Brett supporters making an appearance and all this shit going down without me, but with Jade there in the middle.

No.

I walked over to Chen and she didn't say anything. She pointed to her office though, using a stiff finger. She was pissed beyond speech. I saw Mom and Dad were already there, twin expressions of pissed off riding their faces.

And Gramps was there. He wasn't pissed, a slight smile curved his lips.

Nice.

Jonesy's eyes met mine from the floor, Sophie cradled like a fragile doll in his arms. God help the poor schmuck that would try to move her right now. We had a moment and then he gave me a nod.

I had it. His gratitude.

That was the most important thing to me.

I turned my back on my friends and walked toward my family, my guts churning.

CHAPTER 13

"We're trying to be supportive, Caleb, really," Mom said, her elbows planted on the kitchen table, palms spread. She clenched them back together again and sighed. "But you leave us no choice."

My hands were in tight fists by my side, my supper untouched in front of me.

Gramps was scrubbing his face. He crossed his arms in front of him. I noticed that his plate was clean. Onyx lay covertly beside him, hoping for a morsel.

"Alicia," Gramps began.

"No, Pops. I need to handle this."

"And that's worked out so well, Peanut," he said levelly.

Dad sighed. "Mom's right, you've become more violent."

"Humph!" Gramps cackled. "In my day that little altercation would have been swept under the rug." He looked at the Parents steadily, his gray eyes darkening. "This is part of becoming a man. Before everything got sissified, boys would hammer out their differences and move forward. Then, if you involve girls, well, it becomes even more important. Chen would do to think about that. She'd probably cut down on the fights if she just let a few run their course." He folded his arms across his chest and flung out his legs in front of him.

"Hammer things out? What? with fists?" Mom asked.

He nodded slowly and Dad sighed. "Yes, if that's what needed doin', fists worked very well. Or kicks, or a ..."

"Mac," Dad said in warning.

"Right," Mac said, realizing Mom was getting the Big Picture. Gramps turned his attention to me. "That was some fine hand work, Caleb."

"Thanks, Gramps," I said.

He continued looking at me. "Not bad on that other boy...?"

"Buddy," I supplied.

"That's it!" he snapped his fingers. "How old is he?"

"Senior," I said.

He palmed his chin, raking his hand over the stubble. "Seems older."

"Yes, that's what Helen said," Mom remembered.

"He take judo too?" Gramps asked, digging around.

I shrugged. "He does something. I was havin' to bring it."

"Pullin' out all the stops, eh?"

"Yeah," I said.

"Anyway," Mom looked at all of us, "Andrea is going to see this as a real problem. Jade's father is a known violent offender. She will see Caleb's actions in the worst possible light. And... I can't say I blame her." She narrowed her eyes on me.

I shifted in my seat.

"Ms. Chen mentioned that Brett claimed that Jade's hand was hurt in the scuffle between you and Buddy. That he was just looking at her injury."

I was calling bullshit on that.

"I'd like to believe that, Ali, but given his track record with the boy... " Dad shrugged.

Gramps asked, "What did Jade say?"

That was the thing, I hadn't had a chance to pulse and get things straight with her. "I haven't pulsed her yet."

Gramps stood, clapping his hands on his thighs. Onyx took that as his cue to jump on Gramps. He laughed and pushed him off gently. He looked at me. "I was there at the school to bring you your wheels, Caleb."

Right! My car. Totally overshadowed by the crap at school.

I stood and Dad put a restraining hand on my arm. I looked him in the eye. "It's Jade or the car, Caleb. We have to begin to discipline you for this behavior."

Gramps hung his head, saying nothing, but shaking it in mild disgust.

I looked at Gramps with an apologetic expression. "The car. I'd never let Jade go."

"Unless she let you go, Caleb," Mom said and I looked at her.

Thanks for that gem. Whatever.

Gramps clapped my back. "It's okay, tiger. The car you can wait on, the girl won't wait."

Glad Gramps got it. My parents were certainly not there yet.

I left my supper cooling on the table as I followed Gramps outside.

First time ever.

*

Initializing: Top Five Contact

Hot One

Hey- JLeC

Hi... are you okay?-CH

sighs yeah... but, it was really scary today, Caleb. I'm not gonna lie.-JLeC

I know. I mean, I wasn't scared but it was scary with Sophie and all the fighting recently.-CH

Andrea knows, Caleb. She's totally not wanting me to go out with you now. It's like the whole thing, just... put her over the edge. She just sees my dad when this violent stuff happens.-JLeC

Eff.

Emotive stress evaluation medium I am nothing like your profanity-block dad! You know this! I don't use and I don't beat girls. Everyone I beat deserves it.-CH

laughs I agree with that.-JLeC

Brett got what he deserves. He put his hands on you Jade. I'm gonna do more than beat the profanity-block! outta him next time.-CH

Caleb, no. He seriously wanted to see my wrist.-JLeC

Emotive stress evaluation med-high you were hurt?-CH

No! He thought he'd seen my hand get hit when you and Buddy began... what... you did.-JLeC

I knew it. He just wanted an excuse to touch her. The interfering prick. I got an idea.

What did ya read off of him?CH

Pause in pulse communication.

A lot of stuff. Maybe it'd be embarrassing.-JLeC

I was seething inside, my blood like lava.

Try me.-CH

sighs well, he definitely has some... romantic feelings for me. And... I don't know the rest but there was some disturbing impressions...

Like what?-CH

Big surprise on the romance vibe. Dick.

Idk exactly but it had a similar feel to the DI sample that's disappeared.-JLeC

Great, that's all we needed was for Brett to pop some kind of murder. Just the thought of him having those ideas swirling around in his small brain made me tenser, knotting my muscles as my hand clenched the pulse.

