Eighth Fire (28 page)

He winked and said, “When I was in school they
called it hooky. Y’all climb on down and come on up to the house. I
got some jambalaya been simmerin’ since yesterday.”

The jambalaya smelled fabulous. Mark asked,
“What’s in it?”

“Oh, the usual stuff ‘cept sausage.” Jacque
patted his chest with the thumb side of his fist and made a face
like he was going to burp. “Gettin’ too old for that spicy stuff.
It’s still mighty good though, ‘specially with cornbread.” He sat
the platter of cold cornbread on the table.

When they were about through with the meal LeOmi
asked, “Is that wheel of life still over the mantel?”

“Sure ‘nough. As a matter of fact, Henry left
that to you in his will. Said nobody else is to have it ‘ceptin’
you. Didn’t know how to get in touch to tell ya.” Jacque pushed his
bowl away and said, “Finish up and we’ll go get it.”

There were several shelves on the wall on both
sides of the fireplace, each with trophies, plaques and framed
photographs. One photograph showed a spike-haired, karate uniformed
LeOmi in a flying round house kick with her heal smashing a soda
bottle in mid-air. Another showed her crossing the finish line
first in a horse race with her arms stretched high over her head.
Mark looked closer and saw all of the trophies and plaques were
hers; every one denoted a first place win in martial arts or
equestrian events. Mark looked at LeOmi and said, “Wow! I knew you
were good, but I had no idea.”

“I started ballet and gymnastics early and then
kickboxing. When I moved here I continued martial arts
classes.”

Jacque added, “Henry said she was a natural.
Tell him about the dory.”

Mark sounded puzzled, “Dory?”

“A spear like them ancient gladiators used, only
one not for throwin’. They used it kind of like a sword but it had
a spike on the back end, see...for pokin’.” Jacque demonstrated a
backward thrust with an imaginary one.

“Ms. Vanmie won’t let me use one yet.”

“‘Tis a shame ‘cause you were good; Henry always
talked ‘bout how good you were.”

LeOmi shrugged and pointed briefly at the wheel
of life. Jacque reached up, lifted it from the pegs on the wall and
stood it on the floor beside her.

“Thanks, Jacque. We need to be getting back
now.”

“Well, seems like you just got here.”

“I just wanted to see the place again. I didn’t
expect you to still be here. I’m glad you were.”

“Don’t ‘spect I’ll be here much longer. Them
relatives of his’n are tryin’ to sell the place. Once they found
out it was worth two million they couldn’t wait to put the for sale
sign out. Don’t seem right; they wouldn’t have a lick to do with
him afore he died. Now they’re tryin’ to squeeze every cent they
can outta the place.”

“I’ll be back, Jacque. You can count on it.”

In that instant Mark set his mind that if LeOmi
really wanted the ranch that he’d buy it for her, but if she didn’t
he’d let it go. He said to Jacque, “All eventualities converge on
destiny’s path.”

Jacque nodded and offered his hand to Mark. “Que
Sera, Sera; whatever will be, will be. In the heat of the day it’s
easy ta forget that. Thanks for remindin’ me.”

Mark shook his hand. “If LeOmi says it’s okay to
come with her, I’ll be back too.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

First Kiss

The first Saturday after Tent Fest was when they
all started meeting on Saturday nights. The group was too many to
fit into their normal booth at the Oasis which was large enough to
crowd six in, but not seven. Meeting for lunch was no longer
practical either since the class schedules required different lunch
times for most of them. Dinner during the weekdays would often
conflict with extracurricular activities so Mark decided that he
would just have dinner on Saturday nights at seven p.m., sit at a
large table and anyone that wished could join him. James, Jamal,
Chenoa, Nick, Cap’n Ben and LeOmi decided to make it a habit to be
there when they could and were there for the first dinner.

After they had all ordered, Mark asked James,
“How’s motocross?”

It had been hard to let James figure things out
for himself during Tent Fest and James was a little miffed at Mark
for not giving him advice. After all, brothers help each other out
when they can. That’s a universal law of family. Shana had said
that it would be difficult but James would be helped more by
letting the life lesson take its course.

