Janet: Telling the teenagers the bad news "Dead" said Janet, to Mackay and the others. "Dead?" said Mackay. "Dead?" said Jenny. "Dead?" said Carmen. "You mean, dead?" said Turquoise. "Yeah, that's right. Dead." Silence as four teenagers looked at Janet. She could see various degrees of shock and disbelief. "He had a very, shall we say, intense, argument with all three of his girls. And then he fell over with the weight of all three of them on top. His head hit a rock and that concussed him, then the weight of the girls piling up on top of him snapped his neck. He would have suffocated soon after, because his lungs weren't breathing." "Oh." said someone. It was Tuesday morning. The teenagers had wondered why all six of the parents were present at a normal weekday breakfast. Now they knew why. "J-Janet, where are they all now?" said Turquoise. "For the time being they have been requested to stay at home. Not quite house arrest, but close. Their parents have also been requested to keep them company." Janet's looked unhappy. She was recalling the unpleasantness of trying to convince Hyacinth's mum and at least one of Daisy's parents of the importance of not leaving their child alone. She didn't say anything of this to the teenagers, however. "What will happen now?" said Carmen. "In a few days time there will be an initial, not too formal, court session. The authorities need to decide if any further legal action will be required." Four teenagers slumped in their seats. "How depressing." said Mackay. "For the time being, there is nothing more that you lot can do. So I suggest you go and get ready for school." "Ok, mum." said Jenny. They didn't feel the slightest bit of enthusiasm, but they had to admit there wasn't anything else to do. The school was awash with rumors and talk about the tragedy for the rest of the week. Most of it was unencumbered with the requirements of sticking to any facts, mainly because there were very few facts available. Thursday morning Janet announced at the breakfast table that the trial hearing was for today. Thursday night she updated them with some details. "Yes, all three girls were there. Along with their parents." "How did they look?" asked Jenny. "Well - the girls looked almost as bad as you and Carmen looked when Mackay walked in on us at the hospital." "That's really bad." said Mackay, "But at least their parents were there for them." "Ah, well, Rose's father was good. But as for Hyacinth's mother, and Daisy's parents, well, let's just say they have some difficulties ahead of them..." "So, what's the verdict?" said Carmen. "We'll find out tomorrow." With that, Janet refused to say anything more. After tea, she went back to the station to do some more paper work. Seff's death had added a lot extra, and she needed to clear it. At the office, she saw Parker as he was quitting. "Oh, hi. Say, Parker, I take it you've read all the details about Seff?" "Hmm, yeah." "So, what's your opinion of it all?" "Well, now, hmm. Yeah, I would say that he - had it coming." "I suppose so. Maybe." said Janet. Mackay: Has been very busy? And in the middle of the night Mackay had another visit from Esmeralda. A very strange visit. For a start, he was in the class room, Daskalov was standing at the front, droning on about something or other, and the lighting wasn't the usual high contrast black and white, it was psychedelic pastel colours, continually drifting and rotating around the room. Esmeralda sat on a student's desk and waved at Mackay. All the other students appeared to be totally oblivious of her, including the student whose desk she was sitting on. "Mackay," she said, "I believe you have some responsibilities to attend to." "Huh?" At this moment, Daisy walked into the room and stood at the front. She was holding a baby. "Hello, everyone. Isn't he a beautiful baby? He's Mackay's baby." She walked up to Mackay, who was gaping at her, mouth open, look of terror in his eyes. "I hope you are going to take full responsibility!" said Daisy. "But, but,” At this point another girl walked into the class. Hyacinth. She was also holding a baby. "This is your baby, Mackay! I hope you are not going to refuse to bring her up?" By now the other students had all turned in their seats and were watching this spectacle. There were gasps of horror and surprise. "That's disgusting, Mackay!" said Harmony. And now Rose walked up, also holding a baby. "You mean all three are yours?" said Handel. "No! Wait! How can I possibly be the father of these, I'm still a virgin!" Derisive laughter from everyone. "I can tell you something