He's not the guy, Caleb. If that's what you're thinking.-JLeC

Some Empath you are laughs- CH

You don't help me anymore by keeping your thumb depressed.-JLeC

Good, a guy's gotta have some secrets.-CH

So... did your parents drop cattle over the fighting? JLeC

Yeah they did. You're soundin' like Tiff.-CH

laughs kinda. She's rubbin' off on me! JLeC

Listen...embarrassed since I missed Judo today I'm gonna have to be sharp on the time tomorrow...

I'll get ya there, baby.-JLeC

Baby? I like that. I could get used to that.-CH

The word? JLeC

No, the way you say it.-CH

It's a pulse.-JLeC

Doesn't matter. I hear your voice in my head, see you in my mind as you've said it...

OMG! That's so romantic emotive response high- JLeC

I get it right once in awhile.-CH

More than that, Caleb smiles.-JLeC

What about Andrea?CH

Let's just work around her.-JLeC

You mean con her.-CH

sighs yeah, for now.-JLeC

I don't like the sneaking around profanity-block!, Jade.-CH

I know, but maybe we can just inch along until it all blows over. Maybe she'll forget about it- JLeC

Doubt it.

K, we can try it. I'll see ya tomorrow after school.-CH

How many days? JLeC

Three vacation days.-CH

Wow. I guess it could've been worse.-JLeC

I thought of how Jade would be in school, unprotected. Felt pretty long to me.

I guess so doubtful- CH

Love you.-JLeC

I love you.-CH

****

I spent the day with Gramps, both of us freezing our butts off in the garage, going over the Camaro in detail.

"I don't want you to drive this without an idea of everything in it and how it all works. If we go over it with a fine tooth comb, you'll feel more confident."

I didn't tell Gramps I was already feeling okay about it. It was a car. It had been retrofitted with a pulse lock, that looked really weird on an old car, the black square of the pulse pad standing starkly against the white body paint. "It's okay, Gramps. I think I got this."

He smiled and Onyx ran over to stuff his nose in Gramps' hand until he pet him.

He petted him and Onyx thumped his leg on the concrete floor. Gramps gettin' the sweet spot pretty good.

We stood there quietly for a time and then Gramps asked, "Where's Clyde?"

That was the thing that the Parents were also having a cow about.

"I put him back to rest."

"Didn't you tell me that Parker said he wouldn't be able to go back anymore?"

I nodded. "It was kinda like that. But, I don't know the details. It's not like there's any history here." I lifted my shoulders in an exaggerated shrug.

"Precedence?" Gramps asked.

"Yeah. Parker's it. Everything I know about corpse lore I get from him when he comes to do weird shit all over the top of me."

Gramps didn't correct my language, lighting a cigarette instead. I raised an eyebrow. Mom was gonna crap a brick if she caught him smoking within a Mile of the Homestead.

"Gramps... Mom's gonna rant if she sees you... "

"Grocery store," he said in a flat voice.

I laughed. "What? You got Mom-radar?"

"Yup."

He inhaled deeply and stabbed the last of the cigarette out in a old coffee can full of sand. He put the lid back on it and stuck it behind a bunch of car crap. It blended in perfectly.

Sneaky for an old guy.

Or just sneaky.

Gramps looked at me through the filtered smoke of a new cig. Wiping his hands carefully on one of his car cloths from the endless supply in his back pocket, he said, "the way I see it, you have a few problems."

I nodded. I was pretty consistent in the predicament department.

He held up a finger. "First, this Buddy character. He makes me nervous."

I felt my eyebrows jerk to my hairline. "Why?"

He took a big drag on the smoke, the ash dangling at about an inch. He flicked it into the can again. It was a hugeass ashtray.

He scrubbed his face with his free hand. After a hesitation he said, "I don't know."

Then he waved that away for the moment. "Then there's the hoodlums. They're never gonna quit."

Yeah, I got that. Totally.

He paused. Then, "there's Clyde."

We looked at each other for a pregnant moment. "You have to figure out what to do with him. He's more than he was. He's not alive exactly but there's gonna come a time that he will evolve into something. Something that's dead but deserves to live. You got me?"

I did. I nodded. But I was sixteen years old. What was my responsibility here? I didn't even know where to begin with it all.

Gramps saw my ambivalence. "Chew on it, Caleb. You don't have to make some clear cut solution at this moment. But chaos will strike again and when it does, he'll come. Hell! He came to your defense when you were on the way back from my place," his gaze continued boring into me. "Then, there's your girl."

I spoke for the first time, "What? What about Jade?"

"She seems to get trouble attached to her like Velcro."

"What's Velcro?"

He waved his hand, flicking ashes into the can. "Never you mind. Sticky crap. Anyway, between that idiot Brett, her dad and," he paused, stabbing the blunt end of his smoke in my direction, "her aunt... it's a challenge. A challenge to finesse around that aunt of hers, a challenge to protect her from her dad. And, to keep that brutal guy away from her."

"Yeah, it's all that, Gramps."

He studied me. Finally, he said, "You got a plan?"

I shook my head. "Mainly, I just react."

He nodded, barking out a laugh. "Yeah, that makes sense, considering your age and the cloth you're cut from." He smiled, amused.

I wasn't really thinking it was so great.

We looked at each other through the veil of his smoke. No plan, both reactors.

Naturally.

****

Normally judo was a chore I worked through. A skill to have because... well I needed it. Look at the last almost two years. But today, when Jade pulled up, the windshield winking at me in the sunlight, I jogged to the truck.