Chapter 3: Songs of a Life

Having finished our little demonstrations, and deciding we'd wasted enough time hanging around the hotel, we prepared to leave. I was anxious to see more of New Orleans's famous French Quarter, but was hesitant about running into someone else like Shani. I didn't know whether I simply shouldn't look anyone in the eyes or if I'd draw them to me like a magnet regardless of what I did, resulting in a whole string of women following me down the street. Honestly, I simply didn't know what to expect.

Having eaten and relaxed, we decided to spend a few hours exploring the French Quarter. Shani offered to take us on a walking tour, showing us the usual tourist attractions while also giving us a local's perspectives. Everyone was eager to see the sights, but I hesitated.

"Do you think it's safe for me to be wandering around?" I asked Cate and Shani.

"What? Sure it's safe," Cate informed me, seemingly confused by my question. Then she got this look like she understood what I was really asking. "Look, you've just come to a big city and discovered that, with a little more exposure, several people are interested in you. Taking an interest in you doesn't hurt anyone. So far, you've only found a single person that reacted in an unusual manner," she explained, seriously downplaying just how unusual it was with a general wave of her hand, "but it's unlikely you'll meet anyone else like that. Even if you do, it'll present a chance to find out more about whatever you did." Cate smiled at me as she concluded her explanation, as if pleased with her reinterpretation of the facts.

"But I didn't do anything," I stressed.

My younger sister gave me a world-weary sigh. "Alex, we can go over this several times, but you're going to be outvoted each time," Cate told me patiently, as if reminding a small child to tie his shoes for the twentieth time. "We're all convinced that you're responsible for whatever happened to Shani. We're sure that you drew her to you with your 'presence'. And we know that none of this would have happened to her, or any of the other people watching you, if it wasn't for your being here."

"Is he going on about not doing anything again?" my father grumbled, barging into our semi-private conversation. "Get over it, Alex, part of having a super power, however benign it is, is getting over the fact that you have it. Go forth," he called, imitating an ancient oracle crying out to the Gods, "Go forth and gather all the available maidens so that you may confuse them with fancy imaginary light shows and garbled telepathic messages."

He was grinning by the end of his little scene, but I could feel my face burning with embarrassment at just how silly it sounded. "Quiet, Dad! Geez, what are you trying to do? Let everyone know what a freak I am?"

"Honey," my mother soothed, coming to my assistance. "You're certainly no freak. Maybe an alien masquerading as our child, but you are certainly not a freak." So much for any sympathy from either of my parents, I thought as everyone broke out in heartfelt laughs. After a few moments I had to join them, it was pretty funny once you thought about it. The whole premise was pretty hilarious, and the fact that having an amazing ability didn't seem to really change much in the real world just made it that much funnier. Effectively all I'd accomplished was to make an instant girlfriend, who'd decided she was going to follow me home just by showing her a few 'imaginary lights', as my father had described it. While the idea of her being a potential girlfriend made me shiver with delight, it also filled me with dread as well.

Finally placated we wandered off, with everyone discussing various topics mostly unrelated to my issues. As Shani and my mother got into a discussion about the architectural differences in churches between New Orleans and the Midwest, Dad cornered both Cate and I for a short discussion.

"Alex, I think your mother and I need to say a couple of things about this," he said with a serious tone as he looked directly at me. "You're only a few short months shy of being a legal adult. I think you need to consider how you are going to approach this. Your mother and I could simply take control and determine what you can and can't do, but I don't think that would be either fair or appropriate. I suspect the decisions you make concerning this will impact the rest of your life, as well as affecting a fair number of individuals, as these people seem to be drawn to you and will need to be handled carefully.

"As a result, we're not going to dictate how you deal with them. We'll leave that up to you, since you are the one ultimately responsible for what happens to these people. I realize it's a lot of responsibility to dump on you all at once, but I think it's necessary as you've somehow been elected by fate or God for this position."

