Story Emi on the Caloosahatchee

[Kathy in FL]

For Millwright, I didn't forget.

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Chapter 1

“Dammit, didn’t I tell you don’t waste no more of my time?”

I just looked at the guy. My keeper. My “owner” if you listened to the head jerk of all these jerks. Instead of answering him outright I pointed and let it sink in his thick skull and then went back to doing what I was doing which was filling a canvas tote bag with what I had been looking for … and found … without his help thank you very much. He either got it or he didn’t. Basic biology isn’t something I should have to explain to him.

He walked up behind me and I could see the shadow of his hand and really expected to get hit but instead he reached around me and picked a bottle up off the beauty supply store shelf. He looked at it and then at me and said, “Not bad. You got some brains under all that hair.”

I shrugged. I talked to him – to anyone – as little as possible. I felt betrayed on every front and wasn’t interested in leaving even a crack for anyone else to get in through.

“You don’t say much do you?”

Before I could shrug again there was yelling and then some screaming outside the store. The guy – everyone called him Kiko – pushed me down and put his knee in my back. That was code for keep down in the jerk’s world I guess. When I saw him pull out one of his guns I went still and stayed silent. Slowly he let up off the pressure then pulled me to my knees and pushed me against the shelves. He didn’t hold me captive any longer but there was no doubt he expected me to stay where he put me. I wanted to ask if he thought I was idiot enough to go running into the middle of a gunfight unarmed but didn’t. The question was rhetorical after all; obviously all of the men expected the females to be complete idiots or they wouldn’t treat us the way they do.

A man – not part of the jerk’s crew – came running into the store, spotted me and grinned nastily. Guess he was so busy getting ideas that he missed Kiko completely which was the only mistake he was allowed to make. Kiko reached out, grabbed the guy in a headlock, and then sent him to the ground with a snap loud enough that I knew it wasn’t his collar bone that had been broken. ‘Course the fact the man’s head was at a weird angle highlighted the obvious as well.

Kiko stepped around me and was looking out into the street and I glanced up into the back of the store just in time to sweep his feet out from in under him. The boom of another man’s gun was almost instantaneously followed by the caustic splatter of destroyed hair chemical bottles. Instinctively I grabbed a bottle of hair relaxer and threw it at the face of the attacker. I only got half of his face but that was enough considering it was the half with his eyes.

Kiko grabbed my arm and pulled me to another part of the store, all the while using his body to shield mine. I finally wrenched my arm away and hissed, “Enough with the macho. I’m not stupid enough to run off and jump into more trouble.”

“Then stay close or I’ll tie you to me.”

I rolled my eyes but did as ordered.

There was more fighting up and down the street. Kiko kept us in the store and out of sight. He was older than the rest of the young studs in the gang and I guess had outgrown playing cannon fodder. I heard screaming but couldn’t tell who it was. The man I’d thrown the hair product at was crawling towards the glass front of the store but I don’t think it was because he could see anything. His upper face was covered in chemical burns. I could tell he was going into shock.

Kiko asked, “What the hell did you throw at him?”

“Hair relaxer.”

“Huh?”

“Sodium hydroxide … lye …” When he continued to look at me for an answer I sighed and said, “Lejía … like the kind of soap the old ladies in the villages make.”

He looked at me suspiciously and then sighed. “You and me gonna have a talk. But now ain’t the time. Here,” he said handing me a pistol from one of his endless pockets. “You shoot me in the back and them out there? They’ll tear you apart … after they’re finished having some fun with you.”

I shrugged and turned away.

He jerked me back around. “Take it. Stay here. I gotta go see who’s still living.”

I took the gun, checked the safety and generally made a bit of a production out of showing that I knew what I was doing. He gave me another look that said we would be talking and then left. As soon as I was sure he was gone I ran over to the guy who’d finally stopped moving, nudged him to make sure he was really on his way out and harmless enough he was unable to fight, and then started going through his pockets.

There wasn’t much but it was more than I had and the last couple of years I’d learned to be grateful for anything, no matter how small or trivial someone else might find it. I didn’t bother with the guns, they were too big and someone would spot them and take them from me. Then probably follow that with a punch to let me know I’d stepped outside my place. I did find a bundle of ammo tied up in a bandana that I took. Might sound stupid to some people but ammo could be spent like money in the type of places I’d been finding myself not to mention I might escape and come up on another gun somewhere along the line. He had several good blades hidden in unimaginative spots … and a couple of better blades in more creative locations. I left the money he had on him as it would distract whoever went over him next. There was a baggie of pills and I left that too. I left the cigs but took his lighter and the three books of matches I found on him.

I scooted back out of sight just in time to avoid being seen by more men entering the store front. I recognized one, didn’t recognize the other two. The one I recognized was called Dern and had been on the outs with Kiko more than once; he spoke Spanish like he had a mouth full of marbles. He looked Spanish but that didn’t mean nothing in this area. There had been a lot of intermarrying the last century so looks didn’t necessarily say where you come from. What did concern me was the other two that I didn’t recognize and why would Dern be buddying up with them.

Dern cursed when he saw the body of the fallen man with the broken neck. “We gotta get Kiko. We get Kiko and most of the others will run or fold. If we don’t got Kiko …”

Easy as shooting fish in a barrel … pop, pop, pop pop. It took four to take them out because the last guy moved too fast. My shots started another frenzy of shooting, some of it coming through the front of the store so I moved further into the back. I stayed back there for about an hour going through what was left of the ransacked store, until I smelled smoke. Cautiously I moved forward and realized several buildings up the street were on fire.

“Mierda!” I cursed and then tasted the memory of soap. My cousin’s wife was a big, raw boned woman that could wrestle the cattle as well as her sons did. It only took once for me to learn to watch my anger around her. I’d been roughed up before but never beaten which is what she did while she forced me to literally wash my mouth out for saying a cuss word she heard from her own children all the time. That’s when I had decided that no matter what or how long I’d find my own way back across the border. But memory lane would have to wait however.

I ran over to the guys that I’d shot and then reached over and grabbed one of the canvas “eco-friendly” shopping bags hanging on a stand near the register. I decided to risk it all and took guns, ammo, and anything that looked useful off the corpses. I wanted to curse again when I didn’t find any food but it would have been surprising if I had. The areas we were passing through had been stripped starting last year and there was hardly anything to eat that wasn’t still moving when you found it. And if it was moving then you better pray that it wasn’t thinking of eating you.

The bag was heavy but I was used to heavy these days. In fact, I was a lot stronger than I looked. You do what you must survive. The smell of smoke was getting heavier but I still took the time to grab a few more things … some of the no-water hair stuff that I’d come in for originally, a comb and brush, some women stuff, and a few other things that I could use and stuffed them into my small back pack that held the few worldly possessions I would refuse to give up, including for death, and then cautiously made my way out of the store and in the opposite direction than the fire was moving.

Finding that direction wasn’t as easy as you would think as the fire was jumping from building to building at a faster rate and moving up and down streets and through alleys. I realized I would have to throw some caution to the wind and I tied a bandana across my nose and mouth and started jogging and then running as I spotted flames that were jumping ahead of me. Suddenly a truck shot out of a side street and nearly ran me down. The driver slammed on the brakes knocking around the people in the bed.

“Get in!”

Luck didn’t play into it but I still cursed it. I jumped in and slammed the door and then Kiko threw the truck in gear and we barreled out of the city just ahead of a major firestorm.

 

[Kathy in FL]

Chapter 2

My head was pounding and all the arguing wasn’t making it any better. Hours later we’d pulled off the road into a small, abandoned motel. What remained of our group was cursing their attackers, complaining about losing all their supplies, fussing about losing most of their weapons, and generally whining about fate and everything else that went with it.

Kiko, as leader of the group, finally got fed up and told everyone to “cerrado para arriba” and get some rest. He assigned a couple of guys to stand watch but everyone else was expected to find a hole and crawl in it for a while. Kiko grabbed my arm and pulled me up and when I was up grabbed the back of my neck and dragged me along with him. We got to one of the rooms and he unlocked it and then threw me inside, entered himself, then threw the locks.

I was tired but not too tired I wouldn’t fight but he just stood there looking at me. “Chica, tu es un pedazo de trabajo.” (Girl, you are a piece of work)

“Yeah. So?”

“So … you’re gonna tell me your story. Now.”

“What does it matter to you?”

“Let’s just say I’m curious.”

Emi, deciding there was no way out just got it over with by telling him, “My grandparents were Honduran. They immigrated … legally … after Hurricane Fifi wiped out their family’s holdings. My mother and her siblings were born in the States. My father was US military and met and married Mom in Florida. After the Donner Virus I didn’t have any real family left, got swept up by some people that were idiots and packed off to my relatives in Honduras that didn’t want me … hated me for whatever reason because of some family feud, learned to live on the streets when they kicked me out, worked enough to pay a coyote to get me back across the border only to get swept in by the Militia Border Patrol. Then got sold to you guys by one of the guards. The end.”

“Tonterias.”

“Call it BS if you want to but that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.”

“You gonna get a slap for that mouth.”

“Likely sooner rather than later.”

He snorted then pointed to my pack. “What did you get?”

Knowing he’d probably already looked I went over to the desk where the backpack sat, reached in and pulled out the canvas tote that had the guns in it. I took it over to the bed and put it there and then walked away from it. “Guns.”

“No kidding Sherlock. Where did they come from?”

“Corpses.”

“Why?”

“Because I didn’t want them found and used against me.”

“You took off. I sent Ricky to look for you.”

“I never saw Ricky. I decided to bolt, but not until the fire was almost on top of me.”

He stood staring at me and then crossed his arms. “Fine. What else?”

“Stuff to get rid of my stink and feminine stuff. You gonna make me share it with the other girls?”

He finally relaxed. “No. But don’t go bragging about it and causing trouble.” He reached into one of his pockets and threw a granola bar at me. “Found these in the truck. Eat. Wash up. Get some sleep.”

I did that all the while trying not to question why he never tried what I expected him to try. The other men rode whatever girl was free at any given time. Kiko … he was a mystery. He didn’t touch me, just threatened to slap me around; but threaten was all he did. I hate mysteries but now wasn’t the time to solve this one. I went to sleep fully clothed trying to get used to the unfamiliar pokes of my hidden weapons and wrapped around my pack.

Hours later I woke immediately when there was a knock on the door and rolled off the side of the bed opposite the door. Kiko was awake as well but not as jumpy. A voice whispered loudly, “Kiko? Ricky, he’s done a runner.” I recognized the voice as belonging to a guy named Luis, one of the remaining gang members.

Kiko opened the door and cursed. “Meirda,” Kiko hissed. “When?”

“Had to be within the hour.”

“Maybe he just took his girl to spend some time relaxing.”

“Nah. Girls are all accounted for and his gear is gone.”

Hesitantly I said, “He was friends with Dern.”

Kiko looked at me sharply. “Cousin. Maybe he went back to look for him.”

I shook my head, worried that I was getting too friendly. But then again better the devil you know than one that might sneak up on you. “Dern … he …” I stopped and worried how to say it without getting the messenger shot.

“Spit it out Chica.”

Shaking my head and feeling ten kinds of fool for helping my captor I explained, “After you left, Dern came to the store with two guys I didn’t recognize. They talked about taking you out. Maybe Ricky did come to find me afterall, saw …”

“Eh?” he prompted after I slowed down, worrying about giving something away to Luis.

“I used what you left me,” I explained hoping he’d get the hint.

Thinking a moment Kiko nodded. “Bueno.” He scratched his chin then spit. “So Ricky was in on it or thought I’d think he was.”

I watched surreptitiously through the hair that had fallen across my face as Luis swallowed and realized that Dern and Ricky weren’t the only ones in on it. Two questions sprung to mind. Was the plan still in play and did Kiko see the possibility?

 

[Lake Lili]

You are going to have me doing Snoopy dances! Love this story.
Thanks for brining it over!
Lili

 

[Kathy in FL]

You are going to have me doing Snoopy dances! Love this story.
Thanks for brining it over!
Lili

I'm trying to save them before they get more corrupted. I'm tired of worrying they are going to disappear.

 

[Siskiyoumom]

I appreciate your writing and your efforts in protecting your writing.

 

[Kathy in FL]

Chapter 3

Kiko looked at Luis and saw he was starting to sweat. He kept staring at him, staring hard. Luis started shaking and then right as the tension became thick enough you could cut it with a knife there is a loud bang and Luis pitches forward dead, a shotgun blast splattering his blood on the door and stoop outside the room we were in.

Kiko and I both hit the ground. I slammed my feet against the bathroom door to keep anyone from coming in behind us. Prepared for a fight we were left stuffed full of adrenaline as we hear a vehicle peel out and race away. They left half the girls behind causing Kiko to swear under his breath and shake his head. It was an hour before Kiko stopped casing the motel and surrounding area in case the gang came back for what they’d left behind.

I could see Kiko’s frustration building and stayed silent so I wouldn’t become a target. I motioned to the other girls to do the same. A couple of them were used pretty hard but they’d already been that way when the gang had found them. I kept shushing the ones that looked like they were going to create some drama and got them into a room and washed up and doctored up with some of the sheets off the beds.

Another hour later Kiko finally dragged me back to the room we’d been in and ordered, “Pack up. Strap one of the guns on. We gonna have to walk to the meet up. You keep them others quiet. They stay quiet, we stay safe. We stay safe, we’ll get out of this in one piece.”

As I did as I was told I asked, “How are we going to get to this meet up before the others?”

Apparently with the promotion I was going to get to ask questions and actually get some answers when I asked them because Kiko said, “Those idiots? They don’t know where the meet up is … at least not the real location.

“How far?” I asked as I grabbed a holster from the pile I’d taken off the men I’d killed the afternoon before. Lack of decent sleep and unspent adrenaline played with my sense of time so it seemed both longer ago and shorter than it actually was.

Kiko’s response was to ignore what I was doing but tell me, “You don’t need to know the location yet.”

“I didn’t ask for the location, I ain’t stupido. I asked how far we gotta go to get there.”

“I ain’t in the mood for no mouth Chica.”

“I ain’t giving you any,” I responded. Before he could continue growling I told him, “We got no food, only a little water, and a couple of the girls barely got clothes on and one lost a shoe someplace and can’t find it. If we’re going to be moving fast for more than a couple of hours we’re gonna lose at least two of them. Better all-around to leave them here where they can’t slow us down and they have at least half a chance.”

I got a hard glare then he said, “We make decent time we should get there about midnight. Worst case we got another 24 beyond that before we get left behind.” In irritation he finally said, “Ten, maybe fifteen miles. But it’s through the commercial district you can see on the other side of the interstate.”

I nodded then got down to the business of taking care of the job I’d been handed. I looked at Luis’ corpse paying particular attention to his feet. The shoeless girl was too small to use his boots but my shoes would work for her. I took mine off and then stripped Luis of anything useful and took what I had to the room the girls were holed up in. Once I was let in I started passing out the bounty. When a couple objected because of the blood I said, “Shut it. I left the worst for the angels to haul Luis away with. You put this on willingly or I’ll put it on you and it won’t be so nice. You keep it on too or I’ll staple it on. We don’t need a lot of skin showing to attract attention. And you, Shoeless Wonder, put these on.” I threw my shoes in her direction.

The girl whined, “They don’t fit.”

Patience hadn’t been my biggest attribute in a long time and what little I had was running out quickly then an older girl said, “I’ll deal with this lot. You deal with Kiko.”

I knew her as one of the brassier girls that had been taken by the gang before me. Normally I had nothing to do with her – she liked to see herself as a ‘tough love mother earth’ type which I didn’t need – but if she could manage the girls she’d be useful. I warned, “Kiko ain’t foolin’. If any here can’t deal with a hard hike better tell me now so I can talk him into leaving them behind. He’s got expectations.”

In a hard voice she said, “They’ll move or I’ll leave ‘em on the side of road and out of their misery myself. Just handle the man.”

I looked at her and she at me and the deal was struck. We definitely understood what was at stake. That didn’t mean that I trusted her, or she me.

“Fine. I get the feeling from what Kiko ain’t saying that we’re gonna have to cross through unfriendly territory, maybe more than one, to get where we’re going. With luck those others that did a runner will make enough noise to draw any attention there might be in a different direction and keep it that way. But I ain’t counting on it.” Sighing as I felt trouble was likely but could see no way to avoid it I added, “Big problem, we don’t have no time for scavenging. I know the girls are going to wanna but there ain’t time for it. And in this area, you see something that looks too good to be true it probably is. I’ve seen those types of traps too many times. Got blindsided by one like that when an idiot in the group I was traveling with called over a couple of more idiots and set off some kind of booby. I was just lucky the border patrol that rounded up the survivors had a medic willing to take the time to pick the shrapnel out of my back.”

“Dayum Hermana, that story is almost as good as how I got picked up. We can swap war stories later though.”

Ignoring the fact that she called me sister I asked her, “What’s your name?”

“Barbarita … but call me Barb. And you?”

Since she looked the opposite of any Barbarita I’d ever met I just nodded and answered, “Noemi … but call me Emi.”

She gave a sly smile and said, “Two of us flying under the radar. Sweet.”

She and I walked a few steps away from the other girls. I positioned myself just in case she had a shiv hidden and meant to take me out. I wasn’t trusting the friendly she was putting off. She noticed and kept her hands in sight. “What’s the game?” she asked. “Kiko need us for mules? We meeting up with the rest of his crew?”

“Don’t know nuthin’ about no other crew. Don’t care right now. Might care later if things change. I’ll keep you in the loop so’s long as you keep to your word about keeping the girls in line. We can’t afford no mutinies or stupids like we’ve had the last couple of days. Everybody needs to keep their heads or we’ll all wind up dog food … or worse.”

Slowly she gave me the once over then said, “Right. You watch our backs, we’ll watch yours.”

Refusing to be pushed into more friendly than I was willing to feel I told her, “That’s the way it’s supposed to work.”

She nodded. “Supposed to. Will on my side. Yours?”

“Yeah. What about the remaining girls? I see that trouble make Deanna left with the other group.”

“She thinks she’s going to be top *****. That chick that calls herself Marigold has a shiv with her name on it if she tries.”

“Marigold was Dern’s girl.”

“Yep … and she had ideas if you get what I’m saying.”

“Oh yeah. Anyone left have ‘ideas’?”

“These ones? Nah. They are all subs no matter how they try and play it off.”

Knowing exactly what she meant I still foresaw a potential issue. “Problem with subs is they go with whoever is paying the bills.”

“Well right now Kiko is and he ain’t skipped a payment yet. We keep it that way there ain’t a problem.” Getting serious she said, “The questionable will fall in line or I’ll take care of ‘em to save trouble we don’t need.” She left me in no doubt she would too. Good. That’s one less job I would have to do.

“Fine. Kiko will likely have me bringing up the rear. He knows where he’s going, ain’t sharing the info yet, but stragglers he ain’t gonna tolerate. For some reason he’s interested in all of us being safe and I ain’t risking him changing his mind. And word to the wise Barb, I watched him snap a big man’s neck without even trying. We’ll need to keep tight and quiet and not tweak him. He ain’t got much patience.” I shrugged refusing to put into words any more than that.

