((still November 1948))
"Yeah, we'll be home in a couple hours."
"All right, Kit, I'll leave the office lamp on. Be careful, and I love you."
"I love you too, babe."
Kit set the radio down, switching it off. The sky was eclipsed in a blanket of bright stars, sprinkled over a dense blackness. He and Baloo had dropped off a late shipment of fruit that needed to be in Barlow by morning. Baloo had sacked out in the passenger seat after hauling the cargo on the drop-off dock. Kit sighed, wishing he had company. He always thought the darkness meant loneliness, and he hated that feeling. Maybe the newly installed A.M. radio would help. He reached for the dial.
"Hey Kit" Baloo's sleepy voice caught him off guard, making him jump. "How much longer 'til home?"
"About two hours, Baloo. I just called Guinna to tell her we were on our way."
"That's good." The old bear yawned, widely. His little nap felt great, but there was something itching at the back of his head he needed to relieve. Baloo scratched the back of his head obliviously. He hoped Molly would forgive him for what he was about to do. "Say, Kit, can I ask you a question?"
Kit turned to him, smiling, the dim light from the plane's ceiling reflecting off his face. "Go right ahead."
"Uh…" Baloo hesitated, wading through the 'sleep muddle' in his mind. "I know you hate talking about this, but what happened? In Forsynthia…when you were shot down?"
Kit bent down his head, a grave curl in his voice, "How do you know…?"
"I have my sources" Baloo replied, lamely.
"Molly" Kit scowled under his breath as he gripped the control steer.
"No, no. Don't blame Molly. She only had a small part in it. Besides, I had to pry it from her." Baloo drew in a deep breathe. "I been to war, you know that. I went through some tough shick in Bago-Shiloh. I know what it's like."
Silence grew in the small cabin. Kit's iron grip on the control steer seemed to tighten, if that were possible. Every inch of him held a deep hatred for this subject, even more than it held for Don Karnage. It wasn't just the torment of being a POW, but the awful memories of blood and death in his very own plane. How dare his own government submit their citizens to that!
Baloo assumed the subject had been forsaken, at least out loud. Then, "The worse part was thinking that Guinna would be a widow by twenty; that her and Molly would be left alone. I didn't want the story of my parents' death to repeat itself."
"But, you made it!" Baloo interrupted. "You're the strongest person I know!"
It burned. Those words. He wasn't strong.
A reckoning in Kit's face told Baloo exactly what was swimming around in his son's head. Baloo wasn't one for reading people too good, but he knew his son. He knew he had struck a cord. "Kit, ya got to stop puttin' yourself down. You do what you have to do. There may be nothing that can change the past, but you need to stay living in the present."
"I know" a murmured voice said. Baloo sat back at Kit's response. He didn't tug anymore cords after that.
***
February 1949
Molly walked into the prison meeting room just as she did over two months before. She had met almost every week since late November with Don Karnage, counseling him and digging into the truths behind his being. He was a difficult patient if there ever was one! Her patience level grew sharper the more she met with him. All that she had learned so far, the information Karnage delivered her, was definitely helping in the understanding of who he was. Out of all the horrible things he did to her, she finally saw him as a real person.
Today would be the last time they met before Karnage's trial. It was now or never. She had to talk to him about the subject she keep avoiding.
"Hullo, Molly" Karnage greeted, flashing one of his spectacular smiles. "Your week was good, yes/no?"
Molly sat across from him. "It was fine. How was your week?"
"The usual. You know, a fight here, a stabbing there. It all runs together along with the striped uniforms. What do you want to talk about today?" He sat back in his chair, an arrogant presence forming around him. "I would like to talk about my accomplishments as the greatest pirate in the Usland Territory."
Molly rolled her eyes. "You know we're not here to talk about your 'accomplishments' that derive on the side of wrong." She embellished 'wrong'. Karnage sat up at attention. Oh yes, she knew how to handle him by now. "I want you to tell me about any of your past loves."
"Besides treasure and fame?"
Molly let out a kind of laugh/snort. Karnage adored skating around the bush. You either had to lose your patience with him or just ignore him. "That's what I'm shooting for."
Karnage now leaned against the table, shackled hands clasped together. "Besides a fling here and there, I had no love but Guinna." Molly cringed at the thought of him loving her sister. It still disgusted her. "It is not what you think! I loved Guinna for what she gave me. I have never wanted her the way you think, not an attraction."
"If you didn't want her because you were attracted to her, then why?"
"Because of this…" Karnage pulled from a pocket in his prison uniform a browned sheet of paper, folded and bent. Molly accepted it as he offered, and opened it to find a colorful drawing of the beach and ocean. She looked up, confused. "What does this have to do with anything?"
