Title: Sam Kane
Chapter: Thirty
Main Characters: Samantha Kane, Jack Mayfair
Genre: Fantasy/Magic/Mystery
Legal Stuff: Copyright 2007 Patrick Hester
All works created by me for this site, including works of original fiction, literary works, musical works, pictorial, graphic, motion pictures and other audiovisual works and or sound recordings are Copyright 2007 Patrick Hester. All rights reserved.


Thirty


The ride to the crime scene was quiet, an awkward kind of silence that stretched on for a half an hour. Nevil had a black SUV with all the windows tinted dark so no one could see in. It seemed to fit him. Kylie and I sat in the back while he and Jack rode in the front.

I had another piece of the puzzle to chew on. Jack Mayfair had been looking for someone, an informant, someone who had information regarding a string of murders he was investigating. That's when he found me, because my case and his had crossed paths. Jorge and I had been looking into the murder of a convenience store clerk. That sort of thing happens when a store gets robbed - sometimes, the clerk resists and the thief will pull the trigger. Only this case had been off because nothing had been stolen from the store and the cash register was intact. It looked more like the clerk herself had been the target.

We got a tip that a witness was in that apartment complex, in apartment E19, so we went to investigate. Could it be a coincidence that our witness and Jack's informant were the same person? Something else occurred to me - with Jorge in the hospital and me reassigned, who would be working our case? That clerk deserved justice.
( Read more )

Title: Sam Kane
Chapter: Twenty-Nine
Main Characters: Samantha Kane, Jack Mayfair
Genre: Fantasy/Magic/Mystery
Legal Stuff: Copyright 2007 Patrick Hester
All works created by me for this site, including works of original fiction, literary works, musical works, pictorial, graphic, motion pictures and other audiovisual works and or sound recordings are Copyright 2007 Patrick Hester. All rights reserved.


Twenty-nine


"Say nothing," Jack hissed at me. "Not to Kylie, and damn sure not to Giles, understand me?"

"Yes," I answered.

"We'll be up in a minute, Kylie." Jack waved his hand and all the candles went out. I didn't see anything and it really bothered me. God help me, I wanted to see it. "I hadn't intended for you to be in the field so soon, but we may not have a choice in the matter. I've already said you were my Apprentice so it would look very bad if you weren't with us today."

"All right," I said. Jack was quickly cleaning up his spell.

"But that doesn't mean you're ready to do what we do, so you will do as your told and stay back - just observe, is that understood?"

"I can do that." I've never been one to toe the line all that well, and I wasn't afraid to admit that this world scared the living shit out of me, but I had skills of my own that I brought to the table. "But I am a detective, Jack. I can help."
( Read more or A GRINCH WILL COME TO YOUR HOME TOWN AND STEAL CHRISTMAS FROM YOU!!!!! )

Title: Sam Kane
Chapter: Twenty-Eight
Main Characters: Samantha Kane, Jack Mayfair
Genre: Fantasy/Magic/Mystery
Legal Stuff: Copyright 2007 Patrick Hester
All works created by me for this site, including works of original fiction, literary works, musical works, pictorial, graphic, motion pictures and other audiovisual works and or sound recordings are Copyright 2007 Patrick Hester. All rights reserved.


Twenty-eight


I sneezed again. Jack stared. I stared back at him. Where the hell was my light show?

"...there should've been a change," he said, looking me over. The look in his eye, his stance - it made me uncomfortable to have him staring at me like that. "This is odd."

"What?" I asked, brushing bits of the dust off my clothes.

"There's no trace - nothing I can see that would lead me to the caster," he said, putting down the bowl he'd used.

"That's bad, right?" Damned dust was annoying. I sneezed again. Great, it's in my hair. I'm going to need a brush to get it all out. Gah! It's worse than sand!

"Very. There should have been something that I could see. It can manifest itself as tendrils or a mist, a change in your aura, an afterimage of theirs - sometimes it can even be an image of the caster, but there was nothing at all - not even a trace glow."

"So what does that mean, what do we do now? Another spell?" One that doesn't involved throwing dust on me?
( Read more or GIANT SNOW BEARS IN ARMOR WILL COME KICK YOUR BUTT!!! )

Title: Sam Kane
Chapter: Twenty-Seven
Main Characters: Samantha Kane, Jack Mayfair
Genre: Fantasy/Magic/Mystery
Legal Stuff: Copyright 2007 Patrick Hester
All works created by me for this site, including works of original fiction, literary works, musical works, pictorial, graphic, motion pictures and other audiovisual works and or sound recordings are Copyright 2007 Patrick Hester. All rights reserved.