“Yeah. I got that off him too. Are you and he …”

At that moment Kiko walked over and growled, “Stop yapping. We move. Now.”

 

[Kathy in FL]

Chapter 4

The first hour wasn’t too bad. The girls that were left had enough street experience that they knew to walk fast and stay gray. They were also smart enough to understand that now wasn’t the time for salvaging. Didn’t mean they didn’t have to be reminded a few times but that was par for the course. In the places they grew up if you didn’t try you didn’t get.

This was the first town of any size that I had been through in a while. Kiko had avoided all the larger cities as much as possible on the advice of the militias and his own common sense and experience. Houston would have been the largest and closest to our current location. For all that we were still surrounded by nothing but urban build up but going from run down residential housing to bombed out commercial district. Reading signs we were passing told me we were in an area known as Texas City and heading towards the port.

We weren’t that far from Galveston either and I could just remember a family vacation there when I was very little. What I remember most was ice cream on the pier and discovering “beach” did not necessarily mean the same thing as the beaches at home. Galveston beaches were different from the soft white sand and gentle waves I was used to.

Our first bad experience was when the gulls took notice of us. I had been having a bad feeling for several moments and not able to place its origination point until I realized that the gulls had started acting oddly. I nudged Barb and she got the message so quickly that it revealed she must have had an experience or three with DV infected birds herself. Kiko had just begun to pick up on things when I started to herd the other women towards a couple of turned over dumpsters leaning against the side of a warehouse.

I slowly backed up to Barb and tried to nudge her to move faster but she gave me a silent but frustrated grimace. The girls didn’t want to go into the protection the dumpsters afforded. Glancing inside I saw a couple of decaying corpses and rolled my eyes thinking, “They’re dead and little more than bones inside their clothes, they ain’t gonna hurt nobody.”

While Kiko covered me I went in and kicked the corpses out the other end, picking up a machete from one of the picked over skeletons. About that time a bird dove at one of the girls and got a good pinch on her arm. Kiko reached out, tore it off and broke its neck but it was too late, the girl had started to scream. Barb backhanded her to shut her up but the birds were all stirred up at the noise as it rushed along the walls of all the buildings created a canyon-like echo.

As the birds dived the women finally lost their fastidiousness and dived into the protection of the dumpster and wall. I used the machete to cut down as many of the birds as I could, giving everyone time to get in. Kiko liked the action so well he pulled his own and between the two of us we must have killed three dozen gulls in just the minutes it took Barb to herd the women inside.

The blood from their dead compatriots were only driving the birds crazier. I started kicking the feathered corpses out into the raging flock. It took some of the heat off of us and gave Kiko and I a little breathing room. We were at it another twenty minutes before a loud noise several “canyons” away grabbed the birds’ attention and they swarmed off to investigate.

Breathing hard Kiko and I stood back-to-back another minute before calling the women out. Barb fussed a bit brushing feathers from us and shaking her head. “You two are loco and almost bird food. What happens to us if either one of you gets killed.”

“You live or you die the best you can,” I answered since Kiko didn’t seem to be paying attention.

A slow smile twisted her lips and she nodded. “True.”

Kiko grunted and headed out after consulting a hand drawn map in his pocket. After getting them in it was difficult to get the women out of the protection of the dumpster and I had to go in and pull the last one out by her hair. “Move chica. Ain’t got time for anything else.”

She got the message and we finally fell back into a smooth travelling line, but the women were now giving off a vibe that told me a few of them might panic at the next incident. And there would be a next incident, there always was, we just didn’t expect it to happen so quickly.

An hour later we were about to step out of an alley to cross to a different avenue when a volley of shots rang out from a roof top and I saw Kiko go down and the women started screaming. Barb proved she was up for the job assigned to her as she manhandled the panicking women into the small storefront I pushed her towards. Kiko wasn’t moving but I didn’t have time to worry. I sighted in on those stupid enough to show themselves and took them out one by one until those that were left were smart enough to keep their head out of the way of my bullets.

I finally was able to work my way down to the impossibly big guy and I snagged an arm and pulled him to relative safety.

“You crazy Chica,” he gasped.

“Maybe. Probably. Can you run?”

“No. Bastard ricochet got me in the leg.”

“Ok then and don’t puke.”

“Wha … ?”

Man had a core of lead making him so heavy that it almost kept me from being able to complete the fireman carry back to the store front. “Barb? Can you … ?” I asked as I heard noise in the alley that meant I needed to clear a few more baddies.

She nodded and took over while I carefully stepped back out to see what I could see, nearly getting shot myself when a hastily formed crossfire failed. I’d worked too many nests however to get caught by something that shoddy. I surprised them with how ruthless I could be and how good a shot I was. I also wasn’t averse to hand to hand which is what I used to take out the last man when he tried a weak and pathetic knife move.

What did nearly get me was that the birds came back. I only had time to strip two corpses before they started landing, stripping flesh from the dead men. I fought them over the third corpse and then had to give up when I got pecked hard enough to draw blood. I ran back to the store front with my booty.

This time it was Barb who said in outrage, “Are you crazy?!”

“Like I said earlier … maybe, probably. But we got guns for most of us now.”

A weak growl from Kiko drew me over to where he leaned against the base of a broken counter. “You wanna get shot in the back?” he snarled.

I shook my head. “Naw. Besides, the first one that shoots either of us gets the rest of them dead as fast as I can put a bullet in each one. And the last one I hold onto for a little … fun.”

The way I said it even had hardcase Barb blanching but Kiko just kept looking at me before nodding slowly. “Ok, your call on this. Just make sure it hurts like hell as payback.”

“OK, how’s this? Kneecap them and let the birds have them?”

Barb scooted over. “We get the message. You scare some of these hens too much more and they’re going to stop breathing.”

I looked over at the women and reinforced my message with a cold look. I turned back to Kiko and took my own look at his wound. I looked at him and him at me. He reached into his pocket and pulled out two papers. “Take these and go. All I ask is when you get where you’re going you get this one delivered to my wife.”

One piece of paper was the hand drawn map to what I presumed was the pick-up point, the other was an envelope that held a single sheet of paper covered front and back with a clumsy scrawl. I folded them both back up and stuck them back in the pocket they came out of. “Do I looked like your damn death messenger? You’re gonna live and we’re all getting out of here together. Got it?”

I turned away before he could answer. I reached the door just in time to have it kicked in and sending me flying backwards several feet where I cracked my head on the floor knocking me out. I came to with a rough kick to my backside. Not appreciating it I turned quick as a viper and had my opponent down and his throat ripped open before anyone else standing around could react. But when they reacted it was with brutal force. I would have still kept fighting until someone put a gun to Kiko’s head.

I shook my head in frustration. When did I get attached to that piece of walking wall? Wiping blood out of my eyes I looked over to see that the women had been roughed up and Barb would be sporting a black eye but I also noticed they’d started to give her some space. Unfortunately, they’d already shaken everyone down and taken the guns and their shivs. That let me know that this crowd were experienced. And that was bad news.

To control us Barb and I were assigned the task of helping Kiko get on his feet. We also had to be his crutches as we hiked the commercial district alleys. The more we walked the weaker he became. I heard some of the other women talk like we should run, leaving him behind. I promised them some serious pain if they pulled that crap and they got the message and shut up.

The hike was two hours and then we met up with another bunch of the same gang and they seemed to have prisoners of their own. My eye was experienced enough to tell it was a boat crew.

“Ah, Bro … looks like you had some fun too!”

The gang bangers all laughed and hooted and hollered calling themselves the ridiculous name of “Land Pirates of Texas.” Idiots. Dangerous idiots but still idiots nonetheless. And after exactly what you would expected such men to be after. We eventually came to an area that was fenced off. A broken and faded sign indicated it had been some kind of DV defensive position but given that it had been abandoned the defenses must have failed at some point early on. The fact that it was caged on top and not just fenced on the sides told me that the birds must have become a problem very early on in the pandemic.

The men were all shoved into one cage and us women were shoved into another section to be ogled at with abandon. They made lots of promises … crude promises designed to raise the level hysteria I could already see building in the women. Barb was doing her best to keep them under control but when I turned and looked at each one in turn and told them what would happen to them if they didn’t tow the line they got real quiet and huddled in the middle of the caged area no longer paying any attention to the land pirates.

“What you wanna spoil our fun for?” asked one disgruntled “pirate.”

All I did was give him an evil smile and he backed off. I caught Barb’s eye and gave a more natural smile with a shrug of one shoulder. Her eyes widen for a moment and then she had to hide her face because she could barely stop the laugh that wanted to slip out.

I noticed slowly all the land pirates began retreating to buildings that surrounded the fenced off area and sensed something bad was coming. I looked over to see Kiko speaking in law tones with the men over there but before I could get his attention the first of the birds hit the cage. For a nerve-wracking hour thousands of sea gulls attached the cage trying to get inside. There were areas of obvious repair that let us all know that they’d gotten in before.

“The entertainment in this dump sucks,” I heard one of the crewmen mutter. I turned to see it was a tall man and I pegged him for either the Captain or First Mate. When he reached out and broke the neck of a bird that had been cawing noisily too close to his ear I nodded in approval and did the same thing myself a few times. That’s when most of the rest of us joined in. The women had more practice at it than the men, probably as a result of having to wring the necks of fowl to pluck for the dinner table.

We heard the land pirates booing from their protected area until some of the angry flock turned their attention to that noise. About fifteen minutes later there was an audible crash followed by some screams to let us know the birds had won a battle.

Finally, as full dark fell the birds retreated en mass. They were there and then just as suddenly they were gone. Broken and battered birds littered the area. For some reason I was unable to relax.

“Kiko?!” I called quietly.

“Yeah,” he returned in a breathy, pain-filled whisper.

“Something else is coming.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. Don’t know wha … oh bolas! Stand up, stand up! Get back-to-back and be prepared to stomp!”

The others were responding too slowly. I must have looked like I was having some kind of fit but I’d finally placed the smell that struck me from beneath the odor of dead birds. If you’ve ever worked along the water you know that birds aren’t the only scavengers you have to deal with to protect your catch and whatever else you might have in your hold. But the warehouses were the worst, especially the abandoned and unused ones. They became havens for them.

Rats.

They came by the thousands. Mostly they were focused on the corpses of birds and luckily for those of us in the cages most of them were too big to get through the thick metal mesh. That isn’t to say they didn’t try and that some of them didn’t make it. It was disgusting work but no worse than nest busting, a job I sometimes held as a way of paying my way north.

A nest buster would be called in when DV infecteds gathered in too high a number in any one location. It didn’t matter the species – and this sometimes included humans – nest busters would go in and destroy as many as they could by whatever means was necessary. I’d busted a few nests of DV infected rats but I had considered it one of the worst assignments. I watched a man off himself when the rats made it passed his protective gear and got inside his suit. Well I didn’t have a suit and my only protective gear was my boots. I used them the best I could and stomped the rats that made it beyond the fencing. Those that got stuck trying to get through were often eaten from the other side by their cannibalistic brethren. I got nipped twice, both from rats falling from above when a smaller beast made it through those that were swarming all over. The women were truly in a panic and hysterical but kept the presence of mind to stay away from the walls of the cage.

The rats lasted until just before dawn. We were all exhausted but no one had expired.

“You ok Kiko?”

All he could do was nod.

“All the women made it.”

“’S Bueno.”

I saw that someone had given him more first aid but I didn’t know who or why. They didn’t strike me as the Good Samaritan types. The man I had taken for one of the leaders of the boat crew gave an ironic brow lift and said, “That explains the lack of guard.” I snorted and silently agreed.

A little after daybreak the land pirates came back, most of them looking worse for wear. I wanted to find out if this was how they normally looked or if they’d had trouble of their own but realized it didn’t matter either way. All that mattered is they looked mean and ready to snap with no provocation. The women caught the vibe and Barb looked at me. I gave a minute shack of my head. Sometimes you can egg men on to doing something stupid and sometimes you couldn’t. For now, I told her to go easy and control the women and keep them tight.

We were all hustled out into a formation that made me wonder a few things. I can understand putting prisoners in number into pins where they were easy to control but walking them to a new destination that way didn’t make sense. I kept my eyes and ears open.

That’s when I heard two of the pirates – supposedly I assume leaders of their teams – speaking. “We’re gonna split up when we get to the end of Avenue B. You take yours to Pearl. He wants to question where they come from and what they doing in our territory salvaging. We taking the women and heading down to Diesel’s and see what we can get for them.”

“Hey now. Pearl said we could take some time with the girls before they got sold off.”

“That was last night. The troubles used up all that time. Pearl said taken ‘em this morning first thing ‘cause he needs us back over at the barrier to go on a dog hunt.”

“Uh uh. I was promised. I ain’t had none in over a week. All the rest of you got your share out of them others we caught early yesterday. I just come in off the boat. C’mon man,”

The other guy groaned and then admitted, “I s’pose we can give you a minute. Go pick you out one but if we gotta waste the time I wanna good show.”

Knowing a better opportunity wasn’t likely to present itself I made a move by knocking into the guard standing closest to me. I’d spotted a knife carelessly hidden in his belt. I wanted it and I was going to get it.

It was ridiculously easy for someone that had been on the street as long as I had. Unfortunately, the one I’d bumped into over compensated and pushed me right into the land pirate that had been about to make his “pick.” He grabbed me and his gun and I started fighting. He was big and beefy and got me with a good backhand that threw me off just enough that guns came down and stopped the fight before I could finish it.

 

[Lake Lili]

If I had a daughter, I'd want her to have Emi's skills and ability to assess situations.
Thanks Kathy!
Lili

 

[Kathy in FL]

Chapter 5

Emi wiped the blood off her lip but nothing in her expression gave away that the land pirate had just signed his death warrant. Looking at the scene around her through hair that had fallen across her face she saw that several of the boat crew were surrounding Kiko; the important crewman especially looked a little friendlier to him than she expected.

The women were huddled off to the side trying to stay unnoticed in whatever was coming. Emi figured it was as clear an area to work in as she was likely to get. She spat blood at the guy who’d busted her mouth. He spun her around and headed off towards a dumpster dragging her along. The other team leader ribbed his partner for denying him the show he had asked for by saying, “Aw what’s wrong Man? Afraid of the rest of us seeing how little you got to put into action?”

Emi grinned at the joke, and the man sensed it. He stepped up to back hand her again. As he raised his arm Emi spun quickly in his direction and shoved the knife she’d palmed from the man she’d originally bumped into up into the armpit of her intended abuser. The shock on everyone’s face was instantaneous as it took them by surprise. The only exception to this were the crewmen that had maneuvered themselves near to the injured Kiko. Emi grabbed the pirate’s uzi and yelled, “Drop!!”

Out of habit she’d said it in Spanish. The girls all ducked or were pulled down by the remaining boat crew who’d run over to them and who apparently spoke enough Spanish to understand what she’d yelled. That momentarily gave Emi something to worry about but in all honesty she was more focused on the here and now than the might-be’s down the road. All that really mattered was that very few of the gringo land pirates reacted quickly enough to escape the spray of bullets that she emptied into the crowd. Some fairly creative cursing followed due to the multiple ricochets, but it wasn’t just the pirates saying it.

It only took about ten minutes from that point forward for the battle to tip in favor of the boat crew and another ten for it to be over but Emi had frisked two dead land pirates, grabbed Kiko, grabbed the girls, and was dragging them all towards a catamaran she’d spotted between the buildings along the water. There was no time to be nice and she rushed them all with creative curses and promises of severe retribution if they didn’t get moving. She had them all loaded, tossing a couple in so that they landed on their backsides. Kiko was barely still conscious especially because she’d had to dump him on the deck as well causing him to start bleeding again. A bullet hit the dock near her feet as she was untying and she turned and threw one of the knives she’d collected. It was a bad throw with a cheap knife but she still managed to catch the man in the thigh.

The sandy-haired man that Emi thought of as their leader shouted, “Enough!! Listen you crazy mujer, we’re the good guys! And that’s my blasted boat!”

Emi was set to ignore him when Kiko grabbed her ankle and sent her sprawling. In a lot of pain he still managed to growl, “They’re our ride home.”

Emi glared at him furiously, slowly got back up, but a dangerous distrust was coming off her in waves even the densest man there could see. The man that had yelled that the catamaran was his gave her a hard look and then grinned but it reminded her forcefully of a shark. “So you speak English and Spanish. And you’re a damn good street fighter. Mmmmm. You can play on my team anytime Sweetheart. But that’s my boat and I’ll be damned if I’m going to lose it to some sloe eyed little thing like you. So let’s all just move nice and easy. You get the girls to stay calm, I get my men to stay calm, we all come out with our skin intact. Deal?”

Emi nudged Kiko’s hand without looking at him. He grunted and tried to sit up and said, “She don’t talk much Hermano but she’ll mind so long as you keep your men off of her. I got her for Tony.”

The man that Kiko called brother said, “We need to talk. First is she going to let Ernie check you over? You’re getting blood all over my clean deck.”

There was a little more back and forth where the men slung their machismo around and while they were at it Emi started to come down off her adrenaline high. She didn’t relax but she wasn’t on the edge of exploding as much as she had been either. Still, something was nagging at her, she hated that feeling. She turned to scan the wharf after Barb nodded that she would mind the girls who were still on the ragged edge of hysteria but too tired by that point to really act on it.

Emi almost jumped when a voice beside her said, “You’ve been on the water enough to have your sea legs.”

Rather than let him see that he’d startled her she continued to scan the dock area finally beginning to get a sense of what was bothering, and merely nodded. He turned to go and Emi whispered, “You really family to Kiko?”

“He’s married to my sister.”

“Then we better get out of here. I hear something and it’s gotten closer fast … motors for sure but I can’t tell how many. They sound like they’ve been muff…”

The man turned suddenly all business and started giving silent hand signals to his crew. In moments the catamaran was moving but it was sluggish. Emi’s arm erupted in pain causing her to lose her balance. She would have gone overboard if Barb hadn’t grabbed her pants and pulled her backwards. She tried to get back up but at that moment the secondary engines opened up and the catamaran was speeding away from the dock. Pops, whistles and whines followed them and then there was an explosion to port.

Emi followed the trajectory back to some kind of stationary gun mounted on a half sunken ship at the mouth of the harbor. Right as they were about to launch another device Emi grabbed a rifle from a crew member, sighted in, and rather than aiming at the man on the gun, hit the box of explosives sitting at his feet setting off a brilliant, orange fireball. And with that they were in open water and out of range.

 

[Kathy in FL]

Chapter 6

Emi was almost done in but she refused to give in. She also refused to let the man named Ernie touch her.

Barb shook her head as she checked to make sure no stitches were needed. “You’re a shade of crazy I’ve rarely seen Chica. The guy is a legitimate doc … so what if he started out as a vet, that’s still pretty damn as close as it gets these days.”

“He’s a man.”

