Chapter 7

When David and his mother arrived home, David handed a heavy bag to Darla. "The tapes that make you and Barbara victims are in this bag, Darla, along with the camera coach had hidden in the locker room. Destroy the tapes and the camera, and destroy the unlabeled tape in the other bag. Barbara, you're the star on that tape."

He handed his mother the other bag. "Inside this bag, besides the tape I just mentioned, you'll find evidence that will put coach behind bars. The evidence consists of some computer disks that contain files from coach's computer, including some images showing children having sex with other children and dirty old men, as well as some e-mail correspondence he's having with some girls he's trying to lure into his clutches. He has over two gigs of kiddy porn stored on his hard drive. Also in the bag is a photograph that shows coach having sex with a young girl. He has a shoebox of photos like that one on a shelf in his closet. The labeled videotape is pure child pornography, and he's the male star in the video. I suggest you take a look at it to verify its contents, Mother, but don't let the girls see it. He has six or seven more tapes like that one hidden behind a vent in the living room. The police will also find some illegal, kiddy-porn magazines in his bedroom."

His still angry eyes swung toward his sister. "You wanted to help. Help Mother put together the package you want to give the police tomorrow morning. I've done my part with this project, and I'm going to bed." Turning to his mother, he said, "I'll leave the delivery of the package to you, but I suggest you do it anonymously, or you'll have the media camped out on our front lawn."

At the door to the kitchen, he turned and added, "Make sure nothing you give the police contains any of your fingerprints. I'd suggest you all put on surgical gloves before you touch anything, including any documents you prepare with the computer. If you don't have surgical gloves, Mom can take a trip to an all night drugstore." He turned and walked away without another word.

Darla stood with her mouth open in shock when her brother left the room. "Mom, I've never seen David so angry. What happened while the two of you were out?"

"That's between David and me. Let's get busy. I don't want to be up all night with this. Come on, the two of you can go to the drugstore with me."

Two hours later, Carol cried herself to sleep. She'd taken a shower after helping Darla and Barbara put the package together, but she still felt dirty. After seeing the evidence David had amassed on that vile man, Carol had finally understood why he'd become so angry when she'd said he was as sleazy as coach.

Earlier, she'd knocked on her son's door. When he didn't answer, she'd tried to open it, but it was locked. He ignored her repeated requests to let her in, so she hoped he'd be up early to do his laps, giving her an opportunity to apologize in the morning.

Had she lost her son because of one unthinking comment? No, it wasn't one unthinking comment. She'd pressed the point, driven it home time and time again. That she did it because she feared for his well-being wasn't an excuse, not after finding out how vile coach truly was. She'd made her son feel like he was as despicable as coach, which was both untrue and unforgivable.

"Do you have any idea what was bothering David when he returned from picking up the evidence?" Barbara asked Darla. They were lying in Darla's bed.

"I don't have a clue, but he was really pissed. I've never seen him so angry. It was as if he'd washed his hands of everything, which really confused me because he was into this project big time. It was his project. He conceived it, followed through and executed it perfectly. If Mother had not became involved, I think the three of us would be celebrating right now."

"Yeah, parents can be real downers." Barbara sighed and wriggled in the strange bed trying to locate a comfortable position. "Your brother is something else, Darla. If those tapes coach made of me came out, I would have died from embarrassment! And to think the pervert sat in his office and played with himself while he watched us in the locker room makes me sick. I owe your brother a lot, Darla. He's... I don't know. He seems a lot more mature than most boys his age. He's really special."

Well, well, my brother has a new admirer, Darla thought. At least this one isn't a slut like Ellen. It bothered her no end, though, that as soon as she recognized Barbara's interest in David, the green monster called jealousy crawled out from under a rock and climbed on her shoulder. Not good, Darla, she told herself, not good at all. Remember, he's your brother, not your boyfriend.

"Yes, he's quite a guy," Darla said. "It's late. Let's go to sleep."

After David stomped away angry, leaving the females to finish his project, he locked his door and phased out, requesting his consciousness to visit Tim, and soon found himself hovering near the ceiling in the backseat of Tim's car, which surprised him. He'd never connected with Tim before and had expected nothing from his request.

Tim's car was parked at a viewpoint overlooking the city, and Tim and Tina were talking. Tim slipped his arm over Tina's shoulder, and Tina turned to him and brushed her lips to his. Was this Tim's first kiss?

Then he realized whether it was Tim's first kiss, or not, wasn't any of his damned business. Besides, he shouldn't be spying on a couple of teenaged lovers. He backed away and returned to his body.

