Chapter 18: Colorful

Needless to say, McKenna had never been on a 15-foot private jet so she hadn’t really known what to expect. Turns out, personal space was a ridiculous expectation. The plane was tiny!  It was obviously intended for a rich drug lord and his mistress (or possibly the CEO of Fisher Price and his wife) but it was not fit for 5 passengers, a pilot, and a doctor.

But here they were anyway.

The interior was plush and luxurious. The four seats at the front were separated by a small coffee table with fancy French coasters.  The seats were of the arm-chair variety and could swivel 360 degrees to face all members of the party. There was a tiny (yet effective) mini bar on the rear right complete with stools and more coasters.  Alfonzo was undergoing some pretty extensive medical work in the rear of the airplane and was taking up a good portion of the bar space. Jewel claimed the seat on the right and immediately turned the chair to the window, wrapped her arms around her knees, and stuck in her iPod ear buds. Ron crashed into the single seat behind her and was using his Persian pillow for its intended purpose.  McKenna sat across from the aisle from her dad and was pleased to see Luke sit in the seat directly ahead, not that he had much choice, really. But still.  

The plane lifted off. McKenna closed her eyes, fully expecting to sleep for the next ten hours.  From the faint sounds of Taylor Swift on repeat and the not-so-faint sound of snoring, she could tell that two passengers were already asleep.  McKenna fluffed her pillow and took off her sneakers. She closed her eyes, but sleep didn’t come. Thirty seconds later she realized she was too wired for snoozing. She opened her eyes right as Luke was spinning his swivel chair 180 degrees so that he was facing her directly.

“Oh!” McKenna was startled by the sudden movement.

“Sorry! Were you going to sleep?” Luke apologized and started to turn back around.

McKenna grabbed the arm rest of his chair and swiveled her own so they were facing each other at an angle, but both facing the window. How romantic.  “No, no. Sleep isn’t happening for me. At least not right now. “

There was an awkward silence as McKenna stared out the window. Luke could pick up the sound of Adele’s whiny voice coming from Jewel’s headphones. (Jewel must have an intense break-up play list.)

Luke caught himself staring at McKenna for a little longer than is considered socially acceptable, but he really couldn’t fathom the character of the girl sitting next to him. He was dying to know how she worked. What motivated her? What were her passions? Biggest heart-break? Life ambitions? There were so many questions that were running through his mind that he asked the first one that came to his lips.

“What color are you?”

McKenna threw him a bewildered look and he realized he’d have to explain his fascination with the psychology of the four color personalities. “I mean, do you know about the color code test? The one where different colors represent different motivations, drives, faults, and other stuff. Like Reds are leaders and like power, but they can be really good at motivating groups.  Blues just love everyone and like being close to those they love. Yellows are the fun flaky kids that don’t get anything done, but have wild parties. And Whites are peacemakers that go with the flow and are determined to make things work even if it is against all odds. It’s stupid, but I just learned about it in high school, and I kinda thought it was cool, but of course you probably don’t even want – “  Luke stopped rambling and looked up. McKenna was smiling. It was the first genuine smile he’d seen in a long time and his face immediately reflected the same grin.

“Luuuke…” McKenna drew out the letters in his name and gave him a knowing smile. “I love the color code test! I’ve studied it for years and I am obsessed with finding out the colors of all of the people I run into. I’ve met so many people with so many combinations of colors and it is so fascinating that they all have their place in the world.”

McKenna couldn’t stop with the grinning. What were the odds that the boy from the train station in France with the gray converse and the piercing eyes would be with her on a plane discussing her favorite form of psychology?

