Earth Blend (5 page)

Tina, a teacher's
assistant,
took special interest in Laney
after the little girl healed her of a
hernia
she had been dealing with. Tina watched in
confusion as Laney doubled over in pain after touching her arm.
Within a minute the child appeared fine.

"What just
happened?" Tina asked.

Laney smiled.
"It's okay. You won't have any more pain; I fixed you."

"How...what?"

Laney shrugged.
"Can we have a snack now? I'm hungry."

"Laney? How did
you fix me?"

"I took your
pain."

Tina just kept
staring at her.

"Are you mad at
me?" Laney asked.

Tina knelt down
next to her. "No... no, I'm not mad. I guess I'm just trying to
understand what happened.

"I'm not supposed
to talk about it. My daddy would get scared if I did."

"Scared?" Tina was
surprised at her choice of words. "Don't you mean mad?"

"No." Laney shook
her head. "He doesn't get mad, just scared."

"I... I won't say
anything. It'll be our secret." Tina assured her.

Laney nodded.

"Okay. Come on.
Let's get back to class."

The rest of the
day progressed normally. Laney kept looking over at Tina throughout
the day. Tina would smile at her each time their eyes met. Tina's
hours were usually after drop-off and before pick-up. She decided
to stay late to catch a glimpse of Laney's Father.

"Daddy!" Laney
squealed
, running to her Father.

"Hey Pumpkin!"
Trevor replied, scooping her up into his arms. "How was your
day?"

"Good. Can we stop
by the nursing home before dinner?"

"You want to check
on Mrs. Tanner?"

Laney nodded and
giggled.

Tina watched them
and smiled. They seemed like a normal Dad and daughter. She took
notice of how attractive Trevor was. Tall, with short light brown
hair. A five-o'clock shadow just accentuated his bright smile and
beautiful blue eyes. Looking from Laney to Trevor she guessed the
little girl must
resemble
her mother.
Laney's hair was
long, a dark chestnut color, and
her eyes were a deep brown.

After her Father
put her down, Laney took his hand and pulled him over to Tina.
"Daddy, this is my friend Tina."

Trevor extended
his hand. "Hello Tina. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you
too. Laney is a special little girl."

"Yes... yes she
is." Trevor replied, looking down at Laney.

Laney looked up at
him, biting her lip.

"Well, we should
be going. Have a great evening." Trevor said as he left with Laney.
He walked with his little girl to the car in silence. He strapped
her into her car seat. "Something you want to tell me?" He
asked.

Laney knew that
her Father had figured out what she had done. "Daddy, don't be
scared. She was in pain and she's my friend. I had to help her. She
promised to keep it a secret."

"Laney." Trevor
sighed. He knew it wasn't her fault. Her abilities were not fully
in her control. She had many special gifts. The Lure ability is
what drew people to her but it also drew her to them. "I know you
need to help people, but we have talked about this."

"I don't have to
change schools again, do I? I like it here."

"I can't risk
people knowing what you can do, Pumpkin. They won't
understand."

"Can I at least
finish the week?" She asked sadly. "We are supposed to go to the
zoo on Friday.

Trevor knew this
was difficult for Laney. They have had to change schools frequently
because of her delayed aging. She had only been at this school a
few weeks. "It will take me a few days to get you registered
somewhere else, so, yes. Do not tell them you will be leaving. The
least amount of questions the better."

"Thank you,
Daddy."

Trevor kissed her
on the forehead and got behind the wheel.

"Can we still see
Mrs. Tanner?" She asked.

Trevor laughed.
"Sure."

Tina went home
that night very excited. She couldn't wait to share her newly
learned secret with her boyfriend. Her
exuberance
was shattered when she walked in to an all
too familiar sight. "Johnny! Come on! It's only six o'clock and
you're already drunk."

"So what? I break
my butt all day long to pay those sons a
–
"

"Your bookies. I
know. I hear the same sob story every day. Why can't you just tell
them you don't have the money... or make payment arrangements?"
Tina's good mood was rapidly fading.

