Black Market Merchant

Chapter 134: Convinced
That evening Lisa took all the girls back across town to their homes. Fortunately, nothing troubled them along the way, and they arrived at their homes in a timely manner, which didn’t cause any parents to worry. In fact, some of the children normally often arrived home before their parents did. By the time they arrived back at Hanna’s cal-de-sac, only Clair remained with them.

Clair had been mostly silent the entire time. She had been trying to come up with a way to speak with Hanna about what to do next. Hanna had been speaking with Lisa mostly and Clair couldn’t find a good moment to ask. She simply listened as the two talked about the knowledge of the Mech, how Hanna felt having this new knowledge and how to convince John and Mary to let her work on the Mech.

The three of them approached Richard and Joan’s house. From the road, in the dimming evening light, they could see the glow of the fire inside the garage. The sounds of conversation were also a giveaway that everyone living in the cal-de-sac was getting ready for their group dinner.

”Hey, there she is!” Mary called out as Hanna entered the garage. Following right behind her came Lisa and Clair. ”Oh, you brought Lisa and a friend too. Well, isn’t this a delightful surprise. Come on in!”

”What brings you back here? Don’t tell me there was another Twisted sighting.” John called out as the three late arrivals sat down with them.

”No, thankfully not this time.” Lisa replied. ”However, something odd did happen. Now this is going to be hard to explain and it is going to take a while, so go ahead and start eating. Hanna and I have something important to tell you.”

Over the next half hour, Lisa explained the events that took place with the East River Militia and the incident with Hanna and the Mech. There were times she would stop and ask Hanna to explain certain parts in her own words and experience. Time to time one of the adults would pose a question, but other than that, they listened carefully.

”So that brings us to our last question.” Lisa said taking a big sigh, now that the story was coming to a close. ”Garret wants Hanna to be a Pilot for the Mech and help build the pathway connecting the two sides of town.”

”Please can I?” Hanna added.

There was a moment of silence as the adults took in all this new information. Of course, it sounded made up and ludicrous but coming from these normally serious women it seemed rather legitimate. By now the sun had long ago fallen off the edge of the horizon and the dwindling twilight outside added to the anxiety of everyone waiting or the Weathers reply. In the end it was John that ended the silence.

”No.” John stated firmly. ”Hanna, you are two young to be out there with strangers. Much less operating a large piece of machinery.”

”But I want to!” Hanna replied, she could feel her heart sinking slightly. ”I have never felt that kind of freeing feeling before. It’s like the more I do it, the more I understand.”

”That doesn’t matter. You are probably just imagining all of those feelings.” John replied un-swayed. ”Even if you did in fact drive and operate the Mech, I think that you just got lucky and think you understand it.”

”I didn’t get lucky!” Hanna replied showing a rare angry moment. ”What I felt and know is real!”

John shook his head and looked towards Lisa with a cross expression. ”Why are you encouraging her? You ought to know better than to add to this foolery. We have no idea who these people really are or what their true intentions are. Yet you want little Hanna to work with these people?”

”Well, I understand your concern. I too was against the idea at first. If it wasn’t for me actually seeing her move and operate the Mech myself, I would have said the same thing.” Lisa replied. ”As for the ERM, they seem trustworthy for now.”

”You might trust them, but I can’t. I won’t change my mind and I still don’t want her to do this. I won’t let her be in potential danger.” John said giving a shrug.

”But Mr. John I…” Hanna started to say but was immediately cut off.

”I said no and that’s final!” John shouted.

Hanna closed her mouth as his furious yell stopped her words immediately, then the tears started to show. Until this moment, John had always been rather mild when dealing with Hanna. Especially considering that her parents had died not long before, but it now seemed that the time had come to an end. He had started acting like her true guardian. Mary would occasionally vouch for Hanna’s behalf, but not this time. Mary apparently was paying close attention to stirring the pot still sitting on the flames.

With the room returning into an awkward silence, and it was now that Clair felt compelled to speak. At first, she was nervous, but the more she spoke the boulder she became. ”Um, excuse me? I-I know that you all don’t really know me, but I know Hanna. We have been friends forever and I can say for a fact that she has changed.”

John glanced disapprovingly at Clair but said nothing. The rest of the room was also watching her now. The nervousness inside Clair grew, but she suppressed it and pressed on.

