Firestone (10 page)

“
I’d love some tea, if you
have it?” Keenan sounded briefly like an old man. He cleared his
throat. “Um, sorry, I don’t know . . .”

Delphie put her arm around him.

“
How about some juice?”
Delphie asked.

“
Done,” Jacob
said.

He set out the plate of fruit and berries
he’d been putting together. He gave Delphie a mug of green tea and
poured a cup of juice for Keenan. Jacob went back to the
refrigerator to look for string cheese. Katy skipped out of the
nursery. Jill followed her with Tanner in her arms.

“
The only way we’ve found
to get Bladen to settle down is to take Tanner away,” Jacob said.
He took the tiny baby from Jill. She went back to the nursery for
their other son.

Keenan took a sip of his juice and then
looked at the glass.

“
This is juice?” Keenan
asked.

“
Orange juice,” Jacob
said. “Jill squeezed some this morning.”

“
I like this orange
juice,” Keenan said.

Jacob smiled.

“
I wanted to talk to you a
bit before everything starts for you tomorrow,” Jacob
said.

“
School.” Keenan looked at
Delphie and she smiled.

“
Soccer,” Jacob
said.

Keenan nodded. Katy climbed onto the bar
stool next to Keenan. Jacob gave her a glass of milk.

“
What is that?” Keenan
asked.

“
Milk,” Jacob said. “From
a cow.”

“
May I?” Keenan
asked.

“
You’re allergic,” Delphie
said.

“
I am?” Keenan looked
surprised.

For a moment, Keenan looked like a wisp of
an old man. Jacob blinked, and Keenan was a boy again. It was as if
Keenan’s struggle to be a child was playing out before them. Having
seen the old man inside the boy, Katy gave Keenan a sly look. Jill
came out of the loft carrying Bladen.

“
They want to talk to you
about using magic,” Katy said.

“
Magic?” Keenan looked
confused.

“
You know, you’re a fairy
and all,” Katy said.

“
I am?” Keenan asked. He
looked at Delphie and blinked.

“
You know that,” Delphie
said.

Jill leaned over and kissed his cheek.
Keenan looked at her.

“
Thanks,” he said.
“I . . . I am trying.”

“
We know,” Katy
said.

“
You can talk to us,”
Jacob said. “We’re not exactly like you, but we
understand.”

“
The air here
is . . . thick,” Keenan said. “The slightest thing
is . . . exhausting.”

“
I’ve been blocking you,”
Jacob said. “Fin too.”

“
Why?” Keenan
asked.

“
We don’t do magic here,”
Jacob said.

“
I don’t even get to,”
Katy said. Keenan looked at her with large eyes.

“
It can lead to a lot of
trouble,” Jacob said. “For you. For Delphie. For us.”

“
Oh.” Keenan looked very
sad. “It’s who I am, and . . .”

“
No it’s not.” Katy shook
her head.

Keenan looked at her and then at Jacob.

“
You are
you
, first,” Delphie
said. “And you can do a few things, secondly. You’ve spent so much
time doing magic that you haven’t had any time to just be
you.”

For a short second, Keenan’s physical being
shifted to the old man again. In a blink of an eye, he switched
back.

“
I don’t know what that
means,” Keenan said.

“
Why would you?” Jill
asked. “You’re a child. You have a chance to learn and grow. It’s
what you wanted.”

“
I want to grow up like
Fin did.” Keenan nodded. “But I can’t imagine growing up and not
having magic in my life.”

“
It’s not bad,” Katy said.
“Sometimes, it’s easier.”

“
We only use our skills —
that’s what we call them, ‘skills’ — when we are around people we
trust,” Jacob said.

“
Like each other,” Delphie
said. “I’d never go up to a stranger and start telling them their
future. That would be rude.”

“
Rude?” Keenan
asked.

“
Invasive,” Jacob
said.

“
Weird,” Katy
said.

“
I think I know what you
mean.” Keenan scowled.

