Chapter 27: Prom and Graduation

“All right, Tamara, now tell us the other half of what happened out there,” Wilson said when they were alone.

“And before you do that,” Nadine added, “how are you now? Any jittery feelings? Or anxiety? Do you need to see the doctor tomorrow?”

“I think I’m just fine, Mom. I was awake the whole time but a bit woozy. I wasn’t terribly scared ‘cause I knew I could do to them what I did to Mr Evil if it came to that. Dad, what do you mean, ‘the other half’?”

“So when Norris was here, you only told us what those guys did to you. What did you do to them?”

“Ah. Okay. I saw the guy who must have had the dart gun outside when I left the hospital but didn’t have a chance to react. It must have been air-powered ‘cause I didn’t hear anything, then I felt the dart hit and it really stung. I saw Tony drive up and tried to run to him but my legs just quit and that’s when I figured that it was ketamine. I remembered reading, some time ago, an article about how ketamine and other anesthetics are thought to work, ‘cause I was interested in how nerve cells communicate and anesthetics interfere with that communication. So I asked Beauford about it.

“He told me then that ketamine doesn’t affect all brain function, just cortical function, and neurologists believe that its effect is a result of how it disrupts the neurotransmitter glutamate in the brain. There’s a special receptor protein on cell membranes that it binds to and blocks glutamate. And glutamate is necessary to generate the electrical signals that nerve cells make. So I ‘pushed’ a taste into myself that I thought would cause a feedback loop and my fMRI results had showed that when I did that, the blood flow in my brain would increase a lot. I figured that would flush the ketamine out pretty fast.

“While I was doing that, I could hear them talking. It looked like we were in heavy traffic, so I figured we were on I-95 in stop-and-go traffic like it is when rush hour starts. So I figured if I had to shut the driver down, there wouldn’t be much of a crash. Then I realized that they had my masers up front and I had the wireless control on my necklace where I keep it. So I turned the masers on, that got them hot and it began melting the car’s plastics and electronics. The AC went out, they couldn’t open the windows, and the door locks got stuck too. When the engine quit, I ‘pushed’ fear and confusion at them and bailed out. We were in the right lane and he had drifted partway onto the shoulder when we stopped. I could see that it was safe to crawl out there since I couldn’t walk yet. Then the sheriff’s car stopped behind us and he saw me. I told you the rest before.”

“That’s some story, sweetie,” Nadine said. “Did you feel...”

“Oh! Something just occurred to me,” Tamara interrupted her. “I can see why ketamine is a recreational drug. While I was still a little bit under it, I felt such a huge sense of power; very lightheaded but very strong. Almost disconnected from everything around me. It felt like I could do anything. That’s when I ‘pushed’ the confusion and fear tastes at them. I made a monster cloud of it and was right next to them and I think I recall saying to them that they were trapped in the car and couldn’t get out. That had to have been a huge overdose of fear I gave them.

“Then when I was sitting on the shoulder, I decided to really punish them. I was still feeling giddy and wanted to have fun. I was gonna make ‘em lose control of their bladders and bowels—but then the sheriff’s cruiser arrived. So I didn’t have the time to figure out how that worked, but I did know how to do compulsion. So I made a big bunch of that taste and sent it at them.”

“Tamara...”

“Wait! The point is, that I wasn’t near them then! I didn’t have eye contact and was way too far away to ‘push’ an emotion so complicated without a verbal backup. So either the ketamine gave me superpowers—possible but unlikely—or I had some real help from the lwa. I’m voting for the spirit help. No way did I do that on my own.”

“Come here,” Nadine told her, opening her arms for a hug. “You are truly a beloved of the spirits, my darling.”

After hugs all around, Nadine said, “Let’s join hands and send our prayers and thanks to our protecting lwa. At our next worship ceremony, they all will receive special sacrifices and proper ritual thanks.”

