My mind was in even more of a mess than before and I didn't have the slightest clue what to do. At first I thought I'd just go home and put Connie to bed. I could have waited until my mom got home from work. Then I thought this was too important to wait. So I put on a little speed and headed to my mom's computer shop. I checked on Connie and noticed she was sleeping peacefully. Guilt flooded over me at that moment. If Xaviar had got her out of the car and hurt her, I wouldn't have been able to live. What if she hadn't screamed? Why didn't I notice what was happening before? What if he had gotten her? What would he have done? The questions kept running through my head during the long drive to my mom's shop. We were a block away when I realized Mom just might be hungry. I glance at my watch and saw that it was seven-thirty. The store was already closed and she probably would be there for another hour at least. I pulled up into a Pizza Hut and got two medium pizzas with pepperonis and sausage. I also stopped at a nearby grocery store and picked up some more soda. Then we were off to my mom's shop again. During this whole trip, Connie did not wake up once. I felt a little nervous when I left her in the car by herself while I went to get the pizzas and the sodas. She had been through a lot that day. I knew I wouldn't be able to leave her by herself again. She would be too scared. It would in all likelihood be a couple of weeks before she was back to "normal." We pulled up into the driveway of my mom's store at about eight-fifteen and I honked the horn to let her know we were there. She came out through the side entrance and strolled over to where we were parked. She poked her head in the driver's side window and gave me a peck on the cheek. My mom looks the same way she did now than she did ten years ago. She's about five-three and weighs about a hundred-and-fifteen pounds soaking wet. She has light brown skin, dark brown eyes, and jet-black hair. Today her hair was in a bun, but tomorrow, who knows? She was wearing her reading glasses, which meant that she was still knee-deep in work. "Hey, babe." That was Mom. She had a soft, lilting voice that made you think that she was innocent and needed to be sheltered. That was far from the truth. My mom is the toughest person I know. When she was ten, she was the leader of a gang in New York. When she was in high school, she used to train fighting dogs. When she was in college, she used to be a bodyguard for one of the students there. She went through so much stuff in her life and it toughen her to an extreme. "What's up, Mom?" That was me, naturally. "I thought you might be hungry so I picked up a couple of pizzas." My mom loves pizzas more than anything with the exception of my Calypso Curry Chicken. "Pepperoni and sausage?" she asked. I nodded. "Then what are you waiting for, my child? Get that pizza inside. Now." I grinned. Then I gave her the pizzas and told her to take them inside. "I've got to get Connie," I explained when she asked me why I didn't bring the pizzas. "She fell asleep on the way over here." I decided not to tell her about Jared and the others until after she was done eating. "Grab the sodas too." I unbuckled Connie's seatbelt and got out of the car. I walked over to her side, opened the door, and picked her up. Then, closing the door, I walked towards the store. "You really should wake her up and let that chile walk. She's too old to have you carrying her everywhere." My mother thinks anyone over the age of two is too old to be carried. "I like carrying her, Mom. Besides, it's no strain on me back." I used one of the phrases she always says to me when I nag her about working too late. Mom just shook her head and smiled. Mom led me to the lounge then put the pizzas on the big oak table and went looking for paper plates and napkins. I laid Connie on the couch that was sitting at the far wall. While my mom was gone, I sat next to Connie and stroked her hair. She looked so beautiful when she was sleeping. It was like she had never been touched by anything evil in this world. My mother came in at that moment, but I ignored her. My attention was focused purely on Connie. I kept thinking about what happened with Xaviar and how it would affect her. "Earth to Bee. Come in, Bee." My mom, the comedian. "Honey, you all right?" She leaned forward and placed a hand on shoulder. "I'm fine, mom" I replied blankly. I didn't want to talk yet but it was getting hard not to. I told Mom everything that happened to me, good or bad. With this situation, I didn't know what to do. "Good. Now let's dig in. Connie will wake up soon and she'll be eating. Don't worry, Jabe." That last sentence was uttered with a slight quiver in her voice. I couldn't help but laugh. Mom hadn't called me "Jabe" since I was fifteen. It meant "strong-willed and hard-headed" in Carribean slang. "All right. All right. I am kind of hungry." I pulled up a chair and grabbed one of the biggest slices. We ate for about twenty minutes, talking