Remember Me (Weaver Series) (6 page)

“But I can’t read
minds directly like you obviously can, and I can’t read anything about you.  Why did you call me a Weaver?  What do you mean by ‘in the middle of a thread’?

“You really are alone aren’t you
?”  He said with a grin.

“
My abilities are…”

“Undeveloped.”
He finished.

“I don’t know that they are undeveloped
.”  There, he’d done it.  I was officially insulted.  “I’d say I’ve done pretty well.  I got myself here didn’t I?”  Oh yeah.  I felt defensive.  If this stranger was going to challenge my abilities, he’d better think twice.  I could take care of myself. 

He smiles intimately. 
“Of course you can take care of yourself. Concentrate Joey.  When you don’t want me to read you, you need to block with separate thought threads.  You do seem to have that ability to some extent because you’re not always wide open.  I can teach you everything you need to know about being a Weaver.  In fact, that’s why I am here.  It is a calling to share the skills of our sacred work.  Every weaver has a mentor.  Someone who is selected by time itself to nurture the development of another weaver.”

“Are you saying that time chose you to teach me?
”  He nods. 

“That is exactly what I am saying.
  You were drawn to me for that reason, and I to you.” I just knew my cheeks were bright red.  I pasted a polite smile on my face and tried not to think about the way his eyes drank me in.  So, he was to be my teacher. 
Okay Kalan, I’ll go with this for now
.  I thought to myself. 

I cleared my throat. 
“Separate thought threads huh?  Do you mean like think of something else at the same time?”  I figured that Kalan must be doing something to help me with that aspect, or this conversation wouldn’t be happening. What the heck did I know about creating separate thought threads?  My regular thoughts were scattered like leaves on the wind most of the time!

“Uh-huh.”
His expression appeared full of regret before he regained his composure.  I immediately thought of my Papaw, then his old truck.  The devious expression on his face informed me that I’d figured it out.  One small triumph for Jo-Jo girl!

I made a
quick decision to try to find out more while I had the courage.  “Is that the only reason why am I here?”  I asked tentatively.  If he was truly that much stronger than me, there wouldn’t be anything I could do about it.  He would already know things beyond what I wanted to share. 

“
I was hoping to that learn from you.”

“You mean you can’t read
everything?”  I asked with sarcasm. 

“I know that you are looking for something.”
He mused.  I gathered that he did know to some extent why I was here.  Maybe this was all a part of the plan.  I had been alone with my crazy abilities for so long.  A part of me was simply grateful and more than a little exhausted.  I sighed and prepared to spill my guts.

“I am
looking for something as a matter of fact.” I was about to ask him about Kalan, but before I could open my mouth again, I was stopped by a loud shout that seemed to echo between my ears.  I knew it was only in my mind, but it took all of my composure to keep from jumping.  “
DON’T TELL HIM!” 
I scrubbed my face with the palms of my hands, before looking up at him.  “I-I, don’t’t really understand why I felt like I had to come here.”  That was partly true anyway.  “I’m just looking for information on what made me like this.” I blurted.

Kessler beamed
.  “You, my dear girl have the power to weave the intricate patterns of life.” He said this with pride gleaming in his eyes.  “The heredity of weavers made you like this, but I will teach you how to maximize your ability.”

“There’s one question that I need to ask,” I said with some hesitation
.  I wanted to ask a thousand actually, but then how would that work out with my smug determination not to look so ignorant about it all?  Satisfaction filled his eyes.  “Ask anything you like.”

“Are there
consequences?”  Kessler looked away before he answered softly.  “Sometimes.”  I let that answer sit all by itself.  I had to, or I’d start spewing more questions like a geyser.  Besides, I was truly and utterly exhausted.  I covered my mouth to stifle a yawn.  “Clearly, there are things that you could teach me,” I said. 

