Seff: Meeting Daisy's parents Also, that Sunday was Seff's first meeting with Daisy's parents. "Remember, Seff, my parents think that we haven't been out together yet." said Daisy to Seff on Friday afternoon. Accordingly, he presented himself at Daisy's house, acting as if he was a nervous boy asking Daisy out for the first time. This was easy to do, since he was a nervous boy, except he was meeting the parents for the first time. They went by car to the Church of the Everlasting Fire and walked to an empty pew. The parents consulted with each other. "Here, your father can go in first, then Daisy, then Seff, and I will sit last." said mum. "Well, at least I get to sit next to Daisy." thought Seff. The ceremony part was boring, but fortunately short. The sermon part was longer. And Seff found it a lot more intense. First, the preacher laid down the foundations of his argument. "As you go through life, you will find the need to make various commitments. Business commitments, marriage commitments, family commitments." Then a gradual build up of the main theme. "These commitments need to be kept. Investors may be committing their finances to your business endeavours. Husbands or wives may be pledging their hearts and lives to you. Children may be relying on you to be always present as they grow up." Leading to the fireworks. "If you make a commitment you are expected to keep it! The Angel of Death will take note of any broken promises! She will tote up in her ledger every betrayal! Every investor who lost their savings because of you. Every sweet heart whose heart was broken because of you. Every child who was left alone, every child who was aborted, they will all be counted!" And finally the obligatory fire and brimstone conclusion. "If you are a sinner who has broken their commitments you will not be excused. You will have no escape. The Angel of Death will drag you off and discard you in the refuse heap of depraved condemned souls in hell. You will burn in eternity!" The preacher was a big man. He used all of his strength to pound the lectern, pounding in his message. Seff had his own personal opinion about all of this. Ok, Ok, I don't disagree with the need to keep commitments, not at all. But isn’t this just a bit over the top? He surreptitiously looked around. People, including Daisy and her parents, were taking this in without any show of shock or surprise. This must be standard fare for Sunday mornings. Frankly, it looks like religious theatrical performance to me. But I think I'll keep my opinion to myself. The next part was the singing. Hey! I get to hold Daisy's hand. So this is why we are in this order. Although it does feels a bit strange to also be holding the hand of a grown up woman. He knew the songs, and was happy to sing along with everyone. Especially with Daisy. He gently squeezed his hand, and she squeezed back. But I do wonder where does Mackay’s Angel of Death fit into all of this? Daisy's parents invited him back to their house for lunch. "Yes, you seem to be a nice young boy." said Daisy's dad at the end of the meal. "So, we don't mind if you start dating our daughter.” said Daisy's mum. "But we would like to know when and where. And no visiting each other's houses when the parents are not present!" said dad. "Thank you." said Seff. "Thanks, mum and dad." said Daisy. After that, dad left to go to work. "I need to go out in a few hours time for my cleaning jobs. But until then, you can stay here and talk to Daisy if you want. But if you sit in her room, you need to keep the bedroom door open." said mum. So Daisy sat on her bed and Seff sat on her study chair. They could hear Daisy's mum moving around in the house, doing chores and getting ready for her work. "Why are your parents working all the time?" said Seff. "My dad is running a small import export business, which requires his full attention. Unfortunately, it isn't making any money at the moment, so mum does cleaning work to pay the bills and buy food. So in actual fact, I hardly ever see either of them." They exchanged glances at this point. They couldn't say anything out loud, but neither had to work very hard to guess what the other was thinking. Daisy nodded her head. Seff smiled. "Ah, what did you think about the church service?" said Daisy. "I liked the singing and the holding hands with you. And while I agree with the theme of the sermon, well, the preacher goes a bit overboard, doesn't he?" "Yeah, that fire and brimstone stuff always gives me the creeps. Especially when he implied last week that being raped is the girl's fault." The last part was said in a whisper, Daisy did not want her mother to hear any of it. "Oh, right. That is definitely wrong. Why on earth don't you go to some church with a nicer way of looking at things?" Sigh. "I would love to, but my