about sports, flowers, current events, etc. When Mom leaned back in her chair and announced she was done, I stared at her in awe. This little woman had eaten three quarters of a pizza by herself. "Aaress, Mom," I said in wonderment. "I don't know where you put it all. You must have an tapeworm in your stomach." She laughed, not at all offended. I had said much worst to her, all of which I regret. "Son, when you get as old as I, you too will be able to pack away that much food." Then, Mom got serious which is very unusual for her. She prefers to remain cheerful most of the time. "So, what brought you up here today?" I didn't exactly want to tell her, yet. "Can't a son come see his mother and treat her to dinner. Must there be a reason for everything?" I knew what her response would be. "Yes," she said with conviction. "There is always a reason for everything anyone in this world does." I decided to level with her then. "Well I need to ask you something about my past. I can't remember most of it." "What do you remember?" she asked. She gazed intently at me. This wasn't news to her. We talked about my memory block a few times before. "From ten on up." I answered. She nodded her head, thinking about what she could and couldn't tell me. "Your birthday is four days away, no?" I nodded. "There has to be a reason you're asking me this question. Did she ask you something?" Mom pointed at Connie, who was still sleeping on the couch. "No, she didn't. Something happened at the lake." I couldn't help but notice the way Mom's face twisted into fear when she asked if Connie had asked about my past. "We met somebody today." "Jared." Her voice was a mere whisper but it seemed to echo around the room. At the mention of his name, Connie sat up and screamed like she does when she has nightmares about her rape. I raced to her side and held her, whispering words of comfort until she calm down. When she had stopped whimpering, I led her to the table and gave her a plate with a couple slices of pizza. I knew she would be hungry because she didn't eat anything at the lake. At the thought of the lake, I realized I had left the picnic stuff in the car. I told Mom that I would be right back and asked her if she could take care of Connie while I was gone. When I got to my car, however, there was someone leaning against it. I tensed, then immediately relaxed as I slowly walked up to the person. My hand reached into the pocket with the knife and I grabbed the handle. Just as I was ready to speak, the stranger cut me off. "Missed you at the Cabana today, Jay Bee." The voiced belonged to my best friend, Victorio. "Vic" was also the manager of the restaurant, the Calypso Cabana. He is what most girls would call ruggedly handsome. He has pale white skin and medium-length black hair, which he keeps tied back in a ponytail. He is about three inches taller than my five-eleven height and has a medium build. He also carries himself like he is a king; something I've always admired and wanted to do. "That's the good part of having your own restaurant, you can take the day off whenever you want." I grinned as I stepped closer. He gave me a hug and a peck on the check. I never get used to this greeting but I accept it. See, Vic is Italian and that is how they greet people in Italy. Or so he says. I just take his word for it. Now the more observant reader might be curious how a soon to be eighteen year old has his own restaurant. I'll answer that question right now. When I was sixteen and had first started going out with Connie, my step-dad had been so mortified that I was dating a "white girl," that he got drunk and went out driving. Twelve hours later, we received word from the police that he had been in accident. He wasn't at fault, though. Some one had run a red light and killed him. My mom was devastated, of course. My sister for some reason, which she wouldn't tell, was happy. I on the other hand was a mix of emotions. He had been the only person my mom had dated that wanted to spend time with me and treat me like a man. On the other side of the coin, he was real harsh on me. He expected me to act like I was a recruit in the marines and he was my drill instructor. It pissed me off a lot, but I learned to live with it. I didn't know how to feel when I heard the news though. After the police had left, a lawyer came over to give his condolences. He said that my step-dad had several life insurance policies and he had invested lots of the money he had made into the stock market. This wasn't news to any of us. What was news to us, though, was that he had been very good at the stock market and had made over two million dollars at it. That's not all of it. His life insurance policies (all of them) had totaled over six million dollars. In short, we became rich. News of this reached the media and we soon had people we didn't even know hitting us up for a "loan" or asking for interviews. This became too much for my mom, so she decided we were going to move. We packed up all our stuff, my step-dad's