Luke was on the edge of his seat with his hands clasped in his lap ready to launch into a full detailed discussion about the color code. And it launched. They talked for over an hour about all the colors, sometimes leading to arguments about certain points. (Luke was convinced that all Yellows were slackers and had no redeeming qualities, but McKenna eventually convinced him that the world had a need for spontaneous adventurers).  They both agreed on the fact that Jewel was about as Red as they come and Alfonzo was an interesting arrangement of all four colors.  They laughed and joked, touched and flirted. The tension from the last 36 hours was finally alleviated as they became friends. The conversation began to veer to other topics, like high school, best friends, favorite fast-food, best vacation spot (Paris didn’t make the list for either of them), most embarrassing moment, celebrity crushes, and life ambitions.   

Hours seemed to fly by. Alfonzo had long since been deemed “fixed” and was up talking to the pilot. Ron and Jewel both continued sleeping except for occasional bathroom breaks. The plane made its steady journey across the Atlantic.

McKenna realized how easy it was to talk to Luke and faced the fact that her little obsession with The Boy with the Gray Converse, was quickly turning into a crush on The Boy Who Knew the Color Code. This moment was a small slice of paradise within the tumultuous sea that had become her life. McKenna decided she wouldn’t have any trouble playing the part of a young couple roaming the streets of Paris, and she was actually looking forward to some real alone time with Luke. Minus the fact that they would be chasing the bad guys by then and probably wouldn’t have time to delve into deep discussion about love languages or super-heroes. At least if all went well – meaning they all live through this – they would have another 10-hour flight back to Artichoke.

Although her body probably needed the sleep, her brain and heart begged her to continue talking to Luke. When he came back from getting crème sodas from the mini bar, McKenna decided it was about time to answer his first question.

“So, when you asked hours ago what color I was… I never answered, but you probably already guessed.” She paused for dramatic effect.  “I’m a blue.  I’m the one that just loves everyone.” McKenna gave him a simpering smile and a pat on the knee. “Your turn. What color are you?”

Luke smiled and covered her hand with his own, “I’m a white. I’m the one that tries to make it work even when all the odds are against us.”

Chapter 15: Wide-Eyed

The caravan of three cars travelled along the abandoned stretch of road with no end in sight. The silence filled the car until McKenna could no longer handle it.

“Alfonzo! What are we going to do?” McKenna’s normally calm voice was as shrill as a fire alarm.

Alfonzo’s jaw was tense as he tried easing the car through to break free, but every time he moved the car a centimeter the black car behind instinctively adjusted to block him. There was no way out.

“There’s no way out.” Alfonzo stated simply.

They had traveled for what felt like 500 years but in actuality was about 5 miles when Alfonzo decided to take drastic action.

What happened next was so quick that if you paused to scratch your nose you might have missed it. Alfonzo jerked the steering wheel to the far left, directing the car into the opposite lane and clipping the back of the limousine in front of the caravan. Luke’s head smacked into the window and McKenna’s package of Cheetos flew across the backseat of the car. Jewel’s scream was drowned out by the sound of the gunshot. The glass in the back windshield shattered. Ron stretched across McKenna to protect her from the flying glass and Luke braced himself against the back of Alfonzo’s seat. Jewel’s second scream was muffled as she covered her head with her jacket and curled up into a ball. Alfonzo kept his hands on the steering wheel and his eyes on the road.

The speedometer inched past 110 mph as Alfonzo made to pass in front of the lead car, but the black car was not only keeping pace; it was veering toward Alfonzo’s white car in an attempt to side ram them.

Gunshot. This time the bullet came from the driver side of the lead car. It made contact with the front of the car above the passenger-side tire, thus eliciting another scream out of Jewel.

“Great, real bullets," Alfonzo muttered under his breath. These guys were aiming to kill.

Alfonzo let go of the steering wheel and reached into his jacket pocket. He pulled out a small hand pistol and aimed toward the black car. He must have been a sharp shooter back in his day because Alfonzo managed to shoot out the tire of the lead black car, then he wrenched his body and shot through the back window – clearing the top of Ron’s head – to shoot out the tire of the black car behind them. All the while he pushed on the gas and was able to whip around both black cars and speed off ahead of the mess they’d left behind.

“Is it safe?” Luke started to sit up, but one more gunshot rang through the air. It hit the trunk of the car, but missed the tire that the enemy had been aiming for.