“You didn’t strike me as a hater, ‘specially not after you wouldn’t leave Kiko behind and kicked that mooney chick’s ass for even thinking it.”

“’S different.”

Barb just shook her head, finished tying off the bandage, and then headed back to the girls. The boat crew were giving them a wide berth and Emi thought it pretty funny.

Kiko groaned before asking, “What’s so funny?”

“Nuthin’.”

“Ain’t in the mood for no mouth girl.”

Emi looked over at Kiko and rolled her eyes. “You get back on your feet then I’ll be scared ‘o you again.”

“You saying you was scared of me?”

“Anyone with sense would have been.”

Kiko seemed to think about that then snorted. “The woman had it right. You play at being a hater but … there’s something there. You sure you told me your story right?”

Emi sighed. “Look Kiko, I don’t always know why I feel …” She ground her teeth then asked, “You supersticioso?”

“No. That’s stuff for old women.”

“Well … I wish you would have told my mother’s family that for me. They thought I was kissed by the Sihuanaba. I was a mess when I was sent to live with them. One time my cousin’s kids intentionally lost me along the river … eh … long story. Just one of the old women in the village said … stupid stuff because I … sometimes I just …”

“Women’s intuition.”

Kiko and Emi looked up to see the boat’s captain. Kiko grunted and Emi shrugged then grimaced. The man said, “Should have let Ernie look at it.”

“No.”

The captain sat down and stretched out his legs and quietly asked, “Why?”

Kiko growled, “Don’t give him trouble. I tol’ you.”

“I don’t know why. He just …gives off vibes I don’t like.”

“What kinda vibes?”

It took Emi a moment to decide if she was going to answer them and although Kiko was getting irritated the Captain seemed to be willing to wait her out. She sighed. “He carries more shivs than I do and … and he looks at people behind their backs.”

“Looks at them how?”

Emi looked at the Captain in irritation. “Looks at them … and there’s nothing behind his eyes.

What you see on the outside is just window dressing that he practices. If you could peel it away … you’d see … vista fuerte. OK? And I know it sounds stupid. There’s no such thing as the evil eye but if there was what is left on his insides would be the embodiment of it.”

Kiko shook his head. “You crazy after all.”

“I’m going to check on …”

Emi wasn’t even able to get into a crouch to stand up because the Captain pushed her back gently. “I’m not through with my questions … Chica.”

“Well I’m done answering.”

“No … no you aren’t.”

For the first time Emi heard the purr of danger in his voice. “You told me about hearing something before the shooting started.”

“So?”

“None of my men reported hearing anything.”

“So?”

“So you got good ears.”

Emi shrugged, this time more carefully than the first time but it still hurt.

“Now you tell me one of my men gives you the heebies. So maybe I’m willing to see if your eyes are as good as your ears.”

Surprised, Emi looked at him cautiously when the man ordered, “Tell me what else you see when you look.”

Slowly Emi said, “The men don’t like the women being on board. Either they don’t like women in general, don’t like trafficking, or they’re superstitious. Since they didn’t seem to have too much problem with the women at first I’m gonna say they’re superstitious. Most sailors are.”

“And you know sailors?”

“Enough to know they’ll blame anything and everything for what can and does go wrong in life … especially if it goes wrong while on the water.”

“What else do you see?”

Emi was getting fed up. She was tired and in pain and just wanted some quiet so she could deal with it without making herself appear weak. “Your men, they’re in good shape. They’re eating regular but that could be down to you being on the water enough to survive on fishing. But I don’t see no sores or scurvy. That means you make enough from your water trade to …” A wave took her by surprise and she banged her bandaged arm. It was a near thing but she didn’t pass out.

When her hearing came back Kiko was telling the Captain, “I don’t want her messed up. She’s for Tony.”

“About that Bro’. Tony … well there were some that decided they didn’t want to wait and they bought them some women down in Miami. Tony is shacked up with …”

Kiko started cursing and the anger coming off of him nearly had Emi seeing stars again. He finally calmed down enough to snarl, “I tol’ that boy that I was going to bring him back a woman. How did he pay for the one he got?”

“The idiot actually gambled for her.”

There was another string of Spanglish, none of it pretty. “He promised me he’d stay away from the tables after what he lost last time!”

Kiko was continuing on but something had caught Emi’s eye. Ernie was staring at the women and didn’t realize anyone was looking at him. She nudged the Captain’s foot and he casually glanced in the direction she indicated and Emi heard him draw a sharp breath through his nose but it was subtle and anyone that did notice put it down to his reaction to Kiko’s behavior.

The Captain, without really looking at Emi, spoke out of the side of his mouth and whispered, “We have a shark in the fishbowl.”

 

[Lake Lili]

Thanks Kathy!
Lili

 

[ydderf]

thanks Kathy

 

[Kathy in FL]

Chapter 7

Without meaning to Emi dozed. The blood she’d lost from being shot in the arm hadn’t been great but combined with the lack of food and water she’d been experiencing plus the physical stress she had been under for years, her body had given her no choice but to rest or pass out.

She came to as she was being lifted over someone’s shoulder and her instincts kicked in. “Easy there Emi. Kiko is already aboard as are the other girls. It would be a fine repayment to drop you on your head now wouldn’t it?”

“I can climb.”

“Not with that arm.”

“I’ve climbed in worse shape.”

“Not on my boat, now be still or I’ll hoist you with the cargo.”

Emi almost said, “Well that’s what I am isn’t it?” But she managed to stop herself before it came out. She was getting too comfortable with Kiko and this man. She’d made a similar mistake before and had vowed never to make it again.

It took less time than she expected but instead of putting her down he kept carrying her like a sack of salvage down a darkened passageway and into a cabin where he sat her carefully in a chair. Getting her first glimpse of where she was at had her rushing the door but he got in front of her and in the process of stopping her grabbed her injured arm. Emi’s knees buckled and the Captain cursed. “Holy hell girl you make me act like an idiot. Stop fighting and let me look and see what I’ve done.”

“Don’t touch me.”

“It’s me or Ernie and frankly after what I saw both of us will be happier if it’s me. I’ve had him on my crew for two seasons and this is the first hint that he’s a sadist.”

In spite of her continued distrust she took a chance and asked, “Have you ever had women aboard before? Are you normally at sea this long?”

“At sea yes. Women on board no. You saying he can normally keep it in check long enough to go ashore and … whatever the hell he does to keep it tamped down?”

“Don’t ask me, he’s your crewman.”

“That he is which is why you are here and those other gals are securely locked up with Kiko and Miguel taking turns as a guard.”

“Oh Kiko’s gonna love that. He can barely stand to be around them as it is, now you’ve got him locked in with them. Is this boat ride to hell going to take very long?”

The Captain smiled grimly, “Long enough. But the other spaces are being used for something else. Now, sit down and stay sat. I’ve got to get topside and I want to make sure you understand the rules.”

Without him saying another word Emi sing-songed, “Don’t come out of the cabin. Don’t mess with nothing in the cabin. Don’t let anyone into the cabin. Yada, yada, yada.”

The Captain looked her over. “You have been at sea with men before.”

“Fishing fleet. Mostly I was kept below deck to deal with the catch as it was brought in. When I wasn’t working I was locked in … for my own protection of course.”

He snorted. “Of course.” Then he sighed. “There’s water in that barrel over there. Drink what you want then climb in the bunk and try and rest. And Emi … same rules apply as Kiko had … and I’ll handle you the same. Understand?”

“I feel all kinds of special.”

The Captain shook his head at her bravado and then left, locking Emi in. It was only after she was sure that he was gone and she was alone that she slid to the floor. If it hadn’t meant evidence of how weak she was feeling she would have puked but she controlled the nausea with slow, deep breaths. Once she knew she wouldn’t vomit she crawled over to the cask and used the attached cup to get some water, the first she’d had in almost twenty-four hours. She slid back into unconsciousness after her second cupful.

Sometime later Emi vaguely registered voices. “Tol’ you she was a stubborn one. Crazy Chiquita. Falling asleep on the floor when there is a perfectly good bed. You sure about this Nate? Dora ain’t gonna to be happy.”

“And she had nothing to say about you bringing home some strange woman for Tony?”

“Eh, she made noise. But not the kinda noise she gonna make when she finds out her little brother done took that strange woman from Tony.”

“I’m not taking her from him. He went off on his own and got one before you could bring this one back. Not my problem if he’s gonna learn a hard lesson from it. Tony’s loss is my gain.” Softly he said, “I want her.”

Kiko snorted. “You might want her, but something tells me that it ain’t gonna be that easy. You for sure about this?”

“What’s the problem? You were going to give her to Tony.”

“She would have made a man of him. And if she couldn’t she would have at least taken good care of any bebes they had.”

“I’m still not seeing the problem. If you think it’s ok for your brother what makes you think it isn’t ok for me?”

“She reminds me of Gina … before that el cabron broke her.”

“No. She’s not like Gina.”

“You saying Gina wasn’t this stubborn?”

“Of course she was … and worse … and for no good reason at the time. Emi … she’s stubborn … but she knows when to step back and see how the wind blows. Gina was … she turned greedy and brittle. Emi … from what I’ve seen, she’s flexible … and willing to … well, she don’t trust but she’s willing to … to …”

Sounding a little confused Kiko said, “Yeah. Don’t know what to call it myself. You just be careful. I’m thinking now that she could have killed me at any point but for her own reasons held back and didn’t. She didn’t leave me when I told her to either. Strange, crazy chica.” Then he laughed. “But for now I’d be more concerned with coming up with a good story for your Hermana. She is definitely going to expect some reason for your crazy. I’m going back to give Miguel a break. Them girls are all batty … except for that one hen. She at least knows when to shut up. And she ain’t bad at sewing people up so I’m gonna have her change this bandage … that Ernie tied it too damn tight.”

After Kiko left she felt a sheet being pulled off her. Emi’s mouth was dry and she could barely swallow. If she’d had more wet in her mouth she would have spit in his face.

“How long you been listening?”

In a hoarse voice Emi snarled, “Long enough. I’ll fight. I’m not some two-bit whore to …”

“Whoa Emi. Before you go off half-cocked let’s see if we can swing a deal here.”

Misunderstanding she edged away from the large man in front of her and snarled, “I told you I’m no whore. Sure not a dock whore to be paid to …”

Nate sighed. “When you are finished jumping to conclusions and are willing to listen, we’ll talk.” He walked over to a desk buried under several account books and ledgers and sat down. “And get that look off your face. You may imagine you hate me right now, but you’ve got more sense than to stab me in the back. You’ll never get off this boat in one piece if you do.”

Emi was well aware of the precariousness of her position but she also knew she had the patience to wait the man out. Or she thought she did. The rocking of the boat put her to sleep, a true one this time.

 

[Kathy in FL]

Chapter 8

“C’mon Emi … wake up and drink. I don’t want to see you dead now that I’ve found someone like you. C’mon girl. Don’t make me have to get Ernie in here. You don’t want that.”

“Cabron,” Emi growled even more hoarse than before. It wasn’t being woken that caused her to curse Nate but the fact that she woke to find she was naked beneath the sheet that covered her.

“That’s not what my baptismal record says,” Nate said. His words were threaded through with relief and humor to try and hide it. “Now drink this.”

Still fighting – what she wasn’t sure of – Nate finally took a sip of what he held then made a face. “Yeah, it tastes like crap but it isn’t drugged. See?” He even licked his lips. “Now drink before I pour it down you.”

The first taste finally made it passed Emi’s lips startling her. “Wha … what’s this?”

Nate snorted. “Some kind of sports drink. Got it on the last salvage run and its worth its weight in gold so don’t spill it.”

Emi sat up with as little of Nate’s help as she could get away with. She kept the sheet up with one hand while she held the cup carefully with the other and tried to take stock. She was definitely nude but she didn’t feel like she’d been messed with. In fact she felt … clean, like someone had bathed her. That was nearly as embarrassing as being nude was.

Nate surprisingly realized he could read her as well as he’d once read Gina and that fact worried him. “You going to sit there and drink that?”

“No. I’m going to run screaming up the passageway to the deck and then throw myself overboard ‘cause you scare me so bad with your pretty face.”

Nate shook his head. “Kiko said once you started talking you could have a mouth.”

Emi shut up and decided to just sip the drink in her hand but apparently that irritated Nate as much as her talking had. He stomped over to his desk and sat down in the chair and tried to focus on the inventory. The silence stretched and finally he sighed before saying. “We’ll make port in the morning.”

Emi didn’t say anything, just looked at him through the hair that had fallen across her eyes.

“You got a choice to make.”

She responded, “Life’s full of choices.”

“That it is but not all of them are as important as this one. You willing to listen?”

Emi shrugged, favoring the arm that wasn’t nearly as sore as it should have been. She looked at it and then looked at Nate and asked, “What did you put on it?”

“Noticed that did you? Topical analgesic … a strong one. Won’t last much longer, especially if you start moving around, but there’s enough to get you through another day or two … and you can have it no matter what your decision winds up being. Call it … call it an act of good faith.”

“You a priest as well as a boat captain?”

Nate shook his head. “Not these days.”

“Huh?”

Smiling at the fact that he’d finally caught her off guard he told her, “I was in seminary before the Donner Virus hit. I realized real quick I wasn’t cut out for the calling my parents had wanted for me.”

Emi struggled to see the man before her as anything other than what she knew of him. She shook her head. “You, a priest. That’s Twilight Zone stuff.”

“Don’t worry about it. It was a lifetime ago … but don’t think I’m an easy mark just because once upon a time I was a dumb kid that didn’t know my mind.”

“No. No you aren’t a dumb kid.” Her eyes got a little distant as she added, “You probably weren’t one then either. We just do crazy things to make our parents happy whether they are still around to see it or not.”

She shook her head and refocused but she still caught the sharp look that Nate gave her. But he didn’t comment on it. “You got some decisions to make,” he told her.

“You keep saying that.”

“Yeah.”

“But I’m not seeing it.”

“Then listen up and I mean listen. Don’t just hear what you want or make crap up with your imagination.”

Emi nodded cautiously.

“You got any idea what Kiko was doing or did he not explain?”

“I’m not stupido and what Kiko didn’t say the other guys in the crew did. They came from an area where there aren’t a lot of unclaimed females. It wasn’t a problem until about two years ago when the teenage boys started coming of age and wanted what they wanted. But the area is run pretty tight by the Church. No whorehouses and even if a woman was inclined to … accommodate … more than one man the elders have enough power to enforce their morality on everyone else, or so it looks on the surface. Last year some fever went through the area and took out even more and it happened when most of the young men were out with the fishing fleets or off working the cane fields which means the fever took out more females than males and made things even more imbalanced. The lack of female companionship was starting to cause feuds between families. The Elders finally ‘against their better judgment’ decided to finance an excursion to the border to see if women wanted to return with them to get away from the hot spots. Only most of that is crap.”

“Maybe. How do you see it?”

“The men that went with Kiko were mostly young with no family to back them; what the old men would call cannon fodder. Probably they were the worst of the troublemakers stirring up most of the crap, complaining about the unfairness of the haves and have nots. And just finding women willing to go with a stranger ain’t really gonna happen either. Besides, no one wants a woman that has been living near the hot spots out where they went trolling for females. The fallout wasn’t as bad as everyone predicted but there are still going to be long term health issues … and maybe making babies ain’t gonna be so easy. Maybe Kiko and his crew knew that heading out or they found it out by word of mouth once they’d gotten out and about. Either way, they never went very far south, just bought most of us from the different militias that run those territories.”

“Kiko says you’re Honduran.”

“Half. Long story.”

“Got it from Kiko already. Did you cross the border before or after the bomb in Mexico City?”

“I was in Chihuahua when we got the news.”

“What did you do?”

“Kept walking. If I was going to die I figure at least I could die free on the other side of the fence.”

“Did you?”

“Die?”

“Watch the sass.”

Emi sighed. “Life sucks and then you die. Life has dished out plenty of suckage but I ain’t dead yet. Might be tomorrow, might not … but the suckage remains constant so I don’t normally let it stop me too much.”

“Perhaps.” Nate looked at her for a full minute and couldn’t shake Emi’s silence. “Don’t you want to know what the decision is?” he asked in frustration.

“You’re the man, you’ll get around to telling me sooner or later.”

“Kiko wanted you for Tony.” When she didn’t react he said, “You don’t want to know who Tony is?”

“Don’t matter who Tony is because apparently Tony don’t want me.”

A small but definitely wicked grin bloomed on Nate’s face. “I have a feeling he’s going to change his tune real quick.”

“That doesn’t matter either. I don’t want him.”

“You sure?”

“I could say a lot to that but …”

“But?”

Emi suddenly tired of it all. “I got an idea how this was supposed to work. Kiko was to bring back a couple of dozen willing girls. He’s barely bringing back a dozen and we all look like we aren’t fit for much more than …” She stopped and shook her head. “We are going on the auction block … at least the ones of us that hadn’t been claimed already. No one left to claim us so it’s the auction block for all of us. It’s the only way the financers of the trip get their money back … only they aren’t really. No way they can. So they’ll look the other way and let some outsiders in, especially now that the men who stayed behind went off on their own.” What Emi didn’t say is that these outsiders would more than likely be slavers looking for fresh girls for their traveling whore shows.

Nate realized the girl before him was perhaps a lot smarter than she let on, certainly smarter than Gina had been about such things. “So you going to just go like a lamb to the slaughter?”

“Depends.”

“On what?”

“This choice you saying I got that you are taking freaking forever to get around to explaining.”

Nate growled, “I’m going to swat your behind.”

“Depends.”

“Depends?!”

“On this choice you say I got.”

Nate stopped short and thought to himself, “This girl is very, very smart.”

 

[ydderf]

Thanks Kathy

 

[Lake Lili]

Thanks Kathy!
Lili

 

[Kathy in FL]

Chapter 9

“I need a woman.”

“Says the priest.”

“Never finished taking my vows Emi.”

“So you want a woman for the same reason every man wants a woman; to use for his own.”

“Partly,” Nate admitted. “Partly ‘cause … look … dammit.”

Suddenly Emi was interested. “You hiding something you don’t want other men to know?”

Nate looked at her and nearly reached over to give her the promised spanking. “That mouth is going to get you in trouble.”

“So what else is new? Spit it out Captain …”

“Nate. Call me Nate. After this run I’m done with the Captain business … at least for a while. I got other responsibilities.”

Emi grew cautious again. “Like I said, spit it out and get to the point … Nate.”

Nate nodded, acknowledging that she’d done as he’d asked. “I got kids. My sister-in-law has been raising them but … it ain’t good no more.”

“Kiko’s wife?”

“No. My wife’s – ex-wife’s – sister; her name is Arden. She’s finally decided to take her vows … she’s always wanted to be a nun but kept putting it off to take care of family stuff. Then the convent wasn’t taking novitiates for a while. Now they are and she can’t go with kids in tow. And … and it’s just time is all. If I don’t Arden said she’ll give them over to Gina and I ain’t gonna let that happen.” The fury and other emotions Emi saw made her very cautious in her response.

“So you don’t just need a woman for your bed.”

Curtly he answered, “No.”

