Chapter Eight: Reunion

 

Chapter Eight: Reunion

            It wouldn’t have been long now before Si, her friends from Hawkins, Jake, Hellboy, and the Doctor finally arrived in 1929 Louisiana. The trip seemed to have taken longer than usual, possibly due to the Doctor’s TARDIS being the one barreling across the infinite dimensional corridor, and not Si’s more compatible Type-Z model. She gave the Doctor lots of credit for coming up with the idea of using the Type-Z as a generator, keeping his Type-40 from shattering to pieces.

            Si figured she’d change out of her 1980s clothes and into something sportier (that included sunshades) and then grab a quick bite from the kitchen of the Doctor’s TARDIS, hoping he still had some Jelly Babies in the nearest cupboard (it’d literally been centuries since she had one). Arriving there, she noticed Lucas sitting at the counter, stirring a bowl of what looked like a flavor of ice cream but not exactly eating it.

            “Hey, Lucas,” Si greeted on her way in. “Surprised you were able to find where the kitchen is.”

            “Why? ‘Cause I always depend on someone else’s help?”

            Si detected his snooty tone but chose to ignore it. “No, I just meant…”

            “I know what you meant. That Jake guy helped me to find it.” He’d been giving her the cold shoulder ever since the incident back in the bingo hall with that “Billy” kid.

            Still, Si chose to ignore it, opting instead to focus on something more positive: “Well, I have some good news about Hellboy – he’s still unconscious but recovering well.”

            “Yippee,” Lucas said derisively. That, of course, was where Si drew the line.

            “Alright, Lucas. What’s going on?” she asked, maintaining her composure as she removed her sunshades. “What’s this lil’ attitude of yours all about? What did I do wrong?”

            “It’s nothing – forget it!” Lucas attempted to storm out of the kitchen, leaving his bowl of ice cream behind, but Si blocked his hasty exit. Needless to say, Lucas didn’t appreciate her caging him in. “Get out of my way!”

            “Not ‘til we’ve talked about this!”

            “You’re not my mom, Si! Don’t make me kick your butt!”

            Si’s posture stiffened and straightened at his threat. She almost appeared to have gotten a few inches taller than Lucas as she shot a look towards him that was unforgivingly intimidating. No longer was he looking into the eyes of a teenaged girl, but someone else he had never met before…someone with a killer instinct…someone who could’ve been the real “Gladiator of Gallifrey.”

            “You really want to test me that way, Lucas?”

            Lucas backed away slowly (perhaps fearfully) and Si relaxed. She didn’t actually intend on fighting Lucas and was glad that he chose not to. “I just wanna talk, hon,” she told him, her tone much softer. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

            He heavily sighed and finally opened up, “I didn’t need you to save me from Billy, O.K.? But, ‘cause you did, Max’s been fawning over you because you’re the hero…not me.”

            Now understanding, Si pitied him. “You know that wasn’t my intention, right? My main priority in that situation was making sure you didn’t get hurt.”

            “Yeah, I know,” Lucas said. “I’ve been a total mouth-breather to you. Sorry about that. Thanks for looking out for me.”

            Si appreciated his apology. She then invitingly opened her arms and motioned him in for a hug. “C’mere and give Mama Bear some love, you lil’ dork,” she affectionately said to Lucas’s amusement. The two friends laughed and hugged, officially bringing their quarrel to a satisfying conclusion.

            “Attention, passengers!” The Doctor’s voice suddenly broadcasted over the intercom. “We are now making our descent towards 1929 Louisiana. There are partly cloudy skies with a presumable chance of rain later in the evening. If it’s your first time here, might I recommend visiting New Orleans – Mardi Gras in 1929 is quite the scene!”

            Si and Lucas shared an air of annoyance over the Doctor’s horrible impersonation of an airline pilot. Together, they rejoined with everyone in the console room, just as the Doctor brought them out of the infinite dimensional corridor and to 1929 Louisiana.

            Stepping out into a backwoods area, they saw another Type-Z TARDIS (very similar to Si’s) situated not very far from the Doctor’s. “No doubt that belongs to my past self,” Si stated.

            The Doctor looked on the other Type-Z in concern. “Strange that the TARDIS detected two Type-Z models within the area.” He took his sonic screwdriver out from inside his jacket, scanning the air and glancing at it for the results afterwards. “The other one’s a few miles away from this spot.”

            “So…there are two versions of Si here?” Hopper asked (not even sure as to what he was asking).

            “Two versions of Neas,” the Doctor corrected the Hawkins sheriff.

