Chapter 73: Bumblebee
Two Years Ago
“You can do it, Bee!”
“I- I don’t… I don’t think I can…!” Bee shouts back, peeking over the brittle rails at the long drop, a thunderous river roaring from below.
Waiting for Bee on the bridge's other side, I continue encouraging her, “You’re over halfway across! Just keep hold of the rails and walk a little further! One step at a time, you got this!”
“O-o-o-kay!” Bee yells, firmly grabbing onto one rope line as she holds her bumblebee stuffed animal with her other arm.
She then took another step forward and glanced up at me with her glistening lapis eyes that always reminded me of the ocean’s beauty during an early morning sunrise. Giving Bee an enthusiastic double thumbs-up, I continued delivering words of encouragement. She lets out a little giggle before focusing back on the task at hand as a fall breeze whistles by. Watching my sister as her beautiful golden hair flows with the wind, I smile.
I can’t believe how much Bee has grown; she’s ten now! Her real name is Hailey, but I nicknamed her “Bee” because she always smells like the sweet scent of honey. I even convinced Mom to get her a fluffy bumblebee stuffed animal that Bee named “Bumble.”... she now carries it around with her constantly.
I take a deep breath as Bee continues nearing the end of the bridge.
She told me she was ready and could cross the entire bridge without my help today. This is her eighth attempt, and she’s given up each time. But for some reason, I feel like today will be different. Bee will finish it! She can do this…!
Taking her time with each step, sometimes looking at me for support, I could visibly tell that my presence made Bee feel safe and a lot more confident. She was probably three-fourths of the way across when a violent gust of wind abruptly picked up, and the bridge started to fiercely sway back and forth. The torn-up wooden boards began scratching against each other, making a deafening noise similar to that of nails on a chalkboard. Impulsively letting go of the rope, Bee tucked herself into a ball… closing her eyes as tears started to shed and covering her ears to try and block out the torturous blend of harrowing sights and sounds.
“Bee!”
As her protective shell instinctively became as still as a statue, continuing to bear the intense gust of the wind, I took off. As I stepped foot on the bridge, I became numb to everything around me.
Everything except for my younger sister.
“Hang tight, Bee!”
As my footsteps frantically rumbled along the narrow bridge toward my sister, Bee slowly lifted her head in my direction, peeking open her teary eyes. In my state of panic, I didn’t even notice how terrible the conditions were and how dangerous it was for us to be there because all I was concerned about was keeping my sister safe.
As I approached her, I dropped to my knees and wrapped my arms around her shivering body, protecting her as much as possible from the wind. No words were said between us, but I felt her body slowly start to relax. Resting her forehead on my chest, I felt her teardrops begin to soak my knees as she tightly hugged me back. Only when I got a whiff of her familiar honey aroma was I slightly put at ease.
The two of us sat there embraced, waiting for the erratic wind to disappear.
After probably twenty seconds, I asked, “Bee, are you okay?”
With a toothy grin, she replies, “Yes, I’m okay.”
Relief flushes over me, and I stand back up, offering my hand to her.
“Come on, let’s get home,” I say gently.
At first, Bee reaches out to take my hand. But she then stops and takes her hand back.
“I want to finish…” she mutters, barely loud enough for me to hear.
Shocked at what she just said, I chuckled for a moment.
“Bee, you can try again some other time. We should really-”
“No, Alex, you always do this! I want to do it by myself!” she declares.
Taken aback by her sudden determination, I crouched beside her, wondering what to say.
“Then finish it you shall…” I say with a grin, and Bee starts laughing before hugging me again.
“Thanks, big brother. I won’t let you down!” says Bee as I pat her on the head and stand up.
Leaving her behind, I return to the end of the bridge, and I turn back around to see Bee waiting for me. I give her a thumbs up, letting her know I’m watching her, and she starts walking across the bridge much faster. My jaw drops as she steps onto solid ground and runs over to me.
Putting up my hand for a high five, I say, “That was amazing! How’d you do that just now?”
Proudly smacking my hand, Bee replies, “Well… after the wind… I just didn’t feel scared anymore. If the wind couldn’t even knock me over, I felt like nothing could stop me!”
Cocking a brow, I skeptically ask, “Are you sure you’re my sister? Or are you secretly some superhero in disguise?”
