ten

“Well, I don’t live too far from where you live, if you haven’t moved, so we could meet at Caribou.” He said. “Okay, that sounds good to me.” I said. I turned to my mom. “I pointed to Sam. She nodded. “What would you think of meeting my fiancé?” I asked him. It got really quiet on the other end of the line. “Well, I guess I’ll have to meet him at one point or the other.” He said and sighed. “I seriously didn’t expect to get a call from my kids today. Where’s Isaiah?” He asked. I poked my head out the door. “Isaiah!” I yelled and I could hear my voice echo throughout the village. “Yeah?” He yelled back, poking his head out of the hut him and Jenny were in. “Dad wants to talk.” I said to him. He passed out cold. I sighed and went over to him. He only had a pair of pants on and I grabbed him and picked him up. I carried him into the infirmary. My mom fell over. I started laughing. “How the hell can you pick him up and carry him?” She asked me. “I’ve been working out a lot lately,” I said to her with a grin, putting Isaiah down. “Awaken,” I said with my hand on his forehead. His eyes opened. “Dad?” He asked me. “Yeah,” said my father. “Are you gonna come and meet your old man?” He asked. Isaiah looked at my mom and she grinned. “Isaiah plans on getting married soon as well.” She said. “Joint wedding,” I said in his ear. He burst out laughing and quieted himself instantly. He offered his hand. I took it and he showed me his memory of discussing with Jenny when they’d get married. They wanted to as soon as possible. I showed him my memory of the past day. “Holy crap!” He yelled on the top of his lungs. I flinched away at the unexpected volume. “Yes!” He celebrated and picked me up and twirled me around. I laughed and Jenny walked in. “Thanks for deserting me,” She complained at Isaiah. “My dad,” He said and her eyes got wide. “Isaiah, you’d better tell me what just happened.” My dad said. The speaker phone surprised him. “July just told me that her and Sam are getting married super soon.” He said. “I thought you all knew this,” My dad said. “I didn’t realize how soon,” Isaiah said. I laughed. //None of us did,// I thought to him. He grinned at me. “So where are we meeting?” He asked my dad. “Caribou,” My dad said. “Am I bringing my fiancé?” He asked me. “Wait, how many of you are engaged?” He asked us. “Well, I think Aiden and Ivan might be, soon. But so far it’s just Isaiah and me.” I said to him. He sputtered and took a deep breath. “When do you want to meet?” He asked me. I looked at Sam. “What’s the earliest you can meet us there?” I asked my dad and Sam came up and held me. “You’re so not helping me concentrate,” I said against his lips. A deep rumble of a chuckle came from his chest. I broke away from him. “Okay, seriously, I have enough trouble without all that. I’m trying to //concentrate!”// I scolded him. He laughed outright. I stuck my tongue out at him. I heard my dad yelling to a woman who came on the line. “Who are you?” She demanded at us. “Nobody you need to worry about!” I retorted sounding seriously pissed. “You’re talking to a woman! You took vows!” She yelled at my dad and I fell over laughing so hard. “Even without seeing me they know I’m freaking ancient!” I laughed at my mom. She rolled her eyes. I heard my dad wrestling over the phone. “Okay, you officially freaked out my wife. Who said what?” He said. “Your daughter told her that she was nobody that she needed to worry about.” My mom said laughing. “It doesn’t bother you that I married after we broke up?” He asked her. “I’ve moved on. Trying to keep July in check was enough hassle without a man to deal with.” She said. “I’m only difficult when you are.” I said to her. She rolled her eyes. “So when can you meet us?” I asked him. “He won’t be meeting anybody!” The woman yelled at us. “You can come with him,” I offered. “Yes, I’ll come and set you right!” She yelled. “That probably wasn’t smart,” He said. “I’m seventeen. Smart isn’t always a conscious thing.” I said to him. He laughed. “Well, now she’s riled up and she wants to meet you now so I’ll be at Caribou in about forty five minutes.” He said. “Okay, we can do that.” I said. “Okay, bye then.” He said to us. We all chorused goodbyes and we hung up. I went and showered and then I went home, telling them all I’d be getting ready and I put on makeup to accent my tattoos and my streak. I looked ancient and young and like a model and like a car crash survivor all at once. I looked sad and happy and excited and afraid at the same time. I centered myself and made sure I was calm before I left. I was dressed in a low cut shirt that showed the tattoos that were there and took off some of the huge tattoos and made sure I looked halfway normal and not like a tattoo addict. Finally I looked perfect. I had on the low cut shirt, a short skirt that wasn’t quite a mini skirt. I left for