Blacklake-Book4-1 Three Cousins

Chapter 10
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Kriz, sittin’ in the front passenger seat, had his window down. Despite Thomas’ repeated, polite hints, my second favorite cousin ignored him. Finally with a sigh, I roared at Kriz to raise his window.

“Summer. Enjoy.”

I wasn’t gonna explain to Kriz it didn’t feel like summer to Thomas. Nor that the others in the truck didn’t want to catch pneumonia to enjoy the night, mountain air. Before I could growl at him again, Ezra raised his window from her side.

Stubborn to a tee, he was pressin’ it down again, until Ezra overrode his console. The bull jerked a dirty look her way, which she ignored. She’s better than anyone on Earth ignorin’ the frustratin’ tendencies of our autistic cousin.

“We need to talk about this,” Ezra said softly.

“About what? Yeah, yeah. I know. I shouldn’ta gone to Lew’s.”

“Or taken yar guest,” she said. “Fool. The constable said he’s afraid for Thomas’ life,” which closed my throat a bit.

“My life?” It was almost comical how the human’s voice edged higher on the backside of his short sentence.

“Said without sayin’, this stupid thing is way overblown, but still dangerous.” She interrupted whatever Thomas was gonna say. “Ya aren’t on the Plain any longer. So shut up and listen.”

Thought that was a bit rude, but I’m not one to argue with a hen. They can be a tad ornery if riled. If Papa has ever repeated a life lesson to me, it’s don’t tick off an ogre hen.

“So,” I said. “He didn’t think our cousin’s, uh, idjitry at Lew’s, is a standalone thing?”

“No,” she growled. “Those constables are pretty good at feelin’ the mood in the Valley, too.”

She pulled up to Kriz’ cabin, and the bull exited the truck without the slightest hint he oughta say goodnight to anyone. Or imply he wanted to be kept in the loop of the current conversation. That he gave a diddily about the topic. Was prolly re-codin’ some module in his head. Eager to get to a full-width keyboard.

“He’s not going home?” Thomas asked, as Ezra pulled away.

“That is his home,” I explained. “Prefers livin’ alone. Likes peace and quiet.”

Thomas grunted, I think. “My parents toyed with finding an investment property up here. Impossible, like five realtors told them. Explained what the going rate is.”

“Kriz bought the place a few years ago,” Ezra said. “His folks were angry he spent so much. Considerin’ he has a perfectly good bedroom at home.”

“He bought it himself? Like, with his own money?” Thomas asked.

Ezra looked up at me in her rearview. “Ya’ve taken him into the office. He stupid or something?”

“Hey,” Thomas groused.

“He’s sometimes a little slow on the uptake. He’s a human, after all,” I said.

“Hey,” Thomas repeated.

“Kriz and Ike made their first million when they were still in elementary school,” Ezra explained with a sigh.

“Kriz was in second grade,” I said. “He skipped fourth and fifth, and all of middle school.”

“Really?” Thomas crooned.

“So what did the constable suggest?” I asked, to return to the more relevant conversation. Embarrassin’ that folk get wound up in what we earn. We just love playin’ with technology. Roll most everything back into the company anyway.

“Firstly, put Thomas on a plane home in the morning.”

“What?” Thomas grouched. “I’ve been scheming to get to Black Lake, for, like ten years. Been my biggest dream.”

“Why ya brown nosed with me so much, huh?” I said.

“You two are so rude. Is it a standard ogre thing? Or are you two just jerks?”

“Pretty much,” Ezra said, which I found really funny. We are mostly garden variety ogres. Ezra isn’t much for sarcasm. She leaves that to me and Kriz. Oh. Maybe she wasn’t being sarcastic.

While Thomas went blah blah about why were folk mad at him, I busied myself thinkin’ about what I was gonna do with him the rest of the summer, if I couldn’t put him on a plane, or leave him on his own. Not like he’s an IT genius I can put to use. Think he’s a business major. Who majors in business? Good way to stay in first-line management an entire lifetime.

~ Ezra ~

I assumed Thomas was from a family with assets in the bank, otherwise how did he make it into Ike’s private little college. To hear him whine about parents not being able to afford a weekend in the Valley, rang odd. Don’t know why it prickled my imagination so much. Maybe because I’m used to the old families in the Valley havin’ more gold in their cupboards than the average god. It’s a generational thing. That, and we ogres are really tight with a Continental.

