Prologue
“NYBORG”
On December 10th, 1980, Charlotte Rae was born to Elizabeth Mayburn. Charlotte was eight pounds, two ounces and nineteen inches long. Elizabeth was only able to hold her little girl for moments when her heart rate lowered. The nurse picked up poor Charlotte from Elizabeth’s arms as the surrounding machines sounded off. Elizabeth’s heart rate lowered so much that she flatlined. The doctors did everything they could, from chest compressions to mouth to mouth resuscitation, nothing worked. Elizabeth had passed away before Charlotte could even open her eyes to see her mother’s face. There was no father to speak of, so the hospital staff had to call Children’s Services for Charlotte.
Three days after Elizabeth had passed away, a representative from Children’s Services had arrived to take custody of Charlotte Rae Mayburn. Charlotte was placed in foster care from that moment on. People knew that babies were more likely to be adopted, but for some reason, Charlotte was never adopted. At the age of ten, Charlotte was transferred to a group home just outside Washington, D.C.
When Charlotte, or Charlie as she liked to be called, arrived at the new group home, she noticed a strangeness. She was being escorted around the group home and had seen other kids training on mats, as though it were a fighting ring. The older kids, around fifteen and older, were training with weapons, loading, unloading and firing at targets. Charlie had seen enough television to know that the kids were being trained to fight. She wondered if she was also going to be trained just the same.
After walking past the other kids, the woman that was showing Charlie around finally took her into a bedroom. The room had two beds, one on each side of the room. The walls were blue with white clouds and angels with little bow and arrows. Each of the twin size beds had the same bedding. The comforters had rainbows and clouds on them, then the pillows had clouds and unicorns on them. On the floor between the two beds, there was a carpet that had the alphabet and numbers on it with a sort of train track running in between everything.
“Will this be my room, ma’am?” Charlie spoke softly to the woman.
“Yes, sweetheart! Your bunkmate will be back shortly, her name is Marci, okay?” The woman reassured Charlie with a smile on her face. “If you want Charlie, go ahead and place your things in the dresser next to your bed, and that closet next to your bed is yours.”
“Ma’am, can I ask a question?” Charlie simply requested.
“Oh, sweetheart, you can call me Amy. And, of course you can!” Amy stated.
“Will this..” Charlie started with a pause of fear, “will this be my new home?” Charlie’s hands clenched together. She was so afraid to ask questions because she was never allowed to ask or even speak at her last home.
Amy knelt down, placed her hands over Charlie’s, then answered, “Yes, sweetheart, it is! You’ll do your schooling here. Then after you are more comfortable, we will start you in the other programs, but only when you are ready, is that okay?” Amy raised her hand just below Charlie’s chin, slowly lifted her face up and looked Charlie straight in the eyes to tell her, “Charlie, you will never have a reason to be scared while you are here. You will always be safe here. You will learn so many different things while you’re doing your schoolwork. Plus, you will make so many friends, you won’t know what to do with all of them. You can always come talk to me if you ever need anything, I’ll be your personal counselor, okay?”
“Coun-sel-or? What is that?” Charlie asked.
“Why, Charlie,” Amy started with a chuckle, “a counselor is someone that helps you when you are sad or having any kind of trouble. You can come to me any time, okay? Even if you have a bad dream!” Amy stood up with Charlie’s hands still in hers and smiled at her.
Charlie stared up at Amy with a smile slowly creeping from her small baby-doll face. From that point on, Charlie saw Amy as a mother whenever she really needed one.
An hour later, Charlie finally met Marci, her bunkmate. Marci was a slim brunette fair complected little girl with blue shorts, a green and blue striped tank top, green socks and pink tennis shoes. Marci came skipping into the room and immediately halted when she saw Charlie. Marci slowly stepped up to Charlie and whispered, “Hi, my name is Marci!”
Charlie smiled at Marci and whispered back. “I’m Charlie, but why are you whispering?”
Marci started giggling when she replied in a normal tone, “Oh, I didn’t want to spook you, I’m sorry! Most girls when they get here, they are scared. So, we want to respect them carefully, as Amy would say.” Marci walked over to her bed, grabbed her white teddy bear off her pillow, sat down and cuddled with it while she watched Charlie.
