Jul 14

Zoe Hunter meets Kele in Book 3 (Quantum Entity | The Successors) while she’s still a little girl. Here is the scene when they first meet. The boys have just arrived in Port Isabel (Texas) from Farmington (New Mexico). The above are images of Zoe at 16 and of a gift she has given Kele.

Zoe was practically the first person Kele, Hania and Bart met when they arrived in Port Isabel so they’ve known her and her mom for nearly four years. She was just a little kid when the guys stopped on their humongous bikes next to where Zoe was playing with her Lego Friends (the café series). She wasn’t a bit afraid of the guys.

Kele was first off and knelt down next to the little girl.

“What’cha doing?” he asked.

Zoe smoothed her frock and combed her hair before answering primly, “We’re organizing a party at Amélie’s café. Do you wanna join us?” Her mother always hated it when Zoe used anything less than the King’s English.

“Not now. Maybe later. What’s your name?”

“Zoe Hunter.”

“Hi Zoe. I’m Kele. This is Hania. The big buy is Bart.” They nodded at the girl.

“You can come to my house and meet my mom if you want. Where’re you from? You’re not from around here.” Zoe knew everyone in Port Isabel since its population plummeted to next to nothing after the disaster in Dallas-Fort Worth.

Zoe was looking at a wiry boy maybe 14 riding an enormous motorcycle. Maybe she could ride one like that when she is older? Kele was the shortest of the three, possibly 5’9” so he was easiest for little Zoe to relate to. He had a nice smile and, like a lot of young boys from Farmington and Third Mesa, wore his light brown hair shoulder length. He was wearing two beaded necklaces which Zoe couldn’t take her eyes off of.

“What’re those?” Zoe asked not letting him answer her previous question.

“These are Hopi Sun God necklaces,” Kele said. Zoe looked at one of the silver pendants that was about an inch and a quarter in diameter hanging down from a burnt orange leather cord around Kele’s long, thin, suntanned neck. On each side of the pendant, there was a series of silver threaded beads. The face of the pendant looked like a flower. The flower encircled an upside down semi-circle with a vertical line descending from it which looked rather like a nose. Then there were two horizontal lines which looked like cheekbones (kinda like Kele’s) and an inverted pyramid which looked like a strong chin (also like Kele’s). The necklaces had six ¾ inch silver spikes hanging down that looked like they would not have been out of place on a dog collar made for a bulldog (like a conveniently named Spike). Zoe had seen every one of those old cartoons. She thought Kele was more of a Chester type. Maybe the big guy on the other bike was Spike? She hoped he didn’t hit Kele like Spike hit Chester.

Zoe was far too polite to ask but Kele finally said, “Would you like one?” He went to take off one of his pair of necklaces.

“Uh, no thanks,” she said when obviously she meant yes. Her mother taught her to never accept gifts from a stranger.

“Hey Kele, give the kid a necklace and let’s move,” Hania said impatient now to find some place to go.

Kele took it off and put it over Zoe’s head. “This is a gift from our Sun God, Zoe, not from me so it’s OK for you to have it.”

“Gee thanks!” Zoe has to thread her long blond hair through the eye of the necklace to settle it properly against her skin. It came down to just below collarbone height on Kele but all the way to her solar plexus. This is something she will keep forever she thinks. “Are you Indians?” Zoe asked wide eyed.

“We’re Hopi from New Mexico. Well, Hania and I are actually from Arizona, Bart’s from New Mexico.”

“Kele, alright, time’s up,” Hania said.

“Wait! I’ve got something for you, Kele.” She grabbed one of her little Lego characters and offered it to him, “This is Amélie. She’s my BFF.” Amélie had blond hair like Zoe but big brown eyes not blue like Zoe’s. She was wearing a pink server’s uniform and pink clogs.

“You keep her, Zoe. Your set won’t be complete without it.”

Zoe shrugged. Then she asked, “Where you guys going?”

“Ah, we’re not sure. We’re just looking around. Maybe find a place to stay for a few days,” Kele answered

“Maybe you could stay longer if you could find a place of your own?” she added hopefully. It was awfully lonely around there what with no kids to play with. “Hey, I know a place!”

Kids are forever adaptable and since they don’t have adult thoughts crowding out the here and now, they live each day in the present which means: a) their days are much longer and b) they investigate everything. So Zoe is able to convince them that she can take them someplace where they won’t get hassled which was why Kele stopped in the first place. You are bound to get the straight goods from a kid without the filters of an adult mind intervening thinking either ‘What’s in it for me?’ or ‘What do I think they think they want to hear outta my piehole?’

Zoe got on Kele’s bike (first time on a motorcycle) but not before she carefully packed up her Lego friends and stored the set in one of his saddlebags which was almost empty since it used to have a lot of food and supplies in it when their trip first began. This was how she took them to the town’s water tower (which Zoe was dying to climb but hadn’t yet had the guts to) and they found and colonized the clubhouse which later becomes world headquarters for the Aliens.

“This is perfect, Zoe. Thanks,” Kele said. Zoe glowed. “Ah, one more thing. Do you know where we could find Sean Ruane and his sister, Holly?” Zoe knows that too.

Ever since that day, Zoe’s been endlessly curious about the guys and their shared adventures. She and her mom have had the boys over for dinner at least once a month and Zoe wanted to learn all about their experiences. Kele has shared a lot with them except what happened at the Third Mesa Massacre.

When Kele unpacked his first night in PI, he found a tiny Lego character tucked inside one of his shirt pockets. It was Amélie.

@Quantum_Entity

@ProfBruce

Images by Lena Dunaeva and Lego Group. Used for non-commercial purposes. 

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Bruce is an entrepreneur/real estate broker/developer/coach/urban guru/keynote speaker/Sens founder/novelist/columnist/peerless husband/dad.

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