Twenty-Seven


"I didn't think you were ready to hear it though. This," he said with a wave of his hand. "Is a lot to take in all at once and you've been doing well. But, I suppose we have to start sometime." Digging around behind one of the shelves, he produced two folding chairs and set them facing each other.

"Sit," he said. "Please."

"I didn't mean right now," I said nervously. I didn't want this, didn't want to be in this world...

"No time like the present," he said with what could only be described as an impish grin. With a deep breath, I sat down. Jack grabbed the low table he'd been working with and set it between us, then took one of the candles from earlier in the day and blew it out, setting it in next to the bowl of ground herbs. A little stream of gray smoke rose up from the wick and disappeared into the shadows above us.

"Magic comes in a lot of different flavors but it all stems from the same basic building blocks," he said as he took the seat across from me. "Fire," he raised a finger, then another, "Air, water, earth and spirit." As he listed each one, another finger went up. "You've already used Fire, so we're going start there."

I nodded.

"Look at the candle," he said. "See the wick." I stared. "Tell me what you see..." he said, then the candle wick sparked to flame.

"...you lit the candle."
( Read more or I will get magical flying monkees tattooed onto my chest and then set them loose to terrorize you and your little dog too! )

Title: Sam Kane
Chapter: Twenty-Six
Main Characters: Samantha Kane, Jack Mayfair
Genre: Fantasy/Magic/Mystery
Legal Stuff: Copyright 2007 Patrick Hester
All works created by me for this site, including works of original fiction, literary works, musical works, pictorial, graphic, motion pictures and other audiovisual works and or sound recordings are Copyright 2007 Patrick Hester. All rights reserved.


Twenty-six



I did go back inside. Kylie smiled weakly and wiped at her eyes, so I left her alone to get a hold of herself. Nevil didn't even look up - he had his head buried in a book and I didn't particularly feel like interrupting him. First impressions were important and I think he made a bad one. Jack lead me back downstairs and to the summoning circle.

"The spell binding your powers is complex," Jack said as he prepared his ingredients again. "To bind your powers and then hide that spell and mute the magical aura of the person you are casting the spell on - that goes beyond genius. But every spell no matter how well thought out or executed, leaves a residue that can be traced."

"Magic CSI?" I asked. Jack laughed.

"Something like that," he said.

"So, am I in the circle again?"

"No, you won't need to be for this." Jack was tossing herbs and powders into his small stone bowl, then he started grinding them with another piece that he turned round and round in the bowl. "This is just to find out who did the spell in the first place."

"You'll be able to tell that?"
( Read more or BABY KITTENS WILL BE MADE INTO SAUSAGE FOR BREAKFAST BURRITOS!!! )

Chapter: Twenty-Five
Main Characters: Samantha Kane, Jack Mayfair
Genre: Fantasy/Magic/Mystery
Legal Stuff: Copyright 2007 Patrick Hester
All works created by me for this site, including works of original fiction, literary works, musical works, pictorial, graphic, motion pictures and other audiovisual works and or sound recordings are Copyright 2007 Patrick Hester. All rights reserved.


Twenty-five


"Okay," I said. "Jack is a member of this 'Council' you told me about."

"That's right," Kylie said.

"The ones that took you away to some medieval, magic prison place and tortured you for two years because you were suspected of being a bad guy." That wasn't really a question.

"Yes," she answered anyway. I stood up.

"Okay, I need to go."

"Sam," Jack said, standing as well.

"No, no - really. I need to get out of here." The Council was bad news. Jack was part of that Council. He'd have to tell them about me, right? Did that mean I'd get hauled off to a magic Inquisition like Kylie? What if he'd already told them all about me? Oh - I definitely needed to get the hell out of here.

"It's not what you think, Sam," Jack was saying. I was moving towards the door. "I don't agree with their methods." Their methods included thumbscrews - what the hell was a thumbscrew? "You are not in danger here, Sam."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," said a voice from behind me. I spun around. "Seems like there's always a bit of danger when you become involved with Banba."
( Read more IF YOU DARE! DUN DUN DUN! )

Title: Sam Kane
Chapter: Twenty-Three
Main Characters: Samantha Kane, Jack Mayfair
Genre: Fantasy/Magic/Mystery
Legal Stuff: Copyright 2007 Patrick Hester
All works created by me for this site, including works of original fiction, literary works, musical works, pictorial, graphic, motion pictures and other audiovisual works and or sound recordings are Copyright 2007 Patrick Hester. All rights reserved.


