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“The Catalyst” Series | ||||
| “Touring Under Pressure” | |||||
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Crumbly Writer
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12: Adapting to Circumstances
“Holy Shit, Cate, what the fuck did you do?” Gail demanded as she grabbed Alex, physically shoving Cate aside. She laid him out flat, checking his pulse, and then turned to the shocked onlookers.
“Georgia, put down the food. Now’s no time to fuck around. Bring a soda, he’s in no shape to eat anything at the moment.”
Georgia jumped, quickly grabbed a Coke from the items Cate had set aside earlier.
“Is he going to be OK,” Leanna asked anxiously.
“Hopefully. I have no idea what Cate was trying to prove, but what she did was incredibly stupid,” she answered as she tried to dribble the soda into Alex’s mouth while simultaneously holding him down. “She knows he has trouble, and she purposely set him up to fail just so she could prove a point.”
“I wasn’t proving a point,” Cate answered in a quiet voice. “It was something I had to establi—”
“Face it,” Gail hissed at her. “You fucked up. If you’d really been serious about this, you would have warned us.”
“Should we call an ambulance?” Georgia asked.
Both Cate and Gail responded immediately.
“No,” Gail insisted, loudly enough to drown out Cate’s weaker but no less impassioned response. “They’ve never seen this before, and they’d try to keep him for hours and run every test under the sun. All he needs is to eat and rest, and he won’t be able to do that while the EMTs are wrapping him up and transporting him. No outsiders,” she insisted, just to ensure no one tried to call for help.
When Gail had laid out Alex on the bed, Betsy had gotten up and was now watching the proceedings. Everyone, even Betsy, had forgotten about Ally, but she sat up slowly, also concerned about what was happening to Alex.
“I’ve got to apologize to you both for this,” Gail told them, noticing they were both moving around again. “Normally Alex is very loving and gentle, but for some reason when he isn’t dealing with someone directly, he tends to go over to the dark side. Cate knew this, and she deliberately set you up.”
“That’s why I—”
“We don’t want to hear it, Cate,” Gail snapped. “OK, he’s starting to come around a little. Hand me another Coke and get some cookies ready. Hopefully he’ll be able to gum those. Shit, Cate, I feel like… fuck, I don’t know what would be a fit enough punishment for this.”
Cate looked worried sick, standing away from everyone else, biting her lip and wringing her hands. She’d planned on making sure Alex didn’t last any longer than he had in the past, but she didn’t count on his being worse. This was the first time he’d lost consciousness or went into convulsions.
“I think she just wanted to make sure she wasn’t hurting him,” Leanna said, trying to intercede for Cate, who she could clearly see was upset about what she’d done.
“You knew about this?” Gail asked her accusingly.
“I… I… Yeah, I did. She told me why she’d been avoiding him. I hated to see the two of them at odds, but when she—”
“So you thought this little game of hers was worth risking his life?” Gail hissed. “Aren’t the two of you happy enough that he’s going to die soon, anyway? Did you think you needed to rush the process? Damn, there’s so much he has yet to do and he only has so much time to do it. Don’t you realize that without him all your new abilities won’t help anyone? For all we know, your telepathy will stop the moment he dies. He—”
“Telepathy?” Betsy asked, sitting up a little straighter. Even Georgia became more alert when Gail accidentally revealed that little tidbit. Ally had already been advised of that particular ability the Seers shared.
“Never mind,” Gail hissed, getting frustrated no one else was aiding Alex, even though she was fiercely watching over him, not allowing anyone else near him. “The fact is, many of his followers’ abilities will possibly just dissolve, like so much smoke, once he passes away, and without anyone else with his abilities there will never be another of us activated or boosted. You’d piss that away just to satisfy your idle curiosity?”
Everyone shut up after that, and while Georgia continued to hand Gail whatever she needed no one else approached them. Cate shrank back, standing anxiously against the far wall, trying desperately to see how Alex was responding, but feeling too ashamed about what she’d done to him to venture any closer to him.
“Please, be OK,” she whispered. “I’d die if anything happened to you.”
Gail, overhearing her, swung around and stared at her, but Alex was responding by then and was looking for more food, so she couldn’t glare at her for long.
“All right,” Leanna responded calmly, which was shocking to hear in the current context. “Shouting isn’t going to help anyone, and it’s only likely to upset Alex once he gets his senses back. Let’s just focus on helping him recover.”
Leanna seemed to assume command after that. “Betsy, get a cold wet cloth and I’ll clean him off. Hopefully that’ll bring him around a little quicker. Ally, get some ice. Cate, you’d better stay away, otherwise Gail is likely to punch you out.”
Everyone started to move now that they finally had something they could do. Cate walked around so she was out of the way but could still observe how Alex was faring. Alex seemed to be trying to say something, but Gail was so intent on feeding him she wasn’t noticing.
“I think he wants something,” Cate cautiously mentioned. Gail turned and stared hard at her, but Leanna came to her rescue again.
