Chapter 12

Saturday, June 19, 2010

“What are you guys hiding from me?” Julie asked.

Jake read Julie and saw that they had a problem. He decided to keep quiet and watch it play out. Maybe he could figure out what to do.

“What do you mean?” Kara asked.

“Not you. Jake and Mom and Ellen,” Julie said

“Huh? Hiding something?” Leanne said, her confusion apparent in her voice.

“Right. Jake has been linked to you and Ellen all night. Why were you shutting Kara and me out?”

“Julie, darling, Jake hasn’t linked to me,” Ellen said.

“Me, neither,” Leanne said.

Ellen was driving Jake and the three DeRizzo women home from a night out. They had had dinner at a Thai restaurant and had then driven into the city to see a play. It had been fun for Jake. He hadn’t given it any thought at the time, but Ellen and Leanne had both been especially attentive to him. It had made him feel good, and he’d been able to forget his unhappiness at what his father had done. They had gone to see a Shakespeare comedy. He had radiated a happy contentedness to the women during the play.

The ride home had been quiet. Jake hadn’t felt anything but happiness from the women as he sat between Kara and Julie, holding Kara’s hand and resting his head on Julie’s shoulder. Then with alarming speed, Julie had suddenly begun to feel disgruntled. As he read her, he realized that they hadn’t given any thought to how Julie was going to feel about not becoming a mind reader.

What’s is she talking about? Leanne sent.

We have to talk about what I’ve done to you women in the open, Jake sent. We don’t want Julie to think we are excluding her more than we already have.

“I’m not just imagining it,” Julie said. “It’s like you three have been in communion all evening. You two were handing him things at dinner before he could ask for them and smiling at him for no reason all evening.”

“We were?” Ellen said. “Are you sure?”

“Julie, my love,” Jake said, “I’ve done something very inconsiderate. Will you forgive me?”

“What did you do?”

“I’ve got a new secret that I haven’t told you about yet, but that I should have.”

Jake felt a bolt of hurt feelings from Julie.

“Why would you keep it from me?”

“I only mentioned it to the others at the family meeting on Thursday. I thought I would have more time to get a handle on it before it was time to tell you. I was wrong. I should have told you right away.”

“What is your secret?”

“I think I’ve figured out how to turn people into mind readers.”

Jake felt a second of disbelief from Julie and then a peal of excitement.

“That’s incredible!”

Her mind raced through the things she would do with Jake’s powers.

“Love, hold on a second. Don’t get too excited. There are issues that have to be considered.”

Her excitement collapsed. A dark anger began to replace it.

“You mean that you could give me your powers, but you won’t?”

“No, that’s not it. I plan on giving them to you, but not immediately, and maybe not all of them.”

“Why would you deny them to me?” Her anger continued to build.

“It might be because you’re not ready yet. Look at yourself. You’re starting to fume because I won’t give it to you on demand even though it is something that I have no obligation to do. This isn’t something that you’re entitled to. It is a superhuman power that comes with huge responsibilities. If I give it to people who aren’t ready for it, I’ll be causing tremendous suffering.”

“Who are you going to give it to?”

“Jan, Ellen, Kara, and your mom.”

“Everyone but me? And Jan’s not even part of the family.”

“That’s everyone that I think has the depth of character to handle the power. And to be honest, I’ve got reservations about them. There is one person, though, who I wouldn’t give it to.”

“Who?”

“Me. If I had to make the decision of whether to give it to myself, I would be troubled by my vindictiveness and my immaturity. At the least, I would make myself wait a couple more years.”

“So you expect me to wait for years?”

“I expect you to show some awareness of the dangers that come with it. Even then, I won’t give you the power to control people until I’m very comfortable that you won’t abuse it.” Jake sighed. “But there is something that I may be willing to do for you.”

“What?”

“As soon as I figure out how, I will probably offer to give you the ability to read people’s thoughts and emotions, just not to control them.”

She was mollified somewhat, but a current of dissatisfaction remained.

“Explain something to me,” Julie said. “You said that you weren’t linked to my mom and your mom but they could still tell what you were thinking and feeling. They were reading your mind?”