”H-Hanna was always the quiet gentle type. She wouldn’t meanly argue or talk bad about anyone, no matter what they did. Then her parents died. That is when I first saw her change in a major way. The looks she gave me were so full of pain and anger, something I never dreamed she could express. I didn’t know what to do or say. When she wanted to go to the gangster’s place, I thought she was going to get herself into trouble, but things worked out.” Clair paused, but no one interrupted.

Taking a shaky breath Clair continued. ”Then this whole Mech thing happened. When she first got in the Mech, I knew that something was different. It wasn’t until I saw the look in her eyes had changed again when she finished Mr. Gillian’s test and Mr. Yates confirmed her knowledge was legitimate. They no longer looked sad, but like they wanted more! Like there was a chance at life beyond the death of Mr. and Mrs. Marshal. I think you should let her do it.”

When Clair finished John’s face appeared unmoved, though silent. Hanna however, jumped up from her seat and hugged Clair tightly.

”I had no idea you were watching me that much. Thank you!” Hanna whispered. Then she turned to John once again. ”Please Mr. John, I never asked you for much, but this is something I feel is right. Almost as if this strange feeling is something I was meant to have. As if I was born to be in a Mechs seat!”

John still sat stone faced in his seat with his arms crossed. It seemed that their words were falling on deaf ears. The other adults had also remained silent and that they too were not going to do anything. Meanwhile, the two girls looked pleadingly back at him.

”John, if you really want to give Hanna a chance, come and supervise her.” Lisa said breaking up the deadlock. ”She’s not going to stay young forever and this place doesn’t have much to offer bright young lives in terms of a future. Perhaps this is a chance for Hanna to grow and find her place in the world. Trust me, this world is so much bigger than a single town.”

“Dear.” Mary spoke up and looked up from the stirring the pot. “She is starting to sound more like Rolland every day. I don’t think we will be able to stop her from doing things much longer.”

John looked down at the floor and gave a heavy exhale. ”If you can promise me, Hanna, that if anything bad is done to you, you must tell me right away. I will let you only be near a Mech when I am around.”

”Really!?” Hanna said letting go of Clair to stand up.

”Yes, but if you try sneaking away to be with them, or going to Lisa’s place without my knowledge, then you will never go anywhere near a Mech.” John replied. ”Do I make myself clear?”

”Yes, crystal clear!” Hanna replied nodding as her muddy red hair bounced excitedly around her beaming, bright smile.

John sat back in his seat with a look of tired reluctance and slightly still disapproving. Mary leaned up to whisper into his ear. ”I think you made the right choice. Weren’t there not times when Rolland kept trying to do things when everyone kept telling him ‘no’, no matter what the circumstances.”

”Yes, there were.” John replied softly as he watched Hanna and Clair now talking excitedly. ”That’s what is also worrisome to me. He often got so wrapped up in those ideas that he would put himself needlessly into danger. I can’t let her do the same.”

”I think you can teach her to know better and think things through with a level head. Just give it time. I am sure things will work out.” Mary said patting his shoulder.

”I hope I am up to it.” John murmured.

Lisa and Clair left the garage not too much later. She had to get Clair back home before it became too late. Clair luckily didn’t live far away, and it wouldn’t take long for them to get there. However, before Clair left Lisa to go home, she stopped on the sidewalk leading to the front door and looked back at Lisa with a concerned look.

”Miss Lisa, I know that I said that I wanted Hanna to work on the Mech, but that wasn’t all of it.” Clair started off. ”I want to help her beyond my words alone. Is it possible for me to work on the Mech with her?”

Lisa looked down at Clair in the pale moon light that was spilling all around them. Its light illuminated the tall young girl and made her bright blond hair all the more regal. Even in the pale darkness she could clearly see the look of determination written on Clair’s face. ”It’s possible. I am sure that there are many ways to support her. Though I am unsure about you being a pilot, but maybe you could use your smarts to help her.”

”How?” Clair replied.

”Remember that Gillian said that there was a manual for the Mech?” Lisa asked. Clair nodded and so Lisa continued. ”Well maybe you can read it and learn about the Mech for Hanna. She said that many of the parts in her knowledge she did not understand. Maybe you can figure that out for her? Not every person can do everything on their own, not even me. Maybe becoming even more of a leader can you help Hanna and the other children.”

”That’s actually a great idea!” Clair said nodding thoughtfully. ”I do love learning from books and this would be a wonderful way to help Hanna. I’ll do it. Thank you!” Then after saying that Clair waved goodbye and went to enter her home.