EITHER JIM BEAM IN YOUR COFFEE OR A FULL BLOWN CULT

"Jesus, Nick, what's with you and the strays?" Nick's brother, Joshua Blaine, was older and couldn't help seeing him as a young 'know nothing', as he'd always called him. Yet he was hopeful - hopeful that Nick would have an envelope for him. He hated asking.

"And when did you 'get religion'?" Joshua added. He smiled that smile that all older brothers smiled when they'd caught the youngling being a 'doofus', which was another tagline Nick had endured since he was a tad.

Not hearing anything, Joshua continued. "You know they're manipulating you, don't you? They're out for your money."

"My money!?" Nick said. "The only one getting my money is you!" Nick had finally broken through his introversion and anxiety - always brought on by trying to explain himself to his brother. Which he found himself constantly doing.

"You've not met him, Josh. Mr. Pryce. He's connected. He has principles."

Joshua snorted, "Ya, 'principles' that will break up this country! Things are getting really polarized, Nick. I just never thought you'd be on their side?"

Joshua started in on their father. "Dad's drinking again." That was a topic that Nick hated to engage in. Less a refusal, actually, but he'd born the brunt of his father's alcoholism in a way Joshua hadn't. Joshua had escaped the worst of it. It was when their dad's pension had been devalued by 75% that it had really got bad.

By the looks of things, Joshua was following in their dad's footsteps. Jim Beam in his morning coffee explained Joshua's courage in meeting with Nick. Expecting the envelope.

Joshua said, "the steel mill is closed. One last massive layoff finished it off. Soon you can say good-bye to the town."

Nick brightened, "and you're getting after me for the Sons of Jacob?" Nick paused to look at his older brother, once the role model he'd always wanted to be like.

"You still scamming, Josh?" Nick asked quietly.

"What's it to you, l'il bro? It's not like I hadn't paid into it."

"You know what I mean, Josh. The fake i.d.'s, the whole smash."

Joshua smiled, "You're always criticizing my hobbies!"

Nick did not want to argue. Neither did his brother. Truth be told, Joshua was hoping that Nick would just hand it over, and he'd be gone. Again.

So Joshua started, "the strays, Nick, the strays. This 'girl-friend' of yours," Joshua said in finger-quotes, "I bet you're not getting any, because you are in that goofy religious cult."

"I wish you would come and see for yourself, Josh, I really do." Nick looked like he was parroting things, rather than what he really believed.

Then again, Josh thought, if all Nick was getting out of it was, 'being laid', maybe it was worth it. Being who the Sons of Jacob were, though, that wasn't likely. It was just that the one time Josh had met her, the girl had seemed so 'needy'. Not the 'high maintenance' kind, either. A girl from a family much like theirs. Father had long-since exited, she had 7 siblings. Little mouse of a girl. Her mom cleaned other people's houses - although since the mill-closure, that work was drying up too.

"Hey Josh," Nick asked, "when will I see you again?" At that, Nick *finally* reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope, filled with cash. Nick slid it over to his brother.

"Thanks, l'il bro. This means a lot."

Nick said, "I've only one 'ask'. That you don't tell me how you're using it."

Joshua looked genuinely startled. "Hey, Nick, I'm good for all this. You'll see. I've got a few schemes on the go."

Nick thought, 'ya, like dad was good for anything.' But Nick said, "I know you hate me preaching, Josh. But you have to listen. Mr. Pryce, he's a rock." Josh just took the envelope, put it in his pocket and leaned back, looking bored, like he was about to leave. "No, Josh, listen. Say what you want about the Sons of Jacob, but we're getting killed by the way things are. An America ruled by 'profit and pleasure'." That was one of Nick's memorized slogans.

Joshua laughed, "listen to you, Nick. 'America'? We're 'America', you and me. And look at us? Look at dad? Our dead town. That's America."

Nick looked down at the table. "Well, I'm headed to Chicago."

"Chicago!?" Joshua exclaimed! "You're a Michigander!"

"Mr. Pryce, he has something for me there. It's volunteer, but at least it's not here. We'll be a volunteer security force out there for the Sons of Jacob."

"God, it sounds like one of those weird militias."

"No, it's not. You wait and see." Nick reached over and took his brother's hand. "You can come, Josh."

"What? Are you serious? I'm self-employed already. Besides, I don't collect stray girls. That seems to be the main talent one needs to get involved in that cult."

THE KNOCK ON THE DOOR

Since the shooting, Rita had keep the latch engaged on her door, even when opening it. She would never have done that in Gilead, no safety-latch would have survived even one Guardian's boot.

There in Toronto, it had taken Rita six months to trust that door. It had been weeks since she'd even bothered with the safety-latch.

The shooting at the ITWC Detention Centre had undone any progress on that front.

So when the knock came, she stood at some distance from the door and asked sharply, "Who is it?"

The answer, equally sharply. "Josh Blaine, here for Ms. Blue."

Rita had gone into full Martha-mode in welcoming Joshua Blaine into her small, Toronto apartment.

Trying to remember, Nick had only spoken of his family once and that had only been in passing. Back in the days of the first Offred.

"That is mighty fine coffee, Ms. Blue," Blaine said sipping his first cup. As an AA veteran, Joshua Blaine appreciated strong coffee.

Rita sat with her cup, but just held it in front of her as she tried to contain her incredulity, surveying the man at her table. Finally she beamed that wide smile of hers, said, "I hope you don't mind, but God is indeed, good. It's so good to meet you! You're Nick's spitting image. It's remarkable. Thank you, Lord, for your mercy."