“She’s right. He’s trying to say something.” So Gail held off. Alex managed, with some difficulty, to lean up. He reached out and held his hand out to Cate, palm up, silently asking for her. Seeing that, she ran to him and threw herself beside him, being sure not to interfere with Gail’s attempt to feed him. Once she was there, holding his hand, he returned his attention to eating again, but his actions affected Gail, who no longer glared so pointedly at her. She wasn’t ready to forgive her yet, after all, Gail was still feeling angry, frustrated and betrayed, no longer knowing who she could trust in taking care of Alex. She’d take a while before she could trust Cate again, but she knew better than to go against Alex.
Gail hadn’t been there for Alex three separate times, and now the one threat to his life had come from someone he trusted more than anyone else. Gail took that as a personal betrayal, feeling like Caesar’s guards must have, no longer knowing where to look for the next attack to come from. She felt badly enough that she’d been unable to protect him from the shooting in Dallas, or the robbery here in Oklahoma, but this had been more than that. He’d been set up and injured by a trusted companion who should have known better, and while the other threats were something she couldn’t avoid, this one felt personal to her.
Although Alex responded and seemed to get better, he was too tired to say anything, and after the initial excitement was over quickly fell asleep. The other girls were concerned with whether it was safe for him to sleep then, fearing possible undetected brain damage given his earlier seizures, but Cate assured them he needed rest more than anything else, although they’d wake him in a while to feed him again. Gail backed off, letting Cate do her job, which was to advise everyone on Alex’s abilities and vulnerabilities, though she still watched Cate suspiciously. They both knew they’d be having a talk soon but neither one was ready to do it in front of a bunch of impressionable new followers.
The new girls were too worried about Alex to go anywhere, so they decided to camp out. Gail assumed control of watching over Alex, so she sent Cate to sleep on the other bed in the connecting room with the other girls. Georgia had to run home to change, but Gail suggested she not come back, fearing it would alert the hotel staff she was up to something. She assured her they’d call, and Cate took her information so they could do that. Alex slept between Gail and Leanna, curling up into a fetal position, looking to the two of them like a glowing cherub, despite his size. They both nuzzled him, but gave him plenty of room so he’d have no problems breathing or getting up if he needed. As much as they fought it, they each drifted off to sleep. Cate the last one, her cheeks streaked with dried tears no one saw her shedding, as she worried about what she’d almost done to her brother. Her last thoughts, before she fell asleep were that maybe she should separate herself from him, lest she do something even worse to him.
“OK, Alex, you need to get up so we’ll know if you’re OK or not,” Gail warned him. “Plus you need to eat again.”
Alex groaned as he rolled over and opened his eyes. “As much as I hate getting up, food does sound good. Man, what truck ran over me last night?”
“The one your sister was driving,” Gail replied, casting a steely glance at Cate’s room. However she hadn’t come in yet, so she missed it.
“What? Mellissa drove all the way out here just to sideswipe me?” Alex asked. Gail was about to respond when she noticed Alex grinning, or rather she noticed his enjoyment of her reaction in his aura. Sometimes it was difficult to catch subtle teasing when you couldn’t actually see someone’s face.
“So what’s for breakfast?” he asked.
“Betsy and Ally are fixing you a starch filled meal of blueberry and banana pancakes. We want you to eat before you attempt showering, since we’re not sure we can trust you to stand up at this point.”
“Man, newly abused and impregnated followers are the best,” Alex teased as he climbed out of bed. “No one else ever makes me pancakes.”
“Hey, you can buy me pancakes whenever your little heart desires,” Gail assured him. “But pancakes aren’t in my job description.”
“Cate?” Alex called out, although he had to hold his head immediately after, since it hurt so much for him to yell in his current condition.
“Yeah?” she cautiously asked, peeking around the door connecting the two rooms.
“Could someone finally explain what last night was all about, seems I was having trouble following the conversation, what with the convulsions and all?”
“It seems Cate instigated the whole thing, pushing you to overextend yourself so she could assure herself she wasn’t making you sick,” Gail explained. It was clear she still wasn’t happy with her, even though she wasn’t going to say anything to her directly after Alex had come to her defense the previous night.
Alex turned to Cate, trying to study her with only one eye as he shut the other to keep the light from bothering his headache. “What’s up with that? Whoever put that crazy idea in your head?”
“It’s something that Becky brought up. She mentioned it to the girls in Carbondale, and they mentioned it to me the other day when we spoke to them. But I couldn’t speak with Becky until yesterday, and by then I was already committed.”
“So Becky asked you to run over me with a semi?” Alex asked, purposely misunderstanding her.
“No, she proposed that since I’ve been soaking up your energy since we started… uh, fooling around, that maybe I was doing more than just absorbing the extraneous overflow. That maybe I was acting as a sponge, actively soaking up the energy you needed and thus actively making you sicker.”