Tony was her scheduled driver next day to collect her for her trip to college. Tamara knew that he was recently married and was working a main job plus his driving gig, so he probably scrimped on frills. So, with Nadine’s advice, she had gotten him a gift card which could be used at a number of higher-end Miami-area restaurants.

“Hi, Tony,” she greeted him as she got into his car. “Thanks for calling 911 for me.”

“Glad you’re okay,” he responded. “It was thoughtful of you to call yesterday to let me know.”

“I want to show my thanks in a material way,” Tamara said, “so here’s a restaurant gift card. Take your bride out for a night on the town with my thanks.”

He opened the envelope. “Three hundred? Jeez—Tamara, that’s too...”

“Just take it. You deserve it. Your 911 call saved me all kinds of grief.”

“Can you tell me anything about what happened?” he asked as they pulled out.

Tamara gave him a very heavily edited version of the kidnapping.

Attending classes at the university was almost anti-climactic after the excitement of the previous day. By noon, she was exhausted. Fortunately she didn’t have any afternoon classes; she usually spent the time in the library doing her class work or in study sessions with others taking the same classes. So she decided to go to the hospital to talk to Beauford. She had already let him know that she was okay.

He was seeing patients when she arrived so she relaxed a bit outside his office. When he returned to his office, he called her in. They hugged.

“I’m squeezing you in between patients, my dear. When the cops came here, they told me that the guy had grabbed you and pushed you into his car. Someone saw and called 911.”

“Yeah. My driver saw and called it in. They shot me with a dart, ketamine, I figured out what it must be.”

Beauford thought for a few seconds. “You cleared the anesthesia really quickly after your fracture reduction...”

“Yep, and yesterday too. I never really lost consciousness, so when their car broke down, I could get out.”

She went on to tell him the edited version.

“But I wanted to stop by so you’d see I was okay. Also, that jerk was trying to get the secret design data. They had no intention of paying, either and the FBI is looking into the case. Seeing who hired them to go after me.”

Beauford looked at her with concern. “Do you think you’ll be safe?”

“I’m pretty sure. The FBI agent told me that the kidnappers are spilling the beans; he figures that their investigators will know who hired the jerks really soon. Hey, I’m really wiped out from yesterday. Must be the aftereffects of yesterday’s adrenaline rush. It hit me around noon, so I’m going home to get a nap. I should be back tomorrow afternoon. I’ve still got some fine-tuning to do on the coil.”

“Well, take care of yourself. Don’t come in if you’re still tired, you hear?”

They hugged again and she left.

Little Haiti, Miami, Florida: Mid-May

The prom was next Saturday. Tamara had gone shopping with Linda and they both found dresses they loved. The best part of getting a dress instead of a gown was that the dress was much more versatile; it could be worn for parties and dates. The girls were meeting Carlos and Jerome at their favorite hangout. They had just found a table in the food court when the boys arrived.

Carlos hugged Linda while Jerome took Tamara’s hand with both of his.

“Will you allow me a kiss?” he asked her.

She nodded and touched her lips briefly to his.

“So me and Tamara have our dresses,” Linda said as they sat. “You guys decide what to wear?”

Carlos grinned. “All set. You’ll see.”

“Um, nothing garish or funky, I hope,” Linda frowned.

“No, no,” Jerome responded. “It’ll be fine. You won’t be embarrassed.”

“So you hear about Tyler and Martin? The teacher in charge of the prom tickets was refusing to sell them couples’ tickets?” Linda asked.

“What, are they gay?” Jerome asked.

Carlos nodded. “Yeah. Martin’s a pitcher on my team. He’s a great guy, good teammate. He’s been dating Tyler for two years now. I didn’t know about the ticket problem.”

“They can’t do that, can they?” Tamara asked. “I remember in Civics about equal protections.”

“Yeah,” Jerome added, “my dad had a case like that a year or two ago. A school—not in Miami—had a policy saying that only mixed-sex couples could attend dances and prom. The school lost the case.”