He glanced over at his wife, then back at me. "Now if you need any assistance or help, both your mother and I will be glad to offer advice, steer you in the right direction or offer assistance, but other than that it's up to you. Just think about the implied responsibilities when you deal with each of these women. They seem to be depending on you for an awful lot."

I nodded, acknowledging my father's excellent points, as well as agreeing to his assigning the responsibility squarely on my shoulders. I'd already assumed as much, which is why this scared me so much. Still, his words made me feel better, and the knowledge that my parents would support my decisions and help me out if and when I needed it helped settle my nerves. Next he turned his attention to Cate, speaking just as seriously while Mom slipped up behind him and looked on over his shoulder.

"Cate, you've clearly taken on a supervisory role in whatever is occurring. I appreciate that and I'm sure your brother does too, as he'll need all the advice he can get. Frankly, neither your mother nor I have the slightest clue what's occurring, but you seem to have a good idea of what's going on. Just bear in mind that Alex and everyone approaching him from here on out are depending on your good judgment. Now we're not going to decide how you should approach this, we're not even going to determine when and where Alex meets with these women he's attracting, but I want to make sure that you realize he needs room to make his own decisions as well. Is that clear?"

Cate made a disappointed face, almost looking like he'd taken her favorite toy away. "Yeah, Dad, thanks for the vote of confidence. I'm not about to let Alex down now that he needs my assistance so much. I'll be careful how we both approach this. I don't think you need to worry about Alex either, he's certainly pretty cautious about this. We'll make you proud of our choices."

"Very good," our father concluded with a satisfied nod. "Now let's get moving, we apparently have several anxious young women waiting," he teased as he wrapped his arm around mom's shoulder and moved on.

We had no embarrassing scenes on our way to Canal Street, the start of the French Quarter, but several people still turned to watch me. Several women I should qualify, as I never noticed a single guy watching me. However, as Cate said, having someone watch you doesn't really bother anyone, so I managed to ignore it for the most part. I think it had an effect on my parents, though. They'd taken everything we'd said lightly, more concerned about a young woman promising to introduce their son to the world of sex than in whatever wild claims we'd made, the crude experiments we'd performed after breakfast not counting for much. But the constant reminder of people gawking at me as we passed brought it home in a way that nothing else could.

In truth, it wasn't even that constant. It was only a few women scattered here and there, but the sensation was of noticing one woman after another watching me, and we were all very aware of my being watched. That alone can do things to a shy guy's ego, but having a beautiful exotic woman on my arm gave me an even bigger ego boost than the eyes trailing my movements did—especially a woman that seemed to be willing to do just about anything for me. I still wasn't sure of the attraction or just how healthy it was, but it was hard to argue how strongly she felt it. Between her and Cate, it didn't look like I'd get a private moment to myself for some time. Shani wanted to know anything and everything about me, while Cate was busy looking for more clues that would explain what was going on—and was eager to share anything she observed.

I was never quite sure how she managed it, but Cate never seemed to be far from my side. I'd grown up with it, so it hardly registered anymore, but back home she'd visit friends or play dolls (back when she was younger) or do homework for hours, and I'd have plenty of time by myself. Now though, it seemed like she was always shadowing me, especially now that I'd become her new lab rat. Suddenly she was watching me like she was expecting me to catch the smell of cheese and scurry off before she could find her lab coat. Or maybe that should be that all the available mice would catch a scent of my 'presence' and came chasing me through the labyrinth maze of the French Quarter's streets?

Preparing to cross Canal and enter the French Quarter proper, Cate suggested that I walk ahead of them, reasoning that they could watch me while their presence wouldn't intimidate anyone observing me from afar. I figured things couldn't get any weirder, so I figured 'what the hell' and agreed to do it. I was certainly walking a bit prouder, knowing everyone was watching me; my family, my potential new girlfriend and several unknown women to boot. I felt like I was walking a runway and everyone was watching my every move. However I cautioned myself how popular YouTube videos of models tripping and falling while walking the catwalk were.

