7 Grand-godmother

From behind him, he could feel Jesse gripping on his arm, using him to steady herself as she slid off the bike seat.

He turned back just in time to have his black helmet shoved carelessly into his hands as she sashayed over to where the grizzled man was standing.

Alekai glared at her bright bouncing blonde hair and receding back as she marched up to Tom Duncan.

It didn't look as if her stomach was hurting!

Tom Duncan was a rather short man. At 5'3", he was a full foot shorter than Alekai.

Standing next to Jesse, he was not much taller than she was. However, that was where the similarities between them ended.

Tom's hair was a salt-n-pepper greyish brown shag that fell to his shoulders in uneven grizzled layers like an old wolf's fur. His body was sun-darkened and muscled from wrestling with trees all day long.

Jesse was thin and looked as if a strong wind would knock her to her feet.

Her skin was alabaster pale, as if it had never been kissed by the sun before. And her hair was like a mixture of molten gold and platinum, cascading nearly to her waist.

She gleamed so brightly in the sun, Alekai nearly had to shade his eyes.

"Tom!" Alekai heard her high reedy voice above the birds chirping and the wind rustling through all the potted trees around them. "Tom Duncan?"

"You must be Jessica Chantal." Tom reached out with his palms outstretched. "Welcome to Earth, Ambassador!"

Alekai gasped. So her name was Jessica and she was a turtle Ambassador. What else did he not know about her?

Jesse reached out her hand, palms forward, and touched Tom's palms with her own.

"Thank you! It's a pleasure to finally meet a legend such as yourself."

Tom waved a dismissive hand in feigned modesty. "Oh, you are too kind. I am hardly a legend of any sort."

Jesse's eyes gleamed. "Oh you're a legend alright. You should hear what people say about you."

Alekai came up from behind Jesse and interrupted their greetings.

"You know each other?"

Jesse turned back to him, her bright blue eyes flashing.

"Not really. I just spoke with him a couple of times before I transferred over to the final ship to get here."

Tom Duncan turned towards Alekai and shook his head.

"Never even saw an image of her. From the way she talked, I was expecting Jessica Chantal to be a matronly older woman around my age."

He guffawed, slapping his knees. "And what do we got here. A cute little miss not much older than you, Alekai."

Jesse laughed. "Most of the time when you talked with us, you were actually talking to my grandmother. I only spoke to you a couple of times, and only very recently."

Tom turned back to the girl he called Jessica Chantal.

"Well, that explains why I thought you sounded mature and grandmotherly." He snickered.

He pulled the door wide open and indicated with his grizzled head. "Come on inside and rest up a bit. I'm sure it was a rough journey for you."

The inside of Tom's house was much like Tom himself. It was rough and rugged. A man's house.

The grey slate floors contrasted with the warm redwood panels on the walls and the doors of the cupboards.

"Have a seat and let me fetch you kids a drink." He gestured at the smooth worn round oak slab that he used as a kitchen table.

In one corner of the kitchen was an antique soft drink dispensing machine. It had once lived out in front of a convenience store but now hung out in Tom's kitchen where it served its single sacred duty of keeping canned drinks chilled.

There were six buttons that could dispense six different types of drinks, but five of the buttons displayed different beers. The last button had a Coke logo on it.

Tom Duncan reached out and punched the Coke button from the drink dispenser in the corner twice.

Two red-and-white metal cans of Coke clattered into the bin below. He tapped one of the beer buttons. The beer can joined the two coke cans at the bottom bin.

He bent over, grabbed the cans and took them over to the table where Alekai and Jesse were sitting.

"I hope soda is okay. Too hot to serve ya tea or coffee, and you don't look old enough to drink beer."

He eyed Jesse Chantel with a curious look. "How old are you anyway, if'n ya don't mind me askin'?"

Jesse grinned as she popped the top off the can and took a big swig.

"Hmmm. It's been a long time since I've had this." She put down the can. "I'm seventeen."

"For real?" Alekai could barely contain is surprise as he popped his own drink.

She turned to him with duck pout lips. "Well, almost. I'll be seventeen in Earth years soon."

"Soon? What's soon? Next year soon?" He threw at her caustically.

She sniffed and looked away. "My birthday is in two weeks. I'll be seventeen by then."

"See?" Tom laughed. "Alekai here is just a tiny bit older than you. He's eighteen."

"Almost nineteen." Alekai muttered and instantly regretted saying it. His face heated and he looked away to hide his sudden embarrassment.

Why did he even care to inform her that he was only a couple of months away from turning nineteen? What difference did it make?

"Well, you're both close enough in age to be able to relate to each other." Tom

"Not really," they both spoke up.

Alekai looked away while Jesse grinned in an infuriating manner.

Tom guffawed again, oblivious to Alekai's discomfiture or Jesse's almost convincing nonchalance.

"Okay. The pleasantries have been fun but we gotta get to the heart of the business. Whatcha got for me?"

Alekai turned to Tom in surprise. Tom was a very astute businessman. He never mentioned business unless it was really business.

Jesse grinned. It seemed as if Tom had hit upon the very reason she was here.

"I like a man who goes straight to the point. I have several things I'm supposed to bring here."

Tom smiled. It was a smile that Alekai knew well.

Tom had hit pay dirt.

"No time like the present for presents, Little Miss."

Jesse stood up. She closed her eyes and held out both hands. The air around her hands shimmered.

She reached into the shimmering airspace and pulled out a medium-sized box. It was bright red, with a bow on top.

Jesse placed the box onto the table and tapped Alekai's arm.

"This is for you."

He blinked. Wasn't this supposed to be Tom's pay dirt? What did it have to do with him?

"What is this?"

"It's your birthday present from my grandmother. She's your mother's godmother."

For a moment, Alekai didn't know what to say. As far as he knew, he never had any family other than Tom.

"Your grandmother knows me?"

Jesse laughed at Alekai's incredulous stare.

"Of course. She is your grand-godmother. She knew you when you were an egg."