Mother's right. I'm a sleaze, David thought. I invade the privacy of anyone I connect with. And he'd done more than just invade Barbara's privacy. He'd sexually assaulted her in the showers at the gym and still regretted the incident, regretted it to the point he wished he could take it back.

Regardless, he knew he'd continue to take his trips and develop his powers. He wanted to perfect his five senses, and he still wanted to learn to speak while on a journey. Besides, his ability could be used to do good things. He'd proven that with his project to take coach down. Also, he no longer needed to sleep, which gave him an extra seven or eight hours in every day. His body rested while his consciousness moved around like a ghost.

He'd been thinking about these extra hours and decided to use some of them to study various subjects in depth. He recognized the education provided by public high schools was geared to the average student. If he ran across a subject that interested him, he'd study it in depth on his own at night. Almost a straight A student now, with a little more effort, a college scholarship should be insured. He could read or use the computer while on a trip, and he hoped he could gain more control over where he went during a journey. Could he go to a place or set of coordinates instead of to a person? If so, he could travel around the world, visit other cultures, and possibly learn other languages.

He also wanted to feel good about himself and his powers. His mother's reference to his sleaziness had hit home. To that end, he decided to create a code of conduct for his trips, and rule number one should be if he connected with anyone at a time when that person would be embarrassed, David would back away, like he'd backed away from his connection with Tim that night.

He chuckled when he realized the rule wouldn't work. Most teenagers would not have resisted watching some scenes he stumbled into while on a trip, and being a teenager himself, he couldn't resist them either. Would he have backed away if he'd been in his body when he saw his mother masturbating? No. As a developing, curious teenager, he would have watched. The same could be said when he watched his sister a few times. It was normal for a curious, teenaged male to watch such scenes given the opportunity. Would he have touched either of them? No. Not without their permission. That's why he regretted the incident with Barbara so much. It didn't fit his ethics. He didn't think before he acted. His ability let him do it and get away with it, so he did it. Never again, he vowed.

His thoughts returned to a possible connection with a place, instead of a person, and he closed his eyes and wished he could be inside the Tempe Public Library. Nothing. Was the request too vague? He tried again and wished he could be in the library over the checkout counter? Nothing. He rolled his feet to the floor and pulled out a book of maps for the Phoenix metro area. He located his home, and ran his finger over the streets... no, it didn't make any sense that his consciousness would follow streets when it moved. He ran his finger in a direct path from his house to the library, returned to the bed and made another wish. Nothing.

Perplexed, he pondered the problem, finally reasoning the direct path to the library changed with each passing second as the world turned on its axis. Besides revolving, the earth moved around the sun, and the entire system was constantly moving outward with the ever-expanding universe. It amazed him his consciousness didn't get lost as it moved around, and he decided one of the first subjects he'd study would be navigation, which he suspected would lead him to an in-depth study of physics and mathematics.

Perhaps his consciousness connected only with individuals to keep it from becoming lost? Did an individual give off certain brain waves, or some other signature his consciousness could find? If so, why could he connect with his mother, sister, Barbara and Tim, but no one else? He first connected with his mother, the most important person in his life at the time. Then suddenly without his volition, he'd connected with Darla, the second and now perhaps the most important person in his life. Did he connect with only those close or important to him? If so, why Barbara? He barely knew her. Then he remembered he'd become very intimate with her when he'd accosted her in the showers while visiting his sister. Was the connection based on intimacy? If it was, why Tim? He'd certainly never been intimate with Tim. No, wait! When they were twelve, they'd jacked off together in the tree house a few times while looking at some Penthouse magazines. They'd never touched each other, but jacking off together could certainly be labeled intimate.

So many questions with so few answers. He smiled when he realized he had a lifetime to answer the questions.

Carol rose from her bed early. She didn't want to miss David, so she'd set an alarm to make sure she had some quality time alone with him if he got up early to do his laps in the pool. She showered, dressed and was sipping coffee in the kitchen when her son stepped in wearing a swimsuit.

"Good morning, Son," she said. "Juice?"

He shook his head. "But a cup of coffee would be nice."

Good. He's not as angry this morning. Perhaps we can have a reasonable conversation. She poured a cup of coffee and handed it to him, and he stepped to the counter and added non-dairy creamer and sugar.

He sipped and looked at her over the rim of the cup. "Did you finish the package for the police?"

"Yes, I'll deliver it anonymously this morning."

"This is your project now, but if I were you, I'd alert the media anonymously, as well as the police. I've noticed the police pay more attention when the media become involved."