about that!" said Jenny. Who was holding two babies. "These twins are both yours, Mackay!" "Argh!" And then Carmen, and Turquoise stood up. Who were also both holding two babies each. "Mackay!" said Turquoise, "What have you been up to! These twins are yours too! We expect you to take full responsibility for them!" By now, all nine babies were crying. All six mothers were shouting at Mackay. All of the other students were pointing their fingers at him and accusing him of being a disgusting promiscuous creep. Esmeralda was laughing. "Yeah, Mackay! What do you intend doing about this mess!" she said. Daskalov had already vanished in a puff of black smoke, but there was no lack of teaching expertise, since at this point the maths teacher made an appearance. Mackay opened his eyes wide and gasped. She was wearing a bright orange bikini. Oh, my, Seff was right, she really does look gorgeous! And, wow, she certainly does look just a little pregnant. There were red hot glares from six girls. And, what's more, the maths teacher was holding three babies. Wait, wait, how does that work out, anyway? "Everyone! These beautiful triplets are Mackay's! He lured me to his place under the guise of asking me some questions about maths, and then he seduced me! Mackay, I hope you are going to accept full and complete responsibility for this!" All twelve babies were crying. Glares that were now incandescent were coming from all six girls and one adult woman and were burning scorch marks on Mackay's hide. There was a tremendous commotion as everyone expressed their opinion about Mackay's actions and morals. "How can I possibly be the father of any of these!" cried Mackay. But his voice was drowned out. "Argh!" "Uhh" "What?" Mackay was sitting up in his bed, looking around in confusion. "Oh. I was having a nightmare. What a relief." The other girls were awake by now. They sat up. Jenny reached out across the gap between the two beds and held his arm. "What about?" she said. After Mackay summarized his dream. "Indeed? Twelve babies? Well, you certainly must have been incredibly busy, in some parallel dimension or other." said Jenny. "No! No! It's was all a nightmare! I'm definitely not the father of any babies!" "Humph" said Carmen. "Sounds like you might be wanting to be, but." "Oh, I don't know. A perfectly understandable nightmare, given the circumstances." said Turquoise. She thought for a moment. "I don't suppose you could arrange with Esmeralda to allow me to also have a dream about the maths teacher in a bikini, could you?" "Ah" said Mackay. "Turquoise!" said Carmen, giving her a look. There was silence. The girls had run out of desire to poke any more fun at Mackay. Everybody's expressions slowly became gloomy and bleak. "Why don't we go back to sleep?" said Turquoise. And then Mackay had a real visitation from his angel of death. He carefully sat up. The lighting was contrasting black and white, but much more subdued than usual. Esmeralda looked at Mackay with a certain amount of kindness. "This is for real, unlike that nightmare you just had. Although I must admit I modified things just slightly, that is why I was laughing in your dream. Anyway, you're going well, Mackay. I'm here this time to give you lot another request. An optional request, how much you decide to do about it is up to you. Think of it as a chance to earn some extra points at your judgments. The three flower girls are going to have a tough time in the foreseeable future. So, I'm suggesting that you and your harem continue to befriend them. That you make an effort to look after them and to help them get back into society. Only note this!" Here Esmeralda's eyes glared red. "This is not a case of getting three more girls for you harem! You must admit that you already have sufficient! Right?" "Yes, definitely!" "This is a case of normal platonic friendship, hopefully for life. Ok?" "Yes, yes, platonic friendship!" "Good" Esmeralda went back to a relaxed, friendly, demeanor. "Tomorrow they will receive the news that no further legal action will be taken against them. They will be suffering another sleepless night, and then Saturday morning, I suggest that each of your girls visit their respective friend. You yourself can act as backup. The flower girls need to get back to school, so you have a lot of work to do this weekend." With that, Esmeralda patted Mackay on his head, and then said "Ok, back to sleep now." "So that's what she said." Mackay was sitting at the breakfast table, with Jenny's parents and the three girls listening. "So, we're going to be friends