Caribou and got there when the rest of them did. I ran up to Sam and he twirled me around. I laughed and he grinned at me. “You look like the most gorgeous thing in the world. He said to me. I blushed and snuggled into him. He held me gently. I looked at my ring and the gems in it made my heart flutter. We went in and sat at a table and pulled three tables together so we’d all fit. Mom had brought Josiah for moral support. A man came in with a seriously pissed woman walking at his side. He scanned the room and saw my mom. He didn’t smile but he did approach her. “Angeni,” He said to her. “This is Margaret.” He said to my mom and they shook hands. “This is Josiah.” She said and they shook hands. “I thought you said you had your hands full enough,” The man said. “Mark, they were full enough until they started figuring out how to keep things clean enough to walk around. Then I started having a social life again.” She said. He laughed. “So, which ones are mine?” He asked her. “This is Isaiah and Jenny,” She said, motioning to a tribally dressed Jenny and a normally dressed Isaiah. “I thought you didn’t want anything more to do with that tribe,” Mark said. “I didn’t, but my kids apparently had other ideas.” She said. Isaiah stood up and Mark went over and hugged him. Isaiah looked confused for a second and then he hugged him back. “It’s nice to meet you Jenny,” He said when he let go of Isaiah. She shook his hand and then he looked at me. He gasped, shocked into silence. “As you can obviously tell, I’m July.” I said and I heard the maturity in my voice and the pain and fear that had been suffered in my life so recently made my voice strong and powerful. He stared at me in awe. His wife looked at me in shock. “I thought you said she was seventeen,” She whispered in his ear. I laughed and let the power fade and young joy take over. He stared at me and smiled. “She’s just mature for her age,” He said and hugged me. It felt weird but I knew I had a connection with him. I could feel it in my veins. I relaxed and hugged him back. “So, who’s this?” He asked me, studying Sam. Sam kinda shrank back. I laughed at his cowardice. “This is Sam,” I said and Sam stood and shook my dads’ hand. We got our drinks and we talked about my grades and Isaiah’s grades and our reentry to the village and my mom constantly mentioned how irresponsible I used to be. Then she’d mention how I’d grown a thousand years old in the span of two months. He stared at Isaiah and me the entire time. Sam touched my hand and he had my entire attention. He gazed down at me lovingly and I scooted close to him. He kissed my forehead and I snuggled into him, my word seemingly perfect for a short span of time. I heard someone clear their throat and I opened my eyes, and saw Margaret glaring at us. “What’s with you?” I asked her. “It’s not good manners to show affection in public.” She said in a very, I’m so superior, tone. I snorted. “You’re gonna find out pretty quick that I’m a definite rule breaker.” I said to her. Her eyebrows rose. I rolled my eyes. We’d all finished our drinks so I said, “Why don’t we all head to our house? It’s still clean,” I said to my mom. “It’s an utter miracle that I can see the floor in your room.” She said to me. We all headed back to our place and when Mark saw the house he looked shocked. “It’s so clean,” He said and stared at mom. “She did it actually,” She said nodding towards me. I yawned and sat on the couch. Sam sat next to me and I put my head in lap and he stroked my hair. I yawned again and snuggled into him. “You should probably stay awake,” He said to me and sat me up with absolutely no effort. I sighed and snuggled into his side and heard Margaret puff up in indignation. I chuckled and Sam kissed me gently. “Mark, I have to go back to work so I’ll take the car. I suppose you have some catching up to do.” She said and stormed out. “What’s wrong with her?” Isaiah asked and then he saw Sam and me kissing. He flicked a finger at me and air came rushing at me. I stopped it before I had some seriously messed up. I flicked some flame at him and his hair caught on fire. My dad stared at him shocked as he snapped his fingers and the fire disappeared. “You’re a protector.” He said and Isaiah nodded. “So is she, and she’s better at it anyway. That’s why she’s so ancient.” He said. My dad whirled around and looked at me. I felt the ancient sadness seep into my face beyond my control and felt my tattoos getting more detail and he gasped. He looked away, his face pooling with tears. “I’ve hurt so much recently, mostly for my disregard of rules that still stands today, that I’ve become ancient and stronger that you could imagine. Nobody can hurt me anymore unless they bring back horrible memories that I keep concealed in the back of my mind.” I said to him. I went upstairs to a silence that lingered as I went into my