Last Chance (11 page)

April, startled by the comment, thanked the driver and moved to the rear of the bus, where Connor and Matthew had already found seats.

Matthew waited for April to sit down before stating the obvious. “Can you believe what we just saw?”

April responded, “Yeah, it’s amazing that those two older adults are going to raise their own granddaughter. No government to say they are too old to care for her and no one telling them they can or can’t go to the park for the day; it’s just wonderful.”

Both of the boys looked at each other and grinned. Connor explained, “Yeah, that’s great and all, but we were talking about those two girls who got on the bus before us.”

April turned to the front of the bus and saw two younger ladies wearing cutoff blue jean shorts, flip-flops, and bikini tops. Both had deep suntans and laughed as they discussed something from a magazine they couldn’t put down.

“Oh, I see—yes, that is way too revealing for a young lady.”

Matthew whispered to Connor, “Do you think all girls that age dress like that here?”

“I hope so.”

April responded, “I heard that.”

The bus pulled away from the park office, and the Chance family began to discuss their next moves. April removed her binder and passed out pages to the boys. She told them, “Each of you read these and then we’ll swap. We should be able to get everything read before we get to Atlanta. We’ll know exactly what we need to do from there.”

Matthew asked if they could do some sightseeing during the ride, but April was insistent on getting all of Walter Wainright’s instructions read before they arrived in Atlanta.

Walter was thorough in his preparations. He had sent hundreds of pages of documents, instructions, and suggestions for the Chance family. He wanted the family to get to Atlanta and take another bus to Memphis, Tennessee. The bus that they were currently on would get them within one mile of a main bus terminal in Atlanta, so it was easy walking distance.

Once in Memphis, the family needed to buy a car and drive approximately two hours into the extreme northwestern part of the state to a town called Travis. Once in Travis, they were to go to a mobile home park called Horizons and rent a home to live in. As April dug through her bag, she found a fake driver’s license for her and fake birth certificates for the boys.

Walter had sent along well over $20,000 in cash to make their needed purchases. Walter had been putting this plan together for years, and he spared no details that he felt would help April and the boys.

April focused her attention on the tasks that needed to be done while in 1984 while the boys were more focused on the descriptions and explanations of the times. Walter described, in great detail, the attitudes of the people at the end of the twentieth century. He described that the thinking of this area of the country was considered conservative for the time and a person’s pride was his biggest weakness.

In 1984, the people of the South loved their country, their faith, their guns, and their football. Everything else was just there for decoration. For the boys, it was important that they understood the minds and attitudes of the young people of the time.

Walter gave details of the music of the time, the advent of cable television, and the pecking order of the normal American high school. It would be important to get in good with the kids that were in Amanda’s clique, as he called it.

The trip from the park to Atlanta was broken into two segments. The first segment was down small two-lane roads. There wasn’t much to see and the vicious bouncing of the bus was enough to make anyone sick. The second leg of the trip would be much more interesting.

Matthew said to Connor, as they read through Walter’s instructions, “So we need to learn as much as we can about things called football, pop music, and video games. That shouldn’t be too hard.”

Connor responded, “He says that we should get a teen magazine when we get to Memphis and make sure we learn everything in it.”

Matthew pointed to a picture of a football player and asked, “Do you think football is anything like beamball? It looks like this guy is throwing a ball similar to a beamball.”

Connor’s eyes lit up. “Yeah, I bet it’s a lot like beamball. Where are the lasers?”

Matthew was captivated by the views of the city as the second part of the trip began. “Connor, look; those buildings are so tall.”

Connor knocked Matthew out of the way and said, “Yeah, they all look different, too. They’re made to different heights, and look, that one’s round.” April began to tell the boys to get back to the studying, but she was also drawn to the window.

She turned her head from side to side in excitement. There were so many sights, buildings, and people walking on the sidewalk. They were wearing different clothes and hats. April even spotted someone with art painted on his arm. April was taking it all in when she said, “This isn’t what I expected, boys; it’s even better. Everyone looks so different here.”

A loud grinding noise encompassed the bus and the boys and April almost jumped from their seats. Matthew looked up into the sky and saw an airplane coming down toward the bus. Connor yelled out, “What is that!”