Twenty-four


Jack Mayfair left the kitchen, walking out the door Kylie had come in and out into the garden to smoke. I wondered why he didn't smoke inside his own house and filed the question away to ask some other time. Right now I needed to know more about this Council and their tactics. I downed the last of my coffee and headed out to the office. Kylie was seated at the desk farthest from the kitchen on the right. She was sniffling when I stepped up and took the seat opposite her.

"Tell me about the Council." Blunt, I know. But I don't feel like I have a lot of time. If I'm on the radar, that means they'll be coming for me. Hell, they may already be on the way. I needed to know everything she could tell me.

She shuddered. Her shoulders slumped. I could tell from the red around her nose and eyes that she'd been crying. She reached for a tissue before saying anything.

"I was nineteen years old," she said softly. "I was accused of using the Black." She smiled weakly at me. "I like black clothes, but I do not use those magics - I'm not stupid. I'm just a Mystic. I talk to dead people, I don't raise them."

"I don't understand," I said.
( Read more )

Title: Sam Kane
Chapter: Twenty-Three
Main Characters: Samantha Kane, Jack Mayfair
Genre: Fantasy/Magic/Mystery
Legal Stuff: Copyright 2007 Patrick Hester
All works created by me for this site, including works of original fiction, literary works, musical works, pictorial, graphic, motion pictures and other audiovisual works and or sound recordings are Copyright 2007 Patrick Hester. All rights reserved.


Twenty-three


"You know," I said as I sat back down. "Ever since I've met you, there seems to be a lot of people who either would kill me, should kill me or who will want to kill me once they find out that I exist. No one ever wanted to kill me before. Well, except my parents. My brothers. My ex-boyfriend."

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I'm making this worse than it is. It's just... complicated."

"Everything with you is," I sighed.

"Let me try to make it more clear for you then." Jack walked over and poured himself another cup of coffee. He held the pot out but I shook my head - I was tense enough as it was. He sat back down and continued. "I said it was complicated, and it is. Ours is a complicated world." 'Our world'. It was 'our world' now. I'm not an outsider looking in, I'm a part of it whether I want to be or not.

"When someone like us develops our Talent, things start to happen, things we can't control or understand. You move a book without touching it, you hear voices when no one is there, you see things no one else can see. Maybe you start a fire just by thinking about it. Any of these things can put you on the radar, so to speak. People become aware of you. The Council becomes aware of you."

That's that. I used magic and that puts me on the radar, makes me a part of this world. No choice, no options.
( Read more )

Title: Sam Kane
Chapter: Twenty-Two
Main Characters: Samantha Kane, Jack Mayfair
Genre: Fantasy/Magic/Mystery
Legal Stuff: Copyright 2007 Patrick Hester
All works created by me for this site, including works of original fiction, literary works, musical works, pictorial, graphic, motion pictures and other audiovisual works and or sound recordings are Copyright 2007 Patrick Hester. All rights reserved.

Twenty-two

"What does that mean? Jack? Wait!" I followed him. Up the stairs, past the empty desks and into the kitchen where Jack Mayfair - Wizard or whatever, told me to sit down while he made me a turkey and ham sandwich on wheat bread. It was a good sandwich. I was hungry. He also made one for himself and we sat down to eat and talk.

"So," I asked after my second cup of coffee. "What does that mean? What's next?"

Jack lowered his own cup and sighed. "Someone, somewhere, sometime bound your powers. That's not a difficult spell to perform under normal circumstances but these are anything but normal circumstances."

"Because I don't remember it?"

"Yes. But there's more to it." He took another long pull from his coffee cup, then set it down. Kylie chose that exact moment to walk in. There was an outside door to the kitchen and when it opened, sunlight flooded into the room and I had to squint to see out. It looked like there was a little garden out there.
( Read more )

Chapter: Twenty-One
Main Characters: Samantha Kane, Jack Mayfair
Genre: Fantasy/Magic/Mystery
Legal Stuff: Copyright 2007 Patrick Hester
All works created by me for this site, including works of original fiction, literary works, musical works, pictorial, graphic, motion pictures and other audiovisual works and or sound recordings are Copyright 2007 Patrick Hester. All rights reserved.

