Chapter 4

October, 2038



"I am going to Chicago, and that is that," Alexei said as his mentor/teacher/parental surrogate watched him pack his trunk to have his belongings sent to Chicago.

Mikhail Rostenkov said, "I am proud of you, Alexei, for being chosen to study with the Chicago Ballet. But I know the real reason you chose to go there. I am not stupid. It's the girl, Helene, is it not?"

"Whether being closer to Helene geographically was even a consideration, Mikhail, is really none of your concern any longer," Alexei said; "I am almost 20 years old, and the laws of the United States state that I am of legal age. You have done the job you were contracted to do for me, and I am most appreciative for everything. But, as they say here, you have to let the bird fly from the nest."

Rostenkov knew that Alexei was right. He'd had the boy since Alexei was eight years old, and taught him everything he knew about ballet. Alexei was an eager student, and took to his lessons quickly.

Still, he didn't trust the DeWitt girl. She had an ulterior motive, Rostenkov was sure. And that she was an American and the daughter of a wealthy family didn't win any points with him. He had to begrudgingly admit that Helene DeWitt was better than most of his ballerinas. He didn't know why that was so. Americans had a reputation for being lazy. Helene wasn't lazy; she worked harder than any ballerina he'd ever met.

Alexei was like the son he never had. He, himself had fathered five daughters. Of those five, only one became a ballerina, and all of them left Kiev as soon as they could.

Now Alexei was a man, and he did, indeed, had to "fly from the nest".

And, Rostenkov suspected, was in love with the DeWitt girl.

===


Helene was the first of the girls to arrive at the suite. She was a little nervous about the meeting she, Rina and Jaime were going to have. She chided herself for being silly, but it nagged in the back of her mind.

Whatever possessed Rina to take an all day class on a Saturday, she thought as she gathered her thoughts. Getting dishes down from the cupboard in the kitchen, Helene remembered that Rina was exceptionally skilled at computer technology. Why she chose to come to school at Northwestern and not one of the European universities that specialized in what Rina excelled in, Helene had not one idea. Rina had mentioned in passing that her late father was an American, so maybe that was it, Helene thought; she wanted to explore that side of her heritage, and not the side that her mother came from. Rina clearly hated her mother, that much was obvious when Rina moved in. Helene took an instant dislike to Contessa d'Alessandro, as did Jaime. Rina's father, however, Rina had fond memories of.

"I wonder if her mother had her father killed," Helene said half to herself. She then scolded herself for even having such a thought. "Even if it was true, it's really none of my business unless Rina herself brings it up."

The phone in the suite ringing interrupted Helene's thoughts. She looked at the caller ID and saw a number that didn't look like any phone number she'd ever seen. She picked up the receiver anyway and said, "Hello?"

"Good afternoon," the cultured male voice on the other end said, "Is Audrina Alexander available, please?"

"No, unfortunately, she is not here at the moment," Helene said; "may I ask who is calling?"

"I'm Vittorio d'Alessandro, Audrina's brother," he said; "do you expect her back soon?"

Helene looked at the clock on the table where the telephone sat. It was Rina's. It was 5:30pm and Rina wasn't due back until six.

"She should be back soon," Helene said; "She has a class and should be home in about a half hour."

"Oh," d'Alessandro said; "I'm afraid that will be too late. I'm at the airport in Rome, and my flight is due to leave before then. Could you tell her, please, that I called?"

"Of course I will," Helene said. "Is there a way she can reach you?"

"Tell her I will call back when I reach my destination," d'Alessandro said; "I must go now, but tell me, which roommate are you?"

"I'm Helene, the dance major," she said.

"Ah, okay," d'Alessandro said; "You're the blonde girl. Jaime is the redhead."

"Yes," Helene said, thinking that response from him was odd. Maybe Rina has shown her brother pictures of us, who knows, she thought.

D'Alessandro said his goodbyes and hung up.

"Okay," Helene said aloud as she hung up the phone, "that was weird."

