I honestly couldn't tell you why, but I know things. Things kids my age don't know how to do. Thing people your parents age don't know how to do. Things that can get me killed. And when they arrived, I was positive that's exactly what was going to happen.
BANG BANG BANG.
"FBI OPEN UP!"
With each frantic step my mother took down the steps, my heart rate increased. That is until I heard the door swing open. Then my heart stopped altogether.
"Mrs. Bennett?"
1 second...
2 seconds...
3 seconds pass before she responds.
"Can I help you gentlemen?" I know exactly what they want. They want to kill me. They want to lock me up in one of those high security compounds and never let me see the light of day again. All they want is to tear up what's left of our broken family.
"Michael?"
My head spun around so fast I swear I got whiplash.
"Michael, these men would like to speak with you," my mother said with an unnatural smile on her face. She didn't look panicked at all, which only freaked me out even more. Mom has always been bad at keeping calm, so she defaulted to creepily happy. Most of the time it's pretty funny, but in this situation, not so much. It wasn't her happiness, but her reaction to the FBI banging on our door, with a simple how can I help you, and serving sandwiches to the armed officers who not 5 minutes before were pointing guns through our windows. I guess my sister got that from mom, cause she was sharing a bag of Cheetos with the S.W.A.T. team.
"So Michael. Long time huh?" I turned around to see the owner of the voice. "I remember when you were just a little boy. Remember me?" He said slapping my shoulder.
"Uh...no?" I said rubbing my shoulder.
"Man your father was a fantastic man. We were good friends ya know. Shame what happened to him. He was a good guy and a smart one too." He said fondly. Give me a break. "Yeah I'm reeeaally enjoying this trip down memory lane and all but is there a reason you and the S.W.A.T. team are here?" I said rolling my eyes. A glimmer of recognition shined in his eyes and they quickly after turned sad. "Yes, I'm sure you know why I'm here Michael. The Bureau has decided to give you a choice, and I thought it was best if you heard it from a familiar face." Familiar...? Dude I have no idea who you are.
"What's the reason for this, Allen?" my mother interrupted, while pouring lemonade that I didn't know we had. OH THAT GUY! Okay! Now we're on the same page. Cool cool.
"Well Makaela, Michael seems to have broken a number of laws. So here's the deal. You've got 8 count of cyberterrorism and reckless endangerment against you kid. That is a federal crime and is punishable by law. I don't wanna see a smart kid like you in a federal prison. And I don't think you want to be in there either. So how about a deal?" he said, raising his eyebrow at me. "There's an initiative in San Diego for people like you Michael. It'll help you reach your full potential and use these talents for something productive."
I swear to god if he tells me it's the Avengers initiative I'm going to pee my pants.
"It's called the PROgram." DANGIT.
He passed me a brochure with a big campus and palm trees everywhere. The unnecessary capitalization of R and O with the P seems pretty stupid, but whatever. It's this or jail.
"It's got a brand new computer science building. Isn't that neat?" My mother hinted, not so subtly. "I do need to have an answer today. The orientation is in two days, and the deadline was a month ago. A friend of mine there claimed the spot for you, so we need to get you to San Diego as soon as possible." He said, scratching his neck.
"Well Micheal, I guess that means you'd better start packing." Mom said.
It was a long night. My mother was an emotional wreck, my sister kept asking if she could have my room, and I pack luggage like a woman, so I was stressing out. I was going to go to boarding school half way across the world. It took me a few hours, but it finally sunk in. I'll probably only see mom at holidays, and maybe over the summer. I won't see Mady anymore, hogging the TV and baking all the time. It hurt inside, but it's better than jail. I got myself into this mess. I have no one to blame but me. I threw all of my clothes into 3 suitcases, along with flash drives containing some of my favorite programs, my cable collection, a family photo from last Christmas, my iPad, and some basic hygiene materials. My bedroom felt empty. My sheets and comforter were packed away, my computers that I couldn't take with me all shut down, my closet empty, it brought a feeling of familiarity. When dad disappeared, we ended up packing away his clothes and whatnot, making it seem as though he hadn't been there in the first place. It's kinda funny how the apple doesn't fall far from the tree with me and my dad. Both of us having brown hair and eyes, both of us disappearing from our family...
"I knew this day would come, I just didn't think it would be so soon." Mom said, crying in the doorway of my room. She was holding my baby blanket and looking at me as if I were dying. "I remember when you were little, you would climb out of bed and wait for your father by the window with this blanket. You would hide in the most obvious places. I knew you were there, but you just wanted to see your father, and I couldn't get you to sleep unless he was home." She was like Niagra Falls at this point. "Moooom." I whined, hugging her. I was a solid half a foot taller than her now, which made her more emotional. "My little boy is all grown up!" She was clutching the blanket and crying and I just kept hugging her. "I'll be back at Christmas Mom. Just 4 months to go." I said, rubbing her shoulder. Mady showed up with a cup of tea in her hand. I never understood why, but all it ever really takes is a hug and some Chamomile Tea to calm my mom.
"There's a black car that looks like it's very expensive outside our house. I think that's your ride." Mady said.
"Gonna miss your big brother, Carrot top?" I teased. "For the love of all that good, stop calling me that! If you're going to tease me for being a ginger, at least make it funny," she shot back. I always teased her saying she was adopted, since she's the only ginger in our entire family besides Aunt Jillian, but she died it that color for a role she played on Broadway.
"Yeah, I'm gonna miss you." She sighed, and gave me a hug. She was only an 8th grader, but she's grown up fast. She's about as tall as mom now, and she got her braces off a week ago.
"I'm gonna miss you too little red," I said, ruffling her hair. That always pisses her off.
In a matter of minutes, I was out the door, and on my way to the airport. The guy who was driving me kinda looked like Morphius, from the Matrix, especially with the gun he had in the side pocket. Now wether that was for protecting me or shooting me, I'll never know, but it made him look cool nonetheless.
I boarded the plane alone, with an empty feeling inside of me. Here we go Michael. To sunny San Diego.
