Caleb 61

“Mr. Stott?” said the Dean as he saw me entering his office behind Sarah and her parents. “You can see I have a meeting.”

“I’m kind of involved,” I said. “Sarah asked if I would come along.”

The Dean looked at Sarah and her family and then sighed again. “Very well,” he said. “Please, take a seat.”

That last was to all of us as he was indicating the chairs in front of his desk. Fortunately there were enough for us all and I sat beside Carrie. Sarah was seated between her parents.

The Dean looked at Sarah. “You wished to apply to study with us,” he said, “but according to your transcript your GPA was only 2.9. I’m a little concerned that you are setting yourself up to fail, especially considering the major that you had selected. Perhaps you might consider taking something a little less academic. The community college has a number of courses that might be more suitable to your educational temperament.”

Sarah opened her mouth, then closed it again and looked at me. I could see that she wanted to explain, to tell the dean that the reason her GPA was so poor was because of the amulet, and that it had been dampening her intellect and crippling her memory. She knew, however, that she couldn’t reveal that. She looked at me, a pleading look in her eye.

“Sarah is going to be studying with me,” I said. “I’m going to be teaching her the same techniques that I learned. You saw how they affected my performance; I fully expect that they will have a similar effect on hers.”

“I have to ask,” said the Dean. “Why are you even involved here?”

“Sarah is my half-sister,” I said. “We only found each other a few weeks ago. It’s a long story and not really relevant. I recently and suddenly found that I have three siblings that I had no idea even existed. I set out to connect with them. Sarah is the youngest of those.”

The Deans eyebrows rose as a look of comprehension crossed his face.

“And Miss Melanie Stott?” he asked.

“Is another one. My brother, Ephraim, is currently studying at PCC”.

I caught the Dean’s thought “Thank heavens for small mercies!” at that. I smiled at him.

He turned his attention back to Sarah and her parents.

“If I accept what Mr. Stott is saying,” he said, “that he can teach you the same techniques that saw his scores improve markedly, then there is still the not insignificant matter of the fees. You originally applied for a scholarship citing that you were not able to afford the tuition and the associated fees. You were not eligible for any scholarships or grants, primarily because of your grades. I can’t go against the decision of the scholarship committee. How are you intended to pay for your studies?”

All three of the family looked at me again. The Dean sighed once more.

“I’m going to be taking care of that too,” I said.

“You?” he asked looking at me.

I nodded.

He too nodded. “It seems,” he said, “that you are not finished with your good deeds. I won’t ask you your motivation. If you would do what you did for a perfect stranger, then how much more would you do for family?”

He turned back to Sarah.

“I’m going to take a chance on you Miss Cross,” he said to her. “You’re already going to be behind the curve, since we’re already a month into the semester. I’m going to give you a year. If, at the end of the year, your GPA is markedly improved, then I will allow you to continue studying with us. If, however, it has not, then I’m going to have to withdraw you from PSU.”

“What would you consider markedly improved?” asked Brian. “If her place here depends on it, it’s only fair that she has a number to shoot for.”

The dean nodded. “That’s fair,” he said. “If she attains at least 3.5 overall GPA, then I will withdraw her provisional status and her place with us will be secured. Of course, this is all subject to all tuition and fees being paid in full.”

He once again turned his gaze on Sarah.

“The major you have chosen is not an easy one. It’s going to require a good deal of work from you. Both your parents and Mr. Stott are going to be investing a great deal of time and money into your education.

“Many believe that school life is easy. Maybe that is because we are not as regimented as high school.  Maybe you feel that you can take advantage of the freedom the university offers in this regard and show up for class, or turn in work, whenever you feel like it.” He did cast a small glance in my direction at that.

“Let me tell you,” he continued, “that the next four years are going to be hard work. But, if you put in the work then you will definitely reap the rewards and earn a good degree followed by a good job. It’s up to you. Are you willing to put in the work? Are you willing to repay the trust that I, and everyone else, am placing on you?”

Sarah nodded vehemently “I will,” she said. “This is all I wanted to do. I’m not going to waste this opportunity.”

The Dean gazed at her for a few moments.

“Then,” he said finally, “welcome to PSU. If you would like to go along to the admissions office, I will let them know you are coming. They will take you through all the formalities.” He looked at me. “Including payment.”

I smiled at him.

We left his office and made our way to the admissions office, where there was a lot of paperwork to fill in. I called Dean to get the details for his accountant so they could organize payment. They also gave Sarah a book list, so I suggested another trip to Briar’s books.

“We’ll cover her books,” said Brian. “It’s the least we can do. I’ll also give Sarah an allowance. If you’re covering her rent and food, then we can’t expect you to give her an allowance too.”

“Okay then,” I said. “When do you want to move in?” I directed this last at Sarah.

“I’m going to be starting on Monday,” she said. “How about Saturday? I’m already a couple of essays behind. I have a few weeks to catch up on everything, as well as keep up with any new work set. It’s going to be hard.”

I smiled at her.

“Don’t worry,” I said to her. “I’ll show you how you can make it a lot easier. You’ll still have to do the work, but with your Telepathy and your full capabilities, now that your amulet has been removed, you’ll catch up quick.”

“My boyfriend, Trevor, is back on Wednesday,” she told me. “Can I bring him over to introduce him? It’s going to be a shock to him that I’m moving in with you guys. The last he heard, I still didn’t have a plan as to what I was going to do next.”

“Is he studying?” I asked.

“His family is paying tutors to school him at home,” she said. “Like I said, they’re pretty rich. They don’t think that PSU is good enough for him, so they’re managing his education. He’s doing something in finance. He is being tutored to take the series 7 and 63 exams.  I think he wants to be a stockbroker, like his father.”

I saw Brian pull his face when Trevor’s name was mentioned. There was obviously no love lost there. Cautiously I listened to his surface thoughts.

“Jumped up little prick,” he was thinking. “Looking down on all of us because his parents have money. Like he did anything to earn it.”

I almost laughed, but managed to control myself.

“Sure,” I said. “Bring him over. When are you going to tell him about powers?”