            The perplexity of it all irked Joyce. “Look, Doctor. It’s difficult enough focusing on the idea that we’re actually in 1929 Louisiana. Don’t confuse us any further with other versions of Si or Neas or whoever we’re looking for!” Everyone else – specifically her fellow Hawkins residents – concurred with her sentiment. It made the Doctor feel a bit ganged-up on.

            Thankfully, Si was there to mitigate the situation. “Since there are two others somewhere out there, we’ll divide into teams – one led by me, the other led by the Doctor. Jim, Joyce, Jonathan, Nancy, and Steve – you follow the Doctor to find the third Type-Z TARDIS. Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, and Max – ya’ll come with me to look for Alicia.”

            “Oi!” Jake spoke up. “What about me?”

            “And me!” Erica joined in.

            “And us!” Debbie and Ruth also asserted, in unison.

            “You four keep an eye on Hellboy,” Si tasked.

            “That big ol’ sleepin’ devil man?!” Erica protested. “I ain’t goin’ near him!”

            Noting her fear (if she was really afraid or not), Si reassured her, “H.B. is a pussycat. He may look monstrous on the outside, but he’s very sweet on the inside.”

            “Girl, I’ve only just met you and him,” Erica argued. “As far as where I’m gonna be during all of this, it’ll be in the kitchen, gettin’ something ‘sweet on the inside’ outta there.” With that declaration, the little sister of Lucas Sinclair was already heading back inside the Doctor’s TARDIS.

            Following her cue, the teams split up with their respective Time Lord leaders.

            Si went off memories she inherited from the recent events that occurred from the perspective of her past incarnation, Alicia. She recognized the path in the woods that Alicia took, which led directly into a low-class community in the boonies of Baton Rouge. It was predominantly African-American community, which would explain why Si, Mike, Will, Dustin, and Max garnered such disapproving stares.

            “I feel like we’re back in the school hallways,” Mike reflected in discomfort.

            “Maybe you guys should leave this one to me,” Lucas recommended.

            Max could hardly believe his lack of self-awareness. “Oh, we’re sorry,” she condescended. “We didn’t realize this was your department, since – you know – none of the rest of us is ‘color coordinated’.”

            The sarcasm in her voice was clear. Lucas mentally slapped himself for once again making himself out as a jerk in front of her. “I didn’t mean like none of you guys were qualified to handle this situation. I mean, it’s just obvious, considering…”

            “You’re black?” Dustin outright blathered.

            Lucas shot him an exasperated glare. “Yes, Dustin. Because I’m black.”

            Max scoffed at his admittance. “You are so racist.”

            “What?!”

            “Oh, don’t pretend you didn’t hear me.”

            “Oh, I think we all heard you pretty loud and clear. What is it about being a black guy in a black community in 1929 of the Deep South makes me a ‘racist’?!”

            As Lucas and Max bickered back and forth on political correctness, Si spotted a small boy sitting on the porch of his rundown shack of a home. He couldn’t have been any older than five years old with a puffy afro and wearing nothing else but denim overalls that looked baggy on his thin frame and had a freshly ripped hole on the left pant leg. The boy scraped his knee. It looked bad enough to inflict just the right amount of pain to bring tears to his eyes.

            Never one to ignore an injured soul, especially one so young, Si went to the boy and tended to him. When he saw her approach, he slightly recoiled. “It’s O.K.,” she sweetly calmed him. “I’m not gonna hurt ya. I’m just here to help.” She examined the injury – a few nasty yet tiny scratches, deep enough to draw blood but nothing too serious. “Oh, I know how to fix this.”

            She reached in her right jeans pocket and retrieved a handful of Band-Aid strips with Sesame Street characters printed on them (specifically Big Bird, Elmo, and Cookie Monster). Not that the boy would know who any of those characters were, being a simple child living in an era long before the Public Broadcasting Service.

            She applied one strip over the wound and followed it with a gentle kiss. “There we go,” she said. “All better now, right?” She tickled the little boy’s chin. He squeaked out a giggle of satisfaction.

            “You best get away from my boy now, ya hear?”

            Si looked up from the child to see who she presumed to be his mother – a middle-aged lady with a rather mean-looking face withered by age and stress. There were freckles around her eyes, which were currently frowning threateningly in Si’s direction.

            “I didn’t mean any harm, ma’am,” Si said, stepping away with her hands up as a gesture of peace. “I just wanted to treat his lil’ wound.”

            “And what business is it of yours, hmm?!” the mother roared.

