Chapter 1: Calypso

Jason squinted as his wipers smeared through the mixed rain and snow while he drove his pickup along the narrow road in the northern Midwest. “Some damned Christmas this will be,” he thought out loud for the umpteenth time. “Mom and Dad just had to choose now to be extracted.”

Just before the start of final exams, he had been notified of their pick up by the Confederacy. His parents’ landlord, a long-time family friend, had called Jason to let him know he’d not re-rent the house until Jason could retrieve anything he wanted. Or if he liked, Jason could move in. With the rest of his junior year ahead plus another after that, Jason headed home as soon as his exams were completed.

His luck continued to be bad, as he just couldn’t seem to drive through the weather front and out of the mixed precipitation. Still, he had Barenaked for the Holidays in the CD changer, and he actually laughed as the Barenaked Ladies teamed with Michael Bublé on Elf’s Lament, his favorite song on his favorite Christmas album.

Ahead, just visible in the low beams of his lights, he could see a slight figure walking, bent against the nastiness. He slowed and saw a young girl wearing a hoodie, jeans, and sneakers. No hat, no coat. She was hunched over to support the weight of a backpack. The wind had blown her hood back, and the ponytail gave away her probable gender. She pulled the hood back up and trudged on, ignoring the lights from his truck.

He turned on his flashers and pulled up beside her. Then, he leaned across the seat, rolled down the passenger side window, and said, “You shouldn’t accept rides from strangers, but how about I give you my driver’s license, and you call your mother and give her my name and address. Tell her I’ll bring you straight home.”

“Don’t have my phone with me,” a soft voice answered. “It’s in my locker, and Mom’s not home anyway.”

“If you use my phone, is there anyone you can call?” Jason asked.

“I suppose I could call my sister,” the girl replied. “She’s home sick, today.”

Jason pulled out his wallet, removed his license, and handed it to her along with his phone. “Your choice,” he told her. “You can make the call out there or inside where it’s warm.”

The passenger door opened, and the backpack was hoisted in, followed by a very wet and shivering young teen.

Jason turned up the heat and told her, “I’m gonna pull onto the shoulder. Why don’t you roll up the window and make your call. Then there’s a towel behind the seat. I dust and wipe with it, so it’s dirty but dry. You can use my coat to wrap up in.”

He waited patiently and listened while she made her call. “Neli, it’s me. Listen, I missed the bus, and this guy named Jason Reynolds just offered to give me a ride home. Yeah, I know, but I have his driver’s license. Can you write down his information?” She gave his full name, address, license number, and the make of his truck - “A white Chevy Silverado king cab,” she continued. “Don’t know the year, but it’s pretty old. Good shape and very clean inside, vroom vrooms really nice” she added.

In response to an unheard question, she said, “No dice. Off by one tenth. Listen, we need to get going. You’ve got Jason’s cell number. See you in about ten, maybe fifteen. Bye.”

She handed him his phone and license and fished behind the seat for the promised towel. It actually wasn’t all that dirty - and wasn’t greasy like she had feared. Toweling her hair, she thanked him and introduced herself, “Calypso Waters, but I go by Cali. I spell it ‘C-A-L-I’ - not ‘C-A-L-L-I-E’. I guess it’s an affectation. Oops! I’m babbling aren’t I?”

“Well, you know that I’m Jason - sometimes ‘Jase’ for short - and I drive a white vroom vroom truck.” Jason smiled, then asked, “So where am I taking you and how far?”

“It’s another five miles or so down this road, plus half mile on a dirt road off to the right.” As he slowly started his pickup forward, she thought for a minute and continued, “Probably a good thing you drive a four by four vroom.” She was silent for another minute, and before he could answer, she added, “I better cut that vroom crap. It could get very old in a big hurry.” He glanced over and saw a smile light her face as she shrugged out of her hoodie.

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Jason told her. “But keep smiling like that and you can vroom vroom all you want.”

“Are you flirting with me?” Cali asked, followed by, “Say, can you keep your eyes on the road? My tee shirt’s soaked, and I need to get it off.” Cali teased, “And I’m not wearing a bra.”