They didn't leave me alone for long. Joining me again, they told me of the women they'd observed watching me, women of all sizes and shapes. There were actually more than I had been aware of, but nothing untoward had occurred, so we felt confident that their proximity wouldn't affect anything. The women didn't seem the least bit fazed by being observed themselves, so everyone's presence by my side didn't seem like it would dissuade anyone. Cate suggested she try to interview some of them, but we voted her down, telling her it would only humiliate people to press them on why they were doing something they clearly didn't understand nor had any conscious control over. She wasn't overly fond of the group decision, but she'd been running ahead and behind to film several women watching me surreptitiously, so she had enough to keep her occupied.

Shani suggested a nearby well known hotel for lunch and suggested I try the Alligator. Cate made all kinds of noise about the selection but I loved the idea. "I think you'll get a kick out of it," Shani said as she snuggled up against my arm. "It's seemingly a big 'guy' thing." The dish was actually called alligator sauce piquant, which consisted of fried alligator in a fancy French sauce. It turned out to be delicious—exotic, but not too exotic.

"I hope you continue to be as adventurous when I suggest other native treats in the future," she said with a smile as she rubbed her knee against mine under the table. "Perhaps something not quite as simple as alligator," she added with a little leer.

"Don't worry," I replied around a mouthful of alligator. "I'm pretty adventurous where food and new experiences are concerned." I paused for a second, winked at Cate, and added, "Just not with the ladies or doing foolish things in front of people in public." My qualifier drew a laugh from around the table.

"That much is obvious," Cate assured me.

Just as we were finishing up, Shani poked me in the side and announced I had another fan searching for me. "Alex," she said quietly as she nodded towards the double doors at the front of the restaurant, "I think you've attracted another one." Before I could turn around she laughed into her napkin, explaining "She strode into the hotel and immediately noticed you. But the maître d' intercepted her. He's trying to tell her how long a wait it'll be, but she's arguing that she isn't interest in the food. I think you've got that scene you were so worried about," she informed me with a crooked grin.

I glanced up and saw the girl. She was quite pretty, tall and slender, well dressed with noticeable make-up. She had shortish blond hair that formed waves of large ringlets, and dressed very nicely in a long shirt that was pleated in the middle with an off the shoulder type thing that looks like it must have been a designer item. But apparently she was too focused on arguing with the maître d' while some other guy was berating him. The tuxedoed man drew himself up to his full height and glowered down his nose at her. I guessed that the guy and the girl were together, but I couldn't be sure. She didn't notice me observing her as a result, which I figured was better for her ego than having the object of her interest watch while she was embarrassed in public. I promptly dismissed her as someone simply noticing me, much like Natalie, figuring she was now just one of many as I turned my attention back to the table to make sure I had everything I needed before we departed. As I was standing up, Cate hissed at me, waving her hands. Confused, I turned and looked up just as the girl descended upon us.

"Please, please, I don't mean to disturb you—" she frantically said as she tried to simultaneous get my attention and apologize for disrupting me.

At that moment the well-dressed maître d' finally caught up with her.

"Miss, you cannot just enter the dining room and disturb the other guests like—" Just as I was taking this in, I noticed the man who had been arguing with him coming up on him.

"Listen, man, this woman is a famous performer who simply... ," he began as he continued arguing with him.

Everyone around us seemed confused, but since this activity was centered on me, and knowing how focused Shani had been on me yesterday, I figured I'd better attempt to settle thing before they got out of hand. I tried to wave the maître d' away, telling him, "Never mind, we know her, it's really no problem." However, he was as distracted as everyone else by the argument he was having and ignored my interjection. As I was trying to assuage the maître d', I focused on the two men and not on the woman, knowing precisely what might happen when I did. For her part she tried to split her attention between her companion, the maître d' and me, as if trying to calculate how long she'd have with me as the argument grew more heated.

Having not heard me, the maître d' rounded on the man.

