Spending the day with Charlisa

Esau Abraham followed Charlisa Brant down the hall of one of the nursing homes in Angel Falls. He was spending the day with his frequent partner. Right now she was taking him to meet the oldest living member of her family, her great-grandfather. She stopped by a door with a placard that said ‘Joseph River’. She turned to Esau and said, “Here we are,” before knocking once and entering. “Hey, great-gramps, we’re here.”

“And early for once,” the elderly man replied. He was laying in bed. “Come on and give me a hand up.” She helped him sit up, and then put her hands under his armpits and helped him transfer to his wheelchair. He looked over at Esau and said, “And you must be Charlisa’s friend.”

“Yes, sir. I’m Esau Abraham,” he said as he stepped over to the older man and offered his hand.

Joseph took it and shook it. “Nice to meet you. And don’t call me ‘sir’. I wasn’t an officer; I worked for a living. Call me Joe.”

"Pleased to meet you, Joe. I hear a lot of great things from Charlisa that you are a very good man." Esau smiles and heartily shakes his hand. He feels a good vibe from the elder Joe. As a hardworking man, Esau appreciates work ethic coming from a family of warriors that is a very important aspect of many things. “So how is your family treating you?”

“Well enough, although they could come and visit me more often,” he said with a smirk as her directed the last comment to Charlisa. She rolled her eyes playfully in response.

Esau got the impression that Charlisa’s irreverent attitude was something she inherited. “So how are you doing?” he asked.

“I’m doing OK, ‘cept for my prostate acting up,” Joe replied. “These things happen when you’re 94.”

“Eww, great gramps. I didn’t need to know about that,” Charlisa said.

“Wow, 94 years,” Esau said, impressed. “You must have seen some interesting things.”

Joe chuckled and said, “Not as much you you’d expect. I saw more than enough when I served back in the army. After that, I spent 35 years as a security guard. Of course, raising eight children was exciting enough, in different ways.”

Esau noticed a picture on the wall and went over to look at it. He noticed that in addition to Joe, his wife, and the seven children that were obviously theirs, there was also a Caucasian girl with them. “Who’s that?” he asked.

“That’s Rachel, our adoptive daughter. She was a Polish Jew whose parents died in a concentration camp. We thought it was the right thing to do to give her a new family. And since she and Joe Jr. got married, well, we did that in more ways than one.”

“Yup. They’re one set of my grandparents,” Charlisa chimed in.

“Ah,” Esau said. “So you had powers like Charlisa?”

“You saw that from when she was hooked up to that do-hickey that showed our ancestors?” Joe asked, referring to Charlisa. When the younger man nodded, he continued, “Yeah, well, while I have a connection to our bloodline’s power, it’s different from hers. I can only control blood. Still, when I served as my unit’s unofficial medic, I saved the lives of a lot of men.”

“I see,” Esau said. He then remained quiet and let Charlisa spend some time with her great-grandfather. After about an hour, it was approaching lunchtime, so they decided to go and let Joe have his meal. Charlisa told him that she knew a place where they could get something to eat themselves. When they got there, she ordered a fish dish for both of them. As they started to eat, Esau said, “You know, except at Club Ego, I don’t think I’ve ever eat traditional Native food.”

She gave him an odd look and said, “What do you think we’re eating now?”

He looked down at it and then said cautiously, “Fish?”

“Which was a staple of my tribe. And this is done in the traditional style. Gah!”

Esau chuckled and then admitted, “You’re right. Different tribes have different diets, and what I think is traditional food is different from what you do.”

The two of them finished their meal and then Charlisa suggested go to meet another of her family members. Esau agreed and they drove over to near the university in his car. They pulled into the parking lot of a club called the Standing Room. “Isn’t this a hipster bar?” He asked.

“Probably,” she replied. “Now, you go first.”

He did so. After he had entered, he saw a muscular Native man who was 6’6” and whose long hair was pulled back in a ponytail. “Welcome to the Standing Room. Be sure to have your i.d. ready if you want something alcoholic,” the bouncer said in a slightly bored tone, have said that thousands of times.

“OK,” Esau said as he walked passed him.

Then Charlisa said, “Hey, Troy.”

The bouncer looked over at her and a big smile formed on his face. “Hey,’Lisa. What brings you her?”

“I’m here to see you, ya big lug,” Charlisa replied.

“Cool,” Troy said. “I got a break in five minutes. Pick out a table and I’ll meet you there.”

Esau asked Charlisa as she caught up to him, “You know him?”

“Yep. He’s one of my cousins,” she replied. The two of found a table and ordered drinks. They arrived just as Troy did. “So how have you been?”

Her cousin shrugged. “Same as usual. So, it’s about time you brought your boyfriend around,” he said, referring to Esau.

Charlisa, who had just taken a drink, spit it out over the table. “What?! No, no, no, it’s sooo not like that. We’re only crime-fighting partners. Besides,” she continued with a smirk, “He’s too mopey for my tastes.”

“Ha. Ha,” Esau deadpanned.

“Seriously dude, you’re like a character from a Stephanie Meyer’s novel,” she said playfully.

“Don’t mind her. She thinks she’s funny,” Troy said to Esau. Charlisa stuck her tongue out at her cousin.

“I get that,” the Navaho youth responded. “So do you have the powers of your family’s bloodline?”

“Yes and no. Let me show you.” Troy got a glass of water, set it on the table, and stared at it. After a minute, small ripples formed on the top of it. “See? Many members of our family can do that, it’s only ‘Lisa and great gramps who can do anything near what our ancestors can do.”

“That’s interesting,” Esau said. He then turned to Charlisa. “I’ve had fun today, meeting your family and getting to know you better. Maybe sometime, I’ll take you to meet mine.”

She smiled at him and said, “Yeah, that could be fun. And if not, I’ll make it fun.”