Chapter 73 – Strong And Confident
Everything was so beautiful on Olympus. The trees were brightly colored hues or greens and pinks. Psamathe was known as the metropolitan of the Outlands. It was the smallest of all of the planets but it housed the wealthiest of patrons. Anyone who had money lived on Psamathe and everyone else wanted to live there. That wasn't the case for Ajay and Octavio. They grew up together and they promised to someday leave "this shit show behind."
Ajay peered out her window as she listened to her music through her ear buds. Her gaze shifted to a plain box in her lap. She flipped through some pictures of her and her best friend Octavio. Her heart skipped a beat the further along that she went through the pictures. Her face turned a shade of red as she looked over her favorite picture of them at one of her parent's galas. He was dressed up in a fancy black suit and she was in a long black dress. It was the first time that they had ever got dressed up and went out together. Afterwards they almost… her thoughts were interrupted as a stream for Octavio's show popped up on her phone.
Ajay smiled and watched the stream. It was the only way she could see him anymore. She tucked the pictures back into the box next to his butterfly knife and put the lid on the box. She stood up and walked over to her bed. She slid the box into her backpack and zipped it up. She sat down on her bed next to her backpack and suitcase and watched his stream. He was fast as he did his stunts on the obstacle course. The course was similar to one called The Gauntlet. Octavio competed in The Gauntlet every week to try and beat the record which was currently 12 seconds.
The stream finished and Ajay made it to her feet. She pinned her hair up into two buns on top of her head. She often referred to them as space buns because Octavio said 'They were out of this world.' She threw on a hoodie and slipped on her favorite pair of boots. Her backpack was heavy on her shoulders when she got it on. Ajay made sure her D.O.C. drone was tucked away in the front pocket. The drone was just a prototype at this point but she enjoyed working on it. She grabbed her suitcase and headed down the long staircase. Her fingertips grazed the handle of the front door but she was abruptly stopped by a familiar voice.
"Ajay Che! Where are you going?" Her body was tense when she heard the voice of her mother, Cherisse Che. Then she heard her father step in, not too far behind, "What is going on here?" Darion Che's voice could fill any room. Ajay turned around, her face was emotionless. "I'm leaving." Her parents stood only a few feet from her, "You're still chasing this silly idea?" Cherisse's voice was mocking as she spoke.
Ajay rolled her eyes, "It's not an idea. This is somethin I gotta do." Cherisse crossed her arms over her chest, "You're chasing after that Silva boy again aren't you?" Ajay looked down at the floor. "That boy will make our family look bad. It's time to grow up and be responsible. You need to think about what is best for our family." Darion's vibrated throughout the large foyer.
Ajay clutched her the straps of her backpack tightly. She adjusted her grasp as she felt uneasy, "That's not why I'm leaving." She didn't offer any more information because she really didn't want to have this argument with her parents. Cherisse smirked, "Then you don't need to go anywhere." Darion nodded, "It would be bad publicity if you left."
Anger washed over Ajay's face, "I am not staying." Cherisse moved closer to her only daughter and spoke to her, inches from her face, "I don't think you have much choice in the matter." Ajay looked her mother straight in the eyes, "I am going to be late getting to my ride. The Frontier Corporation needs me." Darion laughed, "They don't need you." Ajay continued to stare at her mother, "They wouldn't if you weren't profiting from this damn war."
It felt like lightning struck her as Cherisse's right hand hit Ajay's left cheek. Cherisse hit Ajay as hard as she could, "Don't you dare speak to us like that!" Ajay held her face for a moment as she looked down at the white marble title below her. Drops of the blood began to hit the tile. She watched the blood fall down and tried not to cry. For moment the only thing that Ajay could heat was the sound of her own blood hitting the tile below her. The ringing in her left ear was sharp as sound returned to it. She spit some blood out of her mouth before she looked at her mother.
She was speechless. Cherisse's face held no remorse for smacking her daughter; in fact it wasn't the first time she had done it. Ajay turned around and opened the door. Cherisse rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest once again, "Don't expect our help if you leave." Ajay grabbed her suitcase and stepped outside, slamming the door behind her.
It wasn't long before she settled into to her assigned post for the Frontier Corps Military. She had been there a couple of years. The tension with the IMC was still pretty high and there wasn't an end in sight for the war. Ajay really enjoyed what she did and felt as though she had a purpose. Ajay had finished up her shift and was headed back to her place. She enjoyed that her place was off site. She was on the base doing field work for days on end and it felt nice to get away once in a while.
The night sky was pitch black and full of bright stars which was quite the opposite of Olympus. The cool breeze felt nice against her face as she strolled down the dirt path. She was almost to her little house before she heard voices off the path. She usually didn't intrude in other's business but it was really late and the voices were really loud. Ajay walked closer to where the voices were coming from.
The voices grew louder as she got closer. There were three men standing around a tall, slender African woman. "Come on IMC trash. You're not so tough when you're all by yourself." Ajay watched for a moment as the short haired woman just stood there with a look of anger on her face. The woman was definitely and IMC solider and the men around her were just stupid drunk civilians.
Not once did the woman stand down but she didn't really put up a fight either. One of the men proceed to touch her ass, "You like that baby don't you." The woman grabbed the man's wrist and flipped him on his ass. One of the other men proceeded to punch the woman in the side of her face so hard that it forced her on her ass into the dirt.
