71 year old John Dodge, retired military, now sits in a nursing home, his body riddled with cancer, waiting on the grim reaper to come for him when he is given another option.
71 year old John Dodge, retired military, now sits in a nursing home, his body riddled with cancer, waiting on the grim reaper to come for him when he is given another option.
Chapter 1
“John you have a visitor,” The nurse said as she walked up and placed a hand on the wheelchair the old man sat in. While bending over to unlock the brakes she saw how the old man was staring at her cleavage, “You know I can see what you are staring at?” she whispered to him.
“Sure I know, but as fast as I am going downhill I really don’t give a rat’s ass,” The old man grinned, “I want to leave this world with as many happy memories as I can, and sweetheart your breasts will be among the top of those memories.”
“You are a dirty old man,” She said, leaning forward as she began to push the wheelchair.
“You know, you should have one of those male nurses push my chair so you can walk in front so I can die with some more memories of that cute ass of yours before I croak.”
“You are not going to ‘croak’ anytime soon.” She replied as they left the rec room and entered the hall.
“Yea, I bet you gals got a pool going on when I bite the big one don’t ya?” He chuckled, “Put me down for twenty on the fourth of July.”
“And how would you collect it if you won John?”
“You could collect it for me, go get a bottle of cheap wine and go get laid.”
“John you know I am married.”
“He don’t have to know.” Craning his neck around to look up at the nurse, “Just put that in that list of things you plan on never telling him.”
“I don’t keep secrets from my husband.”
“Bullshit!”
“Seriously I don’t”
“Okay so was he the first man you ever slept with?”
“That’s not something you discuss with someone else.”
“Did you tell him?”
“John, you are terrible!”
“No, I’m too old for those little white lies everyone tells to make you feel warm and fuzzy about each other. Hell if I was twenty years younger I’d wine you and dine you, then show you how a man should make a woman feel.”
“Watch your language, your grandchildren are here,” The Nurse scolded as she pushed the old man into his room.
“Hi dad,” he heard a female voice came from further inside the room.
Chapter 2
“So doctor, what you are telling us is the tests have been failures.” The gray haired man wearing a military uniform that was adorned with row after row of medals and ribbons stated from where he sat at the head of the long table.
“No sir,” A dark skinned man, with distinct Arabic features and thick accent spoke from his seat, “The serum works even better than expected, it just has a most unusual side effect on human physiology.”
“How can you call turning a twenty six year old man into a 1 year old baby a success?” The man raised his voice.
“General if I may?” A small gray haired woman that was sitting beside the Arabic man spoke.
“Go ahead,” The general nodded.
“The child shows unusual strength for its age, and it’s regenerative abilities are unbelievable” She explained.
“But it turned him into a damn baby!” The general’s voice became even louder, “What in the hell are we going to do with a platoon of babies?”
“General the second subject did not regress in age as far,” She continued, “From that test we believe that there is a limit to the regression.”
“Oh yes, I haven’t even spoke about your second test, as if the first screw up wasn’t enough for you two.” The general face was turning red as his volume continued to increase, “You went and used that damn serum on a second man!”
“Sir they were both volunteers and the second volunteer knew exactly what had occurred with the first before he asked for us to continue with the test he partook in.” The woman defended what they had done, “The seconds volunteer only regressed into his teens.”
“And how is that any better?” The general screamed, “None of your test subjects remain adults, and from what you have found so far, they may be stuck at the new age for the rest of their lives.”
“It’s simple General,” She grinned, “We need to begin with older subjects.”
The general opened his mouth but stopped before he said a single word. Looking over at the two army officers that sat across from the two doctors, “Find me an older volunteer. Someone with a military background that can keep his trap shut.”
“How old sir?” One of the two officers asked.
The general looked over at the doctors, waiting for an answer.
“I, I would guess sixty?” The Arabic man spoke.
“Older may be better,” The woman spoke, “let’s say sixty five minimum preferably seventy or more.”
“You want us to raid the nursing homes?” The first officer chuckled.
“Actually that is a great place to look for volunteers,” she remarked, “Men in those places have no future to look forward to, and I’d say that most would jump at the chance to have their youth returned to them.”
Chapter 3
The two army officers sat at a table going through the stacks of folders on the table. “Now here is an interesting one,” One of the men held up a folder, “This guy’s record makes him sound like a regular John friggn Wayne.”
“Let me take a look,” the other man held out his hand to take the folder. Thumbing through it he spoke, “Damn, you’re not kidding, CMOH, three silver stars. Hell this guy has medals that I didn’t even know existed!”
“Yea, he sounds like something else, doesn’t he?”
“Oh crap!” The man said as he flipped back to the first page in the folder. “You have to be shitting me!” The man exclaimed
“What?”
“John Dodge!”
“Yea so?”
“He’s my father in law!”
“No shit?” the second man laughed, “Your father in law won the CMOH?”
“I never knew he had any medals?”
“With him related it makes it easier to approach him.”
“You don’t understand, this is the man that took my youngest daughter out on a lake fishing with homemade dynamite!” His partner tried to keep from laughing. “And when the game warden showed up, dear old dad lit a stick and handed it to the game warden and asked him if he wanted to fish or argue about his preference of bait.” His partner could not contain himself and roared.