“
You will be my student; my protégé’ if you wish.” With that, he stood, removed his hat and bowed.  “It will be my honor to teach you.” I was caught off guard by his statuesque posture.  His black pants, white t-shirt and suspenders made him look like a sexy, dangerous mime…and a part of me wondered if I wasn’t about to trap myself in a small imperceptible box. 

“We’ll start tomorrow.  F
or now, I need to get back to the club.  I’d invite you to come back with me, but I think that you need some sleep.”

“I do
.  I’m absolutely dog-tired.”

“Understandable
.  What do you think, 10:00 a.m. tomorrow?” 

I
-I guess,” I stammered. 

“I’ll meet you here.”

Before I could say another word, he was gone.  It was as if he had never been there at all.  A part of me felt like I had blinked and missed his departure.  So that’s what it felt like to watch a change in progress.  How totally…weird.  As tired as I was, it was only 6:00 and my mind wasn’t ready to unplug just yet.  Instead of going straight to bed, I spent some time reading and then called my Momma.  Mamaw was heavy on my mind and I hated the thought of her wandering around our house like a misplaced guest. 

“She’s alright honey, she’s just been so happy to watch your sister practice her routines, and she even went with me to the market yesterday.” Momma said this last part as if it were some major venture.

“Well, can I talk to her?”  Momma paused and then called out “Josephine, pick up the extension – it’s Joey callin’ from California.” I heard momma sigh and I could tell that she was struggling with having another woman in the house, but she’d never say it.

“Hello
?”  I heard the familiar crackle of my Mamaw’s voice and my heart ached.  Momma made a quick excuse about cleaning up the dinner dishes and then she hung up her end.

“Hi Mamaw, how are you
?”  I asked softly.

“Oh I’m fine baby girl, just waiting for your Papaw to come back for me and then I’ll be getting’ out of your momma’s hair here.” She laughed nervously.

“I see.  Well, I sure miss you.” I choked back the tears that made my voice quaver, but I couldn’t stop them from silently sliding down my cheeks. 

“Oh
punkin, I miss you too, and I can’t tell you how proud your Papaw and I are of you.”

“Thank you Mamaw, that means a lot to me.”

“Now, don’t you go getting all soft on me child.  You are going to make something of yourself with that education.  You just focus on those grades.  We’ll be here when you come home.”

“Okay Mamaw I will
.  I’ll call again next week.” I added and then I heard her hang up the phone.  She was slipping away without him.  The thought of my Mamaw tagging along with my momma to the grocery store just made me even sadder.  What kind of life was that?  I allowed myself to breakdown and really cry.  With the power of a super hero, you would think that I would have some way to just fix all of this.  I could speed forward into time, or race backwards but that wouldn’t guarantee a fix, and it wouldn’t explain the time in between. 

I had to fight myself through another argument to try to change things and it was a fight I almost lost
.  The only thing that stopped me was the exhaustion I built up from crying.  I wrapped myself up in a soft quilt and wandered to my weaved bedroom, in my weaved apartment, and plopped my weaver body onto my bed. Stupid.  The whole thing was stupid! I was out of my comfort zone by a country mile and there wasn’t a damn thing that I could do about that.  In the meantime, my Mamaw was suffering the consequences of my “gift” and I couldn’t do anything about that either!

Oh great mysterious,
(sexy ) voice in my head where are you now when I need you?  I flipped my pillow over to the cool side and curled up in a fetal position.  Some great super powers!  I could change things that “sometimes” had consequences.  Well, I knew about that part already! Why didn’t I ask some other question like, “what is the meaning of it all?”  Why didn’t I at least ask him more than one question?  Lord knows I could have squeaked out at least one more! I was worse than a witch riding a vacuum cleaner instead of a broom!

Clumsy
.  Ignorant.  My brain just kept spitting out more helpful adjectives for myself.  The last one was hillbilly.  Okay, enough.  That one wasn’t mine. “Stupid gum-crackin’ skank.”  I mumbled aloud before drifting into dreamless sleep.