There was then a knock at the door. Helene answered it and there stood Jaime, her arms full with bags of Mexican food. Helene laughed and took some of the bags from her suitemate and took them to the kitchen.

All that needed to happen now was for Rina to return.


===

"I thought you were going to have this delivered, Jaime?" asked Helene as she set out the food that Jaime brought home.

"I didn't get a chance to put in the order until late this afternoon, so I said I'd pick it up on the way home," Jaime said; "This stuff was heavy! I'm glad you're here, because I had no idea how I was going to get through the door with my hands full."

"Maybe it's better this way," Helene said; "Rina's due home soon. Did you get her cheesy enchiladas?"

"There's two whole trays of them, along with the traditional ones and the burritos," Jaime said; "I got all of this at such a steal that I almost felt like I was taking them for granted."

"So what's mine and Rina's share of the bill?" asked Helene.

"The whole thing was less than thirty bucks, so let's just say ten bucks a piece."

Helene nodded, then said, "Rina's brother called just before you came in. He was at the airport in Rome. When I told him that she wasn't due home for half an hour, he told me that he'd call back when he got to where he was going."

Jaime looked up from her notebook and asked, "What does her brother sound like?"

"Very cultured, like he's had to best education money could buy," Helene said. "He was rather pleasant on the phone. Introduced himself as Vittorio d'Alessandro, and not Vito like Rina calls him."

"I guess that's just him being polite," Jaime said; "even I introduce myself to strangers as Jameson Summers until I get to know them better."

Rina walked into the suite about that time saying, "I could smell those enchiladas all the way from the stairs! It's all I could do to keep from thinking about them all day!"

"Well then, ladies," Jaime said to her roommates, "let's eat!"


===

Alexei wouldn't let Mikhail take him to the airport, opting instead to take a cab. His trunk with his belonging had been sent to Chicago a week earlier, so all he carried with him was an overnight bag, a tablet computer in a case, and his papers showing he was authorized to work in the United States.

Alexei expressed his gratitude to the older man for everything that Mikhail had done for him. "I will always be in your debt," Alexei said as the cab arrived.

"Good luck with everything, Alexei Alexandrovich," Mikhail said. Then he turned and walked back into the house he had raised and taught the young man who was leaving in without another word.

As he got into the cab, Alexei's thoughts drifted to Helene. She didn't know he was coming. He hadn't spoken to her in several weeks, opting to allow her to pursue her studies without his interference.

He was sure that Helene was the one he wanted for his partner, in ballet and in life. He fell for her over a summer before she finished her compulsory education before she headed to Northwestern to study.  He respected her enough not to push for anything more than she thought she could handle. He didn't want anyone but her. But until the following year when she turned 17, she was off limits in that regard anyway. He enjoyed spending time with her.

At the airport, he got out, retrieved his belongings and paid the driver. He then walked into the terminal and picked up his boarding pass.

He was heading into a new life. Hopefully with the one person he cherished most in the world by his side. He made a mental note to call her when he got settled in the apartment that was waiting for him in Chicago.

Helene, I'd get run over by a train for your love, he thought in Russian.

===

The reports he'd been getting about the girl he fancied were the same old boring stuff he'd already observed: she went to classes, hung out with her friends, occasionally went home for a weekend, worked at the flowershop.

I think I will let her be for now, he thought. There's still plenty of time. She won't be legal for another eighteen months. Then, dearest Jameson, you'll be mine!


===


"About what happened here the other night," Helene began; "We let our emotions get the better of us, and we're supposed to be chic college girls now, not squabbling teenagers fighting over stupid shit like what to do with the spare room;" she turned to Rina and said, "I apologize if I hurt your feelings or insulted you in any way. That wasn't my intent at all."

Rina looked at Helene and said, "Helene, I owe both you and Jaime an apology as well. I made assumptions that I had no right to make. I didn't grow up here, so all I know is what I've been surrounded with my whole life. I know things are different here than they are in Italy. So if I came off as a bitch, I'm sorry."