"Look sir, I don't appreciate your barging into my establishment like this and—"

I raised my voice, "It's FINE," I insisted. "We know them both, we were expecting them." He finally seemed to notice me then and turned to regard me, looking me briefly up and down. Apparently not finding me too impressive, he sneered at me for a moment before looking at my parents. To my relief, both of them simply nodded to him.

It felt odd; shy, little me taking such a forceful position trying to placate everyone. In the past I'd have just melted into the background and watched everything unfold, but this time I knew I was the cause of the trouble and thus that I was the one responsible for settling it.

"That's fine, sir," he addressed me, his faux-French accent almost dripping with scorn over the word 'sir'. "But perhaps in the future you'll have a word with them about their sense of decorum in a public restaurant." I smiled at the man like I had to put up with such childish behavior all the time, which honestly I did as it wasn't unlike the behaviors I encountered in the cafeteria at school every day.

"I'll do that, sir, and thank you for the wonderful meal, it was much appreciated." I realized that he had absolutely nothing to do with preparing the meal, but I figured a little flattery would get me farther than anything else. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the woman fall to her knees at my side, where she proceeded to bow her head and clasp her hands before her like she was preparing to pray to me, all of which I managed to observe without actually looking at her. Her companion was still fuming, but now his attention shifted from the maître d' to me.

"Who are... ? Patty, what the hell are you doing?" he asked, his attack on me distracted by his companion's odd behavior. That was a question I'd have liked to ask myself, but I knew my central role was trying to maintain calm and to keep as low a profile as I could. Steeling myself in the second's delay I had before she could plead for my favor again, I turned and looked at her.

Just as I had feared, she reacted like Shani had. Her head snapped back and she drifted to the side, unsteady and looking momentarily lost. The man that had been defending her rushed to her assistance.

"What's wrong, Patty?" he asked solicitously before looking up, his face quickly turning dark as he glowered at me. "What the hell did you do to her, you... ?"

Just as he was about to get into a froth, my father came up on the man's side. "Perhaps you'd like to sit and we can—"

"I'd like to know what this little pissant... ," he retorted, but while this quickly heating discussion was taking place, the woman on her knees before me grew concerned and reached around, having to feel around, still not used to the new visuals she was seeing.

"Henry, NO! Don't antagonize him! Don't you realize how powerful he is?" she pleaded with the guy.

This didn't seem to help his attitude much, however. "What? This little nothing?" he replied with a sneer that seemed to drip even more scorn than the maître d's. "He's no more powerful than a—"

"Henry, shut up NOW or you'll be sorry!" she insisted crossly from her position kneeling before me.

"And she'll get plenty of help," added Shani, closing in on his other side. I wasn't sure how she'd done it, but while my attention was distracted, she'd moved around behind him preparing to enter the fray. My father was smart enough to back up, seeing two angry females closing in on an unsuspecting victim.

"Look, let's sit quietly before we're thrown out into the street or someone calls the police," I told him, once again trying my best to keep the peace. "I didn't do anything to her, but we can discuss what did happen once we sit down."

Staring at me with a look of genuine distrust, he consider that while the woman, Patty, turned and looked back at me with a strange look of combined wonder and nervousness. I also noticed the guy was making no effort to help her up or to assist her in any way anymore. I guess when stressed he'd rather fight unknown troublemakers than aid his girlfriend. So, perhaps stupidly, I grasped her hand and she gratefully took hold and used it to stand.

"Thank you, I feel so humbled in your presence. I knew you were—"

"Please," I tried to subtly insist, "Let's not go into that now. Let's simply sit down where we can quietly continue."

Henry was still staring daggers at me but he also moved aside as my father managed to find a few nearby chairs. Both Shani and Cate managed to position themselves behind him and beside me as if in a protective detail, watching to see if he tried anything. I'd have to ask my sister later what she thought she'd do if something developed, as she wasn't that large. Shani I could see definitely causing some trouble, while the new girl looked like she was already ready to rip his head off.