The next day I woke up to sunlight streaming in the window
.  California was an amazing place.  The warmth.  The palm trees…and Kalan.  I dropped my head back on the pillow.  I could hear the wind blowing and I knew it was going to be another warm day.  I turned on my side and watched the shifting patterns of shadows created by the blowing trees.  They danced through the sheer curtain and shifted across my closet door.  I felt at peace.

It was the first time I allowed myself to think about the choices I had made
.  Though coming to California to follow that voice did not seem as if it were a choice at all.  Glimpses, feathery whispers, the scent of cedar all like enchanted breadcrumbs.  I could not explain the urgency even to myself.  I had to find him.  I curled my knees up and embraced the pillow.  My eyes were heavy so I closed them again.  Maybe I would sleep just a little longer.

“
As I recall, we agreed to 10:00.  Don’t you want to get dressed?”  My eyes sprang open.  I was very much aware of the fact that I was sleeping in a tank top and my boy-short underwear.  I didn’t have covers over me, which meant my butt was sticking out toward him. 

I rolled over covering myself simultaneously
.  The satisfied look on his face made my blood boil.  It wasn’t just embarrassing, it was rude.

“What the hell
?  I think that you need to announce yourself from now on Kess.  You can’t just barge in and—“ he cut me off.

“My bad.”

All at once he was gone and my doorbell was ringing.  I shook my head and adjusted myself to a more presentable (clothed) state as I walked to the door.

“Okay, much better, though the sleepwear was working for me
.  It truly was.”

“You are really annoying and I really
mean it,” I said as he made his way to my couch and flopped down. 

“You even put on make-up --
though I don’t think that you really need it,” he added, reaching for the cup of coffee that  sat before him on the coffee table. 

“Seriously, this is like a bad dream that I
so do not need right now,” I said firmly, and sat down across from him. 

“I’ve been called worse.”

“I’ll bet you have,” I shot back and reached for my own cup of coffee that he had prepared…correction, weaved.  It was hazelnut and tasted perfect. 

“If we are going to start your training, we need you to be focused
.  Eat.” I looked back at the table and noticed the plate before me with wheat toast and scrambled eggs.  I picked up a slice and ate quickly.  My empty stomach was grateful.  Kessler sat silently watching me as I polished off the last bite of eggs. 

“So where are we going
?”  I asked as I wiped my mouth.

“To the peer
.  Have you ever seen the ocean?”

“No
.  I’ve seen lakes and of course the bayou that runs behind my house, but never the ocean.” I had always dreamed of seeing it someday.

“Then you are in for a treat
M’Lady.  Let’s go.”

“
M’lady, huh?  And you say I talk funny!”  The corner of his mouth twitched with a wry smile.  God he was flirtatious! I suppressed the thought of him in a suit of armor perched atop a white horse.  I already had a Romeo thank you very much, even if he only lived in my head.  That was a temporary problem and this guy was going to help me find a solution to that.

I
collected my bag from the back of the kitchen chair and followed him out, locking the door behind me.  Looking over the railing, I was surprised to see the same two women playing cards at the table below.  The little boy I had seen previously with his mom was eagerly kicking his feet while his mom held him out airplane-style so he could practice.  The splashes caught the first woman and doused her cigarette.  She cursed loudly and leapt to her feet.  Her swift reaction almost caused one of her breasts to flop out of her low-cut, leopard-print swimsuit.  The larger of the two hardly noticed because she was waving at us enthusiastically.  I got the feeling she knew Kessler because he tipped his hat and waved back with a sort of half-salute.  This caused her to smile like a shy schoolgirl.  Okay, that was just wrong on so many levels that it made me shudder. 

Kess gave me an awkward smile and shrugged
. Without another word, we exited the building.  I did not need to know the details of whatever that meant.  Seriously, I did not.  To my horror, he walked right up to a sleek looking motorcycle parked at the curb.