“What have I got to work with?”

“Huh?”

“Look, say I’m willing to … to be this thing that men seem to need to keep them sane. But what do I have to work with? You might not be thinking beyond rolling around in the bed and filling your belly when you get hungry but you tell me I’m gonna be taking care of your kids … how many kids? And on a boat? Up a tree? Gimme a clue what I got to work with.”

With the initial explanation out of the way and the business portion reached Nate became much more relaxed. “I got a house. A good one but it needs work. Got some land around it. Used to be a nursery … the plant and tree kind with an attached orange grove … and as far as I can tell all it needs is some elbow grease and a garden to grow what we don’t get from the market. Got a couple of animals bred off the ones that have been certified DV immune. So far the immunity breeds true. Arden lives in the house with the kids and I hired caretakers to do the rest but she ain’t the housefrau type and the caretakers are mostly for security so the place … like I said it needs work. I want to make it better than just livable. There’s a building where my land meets the crossroads that will make a good layover point. The land also has waterfront to it which is a plus. I need to get in, get set up right, before I miss the opportunity. There’s already a couple of other businesses going in but so far nothing that looks like what I have in mind.”

Emi had closed her eyes and Nate almost thought she had dozed off before her eyes opened with that same strange look in them he’d seen a couple of times. It didn’t seem to match her next statement so he didn’t know what to make of it or if he needed to make anything of it. “No whores.”

Nate’s automatic response was, “No whoring.”

Emi’s gaze snapped into focus and Nate felt like she was looking deep into places he hadn’t meant for her to see. But all she said was, “Agreed.”

“So you’re agreeing to the deal?”

“I haven’t heard a deal. I simply agreed to no whoring … which I won’t do whether I go on the block or not. Whoever buys me will learn that the easy way or the hard way. Doesn’t really matter to me.”

Nate nodded and then said, “Then here is your bargain. You agree to come with me … be willing … not cause problems … take care of the kids good enough they don’t turn into heathens or kill themselves … and in exchange you’ll get a roof over your head, my name and protection, and a cut of the business for in case something happens to me.”

“How do I know you won’t change your mind and decide to sell me on the block when you find something you like better?”

“That’s not my way but if you need it in writing we can do it that way.”

Emi just sat there looking at him for a moment before nodding slowly. “You put that part in writing then … then I’ll agree to the rest of it. And … and in exchange … I’ll say that if I break my word that I forfeit all of it and … and you can sell me on the block and I ain’t got no say over it.”

Nate looked at her hard. “Regardless of what you think, I’m no trafficker. If Kiko was in better shape he and me would be having some words over you girls but …”

“But he ain’t.” Then against her better judgment Emi asked, “How is he?”

“He’ll live … at least he will long enough for my sister to get ahold of him. But that’s his business. You don’t need to be paying attention to Kiko.”

“I ain’t paying attention to him the way you think. He took a bullet trying to get us outta that place in one piece when he could have easy left us behind for those pirates. He didn’t. That’s worth … something. At least worth asking if he is gonna make it whole and in one piece. For a while there I wondered.”

Nate relaxed and leaned back in his chair. “So we doing this?”

Emi sighed and nodded but then asked, “What’s the duration of this deal? Just until your kids get old enough?”

“Permanent.”

It took a moment for Emi to process his answer. “Naw, you’re trying to play me.”

“There’s a priest meeting us at the docking point with papers.”

“You’re definitely playing me. No way you had this figured out.”

Nate shook his head. “Prearranged. The papers are blank, to be filled in by a priest and then logged with the diocese to make it all legal. It was the only way to keep some in the community from getting bent out of shape.”

“They sure gonna be bent when they find out Kiko is the only man to return.”

“Not really. The ones that he’d taken with him were … as you say.”

When Nate trailed off Emi nodded, “Yeah, they were.”

With more explanation Nate said, “You were correct. None of the ones that left have family. They were all single men that wouldn’t have been able to afford a woman of their own any other way.”

Emi filed that bit of information just in case it wasn’t quite as true as Nate thought it. Then she asked, “If Kiko is such a good guy I don’t see him hanging with that crew.”

“Because Kiko wasn’t always such a good guy but apparently he took one look at my sister when they were in quarantine together and poof, the big bad wolf lost his teeth.”

“No. He didn’t. But it explains why the closer he got to going back he … he changed. I think that is what Dern and his crowd were waiting on to some extent.”

“Had a run in with Dern did you?”

“I killed Dern.”

“What?!”

“Guess Kiko didn’t tell that part.” She gave a brief explanation then asked, “Does that break the deal?”

“Hell no. If anything, it makes me want it more. Dern was a cretin and should have been chased down the road a long time ago. He brought too many shady characters in that tried to cause problems we didn’t need. Our community is fairly stable but it’s not Disney freaking World. And the business I aim to go into isn’t without its risks. I need a woman that won’t faint at the sight of blood and who will cover my back if need be.”

Slowly Emi said, “No. I ain’t the kind of mujer who faints. Seen too much.” To change the subject she asked, “Kiko really got kids?”

“You looking to take m’ sister’s place?” he asked snidely.

“Don’t be an ass Gringo. That tune is wearing thin already. When I make a deal I keep my word and expect you to do the same. Little kids … just … haven’t seen all that many and you know why. But you say you got some and he got some. Strange to hear it. He needs a kick in the head for leaving them to go off on some woman hunt. Crazies could have followed them home.” She almost included him in need of a kick but knew enough to keep her counsel on that particular opinion.

Nate said, “My sister said the same thing.”

“Good for her. She sounds like she’s got more sense that he does.” Then under her breath she mumbled, “Giving me that letter to carry it back like I’m some kinda damn mensajero de la muerta. Like I’d just drop everything and …”

With some curiosity Nate asked her, “What were your plans for your life before getting caught by the militia?”

Emi got a blank look in her eyes. “To take it one day at a time until I died.”

Not quite believing her line he said, “Not much of a plan.”

“Not much of a life … still better than what I left behind.”

“Is that why you are jumping at this deal to take my name?”

“Don’t flatter yourself. It don’t have nothing to do with you or your name. Just I’ve got two choices. Your offer, or a sure ride to someone expecting to make a living off of me on my back.” Emi couldn’t hide her distaste of the idea of going on the block. “I got some pride left. Maybe not a lot but some.”

Nate looked troubled for a brief moment then nodded as if he was making the final commitment to what started out as a crazy half-baked idea. He would have said something but there was a knock on the door and then a voice saying, “Captain! You ain’t gonna believe this!”

 

[Kathy in FL]

Chapter 10

“A cruise ship?!” Kiko asked incredulously after taking the view in. “Gotta be a trap Nate.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. There’s still quite a few ships on the List of the Lost. One or two get found and salvaged a few times a year.”

Emi was on deck with the others. Nate didn’t object but he did tell her to stay close. And she was more than willing after getting another look at Ernie. She was beginning to get an idea she didn’t like. She whispered so that only Nate and Kiko heard her. “Put a tag on Ernie.”

“You see something?” Nate asked back just as carefully.

“His mask is slipping. Reminds me how people would get right before DV went stage 4.”

Both men stiffened but luckily everyone assumed it was from being tense about the disabled cruise ship they were drifting near. There weren’t that many new cases of human DV these days but it did happen.

One of the men asked to no one specific, “You think it’s already been salvaged?”

Emi could see with her own eyes if it had been salvaged it had been a pretty sloppy job. There were still deck chairs visible and sheets hanging from some of the balconies.

Suddenly Emi felt or maybe had seen something only her brain registered and grabbed Nate’s arm. “Don’t go any closer. Move …”

But it was too late. Some of the crew, in their eagerness for one last salvage, had ignored Nate’s orders and had taken the boat too close.

“Jumper!” someone yelled right before a body crashed onto their deck.

Several more followed that one and there was a deadly fight as Donner Virus infected crazies tried to swamp the smaller vessel. Emi heard a scream of both pain and anger and turned towards the passageway that led to the cabin where the women were still locked in. Or were supposed to be locked in. She sprinted that direction but then skidded to a halt when she saw the door standing open and heard Barb screaming, “You sick ****!”

Earlier, Nate hadn’t said a word as she got dressed though he’d had to have found all of the knives and shivs she’d had hidden. Which was a good thing as she pulled her last flensing knife and told Barb to move where she’d been trying to pull Ernie off one of the weaker girls. She opened his throat before he could open the girl’s gut with his own knife.

Barb was screaming curses as she asked, “What the hell is going on?”

“Someone let their greed get ahead of their commonsense. Pulled in too close to a cruise ship that still has some live crazies on it.”

“That I figured out from watching out the porthole. I’m talking about that sick **** you just put down.”

“I think he might have been a latent that has been able to hide in plain sight until now. It was all our female pheromones that sent him over the edge. Maybe. Or, he could have just been a sick ****.”

Barb got a feral smile and said, “But your explanation will sound better to a judge so that’s what we’re going with.” The smile disappeared though when fighting could be heard in the passageway. Barb snarled at the girls still whimpering, “Stop being crybabies. Pull your shivs and go down fighting girls.”

Before turning to rejoin the fighting Emi noted that even the weakest among the girls obeyed Barb and took a fighting stance. She told them all, “Shut the door and shove something in front of it. I’ll keep ‘em off as long as I can.”

No one objected or cried for her to stay where it was safer. Life was just that way. But before she left she took Ernie’s side arm and the knife he’d been carrying.

 

[Kathy in FL]

Chapter 11

The passageway was noisy and it was impossible to tell friend from foe in the dark. Not that Emi really had friends but when it came to fighting crazies you’d take what you could get. Her eyes finally adjusted and she saw that the crazies were little more than skin and bones and bloated stomachs beneath their tattered and gore splattered clothing. But they were still crazies and her knives would mean she’d have to get too close. Then on the wall she spied what looked like an old-fashioned whaling harpoon, the kind they used when they’d still had to be thrown by hand by men in small boats. It wasn’t great as a hand-to-hand combat weapon but it would have to do. The weight of the thing surprised her and strained her injured arm but there was no time to look for anything better.

She was shorter than the men and would have to be careful that the crazies didn’t think she was a kid or they’d go into a frenzy. As a crazy would get passed the crew she would do her best to skewer them with the harpoon. If she didn’t get an immediate killing stab she had to take them down, use the knife to slit their throat and then yank the harpoon out so she could get set for the next one.

Finally, the passageway was free of crazies and the men had returned to clearing the deck of those that remained up there. Emi hit the deck just in time to harpoon a crazy that was making a jump for Nate’s back. Then she got knocked backwards and Nate returned the favor, throwing the crazy over the railing before the crazy could throw her. Nate, Kiko, and Emi stood back-to-back trying to exterminate those that were still clever enough to avoid being an easy kill and also deal with the few that continued to crawl onboard.

The battle finally wound down after no more crazies seemed to jump overboard to attack them. The last one had been killed and thrown back into the water where it had climbed up from when Emi spotted fins in the water. “Nate?”

“I see ‘em,” he responded more calmly than some of the crew did after they too spotted the large predators making their way into the area. He gave directions for his men to hurry up and throw the remaining bodies over the rail while others rinsed the deck of standing blood and gore and then to pull back slowly and carefully from the feeding frenzy that was just beginning.

Emi saw some of the men shudder and many draw the sign of the cross or some superstition ward against evil but they did as their captain ordered. Everyone remained silent and that’s when Emi thought to check on the women and make sure they stayed silent. She didn’t need to warn them; they had seen what was going on. Even Barb looked thoroughly freaked out. Emi calmed them and said that the large predators would be at it for a while but as long as nothing else attracted their attention they would move off quickly when they finished doing what the DV in their brains demanded of them. They’d probably go cannibal on some of their own as well, knocking their numbers back.

Emi had seen it before a few times but never with this many bodies in the water. She returned topside and stared but something in her face gave her away. Kiko whispered, “No surprise?”

“No.”

Nate jerked his head for her to come forward and Emi left Kiko as he was helped below decks so he could have his leg examined.

“Did you do for Ernie?”

Slowly she nodded. “He went after one of the girls and Barb wasn’t strong enough to pull him off.”

“Rape?”

She snorted. “Un Latante. He was biting and licking his own lips so hard he drew blood.”

Nate nodded. “Miguel saw. Just wanted your side of it. Miguel didn’t care for Ernie, never had, but I thought it was a … a color thing. Ernie wasn’t obvious but he wasn’t happy when I promoted Miguel as my second instead of him.” After a pause he said, “Miguel said this is also his last voyage. He’s going to stay closer to home, help his brothers with their place. He might be looking to take one of the girls and maybe another one for his little brother.”

Emi said nothing. You learned to not get involved in other people’s business. But she did file the information away.

They both watched the water foam red where the sharks were stirring it up and going their own version of crazy. Nate said, “You seen this before.”

“Yeah. Not quite this much chum.”

“Chum? Those were men.”

“Were. They were also loco como el infierno. Do I really need to explain how they’ve survived five years or more on a ship in the middle of the Gulf?” At the look on his face she said, “I didn’t think so. They weren’t men anymore, not as most people think of them. From the look of them they’ve been cannibalizing their own population for quite a while.”

He looked at her sharply from the corner of his eye. “Cannibalizing their own population? Where did that come from?”

“One of the ways I made enough to get me across the border was as a Nest Destroyer.”

Under his breath Nathan muttered a sharp curse. “Don’t let that out. My men are on the ragged edge as it is.”

“Don’t plan on it. But if you’re going to get that green around the gills perhaps you want to rethink your deal before it gets written …”

“No,” he snapped. “You aren’t getting away that easy. Does Kiko know?”

“Nope,” Emi said with a bit of dark humor twisting her lips. “If you think your crew is superstitious you should have heard some of the historias de fantasmas his crew would tell each other at night. Stupido. There’s enough real scary in the world without making crap up like that.”

“That there is,” Nate said as they continued to watch nature’s horror show playing in front of them. “That there certainly is.”

 

[Kathy in FL]

Chapter 12

"So tell me, since it looks like we have a little time to kill, where did you see this kind of feeding frenzy.”

Emi sat on the spindle of thick wire that had been lashed down near the pilot house. Her arm was beginning to get sore again and she fought to ignore it.

“Nah. There’s enough sad stories floating around.”

“Emi …”

She looked to find that for some reason she had irritated Nate. She thought for a moment but couldn’t figure out why. Finally, she figured if she was committed to the deal with Nate telling some of her past wasn’t going to hurt.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Taking a deep breath she tried to distance herself from the telling, like it was someone else it all happened to and not her. “Most of my family went in the first wave of the Donner Virus, before it even had its name because it hadn’t mutated yet. Then so the story goes some idiot tried an experimental vaccine meant for ebola on a ward full of sick people thinking, like everyone else did at the time, that it was a mutation of a hemorrhagic fever. Well whether it was or wasn’t the vaccine definitely caused some kind of mutation. Instead of bleeding out the vaccine caused the sick to crave blood … like human hematophagy or vampirism only it was mixed up with some kind of rage psychosis. Then the virus became further mutated and airborne allowing animals to become infected as well. And the world was forever changed. First humans, then the animals biologically similar to humans, then those that were friends to humans. Once it crossed the species barrier … blah, blah, blah.”

Thinking that Emi hid her smarts well he simply nodded and said, “Pretty much how I heard it as well.”

“Yeah well, that’s the big picture. Everyone has their own little picture. Mine is that after the second wave was gotten under control I was an orphan with next to no family. What there was wouldn’t take me ‘cause they had issues of their own they were dealing with. Resources were getting scarce and the judge that handled my case thought he was doing a good deed by evacuating me out of the country to my mother’s family. Due to border control Honduras hadn’t really seen but a handful of cases of DV at that point and only one case of human DV. What the judge didn’t know was that the social system in Honduras hadn’t warned my mother’s family that I was coming and that on top of that I was a girl. I wasn’t exactly welcomed with open arms – there had been some kind of big blow up between my grandfather and his brother’s kids. Then when they found out that the probate was likely to be held up for years and they’d never see anything … it got … interesting. Then the third wave started popping up in a lot of countries around the same time but not in Honduras and their immediate neighbors because of some freak phenomena where Central America avoided the worst of it … or so they thought. The governments there were trying to leverage what they called a Gift from God and looked at foreigners with a lot of suspicion. It created some problems.”

“Some?”

“OK, a lot of problems. For a while the family ‘hid me’ by putting me to work on a boat of a friend of theirs. Lecherous old goat. The old cabron gave my pay directly to my mother’s cousin’s wife and I never saw a dime. I would no sooner walk down the gang plank than I’d be hustled to another boat and sent out again.”

“That’s a brutal life for a girl. How old were you?”

Ignoring the age question, and Nate knew it was intentional, Emi said, “They needed the money. Several young men in their neighborhood got drafted to protect the borders, three of whom were sons in the familia. Then one time I came in and within a couple of days, several of the children in the family showed DV-positive on a government test that had been administered at their school; they were taken away and euthanized even before their parents were notified. I got blamed despite it being impossible as I’d been out on the boat longer than the longest incubation period. I’m pretty sure that it was actually my cousin’s wife who brought it in from going to the market. Turns out DV had been hiding out in the jungle and meats and stuff brought in was infected. I heard later that she’d been acting strange for a while … running to the priest with nightmares, seeing ‘visions’, refusing to eat. You know the symptoms of the slow burn in the third wave mutations. But like I said, that was later. After I’d learned to survive on the street where they’d thrown me.”

“How old were you?”

Again Emi ignored him. “Getting thrown out of the house wasn’t that unusual in that neighborhood. It was a common threat that was just as often employed as a control. I learned quick by watching some of the other gente de la calle. The street people. It didn’t take long for the shock to wear off and reality to set in. I wouldn’t be allowed back as some were, so I decided that if my life was going to be short, I’d spend the rest of it trying to get back home. First though I had to get across the border. I did everything but sell drugs and whore to pay my way north. I had made it as far as Chihuahua before Mexico City blew. It was a mess with as many fleeing south as were fleeing north. If people weren’t losing their minds before they certainly were shortly after it was confirmed that the explosion had been nuclear. I got caught up in a scramble for resources … food, water, you name it. It was all guns and knives and then DV broke out in the desert camps and it became teeth and blood. Me and some people I had been travelling with escaped with what we could and eventually got to the border and across it … only to have some of them fall for a baited trap. Don’t know if it was set by the coyotes, cartels, or militia but that’s how I wound up under the thumb of the militia and from there being bought by Kiko and his crew.”

It was pretty obvious that Nate was going to ask another question but everyone’s attention was caught as they rounded the cruise ship’s aft and found another vessel tied off and one of the hatches on the cruise ship opened.

 

[ydderf]

Thanks Kathy

 

[Kathy in FL]

Chapter 13

Nate carefully pulled up alongside the vessel and then sent a couple of men over to check and see if there was anyone aboard after there had been no response to their attempt at communication. The men reported back, “It’s a salvage vessel. Still has plenty of fuel and it was shut down properly but there’s evidence of blood on the deck that has been partially washed off and lots of blood inside the bridge that hasn’t. No bodies though.”