Gods prolly do hoard gold. Sounds very likely. Just like us ogres. Never much thought of us as havin’ anything in common with the gods. Ah, the chatter. The two, blatherin’, were gettin’ on my nerves.

“Shut up,” I growled. The two bulls, uh, bull and boy, had irritated me to the ends of my patience, with their idjit bickerin’.

I pulled into Ike’s driveway, but wanted something intelligent settled before they got out. So I growled at them not to move.

Ike, to his credit, didn’t budge. The fool had dropped a foot to the ground, had to leap up to get back in the truck. After a moment, he closed the door behind him.

“Don’t keep me in suspense,” Ike murmured.

“Ya can’t go puttin’ Thomas in danger,” I said. Not because I like the human, or anything. I mean, now that I understand his blather is intended to look more like he belonged hangin’ out with Ike, and maybe me. Clearly, he isn’t yar typical trust fund baby, too good to be seen with an ogre.

“I didn’t come up here to be locked away in a closet,” Thomas whined.

In the rearview, I caught Ike’s warning glance at Thomas not to, “upset the ogre hen.” Gods, do we hate that tired refrain. Though every hen I know uses our bulls’ fear of us like a machete.

“And you’ve never bothered,” Thomas continued to whine, “to explain why everyone’s so mad at me. What have I done that’s so bad?”

If anyone, outside the immediate family, knew he’d complimented me like a suitor might, he’d prolly already be dead—so Aunt Karzy claims. Not fair it’s only because he’s a human. I never would have expected this blowback, for just being seen with him. We more than put up with humans in the Valley, even love the selected few from old, settled families. But not an ogre or troll in the Range is numb to how the typical human, Northern human, views us giants.

“Why are you two so quiet all of a sudden?” Thomas asked.

I preferred to let Ike connect a couple dots, since I wasn’t sure I’m bright enough to do it without insultin’ Thomas. Not that it would crush me to put the fool in his place. I mean, in my heart, I understand what the situation is, but I could never explain it. As convoluted as it is.

I continued to wait for Ike to open his mouth.

Finally, Ike said softly, “We either need to push him in their face to make a point, or let it fester like a boil.”

Not the genius I figgered from the idjit. I formed a big, What! in my head, but Thomas voiced it before I could. Though maybe I wouldn’ta, since I don’t like to look dumber than I am.

“Are you comparing me to a boil?” Thomas asked. “Like a big bag of puss? Really?”

“Ya talk a lot,” Ike mumbled.

I turned the defroster on high. Couldn’t see out the windshield any longer. The two bulls, uh, males, must be generatin’ a lot of humid hot air.

“Ya’re studyin’ business stuff,” Ike said. “But do ya know how to weld, lay concrete? How to follow a structural design?” He sighed. “Take basic directions?”

“What’s that got to do with being a boil?” Thomas griped. What a one directional thought process.

I wondered where Ike was going, too, honestly. Ike took a bit to get to it, but finally explained he wanted to put him to work for the summer, to keep him out of his hair, and safe—the hair part he didn’t say out loud.

“I could have worked on the Plain this summer. I came up here to experience the Range. Hang out with some ogres, meet a few trolls, eat food my mom wouldn’t put on the table.”

“I’ve got a guy,” Ike said ignorin’ the human’s blatherin’, “who’s always complainin’ the racks we procure from the North aren’t good enough. Been plannin’ to set up our own fabrication facility for a while, and are finally gonna do it. Gonna be a lot of work involved.”

“Really?” Thomas hummed. “From the ground up, huh? That would be cool. But, I’m confused.”

That shocked me.

“Ya’d work with Daze. He’s not the easiest to get along with, but ya could go anywhere in the Range and be safe in his presence.”

I began laughin’ my ogre butt off. Daze? Workin’ with a puny human. That was something I’d have to see for myself. And who’s to say Daze wouldn’t kill the ignernt human, just for lookin’ not very bright.

Ike was goin’ blah blah about the pay scale and bennies at his company, Ogre Ware, and how the work would look good on his resume.

I was thinkin’ about the acres a few miles into the South Slope the cousins had talked the council out of. Still shocked that Ike got approval to build anything there. Even if his papa is the council leader. Maybe, especially because—

There were a lot of ogres ticked off about levelin’ a piece of forest.

~