Accidents Happen

Chapter 6 - No Rest for the Wicked

    After my revelation, I had no idea how to tell him. I had no idea what to say. Just when starting to date appealed to me, I had no footing or leverage for him. I felt helpless. Helpless and useless. Definite tequila moment. I grabbed my winnings and poured a very generous shot into my cola.

    I took a swig straight from the bottle as well, and looked at Jason.  "Who ... no, actually, WHAT are you? The obsession with 'human' and 'humanity' in the list is a little over the top. Too much of a coincidence.  Just too much. Oh, do you want some?" I gestured with the bottle at him.  "Right now, I don't think there is enough alcohol in the world for me."

    "No, thanks. I think I better keep an eye on you tonight."

    "I just can't help."

    "You don't need to, remember? I said no to the trust. It has been revoked."

    "Nuh-uh. I asked you a question. We can't digress yet. What are you?"

    "Why do you ask?"

    "I am not recapping tonight again! I need you to say it out loud."

    "I am a half-human."

    "What, exactly, is the other half?"

    "You won't believe it."

    "Try me."

    "Hephaestus."

    "Not Zeus?"

    "What"

    "I just figured precognition would come from Zeus. Besides, he couldn't keep it in his pants."

    "That isn't how inherited traits work. Didn't you pay attention in biology?"

    "Meh. I tuned out when they said brown eyes were dominant over blue eyes.  I know too many people with blue eyes that have one brown eyed parent."

    "But that's the example right there. I didn't get the presumed dominant trait.  My career decision is based on my natural math abilities and my culture of building things with my mom. I have weird understandings because of a god father."

    "Oh. I hadn't thought of that. Or, at least, that way."

    "Most people don't. I live with it."

    "What is it like feeling things in the air?'

    "It's like the air becomes electric, but not strongly, just a little prickle all over my skin."

    "What kinds of things do you feel?"

    "Usually god presences, sometimes danger. Like Spidey-sense, I guess."

    "Cool. I have a web-swinger in my presence." I grinned at him.

    "Ha ha. I am laughing inside, where it counts." He deadpanned for about five seconds. My smile shook his demeanor, he grinned.

    I thought about how to word my question to avoid the block. My smile must have dropped, because his did, too.

    "I have another question about the feelings.  Is it different when you feel danger?"

    "It is. I actually see things I can't see when it is danger. The steak knife on the tray was clear and pushed deliberately from far away. I saw a hand on it before it was ... well ... thrown at you."

    "What kind of hand?"

    "A thin, wrinkled woman's hand."

    "So old skin."

    "It was kind of hard to tell ... It looked like a dream feels, and the prickling was hot, almost painful."

    "Okay. I am fighting against denial. I know what you are saying IS true, because I saw it. But I keep wanting a RATIONAL explanation." I took another long drink from my tequila-cola. Drinking alcohol through a straw is a unique experience. "It's like this drink. I know I put alcohol in the drink, I taste the alcohol in the drink, but I expect just cola because it is in a fast-food cup. Every sip is a surprise."

    Jason laughed. He had a deep, full, warm laugh. I wanted to hear more of it. Maybe with my head on his bare chest.

    NOPE! Don't go there. Too dangerous. Especially since he decided I am the one for him.

    That list. How could he possibly think that list is me? I am not beautiful. I do sing well, but I cannot compare to mythical creatures that apparently are real.  I cannot negotiate for several hours! I did speech and debate in high school, took second at state, even. Three years ago!

    "You okay?" Jason worried. "Your smile evaporated."

    "Yeah. It's just alot, you know?"

    "I know. Do you want me to go and give you time to process? It took me a week to believe that the ..." he pressed his lips together tightly, "jerk who abandoned my mom was an all-powerful immortal god." It sounded like an insult when he said "god". "I still struggle with anger issues. I am so thankful for my mother. She raised me to be respectful, smart, and caring. But when I think," his face got redder by the second, "about that disrespectful jerk and how he manipulated my mother ... Well, I want to know how to kill a god."

    "Jason?" I asked.

    "Yes."

    "Want a sip of my tequila-cola?"

    "No. But I will take a hit off the bottle." I handed him the bottle and he took a swig.

    "Tell me what you know about Hephaestus. Not the myths, your actual experiences."

    He looked confused, but calmer. "What do you mean?"

    "How did your mom meet him?"

    "Mom said she was working on an oil rig northeast of Denver when a thunderstorm broke out.  She had to finish her weld in the rain, and was running for shelter, when a man appeared in front of her and told her to wait."

    "Wait for what?" I prompted.

    He smiled. "That's what my mom asked, too. The man told her to watch and gestured toward her car. She saw blue flickering lights between her and the car. She looked at him, and he said for her to be safe and left."

    "Wait. Then how did they get together?" I asked, really wanting the whole story.