My sister breaks out into a fit of giggling, and it takes her a while to compose herself before she replies, “Of course I’m your sister! But I’m also a superhero! My hero's name is “Honeybee”! And this is my partner, Bumble! We’re here to save you!”
I start laughing as I lift her up, “Today’s headline… ‘Honeybee and Bumble save the day!’”
After circling her around in the air a few times, I place Bee back down, and she immediately topples over, dizzy from the motion. I go down on a knee beside her and say, “Climb on. Mom and Dad will be upset if we’re late again for dinner.”
“Okay!” she cheerfully complies, tiredly climbing onto my back.
As I heaved her up and securely fastened her in place by rearranging my arms beneath her, Bee whispered, “Wow… that’s pretty.”
Drawing my attention toward the sunset, I am stunned by its vivid beauty.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
“Hey Bee, if you could describe the sunset in one word right now, what would you say?”
“Hmmm… special!”
I smile, “Yeah, it’s pretty special indeed.”
Carrying her the rest of the way home, I didn’t even realize that she had fallen asleep until we had entered our neighborhood. Strolling up the walkway toward the front door, I could smell the delicious food mom was cooking for us through the open window on the side of the house. And I could also hear my father. I silently started to eavesdrop on my parent's conversation after putting the pair of earmuffs I had brought for Bee over her ears so she wouldn’t wake up from the noise.
“What’s that boy thinking, ditching class at the academy again?!” shouted my father.
I heard a pair of fists pound on the table, and I was surprised by the sound that the table hadn’t broken.
“He only has two years left! At this rate, he doesn’t stand a chance at surviving!”
“His grades are good, and the mentors are saying he’s performing well in his other training sessions, sometimes even superbly,” my mother attempted to reason.
“Average! Besides the scarce class or two, they said he was performing averagely, Marissa! That’s not good enough to survive, and you know that!”
“But there’s nothing else we can do to help! How would you feel knowing you only have two years to live? We’re both survivors. We should know better than anyone what he’s going through!”
“I would feel a lot better knowing that I will survive, not that I might,” my father coldly replies. “And that’s what the academy is for, to prepare children to the best of their ability. He has far more potential than we’ve seen, and he’s only getting in his own way by blowing off class!”
“How could you know there’s still room and time left for our son to properly grow? Forcing anything now may only hurt him and-”
“Because he’s my son!” my father declares, silencing my mother.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have…” my father stutters.
“It’s okay. Kane, I understand.”
“I should be going now. It’s not often the five of us can meet up like this,” says my father before I hear the whoosh of a coat and a kiss. “Thank you for the food.”
Hearing his footsteps practically race toward the door, I start to panic.
Shoot! He’s leaving now! I need to-
My father opened the front door before I could hide. Dressed in a brown overcoat, black trousers, and a black fedora, I notice my father still hasn’t shaved his white beard as he looms over me from the other side of the doorway.
“Alex, you’re home late. Why?” asks my father, his glare stone cold and his breath reeking of liquor.
“Apologies, sir. Hailey and I ran into some trouble on the way home,” I reply as I wake up Bee and set her down, telling her to go inside and shut the door behind her.
Stepping outside, my father waits for Bee to do so, and the moment the door closes behind him, he further interrogates, “What kind of trouble?”
I hang my head, unable to look him in the eye as I answer his question, “Sir. Hailey wanted to take the bridge route. And I didn’t want to upset her, sir.”
Ignoring what I just said, my father asks, “What did I tell you about making eye contact with me?”
“To never break it, sir,” I utter, raising my gaze to match his once more, and I’m met with a callous punch striking the right side of my face, making me see stars as I stumble back.
“That’s right,” he says.
On the ground, I quickly get up and look at him again. My vision is so blurred that I can’t even distinguish the different body parts on his face, but I know in my heart that I’m looking at him right in the eye.
“So don’t break it again. Never take your eyes off your opponent. You hear me, boy?”
Coughing up the saliva that had gathered under my tongue, I immediately replied, “Sir. Yes, sir.”
Standing back up on my own, I don’t dare look away for even a moment as my vision clears. My father then moved closer to me and brought up a topic I hoped he would've already forgotten.
