Chapter 32: Saturday Afternoon: Part 1

Kara stood up and quietly followed Emanuel toward the trash can. What was that look about?

I think that was Mom’s way of saying that she knows that we know. I expect she’ll pull at least one of us to the side at some point before the day is done and want to actually talk about it.

So long as that talk doesn’t make us late for the event tonight.

It won’t Ally. Especially considering the fact that she’s our ride to the space itself. If it’s getting really close to the time we need to leave, I’m sure we can simply talk on the way there. Kara slipped on her dust mask and stepped into the apartment. “I guess we need to wait for Mom or Laura to finish whatever they’re doing.”

“You called for one of us?” Laura’s voice rang from behind them. “I see you four are eager to get back to work. Emanuel, I’d like your help down in the basement.” She looked at Kara and Vanessa. “You two can finish dealing with the kitchen walls as soon as your dad is out of it with anything he found in the fridge.”

“Do we need to look out for the beams?” Vanessa asked, glancing quickly at the remaining wall.

“Clara assured me that it’s okay if you break part of one of them as you’re taking out the rest of the wall. If the plans was to keep things more or less as they were, it would be inconvenient to damage some of them. But those walls are going to be changed enough that it makes more sense to simply put in new ones.”

“That’s true.” Kara glanced through one of the large holes in the wall. Give me a few moments my loves. Dad’s appetite is usually pretty strong, but it looks like he’s barely touched what he brought in here with him. She ducked under the barely exposed beam and stepped through the opening, quietly getting close to where he was sitting. “Are you okay Dad?”

She watched him turn around, a forced smile on his face. “Yeah. I’m just...” he began, glancing at her raised eyebrow “it’s the smile, isn’t it? I thought this would be enough to fool most people.”

And by ‘most people’ you mean people who aren’t Mom. “Even if I hadn’t recently begun being able to read people like Mom can, I know what fake smiles look like. I’m sort of an expert at them.”

His ‘smile’ quickly morphed into a look of surprise. “Wait, I thought you haven’t show any signs of that developing anytime soon.”

“As I said, it’s a recent thing, and only possible because of Allison and Emanuel. It will probably be a while before I’m anywhere near as good as Mom, but I know that shade of blue. Mom’s decision is really bothering you, isn’t it?”

He nodded his head sadly. “I wouldn’t have minded it nearly so much if she’d talked with me about it away from the table first. I know I’m not always the best husband or father, but to call me out like that in front of everyone? She knows that ... that’s the fastest way to hurt me.”

“I think she got caught up in her own frustrations and made a mistake. I’m sure she didn’t really mean to hurt you.”

They turned their heads as the door opened softly. “Actually...” Clara started, drawing close to them “I did. Leonard, I know that you’re capable of so much more than what your effort’s shown so far with this, and to me it feels like the kind of laziness that Becca allows Bob to get away with. But even with that being the case, that still doesn’t excuse my action. That was a conversation we should have had in private first. I’m sorry.”

Kara watched a genuine smile gradually grow on his face. “I accept your apology. And I ... hate to admit it, but you’re right; part of me wants this to take a long time. I’m...” he paused, looking at Kara for a few moments “not ready for my little girl to grow up. Especially this quickly.”

“Neither was I last night. But it’s not our place to dictate how quickly she grows up now.”

“I know that this all seemed to happen quickly; that is kind of true. This hasn’t happened how any of us three expected it to happen either; and unfortunately, the main catalysts have been outside of our control. None of us thought that Manny’s father would do what he did, nor did we think that the Program would have so profound of an effect on us.”

“Does that include doing whatever you did to inspire your mother to make the offer that she did? Especially with...” he began, acknowledging a glance from Clara “I know, it’s been decades since you three made that decision, and I knew about it before I decided I wanted to marry you. But there’s still a part of me that is a little uncomfortable with how close you still are with Rebecca. I’d kind of hoped that box would one day be forgotten so that we could let the past truly be the past.”

“Leonard, you accepted that I’d love Becca and Bella for the rest of my life when we started to date seriously. That hasn’t changed, and it’s not going to.” Kara watched her rest a hand on his shoulder. “But, that doesn’t mean I don’t love you just as much. I meant the vows we made twenty-one years ago.” Kara watched her aura shift to a soft blue. “Even if I somehow didn’t, you still wouldn’t have to worry about Becca ... our chance for that to work like that died when Bella did.” She glanced back at Kara for a moment before turning back to him. “Besides, I saw how they were already connected that night. The ceremony was just a recognition of what they’d already done.”

“We did what we had to Dad. If Allison and I hadn’t ... we would have lost Emanuel for good. I wouldn’t have been the same after that, and I doubt Allison would have either.”