with those girls for a long time, hey?" said Carmen. "Yes, but definitely platonic only! Esmeralda was quite insistent about that. Err, much to my relief, of course." "Yeah, I'm sure." said Carmen, doubt dripping from her expression, just like the honey that was currently dripping off her toast. "Eek!" said Janet, "I've just cleaned the floor!" After that matter was cleaned up, Janet spoke again. "Well, anyway, you lot had better start laying your plans. Remember, not only do you have to look after those girls, you also have to do your own homework." said Janet. "Yes, mum" said Jenny. During the day, Mackay made arrangements with Handel to copy his notes for the week. That night Carmen rang her brother, and made certain arrangements. And Janet, loaning her authority, rang the orphanage. Daisy: Saturday morning. Daisy, looking gray and ill, sat at her kitchen table, looking at her breakfast. A single slice of toast. She managed to eat half of it before giving up. Her parents were also sitting there. They didn't look all that well, either. There was no conversation. The door bell rang. "Who is that?" said Daisy's mum, in a flat voice. "Hi! I'm Jenny, Daisy's friend. I've come to visit Daisy." "Huh? Daisy has a friend?" "Of course! Also, I've brought some cakes. I'm sure Daisy isn't eating much at the moment." Jenny strolled into the kitchen, acting as if she owned it. Inwardly she was nervous, but, as she had told the others: "If I have the authority of an Angel of Death, then what the hell, I can probably get away with a lot." She cut up the cake and practically forced all three to eat some. "Ok, Daisy, we're now going on an outing. Later we will come back and I will help you with your homework." "But, I don't feel well; I don't feel like doing anything, in fact, I feel horrible." "Never mind!" "But, but, where are we. Whose house is this?" said Daisy, as she got out of the car. Janet had driven them to their destination. "Carmen's brother's. Whose girlfriend has just had a baby. We're going to be babysitting him." "Oh" Kiara put a tea towel over Daisy's shoulder, and carefully handed over her baby. Daisy wrapped her hands around him and gently patted his back. The baby wiggled and smiled and went goo-goo. Daisy was entranced. "Oh, he is so beautiful, so beautiful..." Her face relaxed into a smile, the stress lines disappeared. On seeing this, Jenny also smiled. Hyacinth: The second gray lady, Hyacinth, sat in her bedroom. She hadn't bothered to get dressed; she was wearing her worn and frayed pajamas. Her hair was untidy; she didn't have any makeup on. The floor boards creaked as her mother walked back to her own bedroom. At this, Hyacinth got up and shuffled to the kitchen. She and her mother were avoiding each other; they just didn't know what to say to each other. She slumped into her chair and looked at the table. A loaf of bread and some butter and jam were set out. "Ugh" Ding dong. "Someone at the door?" "Hi Hyacinth! I'm here to check up on you." said Turquoise. She was carrying a couple of bags of groceries, and some books. "Oh, what?" "For a start, I have some yummy cake. I'm sure that you're not eating much, correct? Oh, and call your mother in, she can have some too." Hyacinth's mum came out, and sat down. She looked reserved and hesitant. And Hyacinth just looked unbelieving. "Why are you here?" She slumped down in her seat, looked down at her lap. "My life's ruined. I've got no friends, I won't be able to go to school, and no one will ever want me ever again." Turquoise stood up, reached over the table, and lightly flicked Hyacinth's forehead. "Ouch!" "Don't be stupid. You do have friends. For a start, you have me. Plus the others will also happily be your friends if you let them." "Oh. But what are you here for?" "To look after you, of course. You're going to school on Monday, and you have missed four days. So I'm going to make sure you catch up with your studies." Turquoise pointed at her books. "I've got notes. As soon as you finish the cake, we're going to do some revision." "But, but..." "Sorry, but I've had my orders. You had best just do what I say." Later that day, after sharing lunch and doing more study, Turquoise left. "I'll be back tomorrow!" Hyacinth and her mum were left, sitting on the sofa. "So, it looks like you have a friend after all." said mum. "I don't know what I did to deserve her." The first time they had spoken to each other for two days. Rose: Rose was in a somewhat better state. After all, she had her father to look after her. "Hello Rose!" said Carmen. "I'm here to take you