On a rare evening when it was just Badr and Brava inside the house Badr confronted Brava about her open hostility towards her twin brother Biff.
“Brava, you need to stop. The continued hostility isn’t healthy for you or the rest of us.”
“Are you saying I should make peace with the evil bastard who is behind every service disruption crime around town. Including the majority of the school bus sabotages.”
“No, it’s not like that just ignore him like I do, like Cadeyrn & Chrysanta do. The constant snide remarks are making it hard on the rest of us. We know you two can’t stand each other and I’d be just as happy as you if he could move-out. Why you haven’t kicked him out like you did Kelsey I don’t understand.”
“It’s the damned council rules or more precisely the militia’s rules” Brava snarled “I almost got thrown into detention for kicking out Kelsey, once I explained that he had never loved me as much as he did Charlotte and that he wasn’t blood family, they let it go with a warning and a steep fine. If I kick out Biff not only do I get locked up but you and I lose both our jobs.”
“That’s not to big of a deal Brava, I’ll be aged out soon anyway …. another year two max, sure I still get the odd promotion here and there but at the science lab we are no where near where we need to be with getting the older technologies back up and running there’s just to much lost information.”
Brava shook her head “It’s not just us that would be affected. Cadeyrn and Chrysanta would get black listed. They wouldn’t be able to get jobs or if they did they wouldn’t be allowed to advance, the black listing affects family’s for a minimum of 5 generations. That’s why you see so many people as street performers panhandling for soup.” Then she grimaced “The only organization that ignores the councils black list or worse uses it as a recruitment list is Biff’s crime organization. Haven’t you noticed the increase in vampires? Most of them work for Biff Mr. Evil.”
Badr looked like he wanted to say more but they heard the upper door creak open.
Brava leaned forward and whispered “Look I’ll try to ignore him ….. but I can’t promise anything.”
Badr nodded and when he logged the conversation he made a note to remind himself to explain the journals to Cadeyrn. Badr was glad that his time with the lab was almost up, the exposure to so many blasts had left him weak. Several of the other lab veterans had already died from toxin exposure and heart failure. Their deaths might have been preventable but the medical community was just as lost as the science community.
About a week later Brava smiled smugly as the school bus rolled up the front of the house. Chrysanta whined that she didn’t want to go to school right up to when she saw the bus driver. Brava shook her head and muttered that a cute bus driver shouldn’t have been Chrysanta’s only motivation.
“Hey Isidro hold up”
“Can’t don’t want to miss my bus home.”
“Isidro stop, think a minute. The announcement that the principal read before they released us for the day.”
“Yeah what about it?”
“Did you even listen?”
“No not really, I had a score I was trying to write.”
“A what? Never mind. Look we don’t have to go straight home, we can go hang out at the park …… or get this you can even come over to my house. You say you want to see your dad, well he’s my uncle.”
“Wait, you mean we get to travel on our own now?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I mean. The police department got the council to lift the last of the restrictions on traveling around town and on holding gatherings at your home.”
“You know I haven’t seen dad in ages, ever since mom got her job she won’t let him come over. Ok I’ll do it, I’m going home with you, man this feels weird, good but weird.”
“Wait how did you know your uncle was my dad?”
Chrysanta grinned at Isidro “Your ears, my family’s the only one I know with ears like yours. That and I’ve heard my mom fight with my uncle about you and your family.”
When they got to the house they found Biff outside enjoying one of his favorite past times, destroying a snowman that one of the ghosts had built.
Isidro was nervous, Chrysanta smiled and shoved him in Biff’s direction.
“Hi dad.”
Biff stopped and looked up “Isidro what are you doing here?”
“There was an announcement at school today. The travel bans have been lifted by the police and city council.”
“Hunh is that so.” Biff takes in his sons rumpled appearance “Still not able to keep your shirt tucked in huh and what are those things around your neck?”
“umm yeah mom says I’m a born slob and has given up on me keeping anything nice looking.” Isidro tugged at the yellow padded squares hanging around his neck “I use these to block out sound when I’m working on music.”
“Your mom still have the guitar I gave her?”
“Yeah, I practice on it all the time ….. but it doesn’t make the sounds I want. I need something different but I don’t know what.”
“I’ll keep an eye out, might even have something for you if I can find where it got placed. The school give you a work packet.”
“Um ok I guess but I don’t know how mom would feel about me taking gifts from you. Yeah, the packet’s are boring though. I usually leave them for when the school is actually open.”
“Stupid idiot, get it out now …” Biff paused at the look Isidro gave him, then continued with a softer voice “…. look just get it out I’ll even help you with it ok.”
Chrysanta stood back and watched, she had never seen this side of her uncle before.
Then Cadeyrn walked past her, temporarily blocking her view, he was carrying something shiny. When she asked him what it was he said it was a mirror that his boss had given it to him so he could practice facial expressions. Then he commented to her that he hadn’t known that their uncle could be kind and soft, he wondered if it was some kind of freak incident and that since Badr wasn’t home to chronicle it he would. At which point Chrysanta groaned at him that the journals were stupid and it made no sense to her why the family history was so important. Cadeyrn grinned, tapped the mirror, and told her that being part of one of the founding family’s had it’s benefits.
While Cadeyrn was adding his notes he included a few notes about his moms promotion to head of the intelligence department on the police force and how the council had authorized her to raid the building that was the suspected base of the anarchy criminal group. He noted that his mom had been almost too eager to conduct the raid.
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