“Obviously not yet,” Alfonzo growled.

The car accelerated to 125 mph and they shot off into the pitch black night. McKenna lifted up her head and found tears streaked all across her face and shirt. That was, by far, the most frightening seven minutes of her life and she had her eyes covered for most of it! She turned to face her father and the wide-eyed look on her face pushed her dad over the edge. He wrapped his arms around her and they silently cried.

Jewel pulled her head out of her sweater and slowly stretched herself out. Her trembling jaw and racing heart stared straight ahead at the road. Luke rubbed his left shoulder that had rammed into the window and begin to check out the damage of the car. The back windshield was gone. Glass was everywhere. But where had the bullet gone? Luke’s eyes slowly trailed across the car until they landed on Alfonzo’s right shoulder. His tacky suit coat was quickly soaking through with bright crimson blood.

“Alfonzo! You’re bleeding! Alfonzo, we need to pull over.”

Luke reached up to touch his uncle’s shoulder. Alfonzo’s head slumped to the side. The car was still rocketing down the quiet interstate but the driver had passed out.

Chapter 12: Trust and Forgiveness

The sound of the shattering vase broke the tense silence.
Ron had officially gone off the deep end and was wrecking his office–one patterned vase at a time. “HER BOYFRIEND?? How could Lisa do this?”

There goes a potted plant.

“What in the…how in the...She fell in love? With HIM?”

Ron chucked a Petri dish at the wall.

“I knew he had tabs on her, but I didn’t think he had his hands on her too! For the love!”

Ron collapsed back into his desk chair and looked around at four shocked faces. He turned to the most prominent one and his senses came back to him. With a sigh of defeat and a need for some answers he spoke again, “McKenna.” His voice was controlled to hide the burning anger. “I would really like to hear how this came to be.” Ron stared into his daughter's wide eyes. “Can you tell me this story?”

McKenna’s lips trembled as she knelt down beside her dad’s chair, “Dad, I can tell you, but I really think you have a key part of the story that I… and well probably these guys too… we really need to hear what this is about, Dad.”

McKenna was afraid that her father would start throwing things again, but all the fire had gone out of him. She reached up at pushed his matted hair out of his eyes–they were always the same bright blue as her own–and saw the tears slowly stream down his face. “Daddy? It’ll be OK, it’s OK. Oh, Dad, I’ve missed you.” McKenna could no longer hold back her own tears and wrapped her arms around her father’s neck as they both wept.

Memory after memory flashed through McKenna’s mind. Being spun around the living room by his strong arms. Laughing through the entire Three Amigos movie. Her parents kissing just to see her blush. Going on early morning jogs with her dad. And finally, the long nights they spent on the porch talking about everything under the moon.

McKenna realized she’d been remembering all of her dad’s flaws since the divorce, but now as she sobbed on his lap like a five year old, she began to appreciate all of the outstanding qualities in her father. The bad days had been few and far between, like a small puddle compared to the Pacific Ocean of good moments throughout her childhood. The tears continued to fall.

Predictably, the father-daughter reunion was cut short by a certain red head. “Sorry to rush you guys, but can we wrap this up? I’d really like to seek some revenge on the psycho path who tried to murder me.” Jewel huffed, “Now would be preferable.”

“Shut up, Jewel.” Luke’s voice was quiet, yet firm as he strode over to McKenna and The Professor and knelt beside them. “McKenna. Ron. I’m so sorry that your time apart has been hard on you, and I know that you want nothing more then to be alone, but you must know that time is of the essence here. They are on the move, Ron. We need your story, and we need it stat.” Luke addressed his uncle who had been silent for a long time. “Alfonzo?” At the sound of his name, the middle aged man turned from the stack of letters he was perusing and faced his nephew. “Can we drive and listen at the same time?”

“Yes, that would be best. We need to move quickly.”

Luke started to move the group out of the cramped office, “Professor, how hurt are you? You can walk, right?”