room and changed into my tribal clothes and took off my makeup. I took my hair down from the bun thing it was in. I looked so native that I laughed. I was still beautiful, my hair and my tattoos still made my skin look dark and rich and flawless, but now they looked more natural than they had before. Before it was like a big secret that I was hiding with them. I came back downstairs and he gasped. I held my head high and I felt everything in me proud of my appearance and myself in general. “You look so amazing.” He said and I could see pride in his eyes, though it was well hidden. I grinned at him. I went over and sat in Sam’s lap. He looked disapproving for a moment and I saw a trace of paternal protection blink into his eyes and then it disappeared the next moment. Sam kissed me and the fire was impossible to completely ignore it. I kissed him back with a passion that had Jenny coming over and smacking both of us. “Save it for when I’m not around and having just ate something.” She said. I rolled my eyes and snuggled into him. He held me tightly and securely against him. “So, let’s see the ring,” My dad said and grinned. I stuck out my left hand with pride. He came over and examined it. “It’s beautiful.” He said examining the stones with pride. “I’m glad to be your father. I’m sorry I haven’t been here for you. I don’t deserve to have such a beautiful daughter.” I smiled at him. //Can I invite my dad to a tour of the village?// I asked Rya. I heard her ask Qwen and I heard his approval. //Wait, make sure he’s a pure soul first,// Qwen said to me. I went to the spirit realm and touched my father’s soul. I saw pain and joy and everything in the world, but he didn’t have any desire to see our village destroyed. He wanted what was best for us. I came back to my body. //He’s a good soul,// I said to Rya. She gave me her consent. When I came back to the here and now my dad was staring at me. “What?” I asked him. “Your tattoos were glowing,” He said sounding slightly afraid but not of me. For me. “I was checking something.” I said. He nodded. “Do you want to see the village?” I asked him. His smile was blinding. “I’d always wished your mother would show me the village but she absolutely hated it so much that I never asked her to. I would love to see your village.” He said. We all loaded into my moms’ big van and we went to the village. I was in the middle of Isaiah and Sam on the ride back and I put my legs in Isaiahs lap and my head in Sam’s lap. Neither of them minded. I slept the whole ride there. I woke up to Sam kissing me. I gasped and kissed him fiercely and he broke away quickly. My dad was looking at me shocked. I blushed and got out of the car. Jenny was snickering and Isaiah was trying not to laugh out loud. My mom was hiding her face and Josiah was full out laughing. “I can get you all at the same time!” I yelled at them and they all burst into laughter. I glared and climbed into the closest tree. I was at the top and sailed through the branches. I could feel their eyes on me. I went to the edge and dove off the highest tree on the rim of the trees. I flew through the air hearing my dad yelling at them to save me. I dove into the earth and had it swallow me. I found Rya and grabbed her. She yelped and glared at me. “You need to stop sneaking up on people. One of these days we’ll smack you down.” She said. I laughed and felt a giddy energy and showed her the past couple of hours. She grinned and we raced back to them. They were waiting for me to come back and I flipped over Jenny’s back and soared into the air with fire twisting around me in flames that traced my tattoos. I had the water making a fine mist around my and air was lifting my hair in a way that showed my power. Jenny and Isaiah gasped. The rest of them just stared at me. Including Rya and Qwen who was running after us stopped dead when he saw me. “That takes some serious control and power,” He said to me and I shrugged. “It’s not a big deal to me.” I said. They all kept gawking at me so I just got the earth to move them all. After a while we got to the village and it was time for dinner. I brought all of them to dinner and then they all seemed to unfreeze. They all got food, my dad following Isaiah. I sat with Sam and I called over Rose and Aiden and Ivan and Lily. They all came over and sat with us. “You look amazing. Your tattoos have seriously filled in with details.” Lily said. I nodded around my sandwich. My mom and Josiah joined us. Isaiah and Jenny and my dad followed close behind them. Aiden and Ivan stared for a long time at him. I ate, completely comfortable and waited for Sam to get up. He put his arm around me and I snuggled into his side. “How can you be like that when he’s here? You’ve never even seen him before today and you’re already totally ignoring him! What’s wrong with you?” Ivan demanded of me. “His novelty