She giggled, and he caught a reflection of pink in the windshield as she lifted the pale blue tee over her head, toweled, and shrugged into his coat. “I like older men, but I’m only just turned fourteen. Not really old enough to know much about flirting...” She fibbed and continued flirting back.

“Yeah, I guess I was flirting a little,” Jason answered, then changed the subject. “Why in Hell were you out in this shit, and dressed like that, and it must be eight or so miles to the last civilization I saw.”

“Give or take, it’s around five miles from my school.” Cali explained, “I missed the bus. I had something to take care of, and our asshole principal, Mr. Rawlson never lets us out of class early. He’s pissed ‘cuz Mom got picked up, and he’s anti Confederacy - doesn’t follow the ‘age-fourteen-is-adult’ laws. If I had the money, I’d sue his skinny ass.”

Calypso pissed was even cuter than Calypso smiling. “Can I call you ‘Calypso’ instead of ‘Cali’?” Jason interrupted. “To me it just seems to fit better, ya know?”

Cali, no Calypso, nodded and blushed. “So, I was just going across the parking lot, and it hadn’t started this crud yet. I was wearing my hoodie and it seemed like enough, so left my heavy coat in my locker. Then, I ran later than expected, and the buses were long gone, and Fuckwad had locked the school up ... This shit started, and I had no choice but to walk home.” Calypso had quite the vocabulary.”

She stopped speaking and peered through the increasing snowfall. “Slow down,” she instructed, “the turn is just up there on the right. You can almost see the road coming through the gap in that white fence. Oops! Everything is white.”

Jason turned as instructed, and it was a good thing that he drove an AWD.

“So other than rescuing frozen chickie babes, what are you doing out on a night like this?” Calypso inquired.

“I’m headed home from college - winter break don’t ya know?” Jason explained. “But Mom and Dad just got picked up, so I’m not really on a schedule. I was planning to stay at whatever cheap hotel I could find at the next town I came to.”

“Turn left here,” Calypso instructed. “Park in front of the garage on the right side of the house.”

As they approached, the garage door opened, and a bundled figure waved them into the empty left bay.

“That’s Neli,” Calypso identified her sister.

She turned to face Jason and told him, “It’s a ways down the road to the next town with a place you could stay, and it’s a real rat hole. Why don’t you stay with us tonight? No hanky-panky. Just a warm bed, and I’m betting Neli has soup and cornbread just about ready. And there’s two delightful young ladies to entertain you. Oops! Two delightful conversationalists...”

“Sold, if your sister agrees,” Jason said with a grin.

He pulled into the indicated space and turned off the engine. If nothing else, he would welcome a chance to stretch. And soup? That sounded wonderful on an evening like this.

Jason stepped down from the truck and followed Calypso through the door held open by her sister. He nodded to Neli as he entered, then removed his boots and stood waiting. Calypso hadn’t waited. She’d dropped her backpack, stripped off her own shoes, hung his coat in the entryway, and called “shower” as she disappeared up the stairs on his left. Jason caught a flash of bare titties, a bare back, and a rounded jean-clad butt as she bolted.

Calypso’s near twin image shrugged off a knit cap and parka and stood smiling. Now clad in jeans, Nebraska Cornhusker sweatshirt, and dark blue bunny slippers, she introduced herself, “I guess you’re Jason, and you’ve probably figured that I’m Neli. I’d shake your hand or hug you for taking care of Calypso, but I’m coming off of a cold and don’t want to give it to you.”

‘Nice to meet you,” Jason nodded towards her again. “I doubt you would infect me. I had my flu shot, and after I’ve been inoculated, I usually don’t catch colds either.”

Neli motioned him into the large, country kitchen and offered, “She’s going to be a while, and I just put the cornbread in the oven. It’ll be ready before she is, so I’ll plan on dinner in half an hour. I can fix you a cup of coffee, or you can go out to your vroom, get a change of clothes, and use the other shower. Or you can shower and have coffee.” She grinned.

“A shower would be great,” Jason answered. “You sure there’s enough hot water?”

