Chapter 19

On Monday I handed in my essay on Jules Verne. I was pretty sure I would get an "A" on it, like my last report. Something is wrong with Brenda; I think I got dirty looks from her for three straight days after the prom. I would assume that Sam called Brenda and explained all that transpired after the prom. She would only speak to me when I asked pointed questions of her, but her answers were nothing but short and direct. When I asked what was wrong; had I done something to make her upset or mad at me, I got nothing in return. By Thursday of that week, I asked Brenda if she was going to be mad at me forever, if so, then our relationship would be null and void. I said, "Brenda, Sam told me that you two had talked and that you were alright with what she had planned for that night. If that is not the case, then blame Sam not me. However, if you are pissed because of something I did or didn't do, then tell me what it is, so I can either fix it or we can go our separate ways. The decision is entirely up to you. I love you as much as I always did, but if you no longer love me, just say so. This silent treatment is killing me. Tell me your decision tomorrow and I will abide by it."

She looked at me with those daggers again and stomped off. I just couldn't see what all the fuss was about. I went into homeroom very confused. What had I done to deserve this kind of treatment? I didn't get the same treatment from the rest of my entourage. They were as clueless as I was ... whoa, that's it; she did something, and is trying to put the blame back on me.

I immediately probed her mind and I found shame, anger, and humiliation; and then I saw the answer. Billy had taken her out Friday night and somehow, she let him make love to her. She couldn't seem to help it, something came over her and she melted in his arms. She is pissed at Billy and me, but mostly pissed at herself for being so stupid to let this happen again. I thought back to see if I did any mental orgasms on Friday night. No, I stayed home and studied, so I wasn't the reason she melted. It must have been between Billy and her. That made me think maybe Billy gave her a date rape drug. I looked in his mind and he was just as stunned as I was; 'Sure, they had had sex last Friday night, but she initiated it, not him. Now she stares daggers at me and would hardly even talk civilly to me. What happened?' is what I got from Billy's mind.

So it seemed that Billy was just as clueless as I was as to what had happened and was getting the same treatment. This is just plain weird with a capital 'W'. I wonder what would cause that type of reaction by Brenda, and why all of a sudden. Jealousy, pride, hormones, what? Maybe outside interference, but I checked that part; I couldn't have done anything to her, not consciously anyway. So was this an outside influence, it had to be, unless Brenda really is falling in love with Billy. Boy, this is very puzzling. If it wasn't me; and it certainly appeared that both Billy and Brenda weren't the cause, then who? 'B2, can you feel if anyone has powers similar to mine near here, or is that something I have to learn?'

Now I had a real problem on my hands. Who would want to harm me, or those close to me, and is a powerful mental talent to boot. This was going to take some time so I shelved the problem until tonight when I could concentrate on it. The rest of the day went smoothly, but I had a nagging feeling that I needed to fix this problem very soon before they really messed with Brenda and maybe more people.

When I got home from work, I did my chores, then called Suzie downstairs and let her know what happened and what I was going to do. I was going to drift around and really look at Brenda's mind and see if I could find some remnant of who was messing with her. I lay back in my recliner and drifted off to Brenda. I checked out where Brenda was and requested her to close her eyes and relax. I then put her to sleep and went searching her mind for any shred of evidence that someone other than me had been in her mind. There hiding in one of her memories I saw what I was looking for; an unknown mental signature. It looked like something I had seen before. 'B2, does that signature look familiar? I know I have seen something very similar before, but I can't quite place it.'

'Bob, that looks somewhat similar to the Orthanian's signatures we have seen before. Do you think it might be from there?'

'Nice catch, B2; I think you are right on the money. Let's see if we can trace it back.'

I did a long range search for something similar to that signature. First, I found Defendorship; the signature was close, but no cigar. That led me to Deepthought; again it was close, but not quite right. I kept expanding my search until I found what was left of the mind of Gartonome, the Orthanian that tried to kill me once upon a time. The signature was even closer to what I was looking for. So now it was time to narrow the search. I finally found the mind I was searching for. This was Garnomtra, the eldest son of Gartonome. He was seeking revenge on me for my treatment of his father. I entered his mind unobserved and rummaged around in there trying to see what his plans were and what he had already done. He was in the process of trying to find either Sam or Suzie to inflict more harm on people close to me. I announced my presence into his mind by roaring a lion's roar and projected a picture of Terry Pratchett's Death, complete with the scythe, and bones projecting from his robe holding an empty hourglass. I think that Garnomtra passed out then, as his conscious mind was not there any longer, so I attacked the subconscious and left a couple of little bombs and I did a couple of other things. One was that every time he thought about revenge on me, his heart would feel as though someone was crushing it in a vice. The second was even more direct. I looked over his physical body and found his reproductive equipment and found where their equivalent to our testicles was. I saw the ducts that transported the semen to the penis. I burned out about 6 centimeters of all five ducts and cauterized the ends, thus rendering him sterile for life. I thought, 'fuck with me, buddy, and I fuck right back double.'

