Marcy’s story….
Book bag, extra notebook, three pencils for her math test (all sharpened to a fine tip) and a large eraser. Check. Check and Check! Glancing at the clock, she nodded since she realize that she was now two minutes ahead of schedule.
“Honey, you’re going to be late for school,” Isadora Marshall called up the stairs.
Marcy refrained from rolling her eyes as she grabbed her sweater and her book bag, ignoring the enormous LSAT book that had appeared on her dresser last night. LSATs were for law school and she had absolutely no desire to be a lawyer. That sounded like the most tedious job in the world to her. Unless someone broke into her mother’s house, what good was the law? Just a bunch of boring stuff telling boring people to follow boring rules.
Stepping into the kitchen, she carefully leaned her bag on the floor next to the kitchen chair as her mother put a plate filled with scrambled eggs and…what looked like bacon but Marcy knew it wasn’t bacon but was actually some tofu, manufactured, bacon-wanna-be stuff…in front of her. “Did you grab the law school entrance exam book I bought you yesterday?” Isadora asked, referring to the LSAT book still sitting on Marcy’s dresser.
Marcy put the glass of almond milk down (because, in addition to cardboard-like bacon, her mother thought that fake milk was healthier somehow), shaking her head and desperately trying not to roll her eyes. Again. Her mother was only trying to help by encouraging her to pursue a financially savvy career choice. Marcy knew this, but sometimes her mother’s “help” was a bit overwhelming.
“No, Mom. I have to study for the college entrance exams before I can start studying for the law school entrance exams.”
Isadora turned to start cleaning up the kitchen, but spoke over her shoulder. “It is never too early to start studying when you have a dream.”
Marcy nibbled on the toast as she watched her mother bustle around in the kitchen, cleaning and putting things away. Was it Marcy’s dream to go to law school? It would be okay, she supposed. She didn’t really have any other concrete plans, other than to get into college, study…something…and get a good job. As a freshman in high school, college just seemed a long way away.
Of course, there was that article she’d read yesterday, something about business process reengineering. That sounded interesting but…
It probably wasn’t a very glamorous job. Marcy glanced over at her mother, wondering why there was such a push to become a lawyer. Marcy suspected that business was more where her interests lay but…She needed a plan. Once she knew what she wanted to do with her life, she could more effectively argue against her mother’s plan of becoming a lawyer.
Then again, business school seemed a bit less concrete than law school.
Law school was probably a better choice. A more solid future.
“I need to go,” she announced, grabbing her book bag and her toast. With a swift kiss to her mother’s cheek, she hurried out of the house, almost running to the bus stop.
The fresh air felt good on her face and she breathed in the cool, spring morning. There was something stifling about her house this morning, but Marcy knew that her mother was just trying to help.
Two blocks away, Marcy dumped her book bag onto the ground and sat down on the curb. Taking out her book, she flipped to where she’d left off in the story last night. But even the words couldn’t diminish the panic that seemed to press against her. Was it the idea of college? Or the dread of going to law school that was causing this reaction?
Marcy wasn’t exactly sure but…
Why was she panicking? Why had she rushed out of the house so early this morning? She wasn’t late. There was no reason she needed to be here at the bus stop so early.
Marcy had no idea, but she just knew that she’d needed a break from her mother’s continuous comments about law school. Looking out over the postage-stamp sized lawns, she once again considered her options. Yeah, perhaps law school would be fine. It wasn’t a horrible plan.
Zeke’s story….
Zeke stared up at his father, watching the older man’s eyes so that he could gauge his willingness. “How about cash?”
Bryce Steele looked down at his oldest son, trying to smother the humor. Zeke was already a great negotiator, but the idea of paying him cash seemed…odd. Not to mention, his three other sons were standing in the background, all of them looking a bit too eager, all of them obviously waiting impatiently for their older brother to come back with the results of this conversation. Looking at his oldest son again, Bryce had to stifle a chuckle at Zeke’s serious green eyes. A natural born leader, Zeke was already an impressive adversary during any kind of negotiation.
Sitting down on one of the tree stumps in the backyard, Bryce got down to his son’s level, trying to understand. “Explain the plan to me, son, and what you want to do with the money” he said, not wanting to reject the request outright, but having witnessed his sons’ brilliant minds at work together in the past, he was understandably wary of whatever the four of them might be concocting now.
Zeke’s lips pressed together as his green eyes looked down at the ground. For several moments, he contemplated what his father was asking, then looked up into his father’s eyes. “Dad, when you earn your salary, do you explain what you’re going to do with it?” he asked his father, unaware that he was holding his breath. He’d just challenged his father. That was never a good thing. Their dad was smart. Brilliant! Zeke knew that he was playing with fire here. But it still felt good. He felt powerful as his father stared at him. The man was big, but Zeke was getting bigger. Soon, he hoped to be just as big and smart as his father.
Watching carefully, Zeke subconsciously noted the body language of his father, mentally cataloguing the stern look in his eyes, the straight shoulders and the way his father looked him in the eye. Zeke lifted himself up higher, wanting to be just like his dad!
“No. I don’t tell everyone what I’m going to do with my paycheck. Mostly, because your mother already knows where it is going.”
Zeke hadn’t thought of that. He looked down again, then realized that the glance away might be a sign of weakness and looked right back up at his father. “If we promised that our money won’t go towards anything illegal, would you be okay with that?”
Zeke could feel his brothers’ tension as all four of them waited to hear his father’s verdict.
Bryce stared at his sons, proud of all of them, but trying hard not to laugh. Whatever they were up to, it had to be something big. He didn’t want to discourage their imaginations or enthusiasm, but he would make sure that, whatever they were planning, they would still be safe.
“Fine,” he said, shocking even himself. “You’ll get cash.”
All four boys sighed with relief, Logan even did a fist pump in the air. Zeke smiled, looking up at his father, forgetting that he was supposed to be the emotionless negotiator. “Thanks. It’s going to be awesome!”
His father looked wary, but wouldn’t back out of his agreement. “But you won’t tell me what it is?”
Zeke’s smile came out along with an almost devious sparkle to his green eyes that would be lethal to the future damsels’ willpower once he started using it effectively. “We’ll show you when we’re finished, okay?”
Bryce looked at Teague and Luke, then at Logan. Teague and Luke were obviously drawing something they wanted to build. What Logan was doing…that was the real mystery.
“Fine. I’ll get you cash for your efforts. You four boys have been working hard. You deserve the money.” Even as he said it, Bryce noticed the calculations still working in Zeke’s mind. The four of them…working together…he needed to talk to Quinn. They needed to…well, he wasn’t sure what. But Quinn would know how to handle this.
Between the two of them, they’d somehow managed to keep their daring, fearless four boys alive.