“I’m…fine.” Ron said through clenched teeth. In reality his body hadn’t felt this battered since he got beaten up in 8th grade. Biologists really weren’t much for high-risk sporting.

McKenna was still crouched on the floor so Luke jutted out his hand to help McKenna to her feet. Regardless of all the other distractions around, McKenna was keenly aware of Luke keeping his hand in hers slightly longer then necessary. That was nice. Although, if McKenna had been paying more attention to the distractions around her, she might have noticed the small object and stack of letters that Alfonzo shoved in his pocket before he headed out the door. That was not nice.

McKenna threaded her arm through her dad’s as the little procession made its way down the hall. “OK, Dad. I’m ready to hear the story.”

“You’re right, Sugar. It’s time you knew.” Ron bent to whisper in her ear, “But McKenna, are you sure we can trust these people?”

McKenna turned and glanced at those around her, her eyes lingering on the back of Alfonzo’s head- the leader of the group. It was possible that they could be leading McKenna to her demise, but she turned and glanced back at Luke who was trailing behind them. His eyes were focused down on his gray converse and she remembered the trouble that this boy had gone through to find her. Stalwartly standing by the Viking all day, the disaster by the willow tree, and the green house where he told her the story that would change her life.

McKenna still had the taste of the final cherry licorice bite Luke graciously let her have. That pretty much sealed the deal.

Although McKenna knew that she wasn’t a fan of Jewel, Alfonzo creeped her out, and putting the whole kidnapping thing aside, McKenna believed that Luke wanted her to be safe. “Yeah Dad, I think we can trust them.”

By then they were loading back into the small car, Alfonzo was driving, with Jewel in the front seat. McKenna was squished between her dad and Luke. Alfonzo put the car into gear and steered the car back onto the highway.

Ron sighed in defeat, “OK, but please, Sugar, remember that sometimes we do stupid things for stupid reasons. And please forgive me.” McKenna nodded in encouragement. Ron took a deep breath.

“The story starts out back when I was in college… back when I was in love.”

Chaper 9: Reaction

Well… that was unexpected.

Ok, McKenna thought to herself, do I remember how to breathe? My dad’s a murderer!! No, he didn’t murder her 'cause she’s still sitting in this car, but he was supposed to kill Jewel! So he’s a…a what? Her head was spinning out of control.

McKenna looked back into Luke’s brown eyes but didn’t find the answers to her questions. She stared down at her favorite pair of running shoes and asked the only question she could form on her lips.

“How did this happen?”

Luke glanced around to the other occupants of the car, but everyone avoided his gaze.

“Well, we really don’t know the answer to that question, but we want to figure it out. That’s kinda where you come in.” Luke’s voice trailed off like a lost toddler. He wasn’t sure how McKenna was going to react to the story, but she seemed to be handling it pretty well so far. Maybe the task wouldn’t be as hard as he had anticipated.

McKenna was still a little shell-shocked by the whole my-dad’s-a-hired-assassin thing. He’d always had a short fuse, but she had fond memories of going jogging with him on Saturday mornings, and eating cereal late at night together. He had been a workaholic and would often stay late at the office grading papers and writing lesson plans, but for the most part he was a respectable dad.

Looking back though, McKenna realized she was only remembering the good times. She’d repressed memories of her parents fighting, the night her dad stormed out of the house, the day he didn’t show up to her track meet. Although he had never laid a hand on her, she had seen a dangerous look in his eyes on many occasions. All things considered, maybe her dad had some problems. But crazy, murderous problems?

She wasn’t sure if she even believed this story... so why should she help these people? Was it just to ease her conscious? So she could forget all about the stupid brown paper bag? Because Luke had a really cute smile? That was a pretty good reason. McKenna pulled herself away from her thoughts.

“And how am I supposed to help you?”
“Prove your dad is guilty and get out of our lives,” Jewel said bluntly.

Yep, McKenna was pretty sure Jewel was harboring a grudge against her.

