Dirk and I explained our childhood visitor on the way home. They already knew about our father of course and it really grated on me that they knew more about him than I did. My Mother rarely talked about him and it was only to say how wonderful he was. We had seen many pictures of him and he was handsome. In their wedding pictures they could have been stand ins for Ken and Barbie. When we were small we used to ask why he wasn’t around and Mother had always told us that he had to leave us but he didn’t want to. When we got older we translated this to mean he was dead. We just figured it would hurt her to actually say the words out loud so we didn’t press her.
“The briefcase!” Dirk exclaimed suddenly.
I turned in my seat to look at him. “What briefcase?”
“The one Strep had at the airport! He sat it down but never picked it back up!”
“It’s alright. It was a dummy drop.“ Simon said. When we looked at him blankly he continued. “Someone came along and sat in that seat for a while, got up and took the briefcase with them.” Simon explained.
“Wow so secret spy.” Dirk said.
Simon shrugged. “That is nothing. You should see some of our more creative ways to communicate.”
Dirk positively vibrated in his seat. The next James Bond in the making.
****
When we got home Mom was just finishing supper. She ran out to the SUV and all but held Robin and Simon at gunpoint to get them into the house to eat with us. She had put on a low country boil the moment I called to tell her we were on the way home from the hotel. We sat down at the patio table and Mom went to put the shrimp in the huge pot on the stove. The table was already set for five and a huge bread basket was in the middle of the table. I looked through the French doors where I could see my Mother’s slender frame bustling about the kitchen. She sure was eager.
“Eager for grandchildren.” Simon said.
I kicked him under the table.
“Ow.” he whined, rubbing his shin.
“Well what do you expect? Eavesdropper.”
“I can’t help it.”
“You know there are ways to block him out don’t you?” Robin asked.
Simon kicked her.
“Ow Simon. Geesh. What did you do that for?”
“I didn’t want her to know that.”
“You mean there are other ways besides humming?” I asked excitedly.
“Oh yes there are three ways.” She replied.
“Don’t tell her Robin. Lets see if she can figure them out herself. She already figured one out, lets see if she can do the other two.”
She shrugged.
“Are you game?” He asked me.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Absolutely.”
Simon got up and opened the backdoor a few seconds before my Mom got to it with a huge pot in her hands. He had been sitting ten yards away with his back to the door which made me wonder what his range of mind reading was. Mom smiled up at him as she passed and gave him a look like he was the sweetest soon to be son-in-law in the world.
I groaned.
“What are you groaning about?” she asked as she dumped the contents of the pot on the butcher paper in the middle of the table. Shrimp, crab legs, red potatoes, sausage and corn on the cob went tumbling down in a heap. “Ladies do not groan.”
“Wow. This looks amazing.” Robin said.
“Just wait till you eat it.” Dirk said.
We said grace and ate like starving refugees, corn juice flying and crab legs cracking.
“That was one of the best meals I have ever eaten.” Simon said wiping some sweat off his brow.
My Mom smiled. “Shia is a good cook too. She always enjoys helping me out in the kitchen here at home and at the Lonely Pelican.”
I felt my face growing hot. I had to get myself under control and fast or I might spontaneously combust.
“Do you guys want to walk along the beach for a bit to walk off this food?” Dirk asked. I was grateful for his timely distraction.
Everyone accented except Mom who vehemently denied our offer to help clean up. She wouldn’t hear of it, all she wanted in the world was for us to go out and have a good time. Simon looked at me with a look that said “And to make grandbabies.” What was I going to do about this man?
“Well I wouldn’t be adverse to a kiss or two. Just to get things going. Grandbabies don‘t make themselves you know.” he said with a wink.
I rolled my eyes. “Men. They are all the same.”
“They all read minds?” he asked.
“Well you do have them there.”
He smiled down at me. “I am sorry. I just really like picking at you. I don’t mean anything by it.”
“I know or you would be on the floor twitching by now.”
He laughed out loud at this. “And how would you manage that?”
“With my mad Ninja skills of course.”
“Of course.”
Robin and Dirk were walking a few paces ahead of us. They were walking so close that their arms brushed against each other every so often. Dirk was asking her all about SID. He looked like a kid being told he could have all the chocolate at the Hershey’s factory. I had no idea my brother was a closet spy wannabe.
“So are you going to join too?” Simon asked me.
“I haven’t even thought about it.” I told him truthfully.
“I think you should.”
“But I have no abilities. What good would I be?”
“James has no abilities and look at him. Second in command.”
“He has a calculator for a brain. I just don’t have any real talents.”
“I disagree.”
I didn’t believe him other than the causing earthquake thing but he didn‘t know about that.
“What sort of things do members like me do in SID?”
“You do everything that we do except ability training. You will go through training and go on missions like the rest of us. Think of it as laid back boot camp. Slipper camp if you will. You learn to handle weapons of all kinds, you learn modern technology and we will even hone your mad ninja skills.”
I laughed. “Can you leave at any time or are you in for a set number of years like the military?”
“There is a minimum of three years of service but you will not be put in jail if you decide to quit with good reason.”
“And if I quit without good reason?”
“Honestly I’m not sure. It hasn’t happened since I have been in SID.”
“And how long has that been?”
“Oh about twenty five years ago.”
I felt my eyes grow wide. “Wow they recruit them early. How old were you?”
“Seven.”
That put him at thirty two. Good to know.
“Are people like me common in SID?” I asked.
“There are more members without abilities than with. They are mostly family members of those that are or have been in SID. We do not get a lot of outside recruits because we are virtually unknown and or not believed in.”
That made sense.
“So I am guessing headquarters is in Salt Lake City?”
He nodded.
“What would I be living in? How is it all structured?”
“You could live on base, in small apartment like dwellings that you share with one other member, for free or you can live off base at your own expense. Meals are provided three times daily in the mess hall also for free. We have laundry facilities, a small movie theatre and pretty much all of the creature comforts of living off base.”
“What about leaving ‘base’. Can I come and go whenever I please or are there restrictions.”
“The base is open for traffic from 6am to 8pm. If you want to stay out later you can get a hotel room and come back to base in the morning.”
We walked in silence for a bit while I turned all this information over in my head. Both Dirk and I had no money so getting free room and board and three square meals sounded great. Sharing a room was no big deal either. It would be like college again only I would be learning how to kick butt for real instead of just making it seem like it. The three year commitment really gave me pause.
“You have your whole life to think about it.” Simon said. “You could let Dirk tell you what it is like before you decide to join. There is no pressure.”
I smiled at him. “Thanks.”
Dirk and Robin were taking turns making the sand swirl around them. The sand would race in a straight line in front of them then twist and turn in an ‘S’ shape. Dirk made it twist and swirl back and forth around Robin’s ankles. She giggled prettily. She had a dainty giggle.
“Dirk’s control is really amazing for someone self trained.” Simon commented.
“He practiced constantly when we were growing up.”
“So did Robin but it took a trainer in the art of control to get her to be able to somewhat control her ability. I think he will be one of our top wind workers straight from the street.”
“Don’t tell him that. His ego is big enough as it is.”
“Tell me about it .” Simon said. “His mind is full of himself.”
“I can only imagine.” I shook my head.