Twenty-one


It turned out that 'magic' meant 'not much for me to do'. While Jack ground his various herbs into a fine powder, I got to finish my coffee. Then I took a seat inside the circle, sitting cross-legged in the center while he spread his mixture on the floor around me. He was very careful not to let any of it drift onto the gold circle itself, telling me that to do so would weaken the spell and the protection the circle itself would give to us both.

"Normally," he said while walking his path around the circle. "I would use this place to summon a spirit or presence from another plane of existence in order to learn from it or question it. Such beings are not happy to be summoned thusly, and so the circle keeps them from hurting me or escaping into our existence.

"But today, we're going to use it to tap into different energies, try to see, if we can, why your power has manifested so late."

"Are we even sure that I have any kind of power?" I asked. I mean, I'd called Fire sure, but what if that was a fluke, one-time thing?

"You saw the runes, Sam. You shouldn't have been able to see those. That you can speaks to the power you have."

"Oh."
( Read more... )

Chapter: Nine
Main Characters: Samantha Kane, Jack Mayfair
Genre: Fantasy/Magic/Mystery
Legal Stuff: Copyright 2007 Patrick Hester
All works created by me for this site, including works of original fiction, literary works, musical works, pictorial, graphic, motion pictures and other audiovisual works and or sound recordings are Copyright 2007 Patrick Hester. All rights reserved.


Twenty



"Fire is easy?" I asked.

"Yes," Jack nodded. "Fire is what you used on the Werewolf. Fire comes easy because it's all about emotion; passion, love, hatred and fear - strong emotions that come quickly and can overwhelm. They can feed Fire, give it power and intensity above and beyond what you might intend. So in the end, Fire is easy."

"So... What you're telling me is that the stress of the situation, the abject fear and terror, somehow caused the Fire I... used?"

"That plus rage."

"Rage?"

"You can't stand there and tell me that you didn't feel rage, Sam. Your partner being ripped apart right in front of your eyes? I know how I would have felt."

"Angry."
( Read more... )

Title: Sam Kane
Chapter: Nineteen
Main Characters: Samantha Kane, Jack Mayfair
Genre: Fantasy/Magic/Mystery
Legal Stuff: Copyright 2007 Patrick HesterAll works created by me for this site, including works of original fiction, literary works, musical works, pictorial, graphic, motion pictures and other audiovisual works and or sound recordings are Copyright 2007 Patrick Hester. All rights reserved.


Nineteen


The drive to Banba gave me time to compose myself. I was getting tired of being on the verge of crying. I did what my dad taught me - I stomped on my feelings and swallowed them, pushing it all down as deep as I could manage so I could get on with my day.

Banba wasn't any less creepy in the morning than it was in the afternoon, but I'd made a promise that I'd be here first thing, and so, I pulled up to the gates around 8 and found them wide open. I pulled my car in and parked behind that same old truck again, then went and closed the gates. I don't know why, but it seemed like the thing to do. The porch creaked again as I stood before the doors wondering what the protocol was here. Do I knock or just walk in? I mean, I know there's an office in there, but it's also someone's house. Jack lives here after all.

Jack made the decision for me, appearing at the door with a cup of coffee and a smile. Last I'd seen him, he wore a suit - today, he had a dress shirt on with the two top buttons undone and a pair of dress slacks. It must be the cop in me, but I tend to notice these things.

"Good morning!" he said, offering me the cup. I took it and sipped. It was good, as good as the day before and I silently thanked Kylie. "We have a lot of work to do today, and I want to get right into it."
( Read more... )

Title: Sam Kane
Chapter: Eighteen
Main Characters: Samantha Kane, Jack Mayfair
Genre: Fantasy/Magic/Mystery
Legal Stuff: Copyright 2007 Patrick HesterAll works created by me for this site, including works of original fiction, literary works, musical works, pictorial, graphic, motion pictures and other audiovisual works and or sound recordings are Copyright 2007 Patrick Hester. All rights reserved.


Eighteen


I was waiting for Captain King when he walked into his office at 7 am. I had a cup of his favorite coffee from Sister's and an eclair from Lamar's for him - I know it's a bit cliched - coffee and donuts, but the man likes his coffee and he's partial to an eclair or a maple bar first thing. I wanted some answers before I had to face Jack Mayfair again, I needed answers and I couldn't think of anyone else to goto. I didn't want to take this to my dad, not with the reaction he'd had the night before.

I smiled sweetly as he opened the door, saw me, and let out a great sigh.

"What do you want, Kane?"

I offered up the coffee and smiled again. "I thought we could have breakfast."