“And you believed this cockamamie idea?” Alex asked her seriously.
“Hell, Alex, it seemed like a legitimate idea. After all, you’ve only been having episodes since we got involved. And I am the most consistent figure in your life. That’s why I’ve been avoiding you lately, I had to see what effect I was having on you. Unfortunately, there was no way to tell with you just wandering around like normal, so I needed to stress you out to see if you reacted any differently than you normally did.”
“And what did my reaction last night tell you?” Alex asked simply.
“That it was a stupid idea and I never should have paid attention to it?” Cate replied sheepishly.
“That’s right. You aren’t draining anyone’s energy. If you’d thought to ask someone like Gail, they’d have told you they’d have been able to have see if you had more BCM in you after sleeping with me than you normally do.”
“Uh, Alex…?” Gail said, interrupting him, but Alex just waved her off.
“Even if you have a small amount more, the fact is that the human body can only hold so much of this, and that’s why I continually cast off so much. If you pick up some of it, it doesn’t impact me. It’s stuff my body has already gotten rid of. What’s been hurting me is how hard my body has to work in getting rid of it.”
“I understand that now, and I was pretty certain of it before, but I just had to be sure,” Cate told him.
“So what would you have done if you’d been playing a role in making me sicker? Gone off to live in Siberia or something?”
“If I needed to; yes. Your health and what you can accomplish are vitally important. If I was negatively impacting you I was willing to step aside, but I wanted to be sure before I took that step.”
“From now on, discuss any stupid ideas with me before you decide to back a truck up over me, OK?” Alex asked. Cate nodded, and that was enough for Alex.
“All right, now does anyone have any pancakes before I continue what I started last night but never got a chance to finish? After all, I’d like to make up for how I acted.”
“Sorry, but we each decided you aren’t going to strain yourself any more until you’ve recovered,” Leanna informed him. “A little excitement isn’t worth risking your health, even if it does involve melting our minds.”
“Frankly, Ally and I couldn’t go again even if the others would let us,” Betsy told him as she poked her head around the corner. “You kind of wore us out. We’ve had some wild sex before, but nothing like that.”
“Again, I’m sorry,” Alex tried to tell her.
“Don’t worry,” she hurried to assure him. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“No, it wasn’t,” Gail agreed, looking pointedly at Cate.
“All right, getting off of that topic, what else is going on today? What happened with you yesterday, Gail?”
“Ah, the presentation of the key to the city went well, though you can rest assured that’s the last time I’ll be doing that. The thing you’ll want to know about, though, is that I talked to a bunch of the other Seers and asked them to spread the word to everyone in each of your communities. At the end of my little presentation I announced we were accepting donations for the girls injured in the attack, and before anyone could respond our people from all over the country did. Your people called in a lot of favors from family and friends to ensure the contributions couldn’t be traced back to your communities.”
“So Haley and Kayla’s hospital bills are covered?” Alex asked.
“You got it. We covered it ourselves, and it can’t be traced back to you.”
“That’s good, I was worried about them and I wanted to help them somehow.”
“Believe me, they both know that, but they were both adamant you not tip your hand after what happened.”
“Ha, well my keeping a low profile didn’t do much good,” Alex informed her.
“Yeah, the girls described what happened in a little more detail this morning. I was planning on visiting the owner of the jewelry store, but it seems that Leanna beat me to it.”
“What do you mean?” Alex asked.
“René Mizrachi is stopping by the room for a personal sales call,” Leanna informed him. “When I told him we had some questions for him and that you’d never gotten a chance to make your purchases, he told me he was taking the morning off just to come and take care of you himself.”
“Are you sure that’s—”
“Don’t worry about it, Alex,” Leanna assured him. “I briefly outlined your objections, and he understood. All sales will be complimentary, or he’ll accept cash if you insist, so there won’t be any paper trails connecting you to the robbery. Plus Gail can ask him whatever she wants to in the privacy of your room.”
“Well I’m glad you people can watch my ass when I’m out of it. Anything else I missed?”
“That seems to be about it,” Gail informed him. “Though Leanna and I discussed another issue. She thinks you should strike while the iron’s hot, as it were.”
“Yeah,” Leanna answered, as Ally and Betsy brought in pancakes and syrup for everyone, along with fresh coffee and orange juice, “you’ve got a great opportunity to expand your operation here and to reach out to the public at large. It seems most people are responding positively to you. If you ever want to make more of a public outreach without exposing yourself, now would be the time to do it.”
“You know, that makes a lot of sense. Give me a little while to consider it, but I think I’ve got something else to address right now. Gail’s story gave me an idea,” Alex told them as they all noticed his eyes glaze over, even as he continued eating.
‘Hey, robber girl? Where are you?’
‘Jeez! Is that you, Angel?’ she responded, clearly unnerved by being spoken to from on high.
