CH12
It is now one month later: (June)
Until it rained they couldn't afford to fill the pool or hot tub. In all the previous events it had rained right on schedule, however if they finally had done something to change things, events may happen differently this time, so they couldn't risk it.
Jim had seen Kate's idea of fishing, so when they decided to go out shark fishing, Jim had bowed out and let Rick and Kate handle it.
Jim watched them soak the shark pieces after Rick sliced them up into steaks. "Why are you soaking them?" Jim didn't understand.
"Sharks pee through their skin so you need to soak them for a while to make sure you get all the pee out." Alexis tells him, smiling as she sees the reaction Kate had given her the first few times.
Kate was laughing. "Relax dad, we've done this a few times. It's a little on the chewy side some times, but it tastes fine. … Not like smoked baby back ribs maybe, but it's nice." Kate was still smiling at the look on her dads face.
"Sit with me dear." Martha pats the sofa she was sitting on watching Alexis stare out the back patio door.
After Alexis sits down. "Tell me about Katherine dear. … Why is she mom?" Martha wanted to learn. This woman whom Martha had never heard of had her sons and granddaughters heart.
"Mom is absent and doesn't really care. She only really cares about herself and how people see her. Life is supposed to revolve around mom, like she was a queen of some country and people were supposed to let her do what she wanted.
I learned long ago that mom wasn't really interested in me, unless it was to her benefit in some manner. I know she doesn't hate me and maybe in there somewhere she actually loves me. Though most likely it wouldn't matter if it was me or some little girl off the street. Not me for being me.
Gina didn't care if I was alive. I'm not really sure what Gina wanted, I just know it didn't involve me.
Kate however cares about how I feel. What makes me happy. Who my friends are. What my plans for the future are. Kate has even slept with me, to hold me and make sure I wasn't sad." Alexis was tempted to say have nightmares after killing those two men time after time, and when they showed up again and Kate killed them yet again, Alexis knew that Kate would sleep in her room with her for the next few nights, just to make sure.
"Kate tells me that she loves me, she's even helped me plan for the future after we finally stop living these months over and over again. She's even fought off dad to get dad to accept what is best for me, not what he wants.
Kate is teaching me to be me. … And I love her for it, all of it." Alexis tries to explain. "In the beginning Kate was all business and didn't have an ounce of fun in her. Dancing in the rain, laughing at dads jokes, seeing the fun in just playing a board game as part of a family. Kate was a cop, all cop. It actually caused dad to be more of a child than normal, which only caused Kate to shut down even more. … Now she feels like a part of the family."
Martha hugged Alexis. "It sounds like you have found the perfect woman for you dear. … And what about Richard?"
That got Alexis to smile. "Kate has made dad grow up a little while dad has brought out some of the child that was hiding in Kate. They make each other happy. … Sometimes dad's child wears on Kate and Kate's seriousness wears on dad. However they make each other. It's like a piece of one completes the other." Alexis tries to explain.
Alexis chuckles. "It didn't use to be that way. The first few times we did this Kate didn't want to be a child again and dad didn't want to grow up. I think they've learned from each other after doing this time after time. They're both happy now and that makes me happy.
For the first time in a really long time, it feels like a family instead of just me and dad." Alexis wipes away the tears that escaped.
"It sounds like Katherine is just what both of you need, even if living this over and over again has cost you." Martha hugged Alexis and they just sat there quietly each lost in their thoughts until Rick, Kate and Jim came back inside.
Martha watched Kate walk in with a smile on her face and she could just tell that Kate had been laughing at something, even if she didn't know what. From what Alexis had told her this woman who had entered their lives was a gift. Just from who Martha didn't know. Being religious just wasn't her, but that didn't mean she couldn't appreciate that God may have had something to do with this.
They had completed their chores and the shark steaks would go on the grill tonight, along with some freshly picked fruit and a can of vegetables and some fresh homemade bread with butter, since they had a lot this time for a change.
