Nimravid (The MacFade Chronicles Book 1) Page 10

  “Yeah, that’s about right. I got news for you kid; they did it here in the states too.” I strained to block out Mai’s bitterness so Shelly wouldn’t read it in my face. She may have caught it, anyway. “Is that what happened to you?” I think I just sat there, blinking for a moment. She ate her sandwich looking even more pleased with herself. How did this kid turn the tables on me so easily? I was losing my touch. “No, that’s not what happened to me. I was orphaned, it’s a long story. Maybe I’ll tell it to you another time. And the eyes and teeth?” She shrugged. “As I said before, some sort of birth defect, I suppose. It’s understandable why you want to hide them, but they’re really cool, but not very human. I can see how it could freak people out.”

  “Everyone but you it seems.” I mumbled, liking this kid more and more as she went on, unafraid.

  “Remind you of someone?”

  “Quiet, you.”

  Shelly shrugged again. “I’m hard to freak out.”

  “This girl is fun! Can we keep her?” asked Casey, laughing and pointing at the scowl I was giving him. Shelly gave me an odd look. “What’s wrong? Did I say something to offend you?” I shook my head to clear out the cobwebs. “Hmm? No. I was just thinking. Eat up, then go home and get dressed. Meet me back here in an hour. We have a long day ahead of us.”

  “We do?”

  “Oh yes, you’re going to help with every part of this. Consider it part of your punishment.”

  “Punishment? You’re not my fa—” I glowered at her with an expectant look that said “I dare you to finish that sentence.” She looked suddenly sheepish, “Punishment, right, kind of getting off easy, aren’t I?”

  “Not by the time I’m done with you, you won’t, but you’ll make the Maroon 5 concert.” I covertly smiled. “What? How did you—” I waved her off. “No more questions. You’re out of credit.” I strolled out of the kitchen, keeping an “eye” on her as I did. It pays to be telepathic sometimes.

  She leaned back and looking at her plate, stuffed, and glanced down at Lucy, wagging her tail with raised paws. Shelly put the plate on the floor and looked out the door to the kitchen to see if I was watching. “That’s fine Shelly. Lucy and Charles can have whatever you don’t finish, except the bacon.” Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. She was grinning as she pushed out the backdoor.

  “I hope you know what you’re doing.” Mai and Casey said simultaneously, appearing solid in front of me. They looked at each other and back to me. I kept walking. “That what they call a Jinx?”

  “Do not change the subject, young man,” Mai looked determined. Claire was out of town so my schedule was clear. “Look, I’ve got nothing to do today and it never hurts to build up some positive neighbor credit.” Mai put her hands on her hips. “And this neighbor credit’s going to buy what exactly?”

  “Think about it, Mai. How many of our neighbors would let me know if someone were sniffing around here, verses minding their own business?” Casey looked thoughtful, “Good point. So what’s the plan?”

  “We’re going across the river to Alton, Grafton if we have to and get the parts we need.”

  “And who’s paying for all this?” Mai interjected. “Oh didn’t you hear? Shelly is a Trump. She’ll be footing the whole bill.”

  “Really?” Casey was suddenly excited. “No,” Mai and I said together. It was getting annoying. “I’ll take care of it for now. We’ll figure something out later. It isn’t an important enough detail to consider when you’re under this kind of time constraint.”

  “Mmmm hmmm,” I ignored it. “Just trust me. Casey, you’re welcome to hangout here or whatever. The day is yours. I don’t think you’re going to enjoy antiquing with us, unless you think you might meet someone.” I grinned to myself as he sneered at me. “Oh very funny, that’s real mature, Mack. At least I’m not out on a date with a girl a third my age. I might need to come along as a chaperone.”

  “It’s not a date, Casey, don’t be a prat. She’s going to help because it makes her take responsibility for her actions and she’s good company, nothing more than that.”

  Mai gave me a knowing look. “Casey, this is going to be a chore and a half. We actually might be able to save some time by having you scout the stores ahead of us. You should come.”

  “Uh uh! No way! We aren’t getting paid for this. Have a good time being a NICE guy.” He emphasized the word with a note of disdain as he left the house. I shook my head and smiled. “Good call, Mai.”