“I don’t think I am for now,” she said. “I think I’m going to wait a bit and see how things go.”

Sarah hadn’t yet perfected her shield and I heard the thoughts from her. Trevor had been putting pressure on her to have sex with him, even before her eighteenth birthday, but she’d always managed to put him off. Although she’d fooled around with him some, she was now wondering if he was the right boy for her.

“Why don’t you bring him over for dinner on Wednesday?” I asked after a quick check with the girls. “He can meet us all and you can break the news that you are moving in with us. We can even show him your new room. You guys are invited, Edgar too, if you think he will be okay?”

“I think it might be best for you to meet him without us there,” said Carrie, her meaning plain. “Let you form your own opinions. Besides he’s not going to be ‘himself’ if we’re there.”

“Does he have transportation,” I asked, “or would you like me to pick you guys up?”

“He has a car,” said Sarah. “A Mustang Shelly I think.”

“Shelby?” I queried and she nodded.

“That sounds right,” she said. “Shelby.”

“Nice,” I said, then glanced at my watch. It was now after lunch and I had another hypnotherapy appointment in a half hour. I’d have to hurry if I wanted to get anything to eat before I had the appointment, and I didn’t want to miss lunch since tonight was my flying lesson so I wouldn’t get to eat until almost ten.

“I’m going to have to go,” I said. “I have an appointment in half an hour and need to get some lunch first. Unless you guys want to come get some lunch with me?”

Brian shook his head. “We’re going to go to get Sarah’s books,” he said. “We need to make sure we can get all the books before next week.”

“Okay then.” I responded and turned to Sarah. “See you Wednesday. About six?”

She nodded, seemed to think for a second and then came and gave me a hug.

“Thank you,” she said. “I don’t think I would have got in without your involvement. I owe you, big time. . .for everything.”

“You don’t owe me a thing,” I replied as she released me and stepped back. “Family looks out for one another.”

Brian shook my hand, and even Carrie gave me a quick hug, and then they were on their way. I was speed walking to the cafeteria to grab a quick bite to eat before my hypnotherapy appointment.

The afternoon went quickly, with two hypnotherapy appointments, and then I headed home. I  needed to get ready for my flying lesson.  Melanie arrived home just after me, her eyes looking troubled.

“You okay?” I asked her.

She grimaced.

“There’s so much,” she said. “I’m already starting to think I might have bitten off more than I can chew. Since I started late, I still have a few weeks to catch up with all the work, and I have two books to read, and three papers to hand in by the end of the month. I’m not sure I can do it.”

I smiled at her.

“Don’t sweat it,” I said. “Remember how you learned everything you needed to know for your GED in 2 weeks?”

“Yes,” she said. “But I just took the learning from you guys. I can’t do that now.”

“True, but you still have options,” I said. “It’s just a different technique. You have Telepathy, so you don’t even need us any more. Let me show you.”

I sat her down in the living room and asked her to pull out one of the textbooks that she needed to read.

“Look at the first page,” I said. “Don’t try to read every line, just scan the page, top to bottom.”

A little doubtfully, she did just that. I had her do that with the first ten pages.

“Now,” I said, “Lower your shields.”

When she did, I entered her mind, and saw an absolutely catastrophic mess in her short-term memory. There was so much in there, from new people, the classes she’d attended, to the pages she’d just read.

I ignored the rest for now and pulled the memories of the pages into a single entity and then pulled that to the front of the queue for committing to long term memory.

It took less than a couple of minutes before the memories were whisked away into storage and then her brain started to process the rest of the morass. I wasn’t going to show Melanie more than what was possible just now, I’d teach her the how, later.

I pulled back out of her mind and smiled at her.

“Ready?” I asked.

“For what?” she returned.

I picked up her textbook and turned to the first page.

“It says here that the body may best be defined not as a number of discrete organs, but as a series of systems.” I told her. “Name at least five of the systems.”

“How can I?” she said. “I haven’t even read that yet.”

“Yes, you have,” I said. “Think about it for a moment and see if you can figure it out.

She huffed for a moment but then her eyes widened.

“There are eleven major systems in the body,” she recited. “These are; the skeletal, muscular, nervous, endocrine, exocrine, cardiovascular, lymphatic, respiratory, digestive, urinary, and the reproductive system.”

“Tell me the organs that make up the exocrine system” I asked her.

“Skin, hair, nails, sweat and other exocrine glands such as the sebaceous glands,” she said.

She looked at me astonished. “What’s a sebaceus gland?” she asked.

“Fucked if I know,” I said grinning. “But you will once you read the rest of the book.”

“I don’t get it,” she said. “How is that even possible? I kind of understood how you gave me your memories of your learning, but where did this knowledge come from?”

“From the book,” I said. “When you looked at the book, your brain stored that image in your short term memory. A bit like a picture but not, because your brain remembered each word on each page. This was added to all the memories from today, waiting for your brain to get around to filing them  away into your long term memory.

“Mostly movements from short term to long term memory are done in some kind of order, although I don’t know what determines the order. It’s not chronological, but there is some kind of queueing system, and the information stays in your short term memory until it’s ‘filed’.

“From what I figured out, there is a finite time for the brain to do this. Because you have only so much space in your short-term memory, if it’s not committed to long term memory soon enough, it may get overwritten by other information. Right now, your head is full of your memories of today, and that stuff you read was at the back of the line to be stored.

“I figured out that the brain looks at the memory, reads it if you will, and then when it figures out that it’s reached the end of that particular subject, takes it off to storage, before looking at the next memory. Unfortunately, anything can ‘break up’ these memories. For instance, if you were listening to a teacher explain something, but then you got distracted by a fly, or someone coughing, that would be enough to break up the memory. The brain would read the first part of the memory, get to the part where you got distracted and go and store the memory. Then it would come back and look at the distraction, then go away and store that, then come back and look at the memory of the lecture, until the next distraction.

“This means that memories are stored much slower since they are stored in much smaller fragments. There is also the overhead of looking at, and assimilating, each fragment.

