Why I can't help but Love Cecilia, even though I started off hating her so much... Just letting you all know how much I love all of your reviews. It has been a while since I have done some review appreciation. ScottyBgood, Invader Johnny, Lushcoltrane,HardHat126 and Metatron85 I see you readers. You guys keep me going. Just found the next title in the series. Because now the Titles no longer pertain to the weather. The next is a pirate's tale. so the title is "Outlaw Ocean"... might change it to "Outlaw Sea", because the girls will be in the Caribbean for this one. Let me know if I should change that. Again I appreciate you guys reading my slightly altered version of my favorite Saga with me. and also enjoying my originals. Much Love! ~S.K.
Twenty One
Ceci looked up from her brush as she heard a throat being cleared. She shaded her eyes, then felt her eyebrows lift. Sue Ainsbright was standing at the edge of their gangplank, looking warm, and very uncomfortable. "Hello, Sue."
"Ceci." The older woman took a breath. "May I come aboard?"
It was so very naval. Ceci almost gave in to the temptation to refuse the boarding request, which along with yelling 'avast, ye maties' was something she'd always wanted to do. "Sure." She put her brush away, unsullied as yet by paint, and stood up as Sue crossed over onto the boat. "You look thirsty.. c'mon down."
"Thanks."
Her guest followed Ceci down the steps into the cabin. Ceci walked over to the compact galley, gesturing towards the chairs as she did so. "Sit down.. Jimmy's taken a walk over to the store." She walked over and handed Sue a glass of ice tea then seated herself across the table from her. 'This is a surprise."
The gray haired woman stared at her glass, turning it slightly between her fingers in silence for a few seconds. "I know." Sue looked up finally. "I just wanted to come and talk to you." She hesitated. "To apologize for last night."
Ceci laced her fingers together, and rested her chin on them. "To me? For what?"
Sue just looked at her.
"I mean it." Ceci said. "If anyone's got an apology coming, it's Jade and Tori, not me." She got up and got her own glass of tea, more just to do something than anything else. "Poor Tori.. you know, what happened last night was exactly what she was afraid of."
"She seems like a nice girl." Sue replied softly.
"For a dyke, you mean?" Ceci shot back.
"Ceci." Her old friend gave her a wounded look. "I'm trying here, give me a touch of slack, will you?"
Ceci took a sip of her tea, feeling very unsettled. "Sorry." She said. "That automatic dismissal and exclusion of anything you don't understand has always been a peeve of mine." A breath. "I've been on the wrong side of that line all my life."
Sue remained silent for a bit, then she, too, sighed. "You know, I'd forgotten all about that." Her eyes lifted. "Did that make it easier for you to accept her being.. ah…"
"Gay." Ceci supplied the word. "No, it didn't." She crossed back over and sat down. "By the time Jade told us that, nothing would have surprised me. Hell, Jimmy and I talked it over that night and I think... yeah, you know, we were mostly just relieved."
Sue's eyes opened wider. "Relieved?"
A dry chuckle issued from Ceci's throat. "We knew she'd been working up to tell us something... Jimmy was just glad it was that, and not that she was running off somewhere, or pregnant, or on drugs….a thousand things went through our minds before we found out."
"Oh." Sue murmured. "She was a… she was pretty headstrong, I remember."
"Yes, she was." Ceci agreed. 'And is." She paused reflectively. "Jimmy says she gets that from me." A curious expression centered itself on the slim woman's face for a moment, and then she shook her head. "Accepting Jade was never an issue for us. " She stated crisply. "Welcoming Tori into our family was never an issue either. James and I made a decision early on in our lives that one of the things we'd never teach our children is how to hate." Her eyes pinned Sue. "Unlike you, apparently."
Sue stood up. "Cecilia, that's not fair." She snapped. "We most certainly did not teach Charles to hate anyone. We're good, god fearing people. I resent that."
Ceci also stood. "Do you? Let me tell you what I resent." She put her cup down and circled the table. "I resent my child being called a pervert. I resent your half-assed, no brain, boot licking son thinking he can judge her, and I really... " She came closer, poking a slim finger at the startled woman. "I really, really resent the fact that you didn't even have the grace to teach him to hide his sick bigotry in polite company."