parents just seem to be stuck on this one." "Hmm, do you think this preacher is one of those that live a double life?" said Seff, with a little snicker. Giggle. "I really don't think so, but it would certainly be dramatic to find out that he did." "Yeah, just think about when his turn comes to be judged by an angel. Maybe even Mackay's angel!" Suppressed laughter from Daisy. "Wouldn't that be uncomfortable!" "Yeah, wouldn't it. I'd hate to even think about it!" said Seff. An hour later. "Ok, you two. I heard you laughing, so you must have had a good time. But I'm going now, so if Daisy would like to see us both off?" said Daisy's mum. Three girls and Mackay walk to school There was another frisson of excitement when Mackay and three girls all walked to school together. "It really is a miracle!" said Handel. "I think you might have something there." said Harmony. As Janet had said, "We will just have to say that due to family circumstances, Turquoise is staying with us. With a bit of luck it might be a while before someone finds out what has happened to her father, and why." Seff and Handel were suspicious and puzzled all over again. And Daisy's opinion about Mackay became even lower. Tuesday after school, Seff and Daisy had another study date. "But, Daisy, you must admit that Turquoise's behaviour has improved. She still might be avoiding boys entirely, and be twitchy around girls, but that's heaps better than what it was. So Mackay must be having a good influence on her." "Hmm, you do have a point there. I suppose." Harmony expressed similar views to Handel. "I'm glad that Seff and you aren't like Mackay!" Handel decided it was too much effort to argue this. Mackay and Jenny tentatively agree that sometime in the future maybe... It all started innocently enough. Carmen held up her hand and said "Look, the seam of my shirt has separated. Damn, it's hasn't had much wear, either." "Well, just repair it. I repair all of my own clothes." said Turquoise. "Oh, well, you see, I normally let mum repair them. Ah, but, perhaps you could show me how to?" said Carmen. Small giggle from Turquoise. "First it's maths, now its sewing. But, yeah, I'll show you. We had better hurry if you want it done before tea time." Carmen grabbed Turquoise's arm and together they rushed from the room. All four of them had been gathered to consult the charging calendar. As Janet had said after one too many kerfuffles over the times needed for charging: "You lot will just have to get organised about this and keep a record." So now, pinned to the kitchen notice board was the Charging Calendar. It allowed the coordination of their times, too make sure that the state of charge of the two girls was always in the green. On this particular occasion, Jenny and Mackay were left behind as the other two girls disappeared. Mackay: Turquoise and Carmen are getting along well. In spite of Carmen's alpha male obsession. He took a glance at Jenny. It would be nice... Nyah, doesn't appear anything's going to be happening any time soon. So he sat down on the sofa, picked up his computer game, and began playing it. Jenny: Mackay has a really nice smile, doesn't he? Since I'm stuck with him, I wonder... She took a glance at him. On the other hand, he's always clicking buttons on that stupid computer game. What a worthless occupation. Maybe we could have a talk about something? Mackay and Jenny: "Ah, Mackay?" she said. "Humph?" He continued clicking buttons for a moment, then stopped and looked up. "Well, I - Um, you're always playing that game, ah, maybe we can talk occasionally - ah, after all, we are stuck together..." "You sound like my sister, always criticising me. Ah, but, yeah, we can talk. Umm, are you, well, getting used to, err, this whole situation?" "Sort of. I'm getting better. It's better than when we started - hmm, Carmen and Turquoise are getting on well, aren't they?" said Jenny. "Yes they are - so, well, maybe we could, err, get along also?" said Mackay. "I suppose so, since, since I can't get away from you, anyway." "Yeah, I suppose that's a real pain - having to put up with sleeping next to a boy you don't particularly like." "I, I wouldn't necessarily say it like that - of course you must find it difficult also..." "Well, actually, so... I'm thinking, perhaps we could, well, learn to - like each other - maybe?" said Mackay. "Ah, what?" "I mean" Here Mackay took a deep breath and then blurted out in an outburst "If we're going to be together forever then even if you think you're damaged goods it really makes sense that we become a couple after all we are already sleeping next to each other and this could make it really really difficult to find someone else and err." He ran out of air. He stopped. Jenny gasped. "Damaged goods... Is that what I am?" "Sorry, I didn't mean to