Jaime to this point had said nothing. She was a little to preoccupied with a series of text messages she got from her sister Rachel while she was at work.

Rachel had been to visit for the day a few weeks prior, and Jaime thought her little sister had a good time. For the most part, Rachel did. She loved hanging out with her sister and her friends, but something didn't seem right to her. At the time, Rachel didn't know what that might have been. Her text message to her sister was:

James... I finally figured it out! There's something about Helene and Rina that just seems odd. More Rina than Helene, but there's something they don't know about each other that they should.

Jaime's response was: What is that, Rach?

Rachel: I haven't figured that out yet. But I had a dream that had both of them in it, and it was weird.

Jaime; weird how?

Rachel:  I don't know, Jaime. Maybe it's nothing.

Jaime: the last time you had a dream like that, you saved Kelly Hope's life.

Rachel: Erase these messages, okay? It's nothing.

The next message from Rachel was: Mom asked if I thanked you and your roommates for letting me hang out with you guys for the day. I said no, so she asked me to tell you thank you and that I had a good time. Love, Rach PS Cole says hi.


"Earth to Jaime...come in James..." Helene was saying, laughing. "You're a million miles away from this conversation. You okay?"

Jaime looked up to see both Helene and Rina looking at her, concerned.

"I'm fine," she said; "I got a text message from Rachel today thanking us for our hospitality when she was here last month. I think Mom made her send it. I was just thinking about it is all."

"Nothing serious, I hope," Rina said.

"No, nothing like that," Jaime said; "She ended it with a PS that her 'boyfriend' Cole Nichols said hi."

"She's 12 and has a boyfriend?" asked Helene.

"They met at camp a year ago, and they write each other constantly and Skype all the time," Jaime said; "It can be really annoying."

"That's cute," Rina said; "her first crush."

Jaime just shook her head. It was more than a crush. Rachel wouldn't shut up about Cole. It was "Cole this, Cole that" all day long.

"Let's play a game," Helene said suddenly; "Let's tell each other our deepest, darkest secret."

Jaime saw Rina blanch for just a brief second, then she said, "Okay, I'll do it. Jaime?"

"I'm in," Jaime said.

What the girls didn't know is that they each had more deep, dark secrets than they were willing to tell. Jaime really had to think about which one was the least damaging to the least amount of people. When she had settled on one of the many she held deep inside her, she heard Helene say,

"Okay, I'll go first..."


===

Vito got settled on the plane and awaited take off. After calling his sister, he planned to turn his phone off, but before he could, another call came in.

It was his mother.

Vito rolled his eyes. The Contessa was the absolute last person he wanted to talk to.

Yet he answered the call.

"Yes, Mother," he said, not bothering to hide the annoyance in his voice.

"Where are you, Vittorio?" Caterina demanded. Vito could hear in her voice that she was drunk.

"On a plane, headed out of the country to take care of some business."

"You need to come home this instant!" Caterina said.

"And why is this?"

There was no answer on the other end of the line. "Mother," Vito said; "I don't have time to play games with you. You no longer have any right to order me about. I am moving on with my life with or without your approval. If  I have occasion to speak with you, I will be in touch. Until, do not contact me. And don't call Audrina, either. She is much too busy with her studies to put up with your nonsense."

"How dare you speak to me after everything I've done for you!"

"What have you done for me?" Vito said angrily, trying to keep his voice down; "You never wanted me or Audrina. You had nannies and teachers take care of us. You went on with your life as if you had no family. You treated Papa like shit. He was more a parent to us that you could ever imagine being. You have done NOTHING for me or Audrina. Now go on, go back to your lover du jur and drink yourself into a stupor. Please do not call me again."

And Vito hung up on his mother. Then he blocked her phone number.

The flight attendent came by to remind the passengers to put away all electronics for take off. Vito put his phone and his tablet computer away. He gave his mother not another thought.


