Chapter Twenty-Two - Convincing Arguments
“What?” Teddy asked.
No, she demanded.
Teddy, her annoying sisters, and the Boss were all on a sidewalk in some lame suburb. One of those places where all the houses looked the same because capitalism demanded that every niche in the market be filled, including the niche of boring homes that all looked the same. Step-Boss was there too. It was her that had brought them here, to this one random house.
The Boss licked her lips, bounced on the balls of her feet, then pressed her hands together, all that without meeting their eyes. “You three will be staying here for the rest of the day. Just until this afternoon, really. And while you’re here Misses Headerson will teach you all sorts of things.”
Teddy crossed her arms, and next to her Athena did the same. It was a rare moment of solidarity between the two. “I don’t like it,” Teddy said.
“You’re going to leave?” Trinity asked. She was behind Teddy and Athena, on both sides and between them, and all three of her faces looked like they were close to crying.
“I’m not leaving you,” the Boss lied as she leaned forwards. “Uh, it’ll just be for a few hours, so that I can go to class and take care of things. And all three of you need an education. We can’t get you to a normal school yet, so until then...”
“Wait, you mean you’re planning to abandon us to a normal school later?” Athena asked.
“You want us to get propaganda’d over at one of those private corporate institutions?” Teddy added. “I don’t want to be exposed to their trash learning and stuff.”
“Schools have trash?” Trinity asked, perking up a bit.
“Girls,” the Boss said. “Come on, it won’t be that bad.”
“You’re locking us up in some lame Merican dream home with some wrinkly old teacher lady that will try to cram weird stuff into our heads,” Teddy said.
“What kind of weird stuff?” Trinity asked.
Athena half-turned. “Math and stuff.”
“Oh no,” Trinity said. “I only have this many fingers and that’s all I need.” She raised her six hands.
Step-Boss patted Boss on the back. “Let me,” she muttered as she stood next to Boss. “Girls, Heather is a good old friend of mine. She used to teach at Emily’s school when she was much younger, before she had Steffie. She’s an excellent teacher.”
“Yeah, but we don’t need that,” Athena said. “We know all the things we need to know already.”
“We know how to beat people up,” Teddy said.
“And how to break into homes,” Trinity said. “And how to make the best snuggle piles.”
Teddy nodded. Those were the important kinds of skills that they wouldn’t learn in some lame school. Forcing them to go to one anyway was weird and stupid and bad.
Step-Boss nodded. “Yes, you’re all very talented. But maybe you might learn some new things? Tell you what. If you three do a good job today, and behave and learn a bunch, then... we’ll get pizza for supper.”
Teddy paused, considering the offer. That was a pretty good deal.
“Only if we get bacon pizza,” Teddy counter-offered.
Step-Boss grinned, which was basically a yes.
“But don’t expect us not to go full villain on this Heather woman if she’s a pain in the butt.”
Step-Boss hummed and tapped her lower lip. “How about, if she does anything you don’t like, you tell Emily or myself about it, and we’ll take care of it for you?”
So, if this woman disrespected them, she’d have to deal with the wrath of the Boss and Step-Boss? That was a deal as far as Teddy was concerned. “Alright then,” she said.
Step-Boss led the way over to the front door of the house. There was a little garden to one side, and a lawn that had been raked recently so that it wasn’t all covered in dead leaves and stuff. Step-Boss knocked on the door, and it opened after half a minute to reveal an older lady in a skirt and blouse with her hair tied back.
“Claire! And you brought the children too. You’re a bit early.”
Step-Boss nodded. “I thought it was best to be a little early. In case we had to convince the girls to stick around. Besides, it gives them more time for introductions.”
The lady nodded, then stepped back into her home, the door wide-open. “Come in, come in,” she said.
The inside of the house wasn’t anything special. A little living room with a couch in the middle and a TV against the wall, a small kitchen on the other side of a counter with a basket of fruit on it, and a few corridors that lead off into the rest of the house.
