Chapter 4: You Know Each Other?
I wake up to the faint sound of voices coming from outside of the car. One of them belongs to Mr. Hendrix, the other I don’t recognize. I look around until I find their location. I see Mr. Hendrix talking to what appears to be a middle aged woman in the front yard of a small house. I lean closer to the window to try to make out their conversation.
“We both knew this was going to happen eventually. You agreed to comply the moment you signed those papers,” whispers Mr. Hendrix.
“I . . . I know. It’s just that I’m going to miss her.” The woman speaks with a shaky voice. “Have you gotten your other one? Is he still showing signs?”
“Yes, I have him,” Mr. Hendrix replies. “His father has been very complicated, though. He hasn’t allowed me to meet the boy until now, nor has he been consistently providing him with good test substances to monitor his growth. I gave him a good amount of ayahuasca about an hour before we arrived here. It didn’t seem to have any real effect on him, just put him into a deep sleep, so I’m assuming he hasn’t lost his strength. He should be asleep another few hours.”
I can’t believe I’ve been sleeping for an hour; I’ve never been a very heavy or deep sleeper. I continue to listen.
“Now, enough talk,” Mr. Hendrix states. “Go get the girl.”
“I’d prefer you talked of my daughter with a little more respect.”
“I’ve told you not to get too attached.”
“But, her name isn’t ‘the girl’.”
“Whatever, I’m going to make sure there is space in the car.”
With that, the woman turns to her house and Hendrix comes towards the car. I quickly scramble to appear asleep again, but am not fast enough.
“You’re awake?” he says with a bit of surprise in his voice. “Well, get out there’s someone you need to meet.”
About five minutes later, the woman comes back out of the house followed by a young girl who appears to be around my age who seems to have been rushed out of bed. Her face lights up when she sees Mr. Hendrix. “Hey, Uncle Henry!” He replies with a head nod.
She is wearing a home-knit sweater with light blue jeans. I recognize the emblem on the shirt instantly
“Delta,” I say under my breath. Suddenly everybody bears a shocked expression.
“You know each other?” Hendrix and the other woman ask almost simultaneously.
She stares at me for a second. “No, I don’t think so. How do you know by name?” A subtle sigh of relief escapes the two adults.
“Oh, I don’t,” I say embarrassed. “I just recognized the symbol on your shirt. It’s Delta, the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet.”
“It is?” she asked. “I didn’t know that. My grandmother made this for me, I never realized she named it after me. That’s pretty cool”. She let out a sort of annoying laugh.
“Well you learn something new every day,” Mr. Hendrix says sarcastically. “Now enough with the introductions, we need to get going.”