The bus driver activated the intercom and said, “Sorry about the noise everyone; the airport is just over that ridge and it can get loud when they come in for a landing. There are hundreds of flights going out every day.”

Matthew said, “I thought flight was deemed too dangerous.”

Connor chimed in, “Yeah, only the leaders are allowed to fly in their special planes.”

Matthew yelled to the bus driver, “Excuse me, sir, but can anyone fly on these planes?”

The driver, confused by the question, responded, “If you have enough money; anyone can buy an airplane ticket, son.” He went on to let the passengers know that they were just a few minutes from the bus terminal, so they needed to be collecting their things.

“What a load of crap!”

Connor asked his brother, “What are you talking about?”

“We live over two hundred years in the future, but we aren’t allowed to fly in airplanes, but back in 1984, people could just buy a ticket and fly wherever they wanted? It’s a bunch of crap!” Matthew’s face turned a mild shade of red as Walter Wainright’s truth became clearer.

Connor pondered his brother’s comments for a moment. “Well, I’m sure there’s a logical explanation for it. We shouldn’t jump to any conclusions yet.” Matthew wanted to reply to his brother’s lazy comment but felt the bus come to an abrupt stop.

The bus driver’s loud voice reverberated over the intercom as he announced they had arrived at their destination. The Chance family collected their backpacks and made their way to the front exit of the bus. April quietly told the boys to stay close to each other; she didn’t want them to get separated. The boys told her that it wouldn’t be a problem.

They then proceeded to run to the front of the bus and offered their assistance to the two young ladies in the bikini tops. “We’ll help you with your bags!” They were politely denied their request, but the boys still felt a sense of accomplishment that they had garnered the nerve to ask.

April proceeded to the nearest terminal employee. She needed to determine the best way to go about purchasing tickets for the bus ride to Memphis. The boys explored the surrounding area. They wanted to investigate the busy terminal and find out what else was different about the past.

The boys were astounded at what they saw. In one corner, they saw men dressed in suits carrying briefcases. In another corner, a family of four wore T-shirts, tennis shoes, and baseball caps. In another corner, a couple of friends smoked cigarettes and pointed out some “prime meat,” as they called it. They yucked it up while they waited for the bus. In the last corner, an older man sat on the floor, clothes torn and stained, with a sign sitting in front of him that read “Veteran, please help—Will Work for Food.”

Matthew imagined what would happen if this same scene were to be played out in his sector, but it seemed impossible to fathom. Connor pointed to the older gentleman with the sign and said, “See, that would never happen back home. He wouldn’t have to beg for food.”

Matthew wanted to learn more about the man’s situation, so he started to make his way over to him. He had to dodge all of the people who moved about the terminal. It was nothing like waiting for the bus at the park bench. He was getting a taste of the big city. He was just a few feet from the veteran when April came up behind him and grabbed his shirt. “I told you two to stay close. Now come on, our bus is leaving in ten minutes; we need to get loaded up.”

As the family loaded back onto another bus for the trip to Memphis, Matthew asked, “Any trouble getting the tickets?”

She replied, “I’m getting good with the money thing; it’s really just basic math.”

The family sat down and noticed that this bus was packed to capacity. Connor asked if they should continue their studying. April knew that there wasn’t enough room on the bus to pull out a bunch of papers, so she told the boys to get some rest.

Connor wanted to look through the gadget bag, but April wouldn’t allow it. “Absolutely not! Who knows what’s in there. We’ll look at it when we get to Travis.”

The family decided to relax during this ride and took in all that they could see on the bus and outside the windows. This would be a twelve-hour ride for the family, and it was a good time to reflect on what they had seen thus far.

April thought about the family they had met at the lake and how good it felt to tell someone that Matthew and Connor were her sons. She had already seen so many differences in people in just the first few hours in the past that she was overwhelmed. Commonality was the norm in April’s time.

While everyone still had his or her own personality in the future, you were pressured to conform to a set way of thinking. Over time, that caused everyone to think the same about everything. April needed to know what people wanted out of their lives in this time and how they planned to reach those goals. She thought about her family’s mission and reminded herself that it was her responsibility to make sure that they didn’t fail. They
couldn’t
fail.