===


"Why are we sharing our deepest darkest secrets?" asked Jaime.

"It's a trust exercise," Helene said; "Nothing that is said here between the three of us leaves this room."

"Well, of course," Rina said. "Whatever we share is just between us."

Helene took a deep breath, then said, "I said I'd go first, so here is my deepest darkest secret: my mother, who I love dearly, has been plagued with mental problems her entire life. Do either of you remember ever hearing about this despicible woman named Chastity Edwards?"

"I do," Jaime said; "She and her organization put contracts out on my mom and two of my uncles."

Rina looked at Jaime, but said nothing. So it's true, she thought; Jaime's mother was the dreaded SpineSplitter.

"My mom had something called disassociative personality disorder. It was called a split personality at one time," Helene said; "Chastity Edwards was one of my mom's alters. The Chastity alter would take over for months or years at a time. Mom has no memory for those times. My dad would send her to mental health facilities to be treated because Chastity was dangerous. Mom finally conquered her and Chastity's personality has all but disappeared."

"I had no idea about that!" Jaime said; "I think people assumed that Chastity Edwards was in prison, or dead or something. I didn't know she was a split personality of your mother's!"

"I'm glad she's better," Rina said; "She is so sweet and I can't imagine that she'd have any meanness in her."

"I could tell when Chastity showed up," Helene said; "She'd try to fake her way being Mom. She was really bad at it."

Helene sighed. She hated to admit even to herself that her mother was anyone other than Kathryn Hope DeWitt. If anyone could guard her secret, it was Jaime and Rina.

"Okay," Jaime said; "It's my turn."

Jaime wondered which of her darkest secrets she'd tell. She knew which one she wouldn't tell: that her father wasn't Miri's biological father, and that Miri had known about it since she was a little girl.


===

"Wait," Jaime had said when Miri dropped her bombshell, "you're saying that Dad isn't your dad?"

"James," Miri said; "Dad was Dad. He took responsibility for me because it was believed at the time that the man who fathered me was dead. He would have done it regardless."

"Then who did father you?"

"Jaime, I'm not sure that I should say," Miri said. "Let's just leave it at that for now. We're still sisters and I hope this doesn't change the way you see me."

"It doesn't, Miri, but why tell me?"

"Because you should hear it from me, and not from anyone else but Mom," said Miri; "And Mom will probably take that secret to her grave with her. I'm not going to tell Zach or Rachel, though. Not now anyway. Maybe when they're older. But I wanted to tell you because you'll be taking Biology and Genetics and all that fun science stuff. You'd probably figure it out and have questions that Mom isn't prepared to discuss with you."

"But Mom cheated on Dad?"

"It was under extraordinary circumstances that I came to be," Miri said. "You have to think about what was going on at the time-- the Occupation. Mom had been arrested, and did what she had to to survive. She willingly stayed in prison to make sure that Aunt Kimber and Aunt Niki, who were three years old then, were able to go home."

"The Occupational Army arrested little girls then?" Jaime said, not believing what she heard.

"Only because they were with Mom," Miri said; "At least that's how it was explained to me."

"Do they remember it? Being with Mom in prison?"

"It was a significant event in their lives, James," Miri said; "They remember bits and pieces, but not the whole thing. Maybe that's to their advantage."

===

"My deepest, darkest secret," Jaime began, "is that I lost my virginity at 14 with my boyfriend. My mom doesn't know, and fortunately, I didn't get pregnant. I haven't told anyone other than my Aunt Jasmine until today."

"Why did you tell your aunt?" asked Rina.

"She's a doctor," Jaime said; "and I freaked out when my period was late the following month. Aunt Jasmine did a pregnancy test on me. Then she gave me the mother of all lectures about using protection, because we didn't. Jared is almost three years older than me, and legally, I was too young to consent."

"Wow," Helene said; "I'm still a virgin."

"I'm not," Rina said; "I was also 14, and when my mother found out, she called me a whore."

"Have I mentioned that I can't stand your mom, Rina?" Jaime said.

