Chapter 96: [13] Close Encounters of the Bus Kind 13 [From Beyond Arc]

Close Encounters of the Bus Kind

[13]

While the man in the photo, now returning in the flesh, wasn’t the man Paul had to spend so many decades with, mostly caring for, Nadia hopped up with excitement to go meet him.

He looked much older than in the photo, with patches of lighter and darker hair on his head resembling a rough soccer ball. He smiled warmly in her direction but had to focus on a large platter in his hands as he delivered it to the kitchen table. When that was done, any reservations in his demeanor vanished as he spread his arms wide and beckoned his daughter over.

Despite his age and stout appearance, he easily lifted her up and swung her around with energy but care. It was disorienting but thrilling.

“Welcome home, my princess! Did you have a good game and a good night with your friend? Mama was so worried about you, but I knew you would be fine. I bet you did better than the national team is right now.”

His accent had a much sharper tilt, stretching through vaguely European to what she would’ve expected with a Turkish accent. It also had a certain British cadence but with a deep belly weight to it. She couldn’t wait to hear his laughter, and he seemed to know that was what he wanted as he soon indulged her in a hearty chuckle. The sound filled the room, blotting out all else.

She could scarcely imagine that this man was supposed to be her father. When she thought of the idea of a father, there was a puzzling chasm between a tin pot wannabe dictator who ineffectually howled and demanded recognition and a brutal statue that invited no love. Vague memories tinted with the optimism of a child came close to the cheerful possibilities of this but were tempered by undeserved glares and scoldings.

The presence before her more befit Father Christmas, no matter the deep tone of his skin. Parsing and measuring her words carefully so they were presentable for him, she squeaked that they won even though she didn’t manage any points. He already knew about the questions involving their trip back and the Air Force base. He cautioned her that she had no obligation to talk to the military or the government for any matter, as she was a minor.

Luscious steak sandwiches spread across the tray as if they were perfectly posed for a photo shoot. They had different condiments than Nadia was used to, and she could see traces of olive oil. Even though her body just finished a vigorous clearance sale, she was satisfied with just looking.

Her father urged her to grab something, if she was hungry. His nearest restaurant was closed for a break between lunch and dinner, and there were plenty of other entrées in the truck for everyone. Erol and Murat had no qualms about grabbing as much as they could cover a plate with. Nadia wanted to grab one of the smaller sandwiches just to nibble on but, since none of her sisters were rushing for the platter, she figured it was prudent to modestly wait.

A massive, colorful Mediterranean salad looked like a better bet. It wasn’t that she was after a particular impression or engaging in cliché feminine food choices, but it just felt like the same natural gravity as the piano lesson. The dressing was mellow yet sharp with a soothing, spicy aftertaste. She made sure her dish included plenty of feta.

Before sneaking away though, she did snag one of the sandwiches on the side before the men got all of them. It was so much. It was honestly too much, especially with the salad. Families that could eat well always earned her appreciation.

Somewhere around this side of town, ages ago, her Filipino friend from high school, while sinking into their community college efforts, invited him to a birthday party. His time in college didn’t last as he floundered, failed, and was needed in other places while she wound up a registered nurse living in Phoenix.

One of her extended relatives tried to sell him on used cars and MLMs, but the food was amazing. He didn’t even mind the huge dead pig in the center of the serving table. It was actually his favorite entrée of the evening, and he copiously ate off its belly. Paul was just old enough for alcoholic spirits and felt supremely disappointed that, no matter how many Zimas he drank, he never felt more than buzzed. He also recalled that it seemed like the beverage went defunct soon after that, so he was probably one of the last people in the area to drink a Zima. If it ever came back into production, he never noticed.

Of course, it would be impossible for Nadia to imbibe like that, but she wanted something more interesting than a bottle of water. There were actually a few options, including something called Raki that the adults were drinking. Her mother prepared her what basically felt like spicy turnip water. It was better than she expected it would be.

Listening carefully to the affectionate back and forth between her parents, she was able to gather that her father’s name was Duman, and her mother’s name was Taliah. She hoped gleaning this would allow her to solidify their presence in her life.