Connor slumped into his seat and observed the rest of the bus. It was strange for him to see people dressed so differently and acting so differently from each other. It wasn’t that he didn’t like other styles. He was big on the rolled-up jeans of the 1950s. He just didn’t feel comfortable here.

He looked to his left and saw a young military man with a crew-cut and then looked a few rows farther to see a man with purple, spiked hair. That hair would put someone’s eye out if they got close enough. Connor didn’t quite have the same attitude as his brother about the things they had seen. He also couldn’t seem to stop going back to those two girls in the bikini tops. He was a fourteen-year-old boy, after all.

Matthew watched the time count down on his watch. He and his family had been in 1984 for only over half a day and he was already feeling the pressure of the short amount of time that they had. His thoughts drifted to the old man in the bus terminal and how he begged for help. He just couldn’t understand how someone could get to a point of begging for food. Connor was right—that wouldn’t happen back home.

Matthew thought about his brother and mother and how family meant something here. He also got a little angry thinking about his own life. He wasn’t sure about the past, but he decided, on that bus, that meeting Walter Wainright was fate and that helping Connor get that Hathmec charm was meant to be. He knew that Walter Wainright would lead him to the truth, and he would do whatever he could to get to the truth. He relaxed for a few minutes and then spent a little time thinking about those two ladies in the bikinis. April couldn’t figure out why both of her boys had such big smiles on their faces. Boys will be boys.

Chapter 9

i’m a sophomore

Matthew stood on the steps of the Hathmec Memorial and looked across the throngs of people. They all chanted his name and cheered as they jumped up and waved their hands. Matthew saw his mother and brother in the front row of the crowd clapping their hands. He felt the excitement in the air. He stepped up to a microphone and addressed the crowd. “Sector 1 and the rest of the world: you are free!” The crowd erupted. He saw young girls and old men weep into their hands. The chants of “Thank you” and “Matt Chance” filled the air as Matthew stood back and enjoyed the moment.

The cold air filled with the breath of the cheering crowds and an echo of jubilation that had never been heard before. Matthew motioned for his family to join him, but they were gone. They had to be close. They would want to celebrate such an awesome achievement. Matthew called out, “Connor! Mom!” There was no reply, only the continued chants of the crowd. Matthew panicked. Where were they? Why weren’t they here?

“Matthew, Matthew, wake up! We’re gonna be late!”

Matthew’s eyes slowly began to come into focus as the outline of Connor stood over him. Connor thumped Matthew on the forehead with his finger and said, “Come on, man! I’m not heading into the jungle of high school without you.” Matthew knocked Connor’s hand away and rolled out of bed.

Connor asked, “What were you dreamin’ about? You had a stupid grin on your face.”

Matthew told him that it was none of his business. He was embarrassed to tell Connor the truth.

April poked her head into the boys’ room and said, “We’re leaving in ten minutes; I have to get you to the school and enrolled by eight.”

April and the boys had arrived at their small mobile home just a day before. They had spent the majority of the last day studying their new home, Travis. So far, everything that Walter had wanted them to do had gone off without a hitch. April purchased a small car, jet black, with leather seats and something called a seat belt already equipped.

Their short time in Memphis proved that April’s fake ID was prepared to perfection. She had quite a time learning the rules of the road. She did quite well for someone who had never driven a car in their life. Following traffic signs and maps and keeping the car at a certain speed were all challenges. It took them six hours to make the two-hour trip from Memphis to Travis. She needed to work on her navigation and map-reading skills.

They found the address of their new home, and April set up a contract with the mobile home park’s owner. April had learned that by adding just a little more cash to a deal, it closed out faster. A quick smile from the lovely blonde didn’t hurt either.

The family’s new home was furnished with a refrigerator, a stove, and a television set. The set picked up only three stations, and the boys had already learned the ancient sibling fighting style known as channel battles. One liked station three and the other five, so it had been a battle for supremacy for most of the night before. Connor won the majority of the battles, but Matthew held his own a couple of times. The time in front of the television was useful for the boys. They practiced their pronunciation and tried to copy the mannerisms they saw on the various shows.