‘Don’t be so upset, my speaking to you this way isn’t as miraculous as it seems. Not to me at least, but that’s neither here nor there. Now answer the question.’
‘Right now I’m lying low. Both Mike and I are trying to attract as little attention as we can.’
‘Ah, so Mike would be the guy who talked you into this little fiasco?’ Alex guessed.
‘Yeah. He still can’t figure out what came over me, or what happened to him.’
‘Well, I can’t be responsible for him. If he didn’t learn anything from the encounter, then there’s probably no help for him. However, I’m reaching an olive branch out to you, and a way for you to turn your life around. Can you get to, hold on a second…’Alex paused as he asked the other people at the table for the name of the city park nearby. ‘Yeah, can you get to Myriad Botanical Gardens this morning, say around 10:00?’
‘Yeah, I should be able to,’ she answered, not even bothering to ask why.
‘Good, be there. But there are some conditions, this offer at redemption is for you only. Don’t bring Mike along unless you’re sure he’s turned a corner and can be trusted not to screw up again. If you think he can, then it’s on you if he screws up, but in either case, I want him not to interfere with anything. Understood?’
‘Yes, sir. I understand perfectly,’ she answered, ready for whatever out he was offering.
‘OK, when you get there, do NOT approach me under any circumstances. Do you understand that? I don’t want to jeopardize the trust the people of this city are holding me in now by being associated with the people responsible for the robbery I broke up. When you get there, just call out to me telepathically like I am with you. I’ll hear you and I’ll tell you what to do then. OK?’
‘Yes, sir, I understand. Show up at the Myriad Botanical Gardens downtown and wait for you, but don’t approach or respond to you in any way. Should I come to the street entrance, the park entrance or what?’
‘Hell, I don’t know. I don’t know the city at all. How about if we meet across from the big convention center across the street from there?’
‘That would be the Cox Center. If I can, I assume you want this to be inconspicuous, so how about if we meet by the Outdoor Skating Rink. It’s right beside the Botanical Gardens, there should be plenty of people, but it won’t be so crowded there will be a lot of people watching us.’
‘That sounds good. I’ll see you then. Or not, since I probably won’t acknowledge you. Whatever you do, don’t be late because I won’t wait for you, and don’t let Mike screw this up for you.’
‘I won’t, sir, and thank you for giving me this chance. I’ve been worried sick about how to get out of this mess, and I knew Mike’s idea was terrible, but I couldn’t see any alternative.’
‘Well, you have one now. Just watch yourself and don’t screw it up. I’ll talk to you in the park, but before I go, just what the hell is your name?’
‘Oh, I’m sorry, my name is Stacie, Stacie Po—’
‘That’s OK, right now the less I know the better it is. I just don’t like having to refer to you as robber girl. Anyway, I’m expecting you to show up,’ and with that Alex ended the conversation.
“And what was that about?” Gail asked when they noticed he’d finished whatever he’d been doing. She had a feeling she should be aware of whatever he was planning, especially since he may not have recovered as much as he thought he had yet.
“I’ve got a few things planned today which should help a number of people, and all I’ll have to do is take a little stroll through the park,” he answered, giving them no further information.
“So girls, don’t you have work today?” he asked.
“We were going to call in sick today,” Betsy answered for her and Ally.
“Don’t. Go ahead and head in. We’ll be busy this afternoon, but we can meet at the club this evening.”
“I’ve got people opening the bar for me,” Leanna told him. “I can go in whenever.”
“Good, I need the phone number of a good hard working local reporter,” Alex answered with a gleam in his eye.
René was very helpful, anxious to pay Alex back in any way he could, but still being respectful enough to not overstep his bounds. Alex took him aside and told him what he was looking for, and why, and René opened his case of wares on the hotel room’s writing desk where he showed Alex several different things he thought might be suitable. Alex examined several of them, but eventually said he liked his original idea better, asking René if he could manage that. René assured him he could, that he actually had some in stock and he’d bring them by later. He and Alex shook over it, and Alex told him to bring them by Leanna’s club that evening, since it would be better if no one observed the two of them together who didn’t already know his story.
“That makes sense,” René replied before remembering something else. “Oh, I also wanted to tell you I couldn’t keep the video of the robbery out of the hands of the police. I’m required to keep video surveillance both by my insurance company and also by the Jeweler’s Association. After all, they don’t want jewelry thieves wandering around anymore than anyone else does. But don’t worry, I discussed the matter with the police, detailing why you’re anxious to avoid being identified. They said they’d rather interview you personally, but since I didn’t actually know you and they had your fingerprints you left behind for them, that should be enough. They didn’t think they’d need your testimony to investigate the crime, since you didn’t seem to have been involved with it. They also stated they weren’t going to make a big deal of it publicly, since they weren’t anxious to spread news about this type of crime anyway.”
“Well, thanks for that. That’s all I need is my name being exposed and being permanently tied into this Angel business. It’s still going to hang over me that they could choose to release my photo anytime they choose to, though, but I guess you couldn’t control that.”