stuff, our six cats, and our two dogs and moved to Maine. When we first got here, Mom immediately found us a spacious house. So the twelve of us moved in. You're wondering how I got twelve, aren't you? Let's count. My mom, my sister, my six cats, my two dogs, Connie, and me. After we all moved in, Mom divided the rest of the money we inherited between her, my sister, and me. We could do whatever we wanted with the money as long as she approved. First thing I bought was my car. Second thing I bought was this abandoned warehouse on Main Street. After a couple of weeks, which, Connie, my mom, my sister, and me spent cleaning and redecorating the warehouse, I opened the Calypso Cabana. At first, we served only food from the Caribbean, but soon we were serving other types of food and adding a "Carib" touch to it. After we became more popular (at first, it was only Connie, my sister, Simone, and me), I went out and hired a lot of the most talented cooks and chefs in the area. We were earning about a fifty thousand dollars per month before school started. Naturally, I had to hire somebody to manage the Cabana while I was in school. That's how Vic came into the story. I met Vic while Connie and I were walking in Madison Square Garden in New York. Vic was over in one of the corners selling barbecued food. I went up to him and bought some burgers for Connie, Simone, and myself (mom didn't want to come). A few minutes later I was talking to Vic about his "outfit." He cooks his own food and sells it to the people going in the Garden. He says he was doing all right but he could probably do better in a restaurant. I asked him why he didn't work in one and he says that no one would let him be in charge. I decided right there, amidst the swirling snow and cold weather that I had found my new manager. I offered Vic the job and he took it. Vic stayed with us for a month after I hired him. Then he got his own place. We've been close ever since. "What are you doing up here?" I asked Vic. "Did something happen at the Cabana?" I was going to be upset if something happened to my restaurant. "No, nothing's wrong." He said as he pulled out a cigarette. "I was just worried about you." He paused to light the cigarette. "I thought you might like to know that there are people asking about you down at the Cabana." He looked up to see my reaction, but I just grinned. "I know. I met up with them at the lake. They say I'm an 'Indian Prince' or something. I don't know if they're for real, you know what I mean." Vic only nodded. "Hey, come on in. I was just getting something from the car." Then I reached into the back seat and grabbed the basket. Vic looked a little uneasy as we walked to the door so I asked him what's wrong. "Nothing. Nothing. Is Connie here?" he asked. I don't know why he asked about Connie; maybe it's because we're always together. Then again he might like Connie. I put that thought out of my mind. Vic knew that Connie and I loved each other. He wouldn't try anything with her, would he? "Yeah, she's here. Why?" I was a little suspicious now. "Oh. No reason. You guys are always together, you know?" I immediately felt guilty for thinking that he would try to steal Connie away from me. The thing with Xaviar must have made me paranoid. I was always sure that nothing would separate Connie and me. Now, because of these three people's visit today, I was suspicious of my best friend. On the way to the lounge, I started to question Vic about how the new chef we had hired was doing. I included Vic in every aspect of running the Cabana. He has an enormous wealth of knowledge about managing a restaurant and of people themselves. Before he could answer, we heard a scream come from the lounge where I had left Connie and my mom. I dropped the picnic basket, pulled out my knife, and ran towards the room. Vic was right behind me. When we got there a moment later, we saw a scene to bizarre for words. My mom was standing in front of Connie, holding onto the samurai sword I had bought her and trying to shield her at the same time. In front of my mom, stood Jared and Jamar, both were holding dirks (a type of short sword). Connie was standing on the couch and screaming her head off. "What's going on, Mom?" I asked as I walked into the room. I started to hurry over to her, but Jamar turned to face me and leveled his dirk at my chest. As a reflex, I twisted my knife into a stabbing position and thrust it at Jamar's face. He instinctively reached up to protect his face as I hit him with my other hand. He dropped like a stone. With Jamar down, that left Mom, Vic, and me against Jared. Realizing there was no way he would walk out of this room alive, he put away his weapon. He casually walked over to Jamar's still form and picked him up. No one on my side wanted to fight, so we let Jared walk out. As he got to the doorway Jared turned back to face Mom. "You had better tell him the truth now, Suzanne, or I'm gonna have to. Either way, he will hear it." He spat on the floor and ran a hand through