The home was exactly what the family needed. A decent-size living room was right next to the kitchen, still decked out in seventies swag. Two small bedrooms and a small bathroom divided the house between the boys and April. There was a nice shed located just behind the home, back in a wooded area of the lot. The owner of the property told April that she could use the lawn equipment stored there anytime she wanted. He gave her a key to it. The home was secluded enough to keep nosey neighbors at bay but close enough to town that the Chance family could execute their plans.

Connor asked, “Is there anything we should take with us to school, April?” April frowned at Connor. He cleared his throat and said. “I mean Mom.”

April replied, “You’ll probably need a pen and some paper. Back home, the school already had all of the things you needed.”

Matthew said, “I saw some pencils and paper in one of the drawers in the kitchen.” He went to fetch some supplies. Connor walked to the corner of the kitchen and grabbed one of the three backpacks.

He made it to the front door before April grabbed the bag. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Connor replied, “We may need some of this stuff. You never know what we may run into.”

April took the bag from him. “These gadgets of Walter’s are only to be used in emergency situations, and to be perfectly honest, I don’t think we should use them at all.” She took the bag into her bedroom and threw it under her bed.

On her way back to the door she snatched the two empty bags. “Here, take these to hold whatever books or supplies they give you at school.”

Matthew took the bag and asked, “Don’t you think Walter would want us to keep the gadgets with us at all times? What if someone breaks in and steals them?”

April replied, “Who would break in?”

Matthew pointed to the television. “I don’t know, but it seems to happen a lot on TV.”

April chuckled and said, “I’ll keep an eye on them. I promise.”

The family loaded into the car, but April didn’t start the engine. She turned to the boys and said, “I know that I’ve put a lot of pressure on both of you, but I’m only doing it to keep us safe, so you must do as I tell you. Walter has trusted us to do a job, and we’re going to do it and get home as fast as we can. This school is nothing like what you’re used to. These kids will be nothing like you’re used to.”

April started the car and pulled onto the street. Matthew asked his mother, “What will you be doing while we’re at school?”

“I’m gonna check out the town and see what I can find out about the Curry family, especially Amanda.”

Connor patted April on the shoulder. “Great idea! We need all the help that we can get.” He leaned back. “Of course, I figure she’ll be putty in my hands once she meets me. I’ll probably have the Hathmec charm before the end of the day.”

Matthew rolled his eyes and asked, “Do you think we look OK? I mean, are we dressed right for this?”

April based her answer on what she had learned from her reading. “I think you both look great. Based on what Walter said, blue jeans and T-shirts are the way to go. I’ll go out and get you some more clothes while you’re at school.” Both of the boys wore T-shirts depicting various hair bands of the day, as well as a certain style of tennis shoe with no laces.

The family pulled into the local high school’s parking lot. Connor read the sign hanging over the top of the front entrance: “Eastview High School.” Matthew noticed the glass windows that greeted them and spotted paintings of a man on a horse. He carried a javelin and shield. He read the captions under them: “The Fighting Chargers.”

He asked, “What the heck is a Charger?”

Connor pointed at the painting on the window and said, “I guess that is.”

April motioned to the boys and said, “Come on, we have to go to the main office to register you two.”

As the boys entered in the main lobby, they were bombarded with the extreme visuals of the time. On one side, they saw large boys huddled in a corner pushing each other back and forth and growling about the hit they saw last week. Each of them wore a jacket with an
E
sewn onto the front of it. Connor quipped, “Some sort of gang maybe?”

On another side of the lobby, a group of smaller statured boys looked through books and held calculators. Matthew heard one of them say, “You have to use the Pythagorean theorem, stupid.” They wore buttoned-up shirts and tan slacks.

Matthew looked to Connor. “Those must be the brains of the school.”

The Chance family had entered a strange domain that seemed devoid of purpose or clarity. The lobby reeked of dirty sweat socks and overused aftershave. The sanitary regulations of 2185 were nowhere to be seen and no magazine or instruction manual could prepare the boys for what they were about to embark on.

April opened the door to the main office, and the boys filed in behind her. There sat a rather aged woman, perhaps in her sixties or seventies. April stood silent for a moment and expected the secretary to acknowledge her existence, but it wasn’t working. April cleared her throat to see if she could force a response. Still nothing; it was as if the woman was in another dimension.