Rina laughed, "Yeah. You both have. I'm not one of her biggest fans myself." She then added, "I guess it's my turn for the deepest darkest secret."


===

What do I tell them, Rina thought. That I don't think Papa is dead?

She remembered the last time she saw her father shortly after her twelfth birthday. He'd given her the tablet computer that she still had, and the ability to upgrade it as she saw fit.

"Papa!" she had said, "This is a wonderful present! Thank you so much!"

"I thought you might like it, Rina," her father said. "It can be upgraded indefinitely, with whatever software you want on it. It has the largest capacity currently available, 500 gigabites. You can choose to use internet or wi-fi. It's a laptop PC and a mobile device in one unit."

"I can do so much with that technology! And tablets last forever!"

Charles DeWitt smiled. He recognized his daughter's incredible gifts with technology when she was still a little girl. She hacked her way into the mainframe of CRD Enterprises, which was thought to be hack-proof.

At five years old.

DeWitt knew he had to harness Audrina's talent somehow. It was Audrina herself who made the suggestion to enroll her in a internet technology class. She was often the youngest one in the class. And she outperformed students much older than herself, which made her father proud.

By the time she was eleven, she could do anything with a computer. After her father's death, her mother sent her to that horrid boarding school in Vermont. The first night she was there, she hacked into the school's computer network. The administrators nearly sent her home after that. But they realized that she had knowledge far beyond what they could teach-- and that she wouldn't be there long. At 15, she got her diploma, went home for a year then returned to attend Northwestern. That's when her visa problems cropped up.


===

"My deepest, darkest secret is that I can hack into any computer network anywhere," Rina said; "Jaime, in fact, I tried to access your family's business computer system, just to see if I could do it. It was difficult, but I was able to do it. Then I was detected and it shut me down."

Jaime just looked dumbfounded. Summers Tech Systems was hacker proof. The idea that Rina was able to get in, then get shut down told her that her father's hacker detecting software had done its job.

"I don't know whether to be upset and tell my mom what you were able to do, or be glad you're on our side," Jaime said, finally.

"One of the classes I took often employed your father's software. Ryan Summers was thinking up to 25 years into the future. That's why everything Summers Tech Systems puts out is so in demand," Rina said; "Your dad was a visionary, like Steve Jobs or Bill Gates."

"You need to see about getting a job with them," Helene said; "They probably could use someone with your obvious skills."

"No kidding," Jaime said; "Mom would be thrilled to have someone with your skills. My dad was a reformed hacker. He taught Mom and all of us everything he knew. Rachel can do nearly everything with computers that you do, but she doesn't want to do it for a living. She could be the best at what she does if she kept it up."

"Why didn't she mention it while she was here last month?" asked Helene.

"Because she thinks it would be bragging, and she knows how good Rina is."

"I could guide her if that's what she wanted," Rina offered. "I'd love to pass on my knowledge to someone with similar skills. Is Rachel that good?"

"She and Zach are really good at it. Only Mom is better," said Jaime.

Rina pondered on that awhile. I'd love to be able to work at the company that one of my heroes founded, she thought. But for now, her midterm project was her main priority.

She had developed a new kind of keyboard that helps those with physical challenges use computers.

She didn't know it yet, but Helene's father would help her secure a patent and fund the first production run.


===

"Well, we have some very interesting secrets between the three of us, don't we?" Helene said after awhile of talking. It had become late and was nearly time to go to bed.

Rina tried to stifle a yawn, saying, "Yeah. I didn't realize it was so late. I'm really glad we had this talk though. We should do this more often, even if we don't get all stupid about something."

"That's actually a good idea," Jaime agreed. "But now, I'm about ready to drop. I'll see you ladies in the morning."

"Good night, Jaime," Rina said. Then Rina herself went to her room to prepare for bed.

When Helene was alone, she sat on the sofa and sighed. Her mom was right after all.

We're going to be okay, she thought.

===