Sue stared at her. "You did have to smear our faces in it, Ceci. To be out in a restaurant like that…"
"Like what?" Ceci's voice rose. "We were eating dinner, Sue. If you hadn't been acting like we were lepers, no one in the place would have looked twice. They don't wear fucking brands on their foreheads."
"Ceci!" Sue was breathing hard. "I think I'd better leave."
"Truth sucks, doesn't it?" Ceci stood her ground.
They stared at each other for a long, silent moment. Then Ceci exhaled, and folded her arms across her chest. She eyed the carpet pensively. "Sue, you were the first wife on base who came to knock on our door." Her voice was quiet now. "The first one to brave the pagan unknown, and reach your hand out." She looked up. "What happened to that person?"
Slowly, Sue sat back down, and laid her hands on the table. They were weathered, and she looked at them as though they were a strangers. "Time." She exhaled. "Berkley was a lot fresher in my mind then."
"I remember being so impressed by that." Ceci managed a faint smile. "Wow… she went to Berkeley."
"I remember." Sue admitted. "Big shot that I was… I felt sorry for you . So young, so.. "
"Feckless." Ceci nodded.
"Different." Her old friend disagreed. "So out of place, there." She hesitated. "But Jade wasn't."
"No." Ceci said, softly. "And she cherishes her childhood, Sue. Despite everything we went through, she really does, so when something like last night happens, it's like having to give part of that up."
Sue nodded, and finally took a sip of her tea. She took a deep breath before she went on. "Ceci, there's no excuse for what my son did." She pronounced the words carefully. "Jeff and I talked it over last night, and if you.. " She stopped, and rubbed her temples. "I'm sorry. I sound like such a parent. If Jade wants to press charges, she should."
Ceci felt like the world had just shifted slightly to the left. "Charges?" She asked. "For what, Sue? Verbal abuse?"
Her friend's dark blue eyes blinked twice. "Didn't… " She stopped, then took a breath. "Ceci, Chuck went after her with a baseball bat."
"What?"
"I thought surely she'd.. " Sue's voice trailed off again. "Jeff was so angry last night. He.. he and Chuck had it out in the living room, it was - very ugly. " She said. "I don't know what happened, but Chuck just.. he broke down and said it was driving him crazy, and how he'd taken the bat, and…"
Ceci concentrated on breathing. In, out, in out. "Oh, dear goddess." She whispered. "Jade said she twisted her shoulder… we had to drive her car home."
"She didn't tell you?" Sue seemed dazed. "I don't understand."
Ceci got up and walked across the cabin, coming to the window and looking out at the peaceful, sunlit water. "I do." She heard steps on the rampway up above. "Jade knows her father too well." She turned towards Sue. "Don't say anything to him."
"But Ceci…"
"I'll tell him." Ceci replied. "I don't keep anything from him, never have, but let me do it my way."
Sue nodded faintly, as the cabin door opened, and Jim entered.
"Lo." His eyes raked over her in wary surprise. "Didn't figure to see you here."
"Sue came to apologize for last night." Ceci walked over and took the grocery bags from her husband. "We've been talking."
Pale blue eyes flicked to Ceci's face and studied it, then went to their visitor's. Then they narrowed slightly. "Have you now." Jim drawled softly. "Ain't that special."
It had started to rain again. Jade stood by the sliding glass doors, and watched it fall, in sheets that almost obscured her view of the ocean. A low rumble of thunder overhead sounded, and she could feel the vibration through the hand she had resting on the wall.
She hadn't expected this.
Petty theft, yeah. Some finagling with the bills, yeah. Fudging on the recruit's scores, yeah. Maybe even so far as someone falsifying fitness records, to hide old friends they didn't want to have to make hard decisions on.
But smuggling?
Jade was no fool, and she wasn't naive. California was a prime choice for smuggling, because of its Border connections, ports, and because of its multinational population base. It would take a lot to 'stand out' in this city, so hiding in plain site was something easy a smuggler's operation wouldn't have to worry about.
