loose, very short shorts.
It was much warmer here than in Southern Illinois where we lived, and, despite
it still being fairly chilly for it, I was anxious for the chance to shed some
clothes for the thought of potential warm sun. My companion, however, was
dressed much finer than I. She was wearing a light, multicolored, wildly
patterned sundress. It rose to just above her knees and was relatively
low cut. I could see a fair amount of cleavage, and it was certainly a sight to
behold. She certainly had more of it than most of my female classmates did.
I also noticed she was wearing a
nice perfume. Having had almost no experience with perfumes, other than various
flavored ChapSticks and some cheap varieties worn by my past girlfriend, I had
no basis to judge its relative merits, but it certainly seemed to enhance her
appeal. I really wanted to look into her eyes, but again she was unable to
bring them up to look at me, instead looking down in an apparent submissive
pose that matched her earlier attempts to call me her master.
Her hand found my hip and ran
along it, just grazing it lightly enough to again bring up goose bumps on my
flesh; mostly the flesh of my arms and stomach and of certain other things, or
thing. She pressed even more firmly against me, which I really had no problems
with, but didn't quite know how to respond to, so in reticent instinct I tried
to back up, only to be blocked by the wall, while she slowly ground her summer
dress covered crotch against my rising erection.
“I might be able to think of
a thing or two,” she continued to whisper to me, making me frantically try
to recall what she was referring to; all my recent thoughts having already
erased a simple comment from just moments ago. I guess that's the penalty of
trying to think with a tiny head. “Just think of what other powers we
might discover if we got our minds thinking of the same thing at the same time?” Jeez, she was getting me too hot to think. Despite my insecurity, and my fear
of adults, I felt my hands moving of their own accord and they slid around her
waist and I slowly leaned forward to hopefully press my lips against hers.
“Hey you two, get a
room,” called Cate, completely destroying the mood. I jerked my head back
guiltily, hitting it against the wall in my haste. My co-conspirator
didn't retreat at all, she simply giggled at my apparent discomfort.
“He's so cute,” she
laughed. “Is he blushing? I can almost feel the heat of his blush from
here.”
“Oh, he's soooooo
blushing,” my sister laughingly replied, as she handed me a frozen
concoction of some sort. The one she handed to Shaniqua ended up being gently
rubbed against my naked arm, which you'd think would be anything but sexy, but
it still was somehow. I shivered delightedly as my head grew light with
excitement.
“So Shaniqua,” Cate
started off, completely ignoring the fact that her new friend was about to
seduce her brother right in front of her. I just hoped I could keep from
blowing up before we even got out of the little juice bar. “How do you
reconcile being a proud, educated, I'll assume professional woman with
prostrating your body before a teenager and calling him 'Massa'?” How she
managed to say all that with a straight face I'll never know.
“Technically,” Shaniqua
answered, without seeming to be offended by the term, “I never called him
'Massa'. But, let's face it, when faced with the divine, you do what you gotta
do.”
“Now wait one...”
“No one's talking to you
stud muffin,” they both managed to answer at the same time before breaking
into giggles. How they arranged that I can't guess, but they probably started
out on the street. I shut up as I recommenced blushing furiously again.
“Seriously though, doesn't
the age thing bother you?”
“Well, it's a little hard to
think of him as that young. I really can't see his face at all, and as for the
legality of it, I see him as existing on a whole separate plane than the rest
of us. Just think, if Jesus were to come down to Earth again, and give you a
beautiful gift; say raising you from the dead or something, what would you be
willing to do in return?”
“You've got a point
there,” Cate responded. “So how does this all relate to your ideas on
religion? You know, my silly brother doesn't even believe in God.”
“You know, my entire world
has just been turned upside down. Right now I couldn't tell you what direction
'up' is, much less evaluate what's 'true' when I found out my entire world was
just a lie.”
“Don't let me influence
your...”
Shaniqua just kept on talking
despite my attempts to interrupt. “Personally, Alex seems to be the only
person in the world who can help me navigate this new world I find myself in.
