Eye Of The Storm - DK3 (58 page)

“Hey.” Kerry’s voice sounded muffled against a fair amount of noise.

“I just saw you on television.”

“Yikes.”

“No, you look great,” Dar reassured her. “You and Mom both.

Though the look you were giving the cameraman could have killed a peacock at twenty paces.”

“I forgot how much I hated that.” Kerry grumbled. “I have no idea how they recognized me. I certainly don’t look like I did five years ago.”

She muffled the receiver then returned. “It’s getting sort of weird here, Dar. I guess those people who’ve been paying off my father decided to come out and support him. They’re giving me the creeps.”

Dar frowned. “Are they bothering you?” She noticed her father had caught her tone and was listening alertly.

“No,” Kerry reassured her. “I’m sure it’s just my conscience, you know what I mean?”

“Well, try to stay out of trouble until we get there.”

“Does that mean we can get into trouble then?” Kerry lightened her tone. “Seriously, it’s fine, Dar. I have to go back to the chambers tomorrow, but after that, I think they’re going to let us go and concentrate on the clerks and police who investigated and all that.”

Dar relaxed and leaned back. “Okay. Well, we’re having dinner, then heading to the airport. I think the flight’s due in around ten.” She took a sip of her coffee and let the Irish Whiskey burn its way down. “Where are you?”

“In the hotel bar,” Kerry replied. “Trying to figure out what a fuzzy navel is.”

Dar grinned. “I’ll show you when I get there,” she offered, with a low chuckle. “’Cause you have one.”

Momentary silence. “Oh, for pe—Dar!” A groan came through the line. “I’m gonna hurt you.”

“Heh. It’s peach schnapps and orange juice, I think,” Dar supplied helpfully. “Get it? Peach, fuzzy…navel, oranges?”

“I got it. Thanks.” Kerry’s voice sounded mildly exasperated. “I’m going to eat my cheeseburger. No, excuse me, my ‘cheddar topped grilled chopped sirloin steak over delicately sliced and toasted potatoes’ now.

I’ll see you in a few hours.”

“Eat a French fry for me.” Dar grinned. “See you soon.” She hung up and tucked the phone away, suddenly wishing the flight was done and over with and she was explaining fuzzy navels up close and personal.

“KERRY.”

She stood, resting her elbows on the balcony railing and looking out at the brightly lit city, and she turned at the sound of her name. “It’s
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pretty, with all the monuments and stuff and the lights.”

Ceci came out to join her, having entered the room through the connecting door between their two rooms. “Yes, it is,” she agreed. “Would you like to take a walk down to some of them? It’s a nice night out.”

“Anything to walk off that collection of animal protein floating in solid grease,” Kerry told her, making a face. “I could have used the excess to lube my car.”

Ceci laughed. “Well, I’d suggest vegetarianism, except that my mushrooms were just as greasy and I think those artichokes were older than I am.”

Kerry chuckled and they exchanged looks. She noticed they were getting more comfortable with each other and she found herself liking Dar’s mother very much. She had a dry, wicked sense of humor that came out around blind corners, much like her daughter’s did, but was based in a totally different mindset from her vastly different experiences. “Sure,”

she agreed amiably. “You can explain paganism to me while we walk.

I’ve been wondering about that since Dar mentioned it.”

“Dar mentioned it?” Ceci scratched her jaw at that, as she led the way out of the hotel room and headed for the elevator. “Dare I ask in what context?”

Kerry thought about the question. “Oh. Right. We were in this Thai restaurant…”

“And that spawned a discussion of paganism,” Ceci mused. “Was it those little Buddha statues?”

They exited the hotel and walked down the steps, turned to the right and headed down the street towards a well lit monument. “No. Duks and I were discussing believing in God.”

“Food that bad?”

Kerry laughed. “No.” She shook her head. “He’s an atheist, so we were comparing belief systems. Maríana told us what her religion was, then Duks asked Dar for her viewpoint.”

“Ah.”

“She said that her father was a Southern Baptist and that you were a pagan and that she always knew you both believed in something.” Kerry scrunched her brow. “Let me see. She said, you both believed in something, not necessarily the same something, but something, and she sort of patterned herself after that.”

Ceci thought about that as they walked. “And what did you think about that?”