In addition, their entire western border is water, with ample opportunity for someone to slip in to the thousands of small bays and islands unseen and undetected. The largest stretch of continuous coastline in the US after Florida, in fact.
So, the fact that drugs or anything else was being brought in didn't surprise her.
That the Navy was involved…
No. Jade cut that off angrily. Not the Navy. Some pig scum who were using the Navy to break the law and line their own pockets. Who were using a place she considered more than any other to be home, and hurting the people who were a part of that who were not involved.
Maybe even, since they were bringing in recruits who didn't belong there, endangering the innocent sailors who would be depending on those people to do their jobs. Sailors like her father was, once. Like she might have been.
Bastards. Jade felt her anger rising. Despite everything, and especially despite last night, she still considered the service part of her family. It had given her a place to belong for many years, had accepted her, given their family a home, and put bread on the table and she was damned if she was going to let a bunch of criminals hurt that.
"So." Chief Daniel's grating voice made her wince. "You got a plan, or are you just gonna stare outside for a few hours."
"Do you have a plan?" Tori's voice answered instantly, a distinct challenge in its tone. "If you came here for help, your best bet is to just sit down, and shut up, and wait for Jade to think."
Jade watched her reflection smile in reflex.
"If you're her secretary then, you'd better get your steno pad, kid." The Chief answered.
Jade held her breath, wondering what her wife was going to hit back with.
Tori simply laughed. "Boy, do you have your stereotypes crossed."
Jade turned and faced them, leaning back against the cool glass and feeling the pressure of the rain outside against her shoulder blades. "The problem is this. I want to locate and pin down every son of a bitch who's involved in this. If the Navy sends police in there, they won't catch one in twenty."
"They'll run." Tori nodded. "And they'll dump the systems. We've only got a soft data capture, Jade. We don't have the file structure or the algorithms you found. I'm surprised they haven't started doing that already."
"They went for what they knew I was looking at." Jade shook her head. "Must have known I found that data hub." She looked directly at the Chief. "Who'd you ask about it?"
Chief Daniel was momentarily taken aback. "It's my right to ask!"
"That's not in question." Tori took a dried cherry from the bowl on the table and nibbled it. "Point is, someone was nervous enough about it to get it removed, and that says a lot in itself. Jade, I did a trace on the company that installed it – they're a private fiber house who do a lot of work for the city."
Jade lifted an eyebrow.
"The last big thing they did was wire the mayor's place for teleconferencing." Tori added, as they both exchanged looks.
"Shit." Jade closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. "This is getting too big for us. Let me go call Alastair and find out what the hell he wants me to do. We stepped into a cesspool here." Tori caught the flutter in Jade's free hand as She walked past them and into the study, shutting the door behind her. "We're a fucking Gaming and media company. Not the damn FBI."
Tori released a held breath. "Shit." She echoed Jade. "She's right. This is way outside our contract."
Chief Daniel snorted. "Sure. Stir up everything, then run, and let us all sink."
"It's not that." Tori snapped. "Do you understand what we're talking about here? These are federal crimes."
"No kidding."
Tori turned her back and walked into the kitchen, grabbing a glass from the cabinet and going into the refrigerator. She studied her options, then gave in and took two squirts of chocolate syrup and filled the glass with milk.
Troubled, she leaned back against the counter and swirled her milk to mix it. So many complications crowded into her mind. First, the problem of the drugs. It was far beyond anything Jade had expected to find, and she knew it had thrown Jade for a loop. That was hard enough, without the possibility of someone Jade knew being involved.
What if it was Jeff Ainsbright? Tori took a long swallow of her chocolate milk. She'd liked the big commander, and had found him open and straightforward, even in the uncomfortable situation they'd found themselves in last night. What about little Chuckie? Tori's lip curled up into an almost unconscious snarl. Dear God. She realized uneasily. I'm hoping he is. I'm hoping they take his obnoxious ass and throw him in the federal jail for twenty years. A very unchristian thought stared her in the face. Maybe he'll develop a taste for a different lifestyle.