“Oh yeah,” came her response. “Mom insisted on lots of hot water, so there are two water heaters. You can use the ensuite shower in the master bedroom. Get your suitcase, or whatever, and I’ll show you where.”

After a longish shower, Jason donned a fresh sweater and faded jeans, then entered the kitchen to find Calypso ahead of him. She was seated across from Neli at a family-sized table, toweling her hair. When she saw him, she wrapped her hair in a second towel, scooted over to another chair, and motioned for him to sit on her right.

“Oh my,” Neli exclaimed, “She must be really impressed or maybe afraid I’ll steal you. That was the shortest shower the girl has taken in three, maybe four years. AND I’ve never seen her flash her boobies at a man...”

Calypso blushed and glared at her sibling. “Just being hospitable to my rescuer,” she retorted. “Besides, I was wet and freezing. And I couldn’t just throw his coat on the floor. And...” She stopped when the laughing Neli held up her hand.

Neli turned to Jason and told him, “This is mostly a serve-yourself-kitchen. We don’t have guests, just family and friends.” She pointed, “Bowls and plates are on the counter; utensils are in that drawer; glasses in the cabinet to the right of the sink. Cornbread and soup are on top of the stove. There’s coffee, cider, or water to drink. We’re out of milk.”

Needing no urging, Jason headed for the stove. He found the bowls and ladled two full of soup. Bringing them to the table, he told them, “You can be self-serve if you really want, but I was taught that special ladies should be treated special. In my home, the cook was always served and never had to clear the table and do dishes. Mom said that showed appreciation to the cook.”

Placing the bowls in front of the two young women, he returned for the plate of cornbread, utensils, and a dish of butter. “What can I bring you ladies to drink?” Receiving an answer, he brought glasses and a jug of cider from the refrigerator. Only then, did he fill a bowl for himself.

The two girls watched with mouths open. As he slid into his chair, Neli turned to her sister and stated, “Holy shit, Cali, you found one that’s already trained! And he’s good to look at, too. What do I havta do to share?”

The sisters giggled, and Calypso responded, “He prefers ‘Calypso’, and I told him no hanky-panky. He can lookie all he wants, but no touchie...”

Hoping to steer to a new topic, and in addition, to satisfy his curiosity that was piqued earlier, Jason asked, “So, tell me; what was so important that you had to miss the bus, and why wouldn’t your principal let you out of class?”

“Okay,” Calypso began, “A little background first. Rumor has it that one of the elementary teachers, Miz Masters, was with the receptionist at the CAP testing center when Fuckwad Rawlson came out screaming about his low CAP score. Supposedly, the receptionist told Miz Masters that he waltzed in like the King of Paducah, expecting to score a ten, but instead, he had the lowest score she’d ever seen.”

“Anyway,” Calypso continued, “he’s always been a complete asshole, but things got worse. The new CAP testing center is pretty much across the parking lot from my school, but he refuses to let kids leave school to test when they turn fourteen, not even if they are in study hall. He has our records and knows when we turn fourteen, so he lurks by a window just waiting to catch us trying to sneak over. After school, I went to test, and I think he deliberately locked me out in the snow.”

She turned to Neli and apologized, “Sorry Honey, I missed by a tenth. I guess we’re gonna havta go on the hunt...”

“Is this guy an Earth Firster?” Jason asked.

“No one seems to think so,” Neli injected. “He’s too selfish and uncooperative - strictly in it for himself. Even the teachers call him Fuckwad and Asswipe when he isn’t around - even in front of us kids. We don’t know any teachers or coaches that are Earth First either - they certainly don’t talk or act like it.”

“Yesterday was my birthday - big number fourteen - and I deliberately didn’t try to test,” Calypso resumed her story. “I was sure Rawlson would be laying for me. The original plan was for Neli to drive me to school, but our car had brake problems, and we had to leave it at the shop. Then with her cold and all, we couldn’t go get it. Tomorrow is the last day of school before break, so I figured I needed to chance it - left my coat and phone in my locker. Big mistake! The sonavabitch locked me out.”