Page 44 of Night Blind

He was a great captain. He was Michael Isaac Neary, a Technician in the Southeast Directions, and known as Mr. Slow. A husband, a father, a brother, a brother-in-law, a son, and a friend. More than ever, he was a bringer of justice.

“I’m good with it,” he said, rising to make more waffles for breakfast for his family.

Cherry sat watching in amazement at the transformation in her family. The scared rabbit Helen always seemed to be the confident woman preparing for something new in her life. Everything she said she never wanted appeared to be exactly everything she needed to be happy. For the first time in her life, she was just that, happy.

“I’m good with it,” she said, watching her husband smiling as he went to the kitchen. She would have a great life. Well, after her come to Jesús meeting. However, that was tomorrow.

-Fin -

Epilogue

Shawnee Township, Indiana

The ride to Shawnee Township wasn’t a very pleasant drive. Cherry sat on the back seat of the Ford F-150, uncertain if it would have to be returned if she were deactivated, or if Helen were given her role in The Company if the lease of the vehicle would be transferred to her cousin. Either way, her foot hurt and she was nervous. She hated being nervous because then she got that funky sweat in her armpits that smelled like she’d been eating garlic knots all day followed by a jar of kimchi. Helen also sensed something was bothering her cousin.

“That Bleu Neary is something, isn’t he?” Helen said. “Did I hear him say he would bring his crew back to do a room extension and build a nursery for Luke?”

“Yeah, ain’t that some shit? He is coming to build a living space for a person who is still developing into a little minion to fill diapers up with shit,” Cherry said, looking down at her foot.

“You don’t want the pregnancy, Abi?”

“Hell yeah, I want this child, but not really relishing the idea of being pregnant again,” she told her. “There should be pods, you know, like with peas. I drop in an egg, he comes behind me, and squirts in the pod, and nine months later, we have another Neary. I shouldn’t have to earn stretch marks and saggy tits for the job.”

Helen didn’t like it when her cousin was like this. They had come so far, had been blessed with so much, and as always, the pretty girl was whining about her hunk of a man giving her everything she’d ever wanted in life. In the meantime, Helen lived in the backyard like the hired help. She wasn’t envious by any means, but her cousin could be an ungrateful bitch.

“Well, at least this time you don’t have to work while you’re pregnant,” Helen said. “Remember the one job you took whenyou were seven months along because the deep freezer was nearly empty? Those days are behind you.”

“There is that,” Cherry said, shifting. “I don’t mean to be bitchy, but this meeting is unprecedented.”

“I think, having a nursery for a child born in our family is unprecedented,” Helen said, changing the subject. “This time, you will have a rocking chair, a changing table, a mini library, and stacks of disposable diapers. You don’t have to wash cloth diapers anymore. You also get to be a stay-at-home mother.”

“Yeah, also there’s that,” Cherry said. “I mean, what am I going to do being at home all day with a small child?”

“Take some online cooking classes,” Helen said. “Also, maybe it’s time to think about getting that real estate license you said you once wanted, or learn to paint, sketch, skeet ball shoot, whatever you want. This is a new life for you, for us. Are you afraid to be happy?”

“I am happy, but I’m scared. I’m scared of this meeting. I’m scared of waking up one day and he’s changed his mind and wants four more kids,” Cherry confessed.

“Was that your reluctance in telling him about Naomi?”

Cherry shifted in the back seat. She leaned forward an inch as she spoke, “No, there are a lot of rules to being a Technician, Helen. One, you don’t have kids, and two, you don’t make kids with other Technicians. We broke the rules and we could have lost our lives in doing so, therefore, take caution with Mustang. Yeah, he’s family, but he’s a Technician.”

“I can’t make kids with him.”

“Yes, but you can distract him and become his liability. If he has something to lose, then his effectiveness is hindered,” she explained.

“Noted. And your fear about this meeting?”

“I’ve never been to one before. I don’t know the other Fruits, only by handles; this is new to all of us. Be on your toes and ready for anything,” Cherry said. “Do you have your knives?”

“Yes,” she said. “Ironically, the one night I didn’t have them on me was the night The Collector grabbed me. If I’d had my knives, the story would have been different.”

“Not by much; a man like that sets his cap, a man like that makes it fit,” Cherry said.

The silence returned as they approached the exit in Shawnee. Helen, having learned to read her cousin better than she ever could any man, shifted the energy in the vehicle. She’d always been a calming balm for Cherry, who seldom relaxed and was often on edge. Being married to Michael smoothed her out around the edges. Helen took the time to soothe the beast.

Helen said, “I think a soft sage green would be a nice color for the nursery. Where is it going to go again?”

“Bleu is going to knock out the closets between our bedroom and the guestroom to make a walkway. The nursery, or at least half of the space, will be the nursery, and the other part will serve as a playroom. Once Luke grows into a toddler, the nursery becomes his bedroom. I think Bleu mentioned adding a Jack and Jill bathroom,” Cherry said, fidgeting in the back seat.

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