Kate was searching the DVD cabinet for something she didn't think they had watched previously. "How about this." Kate offers up and shakes the DVD case. "MacKenna's Gold." Kate looked at everyone. "It says Omar Sharif and Gregory Peck. It has bandits and Indians." Kate supplies.
"Oooo, thank you for calling customer service." Rick tries his best Indian impersonation.
"Not those kind of Indians Jackass." Kate glares at him, something Jim has seen before but Martha hasn't.
"That's Mr. Jackass to you." Rick counters.
"Only because I love you." Kate kisses the air and takes the disc out of the case and loads the DVD player and turns on the TV.
Jim, Martha and Alexis took the sofa while Rick and Kate took the two side chairs while Kate had the remote and skipped all of the stupid previews for other movies that had been out for years.
The group has made it to the canyon that is lined with gold and not just veins of gold, but solid gold. "Now that is my kind of canyon." Rick mentions.
"And you probably want to move there." Kate teases.
"Can we?" Rick looked at Kate with a 'Please say yes' look in his face. Kate however just smiled and shook her head. Her child was in charge of Rick's body at the moment.
Kate watched the woman end up in the stream and come out covered in gold flakes. It was in her clothes and in her hair. "My kind of stream." Kate comments getting Rick to smile since Kate had obviously come over to his side finally.
Then they watched as the whole place started collapsing in on itself as the rode the horse up the switch backs sure that they wouldn't make it, however this was Hollywood, so of course they rode off into the sunset, not knowing that they were rich.
"So much for my new summer home." Rick moaned.
"You'll survive babe." Kate smiles at him as she retrieves the disk out of the player.
"I'll go turn on the grill." Rick offers and goes outside to the back patio while Kate moved into the kitchen to pull out the shark steaks and get them prepared for the grill.
"We need fruit." Alexis offered and went into the kitchen and pulled out her SIG and went out the back door leading to the patio.
That left Jim and Martha on the sofa. "Babe?" Jim questions mostly to himself.
"Jackass?" Martha comments. "They do look comfortable with each other." Martha points out.
Jim didn't say anything but inside he was agreeing, even while working with the shark steaks Katie looked happy.
Jim opened his eyes wide on his first bite of tiger shark. He was all set to hate it and spit it out and go find something else to eat. He thinks he remembers seeing a case in the pantry that said Campbell's Chili. Maybe there was some hot sauce and crackers somewhere.
Jim wasn't the first one finished, but it was close. Jim didn't realize just how hungry he was. Yeah, that was it, he blamed it on his growling stomach if anyone brought it up.
"That was amazingly good Richard, thank you." Martha speaks up.
"You're welcome mother." Rick responds while he picks up the empty plates and glasses and takes them into the house. "Coffee anyone?"
Rick got a 'yes please' from everyone except Alexis.
Rick was soon back carrying 4 cups, two in each hand. Kate immediately sipped hers and let out a heavy sigh and did her best to melt into her seat.
Rick had gotten up and turned on the tiny lights that were spread out all over the patio. They could just make out the sound of the wind mills spinning further out. "I'd forgotten what it looked like to be out of the city and look up at all the stars." Jim mentions.
"Part of the built-in attraction to staying here." Rick agreed.
"And you planned on this being a resort like place." Jim was still trying to understand.
"The idea is that there are people who are tired of being trapped in the city, any city. Loud noise, smog, worried about where to eat your next meal, worried about your job. Out here all that goes away.
No cell phone access, little to no electricity. You're living in tents, out in the sunshine or star filled night skies. It's up to you to decide if you want to go diving, snorkeling, swimming in the ocean. All your meals are served to you, made here in the house.
Maybe attend a Luau, that I had planned on having like 3 nights each week. Complete with dancers. Either you flew out here with Alexis as your pilot or you came using your own boat. Anchor out there somewhere if you chose to or use one of the docks where our boats are located.
