CHAPTER NINE
Insert Explitive Here
“No” I said. “No you’re supposed to be dead!” I shouted. I had stood up and not even noticed it. My strength drained out of me and I collapsed onto my rum. Then I heard it. It was the song that my grandmother or grandfather would sing to me when I was little had a bad dream.
“Lilies kittens,
Beautiful they may be,
But not as beautiful as you,
Sunshine rainbows,
Beautiful they may be,
But not as beautiful as you,.”
It was John he was singing it. The song I had always grown up with my grandma would tell me that my dad made it and sang it to me, that he would even play it on the piano sometimes.
“You’re?” I whispered awe filling my voice.
“Renady it’s me it’s really me.” John or Dad or whoever said. He said more but I couldn’t hear it because it was blocked out by a loud screeching noise. The lights shut off, suddenly hands were gripping me but it wasn’t John it was someone else.
“John? John? Dad?” I yelled.
“Renady!” He shouted back.
“Dad, where are you?” I yelled. I struggled and kicked but it was no use. Four more hands grabbed me.
“Renady!” I heard his voice far off now. I kicked one of the guys in the gut and was about to twist around and hit another when suddenly a sharp pain pierced my side, and I was down. I was expecting the dark numbing of unconsciousness, but I wasn’t unconscious it was worse. I was paralyzed, but completely aware. I had to suffer through my now horrific life as it broke before my eyes…again. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t kick or scream or fight. I couldn’t do anything. I was lifted up and put into a metal box there was a chair and they maneuvered me into it. There was a neck rest and they placed my head against it. They place me on a chair there was no need for straps or anything because I was completely paralyzed. Then a bright light was turned on. A man sat on a chair and rolled over towards me. I could tell he wasn’t a field agent. I could feel the memory slipping as I looked at him. It was me finding out John was my dad. It was going, going. I knew that I couldn’t let it go I just I couldn’t. Then I thought about something. It was all in your head right? A mind game? If I ever had control over anything in my life, it was my mind.
I grasped onto the memory, and I pulled. I would not forget, I refused. The memory came back like a light switch I ran through it in my head over and over again imagining what it felt like to see my dad, his smirk, his angular face, his dark hair. I did the same with the rest of the memories that they tried to erase I was surprised that they let me remember being captured and Fern and Earl and the escape but I wasn’t supposed to remember that he was my dad. I realized I would have to play dumb. I couldn’t let them know that it hadn’t worked. Soon I regained control of my limbs, and they escorted me out of the room and in through a doorway. The building was completely different than the glass doors. It looked like a modern building. There were couches, chairs, tables things like that scattered around the room. They took me through a set of double doors at the end of the hall that led into an elevator. The elevator was also glass and it shot up at the speed of a bullet or at least it felt like that. Once the elevator stopped, and the doors opened, they lead me into what looked like a big conference room. There were six chairs on each side of a long mahogany table in front of a large TV screen taking up the space of an entire wall. Three of the men sat down around me. One agent hovered ominously behind my chair and stared toward the entry we had came through. There were two large towering above me looming as tall as the sky almost intimidating. Abruptly the doors blew open. In walked E Johnson flanked by Mrs. Adams on his right but about two paces back and Mr. Rogers on his left again two paces back behind them in the same v formation was a short stout and a bit rotund man with glasses and then Mrs. Brunt then a few agents I assumed or assistants whatever they were. One woman who was dressed in a black suit and had dark hair and glasses was carrying a thick file.
They stalked toward me like a pack of hungry wolves descending on it’s prey. The four agents that were sitting down stood.
“You may be seated” E. Johnson said gesturing with his hand for them to sit. I scoffed and rolled my eyes. It was like he was some random dignitary. He was standing behind a gray cushioned chair at the very head of the table I looked around and saw that everyone was standing behind a chair. Once he had said to they all scooted a chair out, and he too sat down in his place. Mrs. Adams sat at his right side and Mr. Rogers at his left and this continues in the same formation they had paraded through the doors in. E . Johnson pressed a button on a remote I hadn’t noticed was there. Then screen flashed on in a brilliant streak of light almost blinding. A zillion colors jumbled. At least until they fused together to create the big picture a tapestry woven from meaningless brightly colored thread to form the main design. It was Aunt Lil again, still being interrogated. E. Johnson put it on mute. I wanted to reach over and pull his hair out, and to rip his eyes from his sockets. They had stolen my aunt Lil and now my dad from my grasp my dad was gone and I realized that I would never get him back no matter what I did. I wanted to cry and thrash my arms and throw a temper tantrum that would rival a three year olds, but again I just sat there my face a mask just like I had so many times before.
“Renady welcome back!” E. Johnson enthused, with a big, saliva filled smile. He might as well have foamed at the mouth for all the moisture on his nasty face.
“Cut the crap Johnson. Either get to the point or shut up.” I spat.
“Yes well let me make this quite plain. If you do what we ask we will let your Aunt Lil go and if you don’t we are afraid that you may never see her again. What will it be?” E. Johnson stated, and formed a steeple with his hands. Who did he think he was? Sherlock Holmes?
“I am sure you already know my answer to that very ridiculous question,” I said.
“Alright then, Mrs. Adams take it away.”
