Under Normal Circumstances

All That Glitters is Not Gold

Apparently, the thing I would be thrilled about was joining this mission Jack was going on. She hadn't asked me what I thought of any of this and I had to practically drag the details out of her. She wasn't much help at all in providing them because she hadn't cared to get them in the first place. Luckily, the man Jack spoke to found me.

"Maybelle Driscoll?" A nice looking older gentleman approached me in my sloppy joe covered apron as a wolf whistle was hurled at my back.

"Yes sir?" I replied.

"Jay Willis," he smiled, extending a hand.

"Nice to meet you sir," I said as a matter of formality as I shook his hand. I still had no idea who he was or what he wanted.

"I'm a friend of Jack's, he told me about your situation. Let's step out of this hot kitchen and talk about it."

We walked outside, the breeze drying the sweat on my face. I ripped off that itchy hair net and stuffed it in my pocket. We sat at a nearby picnic table, the army green paint peeling off in places.

"So you were working for Clavers, were you?" He said with a knowing smile. "He was a BTO if I ever saw one."

"BTO, sir?" I asked, having never heard this before.

"Big time operator. It's what we called men who thought they were important."

I smiled at this and made a mental note to slip that into conversation if I ever went back to work for him.

"I have no doubt that coffee cooler was stealing his own money and blaming you for it. That's partly why I agreed to help you out. Did Mrs Chapman explain the mission to you?"

"No sir, she was a bit stingy with specifics."

"Well, we received satellite images of an uncharted island. LandSat is setting out on a mapping expedition which Monarch is piggy backing on."

"Monarch?" I interrupted.

"A research organization, they want to see what's on the island. It's a last ditch effort to save themselves, they're nearly bankrupt," he explained. "You'll be heading out with them from D.C. to Singapore in two days time."

"Two days?" I was shell shocked.

"There's a limited window of time to reach the place," he explained.

I felt sick. Two days was not long enough to prepare for leaving the country.

"Are you leading the mission?" I asked him.

He laughed.
"No, not me. I only heard about it from brother, he's a Senator. It's going to be led by lieutenant colonel Preston Packard, Jack's superior officer. A word of advice," he got more serious. "Keep your distance from Packard and try not to ruffle his feathers."

"Yes, sir," I nodded.

He smiled at me and shook his head.
"Those sky devil boys are just gonna love you," he laughed.

---

"Try this one," Grace said, throwing another sports bra at my head.

I caught it as it fell and fixed my hair as I sighed. I really could clobber her.

"This is not my size," I told her.

"Do you mean that I had a child and my little sister still has bigger boobs than me?" She asked, catching the bra as I tossed it back at her.

I shrugged.
"Don't blame me for soaking up all the genetics you left behind."

She rolled her eyes.
"So what size are you?"

Embarrassed, I looked around and then whispered.
"32 double D."

"Oh buzz off."

"Grace, this was all your idea," I remind her.

Billy ran by with a bra on his head, singing the Batman theme song. Without even looking, she grabbed a strap and clotheslined the poor kid.

"Stop running in the store," she told him, taking the brazier off his head.

"I can't believe mom and dad let you do this to me," I say, sliding hangers back on the rack.

"Oh yes, we're all sorry you get to leave the country and have an adventure and see my husband before I do," the venom was dripping off her teeth.

I sighed exasperatedly.
"That's not what I mean," I try to tell her.
"I'm just a book keeper, I don't belong there."

"Yeah, aren't you lucky then. You get something you don't deserve and shouldn't even have."

"Has anyone ever told you, you have a piece of burnt toast where your heart should be?"

We finished shopping late that night and I still wasn't convinced I had I everything I needed, even though Grace insisted I had bought two of everything in the travel size department.
--

Mom, Dad, Grace, and Billy saw me off at the airport. I was flying to D.C. and meeting up with the scientists and flying to Singapore with them. Mom was telling me for the thousandth time not to drink the water there and please, for the love of God be careful. Dad kept telling me to hold my bag tight and keep an eye on my surroundings. Grace just hated me. She stood there with her arms crossed, sucking her teeth, glaring daggers at me.

"You tell Jack to hurry up and get his butt home," is all she had to say to me.

Billy gave me a huge hug that was so tight I thought for sure I'd have to take him with me.
"Give this to Daddy for me," he said, handing me a folded piece of paper from a coloring book.

I opened it up and saw the puppy he colored. In the bottom right corner he had scrawled "Slivko", the S and K were backwards.

"Sure thing, Billy," I told him, stroking his dark hair. "But, didn't you want to do that yourself?"

"You should do it," he said firmly.

He was being ominous again so I carefully folded the picture back up and put it safely inside my note book.

After a million "I love you"s from mom and dad and a few tears, glares from Grace, and hollow eyed waves from Billy, I was on the plane.

It's a weird sensation to be on your own but not alone. I sat there and, even though there were other passengers next to me and flight attendants in the aisles, I felt so alone in my own body. I was completely self contained and it was as if I was the only real person that existed in that moment. Luckily it was shattered by the announcement for take off.