insult you, but you did use that phrase yourself!" "I'm really sorry if I'm no good for you. I mean you don't have to be kind to me just because it's convenient." said Jenny. "No, no! I mean, I mean -" "Well, I mean, perhaps you will have to put up with me, anyway. Maybe I should just put up with that, after all, what choice do I have in the matter?" said Jenny. "But, we don't, I mean, I don't think I will have to put up with you, I'm sure you will get better!" He put his hand on hers. She froze. Realising this, Mackay jerked his hand back. She stepped back in dismay. "Oh, right, I'm too revolting to touch, am I?" she said. "Err, wait, I realised that you didn't want me to touch you!" "Of a course I don't! It's enough that I have to sleep next to you all the time! This is freaking me out!" "Sorry! Sorry! I take back what I said! Obviously we will never be an item!" he said. "That's right. I'm just an almighty encumbrance to you, aren't I? I just get in the road of you finding some lovie dovie sweetheart. Probably one with a better figure than I and who will never cause you any trouble!" "No, you're not an encumbrance! I am happy to pay the price to save your lives! Just calm down! You're getting over excited!" By now, they were both shouting. "Pay the price? Pay the price? So that's what I am, am I, something that costs you? You stupid boy. I wish you had just left me to die!" "Bloody hell! I'm beginning to think that too. You lot have made my life so complicated!" At that, Jenny threw her purse across the room and stormed out through the door that lead to the front of house. At least she didn't throw it at Mackay, for which he was thankful. He heard the front door slam. "Oh shit." He flopped face down on the sofa. "I only wanted to ask her to be my girlfriend." Carmen and Turquoise had been watching this wonderful exchange from the other door. They looked at each other. "What, exactly, was all of that about, really?" said Turquoise. "Heaven knows." said Carmen. She walked into the room and stood next to Mackay. She flicked off her shoe, and poked him in the back with her foot. "If you meant to invite her to consider being your partner, you certainly made one huge big mess of it." she said. "Yeah, I have." said Mackay. "Mackay, I don't want to be too forward here, but perhaps next time you get Carmen and me to help if you want to discuss something like that?" said Turquoise. "Fine, fine. I'm certainly a failure when I try to do it by myself." At this point, Janet walked in the room, having just returned from a day's work. "Hi kids! Where's Jenny?" "Janet, she and Mackay had a screaming fight about nothing, and she has run off." said Carmen. "Oh. I'll ring her." Janet got out her phone, pressed a few buttons - only to have Jenny's phone, in her purse, currently lying on the floor, start to ring. "Damn. She's gone out without her phone." she said. "I'm so sorry, Janet. I made your daughter cry again, I must be hopeless at this." Janet looked at Mackay for a long moment, then put her hands on his shoulders, bent down and lightly kissed him on the top of his head. "I've seen enough of you to get some idea of what you are. Let's just say that it's a not very easy situation, and both you and Jenny are having a difficult time of it. So let's not worry about appropriating blame for the time being?" "Oh. Ok. But what should we do now?" "Well, Carmen, how much charge do you have left?" Carmen momentarily looked up and to her left, then looked back. "About half an hour." "Right, we're going to search for her." After certain arrangements were made, Mackay, Carmen, and Turquoise were out of the door. "Which way?" asked Carmen. Mackay pointed. "This is only a guess, but I say out best chance is towards the industrial area." "Ok." "Oh, Turquoise! Give me your phone for a moment." said Janet. Janet pressed some buttons on it. "Right, it will now track you continuously and send the coordinates to our police system. And if you press the button, you can talk to whoever is at the other end. I'll be driving my car, and Parker, who is at the station, will be tracking us all." Janet also put in a call to Charlie. Jenny: Jenny had been running but was now walking. She might not have gotten any training lately, but her body was built for running. So she had gotten quite a way, without bothering to take notice of where she was going. She was now bashing herself over the head with an endless replay of the argument, plus all of the negative comments she could find. Damaged goods. That's what I am. Damaged goods. I'll never be able to get a man. Plus my very life is dependent on Mackay's kindness. Every single day for the rest of my life. Oh my God. Who would be interested in me under those sorts of circumstances? Well, I suppose Mackay, perhaps? But he's just putting up with