“Oh, I don’t think you need to worry about that,” René replied. “I did mention suing them if the information was released. The Police Department would get nothing out of releasing it, and it would hurt my business if it was learned I was responsible for exposing the very person who’d stopped the robbery. I think we have an ‘understanding’ between us.”
Alex thanked him and walked him to the door after he bid the women a gracious good bye.
“He’s pretty swift,” Gail observed. She’d spoken to him privately before Alex was ready to deal with him.
“I wouldn’t say ‘swift’, but he seems to know what he’s doing and he doesn’t waste any time once he knows what’s involved,” Alex responded.
“He’s a good honest man,” Leanna told them candidly. “He has an old school, old world mentality. What’s more, he’s discreet. He’ll take your secrets to the grave if you need him to. That’s why so many people use his services; after all, married men don’t like the news of their dalliances getting around.”
“OK, I think we’ve had enough time for my food to digest and for me to recover. Anyone care to accompany me to the park. Just keep in mind I’ll need to appear innocuous, so you’ll have to keep your distances. I want to be alone in the Botanical Garden, but afterwards I’ll need either Gail or Leanna nearby, but only one person.”
“In that case it’ll be me,” Gail informed him.
“That’s fine, but I wouldn’t mind giving Leanna some firsthand experience,” Alex added, not giving them any clues as to what kind of experience he was implying.
At the park the others did indeed leave Alex alone, even though Gail wasn’t overly fond of the idea. She already felt bad that she’d failed him thrice by not being there when he needed her, the first in Dallas, the second the robbery and the third when Cate had set him up to fail. As a result she wasn’t taking allowing him a fourth chance very well.
Alex strolled into the Botanical Garden, simply wandering aimlessly. Gail kept a watch out for him from a distance, but Cate took a seat on a nearby bench while Leanna went to get them some drinks, staring off into the distance like she didn’t have a clue who he was. Alex thought she had some acting potential, she honestly looked like she was checking out the guys ice skating. He noted there were several female skaters as well, though.
‘Stacie, Can you see me?’ Alex asked.
‘Yes, I can, sir, although I’m staying well back and I’m trying to not be obvious.’
‘Very good. By the way, you can’t keep calling me sir, because you’re going to need to know my name eventually. I’m Alex.’
‘I’m honored, Alex,’ she very graciously responded. ‘I’m Stacie Powell,’ she offered hesitantly, still not sure whether he wanted to know that much about her or not, but he quickly put that particular fear to rest.
‘Pleased to meet you, or not meet you as the case may be. Did Mike come with you?’ Alex asked, being genuinely curious how he’d eventually dealt with the issue.
‘Yes, he did. You left it up to me, so we had a long talk. I explained you were a true angel, whether he could see it himself or not, and that this was not only a free hand up from God himself, but it was our only chance. He won’t cause us any trouble.’
Alex remembered that Mike had gotten away, despite his injured shoulder, while Alex had been talking to René. He wondered how his shoulder was holding up, and whether he’d gotten any medical attention for it or not, but he figured now wasn’t the time to address the issue. Alex wanted to get Stacie straightened out and taken care of, he couldn’t afford to get distracted.
‘Good, I hate to see him suffer if he’s willing to change his life. Just remember, though, there are no second chances here. If the cops wander by you are both on your own.’
‘I understand, Alex. I’m willing to take my chances,’ she responded. ‘Hey, you just—’
‘Yes, I’m perfectly aware of what I just did. What you just saw was me accidentally dropping a fair amount of change. Two hundred dollars, actually. Now, don’t act obvious about it, but as I walk away I want you to walk by behind me, notice it, and pick it up. However, since neither of us interacted or said anything to the other, there’s no reason to suspect we’re in collusion. Got it?’
‘Yes, sir, I mean Alex. I just had the good fortune to have found some money which someone else lost,’ she responded.
‘Now, get the hell away from here. I want you to head to the bus station and pay for a one way ticket for you both to Dallas. Pay in cash so there’s no record with your names on it, and forget about trying to unload your car or other possessions. Just abandon them. The longer you remain here the greater your chances of being found, and the greater the likelihood you’ll backslide. This is a new beginning, so don’t try to drag your past lives with you.’
‘What will we do in Dallas? We don’t know anyone there.’
‘Don’t worry about it. There will be someone there who’ll know you and will be waiting for you. She’ll take you in for the night, then put you on a bus in the morning for Houston, and from there you’ll head to New Orleans. They’ll explain what this is all about, what it means and what you’re to do there. Of course, you’re free to take the money and spend it on whatever you want, but if you do you’ll never get another chance at redemption again. Also, you and Mike will be watched carefully to make sure you don’t screw up. This is a wonderful chance to turn your life around, take advantage of it.’
