“But why were his clothes off, that’s what I want to know,” said Kootch.
“Because … he was suffering the Rainbow love first of all, and second of all, I made him kind of a deal.” Rae pulled away from me, folding her arms across her chest.
“What kind of deal?” I asked. I put my hand on her arm gently. “Don’t worry about me. I’m cool with it, whatever it is.”
She looked up at me. “It’s … a little embarrassing.” She looked over at the Butts family. “I was trying to help, in case you guys came with a rescue team.” She sighed heavily before continuing. “I told him if he gave me the answers to my questions, I’d have sex with him.”
Jasmine choked out a laugh and Kootch had to whack her on the back several times to help her breathe again.
“Well, Rae … that was very dedicated. Thank you,” said Mrs. Butts. She walked over and gave Rae a hug. “I hope he didn’t hurt you, sweetie.”
“No, he didn’t.” She was shaking her head over Mrs. Butts’ shoulder. “He might have, but it didn’t get that far. Malcolm showed up and blew his cover.”
“And you were like, yo! Deal’s off! I’m not having sex with you, ugly boy!” said Kootch, laughing along with Jasmine. The two of them were bent over, holding their stomachs and hooting.
She stepped back from Mrs. Butts and scowled at Jasmine. “It wasn’t like that.”
I pulled her to me by her t-shirt. “Get over here and hug me,” I said, forcing her to put her arms around me. “You did awesome. You were completely brave and came up with a killer plan. And it totally worked, right? You got all the secrets and didn’t have to give anything in return. It was perfect.”
She looked up at me. “You mean it? You’re not mad?”
I shook my head, one-hundred percent honest when I replied. “No. Not at all. I’m proud of you.” It’s a phrase I’d never heard anyone say to me, but she needed to hear it. Her father had disappeared to be replaced by a madman, her mother had rolled over and let it happen for some reason, and now she was left with no one but me. It was my job now to take care of her and let her know what a great person she is.
“Okay, kids, so here’s the deal. We have a car full of gas for you over there.” Mr. Butts lifted up the keychain and pressed a button, making the tail-lights and headlights on a mini SUV light up and a beep sound twice. “There’s food in the back to get you to your destination. The car’s a hybrid, so you should be able to make it as far as you need to without stopping. There’s a paper map in the glove box for you to follow - no GPS in this baby, okay?”
We both nodded. I was excited knowing we had a plan.
“We’ve got funding to keep you supported for the next two years, got it? That means money for food, clothing, shelter, that’s it. You’re going to have to live very frugally to survive on this budget, do you understand?”
We both nodded again. I felt like a bobble head.
“Where is it?” Rae asked.
“You’ll know when you get there,” said Mrs. Butts. “The rent is paid and the contract is in another name. No one will bother you there. Stay away from the public as much as you can. You can go online, but don’t contact anyone you used to know.”
“Except me,” said Jasmine, walking over to stand next to her parents. “She can contact me, right?”
Her mother nodded. “Yes. You’ll be able to reach us via secure online video chat. We have it set up for you. There will be instructions at the house. You’ll be able to order your groceries online and have them delivered, and anything else you need, you just contact us.”
“Why are you doing all this?” I asked, pretty much blown away by the generosity. They didn’t even really know either of us, but they were treating us like we were their kids.
“First of all, we want to help you get your lives ironed out,” said Mr. Butts. His voice had gone a little gruff. “Every teenager deserves a relatively stress-free life before joining the adult ranks, and you haven’t had that. Neither of you have. Consider this a birthday present from our family.” He put his arm around his wife and daughter.
Jasmine nodded, obviously proud of her parents. I would have been too, if they were mine. Right now I was just grateful.
Mrs. Butts picked up the explanation. “We estimate it’ll take about eighteen months to root out all the players in this scheme so that we can get them reported and the evidence gathered for some kind of prosecution. We want you to lie low and stick together until we’re free to bring you back or introduce you to our team. We have a lot to learn from you, but not just yet.”