    "That night, he was standing outside her work building, holding her time card.  She told me that he needed a welder who could keep the work confidential. She asked what he could pay, and told him that would make the difference to her. He told her that he knew better. That she needed a house in a safe community AND a better wage. He told her she needed a high-paying contract to get the pay her work deserved because she was a woman. Once she had the "right address" and a higher paid work history, she would get paid what she was worth."

    "Did it work?"

    "Yeah. Mom was able to retire last year at forty-five. She is now sculpting. That's what she always wanted to do."

    "What did she have to make?"

    "Mom never said. She did say Fes bought her the house I was raised in outright, in her name. Oh. And that the contract was government and Fes headed the project. She was the only welder and worked directly with the engineers."

    "Wow. Just wow. How did they connect?"

    "At the end of the contract, Fes took mom to dinner. She said it was the first time she had talked to him as a person. She liked him. She said he used a cane and had a leg brace from a childhood accident. He was far from handsome, but listened and asked questions like he understood her. They dated, mom said, for about six months. Then he asked her for more."

    "More? More what?"

    "Intimacy, I guess. They started a physical relationship. She said he was so happy when she turned up pregnant. He was with her for every appointment, took her to and from work, renegotiated a contract so she got a full year at home with me after I was born. Then he came to her and said he had been called home and had to leave. He gave her the details of the revocable trust, and asked her to sign them. He told her he would always love her, then left."

    "What an ass."

    "Ass hat all around."

    'It sounded like he really loved your mom, but he just left her all alone with a baby. It just doesn't make sense.  I just don't get it." I thought for a few seconds, "I think I don't get any of this."

    "Me, too,"

    "No help, Jason."

    "Sorry, Charity. How can I help?"

    "Let me jot down an outline of events. Correct me on any errors. Okay?"

    "Okay."

    "So after you were born your dad left right away. Your mom raised you to be a math lover and you were born with an ability to ... um ... understand? people by touching their picture." I hesitated.

    "Right."

    "After you touched ... wait. I am out of order here. You heard from your dad with him telling you that you had to get married. After he talked to you, you saw a lawyer. All correct?"

    "All correct."

    "How did you get the revocable trust agreement? Did your dad give it to you when he told you that you had to get married to a terrorist?"

    "Yeah."

    "What was it like meeting him after all these years?"

    "You mean after I overcame my desire to cut off his hair and make him eat it?" I stared at him, he sighed. "It was awful. If anything could have made it worse, I have no idea what it would have been."

    "What happened?"

    "He went to my mom's house during the first week of classes and had her call me to come home. She told me to come home over the weekend because she had important information and someone to meet. It seems Hephaestus was happy with that because he boned my mom for a week." Jason's face was getting red and his jaw muscles were jumping as he talked. "I really want to kill him, but he is immortal. Do you know how much it sucks to want to kill an immortal?" I shook my head. "Really bad. It sucks like a Kirby. As soon as he was with my mom, she gave right in.  She STILL loves him. After all the s**t he put her through. He just uses her and throws her away when he chooses. He's ... he's a BUTT!" Jason shouted the last word.

    "Wow. Take a breath." I took a drink of my tequila-cola. He grabbed the bottle and took a swig.

    "He's an asshole. You know what he told me?" He took another swig.

    "No. But maybe tequila ..."

    "He told me that I OWED HIM. That I should be grateful for what he had given me." He took another swig.  A really long one. His Adam's apple bounced four times. "All he gave me was a heartbroken mom and abandonment issues. " He hiccoughed.

    I took the bottle out of his hand, corked it and placed it back on the shelf.  I took a deep breath before turning around. When I looked at him again, he was looking at his shoes like a scolded child. With his perfect build, his black hair falling across his forehead and his hooked nose in silhouette against the sunset that outlined the mountains, I was left a little breathless. Definitely good looking. Bronco sunsets go perfectly with his looks, rugged and brilliant.

    I swallowed, took a breath and walked back to the table. I handed him his Five Guys cup and said, "Drink." He obeyed.I led him to the couch, turned him around and said, "Sit." He obeyed.

    He looked up at me, with a very long face and said, "I scared you and you hate me now."

    "No. Why do you think that?"

    "You got up so fast and jusht took it. I crossed some line because I was angry. Now you don't like me anymore and I need you." He looked at me with damp lashes. My heart cracked a little and I sat next to him. "My mom tol' me my temper would cosht me. I don' wan' it to cosht me you." I patted his knee, and he grabbed my hand. "I tink Imma drunks ... "

    I nodded. "That's why I took the bottle and put it away. We don't need you to have alcohol poisoning."

    I Lorves you. As shoon as I touched your picshure I knew you were it fer mee.  Imma kinda dizzy." His head flopped back on the couch and he promptly passed out.

    "So much for getting a timeline, I grumbled.

    I got in my pajamas and went to bed.