"Payment
arrangements? Are you insane?" Johnny stood up and pointed to his
left arm that was encased in a cast and sling. "There's your
payment arrangements! They broke my arm because I didn't have the
money!"

Tina rushed over
to him. "Oh my God, Johnny! How is breaking your arm going to get
them money?"

"Drugs. They made
me sell the medicine I got at the hospital and then took the
money."

"So now they have
you dealing? Johnny, this is insane. We have to go to the
police."

"And tell them
what? That I owe my bookie money. I'm sure the cops will be real
sympathetic."

Tina knew Johnny
was right. The cops would just throw him in jail. "What can we
do?"

Suddenly, there
was a knock at the door. "Great. What now?" Tina walked over to the
door and opened it. On the other side stood three men.

"You must be
Tina." One of them said before strolling in.

The other two
followed. One of the men hung back and closed the door. He removed
a pistol from his pocket and grinned at Tina.

She ran over
beside Johnny. "What's happening?"

"What do you want?
I did everything you asked."

"Everything except
pay me the money you owe, Johnny-boy." One of the men said. He
walked around the couple's apartment looking at their meager
belongings. "You ain't got squat to sell either." He looked at
Tina. "You work at that kid care place. Anything there you can
swipe and sell to pay off your man's debt?"

"You're crazy. I
would never steal from my employer."

The man backhanded
Tina across the face. She cried out and grabbed her face. Johnny
made a move to go to her but was restrained by another man.

The abuser grabbed
Tina's arm and pulled her closer to him. "You want to try answering
that question again?"

Tina looked up at
him, horrified.

He pushed her down
on the sofa. "Okay, so here's the plan. Tomorrow you're going to go
to your work and hope you can find enough crap to sell and get the
five thousand dollars your boyfriend here owes my boss."

"Five thousand?"
Tina looked at Johnny who hung his head in shame.

"Going to be a fun
night." The man laughed. "Now be a dear and make us something to
eat."

That night was the
longest of Tina's life.

The next morning
she tried to avoid going to work but soon realized resistance was
not an option. The bully
accompanied
her
to work. "There are going to be questions if I go in looking like
this." Tina said. She had used makeup to hide some of the
bruises
she had received but the injuries
were evident. She had found out just how easily upset these men
got.

"Tell them you got
into a fight with a wall... and the wall won. I'll be right out
here waiting for you."

Tina walked in
slowly. The day was already in full swing.

"Tina! You're
late. You know I need you here by
–
"
Margaret stopped talking when she saw Tina. "Oh my God! What
happened?"

"I'm sorry Maggie.
I kind of had a run in with a wall. It was stupid really. I mean
one minute I'm just walking and then, boom, there's a wall." Tina
talked rapidly.

Margaret rushed
over to her. "Did you go to the doctor?"

"Um, no."

"Go, go now. I'll
call a sub."

"No... it's okay.
I'll be fine."

"Tina, it's not a
request. Go to the doctor."

Before Tina could
respond, the sound of a child crying could be heard behind them.
"Go." Margaret ordered her as she went to attend to the crying
child.

Tina was in a
panicked state. She scrambled for an excuse but could only come up
with one. "I need to get my check." She hoped that if she gave the
man her paycheck that maybe it would appease him.

"It's in the
office. Get it and go." Maggie said distractedly. She had a room
full of children to attend to.

Tina walked into
the office and found her check in an envelope on the desk. It was
at this time Laney peeked into the office.

"Miss Tina?"

Tina jumped at the
sound of her voice. "Laney, sweetie... go back with Miss Maggie. I
have to
–
"

"You're hurt."
Laney
interrupted
. She came into the
office.

Tina hung her head
as the sadness of her situation enveloped her.

Laney walked over
to her. Tina knelt down with tears in her eyes. The little girl
placed her hand on Tina's arm. A tingling sensation radiated
through the young woman's body. Tina felt the pain of her injuries
leave her. Moments later, Laney covered her face with her hands and
whimpered
briefly. Tina placed her hands
on Laney's shoulders.

