The Hubby Hold (IQ Testing Book 2) (6 page)

Nephella blinks her eyelashes then fingers the sky, yelling. “Up there! There’s a large black round pod of something, floating down near us…”

Lamis gasps, studying the black object. “The large black round pod is a swarm of orchid bumblebee, coming down from the heavens,” she drops the arm bouquet. “They want the flowers. They are hunger for the pollen. The flowers are the food for the bees. That’s ‘the thing’ we gotta do, run from the attacking bees,” she yells, dashing back into the green room of mirrors.

Marsilla gasps and drops her arm bouquet, running behind Lamis.

Nephella laughs, pitching the lighted cigar into the flowers as it burns along with landing bees. She laughs then walks towards the green room of mirrors.

I gasp, studying the swarm of bees then walk backwards. I grab the flowers with both hands, saying. “Pick some flowers then drop onto the ground. That’s ‘the thing’ we do in order to reactive the chair and then return back into the Cubby Hole…”

Rincon studies the bees then Ketona. “I do not believe so.”

I slow my pace then frown with annoyance. “Then, stay and find out, when your fanny gets burned by the stinging of the me-chee chair. Then, ya get to fight with the bees over the flowers, too. Are you afraid of bees?” I swing around, running. I pick and drop the flowers running towards the green room of mirrors, along with the other screaming teens.

“Naw, only bee stings,” Rincon picks the flowers, running behind Ketona. He tosses them onto the ground.

I hit the floor then slide into my me-chee chair, being parked near the wall of mirrors.

Rincon drops the flowers, also, meeting the requirement of ‘the thing,’ exiting out of the current park place. He slides into his me-chee chair, on the other side of the room of mirrors, being second place to Marsilla.

I giggle at his intense competitive academic thoughts then the chair drops into darkness. I scream with fright from the surprise maneuver.

Chapter 6

Blue color tone

I slowly ascend into the room of blue, frowning with repeating annoyance of the Citizenship Day. I exhale, actually getting tired of the same floor space, with a different shade of color. I’m ready for Citizenship Day to end.

However, Buffo is still missing from my life and Duchie is missing from my life, too, since they both are inside the orange color tone. They are, together, inside the orange color tone.

My brain cells can’t stop thinking and repeating that sentence structure.

Duchie has purposefully gotten 50 percent incorrect answers, out of the four questions, so she could drop from the red color tone, and then land into the yellow color tone, where Buffo is trapped.

I sneer with fury.

Through the orange barrier wall, I saw Duchie, touching Buffo on the sail boat.

I snort with angry.

Rincon slides from his me-chee chair, being last, emerging from the green park place.

He stands then spins, smiling and waving at Ketona.

I sit inside the green shield. I sneer then snort then snarl with my animal sounds and animal emotions.

The me-chee stands, raising his arms. “Welcome back to the Cubby Hole, teens!”

Rincon frowns with disappointment, not talking with Ketona. He winks and smiles then swings around. He scoots into his me-chee chair for the blue color tone questions.

The me-chee says. “I hope you have enjoyed your fun in the sun. There is more fun to have, inside the rest of the color tones. Please sit back and relax into your assigned me-chee chair!” The green shields shimmer, around each teen, inside their me-chee chair. He says. “Close your eyelids! I will present the next series of academic questions for your individual answers. The time limit is fifteen seconds for each posed question. To remind, each schooler, again, for clarity of a proper verbal response, please state my answer is…then your vocal response. If you answer three-fourths, or more, of the academic questions, correctly, you will advance to the next color of blue. If you answer one-fourth, or less, you will remain stationary inside the color tone of green. If you, incorrectly, answer two-fourths of the academic questions, then you will slip back into the color of red. The first question, what is the color tone of the me-chee, inside the Cubby Hole, presently?”

I hold my breath, flexing my hands into white knuckled fists then relax my hands. I scan the rear end of the me-chee chair in front of me, belonging to Marsilla.

She is competing with Rincon for the first spot, inside the blue room of mirrors.

I giggle with amusement.

Marsilla should allow Rincon to land, first, since her love of flowers has been displayed or played.

‘Played’ is the correct word, here, since the Establishment is playing with our tiny minds and our teen hearts, with mean torture and wicked torment.

My heart is both aching and breaking. My mind is furious with my mixed emotions of hate, love, sadness, gladness, and fear.