Jesus. Tori put the glass down and covered her face. Do I really feel that way? She folded her arms unhappily. Damn it, yes I do. He hurt her. Tori felt a sense of helpless rage. He hurt her, and all I want is to... Her muscles tensed, and her shoulders twitched with tension. I want to beat him senseless.
She'd never felt like this before. Even in the bad times, even with Gary, she'd never thought about physically fighting back. A soft snort left her. "Look at me." She whispered. "Years worth of martial arts and a dark blue belt and I think I'm the Terminator."
A noise at the door made her look up, to see Jade quietly looking back at her. "How'd it go?"
Jade entered and walked over to her, taking up a spot leaning on the counter at her side. "He's as gobsmacked as I am." She admitted. "All I got out of him was, 'Jade, do what you have to do, you know I trust your judgment."
"Oh boy. That helps." Tori picked up her glass and drank from it. "So what's your best judgment, boss? You know I trust it too."
Jade took the glass from her. "He's calling Hamilton, though, and briefing him." She took a sip. "I honest to god don't know what to do, Tor. I know we should turn this over to the military, and let them handle it. It's out of our league."
Tori nodded slowly. "You're right." She agreed. "This is outside our expertise, and it could be potentially very dangerous to be involved in. General Oliver should take it from here."
They were both quiet for a few minutes, sharing the glass of milk until it was drained to the last drop. Finally, Tori put the glass down, and turned her head to look at her wife. "You think they'll botch it."
A tiny cocking of Jade's head in reluctant agreement. "I want to get all of them." She murmured. "I'm afraid of two things, Tor. One, that they'll take too long. Two, that they'll go in there and lose the data that will identify all the people involved."
Tori folded her arms. "Jade, I understand how you feel, but this is beyond us."
"I know." Jade's voice was unhappy. "Let's go call Gerry. We can't sit on this any longer."
Tori followed Jade out of the kitchen and across the living room. "Chief, we're going to turn this over to the Joint Chief's – who contracted us."
A snort. "Figures." Chief Daniel got up. "Do you know what that'll do? They'll take a brush the size of an aircraft carrier and paint us all with it. Some reward for helping you out. Assholes." She went to the door and was through it, before Jade or Tori could respond. The slam reverberated, making Chino bark in surprise, then it was quiet.
"Ugh." Tori rubbed her forehead. "What a totally unlikeable person."
Jade picked up the telephone. "Yeah." She agreed. "She's a nastier son of a bitch than I am. I never thought I'd live to see that." The phone buzzed in her ear then was picked up. "Gerry? It's Jade."
James walked to the end of the dock and took a seat, extended his long legs out and squirming to get more comfortable on the hard, wooden bench. He didn't have that long to wait, as after a few minutes footsteps sounded, and he turned his head slightly to see the tall, burly figure moving it's way towards him.
He waited until the intruder was very close, then he swiveled to meet him. "'Lo."
Jeff Ainsbright slowed, and came to a halt a body's length away. "Hey, James." He cleared his throat. "Thanks for saying you'd meet me."
Quiet, patient blue eyes surveyed him. "Sit yerself down." He moved over to let his old friend take a seat. Then he waited in silence. The anger inside him would be patient, for a while longer.
"Listen, Jim…" Jeff seemed at a loss. "About last night."
"Y'know." James interrupted him. "Been a long time since I been to a parent teacher meeting. Jade's a grown woman, has been for years. If you got something to sat about what happened last night, you need to be saying it to her."
Jeff exhaled, and rested his weight on his elbows. He laced his hands together and studied them. "Jimmy, you know I always liked Jade."
"I always got that idea, yes." Jim said. "She always talked well of you."
The commander was silent for a few moments. "I just wasn't ready for last night." He admitted. "Chuck came home and told us, and I just didn't – I didn't have a chance to think about it." He looked up. "D'you understand?"
A shrug. "Never mattered to me, so no, I do not understand."
Jeff sighed. "You always had a blind spot with her."