“What did I think? I thought holidays at your house must have been interesting,” Kerry replied and chuckled. “But what really impressed me was that Dar was free to make her own choice.”

“That’s very true.”

“It gave me a different slant on religion. I went to Christian school right up until the time I went to college and even then, it was in the same area, pretty much. So I didn’t get exposed to…” Kerry hesitated.

“Heathens?” Ceci arched a brow.

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“People with different value structures,” she corrected gently. “I mean, we studied different cultures in school, but it’s not the same thing as seeing it face to face.”

“Mmm. That’s true.” Ceci nodded. “It was like that for me, after I married Andy and went to live on a navy base.”

Kerry glanced at her, the smaller woman’s profile outlined in the moonlight. “That must have been a tough transition.”

“It was,” Ceci murmured with a slow nod. “Andy was gone so much and we were so young.”

They walked in silence for a little while. “Miami must have been a shock for you,” the older woman said, as they turned into a well manicured park and started down a path covered in cedar chips, which crunched lightly under their feet.

“Oh yeah,” Kerry agreed. “I had the opportunity to get a management position at Associated Synergenics and I’d said yes, before I’d really thought about what I was doing. My parents were livid.” She sighed.

“But off I went. I found an apartment in Kendall, got all settled in. Found some friends…” She paused with a faint smile.

“And?” Ceci heard the unsaid words.

“Went to South Beach and figured out I was gay.” She gave a light laugh. “You know, the usual stuff. I remember the night it all became clear to me. I went out onto the beach and sat there looking at the stars, convinced I was going to Hell.”

Ceci made a light hissing noise. “That’s something I never understood about the Christian religion. Its founder is one of the few, genuine icons of love the world has ever known, yet more violence and hatred has been done in his name than just about anything else ever.” She lifted her hands. “I don’t understand it. I never have and that’s why I could never accept its teachings.”

Kerry fell silent and let those words penetrate. “I guess,” she exhaled softly, “I guess my real problem with it came when I tried to reconcile the words that called me a sinner with the joy love brought me.”

“Mmm.” Ceci nodded as she walked, reaching out an idle hand to brush the thick marble walls as they passed. “When Dar first told us she was gay, I swear, both Andy and I really believed she was doing it just to add one more bit of rebelliousness to what was already a very shook up adolescence.” She laughed softly. “I think I remember saying. ‘Well, honey, it could have been worse. She could have joined a cult.’”

Kerry laughed as well. “Was it hard for D—for Mr. Roberts?”

“Andy would have loved Dar no matter what she’d decided to be or do,” Ceci told her. “He did what he always did when he was faced with something he didn’t really understand. He went to the library and read everything he could get his hands on about homosexuality.”

“Wow.”

“Mmm…and the conversation he and Dar had when he finished doing that—and he was determined to make sure she wasn’t going to get herself into trouble—was one of the most hilarious things I’ve ever had to
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listen to.”

Kerry covered her mouth, muffling a giggle. “Oh my god. I can picture it.” She cleared her throat and pitched her voice lower. “Now you listen here, Dardar, I ain’t gonna have you getting your butt into trouble, mind, so here’s some of them condoms they say you should be wearing.”

Ceci almost doubled over. “Oh.” She laughed. “That’s very good.”

She had to stop and lean against the wall. “And very, very close.”

Kerry joined her in laughter. “Well, I wanted to be in the local gay shop in Fort Lauderdale when he went in there to by a rainbow sticker.”

Cecilia laughed harder. “He didn’t.”

“Oh yeah. And he had one of those rainbow key chains, too,” Kerry cheerfully told her. “It was such a…” She paused, becoming more serious. “It was such a wonderful relief to just have him accept us, accept me, the way he did. You have no idea how much that means to me.”

Ceci took her arm and they continued walking. “I think I do,” she murmured. “He’s such an unsophisticated person, really. But he’s good at everything he does. He was a good soldier, he’s a good husband, and he’s a very good father.” She turned to look at Kerry’s profile. “I’m glad he’s become a father to you, Kerry.”

Kerry didn’t answer, waiting for the lump to go down in her throat.

She bit her lip and swallowed, fighting the tears that stung her eyes. She kept walking, with Ceci strolling along next to her accepting the silence with quiet sympathy.

They crossed out into an open area, lit by halogen lights that turned the grassy shadows to sharp slivers of black and silver. Kerry heard a soft crunching behind her and she glanced back, surprised to see three tall forms walking slowly behind them.