I led the woman to a chair that Mom held for her and she daintily sat. At least I think that's what she was doing, she might have been trying to curtsy, I really wasn't sure. Henry managed to situate himself between us, but when I backed up she pushed forward until she was sitting right beside me, leaving him nowhere to go but the seat that she had just vacated. He didn't look like a happy camper.

Everyone sat, and while we managed to avoid a scene nearly everyone in the restaurant was watching us and several people in suits were standing nearby. I had been sitting between Cate and Shani, but with these two new additions I was now between Patty and Cate. Shani was left to grab the seat still being held by my father on the other side of Henry. My parents both sat on the far side of the table, meaning that my father was far enough away that he wouldn't be likely to get into a tussle with this new man. I wasn't sure what either Shani or Cate might try if he started for me, though.

"Now, please," I began, trying to speak in a calming tone, "I imagine we've got a few things to discuss and it'd be best if we could do it quietly. We've already caused enough of a distraction and what we're going to discuss is unsettling enough as it is." I measured Henry's reaction to what I said, but he didn't seem to take it the wrong way. Henry and my father both took deep breaths and appeared to be trying to calm themselves, though both Shani and Cate seemed to be as watchful as before. Luckily Mom was aware enough to signal the waiter, which seemed to be just the thing to get the guys in suits surrounding us to finally relax a little. She ordered some menus for the new people, speaking in a calm voice which seemed to sooth feelings a bit.

The woman—I guessed she must be in her late thirties or so—looked up at me with sheer wonder in her eyes. I told myself that was the next thing on the agenda, to try to deflate whatever grandiose view she held me in. Maybe if I farted or something, I told myself, smiling as I thought it. She looked at me, or at least tried to, as she kept having to squint in order to glance at me.

"What ... what did you do ... what did you do to me?" she finally managed to get out.

"Yeah, I'd like to know that as well," growled Henry, which caused Patty to spin on him and give a cold, hard stare.

"That's ENOUGH of that!" she hissed at him in a cold fury that made my own blood run cold. "I brought you here to help me, not to cast aspersions on who I came to see. And if you try to do anything to him I'll find a nearby bottle and you'll find your brains all over the nice table cloth, so watch it!" she snarled ominously. Boy, for a little thing she sure knew how to send a message. I was glad she wasn't angry at me. When she finally decided he wasn't going to try anything, she turned back to me.

"I'm sorry for that," she began, her temperament and words just as sweet as honey as if an angry word had never crossed her lips. "I never should have brought him, but when I went searching for you he insisted on coming along and—"

"That's fine," I assured her, figuring it wouldn't help any of us to accuse him of anything. "Now, before we go any further, how about some introductions. I'm Alex, this is my sister Cate, my mother and father, Linda and Frank Jennings," I stated, indicating each person in turn. "And finally, the one behind you is Shaniqua Sharp, who probably shares the most in common with you right now."

"Thank you for being so gracious and accepting us at your table," she very politely replied, treating it as a kindly gesture to an undeserving soul rather than the pretext to avoid a scene in a public restaurant that it had been.

"My name is Patricia Moore, I'm a singer. I perform at a nearby club. This," she turned and looked dubiously at her partner, "is Henry Dunn, my business manager." I could see him stiffen at this introduction and instantly knew he thought of himself as much more to her than that, and I wondered whether she had thought so too just a short while ago.

"Man, you weren't kidding," my mother stated, surprising us all. I don't think she'd believed what we'd told her about Shani's reactions yesterday, but seeing it herself was a completely different matter.

"Yeah, it's just like you described," my father said, echoing her sentiments.

"I'm sorry," Patricia told me, "but I feel like I don't belong here, sitting at the same table with you."

"Nonsense, Patricia," I tried to reassure her, "I'm just a simple high school kid. I'm nothing speci—"

"NO, you most certainly ARE something special," she insisted enthusiastically. "You look like an angel shining there in all your celestial glory. You're certainly no ordinary kid. I've never heard of any young man doing what you just did to me. Before I met you I could feel your raw power, and seeing you like I do now I realize that we don't dare anger you."

