Fort Lupton (23 page)

Maresol nodded, and Charlie smiled. He was
starting to like the idea that he was like his father.

“
What test did you have to
get?” Charlie asked.

“
Brain scan,” Maresol
said. “They want to make sure my brain is working. I’m kind of an
old gal to get such a bump on the head.”

Charlie nodded.

“
Nice of you not to
argue.” Maresol smiled.

“
About being old or the
bump on the head?” Charlie asked.

Maresol laughed, and Charlie smiled.

“
Where’s your gaggle of
girlfriends?” Charlie asked.

“
Who?”

“
Jeraine’s mom, Delphie,
Tanesha’s mom,” Charlie said. “I call them the old
girlfriends.”

“
As opposed to Sandy’s
girlfriends?” Maresol asked.

“
Yep,” Charlie
said.

“
Well, it may surprise
you, but Delphie and Yvonne wanted me to talk to you,” Maresol
said. “They felt that my special connection to your father would
help you now.”

“
And Jeraine’s mom?”
Charlie asked.

“
She’s in the cafeteria
buying hamburgers.” Maresol smiled.

Charlie laughed.

“
Should we wait?” Charlie
asked.

“
I don’t know why,”
Maresol said.

“
Do I get a hamburger?”
Charlie asked.

“
I think you get two.”
Maresol smiled.

“
Good!” Charlie smiled.
“What’s wrong with your head?”

“
I have a big hole in it,”
Maresol said and smiled.

Charlie smiled.

“
No, really.” Charlie felt
a well of concern for the woman his father loved. She
smiled.

“
I am all right,” Maresol
said. “At my age, they want to check for things like
dementia.”

“
And?”

“
My brain is okay,”
Maresol said. “Mostly, I’m a little tired.”

Not sure what to say, Charlie nodded.

“
How come Delphie and
Yvonne wanted you to talk to me?” Charlie asked.

“
I wondered if you’d think
about coming to our house to recover,” Maresol said. “I know your
sister is trying to make it all work, but I have time. Seth has
space. We have a pool and piles of money. We’ve done it
before.”

“
Piles of money?” Charlie
chuckled.

“
You know what I mean,”
Maresol said.

“
You mean that Seth would
pay for therapists and everything if I’m there,” Charlie
said.

“
He would if you weren’t,
but Sandy would never ask,” Maresol said.

“
What if I get mean?”
Charlie asked. His voice became emphatic. “I fucking hate
this!”

“
Yes,” Maresol said. “I
imagine you do.”

“
And if I swear and
stuff?”

“
I’ve seen worse,” Maresol
said. “I helped your father and Seth quit drugs.”

Charlie raised his eyebrows. It wasn’t hard
to imagine that helping his father and Seth quit drugs was
hell.

“
Can I talk to Sandy?”
Charlie asked.

“
Please do,” Maresol said.
“In the meantime, I brought my i-whatever-this-thing-is-called. I
thought we could watch a movie.”

“
What’ll we
watch?”

“
Whatever you’d like,”
Maresol said.

“
Really?” Charlie
asked.

“
Seth. Money. Time,”
Maresol said.

Charlie nodded. Maresol held the iPad, and
Charlie pointed. They settled into watch a stupid comedy. While the
movie played, Charlie watched Maresol. She was different than he’d
thought she was. She glanced at him and smiled. He really liked
her. He’d just turned his attention back to the movie when Dionne
came in with burgers.

Charlie smiled. This could work out really,
really well.

Fairy magic

Friday afternoon — 3:22 p.m.

Pulling into the Marlowe School parking lot,
Yvonne glanced at Abi and laughed. Somehow, Yvonne’s car had been
waiting for her in the Castle parking lot. She wasn’t sure how the
car had miraculously appeared in front of all those photographers.
She was just glad it was there.

After all, she had to pick up her Jabari
after his first few hours at school.

The Marlowe School was set up with a large
parking lot and a wide, open area in front of the school where
older kids and teachers would wait. It was against the rules to
stay in the car when you picked up your child. This was Celia
Marlowe’s vision of how things should be. Parents were required to
actually get out of their vehicles to check their children out for
the day. This forced the parents to chat with the teachers every
day. Every once and a while someone complained, but most parents
were used to the system, which would continue at the new
school.

