Chapter 2

July 3, 2005

“Hurry up, Jake. We’ve got to get home before it gets dark.”

Gil was only joking. It was not even six in the evening, hours yet before dusk. Still, Jake was lagging behind. He was tired after spending the afternoon with Gil and Jason at the swimming pool. They were on their way home. He pushed himself to catch up.

Jason was his best friend. They would be starting fifth grade together in the fall. Gil was Jason’s older brother. He was going into the ninth grade.

Once Gil and Jason were within range, their thoughts washed over him. Gil’s were baffling. In the last year, he had started to think about girls almost all the time. Jake could not understand the point of it all.

“Hey, Jake,” Jason said, “We can’t go swimming tomorrow. We’re going to my grandparents’ for the Fourth. How about we go the next day?”

“Sure,” Jake said. “I’ll come over after lunch.”

Gil’s thoughts continued to roll over Jake. Gil was remembering Janet Carlson’s big sister and the way her swimsuit had turned kind of see-through when it was wet. Every other thought from Gil that afternoon had something to do with Janet’s sister and her swimsuit. It was really getting boring.

But his thoughts weren’t the worst of it. The worst part was the strong desires those thoughts triggered in Gil.

Jake knew that Gil was wanting, but it was different from how Jake understood want. For instance, when Jason was hungry, it sometimes made Jake want to eat. Jason’s wanting might be distracting, but at least Jake understood it.

With Gil and those girls, the wanting was different. Sure, Janet’s sister was kind of pretty, but Jake did not hunger for her. Gil wanted her so badly that he could barely think of anything else. For the life of him, Jake just could not figure out what Gil wanted her for.

Gil was picturing the way Janet’s sister’s swimsuit stuck in the crack of her butt when she climbed out of the pool. His thoughts, emotions, and desires were tumbling all over each other, making it harder than usual for Jake to read him. Gil remembered the way her nipples stuck out when she came out of the water. He imagined putting his hand under her top to feel her breasts. It was getting to the point where Jake did not want to hear Gil’s thoughts anymore.

Reading minds was old hat for Jake now. As time went by, the rules had become clear. He could read people out to about 30 feet. It was a lot easier and a lot clearer when he was within 10 feet. If he were touching someone’s skin, the reception was even better.

Mind reading was passive, like listening. If someone had a thought while Jake was within range, he would hear it without any effort on his part. And like listening, mind reading was intrusive. Thoughts were hard to ignore.

Strong emotions, forceful urges, or unpleasant thoughts made Jake uncomfortable. When that happened Jake tried to cope by ignoring them or by trying to find something to distract himself. There were times he just had to get away.

It was worse in a crowd. He had stopped going to Cowboys games with his grandfather because the crowd got so emotional. Sometimes it was excitement, or it might be tension, or even worse, anger. The combined emotions of the maybe 100 people within his range was too often intolerable.

Gil pictured Janet’s sister with a strand of pubic hair poking out from her swimsuit bottoms, causing another crescendo of desire.

Jake nearly groaned out loud. Would he never stop?

Quality of thought varied from person to person. Some people had tranquil minds out of which came clear, well-formed thoughts. With others, thought was garbled, or it jumped haphazardly from subject to subject. Jake did not know how those people could live with the chaos.

I hope Mom bought some bread. I really want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Maybe two.

That was from Jason whose relative sanity was a breath of fresh air.

Maybe I can get him to distract Gil, Jake thought.

He focused on Jason and pushed a desire for some playful roughhousing.

Jason looked at Jake for a second and then wrapped his arms around him and started tickling.

Oops. Jake tried again, this time with Gil as the target.

Jason abandoned Jake and launched himself at Gil, taking him to the ground.

“Hey, you little faggot,” Gil said, but he was laughing.

No matter how sex-crazed he became, Gil was still a good guy. Gil loved his brother and was very protective of him. Jake liked to hang out with them.

Getting people to do what he wanted was a new skill for Jake. He had been experimenting with it for only a few months and was finally starting to get good at it. Unlike mind reading, controlling someone required Jake to push his will into the other person. It was much harder, and he had spent a lot of time figuring out how desire and will worked.

His first success had been to stop his mom from making that tuna casserole that Jake did not like. Every time she wanted to make it, he would push the thought of how good hot dogs and potato chips would taste. Jake could eat hot dogs and potato chips every day.

They cut through the strip mall. It was Sunday evening and most of the stores were closed. Jake stopped in front of Vaughn’s Electronics and looked in the window.

“What are you looking at, Jake?” Gil asked.

When Jake pointed at the display of PlayStations, Gil chuckled. “Better start saving your money,” he said. “Save some extra if you want to buy some games to go with it.”

That frustrated Jake. He could not put together that kind of money. The only time his mom spent money on him was to buy clothes. He never got anything good. He would be waiting a long time if he were counting on her to get him a PlayStation.

Jake focused on Gil. Suddenly Gil ran to the street and grabbed a large chunk of concrete that was broken off from the curb. He ran back to the storefront. He raised the concrete over his head and hurled it through the store window. The window shattered. An alarm sounded. It was so loud that Jake almost could not think. When Jake looked through the broken window, he saw that the rock had destroyed most of the electronics in the showcase.