08: Hashin’ Out all ‘de Details

“No, what I says,” Eli said, “is despite me patois, I grasp details and weave together different info to filter undiscovered truths.”

“Excuse me, but who are all these people?”

Everyone turned, not having heard the door open, to discover a heavyset woman with curly reddish hair. She wore glasses, a polka-dot dress and had a series of whimsical tattoos.

“Hey, hun! I gots ‘tum people for you ‘ta meet.”

“I’m pleased to meet ya’ll, but let me set these bags down first.” Betty and Delilah leapt up to assist.

“Sorry. We were supposed to meet you at the fire department, but when we arrived, you’d already disappeared.”

“Yeah, Eli said he had company, so I snuck out early to pick up more wine and essentials to entertain with. Only he never said how many were coming. I was expecting Ken and Julie. I don’t think I know any of you. I’m Zita, by the way.” She set her bags down, taking out two bottles of wine, which she handed to the women. “You can make yourself at home and start pouring, but don’t let Eli fool ya. He speaks the Queen’s English with the best of ‘em. He just likes to disarm people with his ‘down home’ approach, so they let their guard down.”

Al smiled, studying the subject of their discussion. “I thought it odd you only accent certain words.”

Eli chuckled. “Ye’ gots me, ye’ bloody blokes!” he said, in a dead-on London accent. “Along with me research, I speak several languages.”

“Five,” Zita said from the other room, “not counting either his patois or Klingon.”

“Ye gots to count ye Klingon, woman, else ye got no curse words!”

“Oh, you curse fine in all five, though I’ve got a few spare phrases if you’re having trouble remembering.”

She came out carrying several glasses, while Delilah brought a newly opened bottle. “We’ll only need one,” she explained. “Al and Betty aren’t old enough to drink. Eli already offered them iced tea.”

“We won’t stay long,” Al promised. “We only need to explain a few things, and then you and Eli have some issues to discuss.”

Zita sat and offered her glass to Delilah, who filled it for her. When done, she lifted her glass. “All right, this sounds interesting.”

Eli stood and waved to indicate everyone gathered. “Before we start,” he said, completely dropping his accent, “these people saved several lives at the Beans of a Feather today.”

“That was your place?” Zita asked, leaning back on the couch and sipping her drink. “I heard about the accident, and some accidental hero, but no one mentioned it was your shop. Those jerks never tell me nu’thin’!”

“This is gonna be tricky, ‘cause of all the double names. This is plain ‘Al’, his sister, Betty or Be, Gary or Gar, and Delilah or Del.”

Zita laughed. “Okay, I gotta ask, why the duplicate names?”

“It’s something we just started,” Gary explained. “Al’s always used his nickname, but called his sister by her pet name. We discovered we share more with each other than most families do, so we adopted similar names.”

“It’s sort of a newly established kinship ritual,” Eli explained.

“Does that mean I’m a lowly Zit?” she asked, looking shocked, though the corners of her mouth gave her grin away.

“How about ‘Zi’?” Delilah suggested.

“Actually, I’m surprised none of you have noticed yet,” Eli said. “Those aren’t random names, just as your abbreviations aren’t.”

“Uh, what do you mean?” Betty said as the women sat, Zita curling up beside her boyfriend.

“Think about it: Al, Be, Gam, Del, Eps and Zet.”

“My name’s not Gammy,” Gary protested. “I’m not your grandmother.”

“No, but it’s close enough. There aren’t many common male names starting with Gam. Those are the first six letters of the Greek alphabet: alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon and zeta.”

“Zeta isn’t the last?” Betty asked.

“I’ll show you one of my text books later, but no, it isn’t. That would be omega.”

“Wait, you’re suggesting we were each named in some specific order? What kind of freak does that?”

“De same one who tattoos de wrists of babies,” Eli reflected, breaking into his accent again.

Delilah slapped her forehead, realizing the connection. “The group homes, of course!” When everyone else stared at her, she explained. “If a baby is brought to a shelter, and no one knows its name, the staff invents one.”

“But we’re all from different homes,” Al said. “What classics scholar would assign names across multiple State institutions, much less in order?”

“The order is key,” Theo pointed out, “because it points to a hierarchy, rather than merely chronological order. You two, our alpha and beta, are the youngest, so they waited for something before assigning each name. From the best I can figure out, the order is from the most essential to the least, no offense Zita.”

