Seer

Timothy

When I get to Natalie’s door, she opens it before I have a chance to knock. Gabe is standing right behind her. “Hey Timothy! Gabe and I were just going outside to play. Want to come?”

This is unusual. Normally we just play in our bedrooms, but I guess maybe we’re going outside so Gabe will be comfortable? I know he always likes to play outside with Jonathan back at their Dad’s house.

Natalie nods at me, so I know I’m right. I know that Angel always tells her anything I’m thinking that she’d want to know about. She says, “I thought we could hang out here in the courtyard and talk for a while?”

Gabe is trying to make eye contact with me. That is also unusual. I look at the ground while we are following Natalie. She is heading towards the chairs that are set up around the grill in the courtyard. Maybe later there will be people out here grilling lunch or dinner, or other children playing, but it is too early now. I know that she wants to have a conversation without other people around to overhear.

When we settle in to the chairs, Gabe is still staring at me. I keep looking at the ground. I like Gabe, he has always been very decent to me, but I can’t look into his eyes. Natalie touches his hand, and quietly tells him, “Just so you know, Gabe, Timothy doesn’t like making eye contact. It’s not about you, he just doesn’t like to do it.” Obviously Angel told her what was happening. I’m glad she just came out and told him so that he knows. It’s already feeling better for Gabe to know about everything.

“Oh, ok,” he says, and shrugs. So he looks at Natalie. She smiles happily at both of us. She doesn’t seem to feel awkward at all, even though this is basically the first time the three of us have tried to really talk about anything important. She’s just happy to have us together. “So,” she tells me, “everything worked out fine last night. I told Gabe everything and he believes me.”

“Did you have him think of numbers? How about the dice, did you use them?” I ask her.

Gabe laughs. “Yes, and it was so cool. She said it was your idea. Good thinking!”

I nod.

Gabe adds, “It was really you waving at us that made it seem completely real. I’m not sure I was really believing it until then. So, Natalie says you’ve figured out how to talk to your guardian angel?”

“Yes,” I tell him. “If I keep my mind open and clear, then I can feel what Guardian is saying. Not always, but more and more. So I heard him tell me to wave at you through the window. I’m glad it helped.”

“Did you know about Jonathan?” he asks.

“Yes. Angel told us yesterday, after the library. Natalie decided to tell you about it. Angel thought it might be too hard for you to know. But I said that I would want to know if something was wrong with Natalie, so you should know about Jonathan.”

Natalie is watching, her head turning back and forth to see us while we are talking. I can tell that she is super happy about this. I’ve never had a real conversation with Gabe before. I’m still looking at the ground, but this isn’t too hard. It’s sure easier to talk to Gabe than it would be if Jonathan was with him.

“Thank you, Timothy. About saying that I deserved to know. Jonathan is my best friend, even if he’s been doing awful things. I’m glad I’m in on this.”

Natalie says, “I’ve been trying to help him, Gabe. I thought I could help him be nicer if I just spent more time with him. That was before we knew about Demon.”

“What?” Gabe yelps. “There’s a demon now?”

“No! No, not a real one. It’s just what I am calling Jonathan’s guardian. When Angel told me about how he has started to control Jonathan, it reminded me of the bible stories where demons were possessing people. Do you remember hearing about those?”

“Uh, not really. I don’t really pay attention when Grandma takes us to church.”

“Well, it’s not that important. But sometimes in the bible it talks about this happening. So I decided to name his guardian Demon.”

“Wait, you can name them? Don’t they have their own names?”

“No,” she tells him. “Guardians don’t usually need names. I’ve just started naming them so that when Angel is talking about them I know which one he means.”

His eyebrows go up. “Huh. Soooo… you named yours Angel?”

“Yes, when I was really little, after I got that Beanie bear.”

“What about Timothy’s guardian angel?”

She smiles. “No, Timothy is the one who named Guardian. Angel doesn’t call them guardian angels, he just calls them guardians. So after Timothy found out about his, he named him Guardian.”

Gabe is quiet for a moment, and Natalie waits because she knows that he is thinking about all this. Angel is probably telling her everything. Gabe says, “What about mine? I have one too, right? Does he have a name?”

Natalie smiles at him and touches his hand. “I gave him a name just yesterday. I hope that it’s okay with you.”