Garnomtra came back to the land of the living and I said to him, "Garnomtra, I am Bob of Earth. You thought that you could mess with my life and the lives of those around me. Well, guess what ... you lose. If anyone from this planet or from your race tries to mess with me again, I will have the Willowfin obliterate this planet and your whole species. That is the power of Bob of Earth. I have left you a couple of reminders of my power that you will find later on, but know this, if you fuck with me again, you and your whole species die. UNDERSTOOD??"

I didn't hear anything and so I asked again and finally I heard a very subdued voice in my mind, "Yes, Bob of Earth, I understand and we will never interfere in your life ever again. Please do not do to me what you have done to my father. His lives, but is not really living. I am asking our doctors to please end his suffering."

"Garnomtra, what you fail to understand is that although your father lives with his mind gone, he does know one thing, he knows that he brought this curse upon himself and his family. His mind feeds on the guilt of his deeds and condemns him to the life he leads. Do not make the mistake of crossing me again, or your fate will be much worse, believe me. I will let you go now, live your life and leave me and mine alone."

I left his mind then and came back to myself. Now I needed to see if I could smooth things over back here between, Brenda, Billy, and myself. It was supper time by now and I postponed this until after school tomorrow. I mentioned that I would have to be picked up at Brenda's house tomorrow night. There was some trouble and I needed to see if I could straighten it out. Since Dad was coming home last, Mom suggested he bring me home instead of her as he left work at six.

"Sounds good to me, Mom, you know where she lives, right, Dad?"

"Not a problem, Son, I'll be there about 6:15, OK?"

"That's fine, Dad."

I called Brenda and said, "Brenda, I think I know what has caused you to be mad at Billy, me, and yourself as well. I would like to talk to you and Billy tomorrow afternoon at your house so we can straighten this whole mess out. Would that be alright with you?"

"Bob, I don't think you have any idea what this is all about."

"Brenda, Honey, I know something happened last Friday night that was not what you really wanted to do and you are now hurt, embarrassed, and upset. Please just let me talk to you. I really think I can help this, if you'll let me."

"OK; I really don't think you have any idea what this is about, but I'll see you tomorrow." She hung up the phone. Wow, she is really upset. Now the question is, how do I explain to Brenda and Billy why she reacted the way she did and also explain how someone else made her do it? That was going to be pretty tricky. I would really have to think about that. How could I explain that someone was after me and had mind control, but I was immune to it so he had to go after Brenda? Yeah right, that will explain it, NOT! So how do I do this without messing with their minds myself? This is so confusing; I think I need some outside help, but whom? Mom, Dad, Suzie ... wait, how about Mel, maybe she can help me out. After all, she does owe me one.

I called Mel and explained my problem and asked if she knew of a way to at least explain what happened, or try to give an educated guess as to why it happened other than how it really happened.

"Bob, I have an office over on Vance Street, just south of 6^th. If you can have the three of you over here say at 3:30 or quarter to four I think I can straighten this all out."

"Mel, how are you going to do that?"

"Bob, you get all three of you here and I will explain. Now tell me about each of the people involved, at least everything you know, I'll handle the rest."

I told Mel everything I knew about Brenda, then I probed Billy's mind and told her what I could find out about him. I said she knew more about me than almost anyone else, and asked her if what I had given her helped at all.

"Bob, I think I have an idea, but I will know more once I meet Brenda and Billy. By the way, is 'Billy' his real name or is it 'William'?"

"His name is William Thayer Franks, but he goes by Billy and has since I have known him. I think we met when I was in second grade and he was in third grade. Why, is that something you can use?"

"We shall have to see tomorrow. By the way, how is the family?"

"Everyone is fine, we sure miss you not staying over every once in a while. I thought there for a while that you were going to be staying with us a lot. Was there some trouble between you and Mom about the threesomes you guys had?"