Now, James looked up, and met his eyes fully. "She is a gift God gave me." He spoke slowly, and with an almost gentle passion. "He made her, and I love all that she is." A breath. "Ah do not know why people do not understand that."
Jeff looked at him, then dropped his eyes. "Because you're a better man than most of us are, Jim."
"That's bullshit." James snapped. "And what the hell's wrong with that kid of yours?"
The commander shifted away a bit. "What do you mean?"
"What the hell you think I mean? God damn ship captain goin off his damn gourd, lashing out at some civ?" James's eyes flashed. "He leave his brains on board, or what?"
Jeff gave him a defensive look. "C'mon, James. He was under a lot of stress… he was really stuck on Jade."
Jim stood and paced restlessly. "No, no no. Ah don't buy it, Jeff." The ex seal shook his head. "Not after all this damn time don't you be telling me he's stuck on her since they was in high school. So stuck he goes nuts when he finds out he ain't got no chance, fer the second time." James turned and put his hands on his hips. "Don't sound like somebody I want running mah boat, let me tell you that."
Ainsbright looked warily at him. "He's a good ship captain."
Pale, ice blue eyes regarded him. "Seems to me, I'm remembering they washed his ass out of command school."
"He tried again. Had to grow up some. You know how it is."
Jim's jaw worked. "From what I see outside that steak house, he ain't growed up near enough to be in charge of himself, much less a boat full of other folks."
Frustrated, Jeff threw up his hands. "C'mon, James. He lost his temper. Don't tell me you never did, I know better."
"I never ran me no boat." Jim replied softly. "But I never picked me up no baseball bat and went after no civ woman, either." He added. "I'm thinking that should be enough to take back them stripes."
Jeff went very still. The two men stared at each other for a long moment, then Ainsbright sat down again and rested his head in his hands. "Yeah, he fucked up." His voice echoed off the pavement. "Damn stupid kid."
Jim leaned back against a wooden pylon, and gazed up at the clouds. Thunder rumbled overhead, but it had not, as of yet, started raining. The headache that had started when Ceci had told him, in her own way, about the bat now worsened. "Damn lucky kid."
Jeff jerked his head up. "Lucky?"
The chill in James's eyes was unmistakable. "Lucky ah did not come out that door thirty seconds earlier than I did." His nostrils flared.
The commander snorted in weary bemusement. "Shit, Jimmy. Chuck's in the base hospital with a ruptured eardrum and partially dislocated jaw. Jade didn't need your help." He closed his eyes. " They'll probably discharge him for that.. maybe it's for the best."
James sat down. "You ain't going to report him, then?" He asked, quietly. "Cause if you don't, ah will."
Ainsbright looked up at him, taking in the uncompromising stance, and the inflexible will showing on his old friend's scarred face. "James."
"Not fer me, or fer Jade." Jim said. "You're right. Jade don't need me to take care of her anymore. She's a big girl, and she can handle herself well as most." He straightened. "But out on that boat, Jeff, there's folks down under decks who don't deserve to have someone like that taking charge of their lives."
"He has a spotless record!" Jeff protested.
"I used to be one of them folks below decks." Jim said right back. "Someone has to watch out for them, if you ain't."
"James, for God's sake!" The commander yelled. "It was a little scuffle, c'mon now!"
"No sir!" Jim went nose to nose with him, jabbing a finger into his chest. "It was a Navy captain attacking a civilian and displaying conduct unbecoming to a god damned officer!" He glared at Ainsbright. "And if it was Jade that done that, I'd report her too!"
Silence. "Would you?" The commander asked softly.
"I would." Jim replied.
"Well." Jeff Ainsbright dusted his uniform off. "I'm not you." He turned, and walked around the bench, then headed off down the dock without a backward glance.
Jim let out a sigh, then he sat down on the bench and stretched his long legs out, studying their denim covered length with a frown. The rising wind blew a tiny bit of sea spray against his face, and he tipped his head back, eyeing the dark clouds pensively.
"No luck, eh, sailor boy?" Ceci stepped lightly over her husband's outstretched legs and settled down on the bench at his side.