            “Dey got no business a’tall bein’ ‘ere!” Another townsperson yelled.

            “We don’t need no mo’ trouble, ya hear! We got ‘nuff of it today wit Bubba Joe and his posse!” Another disgruntled citizen berated. Soon enough, everyone in the neighborhood shouted obscenities towards Si, Mike, Dustin, Will, Max, and even Lucas, who was asked by one townsman, “Whatchu doin’ wit dem white chill’dren, boy?! Ain’t even got ‘nuff sense tuh be wit yo’ own peeple!”

            The townsfolk made it abundantly clear none of the youths were welcome.

            And then one voice spoke louder than the others: “Ya’ll leave ‘em alone!”

            Si recognized its distinct baritone. It was voice that she hadn’t heard in quite some time. But there’s no way it could be him, she thought while looking past the mob and finding one black man who stood taller than the others. He had a clean-shaven head and was adorned in overalls, not unlike those of the little boy with the scraped knee.

            “Pop?!” Si joyously exclaimed, ultimately recognizing the bald black man in the overalls as the second incarnation of her father, Aznavorian the Tinkerer – a natural-born Time Lord and traveler of the infinite dimensional corridor in his own right. This incarnation went by the name of “Skeeta Jenkins.”

            “Did she just call him ‘Pop’?” Max whispered to Mike, Will, Dustin, and Lucas, who were equally as puzzled as her, as well as all the townsfolk. It was yet another new fact in the life of Si that had come into light.

            Si immediately rushed over to Skeeta and the two embraced.

            “Skeeta?” one hunched man addressed from his porch. “Dis ‘ere white gurl’s yo’ daughter?”

            “She is, Amos,” Skeeta proudly said to a few gasps in the crowd.

            “Pop, what’re you doing here?” Si asked him. “I don’t remember ever coming to this time and place with you.”

            “You don’t?” Skeeta reacted in surprise. “Because, from my perspective, I’m still here with you. We came here together with William Batson and your Uncle Penz to investigate the Malfoys.”

            As Skeeta gave the details of the past journey, Si vaguely recalled them.

            Slowly but surely, they became clearer to her. Yes…she was in her “Maureen” incarnation at the time…and she tracked the Malfoys to 1929 Louisiana…There was a party…and Draco Malfoy was there…and so were…Ben Tennyson and Newt Scamander?

            It all began to make sense at the same time it didn’t.

            That third Type-Z TARDIS the Doctor detected belonged to Maureen, who was there on a journey with Skeeta, Penz, and Billy Batson. And it seemed to have crossed into Alicia’s, if Maureen saw her companions – Ben and Newt.

            “Eleven!” Si randomly heard Mike cry out. It was a name she hadn’t heard in months, and she wondered why Mike would say it all of the sudden. In looking at him, she found him, Dustin, Will, and Lucas staring in awe and disbelief towards something she hadn’t noticed until she followed their gaze.

            Right behind the hunched man named Amos, Si saw Eleven – the girl she met a year ago in the pocket dimension known as “The Upside Down.” She looked a lot different from when Si last saw her. Her hair had grown out into long, curly locks, and she was slightly taller. She smiled as she looked on the friends she made that fateful Halloween night in Hawkins.

            Running to each other, they shared a long group hug.

            “Honey, where have you been? How did you get here?” Si asked her.

            “You brought me here,” Eleven replied before she clarified, “The other you.”

            Knowing that she meant Alicia, Si inquired, “Do you know where Alicia is now?”

            Eleven’s smile faded away. “The bad men took her.”

            “What ‘bad men’?” Mike queried.

            “She means Bubba Joe and his gang,” Skeeta informed them. “They work for Lucius Malfoy. He’s been taking able-bodied men to work at his manor – many of whom come from this community – but none have come back. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised they took Alicia and put her to work.”

            Just hearing Lucius Malfoy’s name made Si’s skin crawl, but no more so than the new memories that were suddenly “uploaded” to her head. Excruciating details of Alicia’s predicament flashed before her eyes. The humiliation and torture Bubba Joe and his gang subjected her to.

            As infuriating as those memories were, they helped her to see where she needed to to go. “I know exactly where the Malfoys are,” she hissed. “They’re throwin’ a party now as we speak…and I’m gonna crash it.”

            “You’re gonna what?!” Skeeta flared with alarm. “Now, hold on, Neas.”

            “Pop, he’s holding me – Alicia – there in his manor, along with all the men he’s enslaved. I gotta get them out alive.”

            “I know, and your uncle and I are already on it. ‘Cause he’s there with them, too.”