  “Thank you.”

  Shelly was waiting on the back porch, when I stepped out. Lucy was running back and forth across the yard, as Shelly threw a tennis ball for her. It was an absolute riot. Lucy’s mouth isn’t very big so she has to hunch her shoulders to get her jaws around the ball. As she runs back, she turns her head to the side like a bird in order to see where she’s going.

  Lucy dropped the ball at my feet. “Lucy have fun with Shelly.” I reached down and picked up the soggy orb. “Maybe we need to get you one, more your size.” I looked down at Shelly. “Perhaps a racket ball?” Looking down I had a full frontal site line down her shirt and directly at her bare, adolescent breasts. I jerked my head back up. “Uh, what are you wearing?” I pointed to her torso without looking down. Shelly looked up at me shielding her eyes from the morning sun. “A tank top, it’s hot out, why?”

  “Not as hot as it is in here.”

  “Not funny, Mai.”

  “I’m going to need you to go put something else on or at least a bra, post haste.”

  “Why?”

  “Shelly, I am considerably taller than you.”

  “Shuh! Who isn’t? What’s your point?” I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to gather my limited supply of patience. “I can see right down your top and that’s going to be happening all day. Regardless of how pleasant that might be,” I didn’t want to hurt her feelings and be dealing with a petulant child all day. “It’s inappropriate and I makes me uncomfortable. Now move young lady, you’re putting us behind schedule.”

  “Geez! Sensitive much? Are you sure you even like girls?” She grumbled over her shoulder as she stalked across the yard. I frowned at the insult, “Women! I love women, fully grown, legally aged women!” She turned back and gave me a smile with a little twitch of her slight hips. “You don’t qualify… yet.” She tossed her head in the air with a sniff and disappeared behind the fence, only to return a few minutes later wearing a HUGE bulky hoodie that read Broncos, which probably belonged to her father. It was going to be long ass day. “Better?” Sarcasm dripped like venom from her mouth.

  “Perfect.”

  “Humph! That’s what I thought you’d say.” She reached down to her waist and hauled the hoodie off before I could react. Underneath she was wearing the same grey tank with a bright orange bikini top, underneath. It actually worked pretty well. She looked cute, in a very hands off the girl-next-door, way.

  “Oh, I like this one, Alex. She’s not afraid to hand it right back to you.”

  “Yep, this day is gonna suck.”

  I headed for the garage. Shelly looked disappointed. “We aren’t taking the motorcycle?” I shook my head as I opened the Hummer door for her. She was so short I thought she might need a boost. “I’m not sure how much cargo we are going to need to haul, kid, so up you go.”

  “Hey! If I’m not calling you mister, you aren’t calling me, KID. Got it?” Shelly was standing just behind me looking defiant, her arms akimbo.

  “Beauty! An oversensitive, rebellious teenage girl, this is going is be pure Hell.”

  “You asked for it. You got it. Have fun!”

  “Shut up Mai.” I mentally growled. “You could help you know; you’re a woman.”

  “First of all I am not a woman. I am a female magical construct. I have never been a teenage girl so, you’re on your own genius.”

  I sighed, “Fine, SHELLY. We don’t know how much stuff we are buying so we’ll have to take the Hummer.” The defiant look continued. “O
h, for cripes sake! What now?”

  “I do not ride in filthy, Earth killing, gas guzzlers, Mack, and I am disappointed that you own such a thing.” She was full of righteous indignation.

  “Yeah right, like you have known me so long that you can be disappointed in my life choices”.

  “Well SHELLY, if I did own an EARTH KILLING GAS GUZZLER, I would be really cross. I paid good money for this hybrid and the gas mileage was a really big part of that decision.”

  “It’s a hybrid?” I lifted the hood. “Look for yourself.” She saw the large 3 liter V8 under the hood and gave me a look. “Uh huh, for power and emergency speed, now look at this.” I popped open a secret door near the rear of the engine compartment and showed her the self-contained prototype fuel cell, my own design. She had no idea what she was looking at and that was for the best. It’s not exactly D.O.T. approved, or E.P.A. for that matter, possible even D.H.S. now that I think about it. They can be a little bit volatile. “Satisfied?” She shrugged and hopped up into the passenger seat. So good to know I please you, your highness.