“There is a school training youth to become independent special operatives, contractors if you will, on an island close to FIJI. It is top secret and well hidden, no one knows of it except for those who seek it out. It is run by a man named Celcius Zenwaler. He has a small army protecting the place and it is of course surrounded by ocean and is very hard to get to. We would like you to go check it out and complete your training. It is our job to be suspicious naturally we doubt anything bad goes on there we just want you to go finish your training and maybe poke around a bit,” Mrs. Adams Stated.
“Alright” I said. Yeah, I’d believe that when pigs fly. ‘Poke around’ what they really wanted was a multi-level excavation.
“Here is a folder about the school with all it’s information about everything about everybody in it. Learn it, live it, love it.” E. Johnson said. Mrs. Adams pointed to the woman I had seen earlier who handed the file to me. I opened it up and scanned through the pages.
“So Miss. Parks what do you say?” E. Johnson insisted.
“Do I have a choice?”
“You have a choice. You have always had a choice.” E. Johnson replied. I flashed him an exaggerated, and particularly nasty looking smile.
“Count me in.” I retorted
“Terrific absolutely terrific.” E. Johnson said. “Mr. Steel I suggest you show Mrs. Parks the tools she will be using just in case there is anything unusual about the school.” The larger man shuffled around in a bag he had. Ah so this is the notorious Mr. Steel.
“Oh Miss Renady what a great, great pleasure it is to finally meet you I mean I have heard all about you big, big fan and I-” He started but he didn’t have time to finish his monologue of a speech.
“Get on with the demonstration please.” E. Johnson prompted
“Yes right away sir. I must say it has been quite fun making gadgets for you, but it has been a bit of a challenge you know. I was a kid so long ago that it was hard to imagine what a regular teenage girl would possibly have around with them,”
He said. “So I did some research and narrowed it down.” He continued, laid out a collection of perfectly normal looking items on the table.
“Alright I think I will this here musical device first,” he said.
“Thanks it’s really nice of you but actually I already have one I got it for my birthday” I said
“Not like this you don’t. What it does is you can check for bugs and cameras by pressing the middle button. By hitting play you can record a conversation, the rewind button does x-ray vision and spin the volume button four times to signal you are in trouble and need help. Spin it three times to type in a message, a keyboard will pop up on the touch screen. Okay, next up is this lip gloss is completely harmless on skin and it makes the lips absolutely glossy, but when you squirt some onto anything that’s not skin, something it will take the object it was applied to right of. It’s a sort of de-adhesive if you will. Now, if you twist the cap twice, in the left direction, you’ll hear this clicking noise and it will become very super glue and it can hold the weight of ten tons. Now this compact mirror, if you press the top mirror it will be a flash light, hit the bottom mirror it will pop up then you can put a piece of paper in it and it will scan it and send it to us. Next in line is this travel makeup kit it actually does quite a lot for such a wonderfully average looking collection of items. The blush for example, if you use the brush to dab a little on a door and a little on your ear you can hear anything going on inside. The eye shadow if you rub it on your hands it will act as suction cups and you can climb up walls with ease. Then the eye liner and mascara combination will give you x- ray vision. The lipstick acts as an acid, it burns through anything and it is absolutely odorless. Then there is this hairpin and rubber band to put in your hair the hair pin will clip to something and string will slide out of it and you can even use it for mountain climbing and it won’t break. The rubber band if flicked against something it will act like a saw. Last but not least this purse you can place all the things inside it and you can use it as a stun bomb by pressing on the flower the flower. The flower will pop off and act as the stun bomb but if you press the middle red jewel it will be an actual bomb so be careful, the strap you can extend up to a mile, detach, and tie anything up you like,” he finished looking pleased with himself. He glanced around the table for some praise and when I saw none was coming I spoke up
“These are absolutely amazing.” I said.
“I am glad you like it” he replied.
“So when am I leaving?” I asked no one in particular.
“Tomorrow at six AM. After all Fiji is quite a way’s away.” E. answered.
“Great, no lag time. That is just terrific.” I said, my voice monotone.
“Oh and by the way you will be known to them as Sally Greenpost.” E. Johnson said. “Why?” I asked.
“Because we still want you to be a secret even though the principle as you can call him is a former CIA agent, we still can’t have anyone knowing about it, about you.” Mrs. Adams said. I sighed.
We talked a little while longer and then we were zooming along again in the glass boxes of arcade games. My life seemed like the tunnels we were zooming through dark and seemingly endless little flickers of light that rapidly appear and just as fast disappear.
Finally we arrived back at the Farm We stepped out of the glass box and back into the arcade room and then headed up the staircase again back to the front door. I was escorted, still in hand cuffs, back to my bunk. They didn’t take the handcuffs off until they had opened the door to where every one of my bunkmates could see me being “un-cuffed” Then they slammed the door. I walked briskly over to my room. I left the door open, and shoved my bag off the bed, letting it fall onto the floor. leaving the door open where my bag was and shoved it off my bed letting it fall on the floor. I just stared at the bunk. Nobody spoke. Slowly but surely they all headed off to dinner. I wasn’t hungry.
Dear Grandma,
I found dad. He is in Tidewater by the farm.
I don’t know where exactly he lives. Because just like you guys he was taken away, not by death. Worse. By them, and still I have to help them.
I miss you so much. If you were alive, would you have told me about him?
- Renady