“No offense taken, I’m still unsure what you all are even talking about.”

“Al was obviously chosen as our leader,” Delilah ventured, “apparently because he can anticipate what’s likely to happen in the future. A key question is, why is that the predominate trait they were interested in.”

“Another question to add onto this morass,” Gary offered, “how could they know which skills we’d develop two decades later? Assuming they planned these skills, there’s no guaranteeing their plans would take, that we’d even be here or that we’d calmly accept the roles.”

“Ah, we have an answer to that one. Apparently we’re somehow hardwired to defer to Al. That’s surely no accident.”

“Getting back on topic, our Greek expert coulda been anyone familiar with each institution, especially if they were well-respected,” Zita expanded. “Say an official or a doctor. Since the names had to be approved by a judge, the person could have had a recognized position of authority.”

“So if we return to each group home and discover the common link, we’ll discover who’s behind this?”

“I’m sorry, but I’m not keeping up,” Zita complained. “I’m enjoying the discussion, but who are you, and why are you all here? Is this Orphans’ Anonymous or something?”

“All right, I can admit this since you’re sitting down.” Al leaned forward, taking her glass before continuing. “This might help you understand,” he said, pulling his hair back off his forehead.

Zita’s eyes went wide. “Shit!” She dropped to her knees, slamming her right hand against her left breast in what everyone now recognized as an involuntary salute.

Al handed her wine back. “Next time, I’ll try that when we’re both lying on our backs and see whether I get a different response.” Zita accepted the glass, taking a large swig before holding it out for a refill. “Continue with the explanation, please.”

“We’re all outsiders who’ve turned to others with similar experiences, even if we didn’t realize it,” Al said, glancing at his sister. “Whatever or whoever gave us these marks, set us apart from the rest of humanity. The marks have grown more pronounced lately, just as we’ve each developed new talents over the past week.”

“New talents,” Zita asked, “like knitting?” Everyone took a turn explaining which skills they possessed and how those skills had been enhanced recently. “I’m sorry, but I have no such paranormal skill,” she protested.

“Not that you’ve noticed,” Betty corrected. “But if you’re part of this group, you bring something to the table. We just don’t understand what it is yet.”

“Let’s explore that,” Al suggested. “What function do these skills point to?”

“The salutes indicate something military,” Gary offered.

“The alphabetical order might signify our relative rank,” Betty said. “Since Al is our alpha, everyone naturally assumes he’s the leader and doesn’t question his decisions.”

“You only think that because it puts you in the number two position,” Delilah said.

“Beta position,” Eli corrected her.

She waved the objection off. “If that’s the case, why are the first two the youngest? Wouldn’t they pick the leaders first?”

“Not if they were looking for specific skills,” Delilah pointed out. “So far, Al and Be have the most unusual talents. They might take longer to locate and identify.”

“If you think about it,” Al said, lifting his glass of iced tea to his sister, “Be’s role in locating everyone makes her an essential element. If not for her, none of us would be here. As far as I can tell, I’m only top dog because I’m the big decision maker. And I’m only in that role because I can anticipate when we’re likely to get into trouble, and potentially figure out how to avoid it.”

“Except, you’re more likely to dive headfirst into it, without waiting for backup,” Betty reminded him.

“That’s why I’m questioning the role, but it does make sense.”

“There must be more to it,” Gary suggested. “Normally, a military leader is either the most senior trained officer, or they have the necessary leadership skills. I’d say that Al has those in spades, and our default reactions to his tattoos are a kicker. It seems we’re somehow programmed to default to him.”

“If he can predict the future, it makes sense,” Eli pointed out. “If we stopped to argue each decision, we might end up dead.”

“He doesn’t always get a lot of notice,” Betty said, waving her tea glass. “Usually, he only has a matter of minutes to save someone, including himself. The time we don’t spend arguing allows him to explain what we’re facing and how we can best respond.”

“Okay, it sounds like there were valid reasons for the various selections,” Gary suggested, “though I’m guessing the talents came first. I’m guessing he’s more sociable by design, rather than disposition, to help ease frictions in tight situations. But, he’d never be in this role if he couldn’t predict the future.”

“And Be is more demure,” Al added. “We don’t need her skill as frequently, I’m guessing, so she can safely sit in the back and observe, keeping me on track until we need to find the next people.”