The Weight of the World (17 page)

“We've
already begun to suspect that there's another Titan after us,”
Minnie said, “With what happened to Zach's car, I don't think we
should dismiss Adam's claims too easily.”

“What
happened to Zach's car?” June snapped.

Zach
launched into that story, catching the rest of The Pantheon up on the
details.

“Has
Adam shown any unusual abilities?” Celene asked Devon.

“He
said he threw the dog farther than he thought possible.”

“So
strength?” Frank asked.

“Or
just adrenaline,” Jason said. “So it might be nothing. We are a
Miami suburb. People get mugged.”

“What
did you say he called him?” Minnie asked.

“Uh...
Ago... he couldn't remember.”

“Aegocerus.”

“Sure,”
Devon replied, “Maybe.”

“Pan.
Rustic God of hunting, nature, and flocks. He's not really an
Olympian, but he's part of our generation.” Minnie barreled ahead,
“And supposing he's just awakening, he might not have his trademark
horns and goat feet yet. Or, as Zach and I discussed the other day--”

June
made a displeased noise.

“--
there is a difference between popular myth and our reality. It's not
an accurate history. The goat thing might just be flavor.”

“Or
my neighbor really is about to sprout horns and expose us all,”
Devon suggested.

“That
is based on an awful lot of guess work,” Celene added. “We don't
know if the dog had two heads or the kid panicked. We don't know if
he called him a Greek name or if he was just saying something Adam
didn't hear clearly. We can't approach him based on so many maybes.”

“He
told me, the first night we met,” Devon added, “that his mother
left Olympia Heights when she was pregnant.”

“We
were all conceived or born in Olympia Heights,” Nick said, “So
add that to the list of reasons he's probably one of us.”

“You
forget just how many people were probably conceived in Olympia
Heights,” Minnie said.

“Do
we bring him in?” Lewis asked. “Do we tell him?”

“I
don't think so. Maybe not until Devon sees him use some kind of
powers?” Valerie suggested. “Just to be safe.”

“So
we leave the guy confused and scared? We all accepted this bunch
pretty willingly. Now we choose to be skeptics? Dude, no way,” Nick
shook his head. “If he doesn't know what's going on, he might run
to the police or a doctor and get us all exposed. I say we bring him
in now and do damage control.”

“No.
Valerie is right,” Zach said. “
This
bunch
was
screened by Dr. Davis and Dr. Livingstone before they were invited.
We've all had to prove our powers. He might be an innocent extra and
then we've revealed our secret to a stranger who has nothing to do
with this.”

“He's
from Olympia Heights and he was attacked by a two-headed dog!” Nick
stood up. “Don't be a moron, Jacobs. Clearly he's part of this.”

Zach,
too, stood up, staring Nick down. “Until we know his actual role, I
say we play our hand close to the vest. I'm not going to risk the
lives of everyone in this room based on what he thought he saw while
he was being mugged. He might be a target because he's friends with
Devon.”

“Don't
be a tool,” Nick replied.

Devon
stood between them. “Okay, stop. You're both acting like animals. I
convinced him not to go to the police about the dog. We don't have to
tell him anything yet. If I see him use powers, then I'll decide how
much to tell him. Let me do some more fact-finding, okay? I'll talk
to him. I'll find out if he's having memory dreams.”

Peter
spoke up from his spot in the corner. “Maybe we should all meet
him,” he suggested. “Not in a big reveal sort of way, but maybe
if we take turns meeting him, one of us will spark a memory.”

“That's
a great idea, Peter,” Jason said. “In the mean time, Devon, keep
your eyes open. Everyone else needs to keep their mouths shut and be
careful. Whether or not Adam is Pan, someone has attacked him and
Zach. And
bears
in Olympia
Heights? Nobody
goes walking alone after dark and everyone has
their cell phones ready to speed dial if something pops up. Alright?”

Nick
sat down, rolling his eyes and grumbling. “Whatever.”

The
Pantheon sat in silence. June and Valerie's violent glares were now
matched in the silent exchange between Zach and Nick. “Well,”
Minnie finally interrupted. “Hate to cut this riveting conversation
short, but I have to go to work.” She stood up, taking her purse,
and headed out the front door.

One-by-one
the members of The Pantheon departed. Celene picked up a few empty
glasses and went to dump them in the kitchen sink. Jason pulled Penny
off to the side to discuss her next babysitting job. Zach stayed in
the big arm-chair, lost in thought, while June fished through her
purse for her car keys. The others had all left.

June
found her keys and hung her black leather purse over her shoulder.
She turned to look at Zach, biting her lip as she thought of what she
might say to him. Five months ago she thought he was cheating simply
because she wouldn't put-out, but if that was true, dating Minnie
didn't make a lick of sense. Wasn't she one of the perpetual virgins
like Valerie? Perhaps their relationship hadn't fallen apart because
of a lack of sex.

June
looked down into her purse, squeazing her keys so tightly that they
cut into her hands. She needed to clean her purse. There were too
many receipts in there and it was time to sort her change.