Rincon’s fear was the ants. My fear was the knives. However, the first four park places were the simulated fears of the first landing me-chee chair, which was displayed within an individual park place. So, if Marsilla lands, first, then her fear will repeat.

I toss my hands, without any answer. The Cubby Hole is a series of stray responses to illogical movements. I hold my kneecaps with my eyelashes open and my neurons active.

Duchie is with Buffo inside the orange color tone.

There is only one more color tone left for me, the blue one, and then Citizenship Day will end. I exhale, shaking my curls. I whisper. “Wonder if, Rincon is wrong. Wonder if, Citizenship Day doesn’t end with him reaching the gold color tone. Wonder if, Buffo can still reach it, too, then we can be, together, working, as me-chee whatever positions. I’ll worry about that later. Yes, Buffo has to try, too. Duchie, she will not allow Buffo to try. She wants him stuck there. She wants him trapped, there, inside the orange color tone. Duchie has family there, too. Buffo has family there, too. They will be trapped, together, there too.” I gasp. “Fifteen seconds is almost up. My answer is…is…is…red,” exhaling with my wrong color of the me-chee.

I can’t believe, I say it. I say the wrong answer, for the first time, maybe, since the first grade while attending school. My BPs always smiled and clapped, when I got the correct answer.

I am so relieved that my BPs are not present, or watching me, during Citizenship Day.

So, I am 25 percent, negative. I need one more wrong answer, giving me a 50 percent, negative value, or meeting the rule of two-fourths wrong. Then, I will drop down into the red color tone.

However, I am still one more color tone away from Buffo. He’s inside the orange color tone, without me and with Duchie.

I snort with angry.

The me-chee says. “Musical discs for your cellie costs $3.00, or $5.00. If 50 musical discs were sold to you for a total of $230.00, how many musical discs were sold at $3.00?”

I exhale, smiling. I whisper. “This word problem is so simple. Buffo can answer this one, too. Yeah, he could. There are numerous methods for answering the correct response. The first method, if z represents the number of $3.00 musical discs sold, then 50-z represents the number of $5.00 musical discs sold. Then, the math equation is…”

3x + 5(50-x) = 230

3x + 250-5x = 230

20 = 2x

10 = x

“So, the mathematical solution is ten musical discs were sold at $3.00. There is a second method, too. If each musical disc costs $3.00, then $3.00 times 50 sold musical discs equals $150.00. The remaining $80 of the $230.00 would be the extra $2.00 from the $5.00 musical disc cost. Therefore, 40 musical discs were sold at $5.00. So, the last 10 musical discs, not identified were sold at the cost of $3.00. The mathematical solution is ten musical discs, again.” I exhale. “My answer is…is…red,” giggling.

I have provided, my second wrong answer, again. I’m standing at 50 percent, negative.

The me-chee says. “Organisms, that convert nitrogen-containing organic molecules into nitrates, are named with what term?”

I hum then grin, tapping my foot, slowly impatiently waiting for the elapse of deadline of fifteen seconds. I scan the room, looking empty, missing over 80 percent of the me-chee chairs and the associated teens.

I see the shielding change into blue for Marsilla, in front of my face.

Marsilla drops then disappears from the floor.

I gasp, smiling and nodding.

Rincon is missing, too. So, he dropped, before her. He is petting the puppy dogs, being the first me-chee chair, into the blue room of mirrors, if Rincon is telling the truth. His Citizenship question of fear was materialized, if I can use that word, inside the yellow color tone, in the format of gigantic snapping and hungry ants.

Therefore, he is the first me-chee chair, dropping down from the Cubby Hole, so his Citizenship questions of love appears, inside the blue color tone, baby doggie puppies.

I giggle, nodding with happiness for Rincon. Then, I exhale, shaking my legs with anxiousness. Rincon will notice, immediately, that I’m missing. I hope he isn’t angry, or mad, but I wanna be with Buffo.

Therefore, I plan to dash around the red color tone and do ‘the thing’ then leap from the red color tone. I will land, right back, into the Cubby Hole then answer two more questions, incorrectly. Then, I will drop into the orange color tone, planning to beat Duchie black and blue with my folded fists, seriously clasping with the orange color.

I giggle then snort.

The me-chee says. “A pole 18 meters tall is perpendicular to the ground. A wire 20 meters long extends from the top of the pole down to the ground. What is the angle of elevation to the nearest degree down towards the pole?”