Marci and Charlie became the best of friends from that day on. They stuck together like glue. As they got older and moved to different rooms, they always requested to bunk together which was approved every time. Whenever they were placed into their new rooms, they always took turns on who picked a bed first.
By the time the two girls were fifteen, they were in combat training and weapons training together, and they always practiced together. However, one day, just before Marci turned sixteen, a couple had come to the group home and taken Marci away. Charlie was devastated, her best friend was gone and she didn’t understand why.
After spending days in her room alone, Charlie finally decided to go talk to Amy. “Amy..Amy!” Charlie shouted.
“Charlie, I was wondering when I would see you now that Marci has left. I’m sorry sweetheart.” Amy spoke with comfort toward Charlie. Amy knew how close Charlie and Marci were and knew that Marci leaving would really hit Charlie hard.
“Amy, why did they take Marci? She is my best friend. Why?” Charlie spoke frantically and scared.
Amy stood staring at Charlie for a long moment before she invited Charlie into her office. “Charlie, honey, come in and take a seat.”
“I want to know why! I want her back, I want Marci back, please Amy!” Charlie started to cry with tears drifting down her pale face. Charlie sat on the soft blue couch across from Amy, leaned her face into her hands and sobbed.
Amy immediately walked over to the couch, sat next to Charlie wrapping her arm around Charlie’s shoulders and just holding her. “Charlie, it’s okay!”
Charlie jerked her head up from her hands, “Is Marci coming back?”
Amy slowly hung her head and whispered to Charlie, “no, sweetheart! She’s with her new family now. They will finish her training, send her to college and then Marci moves on. That’s what those families do for us. They help pay for the final stages of training and college for our kids.”
Charlie stared at Amy, confused more than ever. “They pay for her college! So, when is my new family coming to get me?”
Amy placed her hands on her own lap, pushed herself up then walked over to her desk. “Oh, Charlie, you’re special! You will complete training here, then we send you to any college of your choice. Then, you’ll have a permanent job with us.”
Charlie was beyond confused at this point. “What do you mean work with you? Do you mean working here, at the group home?”
Amy let out a little chuckle as she reached for a file, Charlie’s file. “No! You will be one of our problem solvers. At any given time, we would send you a target, and you take care of it however is requested.” Amy paused as she opened Charlie’s file to a page full of scores, pulled out the paper and handed it to Charlie. “Charlie, you are one of the best students we’ve ever seen. So, we are giving you a permanent place with us. After College, you will receive a generous monthly stipend and you will get that payment until the day we release you later on in life. What do you think?”
Charlie wasn’t really sure of what to think of Amy’s explanation. But, since Marci was gone, Charlie really didn’t have a choice but to go with it. Charlie did have one simple question for Amy. So, Charlie stood up off the couch, looked at Amy and asked, “what if I don’t want to?”
Amy leaned back in her chair thinking of a way to explain to Charlie. “Well, Charlie, the thing is, if we send you to college, you have to complete the tasks and when we feel that you are ready to be on your own, we will release you, promise! But, if you do your job the way you’re supposed to, you will be set for life, monetarily. Does that help ease your mind?”
Charlie crossed her arms and stared at Amy, “so, the better I do my job, the better I get paid, is that what you’re saying?”
“Yes, sweetheart, that is exactly what I’m saying.” Amy assured Charlie.
“Okay, then I’m good! If there’s nothing else, I would like to go back to my room.” Charlie requested as a soldier would from her commanding officer.
“You can go, but if you still need to talk, I’m here!” Amy reminded Charlie.
“Thank you!” Charlie told Amy as she turned and walked out the door. When Charlie stepped into her room, she gazed around the room, missing Marci, but knowing that she would be taken care of by her new family.
From that moment on, Charlie set her focus. She upped her motivation in learning, combat and weapons, mastering whatever she could. Charlie spent extra hours in the gym, target practice and with her general studies, even her weekends. By the time Charlie turned eighteen, she no longer went by Charlie. From that moment on, she went by C.R. When the group home had done her exit papers with her, they asked her what code name she wanted to be used when calls were sent out.
C.R. said one thing, “Jonasburg!” Then she signed her papers, grabbed her heavy maroon colored suitcase and walked out of the group home that she had known since she was ten. As C.R. walked down the driveway toward town, she never turned her head back, not even for a final good-bye!