“It’s not as exciting as Flags, but it’s cool.
It’s more about figuring out how to cross almost impossible terrain
than it is about strategy and tactics.” It was obvious that James
didn’t really want to talk about it. Mark wondered if his older
brother was a little jealous and didn’t like being in the position
of the less experienced sibling or if something else was troubling
him.

Chenoa was excited. “Flight school is totally
cool! My instructor says I’m a natural born pilot. She expects me
to solo in the biplane in two or three weeks and then I can go on
to rotorcraft—helicopters! And if I can solo in that before summer
I can take summer classes for jets...jets! I’ll be a jet pilot
before I can get my driver’s license!”

Cap’n Ben grinned and nodded, “Let me know when
you’re going to solo and I’ll be there; I want to watch.”

LeOmi said, “I think we’d all like to
watch.”

Everyone else nodded in agreement. Jamal added,
“I’ll make a picnic lunch for everyone, just give me a day or so
advance notice.”

Mark countered, “Jamal you don’t have to go to
the trouble. We can arrange for food to be there.”

“It’s an ongoing homework assignment. I have to
prepare a meal for a group of four or more people at least once a
month. Besides, I enjoy doing it.”

Nick asked, “Isn’t there a supper club the
gourmet cook students run for just that reason?”

Jamal nodded, “The Upper Room, but juniors and
above are the chefs, you need to get reservations way in advance
and it’s expensive as all get-out.”

Mark said, “Seems like there’s a need for a
sophomore’s dining club.”

LeOmi asked, “Where would it go? There’s no
space in the mall.”

Cap’n Ben offered, “There’s always Magi
City.”

The food arrived and when it was situated in
front of everyone Jamal said, “Students aren’t allowed beyond the
wall unaccompanied until they can remanifest.”

Shana said, “That’s true for the area between
school grounds and Magi City, but you can always use the subway.
What’s this conversation about anyway?”

Mark answered, “We were just tossing the idea
around about starting a supper club run by sophomores; they’re not
allowed to cook in The Upper Room and there’s no space in the mall
to start one.”

“You’re right about the mall and the waiting
list for mall space is quite long. Whose idea was this?”

Nick said, “It wasn’t a fully conceived idea per
se; it was an exploration of how Jamal could more easily complete
his ongoing homework assignment to cook a meal for a group of
people once a month.”

Shana looked at Jamal. “I think starting another
supper club is going a bit beyond what your teacher intends.”

Nick said, “It’s just speculation, but I think
the idea might have merit. I’d guess there are about fifty
sophomore students taking gourmet cooking classes. Having a central
location where they can complete their homework without having to
recruit volunteers every month would make their lives a little
easier.”

“Spoken like a true Magi engineer. Making life
better or easier for others is what it’s all about.” Shana turned
back to Jamal. “How do you feel about it?”

“Having a place to go and just cook would be a
lot less of a hassle than how it’s done now.”

“Even if it meant doing it once a week?”

“I like to cook and it would mean more hands-on
experience.”

Just as Shana was saying she’d talk to the
teachers about it a girl that Mark hadn’t noticed before walked up
beside him, bent, put her arms around his neck and kissed him full
on the mouth. His reaction was instant; he was on his feet backing
away from her and reaching for his riotous. Chenoa already had hers
in hand.

“Whoa, honey!” The new girl looked at Chenoa,
raised her hands and said, “It was just a kiss.” Her accent was
high pitched and New Jersey-ish. It was the same girl that had
kissed Slone in the bookstore.

Chenoa gave Salina a disgusted look and put the
riotous away. Mark asked, “Why on Earth would you want to kiss me?
We don’t even know each other.”

“You’re the guy whose statue is in front of the
school.”

Mark pointed at Jamal, Nick and Chenoa, “So are
these guys.”

Chenoa sat back down and said, “She’s in Slone’s
crew.”

Mark nodded, frowned and said, “Please leave us
alone.”

The girl shook her head hard enough to make her
ringlets slap on her cheeks. “I am not in Slone’s crew.”

“You were with him in the bookstore and you
kissed him.”

“Oh, yeah; I thought I recognized you. You were
the girl looking at those trashy novels.”

Chenoa’s face began to get a bit darker. “They
were romance novels and don’t change the subject. If you’re not in
Slone’s crew then why did you kiss him?”