“I found that if I pre-sorted the memories in my own head, using my Telepathy; getting rid of the distractions, gathering all the relevant memories together in a single block, my brain would store that as a single entity. Meaning it was much faster than the fragmented memories that are naturally occurring. A bit like defragging a hard drive on a computer. In this case I brought the information right to the front of the queue for storage and so it was ‘saved’ immediately.

“I also found out that after a few times of manually doing this, my brain ‘learned’ the procedure, and now it does it without my having to intervene. I now have a completely eidetic memory where I had a mediocre memory before, at best. You have Telepathy, so you can do this for yourself.

“I have to go to my flying lesson now but, when I get back, I’ll show you how to do it. And believe me, you’ll have read all your books by the end of the week and have the knowledge to write your papers without any stress.”

I stood and walked to the door. Melanie intercepted me just as I was about to leave the room and head out.

She grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled me down for a deep and sensuous kiss. When we broke apart, I was breathless and more than a little aroused.

“Wow,” I said. “What was that for?”

“Just to remind you how much I love you,” she said.

“I’ll never need reminding,” I said, grinning at her, “but I’m very happy for you to show me any time you feel the urge.”

Once more she stood on tiptoe bringing her face to within millimetres of mine. Again her lips moved, lightly brushing against mine as she said, “Go, or you’ll be late.”

She stepped back grinning at me.

I shook my head ruefully and headed out.

When I got to the airport Danny was, once again, running late.

“Dad says he’ll be a few minutes,” said Arnie. “You want to do the external checks with me?”

“Sure,” I said grinning at him. “Same rules apply though.”

We walked out to the plane and began the external checks. We were almost through with them when Danny arrived.

“How’s it going?” he asked me as he walked up. “We all ready to go?”

“Just about,” I said. “Just a couple more things.”

I completed the checklist and looked around to see that Arnie had disappeared, leaving me with his father.

“All done,” I said.

“Okay then,” he said. “Let’s get aboard and start the preflight.”

There was very little extraneous conversation during the lesson. Danny took me through several manoeuvres and emergency procedures, but seemed to be just going through the motions. He  seemed pre-occupied.

I wasn’t particularly bothered by this either. I was doing the drills almost unconsciously, my mind wondering from topic to topic. I was wondering how things would turn out with Sarah, I was looking forward to teaching them both the memory tricks. I almost jumped when Danny spoke.

“Arnie has asked if he can take over your lessons when he hits eighteen,” Danny said. “You don’t really need instruction, but it will give him instructor hours to put in his logbook. Looking at your schedule it will be your last instructor session of your PPL. Once you get that, if you want to get your other certifications with us, you’ll need to rent a plane but Arnie will not charge you for his time. It’s  a win-win; you get ‘instruction’ for free and he gets to log instructor hours. He won’t be able to do it all, but the things he can do, would you be happy for him to sit in for me?”

“Sure,” I said. “If it helps him out, then that’s fine. That reminds me: what would be a good plane to rent and where can I rent one from?”

We discussed this, as we finished off the lesson and I brought us back to the airport and landed before taxiing back to the flight school.

Between us we got the aircraft secured for the night and I wished him goodnight before heading back home. When I got in, I was pleased to find that Ness had cooked for me, anticipating my arrival, and my dinner was on the table waiting for me.

I washed my hands and then sat down to eat.

After dinner Melanie came and sat by me. I spent an hour showing her exactly how to sort her memories. I suggested that she go through her memories of the day for a couple of hours before bed. I was hopeful that her mind would take over while she slept and finish the task. I figured that a couple more days like today and she, like me, would have an eidetic memory.

I was surprised to find her asleep on the sofa when I got up the next morning. I woke her gently.

“Hey,” I said. “What are you doing out here?”

She yawned.

“I started sorting my memories as you showed me,” she said. “I guess I lost track of time. When I decided I’d done enough everyone else had gone to bed. I guess it was about 2am. I decided to rest my eyes a second and then go to bed. I must have fallen asleep.”

“Go to bed,” I said. “You can get a few hours of sleep before you have to get up for school. You’ll be no good to anyone if you’re falling asleep in class.”

“Did you finish all your memories last night?” I asked.

She shook her head.

“I got about three quarters through though,” she grinned at me.

“Take a look at what’s left,” I said and saw her eyes glaze over.

Her face split into a grin. “It’s all done,” she exclaimed happily. “You were right – my brain must have carried on while I was sleeping.”

“Do that for a few nights,” I said, “and I’m prepared to bet that you won’t have to consciously do it again. Your brain will simply pick up the task. Now, go get a some more sleep.”

She nodded to me and took herself off to bed. I went out for a run.

When I got back everyone was in the kitchen, bar Melanie. She was apparently in the shower.

I used the family bathroom to get showered and then joined the girls in the kitchen where Ness had already made breakfast.

I had a full day of hypnotherapy clients at the range today and so I set out to see to them while the rest of the house’s occupants set out to their various days.

All of my clients were repeats so I got on with some of my schoolwork while they sat ‘entranced.’ They were all making excellent progress toward their goals and were very happy to pay me the fee. Mary was, once again, talking about increasing the fees. This was for no other reason than that I had so many people on my waiting list so she thought I could become more exclusive.

I demurred and said that I would likely be getting both Melanie and Sarah involved so we could probably increase our throughput. It would be a great way for them to train their Compulsion and Telepathy and also give Sarah a good way to earn some money and take the pressure off Brian. I was more than happy to pay for anything Sarah needed but I guessed that she, and her father, would prefer that she seemed to be earning her keep. They could have had John pay for her schooling but they had not, which showed that they were not content to live off others.

That night I once again worked with Melanie, sorting through her memories, not discarding the distractions, but moving them to the back of the line, while consolidating all the relevant and useful information into solid blocks. She was getting better at it and, after about an hour, I left her to it. The other girls and I went to the dojo for our regular Tuesday night class which, as usual, I taught.

Melanie begged off although she said that once she’d got her brain processing her memories properly, she’d join the dojo and attend the Tuesday night classes.

We got back from Kevin’s to find Melanie grinning like a lunatic. I’d barely entered the living room when a cushion lifted off the sofa and propelled itself with some considerable force towards my face.