“Um, yeah, sure. What is it?”

“I named him after another bible story. Aaron. He was the brother of Moses, and he helped Moses a lot. The bible Grandma gave me says that the name Aaron means strong. It reminds me of you, because you are strong and help me.” She looks at him to see what he thinks.

“His name is Aaron now?” he asks.

“Yes,” she says. “But I’ll bet he’d be okay if you wanted to name him something else. I don’t think guardians really care about names.”

“No,” he says, shrugging. “I guess Aaron is fine. Thanks for naming him, sis.”

It’s hard to be patient while they talk about stuff I already know about, but I guess I’m used to it. School feels like this a lot. As soon as I get the chance, I ask, “Gabe?”

He looks over at me, surprised that I said his name. “Yeah?”

“What do you want to do about Jonathan?” I’m hoping that he says he thinks we should all stay away from him.

But that’s not what he wants. “I don’t know,” he says, looking sad. “Natalie said that we’re going to figure out a way to help him.”

I was afraid of this. Natalie only wants to help other people. She doesn’t care enough about what is safest for her. I have to tell him. “Gabe, you should know that helping him is dangerous. Demon made Jonathan hit her. You know, you saw it happen. Jonathan might be mean, but he wouldn’t have done that if Demon wasn’t controlling him. I think if Natalie keeps trying to help him, he is going to hurt her even worse.”

Gabe’s eyes go wide, then he scowls. He looks over at Natalie, but before he can say anything she says, “It’ll be okay, Gabe. Angel is here to help, and you can help too. I will be fine.”

“No,” I say, and she looks at me, probably surprised since I never disagree with her. I try to look right at Gabe while I’m speaking, so that he understands how serious this is. I can’t look right in his eyes, but I look at the curly hair over his forehead. That’s close enough. “Natalie said before, when she first started to try to help Jonathan be nicer, that she’d be fine because Angel could just warn her if anything was going to happen. That didn’t work yesterday. She still got hit. I don’t believe it is safe to keep trying.”

Natalie gets that stubborn look on her face, and I know nothing I say is going to talk her out of this. I wonder if Gabe can convince her. I hope he agrees with me.

“Nat, I can’t let you get hurt again,” he says, and I think maybe he’s on my side. But then he continues, “but I can’t let Jonathan be in trouble without trying to help him too. I have no idea what to do. But I can’t just leave him alone.”

“I have been thinking a lot about what to do,” she tells us both, very seriously. “I think the answer has to start with telling him. Like I told you, Gabe. I think the only way to solve a problem is to at least know about it. Jonathan doesn’t know. Maybe if he does, at least he might understand that he isn’t a bad person. I know that what has been happening has been bothering him a lot, because he thinks the bad ideas he is getting are from him. Maybe if he knows they aren’t his ideas, he’ll be able to try to act nicer, even if Demon is telling him to be horrid.”

She looks sideways, and I know she’s listening to Angel. Then she shakes her head. I’ll bet Angel tried to tell her it won’t work.

Gabe says, “He won’t believe you.”

“I know,” she says, “I sort of told him a couple of months ago and he didn’t believe it. But I didn’t really try to make him believe, just mentioned that his guardian angel wouldn’t like to see him being mean to people.” She stops for a minute and then laughs at what she just said. “Boy, I was wrong about that, wasn’t I?”

I say, “Well, the experiment worked with Gabe last night. We can plan out an experiment for telling Jonathan. He’d probably believe the dice demonstration, and you knowing what he’s thinking.”

Natalie lights up. “So you’re going to help?” she asks me.

“Of course, Natalie, I will always help you, even if I don’t agree with you. But since I think it is dangerous, I want to be with you. I don’t know if I can do anything to protect you, but I have to be there to try.”

“Oh, Timothy,” she says, then she is speechless for a minute. She knows that I will usually do everything I can to stay away from Jonathan, because he has always been so awful to me. She fills her eyes with how much this means to her. I feel Guardian’s approval too.

“Me too,” says Gabe. “If you are going to be around Jonathan at all, ever, I will be there too. Promise me that you will make sure not to be there without me.”

I can tell that she is feeling very emotional, and she reaches out and takes both of our hands. “Thank you. Thank you both. We can do it. We’ll figure it out together.”