“They weren’t reading my thoughts yet, just my emotions. We’ve just started on the process.”

“Process?”

“It takes me a while to modify someone’s nervous system and enable the power. After that, it takes a while for the skills to emerge. First comes the ability to sense emotions, then thoughts. We don’t actually know yet whether they’ll be able to control others, and if so, how long it will take for that power to appear.”

“So how come Kara can’t do it?”

“I haven’t started her treatment yet. Ellen started Thursday and Leanne started yesterday. Kara’s first treatment will be tonight.”

“When will mine be?”

“Not until I see how the others respond. It might be within a month. It might take a lot longer.”

“Ellen, what am I feeling?” Julie asked.

“You’re impatient and angry.”

“Frankly, Julie,” Jake said, “you’re further from being given the power than you were when we first started this discussion. If you are angry now, I have to wonder what you will do once you get it. Will you lash out at me because I withheld it from you? Will you take control of me?”

“Why would I do that?”

“The power to control people is more than the ability to give Carol orgasms on demand. It could be a way to settle old scores, to make people give you your way, to punish people who insult you — in word or only in their thoughts, to get money, power, status, fame, revenge, boyfriends and girlfriends who would normally reject you, friends you couldn’t get otherwise, grades without studying, jobs you aren’t qualified for, property that belongs to others. My father used it to murder and rape women and to turn them into mindless slaves. You should talk to him. He refers to regular people as prey. He’s completely unconcerned about the pain he causes them.”

“I wouldn’t be like your father.”

“He was just like you at one point. It was having unchecked power that turned him into the monster he is today.”

Julie was starting to get upset.

“But I’m not like that.”

“But you’re asking— no, you are demanding — that I give you that kind of power. If I did that to you with the character that you are showing at this moment, then I might very well be responsible for turning you into someone just like him.”

“Mom, tell him I wouldn’t be like that.”

“Julie, I’ve only started to sense emotions today, and I’m not very good at it yet, but even I felt your anger when Jake said he wasn’t giving you the power. I’m more scared about what it would do to you than he is.”

“But he gave it to everybody else!”

“I didn’t just give it to people because they happened to be girlfriends, Julie. I’ve thrown my life in with these women because every one of them has an exceptional mind and exceptional character. I can’t think of anyone else that I would trust.”

“But not me.”

“No, not you. At least not yet. But they are mature, adult women. Jan, Ellen and Leanne have been tested and their trials have made them better people.”

“What about me?” Kara asked.

“I don’t really understand how you turned out as you have. I love your serenity and your goodwill, but I don’t have any idea where it came from. It’s like you are a natural saint.”

“I’m not sure I like that. That’s a lot to live up to,” Kara said.

“It might be if it were something you had to aspire to,” Jake said. “But you don’t. It’s just the way you are. You could no more choose to do evil than you could spread your wings and fly.”

“But you think that I could,” Julie said.

“I think everybody else could. But Jan, Ellen, and Leanne have learned the high cost of evil through the school of hard knocks. They have the self-control to resist the temptation. You’re not there yet.”

“I don’t think that’s fair.”

“Love, it’s not a knock on you. Everyone else I know, including me, isn’t there either. But I hold out the hope that you’ll get there. I hope that I will, too.”

Julie subsided but she was still disgruntled. Jake sighed. He would have to proceed carefully with her.

The giggling cut off when Jake walked into the den. He felt Kate’s discomfort and suspicion rise markedly.

“Jake, you’re back,” Nina said, smiling brightly.

Jake kissed her on the forehead. “Hello, beautiful.”

“We were just talking about you,” she said.

“I’m sorry you’ve had such a boring evening then.”

“I thought it was interesting enough. I was telling Kate about my funny dream a couple of nights ago.”

“I heard about that second hand.”

“Kate was saying that she thought you caused it.”

Jake sent a wave of disapproval to Kate. He had never told her not to talk about his or his father’s mind reading, but she should have known better.

“I’m going to get a swelled head if I’m the reason women are having wet dreams.”

“No, not like that. She said that you did something to my mind.”

“What could I do to your mind?”

“I don’t know. I thought it was a funny idea. But there is something about you, Jake. For instance, for a young guy, you sure are tight with a lot of women.”