I caught it with my own TK and placed it back where it belonged. Melanie had discovered her fourth power.

“I was in the kitchen,” she said, “getting a drink. I ran the water because it was warm but, as I turned around, the wet glass slipped from my hand. Suddenly it was just there hovering about a foot above the floor. I realized I was holding it and was so surprised I dropped it.”

“We had to go hide in our room,” said Gracie entering the living room. “This place was a deathtrap of flying cushions while she practiced.” She mock glowered at Melanie, but Melanie just grinned at her unabashed. Everyone knew that there was no real feeling in it and Gracie, and everyone else, was as pleased as Melanie was that she had discovered a new power.

Melanie looked at me. “When can I start to learn healing?” she asked.

“Don’t you think you’ve got enough on your plate just now?” I asked.

She pouted.

“Give it a couple of months,” I said, “then let’s speak to Jeevan. I think it would be better for him to teach you than me.”

I’d been thinking about the rest of her and Sarah’s training and wanted to speak to Maggie about it. I wasn’t sure that I was the best person to train them either. I was concerned about Maggie’s manipulation though.

I also wondered about E and what to do with him.

I’d invite Maggie and Dianna for dinner over the weekend and have a conversation with them about it all. Brian had been right. It shouldn’t fall to me to train them. I had more than enough on my plate.

Wednesday’s ethics class was as entertaining as usual. For once it wasn’t all about my life, and we had a lively discussion on the ethics of self-ownership.

“There is a movement,” said the professor, “that is insisting that everyone who is physically able sign up to be organ donors. In some countries, such as the UK, you actually have to opt out of being a donor, rather than opting in, but there are a lot of objections to this, not least from religious bodies who, for various reasons, prohibit organ donation. Some even prohibit the receipt of donated blood.

“So,” he asked, “to what degree do we own our own bodies? Should we be obliged to donate our organs after our death, or even our blood while we are still alive?”

I was actually quite interested to see which side of the argument that the Kumbaya crowd would come down on. On one hand I would expect that they would argue that social responsibility would state that everyone should donate if they were able. On the other their defence of the individuals’ rights in the past made me think that they might come down on the side of the individual’s rights to own their own bodies.

It was no surprise that they were the first to speak. I grinned widely to myself when they established their position. I had several points I was simply dying to make.

“People have the right to determine what happens to their own bodies,” one said, “even after death. It’s their body therefore they should have the final say as to what happens to it.”

“What if them refusing,” I asked, “causes the death of another. Let’s say, for instance, that I have a twin, who is in complete renal failure. We are a rare blood type so the chances of getting an outside donor are so small as to be impossible. If he doesn’t get the transplant, he will die. I have two perfectly good kidneys and could easily spare one. Shouldn’t I give one to him to save his life?”

“It should be your choice,” said the boy who had spoken before. “It’s your body and, therefore, your choice.”

“Even if refusing him the kidney means that I’m effectively killing him?” I asked.

He nodded vehemently. “It’s your body!” he said. “It’s your choice.”

I smiled.

“I take it you’re pro choice, regarding abortion, then?” I asked, knowing from previous heated debates that he, in fact, was vehemently pro-life. I saw a small smile on the professor’s face as I walked him into that trap, and the boy flushed and start to stammer.

Dana linked my arm as we walked out of the class. She was grinning.

“That was cruel,” she said, “but funny.”

“I sometimes get sick of them,” I said to her. “Half the time they are just spouting propaganda. They have no real understanding of the issues but are just following what is the current politically correct fashion.

“They ought to develop opinions of their own, rather than just spouting the current ‘influencers’ ‘four legs good, two legs bad,’ diatribe. They are fucking sheep without brain or rational thought.”

“Now then,” said Dana with a grin, “come down off the fence and tell me what you really think…”

I grinned back at her.

“I think,” I said in answer, “that I am hungry.”

“It isn’t lunchtime yet,” she said. “I have a class.”

I sighed. “I need to go eat since I have back-to-back hypnotherapy sessions until four thirty.”

She pulled a face. “I have to go,” she said. “I missed this class last week. I can’t miss it two weeks in a row.”

“You go,” I said as she pulled me into a hug, kissing my cheek.

“See you later,” she said and walked off briskly toward her next class.

I smiled to myself as I headed to the cafeteria. I had a half hour to get something to eat before my first session.

I was mid-way through my last session of the day when my phone beeped to say I had a text message. It was from Sarah.

­_Are we still okay to come over for dinner? She asked.

­_Looking forward to it. Are you or your boyfriend allergic to anything or is there anything you don’t like to eat? I responded.

­_No allergies she sent immediately, but I could see that she was typing, and it took a good long time before her next send came through.

­_Trevor is a little picky about what he’ll eat. He doesn’t like foreign food or anything spicy. If we ever go out to eat, we usually go to a burger joint or a steak house. His idea of exotic is to have wavy fries.

I considered that for a few moments. My immediate, knee jerk, reaction was to cook something spicy or exotic, or even do the moussaka, but that would just make me look like an asshole, especially after Sarah’s text. I decided to go by the discount warehouse and spent nearly five hundred dollars on Black Angus Ribeye steaks. He’d better appreciate these.

I also got the other ingredients I’d need and some pre-made desserts.

I wasn’t going to do fries. I didn’t have an industrial frier and cooking fries for that many people, would take too long. I decided baked potato and salad, along with some sour cream would be a perfect accompaniment to the steaks.

+++++

The roar of an engine announced their arrival.  I peered out of the window and saw a beautiful ice blue Mustang Shelby GT500 pull up across our drive.

I saw the driver’s door open. A short podgy guy got out and walked toward the house. I saw Sarah climb out of the other side of the car and, after closing the door, caught up to him on the drive. He turned to his car and pushed the button on his keyfob. The car beeped as the doors locked.

I saw him eyeing up the vehicles parked on our drive. Ness’, Gracie’s, and Louise’s car were currently parked there. He was obviously not impressed.