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They didn’t get to explore though, since everyone decided to stay crammed up in the entranceway for some reason that Teddy couldn’t figure out.
“So, introductions?” the lady asked. “My name is Heather, but you girls should probably call me Miss Headerson. My daughter’s called Steffie, you’ll meet her soon, she's getting ready for class. So, can I have your names, and maybe a bit about yourselves, if you’re not shy?”
The Boss looked at them, and Teddy got the message. “Yeah, I’m Tedd-- Theodora Wright. I’m the biggest sister, and the best one too.”
“Pleased to meet you, Theodora,” Miss Headerson said. She extended a hand, and Teddy shook it seriously.
“I’m Athena, Athena Wright. The smart one.”
“Shouldn’t you be smart then?” Teddy asked.
Athena poked her in the short ribs, and Teddy was about to retaliate when the Boss bapped them both on the head. “Girls, please.”
“Sorry Boss,” Teddy muttered.
“Sorry Big Sister.”
Miss Headerson giggled. “I see. A clever girl then, and what about you... triplets?”
“I’m Trinity,” Trinity said. “And this is all of me. I like...” She blinked, her eyes going blank for a moment. “I like a lot of stuff, do I need to say all of them?”
The Boss cleared her throat. “Um, my mom told you about their, uh, circumstances?” she asked.
“Yes? A little,” Miss Headerson said. “I’ve worked with children who needed special attention before.”
“Right, that’s great,” Emily said.
Miss Headerson smiled, then turned to another Trinity. “And what’s your name, dear?”
Trinity blinked again. “I just told you. It’s Trinity.”
“Oh? Are the triplets fond of pranks?” she asked.
“Well, yes, but she’s not wrong, and she’s not triplets,” the Boss said. She rubbed at her nose. “Trinity is all three of these bodies. At the same time. This is all of her. It’s... it’s a power thing.”
Miss Headerson’s mouth made a little “o” which had Teddy huffing. She couldn’t wait to show the lady her much more awesome power if this was how amazed she was by Trinity’s lame, boring power. “Are all five... powered?”
“Three,” Emily said. “Uh, Trinity’s just one person, even if she’s got three bodies.”
“When I get dead, I get back,” Trinity explained.
“Pardon?” Miss Headerson asked.
The Boss smiled, it was one of her strange smiles. “At least you won’t need to worry if she chokes on something?”
“I see,” she replied in a way that meant that she didn’t. She turned towards the Step-Boss. “When you said this might be a bit complicated, I was thinking... well, my mind was very much elsewhere.”
Step-Boss sighed. “I know, Heather, but you’re the only one I could turn to. Besides, the girls are genuinely sweet, nice children.”
Teddy puffed her chest out. Damn right she was.
“We can promise not to wreck your place, miss,” Teddy said. She didn’t mean it, but it earned her a pat from the Boss, so she was happy she said it.
“Yes, well,” Miss Headerson said, she hesitated for a moment, then smiled again. “How about you girls go into my classroom? It’s the playroom, just down that corridor and to the right. There’s a washroom if you continue straight, in case you need to wash up or anything. And I’ll be bringing snacks in a moment.”
Teddy perked up. No one had mentioned there being snacks involved.
Teddy jumped when Trinity charged to the room, two of her bodies blocking Athena and Teddy’s path. “No! I’m gonna be first!” Trinity protested. “Last one there’s a rotten good girl!”
“Don’t run, please!” The Boss said. But the Boss didn’t understand how important it was that Teddy not be the last one there.
Athena slipped past Teddy in the corridor and jumped into the room right before Teddy could catch up.
“Hah! You’re last!” Trinity said.
“No, you are!” Teddy said. It was true: two of Trinity were only then entering the room.
“But I was first too.”
“You were two-thirds last,” Athena said.
“Um.”
The sisters all paused and took in the fourth girl in the room. She was sitting at a small school desk and was staring at them all with wide eyes.
“Hi?” she said. “Who are you?”
***