Memories from a Different Future: Jump When Ready, Book 2 (8 page)

“We don’t know how much we can do,” Nikki said. “But
we’re thinking we’ll need all the help we can get.”

Both Henry and Jamie nodded in agreement. Simon glanced
around, surprised.

“Really?” he said. “I mean, I’m absolutely happy to help
but I’m not sure exactly what I can do. How did you guys do it before? I mean,
did you just know somehow that the moment was right or that someone might
happen to notice you? I remember one time—back when I was just a kid—that I
could have sworn someone was standing right—”

Finally, Nikki, Jamie and Henry all turned and said,
“Shut up, Simon!” at the same time. Nikki couldn’t help crack a smile. Henry
and Jamie both laughed and fist-bumped.

“What?” Simon said, but the look in his eyes told that
part of him understood too. Simon had the whole Simon thing down and he was
definitely good at it.

Naomi wiped tears from her cheeks. “What can we do?”

“That’s just it,” Nikki said. “We don’t know yet. But can
you totally stay on the radar?” She shot a look at Simon, then brought her eyes
back to Naomi’s. “When we need you, we might need you really fast.”

“Of course,” Naomi said. “Anything I can do. We just have
to stop this from happening.”

Nikki brought her attention to Simon again, which
flustered him a little. She couldn’t deny it—she really did enjoy messing with
him. “So stay focused.”

“Definitely,” Simon said, his gaze for once serious.