I went out into the yard and checked on the grill which I’d lit about twenty minutes before. It was just about ready to cook on which was perfect timing. The baked potatoes were already in the oven and would be ready when the steaks were. Ness was putting the salad together.

Mary answered the door to Sarah’s knock.

I saw Trevor’s jaw drop when he saw Mary and it dropped even further when Amanda went and introduced herself to him also. I saw Sarah’s face redden a little and realized that she had heard his thought as clearly as I had. He’d decided that if his girlfriend was moving in here, he was going to get a piece of the twins. Maybe he could convince Sarah into a threesome with one of them, or even a foursome.

I sighed and shook my head, then went to introduce myself.

“Hi,” I said. “I’m Caleb. Sarah’s brother.”

“Half-brother,” he corrected me. Sarah shot him a look but he didn’t seem to notice, nor did she seem to want to voice her thoughts.

I smiled at him. “Can I get you a drink? Coffee? Soda?” I asked politely.

“You have a beer?” he asked, walking into the kitchen and spotting Ness. He looked her up and down appreciatively before walking to the fridge and helping himself to a beer.

“This place is going to be amazing,” he thought to himself. “Once Sarah moves in, I’ll be spending loads of time here. I’m going to fuck those twins for sure, and this little bitch looks like she’ll be up for it too.”

I looked across at Sarah, and raised an eyebrow, knowing that she’d heard that too. I could see her becoming more and more flushed. She bit her lip.

I went out of the kitchen, taking the steaks with me and started cooking them. Trevor went into the living room where Dana, Gracie, and Josh and Louise were seated. Sarah came out to talk to me.

“I didn’t realise he was such a sleaze,” she said in a quiet voice to me. “What am I going to do?”

“That’s up to you,” I said. “Personally, I’d kick the chump in the nuts and tell him to shove his Shelby where the sun don’t shine. But I’m not going to tell you how to live your life. But remember, he doesn’t know about powers and, if you react to what you heard, he’ll start to wonder.  You need to be careful.”

Sarah nodded, and was just about to say something else when Trevor came out onto the deck, holding an obviously fresh beer. He’d helped himself to another from the fridge as he passed.

“What you doing out here?” he asked Sarah.

“Just talking to my brother,” she said.

“Half-Brother,” he said once again, before looking at me.

“So,” he said. “What do you do?” there was a challenge in his voice. I knew that he only asked me that question to provide the opening for him to talk about himself. I didn’t care. As far as I was concerned, he could talk about himself all night. Each time he opened his mouth he pushed his foot deeper inside.

“I’m a student,” I said. “At PSU.”

He snorted. “I was accepted to Princeton,” he said, “but I’m studying independently just now. I’ll be going there for a year to finish off my studies. My father knows the dean and they agreed I’d get a more rounded education doing it this way. It also gives me more real-world experience of working in Finance. That’s how I bought the Shelby. It was the result of…”

“The steaks are ready,” I interrupted him, bored with his monolog. “Let’s go inside and we can eat.”

I picked up the tray with the cooked steaks on and headed inside. Trevor scowled but followed me. I noticed he snagged a third beer as he walked past the fridge.

We took our places at the table and Trevor eyed the meal with little enthusiasm.

“Aren’t there any fries?” he asked as his meal was placed in front of him.

“Sorry, no,” I said. “We try to eat healthily,” I looked pointedly at his developing paunch.

He scowled at me but dug into his food, or at least into the steak and potato. He studiously avoided the salad.

After a few moments, he looked at me. “So what are you going to do when you finish school?” he asked, presumably as another lead in to talking about himself.

“I’m hoping to join the FBI,” I said.  He snorted.

“Really?” he asked. “What’s that net – maybe ninety grand a year? Fuck, I wouldn’t even get out of bed for that. I’m going to be a stockbroker like my father. He’s pulling in nearly a million a year on his investments.”

“A million?” I said. “That’s a lot of money. I didn’t realise you could make that much money as a broker. I’m sure I read somewhere that the base salary for a broker was around the eighty thousand mark?”

“That’s if you work for a brokerage.” he said. “My father works for himself and has some very big clients. He earns commissions on what they make, so he makes a lot more than that.”

“Isn’t that risky?” asked Jules. “Lots of people have lost everything playing the markets.”

“What does your father do?” he asked her.

“He has a bit of land and a few cows,” said Jules, trotting out her stock answer to that question.

“My father’s portfolio is worth over fifteen million dollars,” he bragged, then stood and walked over to the fridge, helping himself to another beer.

Sarah looked at me, an apology in her eyes. I smiled at her and shrugged.

The rest of the dinner passed in much the same way, with Trevor asking questions designed to give him openings to talk about himself or about how much money his family had. His car had, apparently, been a graduation present from his father who had done a particularly fine deal around that time. He guffawed as he informed us of how his father had used a loophole in the law to avoid paying a chunk of the money to the IRS.

Gracie and I both shot a glance at each other, both knowing that there was no such loophole since we both still held the accountancy knowledge that we’d learned.

After dinner Trevor helped himself to another beer. I was in the kitchen clearing up and he was surprised to see me doing that.

“Man,” he said. “You have all these bitches here and you are doing the chores?” he snorted.

“Fuck dude,” he went on. “They keeping you on a short leash? I wouldn’t allow that. I’m not going to be doing chores. That’s why we have women, right?”

He chugged down the last of the beer in his hand and reached for another. There were none left. He’d worked his way through all the beer we had, about seven or eight bottles. I’d lost count.

Seeing there was no more beer, he looked at his watch.

“It’s time we weren’t here,” he said. “Sarah!” he shouted. “It’s time to go.”

Sarah came into the kitchen.

“Come on,” he said. “Let’s go.”

“I don’t think so,” I said.

Both Sarah and Trevor looked at me.

“What?” he said stupidly. “I said I’d have her back by ten. It’s an hour’s drive. We have to go.”

“You’re drunk,” I said. “And my sister is not getting into a car with you. I’ll take her home. I can drop you too, you can come back for your car tomorrow. If you give me your keys. I’ll move it off the road and into the garage. It’ll be safe there until you can collect it.”