has already worn off with me.” I said to him. “And Sam’s novelty hasn’t worn off yet?” Aiden asked me with a grin. I grinned up at Sam. “His novelty will //never// wear off,” I purred at Aiden. He made retching noises and I laughed and snuggled into Sam’s side. Sam was laughing too and he held me tight. “Why don’t you go and get rid of your plate?” My dad asked me. “I’m waiting for Sam,” I said and looked at the mashed potatoes still on his plate. “Are you really that dependent on him?” He asked me. “No, but that’s how a woman is supposed to treat her betrothed. Sometimes even I have to follow rules.” I said nudging Sam. Sam had been talking to Aiden and when he felt the pressure on his rib he looked at me. “Finish your food,” I said to him. He ate and grabbed his plate. I got up with him and we cleaned our dishes. When we came and sat back down my dad was staring at me like I was the biggest hypocrite in the world. Sam put me in his lap and held me gently. I was completely satisfied there until I got smacked upside the head. I fell out of Sam’s lap and fell on the ground. I got a scrape on my cheek from landing head first. I glared at an elder who looked scandalized. I called the elements and told them to heal me. I felt the cut on my cheek closing without any outward move to fix it. She stared at me in shock. I could feel an anger that was dangerous and boiling behind my eyes. I didn’t stop them from turning red. She stared me down after a minute. I glared right back at her and the elements pull me up. She didn’t realize I was getting up till I was towering over her. I was a few inches taller than her. I was closer than norm to her and she looked slightly uncomfortable. I stood there for a full minute till she grunted and backed down. Most of the people in the village had gone silent and were watching me with shock. I sat back down. Sam rolled his eyes. “You follow stupid rules about not getting up before him but you have no respect for the elders?” My dad asked me. “How do you know that was an elder?” I asked him. “I asked your mom.” He said to me. “I know what it’s like to lose Sam and he doesn’t really like it when I don’t follow those rules because it’s a serious sign of disrespect. The elders need me here though. They know I don’t have any issues with leaving for days and weeks at a time. They know better than to try and change the way I act. I’ve ended thousand year disputes so they’re desperate to keep me.” I said to him. He looked at me skeptically. “You can ask anybody here. All of a sudden the pain of losing Sam blossomed throughout my chest and it engulfed my mind. I clutched Sam’s hand with everything in me and felt my heart and soul rip each other to pieces. I felt the ancient sadness cross my face in a soul deep way. The despair became my mind. I shared the memory with the man I knew was behind me. He screamed and the pain stopped. “I don’t know how you lived.” He said and went back to the elders, a new gray streak glowing into existence in his hair. They all looked at me. “I can share my pain, and it doesn’t make it any harder for me. I will show all of you my pain if you push me to it. That’s ripping a soul to pieces for nothing.” I said to them. The man stared at me. “I won’t do it again. They can’t make me suffer that kind of pain.” He said. They stared at him in shock. “I wanted to kill myself. I was already looking for a knife when she stopped. I only felt that for seconds.” He said. I smiled cruelly to them. A mutual sigh went up among them. “Why do you know pain that could make a man want to kill himself?” My dad asked me. I offered my hand and he cringed away. “I’m showing you my memories. It would take hours for me to tell you the story otherwise.” I said to him. He put his hand in mine and I showed him everything that mattered to him. His shoulders hunched with the burden of my memories. When he lifted his head, a while after the memories had stopped he stared at me in awe. “Your soul almost ripped itself in two for that boy.” He said to me. “Yes.” I said to him. “Was it really worth it?” He asked me. “It gave me a strength and a power that I would never have known otherwise. I needed to hurt like that to know how strong I was. It has helped me in so many parts of my life.” I said to him. He nodded. I yawned and snuggled into Sam. “Aiden, why don’t you show dad around the village?” I asked him and nudged Sam to get up. Sam got up and led me to the hut. I got ready for bed and collapsed. My dad poked his head in and saw me in my shorts and tank top laying there looking like I was almost dead to the world. “Good night,” He said to me and I mumbled a meaningless ‘ungh’ at him and then I was asleep. I woke up in Sam’s arms and I decided I wasn’t done sleeping yet. I fell back asleep in minutes. I woke up again to a woman barging in to my hut and yelling at me for sleeping