‘Thank you. We won’t screw this up. I can’t believe you’re doing this for me. I—’
‘The longer you talk, the longer it will take to get out of the city. Keep your head down and keep out of trouble. The money should take care of any incidentals. Have a good life and I hope to hear great things about you in the future.’
Stacie didn’t bother responding, though, she was heading back to get her boyfriend, Mike Franks, so the two of them could buy a ticket with money an Angel had arranged for her to ‘find’. It would take them away from this city and all its associated troubles, and would carry them to their new lives.
“What was that about? You realize some homeless chick just ran off with your money, don’t you?” Gail asked him when Alex exited the Botanical Park.
“Yep, I’m aware of it. I hope it improves her life. You never know when little things like that can turn your life around.”
“You’re up to something, aren’t you?” she asked.
“I’ll never tell. After all, if I’m not, I just threw away a bunch of money.”
“A bunch? How much was it?” Gail asked, growing more concerned out of principle, after all, she knew Alex wasn’t hurting for money and he hardly needed a lot to spend.
“It’s not important, now we have some things to do,” he said as they both took the drinks Leanna brought them.
After that she accompanied him as Alex casually strolled around the park. He’d stop every now and then to help an elderly couple, or to talk to someone, frequently touching them on their shoulder or helping them do something. Cate and Leanna watched from a distance, although Alex also gave Leanna a chance to help him as well.
When it was her turn he put her to the test, asking her to observe those around them and advise him to any potential medical condition they might have. It took her a bit to get the hang of it, but when she did he’d get quiet, she was sure he was communicating with someone again, then they’d approach the person and strike up a conversation where Alex would manage to come up with a reason to touch the person wherever their affliction was. Thus many people in the park that day noticed they were suddenly feeling better for no apparent reason. They each remembered speaking to the nicest young man, but they couldn’t remember him specifically enough to describe him.
Older people had their arthritis improved, those with undiagnosed conditions no longer had a drain on their systems, and others just had a better sense of well being. Troubled people felt better about what was troubling them, and those with mental illnesses suddenly felt themselves better able to cope with their lives.
Then, just at three o’clock, Alex collected the others and they moved out of the park just as a taxi arrived and a reporter climbed out. He’d just gotten a strange call, informing him there were reports of the famed Angel of New Orleans performing miracles in the park, however he didn’t see anything obvious, so he started interviewing those around the park, trying to see if they’d observed anything. It didn’t take long for his story to write itself.
Although still early in the afternoon, Maiden Nights was busy when they arrived. As they walked in the door several of the regulars who were parked at the bar overlooking the street surrounded them, anxious to discover what they’d been up to.
“You wouldn’t believe it,” Leanna said, as she surveyed the crowd. “Where the hell did all these people come from?”
“Yeah, it’s a bit crowded. They’re all here for Alex. Everyone has been careful and they’re pretty well vetted, but it still means there are a hell of a lot of straight women here now.”
“Hell, I’m not going to complain about a few more straight women,” Leanna replied. “After all, business is business, and we’re essentially serving a common good here. If any of them bring in an overbearing sense of their own morality about anyone then I’ll deal with it, but I suspect if they’re here to see Alex they’ll be on their best behavior. But it’s probably a good idea to spread the word we have guests, and people should refrain from anything too outrageous. After all, it’s good to get people used to how we live, but there’s no point in pissing them off if we don’t have to.”
A couple of the women went off to spread the word, but the other women in the bar had noticed Alex’s return so they started to close in. No one was rude about it, but it was clear he was the reason they were here.
“You know, it’s good you feel that way,” Alex told Leanna. “I’m thinking of using this as a meeting place for the local community. It may permanently screw up the dynamics of your place, so feel free to throw out anyone you want, but it would help if there was a central place anyone could come to talk about me, both my followers and the type 3s.”
“Alex, get over it,” Cate told him. “Everyone here is now a follower, even the type 3s. After all, they can be as dedicated as the others are.”
Hearing Cate say that, particularly the part about “even the type 3s”, just rubbed Alex the wrong way. He had to admit, they’d really been treating his followers according to a heavily tiered approach.
“Alex,” Leanna replied, “you don’t even have to ask. I’ll be glad to do it. Besides, if we can do a good job presenting ourselves well, maybe we can convince a few of these women to trade sides,” she finished with a smile.
“Hey, Boss Lady,” Anna, the bartender, called out, “the police called earlier looking for you. They wouldn’t tell me what they wanted, but I’d guess it’s probably to interview you concerning the robbery and about Alex’s identity.”
Alex looked up in alarm at that, but Leanna seemed relaxed, holding Alex’s arm to let him know there was nothing to be concerned about. “I’ll call them in a minute after things get settled. That way they won’t feel it necessary to stop by.” With that she turned back, considering it already a done deal.
By then they’d managed to reach the central couch, so a lot of women clustered around him, ready to hear anything new about him.
“So what happened today?” one of the women who met them at the door asked. “What unbelievable thing did he do today?”