Luke reached over and playfully smacked the passenger seat. “Let’s not offend the hostage, Jewels.”

McKenna looked around with wide eyes. “I’m your hostage?”

Luke rapidly back pedaled. “Sorry, joke! It was a joke. It was a bad joke, and I can see in this circumstance it was not my greatest comedic moment. Please forget I ever said that.”

McKenna let out the breath she was holding and redirected her attention to the matter at hand. She was stuck in a car with three strangers who wanted to prove her dad guilty. She looked out the window and noticed that they were speeding down Highway 8 a lot faster than they should be. “Wait, where are you taking me?”

Alfonzo’s deep voice answered, “To the university; to The Professor.”

McKenna finally panicked. “We’re going to go see my dad? Why are we doing that? What will I say to him? I haven’t seen him since the divorce, and now that I know that ‘my mom married an ax-murderer’ and all that, I think a pleasant conversation could be a little awkward. Besides, it’s three hours away! It’s nearly 10; I was kinda hoping to be home at a reasonable hour.”

Luke placed his hand on her shoulder to slow her rambling, but all his touch accomplished was speeding up her racing heart. “What time do you consider to be a reasonable hour, McKenna?”

She folded her arms and looked out the window. “My curfew is 11.”

Jewel snorted from the front seat and burst into laughter. “You are 17 years old and your curfew is 11?” Jewel barely managed to speak from her fits of laughter, “Man, you live a sheltered life!”

McKenna did not appreciate being laughed at by Jewel. She’d always respected her curfew and maybe if Jewel would have had a curfew she never would’ve dated a lunatic that tried to have her killed. Although now that she thought about it, she should probably work to convince her mom to push her curfew to midnight…

“You’re not going to be home in time for your curfew,” Luke said, apologetically. “This could potentially take a couple of hours, probably even a day or two. Can you come up with some story to tell your mom?”

It began to dawn on McKenna how intense this adventure might become. “Do I have a choice here? If I asked you to, would you take me home?”

Luke answered in a voice lower than a whisper. “No. You need to help us.”

McKenna sighed and pulled out her cell phone to text her mom. “I guess honesty is not the best policy in this case? You could have at least warned me to bring my tooth brush.”

As Alfonzo pushed the car outside the limits of her little hometown Artichoke, Minnesota, and headed for Minneapolis, McKenna knew that she was headed away from all things normal.

Chapter 6: A Continuation

“This needs to stop.”

“I’m sorry Alfonzo, but I couldn’t sit there and tell her the whole story when she let that zombie obsessed friend of hers tag along! So… I panicked.”

“OK, but this time, there will be no mistakes, Luke. She has to know.”

“Consider it done.”


*****


McKenna was definitely going to hit below her 22/7 happiness meter today. “Alright, Zombie, let’s go work on that stinkin’ project.”

Greg held his hands up to slow down McKenna before she trampled his mother’s prize winning pansies. “Hold up, buttercup! I would really like to hear some answers. First of all, don’t squish those flowers. Second of all, who was that dodgy character under that willow tree? Are you seeing someone? Are you involved in a drug deal? Oh, McKenna and I always thought you were a happy person, you don’t need to--"

“Greg. I’m not doing drugs. Nor am I dating someone. I’d give you the answers if I had them, but I don’t. So, let’s move on, OK?” She slipped off her shoes and followed behind Greg to their usual meeting spot--the kitchen. McKenna decided it was time to change the subject. “What do you think we should do our project about?”

“Probably something to do with history.” Greg responded with a shrug as he pulled open his refrigerator and came out with a massive plate of deviled eggs.

McKenna picked up a deviled egg and declared “Alright, history it is.”

“Thank goodness the hard part is done.” Greg popped his third deviled egg into his mouth and opened his notebook. “Now let’s start on this outline.”

***

Three snow cones, eight zombie jokes, and one outline later, McKenna was finally allowed to go home. She made it just in time for a healthy dinner of garden pasta alfredo with fresh zucchini on the side. Dang, she really could have gone for a juicy steak tonight. At least the power was still on.