I exhale, calming my racing heart and active mind. I don’t have to answer the fourth question, either, since I’ll be dropping down into the red color tone, pretty soon. I’m still one color tone behind Buffo.

I exhale, tapping my right boot, faster for the time expire, since the fifteen seconds are mentally clicking inside my mind and me-chee chair for the ending, without fanfare.

I exhale, shaking my curls, whispering. “I know this answer, too. Buffo would know this answer, too. He just needs encouragement from me, not Duchie.” I wiggle back and forth with nervousness, waiting for the fifteen seconds to count down to zero.

My me-chee shield turns bright red.

I drop into the darkness, screaming for fun.

Chapter 7

Red room of mirrors

My me-chee chair slowly ascends up into the dull lights. The chair halts with a jolt, sitting along the dark wall corner of the large room, almost in darkness. I frown with annoyance then scan the room, seeing numerous empty me-chee chairs, ahead of me in crooked rows and columns.

I giggle, nodding.

I’m the last chair, dropping down from the Cubby Hole then flying up into the red room of mirrors. I had waited for the me-chee machine to count down the full fifteen seconds, after each posed academic question, since I didn’t answer two of them, ensuring a failing grade.

My BPs would not be proud, or happy, at the moment, but they ain’t here with me, or Duchie, or Buffo.

Usually, I answer, immediately, almost within ten or eleven seconds, brilliantly knowing the answer.

But, this trip is not about my academic question, it’s about my actually qualify of life with Buffo.

I scoot out the me-chee chair, stomping with both attitude and determination into the exposed archway.

The opening shows numerous vertical rows of tall and wide green plants for miles and miles about two feet high, covering the entire soil.

Please note, I’m only five feet high in total math numbers, so that’s 40 percent of me.

The sky is blue with a yellow sun, no rain clouds. This looks like a good park place, so far.

I giggle, skipping between the narrow aisles of the me-chee chairs, studying the many columns of big green plants. I hear, whimpering from a person then halt. I view the wall corner then gasp. I dash then squat, saying. “Lamis, what ya doing, here, with me?”

Lamis sits in the wall corner away from the sunshine, wiping tears from her eyelashes. “I failed my academic questions…”

I slide next to the wall, sitting and patting her arm. I softy say. “That’s okay! I failed, too, so I’m here, too, with ya. We can go and do ‘the thing’ and then come back and leap back into the Cubby Hole.” I nod and encourage Lamis to finish the red color tone, since I am in a hurry to leave then beat upon Duchie for taking my guy.

Lamis shakes her curls, viewing the floor. “I failed. I couldn’t get the right answers. I answered all the questions, both hoping and praying, that I had reached the 75 percent to pass into the blue color tone. I wanted to make it into the blue color, making my parents, so proud of me. I studied, so hard, every day. I should’ve stopped at the green color tone with the first question then I’d have stayed inside the green color tone. I knew the answer to the first question. The first question is easy,” she tosses her hands then wipes her tears. “Now, I’m stuck, here, inside the red color tone with the other teens. This is my home and the home of my parents, so I guess that I will stay home here, foreverly. I’ll become a slaughter princess, like my mama,” she sobs with tears.

I frown with sadness, patting her arm. “Naw, there’s always hope. I missed my academic questions, too. I hope to get out of here, too. There’re plenty of chances of getting the 75 percent on the next round of academic questions, when we return into the Cubby Hole. Let’s figure out ‘the thing’ then get back…”

“Rincon said, differently.”

I exhale, shaking my curls. “And, Rincon is only a teen, not an adult. And, Rincon is not always right. Believe me! I’m always wrong, too, sometimes. Look, let’s stand and explore the park place. Ya need to calm your shaky nerves and relax your neurons, before going back into the Cubby Hole and conquering it,” I assist Lamis to stand.

We walk towards the archway.

I nod, smile, saying. “Okay! We stroll around the park place, spying on the other teens and looking for ‘the thing’ to do...”

“Ah, cotton fields.” Lamis stops inside the archway, smiling at the green plants.

I frown with confusion, surveying the miles and miles of tall green plants. “See, ya sound, very intelligent over me about these ugly green plants.” My boot stomps on the soft white ball, smashing its guts into the concrete flooring. I stop, lifting my boot, staring at the white puff of roundness. I squat then stare. “Lamis, what in the world is this thing on the floor?”

Lamis halts, wiping the tears from her eyelashes. She squats and blinks at the smashed object. “A cotton boll, that’s the product from the tall green plants.”