“
We’ve asked Jill’s mother
to help you get ready for school,” Delphie said. “She helped
Charlie. You remember Charlie?”

Keenan smiled at the mention of Charlie’s
name.

“
He showed me basketball
last night,” Keenan said. “We are doing basketball this afternoon
with Nash and Teddy and . . . me. The
boys
. I’m a
boy
.”

Keenan smiled and seemed to solidify as a
boy. He looked up at Delphie.

“
I understand what you
mean,” Keenan said. “I could easily use magic to move the ball, but
that would not be fair to Charlie and Nash and Teddy.”

“
Or any fun,” Jacob said.
“The fun is in learning how to do it with your body. So I’ll keep
blocking you until you get in the habit doing things without magic.
Your brother will too.”

“
Plus, the boys know about
magic,” Jill said. “They’ll know if you use it.”

“
Oh, that makes sense.”
Keenan smiled. He glanced at Delphie and then at Jill.
“Thanks.”

“
For?” Delphie
asked.

“
For giving me this
chance,” Keenan said. “It’s hard,
but . . .”

Katy laughed and they all turned to look at
her. She pointed to the vase on the counter. The flowers were
twirling in the water.

“
They
are babies,” Jacob said. “They can’t help it.”

“
Right,” Keenan said. “I
need to learn to control my . . . what do you call
them?”

“
Skills,” Jacob
said.

“
Or be like a baby.”
Keenan nodded.

“
Will you?” Delphie
asked.

“
I can only try,” Keenan
said.

“
Abi is here to help the
twins,” Jill said. “And you. She’s going to work with you in the
mornings.”

“
Abi is a fairy and my
sister.” Keenan nodded. He thought for a moment before adding, “She
doesn’t use her skills. Because she will get in
trouble?”

“
Because she doesn’t need
to,” Jacob said. “She’s learned to be herself, first.”

Keenan nodded. He ate a few berries and
sniffed at the string cheese. After a few minutes, he looked
up.

“
May I go do basketball?”
Keenan asked.

“
Sure,” Delphie
said.

Keenan got up. He slammed the door on his
way out. The twins woke with a scream, and Katy laughed.

