Maverick Effect (Chapter 21)

  Laughter floated through the room.  A movie played in the background, but it was just white noise.  Maverick sat on the floor of his living room.  Around the room, sitting around him were Lily, Angie, Mari, Jessica, and Natalie.  They talked of many different things.  Telling funny stories and jokes.  The phone rang halfway through one of Maverick’s stories.  He got up, still laughing with the others.

  “Hello?”

  The girls laughter shut off almost at once.  They saw a change in Maverick’s face that they had never seen.  Maverick’s face was youthful, people were always thinking him younger than he was.  But in that moment he seemed to age in front of them.  He gestured to Mari, who was closest to the television.  She got the hint and shut it off.  Natalie, watching Maverick with a sinking feeling in her stomach, almost wished that Mari had turned the movie’s volume up instead.  The silence was thick and uncomfortable, almost stifling.  Of all of them, only Angie had heard the tone of voice that Maverick was using.  Even as she recoginized it, she felt suddenly afraid.  The room that had been warm and comfortable now seemed cold.

  “Yes?  It has been a long time.  Of course, I’ll take the next flight out.  Yes, you can tell them that I’ll be on my way.  I’ll make the arrangements en route.  They have?  Okay, you can tell them I’ll take care of it.  No, that won’t be necessary.  I understand.  I’ll see you soon.”

  Maverick looked into space and then picked up the phone and dialed.

  “Martin?  It’s Mav.  Listen I need to you to prep the jet now.  I need to get out as soon as possible.  How long?  You sure that’s the fastest you can?  Okay, that sounds better?  Thanks Martin.”

  Maverick hung up the phone and stood facing the wall, his back to them for a long time.  Finally he turned and started walking to his bedroom.  Jessica couldn’t stand the silence any longer.

  “What is it Mav? What’s going on?”

  He turned around and looked at them for a few moments.  He seemed to be debating with himself.  Finally he nodded to himself and spoke.

  “You all know so very little about me.  If you’d like you can learn more about me in the next week or two.  If you wish to, you’ll need to clear your schedules for about three weeks just to be safe, pack something and get ready to leave to the airport with me in about four hours.  That’s how long it will take them to prep the jet.  We’re taking a trip.  I’m going home.”

  Maverick started walking again.  Everyone was still confused though.  They all knew that they’d follow him as he asked, but they still were no closer to understanding what was wrong.

  Angie stepped forward and spoke softly, “What is it Mav?”

  He stopped and turned his head slightly, not turning around fully.  They all saw something that only Lily had seen once.  Maverick was weeping, his face was wet with tears.  He spoke once more before walking off, his voice was thick, barely audible.

  “My father’s dead.”