"Naw." Jim shook his head. "Stubborn old fool." He turned his head slightly. "You sure Gigi's okay?"
"Why don't you call her?" Ceci held out the cell phone. "Make you feel better."
James examined the electronic device, then handed it back. "Got me a better idea." He stood, and held a hand out. "Let's go see for ourselves."
Ceci allowed herself to be hauled to her feet, and then they started down the dock. They were halfway back when the rain caught them, sweeping across the way with a scent of ozone, and damp, warm wood.
"Hey." Tori sat on the edge of Jade's desk. "Why don't you let me get you another shot of those pills, huh?" She could see the pale tinge to Jade's normally tan skin tone.
"No." Jade shifted her arm in its sling to try and ease the ache. "They put me out, and I don't want to risk that before Gerry calls us back." The pain had gotten worse as the medication wore off though, and now she had bursts of sharp agony moving up her shoulder and into her neck.
"Okay." Tori tried another tack. "I'm going to make some herbal tea.. want some?"
Jade thought about that, then nodded. "Yeah.. do we have that peachy kind?"
"It's apricot and honey." Tori told her. "And yes, we do."
"I'd like that." Jade smiled. "I guess I can go lay down on the couch for a while, huh? I'm sure Gerry's going to be a few minutes."
"Sounds like a great idea to me." Tori got up, waiting for Jade to join her, then tucked a hand inside her elbow and walked with her to the living room. She got Jade settled back into her comfortable nest of pillows and fleece, and then she headed off towards the kitchen.
"Hey, Chino." She greeted the Labrador, who had followed her. "You want some tea, too?" The blond head cocked curiously at her. "No, probably not, huh?" Tori put some hot water up, then pulled a bowl from the cabinet and raided the crisper, pulling out some fruit and washing it. Cherries, which were a favorite of Jade's, and grapes, apples and peaches, and the bananas that were her own favorite. Then she removed a thick, sweet banana nutbread from the refrigerator, and sliced a few slices off, spreading a coating of cream cheese on them before setting them on a plate next to the fruit. "There." She pulled a bottle of Advil from the cabinet and set it down, idly spinning it as she waited for the water to heat.
Jade tilted her head back and regarded the popcorn ceiling. Her findings had surprised Gerry; she knew that from the shock in his voice. She also knew he would react quickly, and that probably troops were already heading for the base, military police and marines, more than likely.
It bothered her, though, to simply release control of the situation.
Tori was right. She knew they'd botch it. She knew they'd miss out on catching all the bastards who were involved, and maybe only get the obvious ones. And people like Jeff Ainsbright, who, even if he wasn't involved, would be taken down because he damn well should have known what was going on in his own command.
Jade sighed, remembering the long afternoons she'd spent as a youngster running wild in the housing area's grassy spaces, with Chuckie and the other kids as their fathers huddled over barbecues in the front yard. If she tried, she could close her eyes and hear the football games playing in the background.
A warm touch on her arm made her jerk, and she opened her eyes. "Sorry.. I was just thinking." The scent of apricot drifted over from the tray Tori was setting on the coffee table.
"Jade, if you're tired, go ahead and go to sleep. I'll wake you up as soon as the phone rings." Tori took her partner's hand in her own and chafed the fingers.
"Hm." Jade shook her head. "I slept half the day, Tor." She shifted her head on the pillow, then pulled herself up a little. "Did you wrap that brick up?"
Tori nodded, then handed Jade her cup. "Wrapped it up, taped it up, put it in a box, and put it up on top of the cabinet so Chino can't get at it." The Labrador, hearing her name, came snuffling over looking for goodies. "Stuff gives me the creeps just looking at it."
Jade took a sip of the tea. "You never experimented?"
"No." Tori shook her head. "I stuck to beer, thanks, and that got me in more than enough trouble." She paused in the middle of handing over a piece of bread, and looked up at Jade. "Did you?"
A pained sigh. "Once." Jade admitted. "Not the hard stuff. A bunch of us got hold of some wild weed growing back south of the base, and decided to have a party."