She watched her mom glance at the biggest hole in the wall. “I know you’re doing your best not to eavesdrop, but that clearly isn’t working. You may as well join us.”

Were you listening in, my muse?

I tried not to, but once I heard my name it became really hard not to. She stepped through the hole and stood next to Kara. “I probably would have retreated back into my former safe space if we’d lost Manny that night. After being able to share everything we’ve been able to, life wouldn’t be the same. And if I’d failed to help him when he’d done so much to help me ... I’m not sure I could live with myself for that kind of failure. Besides, we didn’t intend to secure our bond like that.”

Kara glanced away for a moment, then back at her parents. “I knew there might be a chance that could happen. But it really was the only way we had to help Manny not lose himself in his grief and guilt.”

“And to be perfectly fair to them, this project wasn’t their idea. If you need to blame anyone, it’s Becca.”

“Even though I’m not happy that it means losing the space, it does make logical sense. Bob doesn’t agree, but even I can recognize how short sighted he can be sometimes. By the way ... when did you find out that Kara inherited your ability?”

“Last night, after you’d already gone to bed. And well...”

“Yeah, that’s fair. I didn’t exactly wake up in the kind of mood where I would have really listened if you had tried to tell me earlier.” He turned back to Kara. “How recent are we talking?”

“Friday morning. I had nothing better to do running around the track than try a meditation that Manny tried to teach me years ago. I guess it helped me focus enough that I realized I could see people’s colors.” She watched a look of uncertainty briefly appear on his face. “I can’t really make sense of them if I’m not actively trying to. So you don’t need to worry about me reading you like Mom does.”

“That’s a small favor. I’m not sure I can handle two powerful readers in the house.”

Honestly though, his expressions are easy enough to read that I don’t need any special abilities to have a sense of what he’s thinking.

“You’d best get used to it dear; she’s only going to get better at using it with experience.”

Did either of you catch that look?

Yes partner, I did. But I’m not sure what it means.

‘All the more reason to get this done efficiently and properly, right?’. Only, not meant as a real question.

Allison ‘giggled’. ‘That’ kind of question, huh?

Yup!

“I’ll finish eating later; my appetite is still a bit shaken up from earlier. And I know exactly what’s still in that fridge” he paused, standing up “a case of beer, a bottle of soda, and a box of pizza bites.”

Kara followed Clara’s eyes up to the cabinets. “We’ll need to take those down too. Don’t forget to take that into account.”

“Most of them are empty. Only those two have anything in them, and it’s the typical sort of kitchen stuff; serving ware and a few pots and pans. Honestly, we should just replace them at this point.”

“Are you sure Dad? I imagine that’s a fair amount of time and money.”

“Those were my first attempt at installing cabinets on my own. They’re not bad, but they’re not really designed to hold all that much. If you want a proper kitchen, you’ll need cabinets that are meant for one. And honestly, tearing them down will be far easier than removing them without damaging them too much.”

“He’s right” Laura added through the hole. “Unless you’re careful when installing them, most cabinets are tricky to take down without damaging them. Usually you don’t need to, so it’s not a concern. But getting them anchored to the wall properly and still be removable is difficult unless you really know what you’re doing.”

“I imagine we’ll need to temporarily move the appliances as well?” Allison asked.

“Yes. The only slightly tricky one there is the dishwasher, but that’s not bad once I’ve shut the water off. However, if we’re replacing all of the wiring, that means some amount of the bathroom needs to be redone too.”

“Hopefully not the whole thing. Doing the tile work for that was a pain in the ass.”

“What in that bathroom actually draws electricity in the first place?” Laura asked. “Besides whatever lights you choose of course.”

“One pair of power outlets. And if I’m not mistaken, I think the wires for both were run through the interior walls, not the exterior ones” Clara replied.

“So” Laura began “if I read the plans correctly, all we’d need to remove would be the sides of the walls facing the rest of the apartment, right?” Clara nodded her head. “Then, it’s just a matter of being careful when trying to break through that side.” She turned to Vanessa. “Do you think you can do that? Just get the one side with your swings?”

“Yeah.”

“Kara?”

“Totally. We can practice with the remaining walls of the kitchen, and I’m sure we’ll need that skill for the side of the exterior walls we’re taking out too.”

“Those walls are considerably thicker than the interior ones” Clara added. “The sledgehammer heads simply aren’t big enough to get all the way through both sides in one swing.”

Leonard picked up his plate. “I’ll go get Sarah along with some of the empty boxes we have in the garage. We should have this fully packed up in maybe twenty minutes.”

“If you had a little more help, could you do it less time?” Clara asked.

“Certainly. An extra pair of hands should cut the total time in half.”

“Cosette! Report to the kitchen!” Laura shouted.

A few moments later, the kitchen door opened again. “I’m here.”