Joshua just smiled a far weaker smile, the religious language Rita had used was so unexpected. Weren't these Gilead-refugees in Canada victims of that kind of cultish stuff?

So he said, "Ms. Blue…." to which she corrected to 'Rita'. So he began again, "Rita, no one was more surprised than me, to hear that Nick was a mucky-muck in Gilead, of all places. Last I heard, he was a grunt in Boston. Considered by Gilead as a war hero. Then all of a sudden, a Commander. My little brother, he amounted to something."

Joshua added only in his thoughts, 'why'd it have to be Gilead?'

"Your brother, Joshua, he saved my life. More than once."

"Hey Rita, look, we've just met, and you've graciously invited me in - given me this great coffee." He paused while measuring the words to come. "Don't throw me out for asking. Were you a bit of a stray?"

Rita laughed. She thanked him for the levity, asked, "how much do you know about Gilead?" He said all he knew was what had been in the news. He said that after the 'war', he'd managed to get to Calgary, in Alberta. The only reason he had come out to Toronto was when the news had said that a 'Commander Nick Blaine had been arrested,' and then that he had been shot.

Fearing he was about to be evicted, Joshua apologized.

"No need, Joshua. You've not been inappropriate, truly you haven't. You are God's blessing being here."

Rita continued, "Nick was the one who saved me from women's detention. Lord above, even referring to it as 'women's detention' seems so antiseptic. Joshua, they were shooting women in the holding centre where Nick and I met."

"He took pity on me, I guess. Said that I reminded him of 'guys at the front'. So he got me a Martha's job - a maid's job - at a Commander's home in Boston. As long as I cooked, cleaned and did laundry I could survive. Nick gave me a chance to survive. I owe him everything for that."

Joshua said, "Well, no one was more surprised than me, to find my little brother charged with War Crimes. Flippin' war crimes."

Rita said, "there was a lot of water under that bridge, Joshua."

He asked her, "do you think he was guilty of all that stuff?"

She sat back in her chair, "it's not my place. So much happened back there. But there's one thing you should know."

He put his cup down, "what's that?"

"Mayday." When she said the word, Joshua said that he'd heard about that, but that media in Canada doubted that it had ever existed.

"Oh, it existed." She started in, "Nick was Mayday. He was an Eye of God, a plainclothes version. A Guardian and eventually a Commander. A fox among the pigeons." She paused then added, "as it says in the Good Book, 'God works in mysterious ways' and 'God never gives you more than you can handle'. That was Nick."

Joshua said, "You know those two quotes aren't in the Bible. Right?"

Rita said, "Ok, now I'm embarrassed. Me, I'm a woman of faith."

He looked at her, and apologized for asking. "After all you experienced, you're still a believer?"

She said, "My word, more so. Gilead was not Christian. Anything but. Me, I'm Catholic. Gilead executed priests."

She then said she wanted to get back to something Joshua had asked about.

STRAYS

"I object to the word, 'strays'." She told Joshua that the word did not apply to Nick. "I needed someone to save my life. Nick saved my life."

Joshua said, "but the news here in Canada. The allegations."

"Jesus will judge me, I know." She was quiet for a full twenty seconds before continuing. "This was Gilead. Nick never once crossed a line with me, and he could have broken my jaw and been rewarded for it. He never, not remotely."

Then she added quietly. "The women, they're friends of mine. There's only one who is both still around and making allegations. Another isn't making 'allegations', she bore his child, that baby is here in Toronto. I suppose that technically that makes her your niece." She paused again, "two marriages, to underage kids. One forced on him. The other I know nothing about."

"Strays? War crimes?" Rita refilled her cup without asking about his. "Me, I'm still dealing with my own stuff. 'Judge not lest ye be judged', which IS in the Good Book."

She concluded, "Nick, he rescued me. Not just from that holding centre. At my posting, the one where I was the Martha. I'd found the girl, hanging from her light-cord on the ceiling. I'd been nothing but a bitch to her. Nick, he took over." She went silent as if remembering. "If he'd been involved with that first girl, it was probably the only love she knew in that place."

"So, you call them 'strays'. Please forgive me, Joshua, show your brother some respect."

LUKE BANKOLE

At that, there was another knock on Rita's door. "Lord have mercy," Rita muttered, "I told him not to come."

The knock continued, more insistent. Rita got up, opened it, and Luke Bankole pushed past her.

Going directly to the table, Luke said, "So you're Nick's brother."

Joshua said, "that, I am. To whom do I owe this pleasure?"

Luke didn't wait for further introductions. "Me, I'm tired of people defending that guy. Rita, she minimizes everything. Especially when it comes to," he added looking straight at Rita, "my wife!"

Luke looked at Joshua. "But if you're here for what I think you're here for, you can forget it. You're too late."

Joshua Blaine added, then asked, "What's wrong with you people? 'Too late' for what?"

"Nichole," Bankole said, to even Rita's surprise. "Moira and I signed the documents last week, this morning Nichole, she's gone."

Rita asked, "gone where?"

Luke said defiantly, "to where no one will know who she is. She'll grow up normally. New name, new identity. The works. Not even Moira or I know." Luke went to the door to leave, "she'll grow up without the Blaine stain, without my fucking wife's sickness."

Joshua was silent for a moment. "Who's Moira?"