  ________________________________________________________________________

  We spent most of the day in Illinois, looking for parts to no avail. The only option we ended up with was to purchase three grinders of similar make and model to cannibalize for parts. I ended up dropping around $1800, for the whole lot. Shelly looked a little ill every time a shop owner called out a total, as did I.

  We ate lunch at a little place along the river I knew. It was owned by a former Navy chef that knew BBQ like the back of his hand and he also does an outstanding authentic Navajo fry bread. I ordered half a smoked Emu and delighted in the look on the server’s face when I asked Shelly what she wanted. She got a brisket sandwich and substituted a tossed salad instead of fries. Blasphemy! What is it with women and salads? They aren’t even real food. They are… frilly little garnishments.

  She actually turned out to be pretty good company, as I suspected. Shelly was at least as quick witted as I was and enjoyed insult humor, just like a guy. She gave just as good as she got, too, just like the little sister I never had, reminding me a lot of a girl I knew in primary school back in Osaka. But that’s a story for another time.

  We talked about our lives during the ride up and home again. Shelly and I bonded fairly quickly, initially, because we were both adoptees and Asian adoptees at that. She’s from a small village in Thailand and I still consider myself to be Japanese. I left out the Yakuza part, not wishing to bias her. Shelly was sold by her father, to a child trafficker who specialized in high priced illegal adoptions, when she was three. She and several other little girls were cast about like ping pong balls when the FBI busted the ring. Social services didn’t know what to do with them, since they had been sold by their parents and would obviously not be welcomed home or sold again to the next trafficker. There was a public outcry when it was discovered that the state department was planning to deport the lot and be done with it, leaving the burden of their care to the Thai government. The state department relented when a local influential religious organization offered to take on the responsibility of placing them with adoptive parents. From what I hear, it was somewhat of a strong arm tactic designed to boost a pet politician’s re-election bid.

  I found this out later when I looked into Shelly’s background. I don’t have much respect for such religious groups, but I am eternally grateful to them for saving this little treasure of a girl. I have never told the Thompson’s or Shelly and probably never will. Nobody deserves to feel unwanted and the price she fetched, was an insult at best. My opinion, I don’t traffic in children so I don’t know the going rates, but to me she’s priceless.

  We got back to the house about 3pm; unloaded the grinders into my workshop and started in. We worked for most of the night and ordered pizza so we didn’t have to take the time to cook. That was Shelly’s idea. She likes the St. Louis stuff. It’s like eating your pizza off of soda crackers. It takes six larges to make a decent meal for me, so we ordered seven. We finally finished up around 2am. I did a trial run and it ground the coffee perfectly.

  “Oh shit! I forgot about that!” Shelly blurted out, looking anxious. I rolled my eyes, shoulders drooping a bit. “Bloody hell, what now? What’s the problem, Shelly?” I held my tongue in check, despite my aching head trying not to snap. Her folks were going to be home in a little while and we were never going to make it to Grafton and back in time, waiting for opening hours. “This is SOOOOO the wrong time to be saying I forgot about that, what did you forget?”

  “It never worked before.”

  “I beg your pardon? I must be half asleep. Did I just hear you say that it never worked before? Which would imply that most of the expense and effort we have put into restoring this contraption HAS BEEN A COMPLETE AND UTTER WASTE OF TIME?”

  “Cool it man, you’re yelling at her!” Casey was perched on one of the garage rafters. “You’re scaring her.” Yep, she looked scared alright. I approached her, to get clarification. As she started to back up, I reached out and put my hands on her shoulders. I could feel her tense up. “I’m sorry, Mack.” Her voice was small and fearful. My eyes flash like the cat I am when angry, from the pupil dilation. I reckon she wasn’t as un-freakable as she thought. I sighed and did my best to smile patiently. Problem was, I was feeling none of it at the moment, so it probably looked fake. “Mai, a little help please.” Mai started a telepathic projection of safety and friendship. Perfect choice, I could see it start to take effect and all I had to do was finish it off with the words. “I’m sorry, Shelly. I’m just tired, didn’t mean to snap at you. I’m not mad but, this might complicate things. Think carefully. Does your dad ever tinker with this thing, trying to get it working?”