“You stay in contact with me,” said Jasmine. “I’ll let you know what happens at school with Holder and Derek.”
“Nothing’s going to happen with them,” said Mr. Butts. “They’re gone.”
“But I don’t understand,” I said. “I heard them talking about Rae in the bathroom. They’ve been at that school for years. It doesn’t make sense.”
“The best we can figure out is that the Greater Good had some internal struggles going on. Or they had some people who didn’t agree, who fractured off and started their own thing. We’re not totally sure yet,” said Mr. Butts.
“And the ones that fractured off had a lot of IT support, apparently,” said Mrs. Butts. “I’ve traced all kinds of activity that links over to Mr. Livingston. I believe what happened is they manipulated his data files to draw him over to this school specifically, where they had people in place already, people like Derek and Mr. Holder who’d been trained to deal with Influencers.”
“So they wanted Rae for themselves,” said Jasmine.
“Yes. She was the golden goose, it appears,” said Mrs. Butts, looking at Rae apologetically. “Of all the Influencers, her powers were considered the most valuable.”
“Why?” asked Rae. “Why not Malcolm?”
“They didn’t even know about Malcolm,” said Jasmine. “They thought he was just some kid.”
“I’m not sure how they identified the other Influencers,” said Mr. Butts, “but it’s clear that Malcolm was not on their radar. There is no mention of him anywhere.”
Rae looked up at me and whispered, “The invisible man.”
It was too creepy to smile at. I’d been invisible all my life until now, and I was okay with that, as long as Rae never looked through me. She squeezed me as the thought was going through my mind, making a rush of warmth spread through my chest. Then I smiled.
“So they wanted Rae - Holder and Derek - so they somehow tricked Mr. Livingston to come to our town and enroll Rae in our school?” Kootch nodded. “He’s got skills. Can’t deny that.”
“Are you going to be able to find all of them?” I asked, wondering if eighteen months was long enough to close something of this size down, especially knowing there were two separate groups of them out there.
“Maybe, maybe not. We’ll see.” Mr. Butts leaned over and handed me the keys. “Time for you two to head out of here. Anything else you need?”
Rae and I shook our heads. “No. That’s all,” I said. “But thanks. Thanks so much for everything you’ve done and for what you’re going to do to help us. We’re really grateful.” I cleared my throat when it got difficult to speak. “No one’s ever had my back like this, so I know what a big deal it is.”
Mr. Butts grabbed me and hugged me roughly. “Son, life doesn’t have to be about being alone.” He pulled away and shook me by the shoulders a little. “You’ve got the Butts family behind you too. Never forget that.”
I shook my head. “I won’t.” It was the best I could do. If I said anything else I’d bawl for sure.
Rae hugged Mr. and Mrs. Butts for a long time, crying and thanking them over and over. Then she did the same with Kootch and Jasmine. Kootch pretended to be enjoying it a little too much, but one punch from Jasmine made him quit. I knew now that it was all an act to get her attention, making me wonder if they’d find happiness together like Rae and I had.
“Don’t forget to chat me up,” sa
id Jasmine. “I’ll be online all the time!”
I opened Rae’s door for her and waited to make sure she was all the way in before shutting it again. I got in next to her and smiled, seeing the fuzzy dice hanging from the mirror.
“How much you want to bet that these are from Kootch?” I said, reaching up to flick one.
“No deal. It had to be him.” Rae smiled big, her eyes bright.
“So where are we going?” I asked.
She opened the glove compartment and pulled out a stack of papers. She read the first page. “Leave out of the parking garage and turn right. Follow the signs to the interstate highway, going north.”
“North, huh?” I said, starting the car and reversing out of the parking space. “Maybe we’re going to Canada.” I grinned at her, leaning over for a quick kiss before moving out of the garage.
“Maybe we are. Or maybe they’ll send us over to Oregon or Washington,” Rae said, looking through the rest of the things they’d left.
I pulled out onto the main road and followed the instructions Rae gave me.