I scan the floor. “There’re numerous little white balls of cotton, rolling around the floor, from the soft breeze, or stomped to death, like mine. Why are they inside the mirrored room?”

Lamis smiles then slaps Ketona on the collar bone. “I know, now.” She swings towards the opening.

I skip beside her.

Lamis say. “The right thing is the cotton bolls, from the cotton plants. Geez, I should’ve recognized the height of the plants. They’re about six weeks from blooming with full cotton bolls. So, we need to walk down one of the cotton rows, collecting a couple of the cotton bolls for ‘the thing,’ for us, to return back into the Cubby Hole.” She giggles. “I guess it’s the food of the Cubby Hole goddesses, being girls.”

We giggle and jog towards the rows of green plants then slam into tall plants. The plants are too close for both set of boot prints, so I rush into an individual row, walking along side Lamis and her cotton row.

Lamis slowly walks, being smacked by the giant overlapping green leafy stems of the tall plants, saying. “Okay, we pick a handful of great big white cotton bolls for the invisible gods of the Cubby Hole. This should satisfy ‘the thing, thing.’ The cotton is white with no blemishes. The cotton part is soft, fluffy fibers. Some cotton bolls and cotton stalks are designed for decorative wreaths, too. This is a batch of growing cotton shrubs, without the bolls. It’ll be another two months, before the seed pods break open, so, now, there’re be very limited amount of cotton bolls blooming. So, keep your eyeballs peeled for some tiny balls of white, within the dark green.”

“Okay.” I nod, slapping away the annoying branches from my chest and arms, slowly walking down the overlapping stems of the plants. I don’t have to touch the leaves, since there’re slapping my rib cage. My walking pathway is clear and colored in red soil. I frown, asking. “How da ya know about cotton?”

“When I was a little girl, I visited the farm…”

I toss my arms then hit the dang bush, giggling with some relieve of my frustrations of Duchie, Buffo, and the Cubby Hole. “Yay hay! I got it, now. Your grandfather is a farmer, too, like Duchie’s and Buffo’s?”

Lamis calmly walks along the dirt between the rows of shrubs, knocking the tiny stems and leaves, before trucking down the soil. “Naw, I rode with my daddy to pick up and haul the live cows from the different farms into the numerous trailers. Then, the numerous trailers carried the cows into the slaughter houses. Then, the slaughter machines…”

“Thanks, I have a vivid imagination. So, what do we do when we retrieve the white cotton bolls attached onto the green cotton plants?”

She frowns with confusion, advancing down the row beside Ketona. “Don’t know! I’d suggest walking up and down the rows, like the rest of the teens…”

I scan the teens on both sides of my eyeballs, running with silliness up and down the cotton plants for fun. They laugh and play for fun. I frown with disappointment, not fun. I wanna leave the red color tone, immediately, and rescue Buffo from Duchie, before she brainwashes my guy into something. I exhale, saying. “I wanna travel a little faster through the row, looking for the cotton bolls then get back into the room of mirrors, so we…”

Lamis nods, walking slowly in the dirt, touching the plant, says. “I missed the last question within the blue color tone. I had trouble converting meters into feet…”

I stop, staring at her pretty blonde curls. “Ya don’t have to…to…con…come on, let’s finish our walk. Okay?” I stare ahead, narrowing my eyelashes, not seeing much, but, more green tall plants.

Lamis slowly walks, separating the stems from her queen-sized body, without harming the leaves of the plants. “What was the answer to the organism question? Organisms can convert nitrogen-containing organic molecules into nitrates. What is that?”

I nod and smile, flinging the annoying leaves and stems from my pleasure walk. “Decomposer is bacteria. Only bacteria can covert nitrogen-containing organic molecules into ammonia. Ammonia, which is a form of nitrogen-containing molecule, is subsequently converted to nitrate that plants can use to synthesize new organic compounds with nitrifying bacteria…”

Lamis drops her mouth, stopping and studying Ketona. “Ya got that one right plus the first question…”

“Naw, no, I missed it, like you, too.”

