(2)
Jessy raised her head to look at the doctor; the pad on his lap now had pages of writing flipped over. He seemed unaffected by her memory. “So what do you think?”
“It doesn’t matter what I think. It matters that you remember it. How does this memory affect you?”
“When I was little I never understood it. After becoming a Fireoak I didn’t think about it, till I was sixteen. That’s when I understood what my father had done, it made me cry.”
“Can you explain to me what you understood?”
“I understood that both of my biological parents where hit men. That he gave her one last chance to change her mind, even if she didn’t know it. That he did what he felt had to be done because the only way out of our line of work was in a pine box.” Jessy voice lowered to a near whisper, “ I am only alive because I was determined to go with him that night. I knew something wasn’t right.”
“Do you remember how old you were?”
“I was two.”
“You said our line of work, what did you mean by that?”
(3)
The sun was shining, the shadow of the trees filtered sunbeams through them as father and daughter walked through the city park. Jeff looked down at the big blue eyes; golden locks framed her face enhancing the sweet innocents of her smile beaming up at him.
Jeff paused and bent down to Jessy level, “Baby you know what you have to do?” Jessy nodded feeling so proud being a big girl, big enough to help her daddy. Jeff took her arm looking at the Mickey Mouse watch, sinking his to hers. “You have to come back out of the building before Mickey’s big hand points at the three.” He adjusted the straps of the backpack.
“That’s fifteen minutes,” she chirped to correct him.
He couldn’t help but smile at his daughter, “That’s right fifteen minutes”. Worry replaced the smile as he spoke, “I’ll be waiting for you on the steps.” Jeff stood up and crossed the street stopping at the foot of the building stairs.
“Don’t worry daddy,” she tried to reassure him, “I’ll be back by fifteen.” Jessy headed up the stairs picking a random woman with two children, she stepped up behind her as they entered the building. Jessy followed her till she saw the ladies room and slipped in.
Going to the last stall she locked the door and unzipped her backpack. Carefully she pulled out one of the boxes inside and placed it into the trash box on the wall. She flushed the toilet and headed to the door. Peeking out till she saw another woman with a child and skipped behind them entering the elevator with them. The woman exited with her child heading toward a daycare. Jessy kept going down the hall, as the woman enter the office.
Jessy hurried to the stair well ducking behind the wall as she removed the next box placing it behind a fire extinguisher. She quickly ran the stairs up, peeking out of the fire door, waiting for the hall of adults to empty. She hurried along to the janitors’ room, slipping in and placing the last box, into its hiding spot. She listened at the door, looking down at her watch. She had to hurry. She opened the door and ran back to the stairwell door, right as it opened.
Jessy looked up at the man in a dark suit as he asked; “Now where do you belong?”
She smiled at him, “I got lost, can you tell me where the little girl’s room is?”
He nodded, “You are very lost, and how did you get out of day care? Give me your hand, I’ll take you back.”
Jessy took his hand and let him led her down the stairs, till he opened the door. “I’m a big girl, I can go by myself.”
“Okay but I’m going to watch.”
She skipped to the daycare door, pausing to wave at the man as she cracked it open. He turned around and headed back up the stairs. Jessy closed the door, going back to the stairwell; she looked at her watch seeing the hand tick off fourteen. She opened the door to the stairwell and ran down the stairs, brushing past a woman carrying folders.
“Hey, little girl….” She called after Jessy trying not to lose the folders.
Her tiny legs ran as fast as they could, daddy had told her not to be late. Jessy hit the stairwell door, swinging it open and ran into the bustle of people that now flooded the halls. Ignoring the shouts calling after her, she hit the main door in a dead run.
She paused for a moment half way down the front building stairs and searched the forest of people for her daddy. Her feet lifted off the ground as two familiar arms scooped her up and quickly paced away from the building. Jeff nodded at a van as they crossed the street. Jessy looked backed as she watch the van blow up next to the building, followed by three more loud booms as puffs of smoke, mixed with brick and mortar shot out from the side of the building.
“Did I do good Daddy?”
“You did just fine baby, now you are one of us.” His voice sounded almost sad.