"Shhh," I gently told her, trying to ease her anxiety. "I'm hardly an ogre and I think you're substantially overestimating my abilities. However, I'm sure you'd like to know more about what you're seeing at the moment. Actually, we're all as new to this as you are. The first time we've encountered this was just last night when Shaniqua here had the same experience you've just had."

Shani saw her opportunity and took it, getting up and moving around Henry to take Patricia in her arms as they began to whisper back and forth to each other, only pausing whenever Patricia would attempt to look at me or when Shani would point to me or signify someone else. In the meantime my father got a different waiter's attention and ordered some coffees and a few desserts. No one had expressed any desire to eat more but he knew enough to assume that we'd be there for a while, and he wanted to keep the people serving us happy with us for as long as we stayed.

Finally the whispering came to an end and Patricia looked up at me again, while Shani moved her seat so she could sit beside her, effectively positioning herself between Henry and myself. However, she did it very subtly, and I appreciated the benefits of having an older woman there to watch out for me.

"Thank you, whatever you are, for taking the time to sit with me," she said, still with this silly sense of reverence. "I know you probably have much more important things to do. You say you're simply a student, but with the amount of power you possess, you must have so much you could be doing." I started to protest when both Cate and Shani signaled me to shut the hell up, Cate doing so with a swift kick to my calf.

"You've opened the world to me in a way I've never expected," she continued. "I have no idea how to deal with everything I'm seeing. Shaniqua mentioned that it's all some sort of life force but it's all so vivid and surreal," she stated, amazed at everything she was experiencing, again doing like Shani had and looking at the various people around her, apparently comparing each person's aura against the others.

"I have no idea what any of you are talking about," Henry stated, finally ending his silence and attempting to get more information about what was going on around him. "What is all this talk about power and visions and auras and shit?"

"Yeah, it's time we helped you understand. I just wanted to make sure that Patricia was made more comfortable with what she's going through," I stated, stressing the fact that she was the one going through this and not him. "What's happened is something you wouldn't understand and can't really appreciate, but somehow by coming in contact with me, your girlfriend," I said, guessing about their relationship, "is now seeing things she's never seen before. She's seeing these auras around people which consist of various colored lights. Again, we don't know what they mean but the same thing happened to Shani, so that's why they were busy whispering so busily a second ago."

"Yeah, right, you just say 'Boo' and suddenly she's having visions of shit? I'm sorry, but I'm not buying it. What is it you're trying to pull here?"

Once again Patricia turned angrily on him and hissed, "Watch it! If you can't behave then please leave!"

"No, no," I hastened to add, "I want him as comfortable with this as we are, which isn't saying much at this point. You're going through a lot and you'll need someone to help you through it. If you doubt anything I'm saying, you'll have to discuss with her what she's currently experiencing. However, we think these 'auras' or glows she's seeing around people have something to do with some sort of life energy, since it seems to surround people, animals and plants. That's all we know about it at the moment, though."

After I finished my little speech, Patricia turned and looked at Henry again. While I had been speaking, she seemed to feel compelled to watch me, even though I'm sure she couldn't see much; but now she was back to staring daggers at her boyfriend. When he resisted saying anything stupid, she turned back to me. Before she could start apologizing again I thought I'd head her off.

"Look, before we get any further afield, let's just start at the beginning," I suggested. "Tell us about yourselves and we'll tell you all about us. After that we can get into who is more amazing, OK?"

My sister snorted rather rudely beside me, forcing me to deal with her first.

"What, am I supposed to pretend that was a real statement?" she asked. "Everyone here knows there's no one else in the world that can do what you've just done twice in the last twenty-four hours. Don't go pretending you didn't have anything to do with it; we all know better than to listen to you pretend you're just an ordinary kid."