Miguel handed Nate the ship’s log that revealed they had only docked two days earlier and that four men that had gone on board had failed to call in. The captain had suspected they were running loose trying to find small but high value salvage before turning anything over as those same four men had done that before.

Emi rolled her eyes, at the stupidity of the crew of the abandoned ship and at some of Nate’s crew. If they were too stupid to think the obvious then she wasn’t going to bother enlightening them.

There was a brief discussion. Some of the men wanted to salvage and some definitely did not. Nate, knowing the men as he did say, “You’ve got two hours to salvage unless we run into trouble. You know the drill compadres, you turn over everything you find and it gets split by percentage. I catch you holding back and you get nothing. At the end of the two hours it is straight back and we take off fifteen minutes later with or without you.”

Emi looked at Nate like he had suddenly developed crazy but she didn’t say a word.

Nate noted it and explained. “Deal fell through that was gonna pay for this little outing. They were already griping after having to leave the salvage behind in Galveston. They know this is my last time out. Regular jobs aren’t all that easy to come by, especially good paying regular jobs. They can’t afford to come home empty handed on this last voyage any more than I can.”

“I can see that. And have seen it before when a ship wouldn’t get enough catch to make it worth leaving port. I’m talking about these that are refusing to board the liner. You really gonna trust them to still be here in two hours?”

“No. Which is why Kiko and I are staying here.”

“But I thought you said …”

“Thems just the breaks.”

Emi looked at the large ship then back at Nate, then at the ship again. “OK. Two hours. Where do you want me to look first?”

“You? Now wait just a minute …”

Kiko had come back on deck and said, “It’s a good idea. She can take care of herself but I’d put her with someone all the same. Especially with that arm that is going to limit how much she can carry.”

Nate chewed his lip for a moment then nodded. It was decided that they would go aboard the liner in teams and each team would have a communication device. The teams would break down into those that were willing to investigate the interior of the ship, those willing to at least go as far as the exterior passageways and decks. Those that would only go as far as the exterior passages and the decks would collect what the salvagers would put out there for them. They would then transport the salvage down to the open hatch and the men remaining on board would start stowing the salvage on both vessels.

Emi was teamed up with a younger crewman named Alfredo who immediately took some pretty good ribbing. Already determined to prove his manhood to his crewmates, this only caused him to act like a bigger jackass. As soon as he was out of sight of Nate he left Emi, taking the communicator with him. Nate believed in covering his bases, or knew what could happen, and he’d slipped her her own communicator with none of the other men the wiser.

Actually Emi preferred working alone. First she hit the bridge and captain’s quarters as requested but found nothing worth anything, both having been cleaned out before she got there, by other salvagers or perhaps even during its initial infection stage. There weren’t any lifeboats on board so anything was possible. She did find a competition style rifle in the security chief’s quarters along with the ammo for it that looked like it had been confiscated if she read the tags right. She decided to re-confiscate it for her own and slung it over her shoulder after loading it. She’d learned during the Second Wave that empty guns were just fancy clubs and since she’d also found a blackjack that she attached to her waist band, another club she didn’t need. She also grabbed a wind up flashlight that wasn’t corroded beyond good use. And a good thing she did because the enclosed decks were dark.

With only two hours … now more like 90 minutes … Emi started looking for high value items rather than something that a crew with more time would salvage. She used the handy wall map and headed for the medical bay, picking up a pile of those eco-friendly bags from one of the fancy stores on board. Most of the items in the medicine cabinet had all gone over but there were still enough small items that could be sterilized that she made a couple of bags of that and put some in her own backpack. The two bags she dropped off in the agreed upon corridor and she continued salvaging sector by sector.

Emi was deep into the bowels of the ship when she ran into fire doors that were sealed and taped off though it looked like someone had tried to break into them. She suddenly got a good idea of what had happened to stir up the crazies on board. Unwilling to breach such a blockade and risk reigniting trouble if there were more crazies on board, she began to return topside since the time was running out. She’d put down how quiet the radio had gotten to her location but it remained silent all the way to the rendezvous deck. And that’s where she saw several of the men hiding and mumbling something about waiting until they saw who won. Emi took one look and silently growled, “Idiotas.”

It took only a moment to level the rifle she’d found and use the laser sight to blow the head off of the man who had been holding a gun on Nate and yelling orders to those around him. She hadn’t expected the kick and the stock nearly made her scream as it tore open the wound in her arm. Still, she managed a quick body shot to the one near Kiko that had simply looked at suddenly decapitated corpse that hadn’t even begun to fall yet. The women, who’d been brought topside and obviously gotten slapped around a bit, practically tore a third man apart leaving no doubt that he’d been part of the mutiny too.

 

[Kathy in FL]

Chapter 14

There was a fourth man who had been part of the mutiny who’d had control of the engine room. He’d been captured, executed, and dumped overboard within moments of the deaths of the others. No one likes a mutineer and the law of the sea ruled. An hour later all the salvage was stowed aboard the two boats and they were back underway, the large salvage boat being piloted by Miguel, Nate’s loyal and experienced second in command. Crewing two boats left both shorthanded but it was doable.

Nate was furious at the disloyalty and waste … of time, manpower, and resources. When they had still been tied up to the liner Alfredo and the other men kept waiting for Emi to report them but she didn’t, not even when asked a direct question by Nate in front of the other crewmembers. Instead she suddenly threw a knife at a stray crazy that had grabbed the railing right behind Alfredo. She walked over, pulled the knife out of the corpse’s eye and then used her foot to push it off the deck and into the water where it disappeared below the surface almost immediately. The fact that something large and torpedo shaped helped it to disappear wasn’t missed by many.

“You really should watch your back Alfredo. You never know what might happen if you keep being this … careless.” Nate and Kiko took note of Alfredo’s sudden pallor but know they can’t afford to lose one more man if they hope to make it back to port.

After they had been underway and the sun started to set Nate guided Emi back to his cabin. “You done showing you’ve got bolas de laton?”

“You sound like a gringo.”

He shook his head as he gently pushed her into a chair. “That’s because I am one. You gonna let me look at that arm.”

It wasn’t a question but an order. Still Emi tried to tough it out. “I’m fine. Just …”

“You aren’t fine. You’re warm to the touch … low grade fever and possibly an infection setting in.”

Emi, too tired to fight which is a very odd sensation on her part, capitulated. Since she doesn’t give him any trouble Nate is able to clean and redress her arm quickly. But then he starts on a lecture that looks like it was going to last a while and included nonsense about how it hadn’t been necessary for her to put herself at risk like she had and what did she think she was doing as he was perfectly capable of handling the situation. She snaps, “You ain’t getting out of the deal now that you’ve made it.”

Her words throw Nate off his stride. “Huh? You’re fever must be higher than I thought. Make sense.”

“Don’t play stupido Nate. You die or something then I go on the block.”

He strung her words together and finally understood what she meant. Something goaded him to ask, “Is that the only reason you did it?”

“Be real Gringo,” she called him to egg him on a bit. “You ain’t Prince Charming and the last thing I am is some princesa de cuento de hadas that wants rescuing. But when I make a deal it’s rock solid. So, I covered your back and it came out good. Stop looking for something to bellyache about.”

Nate sighs and knows he should be grateful, but it irritates him all the same. To relieve some of his feelings he gripes, “We’re a day behind schedule. Gonna get a nice chunk of my leg chewed off by the Elders for that.” Then when he saw he wasn’t getting any sympathy he shrugged, “But it hasn’t been totally without recompense. Kiko will use some of his percentage of this salvage run to pacify the Elders.”

To clarify what she was hearing Emi asked, “So Kiko ain’t gonna catch no trouble?”

Again getting irritated Nated snapped, “What do you care?”

“Aside from what we done talked about?” Emi asked reminding him. “I pay my debts and it seems I now owe him for putting me where you’d get curious. And if you really mean for us to go to the church with this …”

“I don’t play those games Emi any more than you. And I keep my word.”

“Fine. But that means making sure Kiko comes back in one piece and no problems will maybe give me something to keep your sister off my back. I don’t figure for an easy time, not even looking for one, but I ain’t above trying to lighten the load that is likely gonna come down on me.”

Again reversing course on his temper Nate ginned and said, “For a fact she isn’t going to know what to make of you.”

“I don’t need her to make anything of me; but if she does I just don’t want her to make me out to be the enemy.”

 

[Kathy in FL]

Chapter 15

Nate had to go back to the bridge and invited Emi to go with him. Emi shrugged her agreement thinking anything was better than being caged up and Nate told himself it was so he could keep an eye on his investment. It didn’t take long however until they were both busy with their own thoughts; Nate with making sure the boat ran smoothly with the trimmed down crew and Emi watching the sky like she was bored. She wasn’t.

Emi had been marking their passage by the stars. She had no sextant but she knew they’d changed headings after leaving the cruise ship and were heading on a more ESE course. Knowing they had left out of Galveston that could only mean the coast of Florida and if she had to guess based on the charts she got a glimpse of, it looked like maybe she was going “home” after all.

Emi dozed off and on through the night to the thoughts of the strange, strange turns her life had taken. She woke up once to find a coat draped over her and another time to find her feet propped up on another chair. That time she cursed softly. Nate who was leaning beside her drinking a cup of strong Cimarron asked quietly, “Your arm hurting?”

“I didn’t wake up.”

He tilted her face up to him and said, “You look awake to me.”

“I mean when you did this. I … I shouldn’t …”

“Relax Emi. You’re run down and tired. You sense you are safe here … with me. Go on sensing that ‘cause it’s true. Rest. I’ll wake you when we sight land.”

Emi snorted and then with as much attitude as she could muster she told him, “You think a whole lot of yourself Gringo.”

Nate said nothing but he did brush the habitually misbehaving hair out of her eyes. “Rest Emi. I’m keeping watch.” Emi snorted her opinion again but did relax and doze back off after only a moment.

Just after daybreak Nate woke Emi as promised when land was sighted. Within two hours they had an armed escort ushering them into port. Still reeling from the sudden fulfillment of a dream she’d never expected to realize, Emi couldn’t decide how she felt so she decided not to feel anything.

The harbor security made a production out of boarding both boats and ordering that all “cargo” remain below deck. Emi curled her lip at the implied slur but did as she was told after seeing the cautious look on Nate’s and Kiko’s faces and the confusion on the faces of some of the crew. Whatever was going on wasn’t the normal procedure.

Going to the cabin with the other women Emi found she wasn’t impressed by the so-called security measures. She looked at Barb and they both silently agreed that what was called security was a bit of a joke. One blaring error was that while they’d made a big show of checking the men for weapons they hadn’t even thought to do the same to Emi or the other women.

Barb asked, “So where have we wound up?”

“Ft. Myers … west coast of Florida,” Emi answered. “But something is off. This ain’t normal if I can believe the looks on the crews’ faces … this being boarded and checked out. Plus, there are too many people on the wharf area. Either safety or security would have them clearing the wharf, not boat by boat when they come in.”

Barb nodded, “And plenty of the people on the wharf look female. Thought they said there was a shortage. No way all of those dressed that way are … you know … travestido.”

Emi shook her head. “They ain’t ... ‘cause if they are they are the prettiest ones I’ve ever seen without makeup.”

Alfredo had come down at Nate’s orders to make sure the women had some kind of protection from any potential “investigation of the cargo.” He overheard their discussion and said, “The new head of security and the Captain have gotten into it before but never quite this bad. Singletary ain’t no nice guy. He gets off on giving everyone a hard time ... on throwing his authority around. But knowing the Captain, he’ll work it out. Singletary is probably looking for a bribe then he’ll look the other way. And this is just port, not home. Home is up the river.”

Barb asked, “What river?”

They were both surprised when it was Emi who answered, “The Caloosahatchee.”

Alfredo then assumed that the Captain had told her and went back to stand by the door but Barb took a look at Emi’s face and said in a whisper, “You know this area.”

“Grew up here.”

“Don’t sound like a happy home-coming.”

Before Emi could form any kind of response there was a knock on the door and the women were directed to head topside for “inspection.” Emi and Barb fell into their previous habit and Emi took point while Barb played shepherd, herding the women in a tight circle to make a smaller target.

A quick glance at Nate and Emi saw he was slightly irritated but not behaving threatened. Kiko was giving off the same vibe. She also took in the fact that there were several men standing as if they were to be recognized as important. Because of that alone she made like she ignored them as if they were nothing. She went to go stand beside Nate but was prevented when one of the guards intentionally jabbed her bandaged covered arm with the butt of his rifle. Emi dropped to one knee and Nate started forward only to have a gun stuck in his face. Emi was ugly angry just that quickly and had all she was taking. She calmly grabs the pant leg of the man that jabbed her and stood up at the same time, essentially causing the man to lose his balance and fall back against the railing and crack his head, nearly going over if some of the crew hadn’t caught him … and in the process disarm him.

Kiko caught her eye and gave a brief shake of his head. Emi stopped her follow through action but only with a great deal of effort. She was breathing heavy and Barb touched her arm making her jump. “You’re bleeding through the bandage.”

After swallowing hard to keep the contents of her stomach from coming up Emi told her, “I’ll live.”

Barb nodded and kept the other women out of any possible repercussions.

It was Nate who growled to the one that looked like he enjoyed being in charge, “Control your men.”

“You don’t have any authority …”

“Someone under my protection …”

“A whore cannot be under your …”

“Watch your mouth Singletary!”

One of the Elders shouted, “Enough! Mr. Singletary the behavior of your man was completely out of bounds. I was assured that everything was all taken care of and now you …”

“They come back with a known gang banger, missing half their crew, in company of a boat that was reported missing two months ago …”

“We have the logs to prove …”

“That don’t prove nothing. It’s your word against …”

There was another fifteen minutes of back and forth but finally Singletary had to back off when he ran out of excuses for hassling Nate after his boss showed up and wanted to know what the problem was. Emi had maneuvered her way around to Nate’s position and Kiko gave her a wink realizing she was covering an angle that would have been difficult for them to defend against had an attack come from that direction. He approved and it made her feel like a child that had gotten a lesson right and a little perverse at the same time because she caught herself feeling like that.

After Singletary and his men reluctantly disembarked the Elders started their own interrogation. Emi tried to listen but it was all she could do to watch for a potential attack while dealing with the pain in her arm. She was reaching the point where she would have to let her discomfort show when Kiko stepped into things, signifying that his word carried some weight in the community regardless of Singletary’s previous remarks.

“Everyone involved knew it was a dangerous venture and signed a statement to that effect before we headed out. There were no guarantees asked for and none given, and don’t try and play like there were. I’m the only one that returned but probably not the only one left alive. Most of the others decided they wanted to do things their own way and took off after they failed to assassinate me. If the others do ever make it back they’ll bare watching but I don’t look for them to get back anytime soon, not with thousands of miles to cross and rumors of another wave of DV starting up around New Orleans. As for the number of women, from what I hear you had your own bit of trouble with young men deciding to go their own way. Instead of placing blame let’s say we broke even. You’ll get your investment back either way.”

“And how is that? You …”

Kiko stepped up to the elders and whispered, “Because Singletary is so dumb he didn’t bother looking below the second layer of boxes down in the hold and some of that was brought back for you.”

Emi saw the men’s expression change and a couple even licked their lips. She’d seen it before. Greedy men willing to look the other direction so long as they gained in the process. She shrugged mentally trying not to care too much since this time it was working to her advantage. But of course now those same men began to try and prove their own high morality.

Addressing Nate one of them said, “You seem … taken … with this particular female.”

Nate, having read the situation correctly simply said, “We need a priest.”

“So you’ll do the right thing?”

“That was the plan all along.”

Emi, sticking her two cents in to nudge them a bit said, “He’s willing to take me off your hands so it doesn’t cut into your profit margin.”

A couple of the men looked angry at her bringing it back up but most of them just looked uncomfortable and trying to deal with their own shameful hypocrisy. Seeing this Emi backed off. Perhaps they weren’t completely without conscience. More words were exchanged but Emi retreated several feet and didn’t hear what was said. She just wanted it done and over with. She looked at the skyline and it was both different and familiar. She didn’t know how much was due to the fact she was so young the last time she’d seen it or if it really was different. It seemed that some of the buildings were missing from the skyline.

There was a commotion at the bottom of the gangway and she could see a priest being helped aboard. When she got a good look at the scar on the side of his face she grew pale. Nate noticed that something had changed and stepped over to Emi. Most wouldn’t have noticed but he himself was having second thoughts and he thought she was getting cold feet as well … but he could tell something else was going on too.

“Emi,” he said trying to get her attention when she didn’t notice him. “Emi? Is the deal going bad?”

She jumped and tried to control the shaking of her hands. “No.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

Then Miguel stepped forward and held out his hand to Barb creating another small bit of drama. Emi looks questions at Barb but she glances away and makes a production out of telling the other young women to be good.

“But Barb …” a couple of them moaned.

“None of that. For pity sake, stiffen your spines and make something of this opportunity. I am. Life is too short to not grab at the gold ring when it gets within reach.” She looks over at Miguel then actually blushes much to Emi’s amusement. Then she shakes her head and laughs like life had just handed her a good joke. Her laughter triggers something in Miguel who up to that moment had been serious to the point of taciturn grumpiness and he slowly smiles showing a gap where an incisor once resided. He too nods and pulls her to stand before the priest to have the age-old words said over them.

The elders look around to find there are some men looking their way with more than mild interest. They quickly move the remaining girls to a bus type of contraption, all the while assuring them that there will be opportunities in the coming days for them too to meet some men from the surrounding communities. Emi didn’t know whether to believe them or not but she wasn’t in a position to question it either, and wasn’t sure she cared. Several of the women had actively worked against her more than once, especially when it had come to not leaving Kiko behind. Emi wasn’t the type to forget something like that.

Still, Nate sensed her mild unease and said, “They’ll fix it. And without having to call an auctioneer. Berto … he was the elder with the handlebar mustache … he said they’ve already gotten several requests for any extra girls to be brought to the matchmakers. There are offers for them even sight unseen.”

“Whatever.”

Nate looked at her sharply but was unable to take the conversation further because Kiko had pointed the priest in their direction. The old man was obviously tired and roasting in his vestments but was all business when he addressed Nate.

“You mean to do this my son? There will be no annulment under these circumstances.”

“I’m not looking for one otherwise I wouldn’t do this to begin with.”

They go through the same motions as Barb and Miguel did only in place of her name and his all the priest said was “man” or “woman”. Then Nate hands the priest a handwritten contract outlining the rest of their agreement. Emi was momentarily surprised that he’d thought to do it but her attention remains riveted on the priest before her.

The old priest pinches up at the crude wording but then sighs and nods. “I’ll need two other witnesses who will sign as well as your full, legal given names and signatures for the church registry.”

Nate told him, “Nathaniel Morris Bale.”

When Emi didn’t immediately say anything the priest showed some irritation at wasted time when he asked, “And yours?”

Slowly she answered, “Noemi … Sophia … Marlena … Jensen.”

