Mind Games by TJ Moore Read Free Book Online

just…”
    “Alright, fine.” 
    Cameron nervously bounced his foot against the cement.
    Jennifer pressed her thumb into the orange, peeling back the glossy rind. Nestled between slices, a diamond ring dazzled in front of her.
     
     
     
    Mr. and Mrs. Frost spent their first two years living in Colorado, but then moved into a house in San Francisco to make room for their ten-month-old daughter, Sarah.
    Cameron was not ready to be a father.
    He couldn’t figure out how to process all of the responsibility. None of the books or videos seemed to help him transition into fatherhood.
    The crying. The burping. The spitting up, the farting, the non-stop waking up in the middle of the night.
    At six months, Sarah was already learning valuable persuasive skills from her parents, and her behavior was advanced for her age.
    During breakfast, while Sarah ate in her high chair, Jen would play Mozart for her. At first, Sarah wasn’t so sure about the foreign sounds emitting from the CD player.
    She would narrow her eyes in efforts of deciphering the strange language of music.
    Even though her understanding of the music was fairly basic, her practical response proved far more sophisticated.
    And it started in her toes.
    Sitting in her high chair, she held her torso in a steady position while her toes started wiggling. Then her knees started swinging and her hips started swaying. Before long, Mozart had Sarah in a whimsical jig, waving her arms and bobbing her head.
    “Look, honey,” Jen said. “Sarah’s a natural dancer!”
    Wiggling. Swinging. Swaying. Waving. Bobbing.
    “Our girl has some moves,” Cameron said.
    As she added variations to her dance, Sarah had a grand ‘ol time. And when the track changed on the CD to a brisk work of Mozart, she stopped.
    Sarah took another taste of applesauce and clapped her hands before pounding her feet onto an invisible stage.
    Then, in one combined motion she grabbed the air in front of her and repositioned her tiny hand as she pretended to grab a conductor’s baton.  Regardless of Sarah’s age, the music was transforming her.
    She knowingly tilted her head up and slowly blinked, looking around the kitchen to the full orchestra in her mind.
    Jen was speechless.
    This was a rare opportunity, like something she’d read about in one of her parenting books. Jen pushed her bowl of cereal out of the way and went to the cupboard to grab a pair of chopsticks while Sarah remained in her dignified pose. Jen separated the chopsticks and gently placed one in Sarah’s little hand before pulling back, trying not to interfere.
    Ten-month Sarah stared straightforward and raised her baton, tapping it on the edge of her high chair table, readying her company of invisible musicians.
     
     
     
     
    Jen watched Sarah in the mornings while Cameron worked at the photography studio he’d started for tech products : Frost Studios.
    Cameron edited photos on his laptop while watching Sarah when Jen had to work in the afternoons. This arrangement usually worked very smoothly. And most days, the entire family ate two meals together.
    Jen designed security systems for the Empire Bank in downtown San Francisco. She was responsible for perfecting the locking mechanisms on the bank vault as well as designing unique security systems for the bank’s other branches across the United States.
    As Sarah grew, Jen’s career at the bank took off. By the time Sarah was three, Jen was appointed as the senior security systems consultant for the Empire Bank.
    During her training for the promotion, Jen became more concerned about the safety of her own home. Of course, she knew there was no way she could prevent a drive-by shooting like the one that killed her brother, but she did feel she had some control over the safety of her own family.
    She installed a sophisticated security system at home with magnetically triggered alarms on the doors and windows. These additions were expensive, but they brought her some peace of