to the orphanage. Evan is missing you." "But, but, it's no good, I won't be allowed back after all of this." "Rubbish. Janet has already rung them up and arranged a visit. They are happy to have you continue." "It's all right," said Rose's father, "You need to start getting back into you normal life, you know." Charlie drove them out. The girls played with the children, then had lunch with them. This had all been arranged beforehand. Before leaving, Charlie made a discreet donation to the house mother to pay for the extra food. Later that afternoon, Charlie returned to drive them back home. "See you tomorrow for some study!" said Carmen. Handel: Also on that morning, Handel, with much anxiety, had made a phone call. "Say, Harmony, well, I don't suppose you would like to meet me at a local coffee shop... You know, just for a talk?" A moment's silence, then, "Sure, no problems." At the coffee shop, they sat facing each other, with two cups of coffee between them. "So, I'm here..." said Harmony. "Well, all this stuff about Seff's death, hmm, did you know that Mackay and this three girls have organised themselves to help out the three flower girls?" "Not up to now, but, actually, the more I hear about Mackay the higher my opinion of him becomes." "Yeah. And, so, I thought that I too would like someone to help me out process all of this stuff. After all, I was Seff's friend also." Handel, getting the nod from Harmony, spent the next hour talking things over. At the end- "I must say, it is nice to clear all of that out. I can't imagine what it must be like for the flower girls." "Utterly horrible, I guess. And, well, remember, I also knew Seff, even if it was only to the extent of being a classmate. So this talk was also useful to me." Handel leant back on his chair and stretched his arms out. There was a companionable silence as they thought things over. Eventually, "Say, Handel, remember when we first met, and I said I had problems with being platonic friends with boys?" "That's right... What sort of problems?" "Well, there's been a few boys that wanted to, let's just say, become close to me. But at this stage in my life I don't want that sort of thing. I'm still a teenager living at home with my parents, for God's sake! After I've been through University, then sure. Anyway, these boys were always happy to talk it over and agree to be friends... But" Harmony rolled her eyes so much that Handel laughed. Harmony smiled back. "Nonetheless, it got so annoying - here I was, thinking I had a platonic friendship, only to realise that they had distinctly different ideas about how a platonic friendship goes. And when I struggled to maintain my boundaries, I was told that I was pushing them into the friend zone! Which is where I thought we were, anyway! And then some of them got even nastier!" "Whoa there, Harmony, or you will grind your teeth down to nothing!" "Yeah, right. OK, where was I, so anyway, if those girls of Mackay's are going to be friends for life with the flower girls, why not we aim to be friends, platonic friends, for life, too?" "I would love to." After a moment's reflection, Handel added, "But what about when you find some man to marry? Won't that make things complicated?" "No, why should it? I'm being platonic friends with you... Oh, OK, maybe, well, why don't we just wait and see?" "That seems like a good idea to me." The two newly minted friends for life stood up from their seats, walked to the aisle, and shook hands, and then went back to their homes. Janet: "So, how did Operation Platonic Friendship go?" said Janet to the teenagers that night. "Good!" said Jenny. "Great!" said Turquoise. "Not bad. Except that Mackay is going to have to start pulling his weight. He can come with me tomorrow to help Rose with the mathematics." said Carmen. "No problems." said Mackay. "But those girls certainly need a lot of care for a while." said Jenny. "Just remember, you can only help them to get going. But only they can actually live their own lives." said Janet. Turquoise: Just a little conversation about death After school one day, a a week later: "Janet is taking me and Carmen to the hospital for yet another check-up." said Jenny to the group. "Yeah. What a nuisance. The results are always the same, we have no right to be alive, yet alone be healthy growing young adults." said Carmen. "But we were going to go shopping!" said Turquoise to Carmen. "Well, if you can wait for a while, Janet can bring us right back here." said Jenny. They all made their way to a convenient bench, and Mackay and Turquoise sat down. "Hmm, I