Lamis walks down the row, viewing the plants, “O! I missed that science question with zero percent. I thought, I had answered the math question, correctly. Ten discs sell at $3.00. So, 50 times $3.00 is $150.00. Then, $150.00 minus $230.00 is $80.00. When you divide $5.00 by $80.00, ya get 16 discs. So, 50 discs minus 16 discs are 34 discs that were sold at $5.00…”

I stop, tilting my head. “Naw, the answer is ten. If each musical disc costs $3.00, then $3.00 times 50 sold musical discs equals $150.00. The remaining $80 of the $230.00 would be the extra $2.00, from the $5.00 musical disc total sell cost. Therefore, 40 musical discs were sold at $5.00. So, the last 10 musical discs, not identified were sold at the cost of $3.00. The mathematical solution is ten musical,” nodding and smiling.

Lamis drops her mouth, frowning with confusion. “Ya got that one correct, also. That’s three answers, correctly.

I stop and stare at the dirt. “Ah naw! No. Nope!” I shake my curls, starting to walk slightly ahead of Lamis, not showing my fibbing facial features of ugliness. “Naw, I missed it. I promise ya, I missed it, also. I’ve just been thinking about the questions, like you, especially, when I miss ‘em, then I’ve just now figured it out, inside my mind, too. I wished the me-chee gave us more than fifteen seconds to answer each question…”

She exhales, slowly pacing and viewing the dirt, too. “Me, too!”

Someone screams in the far distance.

I stop, narrowing my eyeballs at the huddled teens gathered inside a particular cotton row, three rows over from me. “I guess, they found…”

Lamis nods, fingering the object. “The teen girl fainted,” she views the skyline then Ketona. “Both the sizzling heat of the temperature day and Citizenship Day is getting to me, too.”

I bounce and smile, fingering the rest of the cotton row. I am secretly eager to complete the red color tone run then reaching Buffo. I say. “We…you’re doing great, Lamis. This respite will relax our minds, for the next round, of posed academic questions.” I raise my arms to avoid getting slapped by the plant leaves over my curls, smiling. “We’re almost, here. Let’s hurry up and find ‘the thing’ that we’re supposed to do, here, inside a big, wide cotton field and be gone, girlfriend,” I wink at her, smiling. “So, we both move into the green color tone then the blue one…”

I lead, walking and flinging the annoying stems from the cotton plants away from my body then stop. I smile, leaning into the plant, struggling with the inner leaves and twisted stems. I pick the objects then fling them beside my smile. “I found some white fluffy balls. Yeah, can we go back?”

Lamis smiles and frowns with sadness with moisture in her eyeballs. “I haven’t found one…”

I extend one of my three balls, smiling. “Take one of mine, please!” I am, most anxious, to return back into the Cubby Hole then drop down and on top of Duchie, literally.

Lamis frowns with sadness. “I can’t. I must retrieve a cotton boll with my hands. This is the purpose of the cat suit. It is an electromagnetic field that picks up our body temperature and our body reactions to chemicals, minerals, and matter, like a single cotton ball.”

“O! Okay! I learned something new, today. I’ll help ya look, for you, a cotton ball, too, then we leave and go back into the Cubby Hole.” I nod, turning and walking down the row of plants, searching for another cotton boll for Lamis. I am still most eager to leave and find Buffo.

I walk slowly, slapping the silly branches from my chest and face. I growl then frown with pain. I touch the red swollen patch on my hand.

Lamis leans into the plant, ripping at the leaves then emerges, smiling. “I found two cotton bolls…”

“My hand itches…”

Lamis gasps, viewing the red rash on Ketona. “You’re allergic to the white tissue of the cotton boll, which comes from the cotton seed. The white flower causes a reaction to the skin, when folks are allergic, like you. Ya got inflamed skin, looking like a rash, except the rash could spread to other body parts…”

I gasp, flinging the cotton bolls from my arms, landing on top of the plants. “What da I do? My hand itches and burns like fire,” scratching my hands.

Lamis exhales, collecting the cotton bolls on top of plant. “I know. First, we gotta walk away from the cotton field, holding the cotton bolls. Okay, so, bend your arm. I’m going to tuck the two bolls into the crook of your arm, inside your elbow. Your rash only covers your hands, because the cat suit protects the rest of your body.”

“Okay!” I carefully walk and hold the two precious cotton bolls, into my crooked elbow, for fear of not getting out of the red room of mirrors, being trapped here, foreverly.

Lamis smiles and nods. “Let’s walk back to the room, toting our treasure and on the way, I’ll collect the plant leaves. The oil will reduce the inflammation in both your hands, from the allergic reaction of the cotton bolls. Here’s a patch of leaves. Use your other hand and gently rub the oil from leaves over your stationary hand, while ya walk. You’ll be okay. I promise, Ketona.”