Glitch in the Matrix

James’ radio started and gave him a brief update on the day’s news. He groaned, eyes fluttering open as he looked up into the gloomy room that was his life. He sighed, rolled over, switched off the radio and simply lay there, enjoying the quiescence. But all good things must come to an end. James rolled out of bed, sighing anew as his feet touched the floor and he pushed himself up.

For a moment he considered just lying in bed and taking the day off, but that wouldn’t make him look good in the eyes of the others and that was what he was trying to improve. James wearily got changed into his jogging shorts, t-shirt, and socks. He nabbed his running shoes and headed out. The hallway was quiet; it was five thirty in the morning so he wasn’t at all surprised. His sisters wouldn’t be up for a few hours yet and neither would his parents.

He headed down the stairs and sat on the bottom step, slipped on his shoes, and laced them up.

James had worked like an absolute bastard for a month, starting as soon as everyone was up and working like a focused laser beam until late in the evening. He hadn’t even bothered to go jogging during that time; there was no need. The amount of lifting, sawing and hammering he had to do was exercise in itself.

Dad had initially scoffed at the idea, but when James got him to suggest that he do the work himself and there will be no help from Dad, thank you very much, James had got onto the case fairly quickly.

One day, Amanda broached the subject, leaning against the stair railing and studying her twin, “How do you do that?”

He paused, “Do what? Your question is not very specific.”

“Get Dad to suggest ideas for you?”

“It’s a matter of manipulation,” James confessed as he wiped the sweat off his forehead. “If it’s my idea, it’s a shit idea, and he doesn’t like it.”

“I had noticed that,” she admitted.

“Exactly,” he nodded. “I’ve been jogging for nearly a month now and he’s not made a comment. The same rule applied there, if I get him to suggest it then I ‘have’ to do it. It doesn’t matter that I wanted to do it in the first place.”

“Where did you learn this?”

“I’ve been reading up on psychology,” James said. That was a half-truth. He had studied some books in his previous life. Now because of his memory palace, he could actually delve into the theory and put it into practice.

“Why psychology?”

“Sun Tzu teaches that all warfare is based on deception.”

“This isn’t a war, James.”

“Everything feels like a battle, Am,” he shrugged. Her facial expression twitched and he smiled, “See? You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

“I will neither deny, nor confirm.”

“Trust but verify,” James snorted. “Look how he dotes on Cheryl, but ignores us.”

“We were the mistake,” she said darkly.

“Indeed.”

James smiled, “Turn that frown upside down; come give me a hand.”

She nodded.

It took a month to sort it out, he managed to finish a day before Jacqueline arrived and he crashed with exhaustion that night.

And now, here it was. ‘She’ll be back today,’ he thought, as he tied his shoes.

It was nice at that time of the morning. No one was about, save other joggers and they did nothing more than a nod in response to his passing. He understood. Jogging helped clear the mind of cobwebs and allowed him to cogitate and focus on the task at hand.

It had been an interesting time.

He had found a Djinn in a lamp, made some carefully crafted wishes, and ended up back in time, in his old body with new knowledge and a purpose.

‘I expect great things from you, Mr. Potter,’ James thought with a smile as he started the jog. The first couple of days had been interesting, to say the least. Seeing everyone back home and happy, even his father had seen somewhat content, before everything spiralled out of control.

He had then made two promises he guessed he should not have rushed straight into, but his ego got the better of him.

The first had been to set up an exercise regime, which his sisters would eventually join in on and the second had been to clear the basement.

The basement looked good, so good James had decided to take it for himself. He had moved all of his belongings down there and cleared out his room. Karen had bought a nice second hand double bed for the room and dressed it up as a guest room.

“Why move?” she asked.

“I have everything I need down here,” James shrugged. “I’ve got my fitness equipment and mat, so I practice my moves when I’m not going to classes.”