his hair. "Next time, we will finish it. You may kill me, but there are more of us than you think." With that, Jared walked out of the room, went to his car, and drove off. Vic and I followed him out just to be sure he didn't try to double back and catch us off guard. When we came back to the lounge, Mom was sitting at the table with Connie and the room was back to normal. I went over to Connie and hugged her, just to make sure she was all right. As I pulled away, Connie clung even tighter to me and began crying. I picked her up and walked over to the couch and sat down with her on my lap. I leaned my head forward and told to her it was over and everything's okay. "For now," Vic and my mom said in unison. This started Connie up again and she began to cry harder. Vic gave me an apologetic look but my mom got mad. "Stop this stupid-ass crying. We need to figure out what we're going to do now. Jared is dangerous and by now, he's got another plan to come back and finish what he's started." Like me, Mom's accent comes out when she gets mad. Something came over Connie at my mom's words and she seemed to "grow up" right in front of me. There was ferocity in her face when my mom mentioned Jared that I had never seen in Connie before. Connie got off my lap and walked back to the table and sat down in her chair. "Why was he here and what did he want?" I asked, trying to recover from Connie's sudden change. Normally she couldn't be pried from me and just now she willing left. I was more than a bit taken aback. Connie's eyes appeared to go out of focus as she spoke. "They were after me," she said in a flat voice. Her voice was filled with a certainty that couldn't be denied and a sadness that pulled at my heart. That was all Connie would say for the rest of the night, no matter what you were asking her. Her voice seemed to get sadder each time she talked, and after an hour, I was ready to rip my heart out of my chest because it was filled with such pain. I couldn't stand to see her so sad. It was killing me. Mom had Vic go to our house and get my sister and our pets. I let him drive my car, something he's only done once before but has always wanted to do since then. Connie sat in a corner and mumbled to herself while Mom and I began to talk. "What's wrong with Connie?" I asked my mom. I looked her in the eye so she couldn't lie to me. It didn't work. Mom looked me dead in the eye and told me Connie had eaten a bad slice of pizza and was hallucinating. I wasn't in the mood for her jokes and told her so. "I don't know what's wrong with that chile," Mom told me. She seemed to express genuine regret that she couldn't help me, but I knew better. Mom is a very gifted people-reader. She could tell what was wrong with any person in the world if they were talking to her. Mom shouldn't have had a problem finding out what's wrong with Connie. "Mom, please don't bullshit with me right now. I need to know what's wrong with her." I was pleading with her with my eyes, but to no avail. "YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW ANYTHING," Mom screamed at me. I have never in my life heard her raise her voice to that level. She was one of the most gentle women in the world. Then, softly, "Bee. She can't do anything but hurt you now. Honey, I'm just trying to protect you." "What's wrong with her Mom." My voice was a whisper and I was on the verge of tears. It's hard hearing that your love can do nothing but hurt you. My mom's face got hard as I asked her the question. "Please, Mom. I want to know. I won't be able to do anything until I find out what's wrong with her." I looked at Connie and a tear trickled down my cheek. I guess that did it, because my mother took me out of the room and grabbed my hand. "Jared has got to her. He has a very strong will and Connie is doing her best to fight it. It's a losing battle though. Soon or later, she will turn on you and there's nothing you can do about it. I'm sorry, baby." She hugged me and forced me to hug her back. It wasn't that I didn't want to hug her. I just couldn't move with the knowledge that my love was going to turn into my enemy and betray me. "We don't have that much time left. I have a few new things to teach you." My head snapped up as she said that. Mom hadn't taught me anything new for a few months. Let me explain. Mom was an assassin in her earlier years and passed the training onto me. She taught me how to fight, and some other basic things. Also, she enrolled me in every martial arts class she could. I was taught how to shoot guns accurately, shoot bows-and-arrows, and throw knives. By the time I was fifteen, I was the "perfect killing machine." "What things are you going to teach me?" I was interested despite the news of Connie. The last skill Mom had taught me was to turn small objects "invisible." That came in quite useful when I had to take a test and hadn't studied. I used to hide the test papers but mom had convinced me otherwise. "First," she said with her eyes wide open. "You are going to learn