SteeleKizz, Inc

Uprooted

Sean

    That weekend had went relatively well, as did the next two and half weeks.  The kids spent much needed time with their grandparents that had cared for them during the loss and absence of their mother.  Yet, there remained a tension in the house and among Alec and Marta, Sean and Cara.  It was one of almost dreaded silence, the return of the twins back to their father and home.  EJ had not called for two weeks, making Grampa and Grandma anxious that he may have taken a one way trip.  Although their thoughts and feelings may have felt right, both knew that it was unfair to keep them from their father, especially If he was improving. 

    When the phone ran and Grampa answered it responding with a look of illness, everyone guessed who was on the other line.  Grandma Marta shuffled the kids outside to do something new and exciting so that Grampa Alec could speak privately.  While she wanted to eavesdrop, she knew that the kids would keep coming back in to follow suit.  Instead, she headed outside with them until Grampa was ready to talk to her privately.

    A few moans and groans later, she was able to entertain them by playing in the garden beds pulling weeds.  They would occasionally throw dirt at one another or shake the dirt off of weeds at the other person, she let it pass this time, as it was all in fun.  Hearing the sliding door screech open and Alec step outside, hands pushed down into his pockets and a frown of disappointment on the edge of his lips.  He noticed her seeing his look and quickly changed his tune seeing the kids playing happily.

    That evening, with the remnants of supper laying on the table before them, Alec gave a long sigh. 

    “Sean, Cara,” he said slowly with a full tummy and heartache.  “Your father will be coming to get you this Sunday.  He’s found a house and a job on the East Coast, in Virginia.  The company he’s working for is willing to pay to relocate him and his family.  You’ll be leaving here from Burbank airport Sunday evening.”

    Grampa’s eyes darted from Marta who had a fresh trail of tears down her cheeks to the kids who had a speechless and confused looked.  

    Cara spoke up.  “So we aren’t going to be in California any more?”

    Alex shook his head.  “No, not after Sunday.”

    Cara looked between everyone before staring in a daze.

    Sean’s fork dropped from his hand landing with a clink onto the plate.

    “I don’t want to,” Sean said angrily.  “Virginia is not my home.  Here, California, this house is my home.  Where mom lived.  Not some place like, Virginia.”

    He spat out quickly and crossed his arms.  A frown forming quickly across his forehead and his mouth puckering up.

    “I don’t even know where Virginia is,” Cara said sadly.  “I don’t have any friends there.  You aren’t there.”

    Her puppy dog eyes looked up from the plate to both Grampa and Grandma.

    “We will pray long and hard that your father will reconsider the offer and look for something closer.  As it stands now, everything is already in motion.  Neither of us will ever be that far away, I promise you that,” said Grampa firmly.  “Even if we have to move as well.”

    Marta had her mouth readied to speak up, however, with the shared look between the adults there was no room for any words.  Alec had made up his mind and reflected his unwavering resolve to his wife with just one look.  Marta closed her mouth as quickly as she opened it and looked at the kids with a hopeful smile.

    Nothing else was said the rest of the weekend about the kids moving until it was time for them to gather their things to depart for their new home.  EJ had made it clear his intentions to move with the kids, regardless of what the grandparents wishes may have been.  

    With full stomachs and enough snacks in their backpacks, the kids steeled themselves for their father and the long trip to Virginia. EJ pulled up in a rental car and honked the horn.  He shifted in his seat as they came out of the door slowly and walked down the drive to the car.  With a nod of his head to get in the back, Grampa and Grandma gave them a kiss good bye.  

    The twins gave them hugs and slipped into the backseat barely giving their father a look until he pulled away.  He looked in the rearview mirror at the twins sitting quietly fidgeting with their fingers often glancing at one another.

    “Very cute,” he said sternly.  “I can only guess which of you pulled the stunt at the school earlier. Whoever it was, the games end tonight.  You’re my kids, not theirs.  Once we get to the airport, you’ll trash your bags and anything else that you’ve brought with you.  Do you understand?”

    The look of unease reflected on the kid’s faces, but they shook their heads.  The remainder of the ride to the airport was quiet.  Pulling into the return space for the rental, EJ got out and motioned with his head for the twins to follow suit.  Reluctantly, they slipped out of the car following their father.