shall be right next to Mackay, just like you two have to be." said Turquoise. "Ha, if you really want to get a flavour what we have to put up with, you need to exceed your comfort zone! Sit right up close to him!" said Carmen. "Well, if I start to feel panicky, I can always back of a bit." said Turquoise. "Back of a bit? Now wait a minute, we don't have that option! If you're going to try this, you have to do it properly, and stay right next to him until we come back." said Jenny. "In fact, let's make this even more interesting. She also has to hold hands with him." said Carmen. She must have been feeling extra mean, today. Janet's car pulled up into the parking area, and Carmen and Jenny were driven away. Turquoise was acutely aware of Mackay's body warmth, his hand in hers. They both turned to each other. She examined his face, from up close. "I couldn't do this with any other male." "I know. I appreciate the fact that you can with me." "Hmm, this is getting just a touch, ah, panic inducing. How about you look away from me?" Mackay turned his head and watched a group of four birds sitting on a branch. Turquoise continued to look at him. "So, they're stuck like this, for the rest of their lives." "Yeah, but remember that Carmen has you on the other side." "And if you die, so do the two girls, shortly after." said Turquoise. They had all been thinking about mortality quite a bit, lately. "Yes. A very sobering thought. I never did worry all that much about such things, but now I am very careful to look after myself. Say, if all three of us died, what about you?" said Mackay, turning back to look at her. Turquoise tightened the grip on the hand she is holding. "I don't think I would last for very long." "Oh, Right. Sorry." "But please don't tell anyone that, ok?" "Ok". The park bench was shaded by a large tree, the path the bench was next too was not all that close to the road, so the traffic noise was muted. "I know that Carmen will be back soon; so this is actually kind of peaceful and relaxing. Well, I would be lying if I said it was totally relaxing, but still..." said Turquoise. And then down the path came Daskalov, briskly walking along. He was in the process of putting his backpack on properly. "Hello, what's up here? I thought Mackay was chasing after Jenny?" "Ah, yes, but this is a dare, to see if she can sit next to me until the others come back." said Mackay. Daskalov raised his eyebrows. "Indeed, I'm sure everyone will believe that." and continued along his way. Class discussion time: They just cannot get away from the topic, can they? It was a combined class, for two class periods, right at the end of the day. Since the weather was fine, it was being held outside, under the trees. The students loved this particular subject. They could relax, talk amongst themselves, and have enjoyable conversations - all with the approval of the teachers involved. Shame they were only held once a month. This particular Ethics and Morality class, as it was officially known, was off to a great start. Mackay's class, and another class of the same year, were sitting in a compact circle. The teacher had to excuse himself, and go off to find the pastor; apparently, he was running late or something. So it was even better than usual, they could make up their own topic of conversation. "Ooh, look, there goes the vice principle and that police officer, err, Gagnon isn't it?" said Harmony. Indeed, the vice principle was hurrying along, carrying a can of paint and a brush. Followed close behind by officer Gagnon. "What on earth is she doing with paint and a brush?" said Handel. Giggles "She going to deal with yet another case of graffiti." said someone else. Silence descended upon the group. While, in the normal situation, they may have had no trouble in holding a group discussion, or probably several competing group discussions, well, this was not things as normal, was it? Hyacinth sat, arms folded, glaring at a nearby tree. Daisy sat and just looked at the ground by her feet. Rose was better off; she managed to talk occasionally to others, which mostly was Carmen. So a large proportion of the group were a little self-conscious. Particularly considering what the topic of today's discussion about ethics and related matters was supposed to be. Mackay tried to get something going. "Ah, the teacher said we were supposed to fill in time until they got back with something appropriate..." It did not produce much effect. After all, this was Mackay, not exactly known for his social leadership skills. Even if he had made considerable strides