The priest is in the process of writing it out when his hands start to shake. He drops the pen and truly looks at Emi for the first time. His eyes widen and the clipboard he was holding followed the pen. The priest himself nearly winds up sitting on the deck and would have if a crewman hadn’t automatically reached over to balance him.

Emi stiffens her spine at the shock and disbelief she sees on the old man’s face. “Relax Uncle Roger. I’m not here to ask anything of you. I certainly don’t expect you to claim me as family. You and your buddy the judge made sure I got a good education in how to take care of myself. Just do what you gotta and we’ll be out of your hair. You’re obviously still a very busy man.”

 

[Kathy in FL]

Chapter 16

Shocked silence followed Emi’s statement. No one seemed to know how to react. Finally, the old priest gasped, “Noemi. My child …”

Emi’s chin went up a notch. “Forget it. I’m not ‘your child’, just your nephew’s daughter. You ignored me easy enough when they packed me off; it shouldn’t be a strain for you to keep on ignoring me.”

Regardless of his shock, the man in the frock was not used to being spoken to in such a disrespectful tone and tried to assert control of the situation. “I had my responsibilities ministering to the grieving and serving on the Council. There was no way for me to take in a … willful … wild …. And you went to a better place. Where you could be with your people.”

Emi heard the same tired prejudice hiding behind his words that had always been there. It wasn’t a racial prejudice so much as it was one based on the socio-economics of her mother’s family. In response she shrugged and told him, “Believe what you want. You always have.” Emi turned to look to Nate almost willing him to back her in this. “Are we done here? You need to get home to your kids.”

Nate saw what she didn’t want him or anyone else to see, that she was badly shaken and wouldn’t be able to hide it for much longer. There were a lot of things he could have said or done but didn’t. Instead he said, “We’re done as soon as he hands over our copy of the stamped license. I’ll be making sure that it gets filed with the diocese myself.”

As a jab it was on the surface a mild one, but everyone was able to read into it that Nate was taking a personal interest in making sure that the registry of their marriage and addendum contract was handled properly. He let them form their own conclusions, some simply taking it at face value while for some all it did was deepen the mystery they were witnessing.

Emi nodded her acceptance and walked away, unable to bring herself to remain in the priest’s presence another moment. She knew she’d make a fool of herself one way or the other if she didn’t. Reliving her terror and tears or showing her fury, both would have let everyone see a vulnerability she didn’t wish them to know she had. She also knew that Nate would have questions …questions about a life she wasn’t ready to reveal.

 

[Lake Lili]

Thanks Kathy!
Lili

 

[Kathy in FL]

Chapter 17

Emi retreated to the bridge and missed the animated conversation between the priest and Nate. Had she been privy to what was said she would not have been happy. Nate wasn’t exactly happy either, but the priest had at least confirmed the truthfulness of part of Emi’s story and he decided he was willing to wait to see if she would reveal the rest. For some reason however he wasn’t sure whether he wanted her to or not. Some of it he wanted to be assured didn’t matter by her forgetting to bring it up. One bit of information definitely bothered him and as soon as his business was concluded Nate went to find her.

He found Emi looking pale green and shaky as she tried to change the bandage on her arm. Immediately Nate changed his tact and eased her gently down into the chair she’d occupied most of the night. “What am I to do with you?”

Emi misinterpreted his words and turned defensive, “We had a deal!”

Nate tut-tutted at her tone and said, “Have a deal, not had. You’re not wiggling your way out with semantics.”

“I’m not the one wiggling out, you are.”

“Not hardly I’m not. And I mean it when I say I mean to make sure everything is tied up right. You’re mine Emi, by your word and mine. Now let me undo this mess you made. What do you call this knot anyway?”

“A one-handed make do,” Emi answered, slowly letting go of the worry that had been eating at her.

Nate chuckled unwillingly at her bald-faced honesty. “Well that’s a good name for it.”

As the quiet stretched into an uncomfortable one Emi said, “If you’re waiting on an explanation I don’t have one. All I can tell you is it wasn’t planned.”

Nate sighed. “I saw your face. You were too shocked and upset to have planned this. And as for the rest of it, you had no way of knowing where we would land and Kiko said he never discussed anything with you or the other women. At best you knew you were heading for Florida, not the exact location.” He carefully unwrapped and rewrapped the bandaging making sure it was tight enough to stay on but not so tight that it would cut off her circulation. “If you wish to speak with your family …”

“No,” Emi snapped revealing a deep well of anger. “He’s no family to me and there’s no one else as far as I know.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

“And that’s the way you want it?”

When he stepped back to look at his handiwork Emi tried to explain. “Want is the wrong word. My wants haven’t mattered for years, certainly they never mattered to him. You can want yourself to death. I choose to live with what is, not what might have been or what could be.”

Gaining more insight into Emi than she doubtless thought she was giving him Nate brushed a finger gently against her cheek and told her, “Then let me tell you what is. That old man was shaken. He tried to justify what happened.”

“Don’t tell him my business.”

“I didn’t but I did tell him that you weren’t treated very well even before they threw you out on the street through no fault of your own. He may be a priest, but he is still a man like any other and doesn’t want to believe what he doesn’t want to believe. He may come around, he may not. If he contacts me, I’ll let you know but I don’t think either of us should hold our breath on it happening.”

“As if I would. And before you ask the answer is no. I don’t hold anything against the church. My father explained it to me when I became old enough to notice. He said contrary to the way people act, they don’t get to hide behind anything when it comes their time to be judged. We each stand before our Creator as individuals. No excuses, no rationalizations, no justifications. No church, organization, nor its leaders, are going to protect us from our own choices. I may not like how my father’s uncle hides behind his vestments and ceremony but that doesn’t mean that I blame other people in the church for how he is.”

“You sure you don’t have any other family left?”

“About as sure as anyone else can be these days.”

“Will you tell me about them?”

Emi sighed. “Right now?”

“I suppose not,” Nate said disappointed but unsurprised that she obviously didn’t trust him but so far. Especially as he was feeling much the same way. “We’ve been given the use of the town’s river boats – for a price of course.”

“Of course.”

“The men have started the unloading process. It will be completed within a couple of hours but not soon enough to be worth the risk of entering the mouth of the river against the tide. The river boats have their own crews and security but Miguel and a couple of the other men that are returning to Alva will remain onboard with the goods. Barb has opted to stay with Miguel. My plan was to stay with the cargo as well but …”

“But?”

“Would you rather we rent a room for the night?”

“That’s up to you. I’m perfectly capable of sleeping on deck so that you can stay close to your stuff.”

“Good. And you are right, I would rather stay close to the cargo. I suspect after they are cut free the remainder of the crew will take their share and go try and trade it for some … entertainment. That will get the word on the street that we have valuable cargo. Normally I would trust my crew with my life but after Ernie and then the mutiny … I’m preferring caution to trust. The first night back in port is usually … uh …”

“Like I said Nate, I know sailors … and men in general are about the same to some degree or other. And now, tell me what I can do. It makes my skin crawl to just stand around.”

“Nerves? You?”

“I would be a fool not to feel something about this deal we’ve agreed to. Perhaps for you it is …”

“Mmm,” Nate said running another finger along her skin, this time along her the bare skin of her uninjured arm. “For me as well. But there is … anticipation as well. I enjoyed marriage until the last year. Have you ever …”

“Ever what?” Emi asked in alarm.

“Emi I’m trying to ask without looking like a fool. You are a very … resourceful … young woman but … dammit … you’re eighteen.”

Emi snarled, “You WERE talking about my business.”

“Not intentionally. I put two and two together. Certainly no one else remarked on it, if they even bothered doing the math.”

A little more calmly Emi said, “What does a number matter? One of my cousin’s daughters was out of the house and married at fourteen to an hombre ten years older than she was. All that mattered is that he had a job as a clerk in his father’s carneceria.” A little morosely Emi added, “She’s the only one that didn’t act like I was …” Emi whispered the awful memory. “She was pregnant when her brother in law went crazy from the smell of the bloody butcher shop and tore her apart when she went to check to see if he was ready for almuerzo … the noon day meal. I was one of the ones that had to … to clean …” She stopped and shook her head. “You see I carry antibodies but never exhibited the symptoms of the virus. Uncle Roger and I are both immunes. It’s why the Honduran government approved the application for immigration that the judge filed on my behalf. It didn’t seem to matter that I didn’t even speak the language.”

“Wait .. .what? You didn’t speak Spanish?”

“Nope. And the family that didn’t want me spoke no English. When I was born my parents and grandparents agreed that I was going to be raised Anglo. Knowing the culture was ok though my grandparents had already been in the country over three decades by the time I was born and had Americanized. They spoke both Spanish and English at home with some of my older cousins but my brothers and I spoke only English.”

“Brothers.”

“Yeah. I was the middle child and only girl with two older and two younger.”

“Emi …”

Emi avoided the hand he’d reached towards her with and went to look out the forward window. “Yes, the story is sad and horrible but not unusual. Ft. Myers … well you heard the stories I’m sure.”

“I was here. And just because I’d left the seminary didn’t mean that I’d totally left the life. Gina and I had just married … I …I worked in the grief counseling center at Lee Memorial.”

Still not looking at him Emi said, “Rough assignment. My family never made it into the hospital system but were triaged outside of Southwest Regional in the big tents. They all … expired … within twenty-four hours of each other which supposedly meant that they caught it all at the same time and place. Only way that could have happened is if they caught it at my recital two weeks earlier.”

“You danced?”

Emi snorted, “No. Music. My Poppy … my mother’s father … classical acoustic guitar … look, I’m done talking about this.”

“For now?”

Uncomfortable but understanding that this sharing was part of getting to know each other so they could fulfill the deal Emi slowly nodded. “For now.”

“Then let me ask you to help me pack up my personal items and get them stowed on the river boat. And while we are at it perhaps you will have some questions for me.”

 

[Kathy in FL]

Chapter 18

Looking around the cabin Emi said, “For a sailor you are clean.”

“Doubtless Arden would not agree. She says I make more work than any man should.”

“Arden. Your … your sister-in-law.”

“Yep.”

“If you were married before the First Wave your children cannot be very old.”

“Sebastian is seven, he’s Gina’s son from a … a previous relationship. Darla is two.”

“Two? How … how long …?” Emi knew she was treading on thin ice but the question about his ex-wife just kind of fell out of her mouth.

“Gina left me then came back after she found out she was pregnant. She says Darla is mine. Could be; isn’t beyond the realm of possibility. She … well, it’s possible. I’ve decided to raise her that way whether she biologically is or not. It’s my name on the birth registry. When she came back we agreed to work things out but things got bad towards the end of the pregnancy. Gina … she was stubborn and headstrong all along but I used to find it exciting … even endearing. But then the way she was no longer worked very well with the world the way it is. She became … brittle, unyielding … then unstable if she wasn’t given way to. Her mother blames me for where Gina’s choices have taken her.”

“So your mother-in-law is also in the picture?”

“Ex-mother-in-law and only occasionally. She lives in Charleston Park across on the other side of the river. Gina is shacked up with a guy in Denaud. Arden … she tries to be a bridge builder but neither her mother nor Gina cooperate very much unless they want something in return. We might get a visit when they hear about you but that’s not for certain. Gina’s current lover is a smuggler of anything that will make him money and abusive doesn’t even begin to describe how he treats her. But she won’t listen, says she finds him virile and manly and exciting and available … all the things I’m not according to her. He’s just one of the reasons why she’ll never get the kids. Once Arden moves out and on with her life likely the only time you might run into any of them is when Alva hosts the monthly river market … three or four times a year depending on the weather. Is that a problem?”

“If I can manage to be civil to la gran bufalo – my cousin’s wife – then I can be civil to anyone. Besides, it wouldn’t be part of the deal to bring down trouble on you.”

Nate stood up with his bag of clothes and tried to figure out what to say in response. “Emi … I expect this deal to have two sides to it, not just you acting grateful so you don’t go on the auction block.”

“You’re already …”

“Whatever is scrambling around in your head get it under control,” he said in irritation. “All I want is some companionship and a minimum of arguing, someone that knows how to – and will – take care of things when I’m not around. I’ve never been attracted to little helpless balls of fluff that some women insist on acting like, and I’m done with women that are high maintenance and argumentative.”

Emi just looked at him until he snapped, “What?”

“I don’t know. You make it sound like an easy thing when …” She shook her head. “I just don’t know.”

“You gonna argue with me all the time?”

Emi shrugged. “Since my family died, mostly all I ever wanted was to be left alone. The few times I’ve tried to join a group or gang it blew up in my face.” Nate took note that there was something dark and nasty in the memories behind her eyes. “I just want someplace … someplace …”

“Quiet?”

“It doesn’t have to be quiet all the time. Just quiet sometimes. I don’t want to argue either … I’m just not sure I know how to not argue and fight anymore. It’s all I’ve known for too long. I’ll try. But I know me … even when I don’t pick the hard road the one I’m on seems to change into that without my say so.” Emi finally looked at Nate full in the face. “You willing to let me bargain for some time to … to learn your way of doing things?”

Nate put down the box he’d been carrying under his arm to reach out and touch her hands where they were clasped tightly together. “You don’t need to bargain for time. I expect you’ll have to give me some time to figure out things as well.”

Where the conversation would have gone was anyone’s guess because at that moment Miguel interrupted and said, “Nate, the buyer is here. He’s asking for permission to come aboard early.”

Quickly changing gears Nate asked, “Is all the cargo off?”

“Last is coming off now but there are a couple of more hours to go on the other hold. The investors that hold the note on that other boat will send over the finder’s fee as soon as we finish unloading it.”

“Fine. Bring the buyer aboard.”

“I’ll send Les down to grab your gear and take it over with mine.”

“Agreed. Except for my personal kit … and Emi’s backpack and rifle.” Emi nodded at his look.

After Miguel exited the cabin Nate turned to Emi and said, “This guy …”

“Where can I find a spot to get out of the way?”

Nate relaxed sensing that Emi understood about some Captains being just as superstitious as their crew. “There’s a cantina two blocks up. They don’t have a problem with customers carrying side arms but you’ll need to check the rifle. Kiko is probably already there. I’ll meet you there as soon as I’ve finished my business.”

Emi disembarked and started walking down the wharf with only one glance back towards Nate. She relaxed when she realized he might have been talking to the buyer but he was also keeping an eye on her as long she was within sight. That was fine. And this also gave her the chance to prove she wasn’t going to just run off. But there wound up being a snag. She got to the cantina only to find a message left for Nate letting him know that Kiko had caught a ride back with a couple of the elders as he had wanted to get back to Dora as soon as possible.

The manager of the cantina said, “You’re a friend of Kiko’s?”

“Sort of. More a … a friend of Nate’s. He told me to wait for him here. But on second thought maybe I’ll wait outside.”

In a growl he asked, “Not good enough for you?”

“Not too crazy about being the only female amongst a bunch of soon to be drunk sailors. There will be less trouble if I find someplace else to be for a while.” She turned around and nearly bumped into Barb and another woman. “I thought it was you. I told Millie here that we’d better come fetch you upstairs. You can leave a note on the board to let your man know where you are.”

Several sets of ears tuned in at those words. “So your man is meeting you here too?”

The woman named Millie very casually said, “I don’t know about ‘too’ but Nate will doubtless be along as soon as he’s done getting Henderson to sign on the dotted line.”

It took a few seconds for the manager to exclaim, “Wait … you’re saying?!”

Barb grinned and pulled Emi away and up an exterior stairwell before she got stuck answering uncomfortable questions. A laughing Millie quickly followed them and soon they were in an area of the cantina that was just as noisy but occupied by family groups rather than single men. She did have to check the rifle but no one said anything about the rest of her gear.

Emi asked Barb, “How did you find this place?”

“Miguel walked me down here one of the times he was checking that the river boats were being loaded properly. And this,” she said introducing the other women. “Is Millie … Milagros … the same way I’m Barbarita and your Noemi. She’s Miguel’s brother’s sister in law.”

If Emi thought it strange she didn’t remark on it. Instead she concentrated on ignoring the hunger she’d begun to feel as soon as the smells coming from the kitchen had hit her nose. Her last solid meal of any significance had been several days ago, and she’d been running on short rations long before that. In fact, she’d been ignoring it so hard that she jumped when Barb touched her. “Need me to take a look at that arm?”

“No.”

“You sure? You’re looking a little spacey and that’s not like you.”

Emi wanted to ask how she knew what she was and wasn’t like but didn’t want to alienate a potential compatriot. Instead she muttered, “Too many people. Reminds me of the holding pins.”

Barb grinned. “I hear that but at the same time … at least we aren’t having to scramble for a few crumbs to eat.”

Millie wasn’t the prejudiced type and said, “Market day coming up. People are coming in from all over so it promises to be a big one. Things are better than they have been since the chaos of the Third Wave. You still have to be careful with your money but at least there is enough to spend for special occasions. And I say marriage is a special occasion. Let me at least order some …”

“Uh …” Emi wasn’t sure she wanted to get that friendly or risk starting a tab she had no way to pay. But Barb wasn’t so particular.

“Any family of Miguel’s is a family of mine.” Both women giggled letting Emi know that they’d both had a glass or two of something more than water. She stayed apart from it when they let her – which wasn’t often enough for Emi’s peace of mind – and she finally got up to go catch a breath of air on the patio. That’s where Nate found her.

“I didn’t know Kiko was going to …”

“Nate!”

“Well, hello,” Nate said grinning at the unexpected welcome. He took a closer look at her face and realized she was upset. “What’s wrong?”

“I didn’t start the tab. I’ve tried to control things, only had water, but I’ve never … they … the staff … and things just appear on the table.”

Grumpily he asked, “You don’t think I can pay for things?”

“Don’t be un hombre estupido. Between your bullets and mine we could pay the tabs on most of these tables more likely. It’s just … you don’t sling money around like that. And you didn’t say one way or the other … and now here you are and …” A long, low string of Spanish cursing left Emi’s mouth highlighting just how frustrated she was at the out of control feelings she was having.

“For you to not have learned Spanish until you went to Honduras you have certainly taken to the language,” Nate said with a grin after being mollified that her objections wasn’t over that he was a poor man.

“It suits how I feel. Normally when I say no people understand I mean no. This is just la locura … craziness. You’re starting a new business … have kids that probably need things … all of it … the works.”

Nate’s grin widened. “Tomorrow. Tonight we celebrate. Have you eaten yet? I’m starved and they have some of the best food here.”

Nate guided Emi back to the table and was greeted raucously by Miguel and another man who turned out to be Millie’s husband who also turned out to be one of the cooks. There was no way of getting out of a big, fancy meal.

“Stop worrying about the tab,” Nate whispered in her ear when she kept turning down dishes.

“Gringo … tu es un hombre estupido for sure. I’d eat if I could but I can’t remember when I’ve had food as rich as all this looks. I have no wish to embarrass either of us with the predictable results if I was to start suddenly pigging out.”

Finally Nate understood. Apparently so did Millie’s husband. He leaned over and said, “The kitchen does a good vegetable broth made with just a touch of white wine to make it special. I can ask them to put a few dumplings in there or a bit or wild rice if you prefer.”