“Excuse me, is this where I need to register my boys for classes?”

The secretary picked her head up from her work and said, “Yes, sweetie, this is the place.”

She studied the boys. “Let me guess—a freshman and a senior?”

April knew that her boys had to pull off sixteen so she blurted out, “No, ma’am, my boys are both sixteen and should be sophomores. See, I have paperwork to prove it.”

The old secretary said with a chuckle, “OK, I believe you; that one just looks younger than sixteen to me. Let’s see those transcripts.”

Matthew leaned into his mother’s ear and whispered, “Real subtle there, Mom.”

The paperwork that Walter had sent was working perfectly. No one had a clue that Matthew and Connor wouldn’t be born for another two hundred years. The boys watched the kids in the lobby while April finished up. They were focused on what the boys in the hall were doing until they looked over to a door that was labeled “Girl’s Restroom.” As if a gateway of angels had been released, the door opened and a sea of pretty young ladies poured out of it.

Both Matthew and Connor were mesmerized by the big hair, short skirts, and jeweled bodies that skipped out. Matthew asked, “Why would anyone want to stop girls from dressing like that?”

Connor replied, “How is it possible that every girl in this school looks better than any girl we’ve ever met?”

Connor and Matthew hadn’t realized that they were ogling the majority of the school’s cheerleading squad. That wasn’t a fair representation of the school’s overall cuteness factor. The boys were about to drool on the door to the office, but they were interrupted by the entrance of an older gentleman wearing a gray suit and tie.

“It’s not polite to stare, boys.” The older gentleman spoke with a deep baritone and in a militaristic style.

Connor divulged his true feelings. “Can you blame us? Those are some really good-looking girls over there.”

The gentleman responded, “I do not like to think of them like that boys, especially since that one there is my granddaughter.”

Matthew took his hand and put it over his face in embarrassment. Connor stuck with the honest approach and said, “Congratulations, sir. You should be proud.”

“Who exactly are you boys? I don’t believe I have ever seen you at my school before.”

Matthew asked, “Your school, sir?”

“Yes, my name is Phillip Baxter, or Principal Baxter, as my students call me.”

April darted over to the door. “Oh, Principal Baxter, it is so nice to meet you. My name is April Chance and these are my sons Connor and Matthew.” She extended her hand and said, “They’re starting classes today.”

Principal Baxter reached his hand toward April’s and said, “Well, we are glad to have you here, and I am sure the boys are going to do just fine, as long as they spend their time on their work and not staring at my granddaughter and her friends all day.”

April giggled and responded, “Oh, don’t you worry; my boys are very serious about the work they need to get done. You won’t have any problems out of them.”

Principal Baxter popped both of the boys on the back and began to walk away. “See that I don’t. I won’t tolerate troublemakers at my school.” He disappeared into an office behind the front desk and closed his door.

April glared a hole into each of the boys. They both mouthed the word “sorry.” The secretary held up a couple of pieces of paper and called for the boys. “These are your schedules, boys. It’s pretty strange that you both have the exact same schedules, but that’s how they came out of the computer, so it must be OK.” The elderly secretary pulled out a small map of the school and started to point out the important locations within the school.

The layout of the school was pretty simple. All of the classrooms were in the outside loop of a big circular building, with a library in the center of it. A large gymnasium was on the far north side of the structure, and the building held about six hundred students. This building was much smaller than the district school the boys had gone to back home, so getting around was not going to be an issue.

The secretary went on describing every nook and cranny of the school. The boys were ready to move on when Matthew picked up the intoxicating scent of strawberries and cinnamon. It overpowered all other smells in the office, but it was wonderful.

Matthew turned his head and saw a gorgeous young lady walking to the desk just to the side of him. She wore a short blue jean skirt, a pink flowing top, and white tennis shoes. She accessorized with hoop earrings and several bracelets on her wrists. Her beautiful blond hair was teased out all over her head. She was wearing makeup, but not so much that you couldn’t tell she was beautiful without it. Connor turned to see the girl and then copied Matthew’s stupid grin from earlier in the morning.