within his own small group. The other students remembered that Mackay was also involved in a very strange situation, and the silence became even more awkward. After a minute or two, Hyacinth's self-control snapped with an audible twang. "Stop trying to pussy-foot around us! It just makes it worse! The curriculum specified topic for today is anything to do with death, so talk about it, for God's sake!" Various gulps and exclamations from around the group. Hyacinth glared at everyone with blood shot eyes, then went back to glaring at the tree. She had not been getting enough sleep lately, which explained her eyes. "Oh, right," said Tanner. He was a boy from the other classroom. "Well, my father, who is also a police officer, is, err, often involved in life or death show downs because of his work." Tanner stopped, and tried to work out what, exactly, was he trying to say here? "So, well he sometimes has to risk his own life in order to protect innocent people. Hmm, not often, of course. But, as part of his work, sometimes he has to, like, make a moral choice. So, I'm saying, perhaps we can talk about what circumstances we would risk our lives to save someone else? If that's all right?" "Well, you start. Who would you risk your life for, Tanner?" said his friend. "Oh, well, maybe my parents?" said Tanner. "Rubbish," said Tanner's girlfriend, who was also in the same class as Tanner. "Didn't you just say your father risks his life for, basically, strangers? So he would definitely risk his life to save you. Not the other way around." "Yeah - I suppose you're right there. Well, of course, I would risk my life for you!" "Humph. But, maybe, I would rather risk mine for yours?" "Hey, wait, the man is supposed to look after the woman!" "Tanner's so macho." said Harmony in an aside to Handel. "Hey! I heard that." said Tanner. "So, who would you risk your life for?" "My little sister, of course. But, hey, Mackay, who would you risk your life for?" said Harmony. Harmony was probably remembering her initial distrust for Mackay as she said this. "Right, well, I could say, for Carmen and Jenny and Turquoise, I suppose. Except that if I die, Carmen and Jenny would die soon afterwards, anyway. So, it makes things complicated." He avoided saying anything about what might happen to Turquoise. The group thought about this. They knew the story, and various students accepted it to varying degrees. "Ok, so, who would Jenny risk her life for?" said Tanner. He was always consciously trying to project an image of being a tough man, so he had a tendency of fearlessly going to places which any available angel might well urge caution. "Oh, me, well, I suppose, for Mackay? And the two other girls?" She got embarrassed from having everyone's eyes on her, and shuffled herself to hide behind Turquoise and Carmen. Turquoise took pity on her, and offered her own statement to draw everyone's attention. "In the sort of pathological situation where someone's life could be in danger, well, I suppose I would risk mine for the other three, also, ah." Only to realise that it was now her that had everyone's attention. Carmen rolled her eyes. "Well, of course all of us girls would do that, including me. Now stop looking at Jenny or Turquoise, you're making them embarrassed!" There was good-natured laughter from the others. Someone said "Hey, what about Hyacinth. You started this talk after all." "Oh, well, I guess if I was good enough friends with someone, I could risk my life for them." By chance, she looked up during this, and found herself looking straight at Turquoise. Hyacinth blushed, jerked her gaze way, and resumed glaring at the tree. So far, the tree was surviving with no visible damage. Turquoise, watching Hyacinth's silhouette, raised her eyebrows. "Well, seems you have been having quite an interesting discussion, already." The group looked up, to realise that Father Joshi had been found by Daskalov. The two of them must have been listening for some time. Daskalov continue. "I really don't see why anyone would want to... never mind. Now that Father Joshi is here, he can take over." So, while in the background officer Gagnon, holding a can of paint and a paint brush which was dripping paint, and the vice principle, who was frantically trying to brush out some paint drops from her dress, scurried back the way they came, the combined classes settled down to a reasonably productive talk on various matters concerning death. Although, it was noted by many attending, that the discussion topics were nowhere as near as dramatic as the initial, impromptu, one.