"I already had breakfast. Don't bullshit a bullshitter. Spit it out."

Okay then. Right to business. "I want to know about Jack Mayfair."
( Read more... )

Title: Sam Kane
Chapter: Seventeen
Main Characters: Samantha Kane, Jack Mayfair
Genre: Fantasy/Magic/Mystery
Legal Stuff: Copyright 2007 Patrick Hester
All works created by me for this site, including works of original fiction, literary works, musical works, pictorial, graphic, motion pictures and other audiovisual works and or sound recordings are Copyright 2007 Patrick Hester. All rights reserved.


Seventeen


It took four beers to put me out and even then, I slept fitfully. I had bad dreams all night and they just seemed to get worse, more intense as the night wore on. I'd wake up time and again, covered in sweat and panting like I'd just run a marathon. Sometimes, I'd just be screaming. God only knows what the neighbors thought was going on.

I can't remember the last time I was up all night sweating and dreaming about the things that go bump in the night. Maybe I was ten.

( Each time it started the same; I was back in that apartment building... )

Title: Sam Kane
Chapter: Sixteen
Main Characters: Samantha Kane, Jack Mayfair
Genre: Fantasy/Magic/Mystery
Legal Stuff: Copyright 2007 Patrick Hester
All works created by me for this site, including works of original fiction, literary works, musical works, pictorial, graphic, motion pictures and other audiovisual works and or sound recordings are Copyright 2007 Patrick Hester. All rights reserved.


Sixteen


I still remember the night I got the call. Simon was eleven and Pops collapsed in the yard when he was running around trying to get him to play football. Mom was freaking out, Mikie was doing 90 up I-25 and would meet me at SkyRidge and Sean was on stand by trying to catch a flight in. I went cold through and through. I felt numb. I can remember the phone ringing, remember how I felt and what was said, but I can't remember driving to the hospital or much of anything else until they told us he was out of surgery and resting 'comfortably'. He'd had a triple bypass.

I moved three days later. I wanted to be closer to my parents, wanted to be able to help them, so my place is just fifteen minutes away. It's a two bedroom with a view of a park I think I walked across once. You can even see the mountains if you stand on the balcony and lean. A lot. With everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours, all I wanted was to get home, relax, try to clear my mind.
( Read more )

Title: Sam Kane
Chapter: Fifteen
Main Characters: Samantha Kane, Jack Mayfair
Genre: Fantasy/Magic/Mystery
Legal Stuff: Copyright 2007 Patrick Hester
All works created by me for this site, including works of original fiction, literary works, musical works, pictorial, graphic, motion pictures and other audiovisual works and or sound recordings are Copyright 2007 Patrick Hester. All rights reserved.


Fifteen


I stood up. "I don't want to talk about this."

"Kid, look - shit happens."

I took two steps and turned around. "I said I don't want to talk about this. Simon's home safe and I need to get home too."

"Samantha-"

There it was - 'Samantha' said in all the condescending glory that my father alone is capable of. I was only ever 'Samantha' when he was incredibly disappointed in me and I really didn't want to go down that road right now, not after everything else that had happened today. The last thing I needed was a truckload of shit from my father.

"No!" I said as I stomped off the porch. "Today my Captain gave me shit, and Jack Mayfair gave me shit, and the last thing I need is shit from you, pop!"

"SAMANTHA KANE!"
( Read more )

Title: Sam Kane
Chapter: Fourteen
Main Characters: Samantha Kane, Jack Mayfair
Genre: Fantasy/Magic/Mystery
Legal Stuff: Copyright 2007 Patrick Hester
All works created by me for this site, including works of original fiction, literary works, musical works, pictorial, graphic, motion pictures and other audiovisual works and or sound recordings are Copyright 2007 Patrick Hester. All rights reserved.


Fourteen


When he was just sixteen years old, no older than Simon is now, my father got his high school sweetheart pregnant. There was no question in my dad's mind, no hesitation - he 'did the right thing' and married the girl. Her name was Eve, and she was my older brother's mother. She died when Mike was just two. Being a widower at eighteen and having a two year old son kept my dad from Vietnam, but he continued to 'do the right thing' all his life.

Moving to Denver was 'the right thing' for Mikie - he'd gotten messed up with a gang in Chicago and ended up in the hospital because of it. Dad wasn't going to stand by and let his oldest become some statistic and a chalk outline on a sidewalk somewhere, so he loaded up the family and we moved to Denver where my mom had some cousins.