  “No, he just sits it on a butcher block in the hearth room.” I let my head drop and released the breath I was holding, letting it out in a soft chuckle. “Finally, something goes our way. We’re apples, then. He won’t be looking at it that closely. If he does, just tell him you had it repaired as a surprise for his birthday, Christmas or Thai new moon festival, just think something up. Let’s just get this back in your house and be done with it.” She relaxed and moved out of my grip to pick up the grinder. “Uh uh, not going to happen, you drop it and this will have been all for not. I’ll carry it over, you just get the door.” She gave me an embarrassed look. “Thanks Mack. I don’t know how I can ever repay you.” We started out the door and across the yard. “Oh, we’ll be talking about that in a few minutes don’t you worry. You’re going to pay me back.” She swallowed hard and opened the backdoor to their kitchen. It was a nice place but I was glad I didn’t have to go too far into it. I was crossing a threshold at the invitation of a resident, not the rightful owner, so it did have a minor negative effect on me. I put the grinder down on the butcher block and used Mai’s enhanced sight to determine exactly how it was sitting before, done! I looked around. The house, while not irreparable, was trashed. “And what exactly, were you planning to do about all this?”

  “Oh no! I completely forgot!” She looked at me pleading with her eyes. I gave her my best poker face.

  “Did a bomb go off in here? The grinder is the least of her troubles. You have to help her clean this up, Alex.

  “The hell I do! I didn’t make this mess.”

  “ALEXANDER MACFADE YOSHIDA!” I painfully squinted and inhaled sharply. “Oi, quit yelling, my head’s already aching, you sadist. I’m doing it, leave off!” I looked at Shelly and blew out an exhausted breath. “You get the cleaning supplies, broom and mop. I’ll start getting the big stuff.” She squealed and threw her arms around my torso, squeezing hard enough to make my head start throbbing harder. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! I’ll never forget this.”

  “No you won’t, because I will never let you.”

  “Easy Alex, let’s just get this done. We are all tired,” Mai cautioned me. She was right; in this condition my fuse could be severely short. Walking through the house
, I gathered up trash and removed stains. When Shelly wasn’t looking I engaged in a little water and air magic. Casey kept the look out, though I’m not sure how effective he was, his eyes being glued to Shelly’s pert little bum, the entire time. I had to throw things at him a couple times to keep him on task. “What? I’m dead I’m not…”

  “Go ahead Casey, take your time, I’ll wait.”

  “Hah! I’m still a man!”

  “Close enough.” I shrugged. He flipped me off. “Oh yes, very manly,” Mai remarked as we lifted a strawberry schnapps stain out of a white Berber rug. “I think that does it.” Casey whipped back into the room. “Here she comes!” I allowed the soiled water to flow back into the mop bucket and the small tornado of trash settled into a contractor bag, compacting itself as it fell, just before she entered.

  Shelly looked around in amazement. “Wow! The whole upstairs looks AMAZING! How did you pull that off?” I shrugged. “I have certain skills that get me by. One could almost say, it’s magic.”

  “Watch it!”

  “I can’t believe this only took one person an hour!”

  “YOU can’t believe it?”

  “Grow up, Mai.”

  I clapped my hands to get us moving again. “OK, we need to get all this put away and back over to my place.”

  “Your place? Why your place, Mack?” I turned to her and arched an eye brow. “If you think I am going to pick up all those parts all by myself. You’re out of your bleeding mind.” Her head dropped and her shoulders drooped. “Right, let’s go. I can sleep next week.”

  “Watch the attitude little girl. I’m not getting any more sleep than you’re and I’m 25 years older.

  “YOU ARE NOT!” Shelly said a hand on one hip. “Are you?”

  “Want to see my driver’s license?”

  “You’re THAT old?”

  “Oi! Watch it. 39 is not OLD. It’s just old compared to a bean sprout like you.”

  “I’m not a bean sprout; I’ll have you know. I’m a sweet pea.”