“Like fuck,” he said. “I’m not giving you the keys to my Shelby and I AM taking Sarah home. Right now.” He reached for her arm but she pulled away.

“No,” she said. “I’m not getting into a car with you in that state. You’ll kill us both.”

Trevor looked at Sarah, then at me. Then he leered.

“Oh, so that’s it,” he said. “You want a piece of her. Well, that’s fine, although she won’t put out, she gives an OK blowjob. Maybe we can trade. I wouldn’t mind a go on one of the twins?”

Sarah went scarlet and rushed out of the kitchen. Ness followed her.

“I think you better leave,” I said. “And for future reference, you are not welcome here. So don’t come back.”

“Sarah is my girlfriend,” he said. “If she lives here then…”

“I doubt that, after tonight, you still have a girlfriend,” I said. “But that’s up to her. However, this is MY house and you have outstayed your welcome. Now please leave and do not come back. Ever.”

He blustered a little and fronted up to me. Since I was a head taller than him, I severely doubted he was actually going to do anything, but who knew. Alcohol can make people do stupid things. He turned and walked out of the kitchen.

“Sarah,” he called, “I’m leaving. If you’re not out here in ten seconds, then you’ll have to make your own way home. You’ll be in trouble with your father. You know how he gets if you’re late.”

There was no response. I didn’t know exactly where Sarah was, but I knew where Ness was - in our bedroom. I suspected Sarah was with her.

“Sarah,” he called again. Again, there was no response.

“Fine,” he said, then shouted, “I’ll call you tomorrow, when your being more reasonable.” Then he stomped out of the house and down the drive. I watched him, making sure he didn’t damage any of our vehicles. I wouldn’t have put it past him to have keyed one of them out of spite, but he didn’t seem to think of it.

The roar of the exhaust sounded loud and he revved his engine several times before peeling out, leaving a trail of rubber on the road outside the house. Trevor reached the end of the road and I saw him turn right and then disappear. Then I saw a flash of red and blue, and a patrol car flashed past the end of the road.

Gracie grinned at me.

“I called the local PD,” she said. “I told them that there would be a blue Shelby leaving here in the next half hour and that I suspected the driver was intoxicated. They’ve been sat up there for about fifteen minutes I think.”

I grinned at her. “That was good thinking,” I said.

“I’m also going to put in a call to the IRS in the morning,” she said. “I think they might be interested to hear about that ‘loophole.’”

“That seems a little excessive,” I said. “His father…”

“Might have broken the law,” she interrupted. “I’m a federal agent. I have to report it.”

I raised an eyebrow at her. “Really?” I asked her. She grinned at me.

“The only reason that that little shit is as he is,” she explained, “is because his father facilitated it. They both need teaching a lesson.”

“You don’t even know his father,” I said. “He might be a really nice guy.”

“He’s not,” said Sarah, coming back into the living room. “He’s a complete asshole. Looks down his nose at us, and never misses an opportunity to tell us how much money he’s got, and we don’t. He deserves everything he gets.”

Then she looked at me.

“I’m so sorry,” she said. “I should never have brought him here.”

I went over and pulled her into a hug. “You have nothing to apologize for,” I said. “Forget it. The question is what are you going to do about him.”

“Hearing his thoughts tonight was a revelation,” she said. “I thought he was a little loud and brash, but I didn’t know how much of a sleaze he was. Tonight has been the first time we’ve been in the same place since I had my amulet removed. I can’t believe I actually liked that pig. He’s definitely history.”

I smiled at her.

“There are many, many, more people out there,” I said. “Nice people, who will treat you with the respect and love that you deserve. Forget that jerkoff. I’m sure you’ll meet someone far better.”

She returned my smile. “Well,” she said. “I could hardly do worse.”

Gracie’s phone rang, and she picked it up. I heard her talking to someone, and then she laughed. “Yes,” I heard her say. “Send it to me.”

“Well,” she said hanging up the phone, a large grin on her face. “Seems like your ‘boyfriend’ had less sense that we thought. He failed to stop and thought he could outrun the patrol car. Possibly could have too if he knew how to drive that machine of his. Instead, he totalled the car. He’s currently on his way to hospital but the EMT’s say he’s fine. Its only precautionary. Her phone beeped.

She looked down at it and then grinned even wider as she turned it around to show us all a picture that someone had messaged to her. It was of an ice blue Mustang Shelby GT500, or at least what remained of it, after it had been wrapped around a light pole. It wasn’t pretty and I felt a pang of sadness for such a beautiful car being destroyed in such a complete and utter manner.

Sarah looked at me.

“Now what?” she said.

“Call your dad,” I said. “Tell him what happened. Tell him I’m happy to drive you home, but you have a room here, and unless you need to be somewhere early tomorrow, you could just as easily stay the night. You’re going to be moving in after all. I can either drive you tomorrow after school, or they can come pick you up tomorrow, whichever’s easier for you.

“I have no clothes or anything here,” she argued.

“There are enough women in the house,” I said. “I’m sure someone has something that’ll fit you.”

Sarah looked at all the faces looking at her, but then nodded. She pulled out her phone.

She spoke for a few minutes and then ended the call.

“Mom says that if it’s okay, I should stay here, and she and Dad will come by and pick me up tomorrow morning.”

I nodded. “Perfect,” I said, “Then since it’s nearly ten, I’m off to bed – I’ll let the girls get you settled and they can sort you out with everything you need. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Sarah looked a little surprised.

“But it’s only nine forty,” she said.

“He’s up every morning at four,” said Mary smiling at her. “He always goes to bed around about now. Don’t worry, you’re not obliged to.”

“What about you guys?” she said. “Do you go to bed that early?”

“Sometimes,” said Amanda grinning lewdly, “but not all the time.”

Sarah blushed a little at that but looked at me.

“I saw your bed,” she said. “It’s huge.”

“It needs to be,” I replied. “Especially since Ness tends to spread herself out and hog most of it.”

Ness spluttered indignantly. “I do not.” She exclaimed and I grinned at her.