“There’s no mystery in that. I think they’re wonderful and I try to treat them well. You and I don’t have the same relationship I have with them, but I think you’re great, too. I’m glad to do whatever I can for you.”

“Can you arrange for me to have another one of those dreams?”

“I’ll try to be as inspiring as I can.”

“You can’t do any more than that?”

“What else could I do?”

“How would I know? Whatever it is you do.”

She did think he could just make it happen, Jake saw. He didn’t know how he should react to that.

“I would think that someone who could do things like that would make you nervous.”

“You? Make me nervous? Jake, you’re the nicest guy I know.”

“Are you sure you’re not imagining things?”

“At first the idea sounded silly until I thought back on that day I first met you.”

“I promised that you would be taken care of. I came through, didn’t I?”

“Yes, and thank you. But when I think back, I see how crazy it was for me to come with you. The only way it would make sense is if you did something to me.”

“You don’t think you could see my sincerity? And besides, you were in a pretty desperate place. Couldn’t it have just been the circumstances?”

Jake felt doubts start to arise within her.

“Enough crazy talk. I’m going to go to bed soon. Can I help you with anything?”

“Yes, it’s getting late for me, too. Would you take me to the bathroom and then help me prepare for bed?”

Jake took Nina to the toilet and then set her on the sofa in the sitting room. He helped her get undressed and put her nightgown on her.

“I don’t know about you, but I think there’s a pretty good chance that I’ll be having a wet dream tonight,” he said.

Nina slapped his arm. “You are a big tease.”

He gave her a quick peck on the lips and went back to the den. Kate was still there watching television. She noticed him and glared.

“The mind-reading thing has got to be kept secret,” he said from the doorway.

“So that you are free to molest girls without their knowledge?”

“It wasn’t like that. She was tense and horny. I didn’t touch her. There was nothing in it for me other than knowing that I was helping a friend.”

“You expect me to believe that you did it as an act of charity?”

“I’m not sure what I expect from you, but I would expect the people who know me to believe it. Look, I can see why you suspect all men of behaving selfishly. In your place, I think I would, too. But ask one of the other women about mind reading and trust. It’s not like you think.”

“Just keep your dirty hands off of me.”

“You don’t have to worry about me. Even if I wanted to, I wouldn’t because I know that you wouldn’t welcome it.

“Good.”

“What about Brian? Has he given you any trouble today?”

“I don’t like the way he looks at me, but he hasn’t tried anything.”

“You’re very beautiful. It’s hard for him not to look at you. It’s going to be the same with other men whenever you go out into public.”

“It makes my skin crawl when he stares at me like that.”

“I’ll talk to him. Meanwhile, can I count on you to keep my secret? It’s important.”

“Why’s it so important?”

“There are a lot of good reasons, but let me give you this one. There are other mind readers who are going to come looking for my father soon. If they find out that I’m holding him or even that I’ve told other people about my mind reading, they will come to punish me. I don’t want anything to break up my family.”

“It’s not like you’ve been that helpful to me.”

“There is the matter of my having kept you from being killed by my father. Or how about the other matter of keeping you from being put in a mental hospital or worse. But I’m sorry if you’re getting impatient. Jan and I are trying to be sure that we really are ready when we start to treat you. The research we’ve been doing will be worthwhile.”

Kate harrumphed.

“Can I count on you to not tell anyone who doesn’t already know, including Nina?”

“I suppose,” she said.

Jake tried and failed to not be pissed off about her attitude. He went looking for someone more cheerful. Leanne, Kara, and Ellen were in the kitchen talking.

Kara hopped up when she saw him and pushed him into her seat. She sat back down on his lap, sitting sideways, and put her arms around his neck.

“You are mine tonight,” she told him.

“The perfect ending to a pleasant evening,” he said. “You’re sure you don’t mind being with me?”

“Of course not. It’s what I want most. Why would I mind?”

“I don’t know, but Kate just told me to keep my dirty hands off of her.”

“Why were you handling Kate?”

“I wasn’t. I think she just wanted to head off the possibility. Her temper is on a hair-trigger, and it takes almost nothing to set it off.”