We tried to go the entire way without stopping but it just wasn’t possible. After two uneventful rest stops, one for bathroom breaks and one for a quick nap, we made it to our destination, somewhere in Montana. One of the most beautiful places I’d ever seen.
Unpacking and settling in was a breeze. The attention to detail and comforts the Butts family had put in place made it so easy. And playing house for real with Rae couldn’t have been more magical.
Chapter Fifty-Five: Rae
“IT’S EXACTLY HOW I PICTURED it,” said Malcolm, joining me out on the porch. It was lunchtime and I had two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on a plate next to me. I was curled up in a porch chair with a blanket around my feet.
“I can’t believe we’ve been here a week and a half already,” I said, taking a sip of tea. I’d started drinking tea here. It made me feel more mature, grown up. And now that I was living in a house with Malcolm and we were our own little family, it seemed like the thing to do. To grow up. To start taking control of my life and doing what I wanted and not necessarily what people expected of me.
“How long are we going to stay?” asked Malcolm, sitting down next to me. He pulled one of my feet into his lap and rubbed it with one hand while he wolfed down a PBJ with the other.
We’d discussed this a lot over the past ten days and still hadn’t come up with the answer. “Let’s just wait and see. We don’t have to decide now.” I stretched my arms out above me, reveling in the beautiful weather and the nice breeze that blew through the trees. The mountains were way more beautiful than I ever imagined they could be.
“Have I told you yet today how pretty you are?”
I pulled my arms down and smiled at him, feeling that warmth building down low again. We were sharing the same bed now, and every day was a new discovery in pleasure for us.
“No, not today. Not yet anyway, but yesterday you told me five times, so I can just use one of those.”
He got off the chair and dropped to his knees in between my legs. “No, I’ll give you a new one for today. Rae … you’re beautiful. The perfect girl for me. The yang to my yin.”
“I think I’m the yin to your yang.”
“Whatever.” He grabbed my hand and kissed the back of it. Then the palm. He knew how much that tickled.
I leaned down to capture his lips with mine. “No tickling.” I smiled against his mouth, feeling his lips move up into a grin too.
“Yes, tickling,” he said, sneaking his hands around to my sides and messing with my ribs.
“No!” I said playfully, pushing him back. I jumped up and ran to the door, but he was hot on my heels.
“Tickle fest!” he shouted, coming up behind me and sweeping me up into his arms.
I started kicking my feet, but he went suddenly still.
“What?” I asked, all the laughter dying out into stillness.
“Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?” My heart spasming in fear.
“A … bell maybe?” He dropped my legs to put me back on my feet.
I heard it then too. “It’s the computer,” I said freezing in place for just two seconds before I realized what that meant. “Jazzy!” I yelled, taking off for the bedroom.
Malcolm and I raced up the stairs, hoping to get to the computer in time to connect with the call coming in.
“Hello!” I said breathlessly as I pressed the button. “Hello, are you there?” I pushed my messy hair out of my eyes.
Jasmine’s face was filling the screen.
“Yo, peeps, what’s up?” She had a big grin and brown hair. She didn’t look like herself at all, really. Kootch was sitting next to her, putting bunny ears behind her head with his fingers.
Chapter Fifty-Six: Malcolm
“HEY GUYS, WHAT UP?” SAID Jasmine. ‘We don’t have a lot of time, but we wanted to say hi.”
“Hi Jazzy, hi Kootch,” said Rae, beaming smiles at everyone.
Kootch waved.
“You’ll never believe what Kootch did the other day after you guys left,” said Jasmine, barely holding back laughter.
“Shut up, Butts,” he said, sighing heavily. It was apparently a story he was already tired of.
“No, tell us,” said Rae, bouncing on the bed in her excitement. “We want to hear.” The computer was on a desk right next to our bed, but I’d already taken the only chair available. The bed was more comfortable, so I let her have it.
“Okay, check this…” Jasmine leaned in closer, her face getting bigger on the screen.