“Then we go from here,” Nikki said. “That’s all we can
do.”

~~~

They knew what they were in for crossing over with the hope
of intervening. If they got enough involved it could mean days without sleep,
even the possibility of ghosting out. With that in mind, they decided to rest
up for two hours first while Simon kept an eye on Earth time to make sure they
didn’t sleep for days or weeks.

Henry, Jamie and Simon left the kitchen but Nikki
lingered while Naomi washed her dishes. Part of her meant it as a
kindness—after all, it didn’t seem fair to just walk out and leave her to clean
up alone. But Nikki also sensed that it might be a good opportunity to talk to
Naomi. She felt bad about it but she really didn’t spend much time with her
alone and it seemed like lately Naomi might just need another woman to talk to.
Even as she thought it, Nikki paused in thought. Woman, not girl. Was she
herself somehow becoming a woman finally? Was that even possible here?

“Everything okay?” Nikki said, as Naomi scrubbed a bowl
in the sink. Nikki knew that, of course, she didn’t have to do that. But she
also supposed that this kitchen was Naomi’s version of her own garden. A place
to create things and at least sometimes be alone.

Naomi nodded, stopping to gaze down into the foamy suds.
“I guess. I’m happy to try and help, if that’s what you mean.”

“I meant more, overall. You never mentioned those
nightmares before. Are they new?”

“Kind of,” Naomi said. “At least, I’ve had them more
lately. Whatever lately means.”

Nikki couldn’t help smile. “Good point. But, say, within
the last ten years or so?”

Naomi smiled too. “Yes, definitely.”

“Wow, so they’re new!”

Naomi laughed and reached for a towel to dry her bowl.
“Like they came out of nowhere!”

Nikki burst out laughing.  It wasn’t like she’d never
laughed at anything Naomi said before but this time it felt different. She
wasn’t laughing at the words of a little kid, she realized. Naomi might still
be in the body of a girl but that was a totally teenage attitude she’d just
heard.

“Why do you think you’ve just started having them?”

Naomi went about drying her spatulas and mixing spoons,
carefully shining each before placing them back into the drawer where she kept
them. Nikki suspected she was taking her time to think before answering.

“I’m not sure. But there’s something else.” Naomi turned
and their eyes met. “Lately, I’ve been thinking about them more. My family. I
mean, my mother and father. I didn’t have a sister like you did.”

“Do you wish you had?” Nikki said, the words just coming
to her, somehow knowing.

Naomi hesitated, then nodded. “Yes, I think so. I never
went back, you know.”

Nikki had never been entirely sure but she’d suspected.
It seemed strange, given how much longer Naomi had been here in Earth time. But
then she’d been so young when it happened. She wasn’t sure what to say.

“I never found out,” Naomi said. “I mean, what happened
to them. If they ever had another child. Or maybe even more. Do you suppose
it’s possible?”

Again, Nikki wasn’t sure how to respond. She wasn’t sure
if Naomi would feel better knowing her parents went on with their lives after
she’d left them or if it would be too painful for her to realize that, at some
point, they might have had to shift their focus onto someone new.

“Would you be okay with it?” Nikki said.

“I think so,” Naomi said, her voice small again. The
little girl’s voice Nikki knew. “Yes, I think it would have been for the
better.”

Nikki couldn’t stop herself. She went to Naomi and put
her arm around her shoulders. When Naomi turned, Nikki wrapped her into a hug.

After a moment, Naomi drew away and dried her eyes with
the back of her hand. “The dreams aren’t so bad. Usually, I have better ones.
Do you ever, well, think about it? I mean, what it felt like to die.”

Nikki shook her head. “Not very often. I used to. These
days, I’ve been sort of, I don’t know, too busy I guess.” Which wasn’t entirely
true. There had been a time when she’d had to make herself stop thinking about
it. Not the day when her life ended but more how angry she’d been about not
getting to go where she’d thought she was going. But lately she’d been thinking
about a different direction entirely.

As if Naomi read her mind, she asked, “Do you think about
going back again? Do you feel ready yet?”

Nikki thought for a moment, then said, “More lately. But
I’m not sure I’m ready.”

“What do you think it takes?”

A simple question but at the same time the only question.
This time, Nikki felt her eyes start to fill and she had to look away before
Naomi noticed. She gazed out the window to where sun shined on a patch of
wildflowers that she felt sure originated somehow from Naomi’s imagination. At
first, she didn’t think she’d have an answer but she did.

“The need,” Nikki said. Even as she said it, she knew the
truth of it. The need for more.

Naomi untied her apron, took it off and hung it on the
hook near the back door. “What do you mean?”

Nikki thought for a moment. “The need to see how the rest
of it goes next time.” She wasn’t sure if she should add more.

“Like maybe to grow up?” Naomi said.

Nikki nodded.

“Maybe get married and have a family some day?”

Clearly, Naomi had thought about similar things. Again,
Nikki nodded.

It was like Naomi read Nikki’s mind when she asked, “But
we must have before, right?”

Nikki had definitely thought about that from time to
time. Why didn’t they remember the other lives? She’d figured that’s how it was
meant to be, at least for a while. Clearly, the others didn’t either or they
would have mentioned it by now. Nikki had no doubt there was a reason behind
it—one that maybe Martha understood at least to some degree—and this time she
didn’t resent it. Something told her it just wasn’t something they were ready
to handle. At least, not yet.

“I guess we must have lived other lives,” Nikki said.
“It’s weird to think about, isn’t it?”

Naomi surprised her by giggling. “I’m pretty sure I got
fat before. Like, really fat.”

It was hard to imagine, looking at Naomi. She was such a
little bird of a girl, short and thin with long blonde hair and big brown eyes.
“Like maybe you loved to bake and couldn’t stop eating since all your cakes and
cookies were so good?”

“Exactly!” Naomi said.

A smile spread across Nikki’s face as she imagined Naomi
a plump woman, hair tied back in a bun, stomach and bosom bulging against an
apron.

“Then you might as well keep going for it while you’re
here,” Nikki said. “I mean, I guess you could
choose
to look chubby if
you felt like it but otherwise you’re safe.”

“Yeah, I think for now I’ll just keep the eating part,”
Naomi said, making Nikki laugh again. “What about you? What do you imagine?”

“I don’t know…” Nikki said. “I bet I was like this total
old spinster, cat lady.”

Naomi burst out laughing. “No way! I bet you were a
model. And the boys—well, I guess they must have been men—totally
adored
you.”

Nikki’s face grew warm. Still, she had to smile. “Not likely.
I probably wandered the streets talking to myself and forgot to take baths.”

“Yeah, right. I bet you had a boyfriend who looked just
like Henry. He’s cute, don’t you think?”

Nikki hesitated. “Do you think so?” She glanced out at
those wildflowers again. “I could totally see you two together.”

“Ew, not for me!” Naomi looked around to be sure, then
lowered her voice. “Boys are kind of gross. But maybe for you. You like him,
don’t you?”

Nikki busied her hands by reaching for the tin foil Naomi
had left on the counter. She rolled out a sheet to cover the brownies. “Not my
type,” she said.

“Oh, okay. Just a thought. Never mind.”

Nikki placed the tin foil over the brownies.

“I think I might have one of those,” Naomi said.

“Yeah, me too,” Nikki said.

“I’ll get the milk,” Naomi said.

Out Of Reach

The rain had never bothered Emilio
growing up but these days it did. Sometimes, it felt like the world just kept
closing in and getting darker. At least in the spring and summer, you got to
look off into the distance and imagine what might be happening in those other
neighborhoods on distant hills. Sure, that usually involved imagining lives way
better than his but at least he got to imagine those lives. Right now, there
was just the four of them in Diego’s car, the cloud of weed and cigarette smoke
swirling around them and the rain obscuring any possible view outside the
windshield.

“So, what’s the plan, bro?” Diego said.

Emilio had been trying not to think about his plan but it
hadn’t exactly gone that way. Instead, he’d thought about pretty much nothing
but both last night and all through the day. Now, he had a gun in his backpack,
which Diego had just passed off to him.

Still, Emilio played it cool. It wasn’t like he had a
choice. “Keeping it a secret for now.” He offered Diego a grin that he knew
would totally piss him off.

Sure enough, Diego frowned and his eyes went hard.
“What’s that about, you don’t trust us?”

Emilio laughed, not because he found anything funny. Just
because it always felt good to mess with Diego. “Of course, I trust you, homes.
Who wouldn’t trust you, right?”

Ramiro and Luce laughed from the back seat but it was
nervous laughter. After all, Marcos had once trusted Diego to have his back.

“Okay, keep your little secret, Mealy. But you sure as
shit better not pussy out.”

“Have I ever?” Emilio said. Which was safe to say since
he never had. He’d scrapped with rivals twice his size in the past—not always
winning—but always holding his own. Marcos had taught him well. Part of his
legacy, which Emilio wouldn’t be passing on to Javier. No way. He’d much rather
Javier got his ass kicked a million times than end up in a car on a rainy day
smoking weed with a bunch of losers. Himself included.

“Remember what happened to Martinez,” Luce said from the
back.

True enough, last year Juan Martinez hadn’t come through
on his birthday. He’d gotten cold feet at the last moment and tried to run.
Emilio could relate but also see how pointless that attempt at escape had been
since obviously there was nowhere to go. A year later, he still walked with a
limp. That might get better eventually but the scars on his face were staying
for life.

“Plus, you want your little bro to admire you, right?”
Diego’s turn to grin. “Javier has a future with us. You need to show him the
ropes, homes.”

Somehow, he knew. Emilio felt sure of it. Diego might not
even consciously be aware but he’d been born with predator instincts. Any
weakness and he’d sniff it out.

“Yeah, Javier has a future,” Emilio said. “I’m making
sure of that.”

“Good for you, homes.” Diego took one last hit off the
joint, rolled his window down and flicked what was left outside into the rain.
He started the car and put it into drive. “Can’t wait to hear about your
surprise, birthday boy.”