“I’m gonna call Martin later and find out what happened,” Carlos said. “On another topic,” he looked at the girls, “We haven’t talked about post-prom. There are a few post-parties I know about and some couples even get a hotel room...”

Linda smiled. “We’ll skip on the room, right, Tamara?”

Tamara nodded. “I don’t know about going to another party afterwards,” she said. “The prom ends midnight, right? Why party afterwards?”

“Um, then they can have booze. Even drugs. I know a couple guys who are planning that,” Carlos replied. “But most times, it’s just to continue the dancing...”

“Yeah, and start the making out,” Linda smiled. “Right?”

“Well, that’s been known to happen,” Carlos agreed.

“My sister graduated two years ago,” Jerome told them. “She went to an Edison prom—she did something like I’m doing and that gave me the idea. Anyway, she told me that lots of kids hate when it ends so they try to keep it going. So that’s why there are after-prom parties.”

“I’m not keen on a party starting after midnight,” Tamara told them. “Are there any restaurants or clubs we can get into that have late dancing? I would do that.”

Jerome pulled out his cell phone. “Let me look.” He searched for a bit. “Here’s one out on Miami Beach, a beach club. It has dancing on the beach. Oh, it says minimum age eighteen. We’re all eighteen, except Tamara.”

She chuckled. “I can be over eighteen if I want. My folks have friends in high places. Because of what I do, it was terribly inconvenient for me to be fourteen or fifteen, so I was given a U.S. passport card. According to the passport, I’m nineteen; halfway to being twenty.”

“Jeez, Tamara,” Jerome said. “What do you do that gets you a false ID from the feds, of all things? Is it secret? Are you a spy?”

She giggled. “Not a spy. I have some inventions being tested by the Defense Department. It turned out that a few big-shots wouldn’t take me seriously ‘cause of my age. So I was made older.”

“So we can all get into an eighteen-or-older place? Cool,” Linda said. “Is that beach place expensive?”

“On the higher side,” Jerome told her. “But that’s no problem. Carlos and I can handle it. Should I reserve?”

“Sure”... “Yes”... “Okay.”

“Okay, got it. 12:15 a.m. next Sunday. The place is only about six miles from the prom location. The beach club goes to 5 a.m. The dress code is ‘chic,’ so I think we’re covered there too. Okay, now, Tamara, tell us about your invention.”

She briefly told them about her MRI work and how an unusual extension of the work could have a military application—she couldn’t talk about that.

“So that’s why you go to the medical school so much,” Linda said. “I assumed that it was only the study you were in.”

“Yeah, but that’s only part of it. I got interested in the tech part right when I started in the clinical study. I get college credit for the stuff I do there, so that’s a bonus.”

“Cool,” Jerome said. “So you want to be a scientist? Engineer? Doctor?”

“Probably not a doctor, but who knows? Right now, I’m closest to being an engineer, because I design and build stuff, but the person who’ll be my faculty advisor at Hopkins says I’m an engineering scientist. She called it an ‘engineering physicist.’”

“Tamara told me she likes electronics. She’s in charge of the school AV squad and helps the AV tech to fix stuff,” Linda said.

“That’s what I do at the med school too,” Tamara told them. “They have lots of high-tech electronic gear to work with and the medical equipment is interesting to work on. But I like the MRI the best. Seeing inside someone’s head while they do stuff is beyond cool.”

Then she had to explain how that worked. They had lunch and then walked over to the nearby theater to see a movie.

Jerome picked up Tamara at her house on the evening of the prom. He was dressed in a nice black suit, but wore a pleated shirt and a red bowtie. Tamara giggled at seeing him.

“You have half of a tux outfit, Jerome.”

Nadine shushed her. “He looks splendid, doesn’t he, Wilson?” she asked as Jerome stared at Tamara.

“Tamara, wow,” he exclaimed. “You look amazing.” He showed her the box he was carrying. “I didn’t know whether you wanted the corsage on your wrist or dress, so they made it to do either.”