Part 14 (1/2)
”I'm sorry,” Kaila said.
”Glad to see you're finally havin' some fun.”
Paw Paw then noticed that Nan and Mike were still as stone. ”What?” he asked.
”I'm sorry, Paw Paw,” Kaila said. She leaned close to her grandfather. Felt her eyelids open wide, her eyes changing.
”What?” Paw Paw said, leaning back in his chair, seeing her eyes.
”Don't worry,” Kaila said softly. ”Sleep.”
Paw Paw's chin lowered, his eyes went blank. She caressed his cheek. ”I'm sorry, Paw Paw, truly I am. But you will remember none of this.”
Kaila went to Nan and said, ”You will remember none of this. We watched the news, had popcorn, went to bed, and that is all.”
She went to Mike, still inanimate, standing in the middle of the living room. ”And you will remember the same.” She stared at Mike, embedding the false screen memory into his mind.
”What is going on?” Lee shouted in her bathrobe.
Kaila ran to her mother, grabbed her by her wrists.
”Where's your wig?” Lee demanded.
”Look at me,” Kaila implored, feeling her mind energy pour out of her eyes. Her mother's expression went blank.
”Help me,” Kaila called to Jordyn, seeing her zombie-like mother. ”How do I turn time back?”
Jordyn spoke with his mind. I'm downloading now, he said wordlessly.
Kaila nodded. ”Got it.”
The kitchen clock spun backward from dawn to ten o'clock the evening prior. Mike, Nan, Lee, and Paw Paw stood frozen in the kitchen and living room.
Melissa snored from the floor, her arms wrapped around Toby.
Kaila went to Toby, nudged his stocky body with her toe.
”Hmmm,” he sighed, wrapping his arms more firmly around Melissa.
Kaila kicked Toby. ”Get up!”
Toby opened his eyes, snorted. He looked around; his little mouth fell open. If he had eyebrows, they would have shot up.
”Put Melissa back home, no memory at all,” Kaila commanded, not sure if she were making the right decisions. She felt bad that she wouldn't be able to share this with Melissa and Pia, but as Jordyn decreed, this was damage control.
Toby clutched Melissa as they disappeared.
Antonia put her arms around the sleeping Pia. ”Gotcha,” she said, nodding at Kaila. Antonia and Pia vanished.
Viktor pinched Kaila's cheek. ”Good job, little alien in training.”
”Shut up. My head hurts. Just get the h.e.l.l out.”
Viktor raised his middle finger to Kaila. Looked at Lucius, jerked his head. The two evaporated into thin air.
”Oh,” Echidna moaned from the floor. ”This sucks.”
”No,” Kaila retorted. ”You suck. Get out of my house.”
Echidna stood, looking down at Kaila with obsidian eyes.
Power surged up from Kaila's mind out through her eyes. ”You have no power over me,” Kaila said. ”Get out.”
”Oh.” Echidna licked her thin lips. ”Power corrupts.” She pressed her tiny lips to Kaila's. Kaila pushed her away.
Echidna sneered. ”You'll get over it. You wanted an animal party. You got it.” She waved her hand. ”See ya, s.l.u.t.” Then she vanished.
”Kaila,” Jordyn said. ”I'm sorry.”
”Look,” Kaila said. ”You gotta go.”
”Can I come visit you tomorrow night?”
”I don't know! Please. Go.”
Jordyn scanned the kitchen and living room. He lowered his head, swallowed. Then, shot gla.s.s pieces flew back together to form a whole. The shot gla.s.ses flew through the air back to the liquor cabinet. Clean kitchen table. Dishes to the cabinets. Dishwasher door magically opening, followed by floating gla.s.ses onto the racks.
Nan, Mike, Paw Paw, and Lee walked trance-like to their recliners in the living room. Jordyn placed Nan's crochet in her hands. Nodded at the table. Popcorn filled a gla.s.s bowl. Then, he vanished.
Holy c.r.a.p, Kaila thought, everything spinning too fast. But before she could ponder too long, she saw that her family was sitting in the living room, watching television.
”Quiet,” Mike said. ”The news is on.”
”They're raising the taxes again?” Nan asked.
”Idiots,” Paw Paw said. ”Every one of them government folks should be run out of town.”
”We gotta pay for their high falutin' living, the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds,” Mike drawled. ”Work like a dog, they'll take every dime. Liars and thieves, every last one of 'em.”
Lucy rolled her eyes, thankful she was being fed popcorn.
Kaila could barely breathe. Her head felt like it weighed fifty pounds. She was thankful she had the whole night to sleep this off. Plus, she knew that Nan would be up at the crack of dawn, knocking on her door to get to church.
After a breakfast of grillades and grits and not one word at the table about the evening's events, Kaila relaxed.
Whereas Kaila was usually bored in church, she felt soothed sitting in the pew, listening to the monotony of the sermon and the singing of the hymns. The old wooden smell of the church was comforting.
Paw Paw had been too tired from chemotherapy to come to church. It had to be the chemotherapy, not the mind-screen that had made him fatigued. Kaila fidgeted.
Nan put her arm across Kaila's shoulder. Kaila wanted to shrug her off. She always sat next to Paw Paw in church. Now, she was between Nan and her mother.