He was beginning to see progress on all fronts. First, with his family, the dynamic was much better than it ever had been. His sisters were friendlier, and his parents were communicating with him, even listening to his suggestions.

Even if his father did on occasion listen to what he said and then decide against it, it was still better than the eyeroll and grunt he’d normally gotten the first time through. Cheryl was starting to communicate with him, sometimes it was one word responses, but that, too, was better than before.

In his book, that was progress!

‘The greats never sacrifice the important for the urgent. They handle the immediate problem and still make sure to secure the future.’

He had three major problems to resolve quickly, the first was the family dynamic, the second was his friends Patrick (‘Pat’) and Bella. He didn’t know how he felt about Bella. That was a complicated issue: on the one had hand he had wanted to fuck the absolute shit out of her for years, on the other hand he wanted to maintain a close relationship with her. He respected her and the troubles she had to go through in later life. The last problem, for the moment, was school.

Quickly addressing the family problem was worth the effort. It meant home life was a lot easier to begin with.

He plowed through his warm-up stretching and calisthenics before heading out for a jog. His mind focused on the task at hand as he kept up the steady rhythm.

One thing he hadn’t tested yet, was his ability to breathe underwater for a long period of time. He wanted to test it today, to see if it worked.

James puffed, sweat dripping down his forehead.

Today was the day Aunty Jackie arrived. He hadn’t seen her in a long time either, having spoken a few times during events. The last time he’d seen Jackie was at their mother’s second wedding, bitching about her breast implants.

That would be about twenty years in the future, to try and keep them firm. He wondered now about them, had a flash of memory, and inclined his head.

He would see her today and could make up his mind then.

It took him longer this morning because he took a different route around. When he got back, he puffed, stopping on the lawn, covered in sweat.

“Jesus fuck,” he uttered. “This shit had better be worth it.”

Of course it was, he knew that instinctively. He sighed, remembering what Gin had said about the warrior who ignored the need to train.

He groaned, stood up and popped his back and blew out a big exhalation, then did his cool down routine. He took his shoes off and headed inside.

Karen was already up when he walked in.

“Morning, Mom.”

“Morning, James.” She looked up, “How was the run?”

“Good. I hope this effort is worth it,” he said with a wry grin.

“It will be.”

He nodded and headed for the shower. He looked at his watch, noting it was 6:20. ‘She must be nervous about her sister’s arrival,’ passed through his consciousness. He ruminated on that as he went into the bathroom, switched the shower on, and waited for the water to heat up.

When he was done, he got out, dried off, and headed to his room. His sensitive hearing could hear each of his sisters snoring away as they slept, causing him to smile as he crept back.

James got dressed and headed down to the kitchen to make himself some breakfast. Karen walked in and smiled.

“I’ve got some coffee going,” She said pointing at the maker.

“Thanks.”

“So Aunt Jackie arrives today.”

“Yes,” she nodded. “We’ll have a barbeque later.”

“Cool. There will be lots of fireworks around.”

Something flickered across her face that James couldn’t tell what it was, something that he was unsure of.

“Everything okay?”

She blinked and looked at him and shrugged, “Yes.”

“You seemed lost in thought.”

She nodded, “It’s just going to be a long day.”

“How come Aunty Genevieve and Jillian aren’t coming?”

Karen shrugged, “They have families as well, and you remember how crowded it got the last time.”

“I don’t know about that,” he shrugged as well. “But I definitely remember Aunty Jill almost smacking Dad.”

Karen snorted, “Yes, she was actually defending your honor, but that’s a conversation for another time.”

“Really?” He blinked in surprise, he hadn’t remembered that. Jillian liked a bit of rough and tumble and was able to easily throw James to the floor. “Doesn’t she know Judo?”

“Yes, she’s a black belt.”

James mused, “I wonder if she could teach me a few moves.”

Karen laughed, “I’m sure she wouldn’t mind showing you a thing or two. I know you’re interested in taking lessons.”