The man that was on his back sat up and crawled on top of the woman. He held her down by her wrists. "Is this what you want you piece of trash?" The other two men watched. The woman struggled to push the man off her as the other two men held her down. The man on top of her began to grab her breasts with his right hand. The woman spit in his face. With a closed fist the man punched her. Ajay watched as blood poured out of her mouth. Ajay cringed as blood seeped from the woman's head. Everything had escalated so fast.
The man on top of the woman began to unzip his pants and reached down to unzip her pants. Before the man could finish unzipping the woman's pants a loud, sharp noise pierced everyone's ears and warm blood began to pour down onto the woman. Shortly after, the man's heavy, lifeless body fell onto the woman. The other two men scrambled to stand up. Ajay stood there with her Wingman in her left hand. The other two men look startled but they quickly snapped out of it and rushed towards her. The gun went off two more times and both of the men hit the dirt with a heavy thud.
Ajay slid the gun into her backpack and rushed over to the woman on the ground. She pushed the body off of the woman and quickly examined her. Ajay pulled her phone out of her pocket as she pried the woman's eyes open. She turned on the flashlight on her phone and shined it into the woman's eyes. The woman groaned as Ajay felt for a pulse and helped her to her feet.
Ajay pushed the door open to her house and helped the woman onto her sofa. She quickly retrieved the first aid kit, a lot of warm water, and some wash cloths from her tiny kitchen. Ajay gently cleansed the blood from the woman's face to get a better look at her wounds. After Ajay finished getting most of the blood cleaned up she assessed the woman's wounds.
The woman finally opened her eyes and looked at her. Ajay looked into the woman's dark brown eyes, "Ya need stitches. And ya pretty beat up. Let me medicate ya." Ajay reached down for her first aid kit but the woman grabbed her wrist, "Do you have any vodka instead?" Ajay looked at her a little perplexed, "Yah. I think so." Ajay got up and rummaged around the kitchen until she found a half drank bottle of vodka. She brought out the bottle and glass and handed it to the woman.
Ajay watched as the woman took the bottle and pushed the glass away. Ajay set the glass down and kneeled down in front of the woman. She began to thread the medical thread into her crescent needle as the woman took a long drink from the bottle of vodka. "What's your name kid?" Ajay continued to ready the stitch set, "Ajay."
The woman nodded but stopped almost immediately as the pain radiated throughout her head, "Anita Williams. IMC armed forces." Ajay nodded. "You ready?" Anita took another long drink and placed the bottle in her lap, holding it with her thighs, "Good to go." Ajay began stitching up the side of Anita's head, careful not to cause her further pain. "Why are you doing this kid?" Anita closed her eyes. Ajay didn't skip a beat as she worked meticulous to stitch her up, "Why wouldn't I?" Anita shrugged, "Because you are Frontier Corps and I am IMC. At least I assume you're Frontier Crops. Never seen you on my base before."
Ajay finished up the first set of stitches and started on the second laceration on Anita's cheek, "Ya a human being aren't ya? Doesn't matter what side of the war ya are on." Ajay paused as Anita took another drink of vodka, "Yeah but I could be a murderer." Ajay continued to stitch her up, "And I just murdered those men. So I guess that makes me a murderer too." Anita chuckled at her, "Yeah. Well I appreciate that. I will clean up that mess. It can be our little secret."
Ajay finished with the last laceration on Anita's face and sat back to look at her work, "Any other areas I should know about it?" Anita looked into Ajay's chestnut eyes as she set the empty bottle of vodka down on the floor. She began to peel off her shirt as Ajay watched. Ajay blushed as Anita's breasts spilled out in front of her. Ajay turned around before Anita finished pulling off her shirt.
Anita chuckled, "I am sure you have seen plenty of naked patients." Ajay nodded in agreement. "But none so commanding." Ajay waited a moment and composed herself, "I have." Ajay turned around looked over Anita's body noticing all of her scars and a fairly new looking laceration over her right breast. Ajay pointed, "There?" Anita looked down at her torn up body, "Yeah." Ajay began to thread the crescent needle again. "You're really good at this kid."
Anita watched as Ajay gently touched her breast. It has been so long since another human being had touched her. She took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled. "Am I hurting you?" Ajay paused as she looked up to Anita who had her eyes closed. "Nah kid. I just haven't." She stopped herself, "How long have you been doing this? This medic thing?" Anita hoped that she had saved some face with her question.
Anita could feel Ajay's warm breath against her skin as began to push the need through her flesh and thread her skin together, "Since I can rememba." Anita gave her a puzzled look, perhaps it was because of the alcohol, "When was that?" Ajay continued working at the large laceration, "Since I was two." Anita looked stunned but she finally started to relax a bit.
"Anita, why did ya let those guys walk all over ya?" Anita turned her gaze away so that Ajay didn't see the look of disappointment wash over her. "I have my orders." Ajay stopped stitching and gave Anita a look of concern, "I don understand. Ya were gonna let them rape ya?" Ajay paused for a moment, "Ya seem like a strong woman." Ajay wished that she could be that strong and confident.
The silence was deafening until Ajay began to work on Anita once again. "The IMC is trying to make peace. I had my orders not to hurt anyone." Anita looked down at Ajay who was almost finished stitching her up. "That doesn't mean ya need to let anyone take advantage of ya." Anita felt warm from the alcohol, "You're right. I am lucky you were there. Like some sort of guardian angel appearing out of nowhere." Ajay finished up and stood up to stretch before cleaning up. "Ya should take a shower. You still got blood on ya that isn't yours." Ajay motioned to the bathroom. Anita smiled and sat back, "It's not the first time kid."