~~~

That night, Emilio made dinner for
Javier and then they watched some shows together. A Friday, just the two of
them while their mother pulled another shift feeding people who didn’t even
have to think twice about going out to eat. Sometimes, she brought stuff home
if her boss was in a good mood. Not bad, about to turn soon probably, but
Emilio couldn’t remember the last time he’d sat in an actual restaurant. Ten
years ago, maybe. Tonight he’d just made a couple of burgers and Javier didn’t
complain. He never did.

Emilio called it at eleven, telling Javier he had to go
to bed.

“Oh, come on,” Javier said. “It’s still early.”

Emilio tousled his hair. “Not so early. You need to get
some sleep. I’m right behind you.”

“Why do you get to stay up?”

Emilio couldn’t help smile. “Because I’m the big bro.”

“When do I get to be the big bro?”   

Emilio looked at him and squinted. “Do you really want to
be looking after someone like yourself?”

Javier thought for a moment. “Nope. I don’t think so.”

“Exactly. Now, go brush the teeth.”

Emilio waited half an hour, watching an old show he
didn’t care about, keeping the volume low and listening to be sure Javier was
asleep. Finally, he got up, went into the kitchen and took the gun out of his
backpack. He sat at the kitchen table, thinking about where he could hide it
for a couple of days. Someplace high, way out of Javier’s reach, that was for
sure. There was no way he’d be stupid enough to let something like that happen.
The way he figured it, Javier was the only one of them that actually mattered now.
As for himself—he didn’t have a future. Emilio was grateful that right now he
was alone. At least, no one could see him as he let his head drop and the tears
came.