“Yes, I’m fed up with being weak and I’m not interested in Karate. It’s gone Hollywood.”

She nodded.

“Is that what inspired the fitness?”

“That and cheerleaders,” he shrugged. “They’re not going to look at a noodle arm like me. But if I beef up, maybe.”

“Who knows?”

“Beefcake,” James grinned. He made them both something to eat and the two sat down in a comfortable silence.

He rested for the day and almost instantly knew when Jackie had arrived. He was lying on the bed and when he lifted his head, he could hear the commotion in the house. James got up and stretched.

Karen walked out to the car as Jackie got out and the two hugged. The girls ran out and Jackie laughed as they danced around her, squealing in the way only teenage girls could. Even the normally reserved Rachael seemed to brighten up, not quite as boisterously as Amanda and Cheryl, but his big-breasted sister walked over and hugged her warmly.

“How are you?”

“Good.”

“How’s things been here?”

“Interesting,” Rachael grinned.

“Interesting?”

She nodded her head, “You’ll see.”

James came out at a leisurely pace, not wanting to get caught up in the hyperactive whirlwind of women.

“James,” she grinned.

“Aunty,” he walked over and hugged her. Unlike Karen, she was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. She, like Karen, had a 36C cup that seemed slightly rounder than Karen’s, but that was probably because she didn’t have kids. Her face was a little more oval and her blue eyes examined him.

“You look good.”

“Thanks,” he flushed. God, it was awkward being a teenager again.

“So I hear you’ve been working out?”

“Yes.”

She nodded, “Care to show me the goods?”

“Jackie,” Karen gasped.

James shrugged and pulled up his t-shirt, he didn’t have any definition but she could certainly see the start of it. He then pulled his shirt down and escaped to his room. There was too much squealing for his tastes.

“Not only that, but James has been working out in his room.”

“I thought his room was tiny.”

“Ah,” Karen grinned. “I wanted to save that as a surprise. You won’t be bunking with one of the girls this time around.”

“No?”

She nodded, “Come on. You have to see what James did with the basement. You will be astounded.”

Laughing, Jackie agreed, “Okay, let’s go.”

Walking through the house, Karen directed her to the basement door. She called down, “Are you decent, James?”

“Yes, why?”

“I am bringing your aunt down for a tour.” Karen opened the door all the way and ushered Jackie onto the stairs. Jackie stopped at the foot of the stairs and looked around in amazement. “James did all of this?”

Karen proudly responded, “He came up with the idea, laid out the floorplan, ordered all of the supplies, and did everything by himself. The only thing Bill did was pay for the material and the plumber. For that, he had one of his friends do the work off the books at a discount.”

“Karen, I remember this basement from last year and the change is overwhelming. This really adds a lot of value to the house. James, give me a tour and tell me what you did.”

James got off his bed, put down his book, and hopped up. “I was trying to help everyone in the family and it occurred to me that if I fixed up the basement, the girls would have more freedom with me down here. And mom could finally have the guest room she always wanted.”

“You have that right,” Karen said, “I feel like I am back in the sorority house with all the barely dressed girls running around.”

“I’m sure James doesn’t mind,” Jackie grinned, James to his credit blushed again and quickly redirected the conversation away to safer territory.

“Anyway,” James continued, “The biggest problem was getting the money to buy the construction material. I could use dad’s tools, but he didn’t have a stockpile of lumber or drywall.”

“How did you get Bill to pay for this?”

Karen laughed, “I told him he owed me payback for the stripper. He tried to play dumb, but I started bringing up other things I wasn’t supposed to know about. Suddenly, the money was available.”

James jumped in, “The extra he paid allowed me to make this really nice. This used to be a big empty space with nothing but junk tossed down here and the furnace. Now, the furnace and hot water heater are in their own room with extra noise insulation, the laundry sink has been replaced by a bathroom and there are several rooms, each with a different purpose.”