Tori finished handing over the nutbread. "And?" She asked curiously.
"I was sick as a dog for three days." Jade nibbled her treat. "Throwing up, seeing spots... couldn't keep anything down until my mother finally got me to the doctor's, and he got some intravenous Dramamine into me."
"Oh." Tori bit her inner lip. "I thought you couldn't take that."
"That's when we found that out." Jade grimaced. "Next time someone asked me if I wanted a joint, I slugged them." She took a bigger bite. "Mm… I really like this."
"I know." Tori seated herself on the floor, leaning back against the couch and exhaling. "Me too." She handed over a handful of cherries. "I was only really tempted when I was in college." She said. "Everyone did it. All those late nights, and stress… I had a couple of friends who had a source for just about everything. They were always telling me what they had, and asking if I wanted any."
Jade watched her profile and the motion of her jaw muscles as she chewed. "We had that a lot in college too. I tried aderall… they said it helped focus and it made you happy and stuff."
Tori paused and looked at her wife. "And?"
"Nothing… it didn't make a big enough difference to me to try again" Jade drugged.
Tori bit her lip to keep in a giggle. She felt normal. It was just as she had suspected. But she was not going to pile on to Jade right now. "Mm." Tori exhaled. "I remember one night, I had this paper due in my writing class, and a systems design due on the same day. I'd had a full schedule of classes that day, and I was totally wiped out. Just exhausted. Even double espressos weren't doing a thing for me."
"Mm." Jade murmured encouragingly.
"Jane came over, and saw how trashed I was. She offered me a handful of Addys, and a shot of coke, and told me it would get me through the two assignments, no problem." Tori took another bite thoughtfully. "I took the drugs from her."
Jade bit into a cherry, and skillfully separated the fruit from its pit. "And?" She echoed Tori's earlier question.
"I came pretty close to taking them." Tori admitted honestly. "And would you believe, it was my father that kept me from it?"
Jade's eyes opened very wide. "Your father?"
Tori laughed softly. "He had this speech he used to do about people needing crutches. You know, Jade, that old thing about liberal programs being a crutch for the poor, that kept them from really going out and making a living?"
"That's such a crock of shit." Jade stated.
"Not the point. It reminded me that I'd chosen to take this double major, and if I couldn't handle it, I shouldn't use an illegal substance as a crutch. Either do it, or don't do it, but don't fake it." Tori replied. "I wanted to do it on my own, so I could look back and say, yeah. I did that. No one helped me."
"Hm." Jade depitted another cherry and took another bite of her banana nutbread. "Yeah, I see your point." She admitted. "So, what did you do?"
Tori thought back to that long night, with it's aching struggle she'd spent alone. "I worked through it. I wrote the systems design first, because you need brain cells to do that and the creative writing paper… " Now a smile crossed her face. "Jade, do you know I still don't know what I put in that paper? It got me a B, but I have no idea what I wrote."
Jade chuckled. "Whatever works." She looked hopefully at the plate. "Any more of that bread?"
Tori turned her head and eyed her. "What's it worth to you?"
Jade poked her lower lip out.
"Ah. So you think that's all it takes to get me to give up this really great tasting nut bread?" Tori inquired.
Jade gave her a sad look.
"You're such a brat." Tori handed it over. She peeled a banana and settled back, as Chino put her chin down on her thigh hopefully. "Oh no, madam. Last time we gave you fruit you got sick, remember?"
The phone rang, and Tori shot a look back at Jade, then she picked up the portable receiver and answered it. "Hello?"
"Ah.. yes, is Jade there?"
"Yes, General. Just a minute." Tori handed the phone back and half turned, resting her chin on the couch as she listened.
Jade took a breath before she pressed the phone to her ear. "Gerry?"
There was a soft knock at the door. Tori frowned, then scrambled to her feet and trotted over to it, peeking through the eyehole. "Uh oh." She hesitated, then realized she really had no choice and opened the door. "Hi."
"Howdy there, kumquat." James drawled. "Ya'll going to let us inside there?"
Oh boy. Tori slipped outside instead, closing the door behind her.