She hadn’t forgotten about the experiment involving her half-sister and changing some modest detail. But the possibility of accidentally messing up her life loomed largely. Something had briefly deleted her and her other half-sister, and she didn’t want to accidentally invoke it again. The plan was to creep upstairs to her room with the plate and find a comfortable spot to get back in contact with Erin before meditating towards an understanding of whether she had some sort of ability or was just the universe’s designated plaything. Rediscovering some of her favorite podcasts could probably help with that.

The obstacle was that Luna wanted to sit and eat next to her, and she wasn’t the only one. İdil actually had several fabric swatches and designs on putting Nadia into the cutest outfit she could imagine. Her father had other platters adorned with side dishes and, since she had taken the initiative of joining salad with sandwich, it seemed reasonable that she had plenty of space for falafel and more dolmas. God, she didn’t know if she could survive the kind of exuberant family life she briefly glimpsed with her Filipino friend. Everything was busy and always saturated with reminders of love. How could she even begin to think of herself as a separate entity, let alone privately reflect?

At the same time, she would gladly take the feeling of community over quiet, sullen nights alone after everyone Paul cared for was gone. It was like being in a wide, flowing river taking you from one place to another even though you didn’t have to move or do anything else but steer. The boisterous sentiment did take a hit when regulation time ended and even the extra time ran out with a deadlock. Vaguely, Nadia remembered a penalty shootout being a thing at the end of games but, for this stage of the competition, it was counted as a draw.

Optimism still percolated in the house because, in a few days, there would be a match versus Kenya which Turkey had to win. As long as Italy, the group leader, also had a draw in their next match, then Turkey could advance. To escape her group, she urged Luna towards İdil with some ideas about fancy velvet dresses then she feigned the need to use the toilet again. Climbing up the stairs felt distractingly loud, but she did her best to keep her footfalls modest.

The contrast between the first floor and the second was stark, like someone turned down a dimmer switch on the cacophony. Everything was still present but at a much more manageable level. She popped several perfect olives in her mouth. Her computer table had plenty of room on the side for the plate, but she was hesitant to put food near electronics. Scanning the room better, she recognized a hexagonal tiled board game from a few games in her youth. Her family used to have a huge, green folding card table covered in lean felt. The energy and exuberance of playing a game with so many active opponents rekindled her competitive heart.

The last time there was an unexpected delay at the agency, Paul’s coworker, Tom, and he happened to have an hour to kill before the buses were available, Paul had nothing inside to give for a friendly game of chess. He liked playing, and he wanted to give Tom a good match, but it had been so long since he bothered to play. His father‘s Swiss cheese brain was barely an opponent. She would probably suck for a while, but the idea of having true fun again was like an electric current riding through her soul. Funny, she just got a break from this new family, and she immediately wanted to dive back into the deep end with games.

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Folding her legs up like a tight pretzel reminded her of anatomy she was quickly getting accustomed to. Still no sensation of loss or castration. After all, she hadn’t really lost her balls, they just moved and had been reassigned to different duties through alien science. The fresh terrain had been teased, embraced, and professionally explored. It wasn’t a void but rather like levels of sensation digging deep and echoing long. She squirmed slightly as her imagination triggered a certain, embarrassing pinging like personal radar. Her body wanted to home in on Erin.

She texted out a jumbled but superficially edited explanation of the last little while. Erin relayed that her mother actually encountered what she would best describe as a man in black with a rumpled and ill-fitting suit like he was a hobo who robbed someone for it. The guy never got as far as talking to her because her mother turned him away and claimed that her daughter was busy and not feeling well. She brandished a gun on her hip for protection. Expectedly, the concealed carry license and its accouterments passed to her mother.

Erin hadn’t noticed anything physically changing in front of her, but her mother’s hunting rifle was new. A quick gloss of her new family members and their “familial exuberance” actually made Erin giggle. On the point of confusion about whether Nadia now had the power to make things vanish and appear, Erin gave her a few possibilities to focus on from a simple, random glass cube to whatever plant was the easiest to visualize. Each felt fundamentally solid in her head but refused to cross over into the physical world. It was like something out there wanted her to feel crazy.

Sifting through the possible alterations of Iris felt like a mountain looming when she had barely established base camp. Stymied, she turned her attention to Erin‘s experiences.

Her girlfriend took a moment before responding with copious stressed emojis about how she tried, over the last couple of hours, to not even peer out at the fog-dusted horizon. But she caught a few glimpses. Most were nothing. But a few times warned her into hiding.

