THREE

CHAPTER THREE

“David wants to break up with me”, Sam told her friend Bonnie, as they were walking home from school.

“Again? What’s his excuse now?”

“I’m smothering him”, Sam said, suppressing a laugh. Bonnie burst out laughing and Sam followed suit.

“Maybe you should just let him go. After all, there’s always bigger fish in the seas”, Bonnie said.

“Right. Because that’s all men are. Fish in the sea”, Sam said.

“Hey go try that judgemental stuff on your brother. Not me.”

 

Mariah walked into Roy’s bar. He was wiping some of the glasses. “Well, well, well. If it isn’t Mariah. What are you doing in town?”

“There’s someone who owes me”, Mariah said.

Roy handed the glass he was wiping to the nearest bartender and motioned with his left hand for Mariah to follow him to the back of the bar.

“You’re here for revenge, who is it?” he asked.

Mariah smiled. “Does that mean you’re onboard?” she asked.

“Sorry. Unfortunately I have some business of my own to take care of. But I can give you whatever you need. Weapons, money, Name it”, Roy said.

She reached out and hugged him. He stood there a bit startled. When she released him, he asked, “What was that for?”

“It’s been a long while. It is good to see you”, she replied.

“There’s only one thing I can think of. You’ve found the people who killed Diego, Jasper and Desiree”, Roy said.

“You were right. It had to be the kid. Somehow he killed three of our own. You know what Sherlock Holmes used to say”, Mariah said.

“When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbably is the truth”, Roy said.

“Exactly”, Mariah said.

“It was a hard year for us. We’d never lost anyone like that before”, Roy admitted. “But it must have hit you the hardest.”

She shrugged.

“And what will you do? If you find out that this boy really did kill them?” Roy asked.

“You know, in the olden days, one of the ways medicine used to cure illnesses was through the letting of blood. They slit the wrists and watch the blood slowly drain…”

“And the girl?”

“I haven’t decided”, Mariah said.

 

Sam walked into the club. She sat down at a table normally reserved for important guests. That was where Israel normally sat. How he’d managed to get that VIP status was anyone’s guess.

A tall girl walked up to Sam with a glass and handed it to her. Sam looked at her. From the way the dress clung to her body, revealing her curves, she was certain. This was another of Israel’s girlfriends.

“Why are you even with my brother, Israel?” Sam asked.

“Because he’s fun. And maybe a bit understood and troubled”, the girl said. She stretched a hand. “I’m Dorothy”.

“Oh my, he’s pulling some Fifty Shades of Grey crap on you isn’t he? That’s the oldest trick in the book, from the bad boy Byron till now. Oh, he’s not really a player; he’s just misunderstood, traumatised, wounded, or damaged. Wake the hell up.”

Dorothy chuckled. “He’s your brother. If I didn’t know any better I would say you hated and despised him.”

“You can choose your friends but you can’t choose your family. I just don’t want to see you hurt like all the others. You think he didn’t make them feel special? Like they were the one?” She watched as Israel walked over to them.

He slipped his hands around Dorothy’s waist and kissed her on the cheek. Then he licked her ear and whispered softly into it. They both giggled. Then he looked at Sam. “What are you doing here, sis?”

“Sit”, Sam said.

Israel sighed. “Dorothy, can you excuse us? Family stuff.”

She left and Israel sat down. Sam watched her go.

“Are you, are you checking her out?” Israel asked.

“No. I’m just figuring out which number she is. Number seventeen?”

 

Sam was the black sheep of her family, in an ironic way. She, like everyone else in the Raye family was aware of the ‘gifted’. She knew her father and brother were gifted. Her mother on the other hand was someone whom both kids couldn’t tell whether she was or wasn’t. And the parents didn’t bother to clear it up.

Sam was ‘gifted’. She hated it though. She looked at her father and brother and all she saw was chaos and destruction. For all their ‘gifts’ the ‘gifted’ she knew were personal wrecks. She wasn’t a healthy life, not like what her father and brother were doing.

Her mother was ambivalent and Sam hated it.

Her mother’s ‘gift’ allowed her to see things instantaneously from another person’s perspective. This made arguing with her infuriating. It certainly wasn’t the highlight of Sam’s teenage years.

Israel described Sam as an overachiever. Sam was one of those who liked to have her life planned out. And everything was about making a new goal, completing it, repeat. But deep within she knew how pointless the achievements were. Her alternative was to end up like her relaxed zero-achieving brother. And that was not an option.

 

His name was Jack. And for as long as he could remember he’d lived in the darkness. The slums, the gangs, the crime lords, he was acquainted with them all. And for a man who’d spent so much time in it, he had a shockingly gentle side to him. Even after becoming dumb from having his tongue cut off.

Mariah walked in and he stood up. “Not yet”, she said looking at him.

 

“Sorry I’m late”, she said, sitting beside her husband to be, Frank.

“You’ve been late for the third time in a row. Do you want us to cancel the marriage? Or do you want to just elope?” Frank joked.

Mariah slapped him on the arm. “Don’t joke about stuff like that”, she said.

Mariah and Frank had a peculiar arrangement. They were already married. But they’d made a commitment to renewing their wedding vows every five years. And each renewal was supposed to be like they were getting married all over again.

In her public life her name was Mariah Hill, wife to Frank Hill. He was a construction manager. And a very good one.

He didn’t know what Mariah did and even though she sought his assistance from time to time, she did her best to keep any knowledge that would put him in harm’s way from him. He knew that what she did was classified and involved working with governments.

Her travels amounted to roughly three months out of every year. But right now, she was here, with him.

“It’s good to see you”, Frank said, kissing her on the cheek.

Her voice dropped to a whisper whilst she wrapped her arms around him, “Likewise.”

She started to look around. “Andrew’s at my sister’s. I wanted tonight to just be the two of us. Having a four year old can be stressful for people like us”, Frank admitted. He smiled weakly and the lines on his face grew very prominent, reminding her of just how troublesome a four year old boy could be.

“You’re right”, she said coiling her fingers around her wine glass and bringing it close to her lips.

Frank could tell from her body language that she was distracted. “Is something wrong?” he asked.

“I’m sorry. I’m supposed to be happy and looking forward to our day and here I am-”

Frank held her face in his hands and drew her closer to him. “Don’t worry. Whatever’s bothering you at work, go take care of it. I can wait a few days”, he said.

“Are you sure?” she asked.

“I will be right here, waiting for you to get back from doing what you do best”, Frank said.

“I don’t deserve you”, Mariah said. “How do you put up with my crazy work schedules when I can’t even tell you what I do?”

“Well, there’s your answer”, Frank said.

“What?”

“I said, “I do” to everything; the best and the worst. And in case you’ve forgotten, I don’t deserve you either. You’re the woman who saved my life. And you saved it again when you married me.” He wrapped his hands around her neck and when he let go there was a necklace there. It was a shiny gold necklace with the number 4 boldly moulded on the front.

“You were so distracted you forgot. Today’s your birthday. Happy Birthday, forty year old love of my life”, Frank said. He was 43.

She playfully slapped his collarbone with the side of her palm. Frank went down and he was groaning. Mariah froze for a second. This had happened before. She had mistakenly almost sent him to the hospital. She sometimes forgot just how strong she was.

He collapsed and she bent down and started to examine him. People were starting to leave their seats and gather. His eyes snapped open. “Gotcha”, he said.

And then everyone who had gathered began to sing the Happy Birthday song. This was her surprise Birthday party.

Then, from nowhere, her son run and leapt into her arms. The next three hours made her forget what was going to happen later that evening. For just a few hours she allowed herself to drift and enjoy every moment in the present, along with family and friends.