Mother of Darkwaters: Book one of the Vessel series (42 page)

   “Anyway,” Julianna gives her reason for the call, “I just wanted to let you know I'm leaving the mall and will be home soon.”

   “I'm not at home, dear,” Martha informs, “Frank and I are in town with you.”

   “Okay. Um - should I meet you somewhere then?”

   “Yes,” Martha confirms, “Do you know where the Dairy Queen is from where you are?”

  “By that military grave yard?”

   “Memorial, dear,” Martha enters her teacher mode.

   “Okay, grams.
Memorial
military grave yard,” Julianna playfully corrects herself. She hears Martha laugh.

   “The intersection by the Dairy Queen,” Martha places a mental picture within her granddaughter's mind, “When you get there from where you are, you're going to turn right.”

   “Turn right at the Dairy Queen,” Julianna verbally confirms.

   “You're going to drive for about ten to twelve blocks,” Martha pauses as Frank interrupts her.

   “Ten blocks. Eleven blocks,” Julianna listens to her gram's repeating Frank's directions.  

   “Frank, shut up,” Martha ends his input.

   Julianna laughs when she hears her grandfather laugh. She loves the way her grandparent's play and tease one another. It's cute. But more than that, it's the byproduct of their love – a love that has been tested, refined, and tested some more. And not some fake rendition dreamed up from an ad executive to sell goods or a producer somewhere trying to sell their latest movie. Their love is the real deal.

   “Anyway,” Martha signifies she will be ignoring her pesky husband, “Keep driving until you see a large park.”

   “A large park,” Julianna repeats the visual imagery.

   “It's on your left when coming from the Dairy Queen. You can't miss it.”

   “Got it,” Julianna answers, “That's where you are?”

   “Sorry, dear,” Martha bears the bad news, “No. You'll need to turn right at the intersection just past the park's entrance. The name of the street is Lombart. You're looking for 2713 S. Lombart.”

   “2713,” Julianna recites her gram's instructions.

   “If it's too confusing, Frank and I can just meet you at the mall.”

   “No. I think I can handle it,” Julianna answers, “If I get lost I'll call you.”

   “Okay, dear. See you soon,” Martha closes.

   “Love ya, grams,” Julianna closes before ending the call. She pushes on her screen and speaks.

   “Okay google.”

   Julianna hears a beep and speaks again.

   “How do I get to twenty-seven thirteen south Lombart street?”

   Julianna grins as a map pops up on her screen detailing her directions. She sits the phone on the seat next to her and starts up the engine.

   “Twenty-seven o-nine,” Julianna speaks out the addresses on the left side of Lombart street, “Twenty-seven eleven.”

   “What are they doing here?”, Julianna questions as she makes the turn into the high-end sport car's parking lot. Her anxiety level grows with excitement as she ponders the possibilities of why they would ask her to come here. Julianna smiles at her grams who is standing out in front of the large glass showcase room. Martha waves.

   Julianna parks the Mercedes and exits the car. She walks across the parking lot. The sign above the showroom's double-doors reads:
Lombart Street Exotics
.

   “You made it,” Martha greets with a wide smile. Julianna's big eyes are well worth their weight in gold.

   “Let's go inside,” Martha coaches, “Frank's inside talking to one of his old friends.”

   “Sure,” Julianna sounds a little disappointed.

   Martha opens the left door. She holds her grin until her granddaughter passes through in front of her.

   “There he is,” Martha sees Frank standing at a large wrap around customer service counter. A man as tall as Frank stands next to him. Both men are laughing.

   “Frank, honey,” Martha calls out from behind her granddaughter, “She made it.”

   Frank turns his head. Julianna sees him turn back to say something to his friend, but she can't make out the words. The salesman nods and shakes Frank's hand while patting him on his left shoulder. Frank turns to face his family and crosses the minimal distance to greet them.

   “See, Martha,” Frank brags, “I told you she'd be fine.”

   “No you didn't,” Martha playfully slaps her husband's chest, “You stop that.”

  “Shall we?”, Frank holds out his right arm for Martha. The woman's long red hair dances as she interlocks her right arm with his.