She swore she saw what looked like a black ribbon fluttering in the wind, a slight shadow of something looming larger. Then, there was the standing, humanoid sludge turned right in her direction as they waited at a traffic light. She briefly flashed her geek cred by mentioning that it looked just like the monster that killed Tasha Yar in Star Trek. Paul actually couldn’t remember anything about it but got the gist with a quick Google.

Erin clarified her concern as she never felt specifically like any of the things she encountered since the UFO actively knew she could see them, but this thing did. It made no move towards the car but just posed there like the angriest piece of performance art that only she recognized. Even worse was the fact that they had to double back along that street and, when she looked at the same spot later, there was nothing there and no sign that anything had ever been in that spot. Nadia could hear her girlfriend‘s exhaustion and frustration despite the fact they were just texting. They had to meet-up again, she resolved.

Erin took several minutes in responding but agreed. She further revealed she had been contacted by Gina, who was freaking out about the fact that she suddenly had a different coach. Grimly, Erin relayed information that Nadia had found out but not recognized the magnitude of. The girls' volleyball coach was now Janice Nesbitt, who should’ve been fired years ago. Nadia frowned at the vague details Erin passed along and sighed.

Back on topic though, Gina had proposed bringing as many of the girls together as she could, on short notice, this afternoon for some meet-up, sharing of information, and shopping. Odessa had nervously confirmed her interest and Gina knew she could drag Evangeline along, since they were neighbors. Gina‘s mom would be driving, and Erin already got permission from Sharon, so it would now be up to Nadia‘s mom and dad. She leaned back against her chair and quickly texted that she would ask them.

Trekking downstairs, Nadia framed and floated the possibility to her busy father first as he seemed to be getting ready to return to work. His response was to check with her mother and her mother quickly responded in turn by asking to check with “dad”. Breaking through that first level, she recognized that they were cold to the concept of letting their daughter go so quickly after she had just returned to them, but she emphasized the possibility of cheering up her injured teammate with a nice day out and pressed her social obligation. Her plate went in the fridge for later as they urged her to be back before sundown.

Opening up her closet, with the freaky visual of broken reflections, Nadia mulled over how dressed up she should be. Was that the girl inside talking and was her voice getting stronger? Would it eventually be the only voice she heard? Not that she could do much about it if that was her fate, but she refused to lose the person she was.

“Can I come with you?” A small voice asked. Turning around, she saw Luna peeking through the doorway from the loft. It was like someone peering over the edge of a table but turned sideways. Nadia greeted her with a warm smile and a sigh with her hands on her hips. She cautioned the kid that she was going shopping with a group of her volleyball friends, so she may not find it interesting. No shopping for toys or candy, although that didn’t necessarily have to be true.

“That’s okay,” Luna eagerly responded. “I just wanna go with you. I need to keep you safe.”

Nadia smiled back. What a cutie.

Quietly, as a whisper, Luna added, “From the monsters.”

She frowned at her kid sister. Worries about monsters weren’t strange for kids but considering the things that Erin had been telling her about since the bus brought a deep wave of worry to her thoughts.

Without complaint, Nadia told her that she could come along so long as she asked their parents first but, before she even finished that statement, Luna had a speedy response that she had already told them, and they said it was fine. Presumptuous but prepared. The kid even said that she had an outfit picked out and was excited to see what her big sister would be wearing.

Glancing over, Nadia clung to her smile, but it faded slightly when she noticed a strange golden shimmer coming from Luna’s right arm as she bent further into the doorway. It looked exactly like her sister’s limb had been replaced by a column of sunlight. Before she could say anything, the little girl dipped to the left and out of sight. Seeing her return to the opening, the discrepancy was gone. A moment later, she scampered off to get ready.

Nadia blinked her eyes and wondered if whatever is going on with Erin was rubbing off on her. 

[I have a question at the end of the chapter again to help with suggestions for where the story should go. I'm actually not that far ahead this time and I am wide open for possibilities for this particular story. Feel free to add an idea which doesn't show up in the options. Also, if you see any random typos or uncapitalized starts of sentences, please pass them along. I have to cut down on my editing due to release speed and my programs don't seem to be catching lowercase sentences. Thank you for reading!]

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