My dad was always the strong, gentle one - that's the first thing that comes to mind when I think of dad. He's the kind of guy you always know you can count on, but he is rigid in his sense of right and wrong and doesn't take it easy on you if you break the rules. It made him a good cop but a hard father. Simon pushes harder than the rest of us ever did, or, at least, it seems like that to me. But I remember when dad was strong, not battling cancer and God knows what else from a wheelchair on the porch of our house.

Pulling up to the house, there were no lights on but I knew the old man would be sitting on that porch waiting for us. I let Simon out of the back-seat and undid his handcuffs. He threw one last, murderous glare in my direction before running inside. I could hear him stomping up the stairs as I climbed the few steps to the porch, then he slammed his door and the muffled thump of music with too much bass could be heard. I sighed.

"What in hell did he do to his hair?"
( Read more )

Title: Sam Kane
Chapter: Thirteen
Main Characters: Samantha Kane, Jack Mayfair
Genre: Fantasy/Magic/Mystery
Legal Stuff: Copyright 2007 Patrick Hester
All works created by me for this site, including works of original fiction, literary works, musical works, pictorial, graphic, motion pictures and other audiovisual works and or sound recordings are Copyright 2007 Patrick Hester. All rights reserved.


Thirteen


"You are such a bitch."

This from my little brother. Granted, I had manhandled him, handcuffed him and threw him in the back-seat of my car, but still, he was already screwed so why make it any worse?

"Such a charmer," I replied.

"I mean it - why do you always have to come down on me?"

"I'm not coming down on you Simon - you're being punished. You're supposed to be home right now, remember? You're grounded."

"So you come in like a cop and arrest me like I'm some criminal?!"
( Read more )

Title: Sam Kane
Chapter: Twelve
Main Characters: Samantha Kane, Jack Mayfair
Genre: Fantasy/Magic/Mystery
Legal Stuff: Copyright 2007 Patrick Hester
All works created by me for this site, including works of original fiction, literary works, musical works, pictorial, graphic, motion pictures and other audiovisual works and or sound recordings are Copyright 2007 Patrick Hester. All rights reserved.

Twelve


My dad, Mike and Sean were all fairly athletic guys. They were built like trucks - all muscle and strength, which made growing up with them a challenge to say the least. I learned how to fight and defend myself pretty quickly, a skill I took with me into the Academy when I decided I wanted to be a cop.

Simon hated exercise. He hated anything that meant he had to do physical labor of any kind. He was skinny - almost scrawny to look at and had, much to the vociferous disappointment of our father, failed PE three times and refused to go out for any sports at all. In the Kane household, this was tantamount to sin.

So, when he saw me and bolted, I knew I wouldn't have any trouble catching him.

It's amazing how being a girl in a house full of boys prepares you for taking down a suspect neatly and cleanly. I had one hand on his neck before he'd taken a dozen steps, and I yanked back on his shirt, stopping him short and throwing him off balance. From there, it was nothing to push him the rest of the way over, forcing him to fall on his stomach where I could straddle him, put my knee in his back and slap the cuffs on his wrists.
( Read more )

Title: Sam Kane
Chapter: Eleven
Main Characters: Samantha Kane, Jack Mayfair
Genre: Fantasy/Magic/Mystery
Legal Stuff: Copyright 2007 Patrick Hester
All works created by me for this site, including works of original fiction, literary works, musical works, pictorial, graphic, motion pictures and other audiovisual works and or sound recordings are Copyright 2007 Patrick Hester. All rights reserved.

Eleven


When I was about a year and a half old, my older brother Mike, thirteen at the time, was shot in a gang related incident on the south side of Chicago. He spent months in the hospital going through physical therapy and basically relearning how to walk. The whole thing had scared my dad, a beat-cop at the time, half to death. So he moved us to Denver as soon as he could figuring a new town would give Mikie a fresh start and, for the most part, it had done just that.

Fourish years later, my little brother Sean was born and the Kane's were done with having kids - or so they thought. The doctors told mom that she couldn't have any more and for years, they were right - no more Kane's were born.

Then Simon surprised everyone.

He's sixteen going on four and he wants everything right now. Mike, my oldest brother, is busy with his wife and son and his teaching gig at the Air Force Academy in the Springs and Sean is going for his Master's in California so, with our dad not doing so well these days health wise, it falls to me to kick his teenage ass a couple times a month and try to rein him in.

So far, it hasn't been going so well.
( Read more )