    EJ looked around the parking lot of the rental car terminal at the airport and found a large dumpster of to the side of the lot.  Extending his arm and finger out, he motioned to Sean and Cara. 

    “Toss them,” he commanded. 

    Both of them carefully made their way to the dumpster looking for any oncoming traffic.  At the dumpster, together they struggled but successfully opened the front sliding door and pushed their bags inside.  Closing it back together, they returned to their father standing and watching with much interest that they accomplished their task.     

    A man in a suit came out and EJ walked towards his direction, his hand in a stop sign for the kids to stay put.  Sean and Cara looked between one another, their hearts racing, palms sweaty.  Nervous what their father had in store from them now that he realized that it was a set up that they concocted to stay at their grandparents.  Their biggest concern, just what would their father do knowing that they planned it.

    The man stood waiting for EJ and the kids to follow along as another vehicle, a tinted dark colored SUV pulled up.  EJ reached up to the door for the kids to get into the back.  He pressed a button on the edge of the door before closing it.  He then opened the front passenger door.  A dark skinned man was the driver and remained silent, except for an occasional Yes sir and No sir.  Sean looked around the interior and Cara glanced over the man.  Sean noticed that there was not any noticeable handles for them to open the doors so jumping out was not an option.  The rest of the interior was black or dark colored cloth.  Cara noticed that the driver had a curly q cord hanging from his ear.  Their father fiddled with something for a few minutes until he put one of those same cords in his ear as well.  He would respond the same way.

The windows were tinted so dark that they couldn’t make heads or tails in the dark where they were going.  They couldn’t make out what any of the signs were saying.  The kids ended up falling asleep after several hours of what seemed like a never ending ride.  

The men in the SUV kept the conversation to a minimum until the twins feel asleep.  

“Atlantic Beach, Sir?: said the driver.

“Yes,” said EJ.  “The children decided to thwart my original plans, but I was able to make alternate arrangements in my own hands.  I’m sure that we are in the clear.”

Making another turn, the driver took everyone to a private airport where they loaded the kids and departed for North Carolina.  Driving would have taken longer if the kids refused to sleep, but both men were ready for that extensively long drive.

Just before daybreak, everyone was loaded back into another SUV and driving along the North Carolina shoreline heading to Morehead City.  EJ would get the kids settled into the house along with the necessary security before heading to his next rendez-vous.

The kids started shuffling and groaning in the backseat as they pulled into the drive of a 2 story, 2 car garage colonial style home.  Sean was the first to awaken and when he seen the ocean off in the distance he slapped Cara’s arm, waking her quickly.  She looked around, seeing the house first and then the ocean off in the distance.  There was one key difference from this home to their old one, it was a gated property.  The driver pulled up to the gate and slid a card into the box.  The gates slowly creaked open allowing for them to pull through.

EJ turned to look at the kids behind him as they looked out their windows and peering out the back window at the street and distant ocean view.

“You each have your own rooms.  Your old stuff is already here and set up similar to how you had it before.  You will not be attending public school.  A private teacher will be coming to tutor and teach you.  You are not to leave the house, under any circumstance, unless it is with me or one of the guards.  There will be one posted around the clock.  Do you two understand me?”

The driver and EJ got out and then opened the passenger doors to let the kids out.  A guard came from the house and gave an unfamiliar signal to EJ.  Moving forward, the driver remained behind, as EJ and the kids walked the rest of the driveway to the house.  

“Charlie,” said EJ.  He opened the front door, scouting out the house and where everything had been placed according to his instructions.  “Go to your rooms and the nanny will have you a meal fixed 1700 hours.  That’s five p.m. You will need to have your hands washed and ready to eat.  I’ve got a meeting to attend before the night ends.  I will be back home.  We’ll discuss your previous actions before bed.”

With his last bit of instructions, he departed out the door giving another departure command to Charlie and then left with the driver.  Sean and Cara carefully made their way upstairs to their bedrooms.  Two of the bedrooms on the first floor was turned into an office and the other was EJ, their father’s room.  The upstairs was a dual bathroom shared between the twins.  All their belongings had been shifted from one house to another.  

The staffing in the house talked very little except to tell the kids what they were suppose to do or not to do.  The twins spent the rest of the night in the hallway between their rooms.