   “Let's,” Martha plays along.

   “Julia, dear?”, Martha questions, “Why are you still standing around? Pick out your car already.”

   “What?!”, Julianna's excited tone fills the showroom, “Are you serious?”

   Martha's eyes glow with pride. Frank smiles with adoration. The salesman is smiling from the front of the customer service counter. And behind him, a woman of her twenties grins.

   “Yes, Jules,” Frank calmly answers, “Your grandmother's very serious. Martha despises you driving her car.”

   “No I do not,” Martha scolds, “Don't you listen to him. He's full of meanness today.”

   “I'm just having fun, kiddo,” Frank apologizes to his lovely granddaughter.

   Julianna smiles, but her attention is drawn to all of the cars inside of the showroom. There's so many of them, she can't fixate on anything.

   “Why don't we start over there?”, Frank points towards the back right corner.

   Julianna looks over. Her mouth opens slightly.  She walks nonchalantly – fighting off the urge to yell and scream like a banshee before a hard run. When she gets closer, Julianna peers into the driver's side window of the silver McLaren MP4-12C. Her hands rests on her knees for fear of touching the expensive car.

   “The keys are inside all of them,” Frank explains, “No one's here, but us. Today's all about you, kiddo.”

   Julianna stands upright and glances around the showroom.

   “Can I see that one?”, Julianna points at a lime green Lamborghini Aventadar.

   Martha squeezes Frank's arm. She had already mentioned that Julianna would love the car's color. He nods knowingly.

   “It's been waiting for you all morning,” Frank confirms.

   Julianna walks over and takes a look through the driver's side window. Her hands clumsily searches for the door handle.

  
Click.

   The door lifts upward.

   “No freakin’ way,” Julianna steps back with a glowing smile.

   “That's borderline potty mouth, dear,” Martha answers.

   “Sorry, grams,” Julianna plays off the small chastisement while climbing into the luxurious car. Her legs extend outward as she grabs the steering wheel. She looks over at her grandfather.

   “It feels like a race car.”

   “It is as far as street cars go,” Frank replies with instruction, “So you must promise to use wisdom when driving. If not, we can head over to the BMW shop and get you one that's more like your gram's car.”

   “Safety first, dear,” Martha agrees with Frank's assessment.

  “I'm not a boy,” Julianna gives her answer.

   “And that's why Martha and I agreed you were old enough to handle this kind of choice.”

   “I won't let you down,” Julianna swears, “Promise.”

   “You couldn't let us down if you tried,” Martha corrects her granddaughter's words. The woman notices a hesitating look coming from the young woman sitting in the car.

   “Why the sad face?”, Martha questions.

   “You guys can't afford something like this. It's too much. I really spent a lot at the store. It was hard to stop.”

   Frank laughs. His outburst causes Julianna to feel more uncomfortable than she already is. He shakes his head and looks at his wife.

   “I think it's time you two do some talking. I'm going over to catch up with Tim.”

   Martha points at the car, “Why don't you help her pull this car out so we can test drive it?”

   Julianna begins to get out so her grandfather can take the reins.

   “That's your seat,” Frank stops her, “I'm just a passenger.”

   Martha makes her way to the front entrance and heads over to her car. She pulls out her spare keys and sets the alarm. The woman walks back over to the showroom and waits out front for the green Lamborghini to make its appearance. Fifteen long minutes later, the car rounds the left side of the building. The engine dies, restarts, and the car jerks forward. She watches as Frank says something before getting out of the vehicle. He walks over to Martha.

   “Good luck, grandma,” Frank's eyes shift towards the green exotic car. He pecks his wife on the left cheek with his lips.

   “Can she drive it?”, Martha lays out her concern.

   “She's getting the hang of it. We drove around in the back for a while.”

   “I don't want to get into an accident, Frank.”

   “I would never let her take it out if I thought that.”

   Martha concedes with a nod. One of the many wonderful attributes about her husband is that the man is serious whenever it comes to his family's safety.

   “We might be a while.”

   “Take your time,” Frank understands, “We have this place to ourselves all day.”

   Martha kisses her husband and heads over to the car. She can see her granddaughter mentally cycling through the clutch and shifting mechanisms.