Yvonne scanned the waiting area for Jabari
and saw the white hair of Colin Hargreaves towering over the crowd.
He was waiting with his son, Conner, to get Paddie from Edie.
Noelle was standing with Keenan and Ivy, a foot or so away from
Colin, while she waited for her dad to pick them up. Noelle waved
when she saw Yvonne. Ivy noticed Noelle waving and joined her.
Yvonne smiled at the girls.

“
They are adorable,” Abi
said. “Just adorable.”

“
Noelle’s a talented
artist too,” Yvonne said. “And Ivy’s just getting her feet under
her.”

Abi smiled.

Edie pulled up next to Yvonne’s car. Yvonne
and Abi helped Edie get Katy and Paddie out of the car. After some
negotiating, Katy and Paddie agreed to hold the fairies’ hands as
long as they got to hold each other’s hands. Yvonne watched the
entire interaction with anxious impatience. She wanted to get
Jabari and get home.

When everything was arranged — Katy held
Edie’s hand and Paddie held Abi’s hand — Yvonne set off toward to
the school. She was about a foot in front of Paddie when she felt
something whiz by her. She turned and saw Abi weave and then fall
on her side. Katy and Paddie dropped facedown on the ground.

Then she heard the sound.

“
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bang!
” and then the squeal of
tires.

People started screaming and running.

“
Abi!” Yvonne turned
toward her friend and then remembered Jabari. “Jabari.”

He is safe,
ma’am
, Yvonne heard Keenan’s voice in her
head.
The fairy is not.

Yvonne went to Abi. The fairy was bleeding
from a wound about an inch above her hip. Yvonne pulled off her
fleece sweater and took off her long-sleeved cotton blouse. Wearing
only her bra, she pressed the cloth into the wound. Abi groaned.
Yvonne glanced at Katy and Paddie. Katy’s dark eyes watched Yvonne.
Edie bent down to talk to Katy, and Yvonne turned her attention to
Abi.

“
What happened?” Yvonne
asked. She leaned in to put pressure on the wound in Abi’s
side.

“
Shot,” Abi said in a
grunt. “Bounced . . .off . . .
something . . .”

She gestured toward Katy. Yvonne glanced at
Katy.

“
We have a protective
bubble around us,” Katy said. “Always me. Always
Paddie.”

“
She needs a doctor,” some
woman said as she went by. Yvonne didn’t bother to look
up.

“
Do you need a hospital,
or . . .?” Yvonne asked.

“
She needs to go home,”
Edie said. “I’ve sent a message to my brother.”

“
No,” Abi said. “I can’t
leave . . .”

Edie made a determined look and stared at
Abi, who kept shaking her head.

“
They’re arguing,” Katy
said in a soft voice.

Abi grabbed Yvonne’s hand.
“You’ll . . . be . . . okay?”

“
I will be just fine,
Grandmother,” Yvonne smiled a sweet smile.

“
And . . .
Annette?” Abi whispered.

Yvonne smelled him before she saw him. Fin
knelt down on the other side of Abi. He touched Yvonne’s T-shirt
covering Abi’s wound. His fingertips stroked Abi’s chin, and he
gave her a sweet smile.

“
Your Highness,
I . . .” Abi whispered

He looked up at Yvonne.

“
Yvonne,” he said with a
nod. “Think ‘humans forget fairies’ and no human will remember we
were here.”

With a nod, he scooped up Abi.

“
And put your top on,” Fin
said.

“
Yes, Grandfather,” Yvonne
said.

He winked at Yvonne, and they
disappeared.

“
Humans forget fairies,”
Yvonne said out loud.

For a moment, everything went silent with
the hum of fairy magic, and then reality returned. People were
screaming and running around. Sirens roared. Cars revved to get out
of the parking lot. Yvonne pulled on her fleece top.

“
Are you okay?” Yvonne
touched Katy’s shoulder.

“
We’re fine,” Katy said.
“This is our spy training.”