Deep sea fishing or just simple fishing like you and Kate did, or go out on the Lady Martha just to cruise around and see the sights of the local area.
There is even a night movie that can be watched using an outdoor projection screen. Camp fires complete with marshmallows and smores. Maybe someone brings a guitar, tell stories, night time scavenger hunts complete with your own flashlight." Rick lists off most of the big items that he had planned.
"How were you going to get people to come out here? I know you said how, meaning plane or boat, but how are they going to know this place exists?" Jim asks.
"Dad and I spent the previous three months going to all the major tour operators in the city promoting the place. Some of them have locations in other countries, not many but a few. It was mostly talking with them that we came up with the all-inclusive plan. One price got you anything you wanted to do when that even was scheduled. … We even have a number of jet skis." Alexis answers his question.
"JET SKIS! … I forgot all about those." Kate places her head in her hands. She had been out here time after time and never, ever did get around to using them.
"Sounds like we know what mom is going to be doing tomorrow." Alexis was smiling, getting Kate to smile back at her.
The sun had long since gone down and Rick decided that it was too late to try and call Robert for the night. He would try Andy in the morning instead.
They were now all back inside watching another movie. Kate chose another movie that they hadn't watched after all of their trips out here. 'BIG'.
"I wonder if that machine actually exists somewhere?" Rick was mostly talking to himself.
"It's a twilight zone machine Castle." Kate chastises him.
"No I mean the machine itself. I could load it with my own cards for answers to questions. …. Oooo, I could have it at my book signings for people who are waiting in line. One side could be the answer and the other side could be a tiny copy of the cover of my latest book." Rick was liking the sound of this the more he thought about it.
"You're writing again?" Jim asks, knowing that his wife loved his books. Jim was still trying to process that his wife's favorite author was now engaged to his daughter. He had been trying to think what Johanna would think about that if she was still here.
"Nikki Heat! … I like her even better than Derek Storm." Rick was smiling wide.
"Nikki Heat?" Jim didn't get it.
Kate put her head in her hands. "Don't get him started dad." Kate implored him.
It was too late. "Nikki Heat is my new main character. She's a homicide detective. She's beautiful, strong, really kick ass. And yet she has a hidden vulnerability that she doesn't let anyone see.
Then along comes someone who won't leave her alone and weasels his way into her life, upsetting her perfect world and getting her to see her life in a whole new way.
Nikki is falling in love with him, she just won't admit it to herself. They spend their time chasing down criminals while dancing around their attraction for each other." Rick tells Jim excitedly.
"Dad based the character after mom actually." Alexis speaks up since she loved the books. They had done this so many times now, that Rick had actually completed three books so far.
Problem was he had to spend time re-typing them all over again since they lost the hard copy each time.
"ALEXIS!" Kate was soooo going to shoot her for that, only to watch Alexis just smile at her knowing that Kate would never actually shoot her.
"You've based you new book series off of Katie?" Jim was a little shocked and proud of his daughter. She was going to be in the books of his wife's favorite author. Now he really wished he knew what Johanna would think of that.
"I have countless ideas on what Nikki and Rook could be doing together. Lots and lots of books." Rick was smiling wide. Kate however was groaning, knowing in her mind just what all these people were going to think of her if they ever found out Nikki Heat was her.
Kate still had a dream of getting Rick to change the name, she would simply re-double her efforts when they finally stopped repeating these nine months over and over again.
Martha had excused herself first for the night, before the movie was even over. Movies were nice but what Martha really wished for was a book to read, though she also was missing her classes and play that she was in.
"Can we get you anything Martha?" Kate wasn't blind. Martha had been mostly silent since she got here. Maybe laying back and doing nothing just wasn't her.
"I'm fine thank you dear. I just miss having a book to read." Martha mentioned off handed, not expecting to suddenly find a book in her hand. Martha had seen everything and there just weren't any books to be seen here.
"We can fix that, don't move." And Kate jumped up and walked quickly for the office area.
