Flutter by, Butterfly

Chapter 14

I did not see Alejandro again, not for a long time. Instead, the show host took me under his wing. He picked me up from the hospital and took me into his home. I lived with him for a short while. He explained to me that Alejandro had to go on another one of his secret missions. I did not press for more. I could sense that the gesture was very much appreciated.

I didn't feel like returning back to school for all the drama that had transpired. I struck a deal with him that I would home school for the rest of the month, and then he could put me in school for the year ahead. I had always been smart, I just never excelled for my parents sake. "You're just showing off. Know your place!" They didn't even like it when my grades were above average. I had to go over my answers to calculate how many I should get wrong so I couldn't score too high. It made so much more sense now, why they never wanted me to be good at anything. It would have come in the way of what I was bred for.

The show host did his best to make me feel comfortable while I stayed with him. I didn't want to be in the way, so I was temporarily bunked in a hotel suite, where he would check upon me on a daily basis. It gave me the seclusion I needed to catch up on my studies, and finally apply myself like I wanted. It gave me something else to think about, besides the events that happened, or all my so called "training sessions." Every once in a while, a memory would come up. A memory of "Touch yourself here," while they would tell me what sounds I should make. If I didn't, it was back in the machine, where they would make me stand, and those horrid electrical currents would slip through my body, hurting me. They didn't compare at all, to the last memories of my parents, but now that I knew their purpose....I would drown myself in homework assignments so that there wouldn't be any more room in my mind to think of it.

The show host was much easier to bond with than either of my so called parents. Eventually, my trust opened up enough that I didn't mind telling him how I could tell the difference with Alejandro's personalities. I found it difficult to explain. The outer things were very slight. It was mostly something I felt in my soul. I also entrusted him with the knowledge that my dreams sometimes predicted things. It wasn't really something that I talked about to people. It never made me feel comfortable to talk about it, but he did tell me that the machine possibly did something with my "third eye" or whatever.

"Have you ever thought of delving into that, or making money off of it?"

"I just want to be an ordinary girl."

"Fair enough."

I think he understood how much I craved normalcy in a world where I was given none. The show host also had a very paternal streak, mixed with a goofy big brother type personality. He cracked jokes and laughed with me as well as watched over me. One day, he found me doing my homework. He asked me what I was doing. I attempted to reply. I could tell my answer went way over his head.

He said, "You know what? Never mind! I feel awfully dumb when I'm around you."

"I'll try to remember to dumb down my answers next time, Dumb-dumb." And so, the nick-name stuck.

Dumb-dumb had quite a few celebrity friends. One comedian in particular, he let me see his father side as well. This comedian spent a lot of time with Dumb-dumb. He was hilariously funny. I called him Loco. I caught myself wondering how different it would have been for me, if I had fathers like either of them. There were things going on in show-biz that the public eye was unaware of, things that neither of them wanted to be a part of any more than Alejandro or I did; but I could see that they kept that part of their lives separate from their families, protecting them from what they themselves did not wish to know, but could not break away from.

Both Loco and Dumb-dumb were aware of what went on in "the business." Dumb-dumb even admitted that he was supposed to be my watcher. He was to report if I had any new developments. Loco was a baby-sitter as well, but not just for me. He was supposed to squeal on either of us if we weren't behaving or following commands. Both of them though, made it clear that as far as loyalty went, they would follow the orders of Alejandro before anyone else. That gave me comfort, and hope. Meanwhile, Dumb-dumb and Loco both acted like neither one of them enjoyed the things they had to do. They even asked me more into detail the things I did to fake along, some of which they found to be useful for themselves. If there was anything new that I learned about myself from all of this, it was that I could feel that they were telling the truth. I could feel that I was not in any danger with them personally. They both gave me meditations to perform on my own that would help to enhance those senses.