Alex was about to respond when Leanna jumped in, anxious to describe what they’d been doing.
“He decided to wander around the park, curing various people.”
“I was hardly curing anyone of anything. I helped several of them, but it was mostly a matter of helping them feel better, helping them deal with their various conditions rather than curing them,” Alex tried to explain.
“Don’t listen to him,” Cate told everyone. “It’s impressive to watch him do his thing.”
“I don’t know,” Leanna argued. “There was that one guy with the heart condition. You placed your hand over his chest and I could see it get better right before my eyes. And then there was that poor homeless girl. You leaned in, pressed your head against hers pretending you were whispering to her, and when you pulled back her eyes were clear and she sounded like her thinking was clear again.”
“You never mentioned you could heal people before,” Lori pointed out. “How do you explain that from your secular non-religious perspective?”
“That’s easy,” he answered. “The energy I give off, this BCM energy, seems to be central to healthy living things. If someone has a health problem, it’s reflected in their BCM levels. So when we notice someone with a condition, based on those abnormally low levels, I just give them a boost, using the excess I possess. It helps to restore their balance, and quite often it kick starts their body to begin correcting their problems.”
“Really?” asked a heavier set woman he hadn’t noticed before. “I’ve got diabetes, which I have to take pills for every time I eat. Are you telling me you could correct that simply by waving your hand over it?”
“Uh, let’s not overwhelm him,” Cate cautioned. “He had an episode last night, and we’ve been trying to keep him from overextending himself today. Each time he tries this, it takes a fair amount out of him, more depending on what he tries to do.”
“That’s OK,” Alex answered, motioning the woman forward. “I don’t think her problem is that serious.”
The woman anxiously moved to the front of the crowd, the others making room for her because they were each anxious to see Alex perform a miracle.
Alex communicated briefly with Gail, who’d positioned herself behind him, and Leanna, who he wanted to gain some experience with utilizing her new sight, then he leaned forward, placing his forehead against her side. He only remained there for a few seconds then pulled back and looked up at her.
“That’s it?” she asked.
“Just wait. But I’d suggest not taking a pill for the next meal you eat. But I’m also told there’s something in your digestive tract. We think it may be affecting your hormone levels, so give me another second,” he said as he placed his forehead against her lower stomach, which looked quite odd, but probably better than if he’d shoved his hand under her skirt. He only remained there for a moment before pulling back.
“I hate to say it before we’re sure, but you very well might be cured,” Alex informed the woman. “I’d still watch what you eat, since that’s likely how this developed in the first place, but I don’t think you’ll need to bother with the pills.”
Silence descended on the entire bar for several seconds, and then the woman knelt down and threw her arms around Alex.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you. I don’t care what you say, you’ll always be an angel in my book.”
“Look, it really wasn’t that big of a deal,” Alex tried to explain, uncomfortable with her reaction in front of all the people in the club. “It was simply a ques—”
“The hell it was,” Leanna interrupted. “That was a bloody miracle, pure and simple, however you choose to view it.” Here she turned to the rest of the club. “Anyone without a drink, get one. Betty, get Alex and Cate a soda and bring me a beer. We’re all going to offer Alex a toast. And turn on the TV. We think a certain TV News station might have a report about him at six.”
The people around them went wild, everyone crowding around either the bar, getting a refill, or around Alex, congratulating him and watching to see what else he may do. Of course, the fact that everyone was in a rush to buy drinks didn’t hurt Leanna’s business any, but Alex didn’t mind. She was being forced to change the nature of her business, so she’d probably need the extra income to make necessary adjustments.
“Here’s to the miraculous non-believer non-angel, Alex, the person who seems to be changing Oklahoma City without even trying,” Leanna pronounced after everyone had gotten their drinks. There was a resounding cheer of “hear, hear!” as everyone drank up.
“You know, we’ve been hearing about you from people throughout the day,” Debbie said. “Everyone is talking about you.”
“It’s true,” Nora responded. “We’ve been prompting people to talk about you. Between talking to people at work, at the beauty shop, or while shopping. We’ve been trying to get people talking about you and everyone seems to be responding positively. Of course, there are several holdouts. Those who still believe you’re making a mockery of their religion, but we tried to point out there’s been no reports of you ‘preaching’ anything, or saying anything against either Christians or Christianity, but they simply won’t be dissuaded.”
“Yeah, I don’t think we’ll ever convince everyone, but I’m really pleasantly surprised just how well we’ve been received,” Alex responded. “Now if I can just keep from screwing up before we leave.”
“Hey, Alex, how are you feeling?” Betsy asked as she and Ally came in the door. Betsy seemed glad to see him, but Ally ran forwards, trying to get to Alex as quickly as she could. Still, when she reached him she simply stood there meekly, as if afraid to impose herself on him. However Alex opened his arms to her, so she rushed forwards, and Betsy joined them a few moments later.
“Whatever happened to you?” Linda asked, growing suspicious about the comments about Alex’s health.