me, paying the price of saving me. I should just vanish from his life; let him find someone for himself. But didn't he actually say he wanted to be my boyfriend? Did he really? Or was he just being kind, just pretending to like me because he doesn't want to cause a fuss. After all, he tends to take the easy way out of things. She stopped in the car park of some metal engineering factory. What a mess. I don't know what to think. And my charge is down to ten minutes. Just them a car swerved around the corner and came to a squealing halt at location straight across the road. Three young men almost fell out of the car, and shouting and laughing amongst themselves, went inside the building. Jenny realised; she was alone, in a strange location, still wearing her school uniform, and there were strange men all over the place. Beginning to tremble, she moved to behind an ornamental bush and sank to her knees. She had to make an effort to stop herself from wetting herself. "Where am I?" The sign above the factory unit across the road read "The Hidden Valley". "And what does that mean?" She wished she had paid more attention to the direction she had been going; now the sun was beginning to go down and the shadows were lengthening. The street was getting darker, and she could hear the occasional snatches of voices. Male voices, laughing and shouting. Are they from across the road? Or close by? And where's my phone - oh shit it's at home. Thud. Someone came in sight, walking heavily. A big man. He saw Jenny and walked up to her and stopped. She got a face full of alcoholic fumes. "Whoa! You girl! You will go to hell for your sins! You should be ashamed of yourself, tempting men!" he said. "I will now go and preach to them, get them to see the error of their ways!" He went across the road and disappeared inside. Jenny had managed to suppress her scream, for fear of attracting any more nasty attention. As soon as he had gone, she got up and started running. "Must get away! Must get away!" She tripped and fell, thend got up again, losing a shoe in the process. "And what the hell was he talking about?" Mackay: Mackay was holding Carmen's hand as they alternatively walked and jogged along the streets. After all, Carmen needed recharging also. Turquoise followed both of them. Suddenly he jerked. "Jenny's in some sort of danger. This way!" He began running. The others scrambled to follow. "How do you know where to run?" gasped Turquoise. "I just know! Save your breath and keep running!" Parker: Janet had been driving in her own car in wide circles around the general area of where Mackay was heading. Parker, sitting at a computer in his office with the appropriate police operations screen opened, got in contact with her. "They're starting to run. Suggest you move to - wait, damn, they are moving along a pedestrian only path between factories, you will have to back up, and go around. Sorry, it'll be a delay." "Ok, I'm on my way." "Charlie, how far out are you?" said Parker, over the police radio link. "Should be there soon." said Charlie, in a police car with his emergency lights flashing. Jenny: Tick, tick, tick, ding! Her charge indicator went into negative territory. Within ten metres, she went from running slightly tired to running with burning lungs, with weights around her arms, thrashing through metre deep water. She could feel her body starting to collapse, her internal systems starting to shut down. She staggered to a halt and fell to the ground. This is it. I can't keep going. Maybe it will be for the best. I just get in Mackay's way. But, what about mum and dad? And the others? Oh, what am I doing? She couldn't find her handkerchief either. "Damn this!" She rolled over to her side, brought up her knees and hugged them, and wallowed in anguish. Mackay: By now Mackay was in full panic mode. "Hurry, this way, she's in a bad way!" He was running at full speed, dragging Carmen along by the hand. She was practically bouncing up and down as he galloped down the road. They were both gasping for breath. Turquoise was steadily falling behind, but at least she kept sending update messages. "Mackay's says that Jenny's is now in trouble. Is that you, Janet?" "No, I'm Parker, Janet’s boss. But I'm relaying the messages on to her. Both Janet and Charlie will be at your location soon." Mackay ran around the corner and saw Jenny lying in a heap in the distance. He dropped Carmen's hand and sprinted to her side. Kneeling down, he wrapped his arms around Jenny's. "Oh, you're here. Shouldn't you have just left me alone..." Mackay, being totally out of breath and panting like a steam locomotive, did not say anything. Carmen, staggering up to them, had heard Jenny's speech. "Stupid, of course we can't just leave you to die!" "But..." "Jenny! Mackay was panicking! He ran all