"The first time I met Guinna in the slave camp, she was not scared of me. I was highly impressed with her courage to stand up to the amazing Don Karnage. She gave me this drawing, and wished it would make me happy. I had never been given such a thing or been told such a thing." His voice lowered into a dangerous murmur. "She was special to me. I -needed- her."
Molly's mind was racing with so many explanations, but she knew his reasoning. "Guinna was the first person who gave you the compassion you lacked heavily all your life. You put all your energy into her just because of one small thing she did for you. Don't you realize you could of gotten that just by living a normal life!"
"Being a pirate was my life! I could never of been anything else!"
"You never tried! The only reasons you stayed a pirate was you wanted your father to give you what you lacked. When he didn't give it to you, you found an alternate root and subjected a child - who is still haunted by your actions to this day - to the hardship of giving you what you needed. Not only that, but you love to control."
"Control is in my blood. It's what I know best!"
"How can you know how to control best, when you can't even control yourself!"
"But I can control myself!" Karnage yelled viciously, standing in a repeat of several outburst. The guard at the door peeked in, not even bothering to ask if everything was all right. He was use to the usual outbursts by now.
Karnage sat back down in one swift motion. He stared at the wall to his right, chin in hand with a frustrated air about him. They were silent. Tension rarely interceded in their meetings. Molly would wait until he calmed.
"Is that all for today?" Karnage asked.
"If you want it to be."
Karnage switched his eyes to connect with hers. "I don't want it to be. I want you to stay."
"Why?" Molly fished. He had said this before, but not in such a serious tone.
"Can't I enjoy another's company? Is that a crime too?" he replied, bored.
Molly watched him with suspicious eyes. "No it isn't. But, I have nothing more to talk to you about. This is the last meeting until your trial."
"I know." Karnage extended his hand to rest on Molly's. "Give a message to Guinna. Tell her I'm sorry for the hurt I caused her. Give her this." He slid the drawing across the table.
Molly nodded, pocketing the paper. "I'll see you at the trial."
"Good-bye, Molly."
Molly walked out the prison as fast as she could. She stood against the building trying to catch her breathe. There was something about the way Karnage had said he wanted her to stay that made her uncomfortable. *I pray he isn't becoming fascinated over me.*
"Yeah, we'll be home in a couple hours."
"All right, Kit, I'll leave the office lamp on. Be careful, and I love you."
"I love you too, babe."
Kit set the radio down, switching it off. The sky was eclipsed in a blanket of bright stars, sprinkled over a dense blackness. He and Baloo had dropped off a late shipment of fruit that needed to be in Barlow by morning. Baloo had sacked out in the passenger seat after hauling the cargo on the drop-off dock. Kit sighed, wishing he had company. He always thought the darkness meant loneliness, and he hated that feeling. Maybe the newly installed A.M. radio would help. He reached for the dial.
"Hey Kit" Baloo's sleepy voice caught him off guard, making him jump. "How much longer 'til home?"
"About two hours, Baloo. I just called Guinna to tell her we were on our way."
"That's good." The old bear yawned, widely. His little nap felt great, but there was something itching at the back of his head he needed to relieve. Baloo scratched the back of his head obliviously. He hoped Molly would forgive him for what he was about to do. "Say, Kit, can I ask you a question?"
Kit turned to him, smiling, the dim light from the plane's ceiling reflecting off his face. "Go right ahead."
"Uh…" Baloo hesitated, wading through the 'sleep muddle' in his mind. "I know you hate talking about this, but what happened? In Forsynthia…when you were shot down?"
Kit bent down his head, a grave curl in his voice, "How do you know…?"
"I have my sources" Baloo replied, lamely.
"Molly" Kit scowled under his breath as he gripped the control steer.
"No, no. Don't blame Molly. She only had a small part in it. Besides, I had to pry it from her." Baloo drew in a deep breathe. "I been to war, you know that. I went through some tough shick in Bago-Shiloh. I know what it's like."
Silence grew in the small cabin. Kit's iron grip on the control steer seemed to tighten, if that were possible. Every inch of him held a deep hatred for this subject, even more than it held for Don Karnage. It wasn't just the torment of being a POW, but the awful memories of blood and death in his very own plane. How dare his own government submit their citizens to that!
Baloo assumed the subject had been forsaken, at least out loud. Then, "The worse part was thinking that Guinna would be a widow by twenty; that her and Molly would be left alone. I didn't want the story of my parents' death to repeat itself."
"But, you made it!" Baloo interrupted. "You're the strongest person I know!"
