22. #3
“That’s some legacy.” Jewel yawned again. I knew she must be exhausted, so I asked, “What happened this evening at your parents’ house, and why do you think that might change my opinion of your family?”
“Oh, yeah! We got sidetracked, didn’t we?”
I waited for at least a minute, but when she didn’t explain, I agreed, “Yes, we did. Now tell me what happened.”
“Like I said before, Mom let us explore what made us happy. Terran has always been fascinated by the brain and its mysteries.”
I could tell by how her entire body had tensed that she was upset, but I still pushed when she fell silent again. “And?”
“When we were really young, he learned how to hypnotize people. He’s been at it for years, mostly for good, though every now and then, he uses it for evil.”
“Are you telling me your brother hypnotized me?”
“Yes.”
“What the fuck?”
“I know. It’s a complete invasion of . . . privacy or something. I’m not sure, but I know how much it pisses people off. After he did it to me the first time, I got really mad. I mean, really mad. That was the first time I plotted someone’s death.”
“Holy shit! What did he make you do?”
“Every time someone said the word hate, I started blowing kisses. I couldn’t stop until I’d made at least ten quality smooching sounds.”
Again, the only words I could find were, “Holy shit!”
“He made Spruce wink every time he heard the.”
“The what?”
“No, every time he heard the word the, he winked.”
“But that’s probably one of the most common words in the English language.”
“Actually, it’s the most used word.”
“So, Spruce winked all the time?”
“Think about our conversation over the last five minutes and guess how many times we’ve said the.”
“A lot.”
Jewel giggled. “Spruce could barely keep his eyes open. He bumped into walls, walked into doors, tripped over nothing, and basically had one hell of a time doing any task if someone was speaking.” She laughed out loud.
“Even if we were all quiet, there was always a television or music playing, and he just couldn’t stop. ”
“How long did that go on?”
“That was the first time Terran was successful at hypnotizing anyone, and the day after he did it, he went to spend a month in Colorado with Micah’s cousins, Porter and Ammon.
He had no idea what was going on at home with Spruce.
Mom took him to the doctor, they referred him to a neurologist, did all sorts of tests and scans–the works. They were all stumped.”
“Holy. Shit.”
Terran came home and cracked up every time Spruce winked, but when he found out they thought he was having some sort of neurological episode, he had to confess.
Mom and Dad were so mad, they sent him back to stay with Porter and Ammon until Spruce calmed down.
I think they needed a little time too. Anyway, it’s all good now, although occasionally Spruce twitches for no reason, and it makes Mom mad all over again. ”
“I just . . . I don’t know . . . holy shit.”
“You keep saying that, and honestly, I get it.”
“Am I gonna start twitching when someone says a random word?”
“Oh, gosh no! Mom insisted that Terran never do it again, because the words he used were so common that one of us could get hurt if we couldn’t control ourselves.”
“But he did it tonight.”
“He never stopped doing it. He just quit doing it to us, and when he did it to anyone else, he used off-the-wall words that they’d probably never hear unless he said them.”
“What did he make me do, Jewel?”
“He had you and Dad clucking like chickens and then . . .” Jewel giggled, snorted, and finally cackled.
“Then he had both of you thinking you were riding a roller coaster. You were swaying back and forth, screaming like you were terrified, and clutching the chair as if gravity needed help holding you on earth.”
“I’m gonna kill him!”
“I can’t let you do that, Nip. If anyone gets to kill him, it’s one of us. We have a strict ‘no physical abuse by outsiders’ policy that we adhere to.”
“Marry me so I’m not considered an outsider.”
Jewel didn’t even hesitate. “You’d still technically be an outsider since you won’t magically become part of the sibling group.”
I was more shocked than she was at my suggestion, but it felt right. I knew that was my endgame anyway, but I hadn’t planned on showing my hand so soon. I didn’t want Jewel taking two steps back and making me coax her toward my way of thinking again.
“Are you not even going to freak out at all?”
“About the half-assed marriage proposal? No. Try again after we’ve lived together for at least a year. If we’re both still in good health and walking upright, we can talk about it.”
“When do we get to move in with each other?”
“We haven’t spent a night apart since you moved here, Nip. I think we’re already living together. However, we should probably pick one house rather than trying to maintain two.”
“I’ve got just the place.”
“I’m not moving into your bachelor pad, Nip. Not a chance.”
“Give me three weeks, maybe four, and you’ll change your mind.”
“Not likely.”
“I have faith that you will.” Jewel yawned again, which caused me to do the same, so I said, “Go to sleep, Kitten. Love you.”
“Don’t tell me what to do.”