“What’s this I heard about you skipping out on your academy class again?”
His toxic breath immediately made me nauseous, but I didn’t twitch a muscle.
“Sir. We revisited a topic we had already gone over earlier in the year, intended to benefit those who had fallen behind. And since I had already passed that unit of study, I did not see the reason behind my attendance, sir.”
“And you thought extra training was beneath you since you already passed once?”
“I- … yes, sir.”
“What was the topic about?”
“Sir, it was combat training, specifically one-on-one close-quarter duels. I scored top of the class.”
“And do you think scoring highly against a bunch of teenagers is enough to prepare you for a real fight?”
“With all due respect, sir, the academy consists of the best of the best. Only the most fortunate and gifted are capable of attending. Since no other student could best me, wouldn’t that imply I had excelled in that particular unit? Sir.”
Putting a finger to my chest, my father shuts me down, “Wrong. The academy does not consist of the best that Iasa has to offer. That’s only a fantasy you’ve created to feel better about your weaknesses. Whether you excel or fail, it offers an excuse for you to fall back on. Bullshit. Only the families capable of affording the academy are able to have their children attend, and your father has a little extra money to spare. You wanna know the kicker, though, tough guy? You wouldn’t be at the academy if you were already good enough. That’s why you still go there, cause you’re not ready, you’re not strong yet. There are people out there, starving people, who would do anything for just a taste of our riches. And they’ll fight like hell if it means replacing your sorry ass for a few more scraps off the table. If you really think you’re man enough to cut the class I’m paying for, that must mean you can beat me in a fight. You are, of course, the best of the best, right?”
My eyes widened as his appearance suddenly began changing, making the warmly colored leaves around us start to tumble and twirl off the ground. A translucent, golden suit of sparkling armor encases his body from neck to toe as his fedora flies off his head, revealing his upright, white hair shining from the highlighted golden specks sprinkled in.
“Well, son, do you want to fight like men do in the real world?” he asks, floating off the ground.
“No, no, sir!” I reply, terrified as he continues rising into the sky.
This was only the second time I had seen him activate his powers like this, and this time, it wasn’t so he could protect the family and me. Returning to normal, my father floats down to where his fedora had fallen. Picking it up and placing it back on his head, he fixes any extra hair strands that were misplaced. Then, as he walked back over to me, I held my breath in anticipation, wondering what would happen now as I tracked every step of his with my quivering pair of eyes. But this time, he’s the one who breaks eye contact as he takes a step past me and stops.
“If I wasn’t already late to my evening plans, tonight would’ve gone very differently for you,” he remarks as he fixes his coat.
“I know, sir.”
“Don’t cut class. And don’t take Hailey to the bridge again. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Your mother made you and your sister a lovely meal. Go on inside and enjoy it.”
“Yes… sir.”
Bringing a rough fingertip to my cheek, he grazes the relative area where his fist had connected, and its fresh tenderness causes my face to slightly twitch, but I don’t move.
“Good son, well done,” he says as my face heals back to normal. I then felt a sudden breeze behind me, and I turned around to see my father was no longer there.
Walking inside the house, I joined my mother and sister at the table, and my mother gave me a look of endearment before telling me to help myself. As I began eating and telling my mom about how Bee finally crossed the bridge alone, my mom was shocked but not angry. She was happy. Bee soon joined in with her own version of the story, and we all had a good laugh until dinner was over.
As I cleaned the table, washed the dishes, and started preparing for bed, I felt a tug on my shirt while brushing my teeth.
“Alex, I don’t know where Bumble is…” Bee told me, on the verge of tears.
Quickly spitting out the toothpaste, I attempt to comfort her, “Okay… it’s okay, Bee, don’t cry. Don’t cry. I’ll go get Bumble. Do you think you dropped it on the way home?”
She nods, trying her best to stay composed, “I- I think so… I was so tired, so I probably let go of him on the way home… I- I didn’t mean to Alex…!”
“I know… I know you didn’t mean to, Bee. Don’t cry. I’ll go back and find Bumble right now, I promise! I’ll be back before you know it,” I reassure Bee as I hug her and exit the bathroom.
Damn it! I should’ve held on to Bumble myself!
Cursing under my breath, I put on my running shoes and grab a flashlight before heading out into the night.