to track." My eyes bugged out of my head. Mom had never taught me how to track no matter how much I begged her. Tonight my dream was finally going to come true. "Before we begin, I'd like to ask you something." I said to her. I wanted to find out what had happened in my past once and for all. "How do you know Jared and what does he have to do with you?" My mom paced for a couple of minutes before she answered. "When you were six, we used to live on an Indian reservation. These Indians were very hostile towards the government and trained in the old ways so they could overthrow the government and get their lands back. I went along with them because I knew they should have their lands that the U.S. Government stole from them so many decades ago. "One night, however, I was walking with a young man named Sadi when I overheard the 'Council of Elders' talking. They said that for many years they would triumph over the 'white man' and gain small piece of their lands back. Then, when you were eighteen, you would lead them to the capitol for the final battle against the government. In that battle you would die, but your mission would be successful. The government would give back all the lands taken from this tribe to end the war and they would not be bothered again." She paused to take a deep breath. "All this was written in the skies, a prophecy people call it. Only this one would not come true if you were not in the tribe at your eighteenth birthday. Like any mother would, I wanted you to live as long as possible and I didn't want you dying for a cause that wasn't yours. So one night, I packed up all our stuff, grabbed your sister, you, and crept out of the reservation. Sadi came with us. He never explained why and I didn't ask him. A week after we had escaped the tribe, we met up with a man who wanted very desperately to take us back to the reservation." "Jared?" I guessed. My mom shook her head. "Not Jared, his father. Sadi told me to get you away from here and he would delay Matak, Jared's father, and catch up with us later. I knew he wouldn't have a chance. A seasoned warrior against a young man who has never been in a fight and who was a lot smaller? There was no way he would have survived. I tried to stay and fight but he kept pushing me away. Then while we were arguing, Matak stabbed Sadi in the back. I immediately grabbed my knife and plunged it into Matak's throat. I was so filled with grief and guilt that I forgot completely about you until you started crying. Fearing that you would give us away, I put you to sleep. It's no wonder you don't remember the first ten years of your life. After seeing what you saw and going through everything you went through, I wouldn't want to remember either. It's called 'forced repression,' sweetie. That's why you don't remember either." She stopped and stared intently at me, trying to see if I accepted her story. I didn't know what to believe. This was a whole part of my mother's life I didn't know about. Still, I trusted her and if she told me that was what happened, that's what happened. "What happened to Sadi?" I asked. Mom gave me a bitter smile. "Honey," she began. "If you haven't figured that out, then I haven't done my job as a teacher. He's dead, Jay." "Says who?" I argued. "According to your own story, you immediately stabbed Matak after he stabbed Sadi. You didn't check to see if he was dead first. He could very well be alive." I saw the hope in my mom's eyes rise and then die as she thought of something. "Even if he somehow managed to survived, the tribe would have gotten him back and brainwashed him. He would be on their side and one day we would have to face him. And I'm not sure I could." I saw then that my mom had been in love with Sadi. When she thought he died, she was grieving for the loss of her love. "What happened after we escaped Matak?" I asked, more to get mom's mind off Sadi than to find out. She drew a ragged breath and continued. "For the next four years, we hid out and ran. I taught you everything I could about weapons, languages, and other things you would need to survive this upcoming battle. When the tribe came close to find us, we would move to a different state. They wanted you bad, Jay, and they would have got you if it wasn't for me." "Thank you for protecting me, Mom, but I have a question." She raised an eyebrow at me and I went on. "What battle are you talking about?" "Don't you see, my child?" she asked me. "With your eighteenth birthday four days away, the tribe is definitely going to try and get you on their side. They don't care if you die, just so long as they get their lands. Even if you're not with them, they're still going to go on with this war with the U.S. Government. You are going to have to be there to try and stop them. Only you can stop them." She said that with such conviction, I knew that she was right. "I'll stop them, Mom. And I'll make them pay for everything they did to Sadi and everything they did to us."
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