“
I’ll go,” Jacob said. He
gave Tanner to Jill and left to follow Keenan.

~~~~~~~~

Monday morning — 7:35 a.m.

Sitting in the back of the limousine,
Jeraine rubbed his face. Schmidty had been babbling a mile a minute
since Jeraine got into the limo. Jeraine looked at his agent and
lawyer.

They had basically grown up together.
Schmidty’s mother had returned to Denver after his father dumped
her. She had traded his money and fame for her son. That was it. No
support, no visitation, just “give me the boy and you can keep
everything else.” Schmidty’s father had agreed only to renege on
the deal when his subsequent wives failed to bear him a son.
Jeraine had always felt like Schmidty’s mother had been screwed by
his father.

No one ever knew how hard things were for
her. She was funny, friendly, and very pretty. Jeraine’s mother,
Dionne, had worked hard to help Schmidty’s mother get a job. His
parents had included Schmidty and his mom in everything. The adults
would send the kids out to play while the adults laughed and played
cards. Schmidty and Jeraine played together as much as two geek
kids obsessed with music could play.

Jeraine gave Schmidty a soft smile. He was
glad Schmidty was by his side today.

“
I’m talking too much,”
Schmidty said.

“
Are you nervous?” Jeraine
asked.

“
I want to kill her,”
Schmidty said. “I never thought I’d be . . .
you’d . . . me . . .
I . . .”

“
I was just thinking that,
Jammy. Can you imagine that we . . .” Jeraine
gestured to Schmidty and himself, “ . . . are doing
this shit? Just like . . .”

“
My mom and dad.” Schmidt
leaned back against the seat. “I thought that this morning. How did
we get here?”

“
No idea,” Jeraine said.
“I only know that I’m not your father. And you aren’t his
lawyer.”

Schmidty nodded and looked like he was going
to vomit. The limousine pulled over at Detroit Street and Colfax
Boulevard, where Mike Roper and a familiar-looking big guy were
standing. Mike and the big guy got into the limo. Schmidty had
wanted Jeraine to have bodyguards. Tanesha thought they could
spread the money around to some people who would appreciate it, so
she asked Mike if he wanted to do it. Mike asked the big guy.

Jeraine glanced at the guy and looked away.
This guy was terrifying.

“
Andy.” The big guy stuck
his hand out so Jeraine had to shake it. “You Jeraine?”

Jeraine nodded.

“
What are we doing?” Scary
Andy asked.

“
We’re hoping to get Mr.
Wilson into family court without being on television,” Schmidty
said.

“
Television . . .” Scary Andy looked from
Schmidty to Jeraine. “You mean the news?”

“
Reality TV,” Jeraine
said.

Mike sneered and looked out the window.

“
The mother of Mr.
Wilson’s son is on a reality television show,” Schmidty said.
“She’s been trying to get Mr. Wilson to come on the show for a long
time. We believe that’s what the stunt with the child is
about.”

“
You mean, she abandoned
your son so that you would be forced to be on her reality
television show?” Scary Andy asked.

“
Improve the ratings,”
Jeraine said.

Scary Andy gave an indignant snort.

“
They’re expecting quite a
disruption today,” Schmidty said. “They
will
certainly be there to tape
it.”

“
In court?” Mike
asked.

“
We’ve been informed of
just such a thing,” Schmidty said.

“
Okay,” Scary Andy nodded.
He glanced at Mike, and said, “We’re in, but like I said, we have
to be at roll call at one. Will we be done by one?”

“
We should be,” Schmidty
said.

“
Then it’s a go,” Scary
Andy said.

“
Thanks,” Mike
said.

Scary Andy took out a cellphone and texted
the word “Go.”

“
What does that mean?”
Jeraine asked.

“
Andy works on a team that
does security for a lot of highly placed politicians and even
royalty,” Mike nodded. “Around the world.”

“
I can’t really
afford . . .” Jeraine started.

“
You mean you’re broke?”
Scary Andy looked at him.

“
Accountant issues,”
Schmidty said.

“
I didn’t have issues,”
Jeraine said. “I had an accountant who had issues of the Caymans
variety.”

Scary Andy laughed. Schmidty shifted
uncomfortably. Scary Andy tapped on the barrier window and the
limousine driver rolled it down.

“
Pull over,” Andy
said.

“
Yes, sir,” the driver
said.

The driver pulled the limousine over, and
Mike got out.

“
Where’s Mike going?”
Jeraine asked.

“
Home,” Scary Andy said.
“He would have stayed if my team hadn’t taken the case. But now
that we’re on it, he’s not needed. He can go home and
paint.”

He leaned toward the driver and said,
“Go.”

The limo moved into the traffic on Colfax
Avenue.

“
Wait.” Jeraine rubbed the
growing pressure in his head. “How am I going to pay
you?”

“
I can easily
cover . . .” Schmidty started.

“
No,” Jeraine said. “I
promised Miss T that I wouldn’t take on more debt. She’s been
through enough. And all of this . . .”

“
Are you talking about
Tanesha Smith?” Scary Andy asked.

“
My wife,” Jeraine
said.

“
She’s already there,”
Scary Andy said. “One of our team has secured her along with her
mother and father. They are with a man named Fin. You know
him?”

Jeraine nodded.

“
Good,” Scary Andy said.
“Your parents have just arrived. They are on their way into a
conference room.”

“
How . . .?” Jeraine and Schmidty said in
unison.

“
We were in place,” Scary
Andy said. “Listen, about payment, there is something you can do
for us.”

“
What?” Jeraine
scowled.

“
You can write a song we
can give our loved ones,” Scary Andy said. “You know something
about how much they give and how much we take and what assholes we
are and . . . I mean, I’ve put my Luz through hell.
You wouldn’t believe what she’s put up with. I’m still on active
duty. Could you . . .?”