Chapter 11

Wednesday Evening, June 8^th, 2011

"Mom, I think we need to sit down and discuss this right now. I was planning on bringing this subject up after supper, but now seems to be a better time."

"I had a long talk with the entity that's within the ring." I held up my hand and continued, "Let me finish and then we can all ask questions afterward, okay? Okay, like I said we talked. He is something that is either magic like a genie, or something else; but from what I can tell, he is much, much, older than what we think of as the ancient time of the genies. He has been either imprisoned or was formed inside the ring. The ring can give some powers to the wearer, mainly mind control of others, there is telepathy involved too, but it is mostly mind control.

"Now he has hinted that I have powers of my own that are greatly enhanced by the ring, he will not, or maybe cannot, tell me what those powers are. He also said that I would grow in stature and mind over the next few weeks by as much as four to five years. That kind of scared me so I asked Bea to measure me, so we could see if it really does happen.

"Now, if this wasn't enough, both Bea and Brie have touched the ring and heard the voice. Brie has many of the same powers within her that I do. We were told that these powers were a part of our ancestors, and that we have carried these genes and traits for generations; but, until now, they haven't shown themselves. Or, they may have, but we just don't know about them as yet. So that is where we stand on this.

"We have also been told that we must all, meaning all four of us, be involved in making major decisions concerning our future. He said we 'must do no harm'. Anyway, the point is that we have to do the least amount of harm to others to get the best results of our actions. That's why we must do two things; first is keep this a secret from everyone, and I do mean everyone! We four are the only ones to ever know about this. And secondly we must always discuss things between us, before I ... or later, Brie ... tries to take any major actions in the future. Questions anyone?"

Mom sat there in her chair stunned, Brie and Bea sat wondering what Mom would say. We sat there for probably ten minutes just waiting for our mother to say something, she did start a couple of times with, "But that..." or a "How in the..." and then she would just fade off and not say anything for a few more minutes. I looked into her mind and saw total chaos. Her mind was churning all the information I had said, along with myths and stories from her past as a little girl, of her father's great-great grandfather and of her mother's great-great-great grandmother, also some of the wild tales from Dad's family. She always thought they were fairy tales or just stories of fantasy. Now she wasn't so sure. In fact she wasn't real sure about anything right now.

I sent to her, 'I love you, Helen. We all love you. Please try to calm down. This isn't a life or death matter, right now; so calm down, please?'

Mom looked at me when I said those words, but then she jerked her head toward Brie and just stared.

I concentrated on Brie and I could hear her talking to Mom. 'I wish you would say something, Mommy, you are scaring us! Please, Mommy, say something!'

I could understand Mom's wonderment, first her son talks to her and she accepts him as her lover and now her eleven-year old daughter is talking in her head. It was just too much for her and she fainted. I had Bea go get a cold washcloth from the downstairs bathroom. I then had Brie take Mom's shoes off, and start rubbing her feet. I fanned Helen with a magazine from her table. Once Bea came back, I lay the cold washcloth on Mom's forehead and I sent soothing thoughts to her mind. Both girls looked to me with pleading eyes to make things all better. About that time Mom came back to the world of the living.

"Britney Alice Hamner, you've got this talking in someone's mind too? I thought it was only Ben, not you, too?"

Brie looked at Mom like she was crazy, but I interrupted, "Mom I think that Brie was just so worried about you that it just came through to you, just how worried she was. I'm not sure that she could do it right now or not. I seem to remember that during times of extreme stress people can do some mighty strange things, you know mothers lifting up cars, to get their baby, or moms or dads rushing into a burning building to rescue their children, and coming back out unharmed. There are so many things we don't know about humans that almost anything is possible. Brie, can you say something to Mom in her head like you did earlier."

You could see the concentration on Brie's face, but from watching my mother too I didn't see much of a reaction, so I snuck into Brie's mind and I could see her trying to project the words, but nothing was happening and then suddenly I saw Helen's face change. So, I guessed that Brie didn't have the power by herself, yet; but when I join her mind, she could transmit.

"Whoa, that was weird. Brie I heard you say that you were worried that I was hurt when you talked to me. No honey, I was shocked yes, but not hurt. Now Ben what is going on with this family? When I was a little girl, I heard things about some of my distant relatives, things that they could do, like find money or know when to plant crops so that they would grow better than anyone else's. You know weird things that just happen but there is really no explanation for them. Your dad had some similar tales too, but you say this ring thing takes those things that you already have inside you and makes them stronger. I guess I just don't understand all this."

"Mom, just grab the ring and hold it and see what happens, see if the voice can tell you anything that will help you understand."

Helen took my hand and wrapped her fingers around my hand touching the ring on both sides at once, especially the stone.

At first I didn't think anything happened and I pled, 'Please! Let her know that we are not all crazy.'

Then Mom got this far-away look on her face and her eyes glazed over. She stayed like that for a couple of minutes and then she sighed and slowly pulled her hand from mine.

"Ben, I think I understand now. You and Brie are special people, not just to me but to the world. All three of you are special to me, you always have been, but now I see that the four of us are meant to do a lot of good for us and this world. You were right, Ben, he is old. I think he is older than humans have been on this planet. But he gave me the same warning he gave you. It is we four who must decide our course of our actions, and weigh the good and bad and decide what is best for all, not just the few.