with a man before I was married and I put a soundproof bubble around Sam and I. He grinned and held me tighter and we were already drifting back to sleep when she started kicking him. I realized it was Margaret. I threw a pillow at her face and hit her dead on. She spluttered for a minute in shock at me and I told air to bring my pillow back. I had my pillow back and was about to fall back asleep when she started kicking me. I had a brief flash of my fear, the unending fear and Sam felt it with me. He sat straight up and told her to go away. She slapped him hard, I stood up and slapped her just as hard. “This is my life, this is my home and this is my fiancé. If you hit him again, I will hit you five times harder. If you don’t get out of my house, I’ll pick you up and carry you out. If you tell me how to live my life again, I’m gonna show you just how I’m living my life and how strong it’s made me. Get. Out.” I said and pointed to the door. I sounded powerful and really pissed. She backed out looking so scared that she might run screaming. I lay back down and sobbed into Sam for a good long time. He held me and reassured me and stroked my hair. “I felt your fear, I know it’s bad, she won’t bother us again.” He reassured me. After a half an hour, I calmed down and showered. I came out and saw my dad comforting a sobbing Margaret. I rolled my eyes and started back to my hut. He called me over to him. I came unwilling. “Yeah?” I asked him. “You need to apologize to my wife.” He said in a strict voice. “She came into my house, invaded my life, and tried to tell me how to live it. I didn’t do anything but tell her where her place was in my life. She needs to know that.” I said and walked away. He tried to stop me and when he grabbed my shoulder and brought me back to her and told me to apologize again I told him that I wouldn’t apologize. “Do I need to get your mother?” He asked me, trying to threaten me. “One, she has as little control over me as you do, two, there isn’t a person in this world who can make me do anything I don’t want to, and three, mom told me not to lie and if I said I was sorry I’d be lying.” I said to him. He stood there gaping at me as I went back to the hut and grabbed some fresher clothes and got ready for the day. I brushed out my hair and was deciding how much of my tattoos to wear today when he came in. “You really should apologize.” My dad said to me. “But then I’d be lying because I’m really not sorry. She needed to know her place. If you yell at me I yell right back.” I said and he sighed. “You can learn this now or later. I do not apologize if I’m not sorry and I do not let anybody boss me around. Get used to it.” I told him. He sighed and walked back out. I decided to go without my tattoos or my streak today. I put on a normal teenage outfit and makeup. I looked like a model now and I loved it. “Sam!” I yelled to him, coming out of the hut. He was getting lectured by my dad. He was staring at the ground. I came up behind both of them. “Lecturing him instead of me isn’t gonna do a whole lot of good either. People haven’t like us together before so what makes you think that’s gonna change anything?” I asked him. He glared at me and turned back to Sam and did a double take. “Where are your tattoos?” he asked me. “I can take them on and off at will.” I said and put them back on. He watched as they spread from the middle of my fore head to my feet and then disappeared in the same order. Sam was looking at me appreciatively. “You’re coming with me to the other village to get some paintings I left there a couple of weeks ago.” I said to him. I was wearing a skirt that was strictly designer and a plain shirt and my moccasins. It was beautiful together though. He nodded and started jogging toward the gate. I jogged with him and he rolled his eyes. We ran once we were out of the village and it felt good and right. When we got to the village the girls who had followed me to the second village were all working overtime. I laughed at them and they wagged their brows menacingly at Sam and me. I grimaced and went and got my paintings. I announced to the village at lunch that Sam and I would be getting married soon. A lot of hoots and lot of cheering went on. Zeb and Jasmine snuck up on us and pushed us together and we laughed as we caught each other. I had the earth move them together while they weren’t looking so they didn’t notice they were right next to each other until they ran smack into each other. I had the earth bring their faces level and when Jasmine turned her head back from glaring at me they kissed. They were both shocked for a moment and when Sam whistled at them the whole village erupted in cheers. They both blushed furiously and glared at us. I grabbed Sam and we booked it out of there. We were laughing as we got back to our village. It was about dinner time and we