“If it’s any of your business, I kissed him on a
whim because he asked me to and he is cute.”

LeOmi was smiling, “And you think Mark’s
cute?”

“He is cute and the bravest person I’ve ever
heard of. He is the one that rescued those people last year,
right?”

Mark said, “I’m him, but that doesn’t give you
the right to just walk up and kiss me.”

“How else was I going to get your attention?
You’d never notice me otherwise. I want to be your girlfriend. You
don’t have one. I know; I asked around.”

“I don’t want a girlfriend, besides I don’t even
know your name.”

“Salina Hawthorne, and whoever heard of a
teenage boy that didn’t want a girlfriend?”

Cap’n Ben said sort of hopefully, “I don’t have
a girlfriend.”

Salina said, “Week old pizza or a sizzling New
York Strip steak? Let me see...I have to think on that.”

Jamal steepled his hands with his elbows on the
table, “Salina, you are being rather rude. Perhaps you could get an
education on how to attract a guy by reading some of those romance
novels yourself.”

“Rude or not, it’s all a matter of perspective.
I have read a couple of romance novels and they were trash. I may
be just a freshman, but I guarantee you one thing. Mark will
remember me for the rest of his life. When he needs a friend to
hold him or someone to confide in,” she looked at Chenoa and then
at LeOmi, “and either of you two fail to provide what he needs,
he’ll remember me. When you’re not there for him, I will be.”

Mark countered, “Salina, you’ve got it wrong.
Our purpose as friends is to serve The Seventh Mountain and stand
against Benrah. There is no romance going on here. Our love for
each other is based on respect, skills and a driving need to defeat
Benrah.”

“And to win Flags matches,” Cap’n Ben joked.

Salina ignored Cap’n Ben and nodded knowingly,
“Wanna’ bet?”

Nick asked, “What makes you think you can get
Mark anyway?”

Cap’n Ben interjected, “You can’t catch a rabbit
unless you chase a rabbit. That’s what my great grandpa used to
say.”

Mark said, “Pull out a chair and join us. That
way you get to know us and see what we’re about.”

Salina grinned and sat down before anyone could
object. Shana said, “I’ll let your counselor know you’re here,”
before leaving.

James asked, “What tribe are you in?”

Salina held out her hand so everyone could see
her signet. “Beryl. My primary motivation is gathering knowledge,
analyzing it and distilling it enough to make it easy to understand
and apply. I also have the innate ability to observe connections
and relationships intuitively.”

James said, “I never thought about it, but my
counselor did say our signet stones represent our motivation. Do
you know Agate’s motivation?”

“Sure, I know them all. Agate’s motivation is
teaching, Emerald’s is keeping everyone in groups like a shepherd,
Onyx is seen as stubbornness, everything is black and white to
them, nothing in between, Jasper is organization and
administration, Ruby is about starting great projects, getting it
going and then letting someone else take it over so they can move
on—”

Jamal interrupted, “Why do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Use that irritating squeaky voice?”

Salina’s voice dropped two octaves, “Now whose
being rude?”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude. It’s just that
I sense it’s a total fabrication; it’s not you; it’s fake.”

“Of course it’s fake. Did you ever have to go to
public school in New Jersey? Normal kids don’t like smart
kids.”

Jamal answered, “New York; got the tee-shirt to
prove it; and, if you haven’t noticed, no normal kids here.”

“I should have realized. I do it now out of
habit more than anything else. I’ll try not to.”

A tall, skinny red headed guy walked up to
Salina. “Hello everybody, I’m David, Salina’s counselor.” He turned
to Salina and asked, “What would you like to eat?”

“I’m still trying to decide between a deep dish
pizza or a New York strip.” She smiled at Cap’n Ben. “I think I’ll
have a deep dish pizza with everything, from Chicago.”

“Just so I don’t have to go looking for you
again, do you plan to eat with these guys every night?”

Mark said, “We only eat like this on Saturday
nights because everyone has such different schedules. Anyone that
wants to join us is welcome as long as they’re not a member of
Slone’s group.”

Salina said, “Sorry David, I didn’t mean to put
you to any extra trouble. I didn’t expect to stay here very
long.”