Emi looked at Nate who nodded encouragingly. She sighed and said, “Rice please.” If the others noticed that she was using manners she hadn’t before that moment, they didn’t comment.

Millie’s husband’s name turned out to be Phillip and he excused himself to get back to the kitchen but promised to take care of their order personally. For dessert he also sent out a pear and goat cheese tartlet for Emi while the others had richer fare. Finally it was agreed by all that it was time to head to the river boat before the good food and good company had them forgetting their responsibilities. The tab and accompanying tip was large enough to make the manager and wait staff happy. Barb and Miguel were more than a little tipsy and Nate and Emi had to help them up the gang plank of the riverboat. As soon as they were back on the water Miguel sobered up but Barb quickly fell asleep next to their baggage.

Nate too became all business. He told Emi to roll out a blanket and get some rest, that he and Miguel would likely be some time going over the manifest to make sure it was all in order so they could get under way at first light. Rather than lie down however, Emi arranged Nate’s bags so that she could lean against them and rest but remain upright. From bitter experience she knew what it would cost her to try and sleep prone when she was as full as she felt.

 

[ydderf]

Thanks Kathy

 

[ejagno]

Great story! Can't wait for more.

 

[Kathy in FL]

Chapter 19

Emi woke up to the unfortunate sound of retching. She thought it was Barb but it turned out to be a couple of crew who had been out all night and who had been brought back by the Harbor Patrol. She also realized the sun was full up and they were already on their way up the river.

When she tried to move she realized that she was so sore that she wanted to take her turn retching. She sat up all the way and found Barb looking nauseatingly cheerful. With a complete lack of sympathy Barb laughed. Patting her middle she said, “Cast iron stomach.”

Holding back what she really wanted to say she instead asked, “How long have we been under way?”

“About an hour. They had to wait for an unexpected fog to dissipate. Nate ordered us all to let you sleep. And speaking of … you don’t look so good. I don’t remember you drinking much.”

“I didn’t.”

Suddenly concerned she asked, “Is it the arm? Is it warm to the touch?”

“No. Just sore. It tried to get infected but it’s healing now. No redness.”

“You sure? I can …”

“It’s just sore. I think I slept on it a bit last night.”

“Mmm hmmmm. You are one stubborn chica. Don’t let that go and make sure and keep it clean. Rest the arm when you can. But change the bandage if you get sweaty.”

“Si, Abuela,” Emi smarted off.

Barb snorted a laugh then added, “These river boat men are just as bad as the others. They don’t like having females on board. Except for visiting the … the head … which is nothing but a bucket behind that screen over there … we are to remain here and quiet so we don’t upset the big babies.”

“Idiotas supersitious,” Emi muttered beneath her breath. “How long until we …”

“Dock?” Nate asked finishing her question for her. He’d been watching her the entire time and as soon as she woke he came to check on her. “Another hour or so depending on the traffic. It has been pretty heavy with people bringing things to market but they are traveling down river rather than up. Here, eat this.” He handed her a piece of banana. “It isn’t much but you aren’t going to want to eat the fish stew the crew had for breakfast.”

Emi shook her head, barely holding back a shudder. She did accept the banana and ate it in small bites while Nate explained how the next couple of hours would run. “We’ll dock and things will get busy. They should be expecting us and after the way the elders reacted we’ll probably be helped with the unloading so they can get reimbursed.” Nate’s voice dripped cynicism. “They’ll expect to dicker but Miguel and I spent the night dividing up the cargo so it should run more smoothly and get us out of there faster than they’ll try to hold us. The other issue will be people are going to have heard about us bringing salvage from a cruise ship. People will be curious if nothing else.”

Emi rolled her eyes and made to stand up but then dropped quickly when a bullet bit the wooden railing beside her. She let out a low, long, mean series of curses in Spanish, English, with some German and Portuguese thrown in for good measure. “I am getting tired of this,” she growled.

After the first bullet a veritable volley of bullets were sent their way and some were returned in kind as well. Nate and Miguel were leading the return volleys but Emi’s blood was up. She had the rifle out and held her fire until she spotted a sniper hanging out ahead of them waiting to catch them in a cross fire. Emi didn’t allow that to happen. One shot and he fell out of the tree into the river. She caught several more just as flatfooted and made them just as dead.

She was taking aim at another one when something large banged into the boat throwing her aim off. “Cabron!” Emi snarled and looked over the side. What she saw made her grin a little wickedly and call over to Nate, “Do you need some new boots?”

“What the?! Emi! Dammit! What are you getting up to?”

“Caimanes demonio. There’s a nest of them over here and I plan on having some fun with those cabrons that disturbed my breakfast.”

Those of the crew that spoke Spanish grew wide-eyed as Emi stirred up the nest of DV infected alligators. Then she proceeded to selectively shoot – injure but not kill – some of the river pirates. It gave her great pleasure to see them realizing just how big a problem they suddenly had on their hands. They kept shooting but it was no longer at the river boats but at the gators that were beginning to swarm them.

The captain of the river boat they were on came out of the bridge to stand beside them. Cheerfully he asked, “Do you mind if we take a few? The hides of the big ones are worth quite a bit.”

Nate looked at Emi who was still grinning and nodded and added, “Will you go ashore? The bandits might have a stash of supplies.”

“Not these. I recognized their insignias. The rumor is they have their headquarters in Denaud.”

Nate looked at him sharply and filed that bit of information away. He sensed that Emi had also heard it but he was thankful she didn’t remark on it. But then he saw her arm. “Dammit woman, you’re bleeding again.”

Emi looked over in surprise and said, “I guess I am.” Right before her knees buckled and she passed out.

 

[Kathy in FL]

Chapter 20

“I do not need to see a doctor,” Emi growled.

“Maybe I need to explain how this marriage thing works,” Nate growled back. “I’m the husband. I take care of you. I say you need to see a doc for that arm so that’s the way it is going to happen.”

“That’s so not what I agreed to Gringo. I agreed to help you with your house and kids, not to have you run my life like I have no sense.”

“Don’t even get me started Emi because …”

“Dad!”

A slight, tow-headed boy was weaving his way quickly through the crowd on the dock heading straight for Nate as fast as he could. Unfortunately, he was being forced to travel around many of the adults milling about. Just then someone stepped backwards knocking him off balance. Nate and Emi shot forward and grabbed him at the same time before he could actually fall into the water between the boats that were moored there. Nate grabbed him up and Emi took further action by putting her boot into the butt of the woman that had done it and snapped, “Watch where you’re going!”

The woman turned around in shock but took several steps back after getting a look at Emi. Blood splattered and definitely showing her mother’s heritage she was absolutely no one to mess with at that moment.

“Watch your big caboose! You nearly knocked that kid into the water. And in case you ain’t got your quota of gossip yet the boat crew took those gator skins only around the bend so there is a good chance there are still DV infected gators swimming around.”

“DV Gators?!”

It wasn’t exactly a stampede but the dock did clear out considerably and at a rate of speed not even the town’s security patrol had been able to achieve. Emi nodded in satisfaction then turned to find Nate and the boy both staring at her with their mouths open.

“What?”

“Uh … that … that was the mayor’s sister.”

“So?”

“You just kicked her in the butt.”

“And I’ll do it again if need be, and to anyone else who knocks your kid over like that. People need to watch where they’re going. And use more sense. There aren’t that many little kids in the world they can just toss them around like they ain’t worth nuthin’.”

The boy being held in Nate’s arms leaned over and whispered, “Who is she?”

Nate’s face blanked and Emi answered for him. “He got me so that your Aunt Arden can fulfill her calling and not have to worry that she is leaving with no one to look after you.”

A woman’s voice behind her said, “That is certainly one way to look at it.”

Emi turned and a thin, horse-faced, woman was giving her the same look she remembered getting from the teachers at the school her parents had sent her to. She almost laughed thinking that this woman was just as unlikely to be able to tame her as those women had been.

“Hello. I’m Arden Rivera.”

Emi nodded and replied, “And seeking to be Sister Arden as I understand it.”

“Yes. And you must be …?”

“I’ll leave Nate to explain it.” Turning to Nate who was quickly developing an extremely outraged look when he realized she was going to leave him to explain by himself she told him, “I’ll grab the gear and bring it off the boat.” To the boy she asked, “Do you prefer Sebastian or Bastian.”

“Bastian,” he said quickly.

“OK, Bastian. Let’s go get your father’s things while he answers your aunt’s questions.”

“You aren’t getting out of it that easy Emi,” Nate complained as she walked away with his son.

“I’m just trying to help Gringo,” Emi said with a wicked grin.

What Nate would have said to that was interrupted by Arden stepping up, crossing her arms, and giving him a disapproving look.

Bastian said, “Aunt Arden is worried she isn’t going to be able to be a nun.”

“Why not?”

“She thinks she is going to have to stay and look after things.”

“Well if she’s worried that I can’t take care of things then she needs to stop worrying about it.”

“Can you cook?”

“Eh … I don’t burn water if that’s what you’re thinking.”

Bastian gave her a strange look, or maybe it was just that he thought her strange. “Have you really killed people?”

Without thinking Emi answered, “Yeah and I’ll do it again as necessary if someone tries to hurt you or your sister or your dad.”

“Aunt Arden says you have to be some kind of loose woman. That it is the only kind that would have agreed to go with Uncle Kiko. What’s a loose woman?”

That did give Emi pause. “Maybe that’s a question you should ask your dad when you get a little older. For now, you don’t need to worry about it ‘cause that’s not what I am.”

“You sure because Aunt Dora said the same thing.”

“Sure I’m sure. Besides, even if I had been before I wouldn’t be now because I promised your dad in front of a priest that I wouldn’t be disloyal to him. You don’t promise things in front of a priest if you mean to break them or you wind up with bad trouble. I don’t want no bad trouble.”

Ignoring most of what she’d said he asked, “So a loose woman is someone that isn’t loyal?”

“Uh … that’s … that’s pretty much … hmmmm. Look, a loose woman is … is … yeah, yeah I guess bottom line that is exactly what a loose woman is. But like I said, I made promises to your dad in front of a priest so you don't have to worry about me being disloyal to your dad. I keep my promises.”

“You do?”

“Yep. See I’ve been on the other side of people breaking promises and it is chupa mal … do you know any Spanish?”

“Uh uh.”

Emi thought that might not be a bad thing if her mouth started running away before she could catch it. “Well I do. If I ever say something you don’t understand you ask me … don’t just repeat me. OK?”

“Why?”

“Because … well because you might mispronounce something and say a word you shouldn’t.”

“Oh. I better tell Darla that. She repeats everything.”

“Er … she does?”

“Aunt Arden says she is a parrot.”

“Oh … er …”

“She also bites.”

“Well … hmmm … that’s not good. She could put something dirty in her mouth and get sick.”

“She could also bite your finger off so don’t use nothing but a spoon if you feed her.”

“Thanks for the warning.”

“You’re welcome.”

Bastian was such a serious kid that Emi was having a hard time not smiling. “Let’s load this stuff in that wagon down the gang plank rather than just trying to carry it around like a sack of salvage. That way it is off the boat but not just piled higgledy piggledy all over the place for people to trip over.”

“What’s higgledy piggledy?”

“Something … something my father used to say when stuff would get messy and unorganized. Dad liked things to be organized and put away where they belong.”

“Oh.” Bastian nodded like that was agreeable to him and they were bringing down the last of it when Arden let out a scandalized, “Eighteen?!! Nathaniel what can you be thinking!”

“Wow. Aunt Arden sure is mad about something.”

“Don’t worry about it. You aren’t the one in trouble. And it isn’t your dad’s fault that I’m 18 either. Looks like I’m going to have to go rescue him again.”

Emi started over and Bastian followed just in time for everyone around to hear him ask, “What do you mean rescue dad again? Did Aunt Dora change her mind and catch up with him already? She said she was going to get him tonight after everyone else had already said their piece and she’d chew up what was left.”

Emi started coughing and had to look away. Nate for his part looked outraged and said, “Hey now. None of that. No one is chewing me up.”

“Aunt Arden is.”

Emi for her part couldn’t stop laughing for some reason. Nate’s gaze turned from quarrelsome to curious and then he shook his head and started smiling as well. “Hah. Keep that up and I will make you see the doc. You’ve obviously got a fever if you find this that funny.”

Emi snickered and had to lean against one of the dock posts because she was suddenly feeling weak but not the kind most people would have thought. “I ain’t seeing a doc, it’s a waste of money. You’ve done just fine and if people would stop hitting my arm it would stop bleeding. And it’s funny because I don’t know why. It just is.” She turned to Arden and said, “Please don’t pick on him ‘cause of me. He didn’t know how old I was until it came out with the priest. I don’t mind. He doesn’t mind … well, not much. And it isn’t anyone else’s business. It doesn’t really mean anything anyway.” To prevent further discussion she asked, “Now I’ve met Bastian here and we are getting along just fine. Where is the little girl? Darla?”

Arden stiffened up, “Until I approve …”

Bastian interrupted and said, “It’s ok Aunt Arden. She isn’t a loose woman like you and Aunt Dora thought. She said she said promises to Dad in front of a priest and that she’s loyal to him and I think she is because she said she’d kill anyone that tried to hurt me and Darla and Dad and I believe her. Check out all the blood on her clothes. I bet that is where she shot all them crazies and those pirates just like Uncle Kiko told everyone about this morning.”

Emi almost stopped breathing and the look on her face must have been something else because this time it was Nate who started laughing and couldn’t seem to stop.

 

[Lake Lili]

Thanks Kathy!
Lili

 

[Hickory7]

Yer the best, Kathy. Thanks for feeding the addiction.

 

[ydderf]

Thanks Kathy

 

[Kathy in FL]

Chapter 21

“Nathaniel!”

“Ssss … sorry Arden but …” It took Nate several more moments to get his own laughter under control. Finally he stopped and asked, “Yeah, where is Darla? She better not be with …”

“Daaaaaddeeeeeeeeee!”

It was Kiko walking with a woman who could have easily been Nate’s twin except that Emi had already heard that she was older than Nate … older enough that she thought of him as her “baby brother” which probably meant that she was closer to Kiko’s age and he was in his late 30s if she had to guess. The look on the woman’s face didn’t bode well for Emi but Emi had spent a lifetime of people giving her quelling and disapproving looks. When Uncle Roger had called her “wild” he hadn’t been far off the mark, though willful would have described her better. Emi was one of those girls that, though she could look girly, she was all tomboy underneath. There had only been a handful of people that she ever minded completely and that had been her parents and both sets of grandparents and her oldest brother. Since none of them were left walking the earth Emi was unconcerned with anyone else … except that she had made promises to Nate. So thinking she tried to reign in her mouth and not bring any trouble on him.

The little girl wiggled like a monkey until Nate took her and then she latched onto his neck so hard he looked like he was having a hard time breathing. Nate finally got her to turn loose enough that he could talk. “Emi, this is Darla. Darla … er …”

Emi was much less sure how to deal with little girls but she decided she might as well start as she meant to go on even though the little girl was only two. “Hi Darla, I’m Emi. Your dad brought me on so your Aunt Arden can go to her calling. Bastian already asked so I guess I should tell you too … I don’t burn water. He didn’t ask me about cleaning yet but I can do that and laundry too. But here’s the thing, I don’t know that much about playing with little girls so you’ll have to teach me. OK?”

Darla looked at the stranger in front of her and after a momentary fright wasn’t quite sure what to make of her. She definitely wasn’t like her Aunt Arden or her Aunt Dora or the woman called Mommy. She didn’t know whether she liked this one but since Emi didn’t ask to hold her or force her to do anything she didn’t make a fuss.

Emi hadn’t expected any more than what she got so she turned to Kiko and said, “Muchas gracias. No es como yo no tiene ya un montón de problemas para mirarme. ¿Tuvo que hacer peor por contar historias que me hacen parecer como una loca?”

“Then don’t be a crazy woman and I won’t tell stories on you Chica,” Kiko said with a grin. “So I heard there was trouble. DV infected gators? That must have been something.”

Instead of answering him Emi deferred to Nate and tried to step out of the conversation and return to stacking their gear so it wouldn’t fall out of the wagon while it was pulled. Bastian came over to help while the other adults spoke.

“Don’t get your feelings hurt. Darla mostly only likes Dad.”

“My feelings aren’t hurt. She’s a bebe and of course she only wants her dad. I’m grown and if my dad was here I’d be hanging all over him. It’s what girls do. Besides, he’s been away for a while. I’m surprised at her age she even goes to him with him being gone so much.”

“Aunt Arden makes sure she kisses his picture every night after prayers.”

Emi’s respect for Arden went up a notch. “My mom used to do the same thing when my dad would go on TDY, that means the military used to send him places we couldn’t go. Then he retired and became a courier so sometimes he was gone for that but we got to tell him goodnight by phone.”

“Oh. Uh … did … did Dad tell you about me?”

“He said you were seven, almost eight and he told me your name but that’s about it.”

“He … that’s all?”

“Yeah so maybe you should tell me stuff. Like … hmmm … do they have school here? Do you go? And do you have a pet? Oh and maybe something about the comida … uh … foods you like to eat.”

Apparently Emi had guessed right and the subject of paternity was a little touchy for Bastian. Some of the kids in the village where her cousins lived had been like that too. Legitimacy was a pretty big deal in Hispanic culture; and even though Bastian obviously wasn’t Spanish that didn’t mean that he didn’t have the same esteem issues as other kids. Slowly the boy relaxed and asked once again, “He really didn’t say anything else?”

“Just called you his son named Sebastian and your age. So like I said, maybe you can fill me in a little.”

“OK. There’s school sometimes but not right now. The man that was teaching got kicked out of the community when some of the adults found out he was doing things he wasn’t supposed to.”

“What kind of things?”

Bastian shrugged. “Don’t know, nobody tells us kids anything and this time they ain’t saying it where we can hear them talking about it so it must be really bad.”

There was a break in the adult conversation and Arden called, “Sebastian?”

Bastian sighed. “Yes Aunt Arden.”

“The water taxi is here.”

Bastian’s face became pale. “Is … is she here?”

“Yes, your mother heard …”

Then a strident and imperious sounding woman ordered, “Sebastian Bale. Get away from that … that …”

Arden said, “Now mother …”

Emi looked over at Nate whose temper was beginning to rise and asked, “Not gonna have to deal with them much huh?” Nate glanced in surprised and realized she wasn’t angry, in fact she looked like she was holding back another fit of the giggles.

From Emi’s perspective it was like falling into the twilight zone because while she guessed at the identity of the blonde woman that looked like she was suffering a hangover she definitely knew the older woman who all but called her a dock whore.

“Well, this is definitely something unexpected although with the way my luck has been running I shouldn’t be surprised. But I am. I thought you had died during quarantine. They carried you out on those stretchers used to move people to the death ward. Or were the rumors true and you got word to your husband and he bribed you out? Or, let me guess, Uncle Roger facilitated your escape leaving the rest of us to die off one by one from illness and neglect. I was one of only a dozen people that lived. There were hundreds to start with.”