the way, dragging me along behind him like a tin can on a string! He cares about you!" "Sorry." Carmen got down on the ground and hugged them both. Turquoise, having at last caught up with them, did the same. "Look, Mackay, why don't you just ask Jenny nicely if she might one day consider being your girlfriend? Only this time don't make it so incoherent!" said Turquoise. She sounded more than a little bit peeved at all of this. The other three, including Jenny, looked at her in surprise. "Oh, Yeah. Ah, Jenny, do you think you could be my girlfriend one day? No need to make any immediate commitment, mind you, but still..." said Mackay. Mackay's and Jenny's faces where centimetres apart. Jenny could feel the healing charge from Mackay; feel her body getting well again. She could feel his arms around her, holding her. "Yes, I could be." "Now that's a relief." "Heh?" said Mackay. The teenagers belatedly realised that their scene was being lit up by a flashing red and blue light. Charlie's police car, parked close to them. And next to Charlie’s was another car; Janet's car. Janet who was just then kneeling besides them. She reached out and stroked Jenny's hair. "My dear, I'm so glad you have sorted that out with Mackay. Now, perhaps, if we can all go home?" The Parents: Later that night, after the teenagers had gone to bed, Janet, Jiro, and Charlie were holding a post mortem in the living area. Parker, who was just as curious as anyone, had decided to pop in on his way home. "So, did everything work out?" said Parker. "Yeah, in the end. Jenny suffered a few minutes relapse when she ran out of charge, but she's Ok now. Jeeze, teenagers can be such a pain, even accounting for certain troubles..." said Janet. "We're sorry to have troubled you with our family problems." said Jiro to Parker. "Aw, don't mention it. It's all part of our police duties. And, anyway, I know the feeling. I and my wife had a few problems with our children, too, when they were teenagers." "So, Jenny and Mackay have reached an agreement to maybe consider being a couple at some time in the future." said Charlie. "Well, it's a start." said Janet. "Not to mention the fact that, if one of the girls is in trouble, we now know that Mackay just knows about it and knows in which direction to go to get to her." said Parker. At the breakfast next morning, which was a Saturday. "Mackay made Jenny cry!" said Carmen. "Well, to be fair, Jenny has also made Mackay cry." said Turquoise. Carmen did some rapid thinking. "Ah, but Jenny was really suffering! A lot more than Mackay was!" "Hmm, I suppose I will have to grant you that." "So Mackay must have some extra punishment imposed upon him!" "Ah, Carmen, do we really need to go that far?" said Janet. "It's all right, I don't mind a suitable punishment, after all Jenny really did suffer." said Mackay, "Didn't you?" "Y - yes, ah..." said Jenny. "So it's settled. Mackay must atone for hurting Jenny." said Carmen. "Oh, Ok, Ok." said Janet, "So what's a suitable punishment for our heinous family criminal?" "Hmm, I know, he can do a complete clean up of the girl's bathroom." said Jiro, "I've noticed that it has slowly been getting grottier by the day and had been thinking of arranging a working bee with me and the three girls to do it, but...." Carmen was enthusiastic about this proposal. Turquoise decided it would be nice to have someone else do the job. Jenny felt the need to have Mackay prove his concern for her. Mackay was eager to atone and further gain Jenny's confidence. And Janet, knowing that Jenny was now safe, just wanted to get out of house and go to weekend rostered work. Mackay: Mackay was on his knees again. This time in the girl's bathroom, an old toothbrush in hand, industriously scrubbing away at the accumulated dirt on top of the grout between the tiles. He had three spectators, who found the sight of a man doing all this hard work for their benefit to be a relaxing experience. Jenny was standing right in front of Mackay. This meant that when he looked up, he was gazing at her legs. And, by the way, she had chosen to wear shorts and a T-shirt for the occasion. "Jenny! Now he's ogling your legs! He deserves more punishment!" said Carmen. "Please, let's just concentrate on one thing at a time, shall we?" said Jenny. Mackay looked back down. And smiled an evil smile. "So, now I get a close up view of Jenny's lovely legs, and she doesn't object. Too much." he thought. He decided that, overall, things were not going too badly. "Hmm, I had forgotten that the grout was this light blue colour." said Jiro, during his inspection. "Oh, by the way," said Janet at tea time, "That Hidden Valley place is the local brothel. They have bouncers and keep a close watch on security and all of that, but still, perhaps you should avoid the place in future?"