I bade everyone goodnight and went to get a shower before retiring to bed. I might have known I wouldn’t get away quite so easily.

I was in the shower when I felt the now familiar cold wash against my back. I wondered who had joined me. Wiping away the soap and excess water from my eyes I turned around and looked into the deep brown pools of Jules’ eyes.

“Hey,” I said.

“Hi,” she said with a small smile.

As far as I was aware, Jules was right in the middle of her ‘off’ phase so, of all the girls in the house, she was the last person I’d expected to join me.

“You okay?” I asked.

She nodded, moving toward me and reaching up to  pull me into one of her ‘Jules’ kisses.

“I just wanted to spend some time with you,” she said. “Things are just so manic all the time around here, we never get time to just be together. What with school, your flying lessons, and all the other extracurricular activity, then you come home and go to bed almost straight away. It’s like we never really see you.”

I thought about that for a moment.  She was right. My life had got so busy that I hardly had time to spend with the girls. Even at the weekend we seemed to be spending a lot of apart each doing our own thing and not together. I couldn’t remember the last time I spent any time with Jules, or Ness, or any of the girls, outside of the bedroom. A pang of guilt hit me.

“Jules I’m…” I began but she reached up and put her fingers over my mouth.

“Don’t apologize,” she said. “This wasn’t a complaint. I know we’re all very busy. I’m as guilty as everyone else. I spend time in my workshop away from you and the girls. I’m not here to complain, just to spend some quality time with my fiancée if that is okay with him?”

“That is perfect,” I said.

We spent the next twenty minutes or so, gently washing each other, as we had done previously but seemed to have gotten out of the habit of doing. Then after getting dried, we moved into the bedroom where she snuggled into my side holding me and gazing up into my face.

“Things have gotten kind of crazy around here,” I said to her as she smiled up at me. She nodded.

“You could say that,” She said. “We’re all working harder than ever, but its only for another year. My worry is that if we hardly get time together now, what’s it going to be like when we are all working? I’m certainly not looking forward to you spending all that time at Quantico even if, at the end of it, you get posted to the local field office.”

“I’ve been thinking about that too,” I said. “The twenty weeks training seems a long time, and it will probably seem a lot longer for you guys than me since I’m going to be so busy that it will probably fly by for me. I did speak to Dianna about it, and she said that after the first couple of weeks, when we’ll be required to stay there, I’ll be able to fly home some weekends. It’s about a six hour flight so I can get a flight home Friday night and return on Sunday night, and spend the weekend with you guys.

“I did think about flying myself, but a commercial flight is probably faster and more economical than renting a plane – a small plane would probably take over twice that long to fly since I’d have to stop and refuel a couple of times too.”

“Maybe one weekend we could fly up and spend some time there too,” she said. “You could show us around and introduce us to your new classmates.”

“Maybe,” I said smiling at her. “But that’s a way away just now. Let’s not wish our lives away. We have almost a full year to go before that happens.”

Jules nodded and snuggled her head into my shoulder.

“Are you going to bring Sarah into the connection?” she asked. I wondered if that was the real reason she’d come to talk with me.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I like Sarah, but I don’t feel the same about her as I do about Melanie, or you guys. My feelings toward her are more fraternal, probably what they should be toward Melanie, but in Melanie’s case I feel so much more for her.

“I actually feel more of a draw toward Connie in that way than I do to Sarah, which is one reason I’m keeping my distance from E. They have something special between them and I don’t want to ruin it.”

Jules chuckled.

“I think she felt it too,” she said. “I could see the way she was looking at you as they were getting ready to leave. I’ll bet you anything you like that they find an excuse to come around within the next couple of weeks.”

“Shit,” I said. “I didn’t want that. I’ll have to try and discourage that.”

She shook her head. “Play it by ear,” she said. “Be honest and open with the pair of them and let them dictate the action. If their relationship is as strong as it seems to be, then they will be fine. And if not, then they were never destined to last in any case. She loves him, without a doubt. I think that will win out in the end but if she’s always left wondering, that might be too much for her. Just look at my parents. You and Mom shared, and their relationship is as strong if not stronger than It’s ever been.”

“That’s a bit different,” I said. “But I get what you’re saying. Okay, we’ll just see what happens. But, going back to Sarah, I don’t think she’s ready to get involved with us. She needs some time to find herself first. She needs to find herself a boyfriend, a good man, not an asshole like Trevor. I’m hoping that she might meet someone at PSU.”

“And what about Arnie?” Jules asked looking up at me again.

“What about him?” I asked.

“Come on,” she said “I saw the memory of his aura. He was practically panting looking at you the other night.”

“He’s only seventeen,” I said. “He probably hasn’t figured out who he is yet.”

“He’ll be eighteen in about three weeks, you said,” she replied. “And as for figuring out who he is, I’m fairly sure he has. He’s not just hitting puberty when everything is confused. I knew exactly who I was when I was about twelve or thirteen. I’m sure it’s not that different for him. If he’s not masturbating to thoughts of you, then I’d be very surprised.”

I grimaced uncomfortably “He’s…”

“He’s old enough to fantasize,” she said. “And pretty soon he’s going to be eighteen. What are you going to do then?”

“Absolutely nothing,” I said. “He’s a nice guy, but it’s not like I’m looking for anyone else to join our family. He knows I have fiancées, so why would he even think that there could be anything between us? And why would you?”

She grinned at me.

“I guess I’m picking up bad habits from Amanda,” she said. “I just want to make sure that you get everything you need and if a little fling with Arnie helps you along the way and keeps you whole and healthy, then I want to make sure that you’re looking after yourself.”

I sighed, dropping my head back onto the pillow.

“I know you guys are trying to look out for me,” I replied, “but it seems like I hardly have time for you any more, let alone anyone else. I’m meeting new people all the time and, even without the sex, it seems like I’m good from the ‘sharing’ perspective. It feels like the people who are coming to me for hypnosis are fitting the bill. Not that I’m having sex with them, but I am getting pretty intimate with them mentally. I just don’t feel the need to share just at the moment.”