It burned. Those words. He wasn't strong.
A reckoning in Kit's face told Baloo exactly what was swimming around in his son's head. Baloo wasn't one for reading people too good, but he knew his son. He knew he had struck a cord. "Kit, ya got to stop puttin' yourself down. You do what you have to do. There may be nothing that can change the past, but you need to stay living in the present."
"I know" a murmured voice said. Baloo sat back at Kit's response. He didn't tug anymore cords after that.
***
February 1949
Molly walked into the prison meeting room just as she did over two months before. She had met almost every week since late November with Don Karnage, counseling him and digging into the truths behind his being. He was a difficult patient if there ever was one! Her patience level grew sharper the more she met with him. All that she had learned so far, the information Karnage delivered her, was definitely helping in the understanding of who he was. Out of all the horrible things he did to her, she finally saw him as a real person.
Today would be the last time they met before Karnage's trial. It was now or never. She had to talk to him about the subject she keep avoiding.
"Hullo, Molly" Karnage greeted, flashing one of his spectacular smiles. "Your week was good, yes/no?"
Molly sat across from him. "It was fine. How was your week?"
"The usual. You know, a fight here, a stabbing there. It all runs together along with the striped uniforms. What do you want to talk about today?" He sat back in his chair, an arrogant presence forming around him. "I would like to talk about my accomplishments as the greatest pirate in the Usland Territory."
Molly rolled her eyes. "You know we're not here to talk about your 'accomplishments' that derive on the side of wrong." She embellished 'wrong'. Karnage sat up at attention. Oh yes, she knew how to handle him by now. "I want you to tell me about any of your past loves."
"Besides treasure and fame?"
Molly let out a kind of laugh/snort. Karnage adored skating around the bush. You either had to lose your patience with him or just ignore him. "That's what I'm shooting for."
Karnage now leaned against the table, shackled hands clasped together. "Besides a fling here and there, I had no love but Guinna." Molly cringed at the thought of him loving her sister. It still disgusted her. "It is not what you think! I loved Guinna for what she gave me. I have never wanted her the way you think, not an attraction."
"If you didn't want her because you were attracted to her, then why?"
"Because of this…" Karnage pulled from a pocket in his prison uniform a browned sheet of paper, folded and bent. Molly accepted it as he offered, and opened it to find a colorful drawing of the beach and ocean. She looked up, confused. "What does this have to do with anything?"
"The first time I met Guinna in the slave camp, she was not scared of me. I was highly impressed with her courage to stand up to the amazing Don Karnage. She gave me this drawing, and wished it would make me happy. I had never been given such a thing or been told such a thing." His voice lowered into a dangerous murmur. "She was special to me. I -needed- her."
Molly's mind was racing with so many explanations, but she knew his reasoning. "Guinna was the first person who gave you the compassion you lacked heavily all your life. You put all your energy into her just because of one small thing she did for you. Don't you realize you could of gotten that just by living a normal life!"
"Being a pirate was my life! I could never of been anything else!"
"You never tried! The only reasons you stayed a pirate was you wanted your father to give you what you lacked. When he didn't give it to you, you found an alternate root and subjected a child - who is still haunted by your actions to this day - to the hardship of giving you what you needed. Not only that, but you love to control."
"Control is in my blood. It's what I know best!"
"How can you know how to control best, when you can't even control yourself!"
"But I can control myself!" Karnage yelled viciously, standing in a repeat of several outburst. The guard at the door peeked in, not even bothering to ask if everything was all right. He was use to the usual outbursts by now.
Karnage sat back down in one swift motion. He stared at the wall to his right, chin in hand with a frustrated air about him. They were silent. Tension rarely interceded in their meetings. Molly would wait until he calmed.
"Is that all for today?" Karnage asked.
"If you want it to be."
Karnage switched his eyes to connect with hers. "I don't want it to be. I want you to stay."
"Why?" Molly fished. He had said this before, but not in such a serious tone.
"Can't I enjoy another's company? Is that a crime too?" he replied, bored.
Molly watched him with suspicious eyes. "No it isn't. But, I have nothing more to talk to you about. This is the last meeting until your trial."
"I know." Karnage extended his hand to rest on Molly's. "Give a message to Guinna. Tell her I'm sorry for the hurt I caused her. Give her this." He slid the drawing across the table.
Molly nodded, pocketing the paper. "I'll see you at the trial."
"Good-bye, Molly."
Molly walked out the prison as fast as she could. She stood against the building trying to catch her breathe. There was something about the way Karnage had said he wanted her to stay that made her uncomfortable. *I pray he isn't becoming fascinated over me.*