   “Are you ready?”, Martha asks while slipping herself into the seat. She closes the door and fumbles around with the five-point harness for a seat belt. The race-style belt doesn't inspire much confidence.

   Julianna's lips move outward with her sigh of forced air.

   “Um - sure.”

   “Oh you'll be fine,” Martha does her best to calm her driver, “Let's see what this pretty car can do.”

  
Brrp!

   The engine dies.

   “Ah,” Martha notices Julianna's mistake, “Frank should have told you how to do that better. Try lifting your toes and keep your heel on the floor with the clutch.”

  
Vroom. Vroom.

   The engine sparks back to life. The tires screech as the car darts forward. Julianna stops the vehicle without killing its engine.

   “Too much accelerator,” Martha speaks the obvious, “But we'll work on it as we go.” 

   The older woman points at Lombart street, “Turn left up here.”

   Within thirty minutes, Julianna is able to start and stop at each intersection without any problems.

   “Let's head out of the city,” Martha points towards an exit ramp. The girl nods and turns on her blinker.

   “Your stereo works like the library,” Martha explains, Frank had all the cars loaded with your music. I've been recording our conversations so the cars could understand your voice. Sorry for the intrusion, dear. But telling you would have ruined the surprise.”

   “It' okay. I understand.”

   “It's not a habit, Julia,” Martha continues, “I'm very strict when it comes to someone's privacy.”

   “Grams,” Julianna glances over to her right, “Don't worry about it.” Her eyes quickly refocus upon the road in front of her.

   “Well I do,” Martha reiterates, “But it won't happen again. There's no need for it.”

   “Load Robbie,” Julianna ignores her grams and tries out her stereo system.

   “Robbie is loaded, Julianna. Would you have me turn up the volume?”, the car speaks like a real woman. It lacks the robotic voice she is accustomed to hearing at the library.

   “It knows my name,” Julianna's bewilderment causes Martha to grin approvingly.

   “Sorry, Julianna,” the car speaks again, “But that is a command I do not understand.”

   “Radio off,” Julianna would rather concentrate on her driving.

   “As you wish, Julianna,” the car complies, “Radio off.”

   “Can I shut her up?”, Julianna questions her grams.

   “I believe Frank said you had to command the auto-voice function,” Martha replies.

   “Auto-voice function off,” Julianna makes her attempt.

   “Auto-voice function is off, Julianna,” the car complies obediently.

   “I love this car,” Julianna smiles.

   “The snails will start passing us if you don't speed it up, dear,” Martha refers to all of the traffic passing them up on the highway.

   Julianna glances at her speedometer. She's only driving forty miles per hour. She accelerates the vehicle to fifty-five. The car reaches the speed in less than a couple of seconds. The sudden rush of power excites her. Her grams, on the other hand, is somewhat nervous. But she plays it off by changing the subject.

   “We need to have a discussion about your heritage, Julia,” Martha opens the floor.

   “Shoot,” Julianna notifies her grams that she's all ears.

   “Your mother,” Martha begins, “As you probably already know, left the library.”

   “Yeah. I read it in her dia...”, Julianna catches her slip up, “I mean, it's in the prophecy.”

   “Whenever she did that,” Martha continues while ignoring the small hiccup from her granddaughter, “She walked away from everything the library stood for. Part of that is the wealth which surrounds our bloodline.”

   “Okay...”, Julianna draws the word out to convey she is ready to hear more.

   “You understand Lilith was the first woman, right?”, Martha probes. When Julianna nods, the woman continues.

   “She had to endure some terrible things. But she was strong willed, intelligent, and highly motivated.”

   “She's
very
smart,” Julianna recollects her encounters with the beautiful woman.

   Martha continues towards her point, “Lilith had to learn to survive in a very hostile place. And being the smart woman she is, she surrounded herself with the most powerful people she could find.”

   Martha notices a confused expression upon her granddaughter's face.

   “The God of Heaven didn't create just two people, dear,” the woman explains, “The story about the garden is nothing more than a controlled experiment. The outcome of which carried consequences for everyone else that was, also, alive.”