were both out of breath. I took us to Rya and she looked at my paintings in awe. “They’re beautiful,” She said and I beamed at her. She hugged me and we went to the women’s dorm to hang them up. The colors stood out brilliantly and made the dorm more bright and easier to identify the areas. “I think it looks really nice in here,” My mom said. I grinned at her. “I have a painting to finish that’s been waiting to be finished for a while so see you later.” I told them and went to find my painting of the fire. I painted till dinner and by then when I looked at it as a whole for the first time since I’d started, it looked amazing. I used the air to dry it and brought it to dinner with me. I sat down and showed Sam. He studied it for a while and I ate. As my siblings and their girlfriends came, they each took time to study it too. When my dad and Margaret came over to sit with us they stared at us like we were crazy. “Since when did the whole family become so interested in art?” My dad asked my mom. “When July really started painting again.” She said. “July painted that?” Margaret asked her. “Yeah,” I said to her. She stared at me in shock. “There’s more in the women’s dorm.” I told her. She got up and the whole village stared at her. Including me and the rest of the family. She stopped and stared around her. She sat down hesitantly. “What was that about?” My dad asked as everybody returned to their meals. “She can’t get up before you.” I told them. “Because of some stupid rules?” He asked me. “Yeah, I’m disrespectful but I don’t disrespect Sam on a daily basis like that.” I said. She got up anyways and left the dining area. I sighed and looked to Sam. //May I rise?// I asked him. He nodded and gave me his plate. I guffawed and left him with his plate and took mine. “It was worth a try,” He said and grinned at Rya who had just sat down and was shaking her head at him. My dad was staring at me. “Hypocrite!” Margaret yelled at me. “I got permission,” I said to her. “Who heard her ask him to get up?” She asked everybody there. “She asked him through their mental link.” Rya said. “Don’t you give me any attitude young lady,” She scolded Rya. “She has a mental link with me as well, and with Isaiah.” She said. “Don’t bother to try and explain it to her. She won’t get it or believe it.” I told Rya. “Oh really?” Margaret asked me. “I’ve seen inside your head. You’re stubborn and you would never accept the rules or the powers or mental abilities that happen in this culture.” I said to her. She looked at me with a straight face. “If you won’t respect my homes’ rules or regulations, then I suggest you leave.” I said to her. “If I went to your house, if you told me to take my shoes off, I would. If you told me to stay G rated, then I would. But you coming into my home and telling me that I’m not doing something right, or that I’m being disrespectful, is not something you have a right to do.” I told her. She looked utterly astounded. “Follow the rules, or get out.” I told her and she sat down at the table next to my father. I walked away and when I was out of sight I started running. //I need to get away for a while. I’ll be back in time for bed without waking you up.// I told Sam. //Don’t get hurt,// He told me and I showed him my amusement at the thought. I had a brief flash of him laughing and getting up to clean his dishes. I ran and I climbed. I was high in the trees and I let my body carry me and shut off my mind, my connection to the earth taking me higher and higher and farther. I dove off the edge of the tallest tree after about an hour of climbing and running and swinging from branch to branch. It was so far down. I dove with the air pulling me down with a force that was breathtaking. I pierced into the earth and being surrounded by the earth felt good and right. I resurfaced and found myself in Zeb’s village. I went and found Zeb and Jasmine in a make-out session and sat there with some fire. I watched pictures in the fire and created images that amazed and astounded me. I did this for a long time, but I didn’t feel the time passing. I was just amusing myself. I lifted the fire up and lay on my back and had water make a heated mist with the fire and used the wind to make shapes and clouds above me. I had the air lift me and I played with these elements until Zeb cut in. “Did you need something?” He asked me, startling me out of the air. I fell on my butt and looked up at them. “I’m here to…I don’t even know what I wanted from you. But I think I just found a new hobby.” I said and he laughed. “Will you paint any of those images?” He asked me. “Definitely.” I told him. “Jasmine, have you seen my village?” I asked her. She shook her head. “I stayed behind when everybody went to your village.” She said. “I’m gonna show you my village then.” I said to her. She shrugged and when I started jogging she followed me.