"Laney?" She
asked, the concern for her student evident.

Laney lowered her
hands and smiled, "It's all better."

"What the heck
just happened?" A voice from behind them said.

Tina stood and
looked alarmingly at Steve, the man who had
accompanied
her to work.

Steve looked back
and forth between Laney and Tina.

Laney reached up
and grabbed Tina's hand. She sensed Tina's nervousness about the
man in the doorway.

Steve stalked over
to them. He grabbed Tina's chin and turned her face side to
side.

"Stop. You're
hurting her." Laney said.

Steve let go of
Tina's chin and knelt down in front of Laney. "What's your name,
sweetheart?"

"Laney." She
answered,
snuggling closer to Tina's
leg.

"Laney, go back to
class." Tina urged.

"What just
happened? Your teacher's boo-boos are all gone." Steve asked. He
had a young daughter at home and knew how to talk to them.

Laney kept
silent.

Tina thrust her
check at Steve. "Here. It's my check. Take it."

Steve stood and
opened the envelope. "It's not enough." He spied similar envelopes
on the desk and snatched them up and pocketed them. He then pointed
to the safe in the office. "Open it. I want my money."

"You have five
hundred and thirty-four dollars in your wallet. That's a lot of
money. Why do you need more?" Laney asked him.

Both Tina and
Steve looked wide-eyed at Laney.

Steve took out his
wallet and counted the bills inside. "How did you know how much
money was in my wallet?"

Tina had no idea
how Laney knew, but when the little girl looked at her, Tina shook
her head from side to side.

Steve caught the
silent signal from Tina. He pulled out his gun and pointed it at
Tina. "Somebody better tell me."

Laney tugged on
his jacket. "Please don't hurt her. I'll tell you."

Steve turned
toward Laney. He lowered the gun but did not put it away. "I'm
listening."

Laney knew her
father would not be happy if she talked about the numbers that she
could see. Looking at the man with the gun, her
decision
was made. "I see them... the numbers. I can
see the dollars in your wallet. They are just there." She watched
both of their faces and saw the confusion. She looked around the
office to find another way to explain it. Her eyes fell on the
safe. "See the safe, I can see the numbers; the combination."

Steve looked at
her doubtfully. "So, open it."

Laney paused. "You
promise you won't hurt her if I do?"

Steve laughed. "I
like this kid. She is a negotiator. All right, I promise I won't
hurt her if you open the safe."

Laney nodded and
walked over to the safe. She opened it with ease following the
combination of numbers she saw. Once opened, she stepped away from
the safe and looked at the two adults.

Steve stared
incredulously
at the little girl before
walking over and looking in the safe. He took a few items from it
before closing it. "Let's go." He said, grabbing Laney's hand.

It was at that
moment that Margaret walked into the office. "What's going on?" She
asked looking from Steve to Tina. "Laney? What are you doing in
here? And who are you?"

"I'm a friend of
Tina's," Steve explained. He had already secured the gun in the
back of his pants beneath his jacket. "I'm taking her to the
doctors. Little Laney here said she didn't feel well so Tina asked
if we could take her home on the way."

Margaret had a
puzzled look on her face. "I'm sorry... what did you say your name
was? Laney, come here sweetie." Margaret said.

Steve reluctantly
let go of Laney's hand as the little girl walked over to
Margaret.

"Laney, go back to
class. I'll be right in." She instructed.

Laney looked
nervously at Tina before doing as Margaret said.

Once Laney was
gone, Margaret said,"Tina knows that taking a child home is not
allowed." She looked at Tina.

"You're right.
I... I don't know what I was thinking." Tina said.

Steve remained
quiet.

Margaret tilted
her head and looked at Tina. "Wow, you... your face... it looks...
better."

Steve used this
moment to jump back into the conversation. "Yea, but I'm still
taking her to the doctor. You know how these head injury things are
and all." He stated, turning to Tina and grabbing her arm. "We
should get going." He gave her a stern look that communicated his
warning for her to follow him unconditionally.