Coincidence?
The three had leather vests over their white T-shirts and she could just barely see the mottled darkness of tattoos across their arms. All three had shaven heads and were talking in loud…overly loud voices.

Ceci followed her gaze, then returned her eyes forward. “Into every life a few assholes must fall.” She sighed, drawing a startled look from Kerry. “C’mon, Kerry. You’re not one of those people who believe parents don’t curse or have sex, are you?”

“Uh.” She bit her lower lip and steered Ceci a little more towards the lit areas. “Well…”

The voices behind them got louder and coarser and the subject matter switched from fighting to something far less savory.

“See all them niggers over there?”

“Must be giving something out for free, lookit them gathering around for handouts.”

“City’s too full of fucking niggers and fags.”

“They oughta nuke it.” Ribald laughter. “Send fag and nigger bits up like confetti.”

“Excuse me.” Cecilia took three steps to her right and faced them, forcing them to stop walking. “About the only nukeable thing I see here 322
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are a couple of pieces of very white trash who need to shut their ignorant mouths.”

They stared at the diminutive, silver blonde woman in shock for a long instant, one shared by Kerry who never expected her older companion to turn into an activist so suddenly.

“Hey. You talkin’ to me, bitch?” The first one pointed at his chest, puffing it out.

“No,” Ceci replied. “I’m talking at you. Talking to you would require some intelligence on your part, and we’re just not going to go there.” She put her hands on her hips. “Scram. You’re polluting the ozone.” She gestured with a thumb over her shoulder. “Move it.”

They edged around her and ambled down the path, looking behind them as though expecting her to grow a second head. “Bitch!” One shook his head. “Fucking crazy ass bitch.”

Ceci watched them go. “Morons.” She sighed in disgust. “What in the hell are their parents thinking? What are they teaching kids these days, anyway?”

Kerry blinked at her, then smiled. “Um…”

Ceci brushed her sleeve off then continued walking. They turned a corner in the large park, then paused, watching a larger group of people just ahead of them. One man was wrapped in a Confederate Flag and they could see flasks being passed around. “I don’t think that little trick’s going to work twice.”

“No,” Kerry agreed, turning around. “C’mon. Let’s start back. This is giving me the creeps.”

They headed back the way they came, turning the corner again and almost running into a half dozen men going the other direction. “Excuse me.” Kerry tried to edge around them, but found her sleeve grabbed.

“Hey, cute stuff. Where are ya going? Come party with us.”

“No thank you.” Kerry gently tried to pull away. “I’m not much of a party person.”

The man who had her arm was a tall, handsome blond, with a mostly cropped head and a necklace of silver barbed wire. “We could change that. Right guys?” His companions laughed. “Get lost, mama, we’re going to show little blondie here a good time.” He pulled Kerry towards him, grinning when she stopped resisting. “That’s a gi—”

Kerry went with the motion and stepped in, then threw her weight upwards and slammed a knee squarely into his groin. He coughed, and she whirled, grasping his arm and pulling him over her head to land on the ground with a thump.

She backed off and stood in a balanced stance, her hands at shoulder level lightly curled into fists, and waited.

“Hey, you can’t do that you little—” One of the others reached for her, and she nailed him with a roundhouse kick to the jaw, sending him sprawling.

“Yes, I can,” she warned. “Now, just leave us alone.”

“Like hell.” A shorter man in the back stuck his head around the
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building. “Hey. Hey you guys. We got some boot bait over here.”

“Shit,” Ceci cursed. “I think it’s time to leave.”

“Yep.” Kerry turned and pushed her forward. “Run!” She evaded the outstretched hand of the closest of them, then ducked in and kicked him in the ribs, shoving him hard against his companions as he went off balance. She used the distraction to bolt after Ceci, tucking her fists in against her side, and dashing over the grass with even, powerful strides.

A yell told her they were being followed. “Move it!” She hollered at Ceci, who was holding her own. Ahead of them, the entrance to the park loomed huge and remote, promising safety in the sparse crowds traveling across its opening. Kerry caught up to Dar’s mother and put a hand on her back, pushing her forward and glancing behind her to see a crowd chasing them. A rock flew by her head and she ran faster, sensing the bodies just behind her by the sounds of breathing and footsteps.