He doesn't believe in himself at the moment, probably based on his insecurity
in himself and his maturity, but I figure I've gotten in on the ground floor of
something earth shattering, and I have a feeling he's going to be the one to
teach me whatever I need to know to get by in this new world.”
“I think I agree with you,
even knowing nothing about it and not being able to see his 'glow'.” Cate
laughed again at her own humor.
“Anyway,” she hedged, “we're going to have to be getting back before too long, as I don't doubt
my mother may call to check up on us and make sure we're in the hotel room.
What about you? Do you have work tomorrow? It's Saturday after all.”
“No, I'm finished with work
for the week. I work in HR, that's Human Resources if you're not familiar with
it. But with all that's happening, I'm tempted to just up and quit. This is
certainly much more important than filling in some company paperwork.”
“No way!” I insisted. “Look, whatever we have going here, I don't think it's going to pay many
bills, much less pay for all the research that Cate is salivating over. I think
keeping your job makes a lot of sense.”
“Don't forget about Becky,” Cate reminded me. “You know she's going to want a piece of my Nobel, plus
she's the one with the resources and the degree.” I rolled my eyes at this
additional information, hopefully letting my sister know I really didn't need
that kind of help at the moment. However Shaniqua jumped in, ignoring Cate's
interjection.
“That makes sense,” she
responded. “You two won't be independent for a while. When do you graduate
Alex? And what are your college plans?”
“I graduate in June and I start at SIU in September. I'm 17 by the way, soon to hit 18 in a bit over a month
while Cate's still 16. While Cate's obviously interested in science, I'm
thinking Design, but I'm thinking it might have a limited future with the way
publishing is going.”
“Given the events of
tonight, are you sure you want to continue with Design? Wouldn't focusing on
something related to this new discovery make more sense?” Cate suggested.
“Cate, I have no idea what
the 'events of tonight' are. I don't know if this is a onetime thing. I don't
know how long it will last. I don't even know that I'm not imagining it all
right now. At the moment, I have no idea what to think. Personally I think
tomorrow morning I'm going to wake up terrified and run off screaming.”
“You both have plenty of
time to think about it. By the way, how long are we staying here?”
“What, here in this
restaurant?” Cate asked, although the meaning was pretty clear.
“No silly, here in New Orleans. When are we all returning to wherever you live?”
I actually choked at this and
doubled over I was hacking so hard. I had a hard time catching my breath. Both
girls immediately came to my aid, leading to a lengthy pause. Finally
straightening up, I managed to gasp out a reply.
“What?” It wasn't much
of a coherent reply, but it was better than choking. I couldn't believe I'd
heard what I thought I'd just heard.
“There's no point in me
staying here. My new world is wherever you're at Alex. I can find a job
wherever you are,” Shaniqua explained quite patiently, as if explaining
simple facts to a very slow individual.
“But... you can't give up
your life. I'm... I'm not ready for something like that. Shit, I haven't even
had a serious girlfriend yet and you're talking about moving to live near
me.”
“But I'm starting a whole
new life and you're going to be the central influence in it. You're going to
guide me as I learn about it, and we'll all learn what's going on together. But
I'm convinced that you're the central figure controlling what's going on. So,
where ever you go, I go,” she stated simply and calmly, boding no
objections.
“But... but...”
“My brother, ever the
linguist,” giggled Cate.
“Hmmm, I don't know how
cunning a linguist he is, but I plan to put him to the test soon.” They
both laughed extensively at the clearly overused and tired old joke. Personally
though, I was too busy having a major heart attack at the implications to be
able to respond in kind. I actually stumbled a bit I was gasping so
desperately. All thoughts of Shaniqua's breasts pressing against my chest were
completely forgotten.
“I think I'm going to have
to 'expand his horizons' before he's going to be able to cope with
this.” Shaniqua grinned at me like a cougar advancing on a
frightened rabbit.
“Yeah, it looks like
it,” replied my sister, grinning like a little banshee.