Chapter 10: Candy Learns a Lesson
1095 Words
“Hey, buddy,” the guard told him. “We don’t allow that behavior around here, understand? I advise you to leave before I have to write you up.” The guard folded his arms in defiance.
“Just a misunderstanding,” Jason informed the guard. “We’re on our way out.”
Candy was quiet. She allowed Jason to take her out of the mall and to the van. Her shoes were still at the base of the pylon and he picked them up quick. At least no one gave her funny looks. The shoppers had lost interest once the security guard appeared.
They talked about what she could and couldn’t do in public on the way back. Jason was concerned the staff would cancel the entire Louisville trip once he let them know what Candy did at the mall. He didn’t have to worry about reports of the “wolf girl” in public. The security cameras would’ve picked up the image of Candy scaling the pylon on her own. By the time they arrived at the institute, Jason assumed Major would be waiting for them.
Candy hadn’t said anything in the parking lot, other than “I left my shoes” before they reached the van.
“I found them,” Jason told her before they reached it. He tried to contain the ice in his voice, but it wasn’t possible. He handed her the shoes and she put them back on her feet.
“Why did you do that?” Jason spoke to her. It was after he’d phoned the institute to let them know they were on the way back. “You could’ve hurt yourself climbing up there. Moreover, you scared that family. Now we’ll have to explain to the staff what happened.”
“He wanted to hurt them,” she said with a plain voice. “I didn’t want them to be hurt.”
“He wouldn’t hurt them in the mall,” Jason returned. “The security guard was on his way over there. No way would he do something like that happen in public.”
“What about later?”
Jason didn’t have a response to that one. It was his experience that people who made a big scene in public didn’t do the same in private, but he had no way of knowing for sure. He didn’t know what the man was mad about with the two kids. The man’s first instinct was to protect them when he saw Candy.
Jason remembered his own father slapping him after he’d cut-up one time to many around his parents. But it happened once when they got home. His dad never touched him in anger again. He didn’t cut up in public either.
“I know,” Major told him the next morning when he reported for the daily staff meeting. “We got a call from mall security last night after you left. I’m sure it’s all in your report. The only thing I want to know is how she got away from you.” Her eyes were cold.
“She’s fast,” Jason spoke. “I’ve seen how quick she can climb a tree or up on her house. The mall seemed to make her apprehensive. Even with the man yelling at those kids, I didn’t think she would do something like that.” Jason dropped his head.
“Well, now you know better,” Major thundered at him. “And you are supposed to be her caregiver in Louisville. I don’t think this trip is a good idea. I’ve been opposed from it at the beginning.”
“Candy does need to get out more.”
“When she’s been socialized! What would’ve happened if you didn’t get up there in time? I can tell you what. She would’ve attacked that man. Do you realize what that would’ve meant? She’d be transferred out of here! No way will they allow a dangerous psychopath to have this much freedom.”
“Candy is not a dangerous psychopath.”
“Try telling that to a judge who has kids of his own!”
She was quiet for a few minutes. “But it’s not up to me, unfortunately. The board stands by its decision to allow Candy to travel to Louisville for the purposes of assisting in the investigation. I hope nothing like this happens again. So get out of my face and get her ready.”
Jason stood up and turned to leave the office. “Just a moment,” Major said to him before he left. Jason turned back around.
“I want to see you both before you go. Call me when you’re ready to leave. And one more thing.”
“Yes.”
“Don’t mess this up. I am holding you personally responsible for that girl’s behavior and well-being.”
“She’s not a girl,” Jason said under his breath as he left the office. “Candy is a woman.”
Major pretended not to hear him.
Candy, wearing the pair of the fitted jeans and light jacket they’d bought for her, was seated on the roof of her house when he arrived in an electric cart. She stared down at him. As usual, she was barefoot.
“Are we going to leave now, Jason?” She asked him.
“Yes, Candy,” he told her. “I talked to Mrs. Major. She wasn’t happy with what you did yesterday, but we still get to go. Now please come down and get some shoes on so we can leave.”
There was a thud and Candy was back on the ground. It was scary how easily she could climb up and come back down from trees or buildings. Jason had a hard time understanding how she managed to do this without injury. It had to do with all the years she’d stayed on her own in the wild. Candy surprised most of the people who examined her. Some of the outside experts brought in to look at her were stunned by her abilities.
- Writer