Kate was soon back and handed a reader to Martha. "It was one of Rick and Alexis's ideas when they created this place. Instead of having hard back books they have a number of these readers that people could check out.
Each one is pre-loaded with a number of books. If there isn't something you like in this one, we can plug it into one of the laptops that has all the books stored in it. … hundreds of books actually.
All the best sellers for the last 10 years, along with a number of classics. Even some books written by foreign authors, most of which are in their language.
Books by Tom Rob Smith, Yelena Akhtiorskaya, Evgheni Vodolazkin, provided that you can read Russian. Though there are others." Kate looks at Martha, hopeful that Martha could see that Kate wanted Martha to like her, since she had been mostly silent.
Martha took the reader and held it to her chest. "Thank you darling, I'm sure I can find something on this to read."
"You let me know when you run out of things to read, I'm sure we can find you something. We have a lot to choose from." Kate tells her and starts to watch as Martha walks for her room.
"Martha, would you be interested in a boat ride one day. More of a tour really. We could beach the boat and search the beach for sea shells, maybe find some coconuts and get some coconut milk for later." Kate offered.
"That sounds nice dear, I'll look forward to it. Maybe just not the sunburn I'm likely to get." Martha smiled at Kate.
"You can wear a cover, take an umbrella maybe, plus we have lots of sunscreen. Trust me, we stay here long enough and we'll all have deep suntans." Kate tells her knowing that the three of them always end up with tans.
Kate watches Martha go to her room clutching her reader. "Don't forget your glass of wine Martha, or a cup of tea." Kate called before Martha made it to her door. Kate knew all that wine was for her benefit along with all that tea.
"Excellent idea dear." And Martha changed course and went into the kitchen and watched as Kate randomly chose a wine, opened it and poured out a glass until Martha said stop and put the bottle in the refrigerator.
Barbaresco Bruno Giacosa, "Delicious. Full-bodied, with luscious, ripe plum, berry and cherry character and silky tannins, all in balance.
"Thank you darling." Martha takes her wine and reader into her bedroom, not to be seen until morning.
"So what to you three do on this island?" Jim was curious.
"Movies, books, cards, board games, X-box, phone calls, ham radio, pool, when it finally rains so we can fill it, hot tub, fishing, or just plain boating.
Which reminds me, we could take Lady Martha out on a cruise, show you two the area. We might even risk a plane ride to see the area, we've never done that before. We've been too afraid of drawing attention to ourselves." Kate explains.
"Attention?" Jim didn't understand.
"The infection has affected everyone on the planet dad. Even if you're not infected yourself. No one is working the farms so no one is harvesting. No one is taking what was harvested and processing it into food. No one is delivering the food.
No trucks, no shipping traffic. No one is making fuel. No one is shipping the oil to make the fuel.
Eventually all of those things are going to become hard to find and when that happens people are going to become hostile." Kate points out.
"Demonstrations, protests." Jim thinks he understands.
"Worse dad. … The government has gone into hiding to try and save their own useless skins, leaving the local police departments to handle things on their own. No support, no help.
Desperate people will start to do stupid things. Even things they wouldn't normally do. Form up into gangs and go out hunting for what they want and take it when they find it. Killing anyone who gets in their way.
Civilization shuts down at that point, only people with the power are in charge and they make all the decisions.
Even before we came out here we knew that the infection had made it to the US, our senators were evacuating by helicopter to a secure facility. Even the Navy was putting all their ships out to see after stocking up with everything they had.
The infection wasn't even here yet and we were already being abandoned to our fate. They sold us out to save their own skins. … And we let them. …. We knew that they were corrupt but we kept lying to ourselves and voted them right back into office.
I'm no better than anyone else. I lied to myself and voted for the same guy each time telling myself that I didn't have a choice. Except I did, I just didn't take it. It was too hard to change, I kept telling myself.
You do what we've been doing time after time and you'll start to see what we see." Kate didn't want to think like this, just that if you had seen what she had seen time after time, ...