“Hmmm,” said Jules. “That’s possible, I guess. Have you spoken to Jeevan about it?”

“Not really,” I replied. “It only just occurred to me. But I remember what it was like to need to share, I could feel it. Now it’s just not there. Obviously, that is only my need that’s being met by this, the twins will still need to share, but as long as it is being met in that way, then I’m content. Despite what anyone says, having to have sex with lots of different people still doesn’t really sit right with me. I won’t avoid it if I feel the need, but I’m not doing it unless I actually have to. Why would I? I have five of the most beautiful, and sexy, girls sharing my bed every night, not to mention Louise, Josh, Dana and Gracie all living in the house. I couldn’t wish for anything more than I already have.”

I feel her smile against my chest. “Good answer,” she said, then she kissed my chest. After a few more minutes I felt myself slipping into sleep. I didn’t fight it.

Melanie joined me on the deck the next morning and we trained together. We’d been out there a couple of hours when Sarah came out looking sleepy.

“What are you guys doing?” she asked I refrained from uttering the sarcastic response that had sprung to my lips.

“Training,” I said. “It’s important that we not only train our mental powers, but we train our bodies as well. Aside from the fact that you won’t always be able to use your powers, your body needs to be strong enough to use powers. They can take a lot out of you when you use them. You need to remember that. It can be actually harder doing something with your powers than it is physically.”

“How am I going to train my powers?” Sarah asked. “It’s been four days, and apart from Compulsion and Telepathy, nothing else has appeared. Do you think that’s all I have?”

“All?” I asked with a small smile. “That’s an amazing amount of power.”

“But you have four, as does Melanie.” Sarah said pouting a little. I noticed the expression on Melanie’s face but chose to ignore it for now. I’d ask about it later.

“And E seems only to have one,” I said. “As do the twins, Dianna, Maggie, my parents, and most other power users. Don’t compare yourself with others, or worry about what you don’t have. Think about what you can achieve with the power that you DO have. For instance. Let me show you what you can do with your telepathy.”

I went through the same process with her as I had with Melanie. Showing her just how easily she would be able to learn using her Telepathy. She was astounded to be able to memorise the first chapter of a textbook in less than five minutes and was excited to do more.

“That’s not one of your books,” said Melanie gently. “Let’s wait until you get all your stuff here, then we can show you how to do this for yourself, so you won’t need our help.”

I smiled to myself, liking the way that Melanie was taking the younger girl under her wing. Melanie was definitely stronger than Sarah, and had more powers, but there was something that Melanie was holding out on. I would speak to her later when we were alone.

I also has the thought that I would speak to Tatarabuela Gonzales and see if she would mind if I passed her protection on to the two girls, and perhaps E also. I had gotten the impression that Telepathy was required, which was why I’d never considered it for the twins, but I’d ask anyway.

I went into the house to shower and make breakfast. Fortunately my morning was free so I was going to wait with Sarah until her parents came to collect her.

Brian and Carrie arrived just after ten, with a carload of Sarah’s stuff.

“It seemed dumb to waste the trip,” said Brian. “So we thought we’d bring some of your stuff today, and then most likely we can fit everything in on Saturday when you move in officially.”

I went into the kitchen to make coffee while Sarah and her family emptied the car into Sarah’s room. Edgar, who had driven up with them, wandered into the kitchen and started to play with the toy he’d brought with him. He squatted on the kitchen floor and ran the toy car backwards and forwards while making quiet car noises.

I smiled as he played and I sat down at the breakfast bar sipping at my coffee while Sarah and her family finished up. After a few more minutes Carrie entered the kitchen and took a seat beside me.

“Brian and Sarah are just finishing up,” she said, picking up the coffee I indicated and adding some cream before taking a sip.

She looked sideways at me. “Thank you,” she said. I raised my eyebrow.

“For looking out for her last night,” she explained. “If she’d gotten into that car with that idiot, she could have been hurt or even killed when he crashed.”

I didn’t tell her that it was probably the fact that Gracie had set the local LEO’s on him that had caused the crash in the first place. That wasn’t really relevant.

“I’ll always look out for her,” I said. “We all will.”

“She was telling me about being able to learn really quickly,” she said changing the subject. “Is that because the amulet is gone?”

“Partly,” I replied, “but mostly because of her Telepathy. Once she’s trained her mind to use the technique I showed her this morning, she’ll effectively have an eidetic memory.”

Carrie shook her head. “That’s amazing,” she breathed. I smiled at her.

“It really is. It’s made life so much easier for me and given me time to do other things, like work on my hypnotherapy business. Not only does it give me extra income, but I train my Compulsion and my Telepathy both at the same time. Once she’s settled, I was thinking of letting Sarah, and Melanie, get involved with that. Hopefully they can take over and continue to help people when I leave.”

Brian and Sarah came in to join us, having finished emptying the car.

“That’s just over half of what she was going to bring,” he said. “We should be able to manage the rest in one trip this weekend.”

“I’d be happy to bring my truck over if there’s anything too big to go in the car,” I offered but Brian shook his head.

“Its mostly just clothes and other junk,” he said grinning.

“Junk?” pouted Sarah. “That’s my stuff you’re talking about.”

“Junk or treasure. . .what’s the difference?” Brian just shrugged but the grin didn’t leave his face.

They stayed for another half hour or so, finishing their coffees and just chatting, while Edgar played quietly on the floor.

“We should be going,” Brian said eventually. “I’m sure Caleb has stuff he needs to be doing, and even if he can laze around all day, being a student, we cannot.”

I grinned at him, not raising to his bait, but happy that he felt comfortable enough to take the jab.

Carrie shook her head and gathered Edgar up before thanking me once more and heading out to their car.

Sarah came over and gave me a hug. “Thanks,” she said stepping back after a moment. “We’ll see you Saturday.”

I walked with her to her car and she got in the back beside her little brother who was already belted in sitting on a small booster seat in the back. Brian was already behind the wheel, his wife beside him.

As they drove away, Edgar looked out of the side window and caught my eye. I smiled at him, but my expression froze when I heard his voice in my head.

“By Caleb. See you soon.”