"Wow that is a lot to ask of us, but I feel we're up to the task. The life we are leading right now, is due in no small part to Ben and some of his talents. He found a lying, cheating husband and no good father. With his help, we rid this family of him. In doing so, we also were able to get enough money that we live very comfortably. I work only because I want to, not because I have to. We've become closer as a family because of that, too. Now, it seems that we'll become even closer. I don't think that will be such a bad thing, either.

"Right now I think we all need some time to digest all this new information. I say we just go on like we have in the past, and once our vacation is over we can sit down and see what we have to do about all this and where we want to see ourselves in the years to come. I do know that I want each of you to keep going to school and I also want each of you to get college degrees. So that means for about the next ten to twelve years or so, we will pretty much be doing just like we have been. You go to school, and I work. If things come along, we discuss them and make a decision to make things better for the world.

"Also, Bea, honey; do not feel bad because you don't have any of these special powers. You may be the one person to help keep us sane and on the right track. So you see, you do have a big part in this whole mess. Okay, Sweetie?"

"Mom, at first I was very upset when I learned that Ben and Brie had some of these super powers, but I think you are right Mom, I'm supposed to be the one to keep us out of trouble."

"Well said, little sister. You have to be the one to keep us grounded and make sure we don't do something stupid, right? Now, let's have a group hug and then I can make supper ... with a little help from my wonderful sisters."

Mom went up to her room to change while I went out back to get the grill going. I stopped along the way to turn the slaw in its bowl. I asked Bea to bring me the hamburger patties in three minutes. I turned the grill on high, and brushed the top again, making sure it was clean. Bea came out with a plate with the patties and a plate with the cheese slices on it. I went back to cooking supper for us and let my mind drift some. What did I want to accomplish in my life? What goals should I set for myself? What did I really want my life to be like? That was very heavy stuff, for a fifteen year old, to contemplate, right?

Well, I wanted to be able to relax and enjoy our vacation in Florida. I wanted my relationship with my mother to continue, I wanted my sisters to love me and help us work out the things we need to see about changing, or maybe that is things that don't need to change. There's an awful lot of ill will in the world ... is that something I need to or should tackle? Too much thinking is not going to accomplish a thing. I need more information and I need to let my own powers come out so I know where I am going. Okay, new decision: postpone any heavy thinking until after we come back from vacation. I think I can manage that ... better watch the burgers!

With supper completed, we all congregated in my room, and went back over our list of what we wanted to see and when. We started to eliminate some things for this trip, and put them on a second list, for a later trip. We'd set up another trip for next year, or maybe later this year. Depending upon what we were doing, we might go back at Christmas vacation time. That's two weeks, plus the Friday before, and the Monday after. Wow! We could get a lot to see then too. Okay, so we finally whittled this list down to two trips, one for 18 days of a 21 day trip and one for 14 days of a 16 day trip. We leave on a Friday morning and arrive there that night and we are ready to start on Saturday, we go all out, as long as we can and then take a day off. That day we lounge around the resort and rest up for the next assault the next day. Then we start all over again with a six day binge and then another day off. That should leave us with maybe six days left and a day of rest before we go home.

Mom called the resort and let them know we would be back at Christmas time and they asked if we wanted the same suite. Mom said sure, and she put it on her credit card. Okay, that is taken care of. It was now late, almost 10:30 PM and we sent the girls to bed. They each wanted to be tucked in my both Mom and I, so that is what we did. I kissed each one on the lips, and said I loved them, and wished them a good night's sleep. Mom and I left, arm in arm, and went back to my room.

"Ben, I'm exhausted, do you think I could sleep in here tonight and not be disturbed by some sex maniac I know and love?"

"Mom, I'd love for you to sleep here with me, but I think we need to move this to your room so we are more comfortable. I'll sleep in my undershorts and you can put one of your nightgowns on and we can sleep nicely there. Besides your alarm is all set and when you get up I'll just go back to my room."

"Ben, sometimes you make too much sense. Yes, man of this house, father figure, and protector of the women within. I will obey your every command, my master." Mom said.

She tried her best to keep a straight face through it all, but just couldn't keep it in at the last, and burst out laughing.

"I'm sorry Ben, but ... father figure ... that one threw me for a while. I guess that you are all those things and more. You are my lover, my soulmate and the man I hope to spend the rest of my life with. You're the man I'll always come to for comfort and loving tenderness. You make me feel like a schoolgirl again, and I love it. Somehow I know ... deep down in my heart and my brain, that when I am with you, I cannot come to any harm. You can protect me and this family from anyone or anything; that is your strength and your purpose in life."

"Helen my Darling, I am all that and so much more. I live only for this family, I love everyone in this family, and I vow to protect you all from any harm that comes."

"Yes, Arnold, and I suppose that 'you'll be back' in the morning. Go to sleep, Terminator."

We had been talking while we got ready for bed and I had been playing the big strong protector, and Mom equated that to the old Arnold Schwarzenegger Terminator series. That is the reason for the weird talk at the end of our conversation while we were in bed.