Clara smiled gently at her. “Perfect. Leonard will tell you what he needs you to do.” She turned to Leonard. “I believe there’s room in the extra fridge for everything you mentioned for now. I’ll put your leftovers in the warming dish and send Sarah to find you there in a moment.”

“I’m pretty sure you’re right.” He handed the plate to Clara, then turned to Cosette. “Follow me.” Cosette nodded and followed him out of the kitchen.

Clara turned to them. “While they’re doing that, I’d like you both to follow me into the kitchen.”

“Okay.” Kara nodded her head and began to follow Clara out toward the main door.

A few moments later they stepped into the kitchen. Clara turned to Sarah, sitting down in one of the chairs at the table. “Leonard and Cosette are waiting for you in the garage. Make sure to take that pile of newspapers by the doorway with you.”

“What for?”

“Packing material. You’re going to need it.” Sarah nodded her head, grabbed the two inch thick pile of papers, and quietly left the room. “Besides my wishing that she wouldn’t ask quite so many questions, she’s been very well behaved so far.”

“Is that what you wanted to talk to us about?” Allison asked. I’m ... surprised that she’s not given your mom more trouble.

To be honest my muse, asking questions like that don’t strike me as dumb. Her tone of voice could be a little nicer though.

Small steps I suppose.

“Not at all. I just needed to vent for a moment. No ... I wanted to thank you for doing what I should have in the first place. I’m still feeling a fair amount of the frustration that you three helped me unleash a few days ago, and unfortunately this time I let it get the better of me. I...  I’m not used to the vindictive side of me showing through” she paused for a few moments, looking away as if ashamed “or showing my anger and frustration.”

“Is the peaceful, friendly hippy type your mask Mom?”

“In a way. I was raised to be a peacemaker, to never show that I was angry or thrown off balance by a situation. Female anger just ... wasn’t acceptable to your grandparents. That’s how I’m used to relating to other people. I think I now know how you felt yesterday.”

“The nice thing though is that most of the people here today don’t know you very well. They don’t have that preconceived idea yet. Not very strongly, anyway.” Kara paused for a moment. “And I doubt many of them noticed earlier. Pia might have, but she’s considerably more observant than the rest of the group.”

“Artists tend to be” she replied. “I’ll try to put the mask away for the rest of the day.”

Old habits die hard, and this has been hers for decades. I’m sure this won’t be easy.

No, my muse, it won’t. “What did you want to talk to us about?”

“Originally, to explain what was going through my head earlier; just in case either of you drew the wrong conclusion. But I didn’t expect you to talk to Leonard before I did. So instead, I just want to thank you three for letting the rest of that mistake’s aftermath remain private.”

“Out of curiosity, how did you know we were talking to Dad?”

“Laura told me. You may be capable of keeping your voice down, but Leonard is not.”

“That’s true” Kara started to reply as as Sarah came running into the room.

“Leonard said to tell you that you can start back anytime you want to.”

Kara looked at Allison, then her mom. “That was fast.”

“Your father can be very efficient when he has the right motivation. Okay, we’ll be there momentarily.”

Also, that wasn’t that much faster than his original estimate darling. Only by a few minutes. The only reason I know is that I was paying attention to the clock.

Kara followed Allison back to the apartment-to-be and grabbed a pair of sledgehammers. Clara tapped them on the shoulder. “Give me a moment to cut the power and water. I’ll shout up when I’m done.” She disappeared into the basement with a smile. About a minute later, her voice came from up loudly “Power and water are off! You have the green light!”

I’d wonder what she’s done that’s helping her do so well. Kara prepared her next swing and threw the sledgehammer forward. As it made contact with its target, a crunching noise radiated out from that spot. Huh? That was a different sound from all the other hits. And it didn’t impact in ... I think Dad might have missed one of the beams. And I think I just found it.

“Are you three okay?” Laura asked, coming up between them.

“Yeah. I think I might have hit an unmarked beam though. Let me clear away the stuff around it and check.”

“An unmarked ... I suppose it would be possible to miss one.” Kara swung hard at the section to the left of the unknown point, taking a large chunk of the wall as it moved.

With several more swings the area next to it was clear. “Is this enough removed?”

“Yes. Do the other side too while I check this one out.” She pressed a button on her hard hat, turning on a small light embedded in the helmet, then stepped into the hole. “Yup, you hit a beam alright. The only reason it’s still standing mostly vertical is because both pieces are wedged against the section you’re working on right now. The moment that’s all gone, at least one of the halves is going to fall.” She glanced at Allison. “I thought these were too heavy for you to use.”

“I decided I’d give it another shot, and sure enough, no problems this time.”

“So long as you’re sure you’ll be okay.”

Kara gleefully continued whacking away at the wall section, pausing after each swing for a moment. I don’t think either piece is actually going to fall down.