As she climbed the stairs to her room she began to reflect on the ridiculous events of the day. To think I woke up this morning worrying about the fact that my alarm clock didn’t go off. Wow, has my outlook changed. Now it’s possible that my life is involved in some murder mystery or possible drug deal or who knows what else! Ok, now she was letting her imagination run away from her. As she sat down on her bed and came back to reality she heard her mom’s voice from the stairwell.

“McKenna!”

“Coming!” She hopped off her bed and pulled open the door, “What’s up, Mom?”

“I totally forgot to tell you,” Lisa looked down at their phone messages notepad she was holding, “Luke called today, he said to tell you sorry that he had to cut your meeting at the willow tree short, but he needs to continue to discuss the project with you. He was hoping that tomorrow you would meet him at 7:00, sharp.”

This is about when McKenna started hyperventilating.

Lisa turned the notepad to clearly read her cramped handwriting. “He said that you could meet at his house. I’m trying to read what it says here… um, 739 Wind Stone Road, do you know where that is, McKenna?”

McKenna slid down to a sitting position on the stairs. “I think I can find it, Mom. Thanks for the message.”

“No problem, darling! I’m going to go finish my show, remember lights turn off at midnight!” Lisa returned to her living room oblivious to the state she left her daughter in.

McKenna wandered aimlessly back to her room and collapsed on her bed. Would this ever end? Would she ever get her answers? And most importantly, why did she find this Luke fellow so terrifying, yet so attractive?

Chapter 3: Friends and Zombies

McKenna sauntered into her home room with thoughts of Paris, but not the good kind of thoughts. Oh, how she wished her mother wouldn’t have used a brown paper bag to pack her lunch! Now she’d have to carry around these thoughts all day… or at least until lunch time.

“Uh, McKenna, are you ok? You look like a zombie in an apocalypse!” This greeting was not out of the ordinary, and when McKenna looked over to see her best friend Greg she wasn’t surprised that he was sitting atop his desk then sitting casually in his chair like a normal person.

“Good morning to you too, Greg!” McKenna replied enthusiastically. “You look like a half-eaten human in an apocalypse!” Zombie jokes were the foundation of their friendship. McKenna sat down in her desk and tried to rearrange her features to match her usual happy outlook on life. McKenna loved people and was a glass-is-half-full type of gal, so the world expected her to be happy 24/7 and she usually was, but sometimes she only hit 22/7 because everyone has their sad moments.

“Hey, McKenna!” McKenna turned toward the classroom door and was pleased to see Laura peering through it.

“Hey, Laura!” McKenna said brightly.

“Did you want to hang out after school and finish our AP Lit project?” Laura questioned across the room.

“Yeah,” McKenna got up and skipped to the door. “I don’t have anything else to do, but how about we do it at your house so that we actually have electricity. My mom’s still on her save-the-electricity-bill kick.”

“Sure thing. Blast, I’m gonna be late for Jensen’s class, so I gotta go. I’ll see you in lunch, ok?”

Lunch? Brown paper bag? Paris? Taxi? Dang it! She’d gone a whole two minutes without thinking those thoughts and Laura brought them rushing back in with her use of the L-word. She’d have to have a chat with Laura about activating memories that McKenna was trying to repress!

The tardy bell shrilled through the school and the class began to settle down. McKenna returned to her seat and pulled out her notebook. She snuck a quick peek over at Greg and mouthed the words 'zombie face' and then turned to face the front of the classroom.

She might be having troubles keeping her thoughts from wandering today, but no one needed to know that! She’d put on her happy face and worry about Paris and taxis later.

One thing she knew for sure. If her mom insisted on her bringing lunch from home, she was going to have to invest in a lunchbox, because there was no way she was going to eat out of that brown paper bag.

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Once (Aloe Vera)
upon (Keychain)
a time... (Squeeg)