“Alex got… uh, a little sick last night,” Betsy replied, trying to cover for Alex, not sure what line he was taking about it.
“It’s an effect of my exposure to the BCM,” he answered simply. “It affects my health, so sometimes I have these ‘episodes’. But Cate and Gail know what to look for and how to respond, so everything worked out.”
Gail couldn’t help herself and grumbled under her breath, but no one beside Cate could figure out what her issue was. Before anyone could ask any follow-up questions, Betty turned the TV by the bar up.
“The report is coming on,” she called out.
Everyone turned and watched the TV, giving Alex a reprieve from having to explain what was likely to happen to him, or what Cate had done to him the previous night.
“There have been scattered reports of the mysterious ‘Angel of New Orleans’ being observed throughout the city, although no one who’s actually observed him seems to be willing to discuss it publicly,” the reporter announced, looking both understanding and authoritative at the same time. “However, I was in the park today, apparently arriving just after he’d left. It seems he’d spent quite a while talking to people, just wandering amongst them without saying anything specific to anyone or telling anyone who he was. However they all report some ‘miraculous’ occurrences.” Here the cameras switched, showing an older man and his wife.
“He was very pleasant, a really nice polite young man. He just started talking, and while talking to us he shook my wife’s hands, taking both her hands in his, which was unusual but we didn’t think anything of it. Next he commented that I seemed to be favoring my back, and I explained I hurt it years ago and that it’s been bothering me ever since, putting me on disability. He asked if he could feel it, just to see if a little massage might help. I just said, ‘go ahead’, thinking I’d humor him. Finally, as he finished he seemed to trip, grasping my side to steady himself. I hadn’t told him, but I’ve had a cancerous lesion there that the doctors have been watching to see if it got any worse.
“It wasn’t until after he left that Annie mentioned her hands no longer hurt from her arthritis, something that’s bothered her on a daily basis for the last thirty some years. After she said that I checked my back, which no longer seemed to hurt. Finally I tried to check my side, feeling for the lump that’s been there. I’m not sure about it, but I’m going to make an emergency appointment with my doctor, because I have a feeling the growth there just might have gotten better.”
The camera then switched back to the reporter again. “We found multiple similar reports throughout the park, so he seemed to have been quite busy today. So we seem to have a supposed angel who doesn’t like the term, who’s selflessly walking the streets, helping people while asking for nothing in return, not even acknowledgement. He’s not saying anything at all about Christianity or Christians in particular. I suspect the attacks on him have been a bit like the pot calling the kettle black. The very Christians who are busy telling everyone how they should behave, are perceiving that someone else is telling them how to behave, something he doesn’t appear to have done. I suspect if they, his critics, were to step back and take a breath, they’d find he hadn’t actually done anything offensive yet. That’s not to say they shouldn’t call him on it if he does, but until then, I’d say they should just stay out of his way and let him help people, since that’s what all people, both Christian and non-Christian, should be concerned with.”
After that the report ended and the two anchors commented on the report, but no one particularly cared about their opinion, so everyone started talking about what they’d just seen.
“It sounds like he likes you,” Leanna suggested.
“It sounds like the whole city loves you,” Lori noted.
“Hell, if you can convince a bunch of confirmed lesbians to put up with a little dick every now and then, I’d call that a bigger miracle than anything else,” Betsy teased.
“Well, as I keep saying, I’m not interested in converting anyone,” Alex responded. “I did it to help you, and now that I’ve done it there’s no reason for you to do it again.”
“Hey, I’m not complaining. I’m just saying you manage to pull miracles out of your hat at every turn, and then you turn around and say you’re just a normal guy. Frankly, no one is buying it. Get used to it. People can recognize what’s important to them and what’s not. True, some people will get angry with you, but that’s always the case. I’d say continue to concentrate on the people you need to, the Seers and the Watchers who only you can reach out to, but don’t ignore the common people. The type 3s. They can help you, they can support your mission, and it’s only by getting their buy-in that ‘your people’ will ever be safe.”
“Yeah, the last two days here in Oklahoma have really been an eye opener. I was so busy trying to avoid bad attention I almost missed this unique opportunity.”
“Perhaps that’s because, as all your followers keep saying, you’re being guided,” the ever quick Nora noted. “You don’t have to believe in God to admit that there’s more to life than we can see, and to accept that you need the help of others. Don’t ask where the help comes from or how it occurs, just learn to accept it. If God, or whomever, wants to help you, don’t waste all your time second guessing her.”
“You’ve got a good point, and you’re right, I’ve got to learn to adjust,” Alex admitted. “I think I’ve learned a lot while I’ve been here, and I’m planning on changing my approach from here on out. Now, would anyone care to join me for dinner? I’ve still got another day and two nights to plan for and I could use some guidance in the matter, and I’m willing to listen to anyone who offers me advice,” he replied as he smiled at them.
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