“Butts, I’m warning you…,” said Kootch from behind her.
“Pffft, you’re warning your own ass. Here’s what happened. So Kootch here gets this idea in his head the other day to be nice to the garbage man. Like a week ago or so. The Tuesday after we got back.”
“Everyone should be nice to the garbage man!” Kootch protested, fighting for space in front of the screen but losing. “They’re good guys!”
“Yeah. You should be nice to the garbage man, we know. But you shouldn’t try to kill him. So as I was saying, Kootch decides to go all Huckleberry Farms and make friends with the garbage man. So he wakes up real early one day and puts a cold soda out on the curb by the trashcans. That was like, Wednesday.”
“It’s hot out. Soda’s awesome when it’s hot,” grumbled Kootch.
“Getting to that,” said Jasmine, reaching over without looking to slap at him a little. “So Kootch is watching out the front window, all excited about making friends with the garbage man, and he sees the dude drive up, get off the back of his truck, and then look at the soda.”
“He stared at it. Who just stands there and stares at a Coke?” Kootch was clearly offended that this man didn’t pick up his offering. That in itself was funny, but I was trying to be cool and not laugh at him.
“What happened?” Rae asked.
“Save all your questions for the end, geez,” said Jasmine, “just chill and let me tell the story. Okay, so the guy stares at it for a while, looks at the house, looks at the soda one more time … and then picks it up and throws it into the trash can before dumping it in the back of his truck.”
“The dick threw out a perfectly good Coke,” said Kootch. “I could-a drunk it.”
Jasmine holds up a finger and brightens up. “But the good neighbor Kootch is not swayed from his mission, ladies and gentlemen! He tries again the next garbage day, Friday, but this time he gets smart. He puts a note on the can.”
“Anybody would! It’s totally normal!” He tried to shove Jasmine to the side, but she wasn’t budging.
“What’d the note say?” asked Rae, barely able to contain herself. She was already laughing, and she didn’t even know the punchline.
“The note said just two words: Drink it.”
“Simple. I like it,” I said.
“Thank you, Malcolm. See? Dudes get it.” Kootch nodded, a satisfied smile coming across his face.
“Anyway, he’s spying through the curtains when the guy comes around, and he sees the guy look at the soda, back away from it, and then just leave without taking the soda or the garbage.”
“Which my dad blamed me for and then beat my ass over, thank you very much, so I really don’t think it’s all that funny.”
“Stop being so dramatic. He totally swung, missed, and fell down passed-out drunk. He didn’t touch a single hair on your giant head.”
“Well, he tried to beat my ass. It was traumatic. I’m traumatized now. Look at my face.” He leaned in towards the camera. “See? I’m messed up.”
Rae nodded. “He looks definitely messed up.” She snorted after.
“See? Rae noticed.”
“Can we get to the end of the story?” I asked. Kootch looked totally fine.
“Yeah. So next week, Kootch is waiting on his front door step, and the garbage truck comes by and stops, but the guy doesn’t get out. He just sits there in his truck. So Kootch goes out to talk to him and demand to know why the guy isn’t taking his gifts. It’s at this point that I’ve joined the party, because when he told me about his grand gesture, I just had to see what was going to happen. It’s been super boring around here without you guys, trust.”
“Anyone would-a gone out there and seen what was up. It’s totally normal!” Kootch was getting wound up now. I felt the end of the story coming.
“So, Kootch says, ‘Hey, man, why aren’t you drinking those Cokes I left?’ And the guy says, all offended, ‘What’d I ever do to you?’ And Kootch is like, ‘What’s your problem, man? Can’t a guy give another guy a Coke when it’s hot out and he’s lifting cans?’ And then the guy looks at him like he’s nuts and says, ‘Not when that guy’s got diabeetus! You tryin’ ta kill me, boy! What you wanna do that for! I got kids! I gotta wife! I ain’t slinging garbage around all day for my healf!”
“The guy was nuts,” said Kootch. “How the hell do I know he’s got diabeetus or whatever.”