"It's not my project, David. It's yours, and it's a very worthy project. I'm merely a participant, not its leader. You handled everything skillfully and with sensitivity regarding Darla and Barbara. I'm proud you took the initiative to develop a plan to put coach away so he can't molest any other under-aged girls."

"Proud? Not likely. Forgive me if I don't believe you, Mother. I'm going to do my laps." He set the cup down, walked outside.

The stubborn cuss isn't going to make this easy for me, Carol thought as she watched him move from one end of the pool to the other. His long muscles rippled and flexed as he pushed himself to move faster and faster through the water. She watched as he gracefully changed from free-style to a backstroke and hoped the strenuous exercise would briefly sap his anger like it would his strength.

After refilling her coffee cup, she stepped out to the patio, taking a seat by the patio table. She sipped her coffee and reviewed what she wanted to say when her son climbed from the pool.

She'd apologize, of course. He deserved an apology, a sincere and heartfelt apology, but she couldn't cave in completely. She had to deal with the morality involved with his power, had to make him understand he had a moral obligation to use his power productively, not merely as a tool to satisfy his sexual curiosity and urges.

He was gasping for breath when he exited the pool. She handed him a towel, and he dried himself, which reminded her of the time he'd helped her dry her wet body when she stepped from a shower. Despite her resolve, she felt a twinge of arousal. David wasn't the only one who needed to fight his baser instincts. She, too, had to face the morality of what she'd allowed him to do with her. No, she'd done more than allow; she'd encouraged him.

"We need to talk, Son."

"I know. Let me get another cup of coffee and some juice, and we'll talk."

When he settled on a chair across the patio table from her, the cool morning air was gusting a little, and she wondered if later that afternoon some thunderheads would develop like the weatherman predicted. Some rain would be a pleasant change.

"First off, Mom, I..."

"No, let me go first, please." When he nodded, she continued, "I sincerely apologize for including you in the same sentence with coach. Some of the things you've done can't be applauded, but on a sleaziness scale you don't come anywhere near the perverted sleaziness coach exhibits. I wish I could take back my comment. It just popped out. It was a false, cruel statement made without thinking how it would make you feel upon hearing it, or how downright vicious it really was. I'm very sorry, Son. I didn't mean what I said."

Good. She's being my mother again, not my psychic lover, he thought. She isn't going to let me get away with diddly-squat.

"Aptly put, and as such your apology is accepted, Mother. I spent the night thinking about what you said and what I've done, and you were correct to label me sleazy. Comparing my sleaziness to coach's wasn't fair, though, and your comment pissed me off big time. I've never been so angry, and I hope I'm never that angry again. That said your comment was a real wake-up call. I've decided to develop a personal code of conduct for my flights of consciousness. By the way, I don't agree with you that what I do is a form of rape. I do agree what I do can be a form of rape, but the mere fact I invade someone's privacy doesn't make me a rapist. It might make me a voyeur, and some I'm sure consider voyeurism a form of rape, but I don't."

He took a sip of coffee and continued. "Sometime, I'd like to debate that issue with you or others, but let's leave that discussion for another time and deal with more pressing issues right now. I'd appreciate your input regarding my code of conduct. Normal morality can't always be applied directly. When it can, I'll try to use the morals you and others have instilled in me. The rules for my conduct don't come easy, though. For example, on first blush I thought the first rule of conduct should be whenever I connect with anyone in a situation that would be embarrassing to either of us, I would terminate the connection as soon as possible."

"An excellent rule, but impossible for a teenaged boy to follow at all times," his mother said wisely.

David grinned. "That's the same conclusion I arrived at last night. I don't think I can create a set of rules that won't need to be broken from time to time. I worked on this problem all night, Mom, and I didn't come up with a perfect workable solution."

"It boils down to right and wrong, Son, and whether its right or wrong involves all parties to any connection."

"I wish it were that simple. Some of the things we did with each other were wrong, but both of us felt okay about what happened at the time. By the way, I don't regret anything we've done together."

"I do. I'm feeling so guilty I could cry, and we stipulated if either of us ever felt guilty we'd put a stop to our experimentation."

Twisting his expression into a grimace, he nodded. "I thought that's how you'd feel this morning. A shame." Relaxing the grimace, he flashed a boyish grin and added, "I was looking forward to our incestuous, psychic fuck."

She gasped, abruptly very aroused, which caused her to blush. "What happened to your promise last night that you'd never visit me again."

"I retract the statement. It was made in anger. Whether you like it or not, I'll visit you from time to time if only to check on you or whisper a silent goodnight. Also, I want to develop speech, and I'll need your help to be successful. Speech will definitely need feedback. Will you allow me to continue to visit you, if we take sex out of the equation?"