Zach
noticed that June hadn't left and snapped out of his daze to look up
at her. “What?”

June's
eyes met Zach's. Her expression hardened and she tipped her chin up.
“She's all wrong for you,” June snapped before spinning on her
heel and heading out the front door. Zach was left in his chair,
opening and closing his mouth like a confused goldfish.

“
In
anger we should refrain both from speech and action.”

-Pythagoras

xii.

Her
plea before the mother was for revenge

against
her husband, Zeus, who had slighted her.

She
asked for a god more powerful than he,

and
Gaia obliged.

When
Hera struck the earth to call her request,

the
creature that breached the surface reached the sky.

A
hundred dragon heads looked down on Hera

and
filled her with fear.

“
There
is no beast, no rush of fire, like woman so untamed.”

-Aristophanes

XII.

June
Herald slinked down the self-help section of the book store, walking
her fingers along the spines of books as she kept her eyes on Minnie
Rutherford, who was shelving new releases, blissfully ignorant that
she was being stalked.

It
was only hours after their emergency meeting. June was still
energized from the article about Zach and Minnie the night before.
She watched Minnie head out back to get another box and made her
move, crossing quickly to a younger coworker.

The
girl was short with frizzy hair and braces. June picked her because
she was straightening out the romance section, but actually sneaking
peaks at the backs of books as if picking out her next stealth read.
A romantic. She was bound to have the answers.

“Hey,
I'm June Herald,” June said, extending her hand in invitation.

“Elise
Monroy,” the girl replied. “Can I help you find something?”

June
took a deep breath and shrugged. “Maybe,” she said, before
flipping her long red hair back over her shoulder and starting in.
Her presence was commanding and she could tell the girl was a little
intimidated by her. “I have a few questions to ask you. How long
have you been working here?”

“Since
April,” she said. “Is there a book you're looking for?”

“More
like book worm. You know Minnie?”

“Miranda?”

“Yeah,
Minnie. I assume you know who Zach Jacobs is.”

“You
know, I have a lot of work to do,” Elise said, becoming
uncomfortable with the way this conversation was going. “You'll
have to ask someone else.”

June
wasn't going to give up that easily. She had noticed a change in the
way she related to people lately. It had started two weeks ago at
Victoria's Secret when some other girl had grabbed the last
poolside-blue full-coverage bra in her size. She had given the girl a
standard glare of frustration, but something had felt different--
powerful-- and the girl had handed her the bra, apologized, and left
the store.

June
had done it again last week while waiting in line at the DMV. Some
jerk had cut the line and when the woman in front of June had spoken
up, he had called her something horribly vulgar. He had smiled, proud
of himself for his disgusting remark, proud of having the balls to
just do what he wanted with no regard to others. However, when June
simply said “Seriously?” and cut him with that same glare, he had
gotten out of line and moved to the back.

She
was starting to suspect it was some new Pantheon power (after all,
her previous power of detecting lies was just as subtle), and she was
willing to try it here. She focused her disarming glare and suddenly
Elise looked like she was about to cry. “Okay, I'll tell you. He's
been in here almost every day she's worked the last few weeks and
they're always off talking. The other day when she was shelving
fiction, whenever she'd reach up and her shirt would slide up, I saw
him check out that little bit of hip that it revealed. He's totally
into her. When I saw that Discordia blog this morning I knew I was
right.”

“Elise,
are you alright?” Minnie said from behind June. June whipped
around, her hair fanning out behind her like the spray from a
flamethrower. “June, what's going on here?”

“Elise
has just been filling me in on your new romance. You're some friend,
moving in on Zach. You don't date a friend's ex, Minnie. He's
off-limits.”

“Hold
on,” Minnie said. She looked confused. “Who said I was dating
Zach?”

“I
saw the photos of him on Discordia,” June snapped, “So don't play
stupid. I saw him kissing you last night.”

Minnie
laughed. She couldn't help it.

“Oh
you think it's funny, bitch?”

Minnie
stopped laughing abruptly and stepped closed to June. “Call me that
again and see how fast I lay you out on this floor.”

“Miranda,”
warned her manager, Tony. He had seen the signs of confrontation and
rushed over, leaving customers at the register.

Minnie
inhaled, letting her whole torso expand with breath before turning
around to walk away. June wasn't worth her job. “I turned him
down,” she called over her shoulder as Tony stepped between the
girls to make sure June wouldn't try anything reckless. “He did try
to kiss me, but I shut him down. Glad to know you trust me.”

June
stormed out of the book store and continued out through the south
entrance of the nearest department store. She sat down on the
sidewalk for a moment, trying to level her emotions before getting
behind the wheel of her car. She wasn't sure if she should believe
Minnie or not. Zach was charismatic and handsome and romantic, but
then again, now that June really thought about it, Minnie didn't seem
to care about that kind of thing. June had known that for a while.
Zach's charm wouldn't work on Minnie because Minnie had no interest
in romance.