The woman’s mouth was open and shutting like a tilapia pulled out of the water.

“Who … who are you?”

“It doesn’t matter. The only thing you ever did was scream at the lot of us when we failed to take State. We tried to tell you that the music you chose stunk but you were determined we were to play that boring old polka stuff.”

Nate grimaced, “Are you telling me …?”

This time Emi laughed out loud and asked, “Rethinking the ..”

“No! And I don’t want to hear that said again. Understand?”

Emi nodded. “Fine. So long as you’re sure.”

She walked closer and Nate got a look at what she was doing her best to hide. Anger, painful memories, and a desire to be anywhere else but in the presence of Mrs. Patricia Rivera, wife of Dr. Paul Rivera, and the reigning terror of her middle school that sucked as much joy out of music as her Poppy had tried to instill in her. And now she found she would be taking care of the woman’s grandchildren who she’d no doubt poison against her. She couldn’t seem to win for losing. And she’d liked Bastian even on such short acquaintance.

“Emi?”

Emi jumped when she felt Nate’s hand on uninjured shoulder. She shook off the feelings threatening to swamp her. “Point me in the direction of some work Gringo. You’ll never get to your home at the rate things are moving right now. And I see Miguel wants to leave with Barb. We keep drawing crowds of the curious and … and …”

“Screw ‘em all. They can wait,” he said so that only she could hear. “Are you ok with the deal?”

“I keep my word.”

“That’s not what I asked. I asked if …”

Emi sighed. “The deal is fine. It’s all this other stuff that keeps happening that me hace pica. There’s been no quiet. Let us go … take your kids … find some quiet. My head wants to explode.”

“Let me deal with Gina and her mother. And find out if Arden set this up and what everyone expects …”

“Nate no whore is going to raise my kids. They are coming home with me! Now!”

Nate looked over at her and said, “Mrs. Rivera, control Gina before the situation escalates and … things … get revealed that you might not want publicly spoken about.”

Emi wiped the sweat off of her upper lip on her sleeve and tried to get control of herself. “Nate, point me to the work.”

“No. I’ve got men that can play mule and haul stuff around. Take the kids and … and go …”

“Hey Chica. Looks like you’ve got unexpected connections,” Kiko said striding forward and plucking Darla off of Nate and handing her to Dora. “Come up here and help me put some distance between mi esposa and Gina. They don’t like each other too much these days.”

Emi looked and could see the truth as the two women stared daggers at each other. Emi looked over at Bastian who was rooted to the spot and not looking too happy about his mother and grandmother showing up but feeling guilty because he felt that way.

“Bastian?” Emi said getting the boy’s attention. “Grab your father’s logbooks please and come help me to help Kiko will you?”

He seemed to jump at the chance to have a job that took him away from the drama unfolding.

It took some of the last of Emi’s energy to climb the stairs from the dock up to the old parking lot. Once up there she looked for a post free of seagull and pelican crap to lean against but couldn’t find one. Even Bastian noticed the change in her. He said, “Come sit on the bench. You look like maybe dad should make you go to the doctor even if you don’t want to. Maybe if you do go Dr. Rob will give you a piece of candy. He gave me one when I fell and they thought I had broken my arm. Only I didn’t it was just a bad bruise. It would have been cool to have a cast. Maybe your arm needs a cast.”

Emi shook her head. “Casts are not cool. They get nasty and dirty and start stinking after a while and you itch where the cast covers your skin and there’s almost no way to scratch it. It drives you crazy. Not to mention then you don’t get to do all the stuff you want to do because the cast gets in the way as much as the broken bone did.”

“How do you know?”

“Because when I was about your age I got angry because my brothers and their friends said I couldn’t climb up to their tree house. They said I was a girl and too little so I decided to prove them wrong. Only all I did was prove them right when I fell from half-way up and broke a couple of bones in my foot, cracked my ankle and wrenched my knee. It was a very, very long time before my father would let me alone about it. He put a watcher on me every minute of the day.”

“Why?”

“Different reasons but mostly because I had scared him. I came real close to getting bad hurt, and it wasn’t the first time I’d given my guardian angel a work out. Wasn’t the last time either for that matter. But I learned that there are limits to proving something and sometimes there are things you just can’t do. Learning that … well, I … that lesson has helped me to pick my battles better.”

Kiko had been listening and snorted like he didn’t believe it. Emi was just too tired to fight about it and let his disbelief go. “The boy’s right Chica. You don’t look so good.”

“El camino ha sido largo. None of us has had it easy. But you look better. Except for the limp … and the baston de Viejo … the cane.”

“Dora didn’t like the work that Ernie did. Good thing she decided to check it, there was dirt in there and a real infection starting. Even though she worked me over good it feels better than it did. If you …”

“No Kiko. I mean it. I’m not making work for anyone. It would be a waste. I’ll clean it good when Nate … when Nate …”

“Dad!”

It was taking everything Emi had left not to pass out. Nate ran up the ramp and there were some minutes of fussing with Emi trying to tell him to knock it off. She also heard a few snide remarks in the background that angered him but she was championed from an unexpected corner when Dora snapped, “Honestly Nate, use some sense and get her away from those two nasty tempered crows. She’s exhausted from blood loss, malnourished too from the look of her, and dealing with their ugliness better than I would. I’d say bring her to our place but Angelique has her hands full watching our bunch and Tony is there hiding out from that girl he got for himself down in Miami … now there is a hot mess for you.”

“Kiko, yell to Benji to get the wagon as close as he can and I’ll carry ...,” Nate said as he tried to scoop Emi up into his arms.

“Oh no you won’t. I’m not helpless.”

“You’re about as helpless as those DV gators were but at least this once I am going to have my way.”

Rather than make more of a scene Emi let it go. She just wanted away from all of it. When she had dreamed of coming home it was coming home to die and escape the life she’d been living, not coming home to relive some of the worst parts of it.

 

[Kathy in FL]

Chapter 22

Alva wasn’t a big town, in fact before DV it only had about 2000 people living there. But the outlying areas were spread out which meant a ride in a loaded wagon would take an hour on a maintained road and a little longer where the road turned to limerock.

Nate was seething the whole way; no one broke the silence to draw his attention. There had been several irritants involving his ex-wife and her family but the kicker had been that Arden had left in the water taxi with her mother and sister. Some of it was legitimate; she had expected Nate back a few days earlier and had scheduled to begin her novitiate, but some of it was also a show of disapproval, both with Nate bringing home a “girl” and that he point-blank refused to let Bastian and Darla go home with Gina “for a short visit.” That meant that there was no chance to transition slowly and smoothly the way Nate had thought it would occur. Dora had agreed to keep Darla another night or two which really helped but it didn’t do much to sooth Nate.

Dora looked at Emi and said, “Kiko thinks you’ll clean up good. He thought enough of you that he was going to hook you up with his little brother Tony. Well Nate isn’t Tony and I’m reserving judgment … just remember …”

“Yeah, yeah. You’re Nate’s big sister. Trust me, I don’t want to bring down more trouble. I promised that to Nate as part of our deal even without him asking me to. I got the feeling off him that family and loyalty is a priority.”

“It is. For all of us. You remember that then we won’t have problems.”

As a big sister lecture it could have been much worse so Emi refused to be offended by what was said. Compared to some things she’d had said to her the last few years, Dora was being an angel no matter the daggers that Nate looked at his sister.

Finally, the heavily loaded wagon pulled out. The wagon was actually an old school bus that had had the engine area and the top cut off and most of the rows of seats taken out. There was a six-mule-team pulling the wagon and they were so strong there was very little jerking on the front axles. That meant, despite Emi still being in pain, she wasn’t being further hurt by the wagon rattling all over.

Nate and Emi sat in the first bench seat and Bastian sat directly behind them. They followed Pearl Street almost until it ended and then turned towards the river. Emi was sitting up but was struggling to not lean on Nate because she kept sliding that direction. He finally realized that she was having a hard time of it and put his arm around her. “Easy. Or we’ll both wind up falling out.”

“I’m fine.”

“Yes you are.”

Emi gave him a look such a comment deserved and said, “Even I know that is a very bad pick up line.”

He sighed and said, “Give me some credit. I was stating the obvious. Now settle down.”

Emi didn’t struggle but she was still stiff. This was the part of the bargain she’d done her best not to think about very much. Her experience of the male species over the last few years made her think more in terms of survival than companionship and intimacy.

As they pulled off Pearl and down the old lime rock lane heading towards the river Emi saw rows upon rows of citrus trees. It reminded her some of her grandparents’ property except these were not nearly as well cared for. Many of the trees were dead and covered in vines. The further down the lane however the better cared for the plants and trees became.

Nat explained, “The trees up here technically don’t belong to me, they belong to the town when they were taken back by tax deed. Ever since I took possession of the house and land they’ve been trying to get me to take care of that front bit for free but they still want the full value of the fruit to let me “use” the land. I don’t know who they think they’re fooling. Not going to happen their way in this lifetime. Now that I’m here full time I can make even more improvements and that should push them closer to just taking a lump sum to take the property off their hands. It costs more for them to harvest the fruit than they get benefit from it.”

“Seems a shame. They were nice, big trees.”

“They are old and used up trees. Before DV they were trying to sell the land to a developer but nothing ever came of it, or so I’ve heard. All they need is a little push and the land could be mine. I’d take out the dead trees and put in a large garden and then …” He stopped. “But for now I have enough to take care of.”

Emi nodded. “I recognize some of these. There’s oranges, tangerines, and those look like they are either pommelos or grapefruit; I can’t tell for sure from here. Are there tags or … or something so that I can see what each tree is?”

“There are some old garden plaques on some trees and Benji’s father – Rob and his brother Don are the caretakers I told you about – knows what some of them are even without the ID plaques. One of the things I want to do is go through the nursery’s old records and try and get a feel for what is where and when it is supposed to be ripe.”

Trying to understand why he hadn’t done that already Emi asked, “How long have you had your place?”

“Just about a year. I had been in negotiations for another property on the other side of the river but … Gina … the seller was a friend of her family. Then this one came up. Dora called it providential and she was happy to have me and the kids closer. Arden … well that’s another story and not one I want to get into right now. When we turn this corner you see …”

“Santa Madre de Dios! Lo que he me he metido?”

“It isn’t that bad,” said Bastian defensively. “We’ve done lots of work to it.”

“Nino, I … your … your father must be …” Emi turned around and frogged Nate’s arm.

“Ow! What was that for?!”

“Are you some kind of Don or something?!”

“Some kind of what?”

“Don’t play stupid Gringo.”

Acknowledging that he did know what she meant he shook his head and explained, “Look, I wanted the land and thought the house would just have to be torn down and another rebuilt in its place. The thing was in pretty rough shape. There’d been a fire in the kitchen, most of the inside was trashed, windows busted. Just after we spent a couple of weeks cleaning it out, it wound up not being as bad as we thought … except for the kitchen. But that room needed to be gutted anyway. Some parts of Ft. Myers are getting electricity back but it will be a long time until we get it back out here; they’re talking years because of all the infrastructure damage. I needed to make it user friendly. If the business pans out I might be able to eventually afford a generator but for now, things are the way they are.”

“How did Arden cook?”

“Not well,” Nate said trying to be honest and polite at the same time.

Bastian didn’t have such reservations and said, “Maybe you don’t burn water but Aunt Arden does.”

Emi saw the shoulders of the boy named Benji shaking in silent laughter where he sat on the driver’s seat so assumed it must be true or close to it.

Bastian continued, “Mr. Don would cook sometimes, and when Dad is here he cooks, but mostly we had to eat whatever Aunt Arden fixed. It was great when Aunt Dora would come for a couple of days but she hasn’t done that for a while. She’s making another baby and she said this one better be a girl or Uncle Kiko can go live in the barn.”

Nate yelped, “Bastian!”

“But that’s what she said Dad.”

“You shouldn’t listen to adult conversations so much.”

Emi said, “Maybe adults should watch what falls out of their mouths.”

Emi winked at Bastian but he shook his head. “Don’t tell them that or they’ll stop talking and I’ll never know what is going on.”

Emi grinned remembering she’d felt much the same way when she’d been younger. Then a sadness hit her and her smile faded and she looked away and over to the house. The closer they got the more Emi could see some of the work that Nate had ahead of him.

The house was a three-story monstrosity, made of bricks and thick stucco. It looked like someone with more money than sense back in the 1940s had built something that was a mish mash of Cuban, Italian, and Victorian architectural styles. But instead of the traditional muted brown color schemes you normally saw along the river it was a combination of clashing and faded greens. It wasn’t too bad as it did help the house to somewhat blend into the surrounding landscape and greenery but that was about the only thing appealing to it. There was dirt and algae almost all the way up the wall on the first and second floors, especially near the windows, and the walls were gouged and pock-marked from what was obviously damage from being shot at. Weedy vines climbed as high as the small third floor in a couple of places.

The roof was terracotta tiles that had been painted bright white at some point but where now black with mold and other filth that had turned them a dull and lifeless gray. Parts of the roof were flat with some crenellations around the outer edge so that it looked like it was usable patio space. New, thick, wooden shutters had recently been added to all of the windows and Emi was to learn that the only thing beneath them were frames fitted with netting to keep the bugs out.

The yard wasn’t bad at all though it was likely nothing compared to what it must have been before DV struck. The hedges and shrubs were neatly trimmed and the palms were manicured so that no dead fronds hung down. The grass was being controlled by a small herd of goats, much the same way that her cousins had controlled the little bit of grass that had grown around their small home. Chickens also roamed freely, though it being the middle of the day and warm most of them were resting in the shade.

As soon as the jangle of the wagon could be heard from the house a small pack of beagles started calling out. Then a chocolate lab bounded around the corner and in its haste created a puppy pile up. That made Bastian laugh and Nate say, “Oh good Lord, I didn’t think it was going to get that big that fast.”

That almost made Emi smile again as she remembered her mother saying almost the exact same thing only in regard to a baby turtle her brothers had brought home they had found nearly getting squished on the road. Before her parents finally convinced her brothers to release it, it had gone from barely nickel-sized to the size of a formal dinner platter and had developed the bad habit of popping out from places unexpectedly and snapping at people’s ankles.

“Nate!” a couple of men called. Emi hadn’t seen where they came from and realized she was starting to zone in and out.

In fact, she started having time lapses because suddenly she wasn’t sitting in the wagon but was standing beside it and hearing someone ask, “She on drugs?”

Then she was being bounced as she was carried in Nate’s arms. Next thing she remembers is waking up in the dark feeling like she had crossed the Sonoran without a water bottle. She also realized that she was nude again.

“This has got to stop,” she croaked in a whisper.

An exhausted voice in the dark said, “I agree. No more messing around until that arm heals up more and definitely no more passing out. How are we going to do this deal if you keep keeling over?”

Emi called him something rude but the words had no heat to them. Nate held a cup to her lips and she drank it dry without him even having to encourage her a little.

“More?”

“Yeah … in a minute. Better let this settle first.” She was silent for a moment then said, “Sorry. Did … did I scare your kid?”

“At first. The arm scared him worse when he watched me change the bandage and clean it out. I just told him it was better that you were out for that part.”

“Is it … bad?”

“Infected? Surprisingly no. I think Dora is right and you just need some rest and to be fed.”

“Water. Water is all I need.”

“Yeah right. We’ll argue about that later. In the morning … look, I know this is … awkward. Maybe I didn’t think it through.”

“You want me gone. I get it. The way things have turned out I’d want me gone too. Just …”

“Listen hard head. I think we’ve already been through this so let me use your own words … it isn’t the deal, that’s fine, it’s everything else that is crazy. Got it? Arden … I was hoping she’d be around long enough that … that you’d see I wasn’t such a bad guy. To take some of the heat off with the kids too.”

“Wait. You mean … you mean the deal is still on? You still want it?”

“You really are a hard head,” he said, but it was almost a caress which was confusing to Emi and started a headache. “Yeah, I still want it. And with Arden gone I … I need the help. Bastian is a good kid, a little too serious but a good kid. But no way is he old enough to run around on his own. Like you said, not too many younger kids have survived both DV and the chaos it has left in its wake. We don’t need to discuss the obvious, we just need to find a way to deal with the results. And then there’s … sleeping arrangements.”

“Is that what you’re calling it?”

“Dammit Emi, you’re eighteen and I’m not some cradle robbing …”

Emi put her hand on the on that Nate was using to hold the drinking cup. “Gringo, I’m not stupido. Just say it.”

Nate looked at her hand and she tried to pull it back but instead Nate placed his other hand over hers. “I want a real marriage Emi. I had thought … look I knew almost immediately that going to Seminary had been the wrong thing for me. I struggled to … er … find myself during and right after college. Nothing felt right so I thought it was because I was avoiding what my parents had always wanted. But when I did give in and attend … Seminary didn’t feel right either. It just took me a while to … to get up the courage to tell everyone else that. I floundered a little after Seminary and then met Gina … which did feel right but in the end wound up feeling the opposite. But I’m not going to sit around blaming myself and suffering because my first marriage failed when I know it wasn’t for lack of my own attempts to make it work.”

“No one is asking you to.”

“Sure they are. Or let me rephrase that, Gina and her family expect it. Even Dora thought I would be a basket case for longer than I was.”

“Eh … family. Their primary purpose in life seems to make you constantly wonder if it’s you or them that’s crazy.”

Nate snorted a surprised laugh. “Yep. Pretty much,” he agreed. “Look. I’m not going to jump you but … but I need some idea …”

“You mean sex?”

“Yeah. I mean sex,” he said irritably.

“Well …” Emi stopped. Then she shook her head and just said it. “I didn’t go looking for it but … but it found me. Once. I learned to fight after that, and I learned that you couldn’t trust anyone. I ain’t blaming every guy on the planet for what happened but … but …” She shook her head and sighed, sick to her stomach at the memories. “Not nice things happen. It leaves … heridas … behind. You … you don’t hit or nothing like that then … then I’ll …”

“Aw hell, this is …” Nate bit off a curse.

Emi stiffened her spine and found her pride. “It ain’t your problem Gringo. I was just telling you so you’d know I can’t wear no white dress if that’s what you wanted or maybe what you’re worried about. Forget it, I have.”

Nate watched Emi try to build her walls thicker but she was losing strength. Her eyes lashes fluttered down lower and lower and he knew he needed to say something before she was completely asleep again. “Emi, I’ll … I’ll move slow. We’ll get to know each other.”

Emi turned her head and looked at Nate and he once again wanted to hide from eyes that seemed to be able to see right through him. She told him, “Stop feeling bad about something that you can’t change and isn’t your fault. Life just sucks that way. But … but if you …” She shuddered and her gaze fell. “This part of the bargain about giving each other time?”

“Yeah,” Nate said softly taking her hand where it lay above the covers. “For now you just focus on getting some rest. I got a hammock over here I’m gonna sleep in. You just rest.”

 

[sssarawolf]

Many thanks

 

[ydderf]

Thanks Kathy

 

[Sammy55]

Thanks for this one, too. Checking to see if you added any more (and to start the "you made me look" round).