FOUR

Junior, with an ice pack over his head, walked towards his cousin and asked what she was doing in the garden.

"Just burying something insignificant."She calmly said.

"That's not something insignificant..."He said,"... that's some creepy voodoo doll of me!"

"Oh I didn't realize, maybe I was just acting out of experience because you literally ditched me at school!"

"I was in detention, besides, my dad picked me up."He said with a smug grin.

"Do I look like I care? You're such a jerk!"She said and punched his shoulder.

He winced in pain when the child, seven years younger than him actually hurt him, after he had undergone months of body conditioning.

He then yelled,"Well, you can pick yourself up from school now for all I care, you could dump yourself in a lava pit!"

She looked away shyly, showing the beautiful nature that existed within her then solemnly said,"I'm sorry Junior."

"Oh, so it's only when you need me that you apologize."

"Honest, I'm sorry and to make it up to you..."

She stuffed a conical hat on his head, yelling,"Happy birthday!"

"What is this?"

"It's a dunce cap."She said.

"What the heck is a dunce cap?"

"I dunno, maybe just a hat, no, a regalia that shows how much I love and adore you as my cousin because you are the best cousin in the world."

"Aww, I have no idea what most of those words mean, but I guess I am a great cousin, aren't I? Oh and one more thing..."

He smacked the back of her head and said,"Nitwit, everyone knows that my birthday's on the 30th of January."

He proudly marched away with his wonderful crown and Scarlet Sapphira gladly got back to planting her torch ginger rhizomes in the garden...

Rose and I reached the principal's office and asked the problem, when he spoke,"Your daughter...she just took four students to the hospital."

I widened my eyes, then yelled,"Really?! My daughter's a hero and... that's not what you mean."

He showed us a video and I looked at him then shook my head and said,"This is an edited clip."

"We interrogated twelve eyewitnesses, teachers excluded from the number, a student said she saved his glasses and since the both of you have a history of, well, excelling in martial art forms, I figured, maybe you had something to do with training her."

"Oh no, I haven't done anything related to the arts in years."

"I practiced Kung Fu but sir, with all due respect, that isn't Kung Fu."Rose replied.

"But she had to learn all this somewhere, maybe a friend or relative?"

"She doesn't have any...Luis..."

"I haven't taught the kid anything."Luis said.

"What do you mean?You are the only one who...Lucy..."I said.

We got to the mansion and asked Ruby where Lucy was, she said Lucy was in church, so we called and apparently, she didn't train Scarlet Sapphira either, she never would without our permission, we had to ask the girl herself...

She was burying a corm or something in the garden when we met her and said,"Um, Scarlet, you know..."

"Scarlet Sapphira, continue."She said without looking.

"I'm done here."I said with a frown.

Rose pulled me back and continued,"We all get taught things, some by our parents, some by other people, and sometimes, those things are..."

"If you're wondering how I beat those guys up back up school, I did it with a book."

"We know, and you used fascinating samples of the power of knowledge, but where did you get that knowledge?"

"Nowhere, I'm self taught."

We looked at her quietly for a second or two, then Rose spoke,"Self taught?"

"Yup, I made it up, most of it, apart from the overhead kick thirty seven seconds into the fight, I learned that from a Capoeira fighting video."

"And you learned this, on your own?"Rose asked, pointing to a

"Oh yeah, but I can't take all the credit, I learned that on a video tutorial."She said, pointing.

It was a 540 double spin kick.

I then asked,"So you learned how to beat the cr*p out of people with a book, by yourself?"

Tommy smacked my shoulder and yelled at me then I said,"What? She is the one who taught me."

I then continued by asking, on a lower note,"So you learned all this on your own?"

She nodded then I burst out laughing till Rose glared at me, then I said,"Really funny honey, now tell us where you learned that, whatever it is."

She stuffed her air pods in her ears then looked back, then Rose dismissed me and I went to sit by a rock, grumbling.

Rose looked at her daughter, then picked the trowel and helped her bury the iris and said,"You know, it was actually quite difficult for Tommy and me to learn the arts we know..."

Scarlet Sapphira, without removing the devices, replied,"i know, it was hard for me too."

"Come to think of it, I don't recall you getting hurt, once."

"That's because I didn't get hurt, I've been training for months."

"M... months?"I asked.

"Yup."

"I've never seen you training before."I said, skeptical.

"I train all the time, in my room, at my school, in the woods..."

"You train in the woods?!"I yelled.

"Yeah, at midnight, when you're asleep."

I looked at Rose for help, then she spoke,"Scarlet Sapphira, what we're trying to say is... doing things like this, on your own, can be dangerous, for you and others."

"So you're scared that I might hurt you?"

"I'm not scared that you might hurt me!"I retorted.

When I saw her expression, I continued,"...in my sleep, but Scarlet Sapphira, if you ever need help with anything, we're here, we all are."

She tilted her head and said,"Uncle Luis told me to beat up those guys at school and Aunt Lucy said she wouldn't teach me without your permission, Aunt Ruby is basically always praying now and you two don't seem like the best teachers."

"And why not?"I asked.

"Because you could barely teach me how to ride a bike, with training wheels! I learned that on my own and you guys wouldn't even know what I was going through, I bet you couldn't do your mumbojumbo flying skills when you were my age, besides, I never said I needed help."

"Yeah we could."

Rose shook her head, then I said,"She could."

She shook her head again, then I groaned and said,"Scarlet Sapphira, you've gotta stop!"

She looked at me as I yelled at her several times, trying to correct her until tears welled up in her eyes, then she yelled,"I just wanted to make Uncle Luis proud of me!"

She then ran into the mansion and tears welled up in my eyes, seeing her cry.

Rose walked away and when I asked where she was going, she said,"To make a call."

***

The triplets ran down the stairs five days later to meet their stepfather who had brought mountains of presents for the four of them.

They hugged him, but at the sight of him, Scarlet Sapphira ran to the stairs.

He called her back and she stiffened, then slowly began walking towards him.

He knelt down in front of her then said,"Scarlet Sapphira, I'm proud of you."

Her eyes widened as she asked,"Really?"

He nodded, then wiped the tears on her face with his thumbs then offered her some money, for the road.

She was about to take it when he pulled it back and said,"Don't take stuff with your left hand."

She brought out a two inch thick bundle of raw cash from her back and said,"And don't give your already saddened niece ten bucks after giving your kids a thousand."

She then ran away before he could even search for his wallet.

Finding it on the floor behind where she previously stood, opened and empty, he moved his tongue in his jaw, bit his lip, then chuckled and walked forward...