“
Spy training.” Edie gave
a rueful shake of her head. “Can you believe it?”

“
We followed through on
our spy training,” Paddie said. “That’s what we’re
supposed
to
do.”

“
The bullet bounced off
Katy’s protective shield,” Edie said in a low tone.

She helped Paddie to his feet. Yvonne helped
Katy to her feet.

“
Who were they shooting
at?” Yvonne asked.

“
Me,” Paddie
said.

Katy nodded. Realizing what he’d said, the
little boy’s bottom lip began to vibrate. Katy put her arm around
him.

“
I need to get Jabari,”
Yvonne said.

“
I need my daddy,” Paddie
said.

“
My brothers are still
there,” Katy said in her most mature voice, but her lip was
beginning to vibrate too.

“
Why don’t I get Jabari
when I get the babies?” Edie asked. “Would you mind staying with
Katy and Paddie?”

“
Not at all,” Yvonne
said.

She sat down cross-legged on the cold
asphalt and patted her lap. Katy climbed onto one thigh and Paddie
onto the other. Yvonne hugged the children to her. Paddie threw his
arms around her neck and began to cry. Katy pressed her head
against Yvonne’s shoulder and cried. Yvonne made soothing sounds
and let them cry.

The police came into the parking lot with a
roar. The paramedics arrived after the police. People ran around
them. Children screamed and cried. Through all the chaos and noise,
Yvonne held onto the children, and they held onto her.

~~~~~~~~

Friday afternoon — 3:22 p.m.

On his way to the Marlowe School, Aden
stomped on the brakes to avoid hitting the ancient Datsun sedan
that had stopped short at the light. He waved in the rearview
mirror to thank the driver of the Pathfinder behind him for not
slamming into the back of his Saab. The man flipped him the bird
and pointed to the Datsun. Aden nodded and shrugged into the
rearview mirror. The man in the Pathfinder repeated his
gesture.

Waiting at the stoplight, Aden’s mind
drifted a million miles away. He worried about Sandy. In less than
a month, Sissy would leave for New York. Although they hadn’t
officially decided, he knew that Charlie was going to live with
Seth, maybe in LA. Nash was talking about spending the summer with
Teddy in some gruesome survival training recommended by Alex
Hargreaves’s father. Noelle would probably go wherever Mike ended
up this summer. Aden scowled and tried to remember if that was
Salem, Massachusetts, or LA.

Either way, he had no idea what Sandy would
do without all of the kids around.

“
Maybe we should have
another child,” Aden said out loud. “Or two.”

Aden nodded at his brilliance just as the
light changed. He followed the Datsun across the intersection. He
turned on his blinker to turn right at the first street after the
light. He had to go down half a block to get into the Marlowe
School parking lot.

The Datsun stopped short in front of him,
and a guy jumped out of the passenger seat. Aden got a glimpse of
the guy’s face as he got out. He looked like a runner in his
hoodie, running tights, and shoes. The guy jogged across the street
toward the backside of the Marlowe School. Aden knew that some of
the dad’s ran with their older kids. He hadn’t recognized the man,
but maybe he was the partner of someone at Lipson or one of those
paying parents.

The Datsun stalled and the driver in the car
behind Aden, Lipson’s small jobs appraiser’s husband, honked his
horn.

Aden heard the Datsun turn over. Once,
twice . . . Aden’s eyes tracked the jogger and he
wondered if he should pull the Saab around the Datsun. He glanced
in his side mirror and then forward again. The jogger pulled
something from his pocket. Aden gasped.

The jogger had a handgun. He was aiming at
the Marlowe School waiting area.

His handgun was aimed where Noelle was
waiting for Aden.

Moving more on instinct than anything else,
Aden zipped around the Datsun just as its engine caught. Aden
mashed on the Saab’s gas pedal and got ahead of the Datsun. The
Datsun slowed to pick up the jogger. Aden turned the wheel hard and
the Saab cut right in front of the Datsun just as it started to
make its getaway. The Datsun bashed into the Saab. The jogger
hadn’t had time to put on his safety belt. His head flew through
the windscreen of the Datsun. The driver opened the door to
run.