Finally catching his breath his partner said, “He sounds like the exact person we need. Military background, and was damn good at it from looking at that list of honors. He has held top level security clearances in the past, so he knows how to keep his mouth shut and he’s over seventy one, and he sounds like he may be insane enough to go through with this once he’s been read in.”
“Alright, we’ll go talk to him, but first let’s get his security clearance reinstated and up to the level he needs to come in on this.” Smiling at his partner, “Don’t bother with hotel arrangements, we have plenty of room at the old man’s place.”
Chapter 4
As the two Army officers walked down the sidewalk toward the entrance of the nursing facility Matt’s father in law now lived, Jake noticed an old man in a wheelchair smoking a cigar off in the distance. “I didn’t know they allowed that in these places?”
“Allowed what?” Matt asked.
Pointing toward the man in the wheelchair, “That.”
Matt saw the cigar hanging out of his father in laws mouth as the old man wheeled himself along another paved walkway that led toward a small pond that sported a fountain in its center, “OH CRAP!” he yelled and began running toward the old man.
“What?” Jake followed chase.
“Dad’s got a cigar!” Matt yelled back as he ran.
Catching up to the wheelchair, Matt grabbed the handles and stopped the old man’s progress then quickly ripped the cigar out of his mouth before the man had a chance to complain. “What in the hell were you planning?” Matt held the cigar just out of the man’s reach.”
“What?” The old man looked up at his son in law with his best poker face, “Matt you wouldn’t deprive a dying old man from enjoying a good cigar would you?”
“Hand them over!” Matt held his free hand out.
“Hand over what?”
“The explosives!”
“The what?” the old man grinned.
“Your damn bait old man!”
With a heavy sigh John reached into a pouch on the side of the wheelchair and produced three off white cylinders, each had a green colored fuse about five inches long coming out one end and handed them to Matt, “Killjoy.”
“How’d you know he had those on him Matt?”
“The old man only smokes cigars when he goes fishing.”
“Yea,” John chuckled as he looked over at the other arrival, “The smoke keeps the bugs away.” Looking around, “So where’s the girls?”
“I had to pull some string to keep you here after your last fishing trip in that pond,” Matt nodded toward the small pond, “You do it again and they’ll throw you out.”
“Good, that way I can at least die in peace without those damn nurses waking me up in the middle of the night.”
“Uh dad,” Matt began, “Jake and I need to talk with you.”
Looking over the top of his glasses at Jake then back to Matt, “I take it twinkle toes there works with you?”
“Caption Jake Wagner sir,” Jake came to full attention and saluted John, “It is an honor to meet you sir.”
“What’s with the stiff saluting kid? I was only an enlisted grunt.” John frowned at Jake.
“Dad we know about your CMOH along with all the other medals you have and how you won them.”
“Then you also know that I won’t talk about that crap.” John turned his attention back to Matt.
“We’re not here to talk about your past service sir,” Jake stated, “We are here to make you an offer.”
“I hope it’s not an offer I can’t refuse.” John’s laugh was interrupted when he began coughing.
“Dad, you mind if I push you over to that bench, then we can explain everything.”
“Ok,” Matt sat down in the bench facing his father in law, “First thing, we have reinstated your security clearances, and you have been authorized to be read in on this project.”
“Sounds pretty hush-hush.”
“It is dad, its eye’s only stuff. The two of us, the sec-def, our department head and now you.”
“Ok so why me?” The old man asked.
“We need a volunteer for the project.”
“You want a seventy year old man that is dying of cancer? What kind of fucking project is this?”
“You know about all the conspiracy theories about how the Nazi’s had some super soldier experiments during world war two?”
“Yea so?”
“They really did.” Matt confessed.
“And they almost had it worked out.” Jake included, “Had they known what we do now about genetics the war could have gone the other way.”
“So you two are involved in some super-secret shit to make a real life Captain America?”
“What does this have to do with me?” John chuckled, “You want to make Captain Geriatrics first?”
“There is a side effect of the process.” Matt stated.
“Oh?” John’s eyebrows rose.
“It regresses the subject in age considerably.”
John sat straight up looking at his son in law, “Are you saying it makes you younger!”
“Yes.”
“What about my cancer?”
“The process heals you completely, scars, missing fingers, even internal organs. In one test, the man had an appendectomy, it regrew his appendix.”
“So why aren’t you guys using him?”
“He’s now only fifteen years old, and doesn’t appear to be aging.”
“How old was he to start with?” John asked.
“Forty two.”
“So you guys think by getting someone my age…”
“The doctors think you should end up around age twenty five or so.”
“So you want to cure me of cancer, give me back my youth, and make me into a super hero.” John said, “What’s the catch?”
“We have to kill you.”
“Hey if this is about the inheritance, I signed most of it over to Karen a few years ago,” the old man chuckled.
“You did?” Matt seemed surprised, “She never said a word.”
“You’re not the only one that can keep secrets son.”
“Ok whatever,” Matt brought the discussion back on track, “We need to fake your death, make it look like you died. When the process is complete you get a new identity.”
“I think I would have a hard time staying away from the girls, you know how much those kids mean to me.”
“I have an idea for that new identity that I think you will like.”
“Well damn, let me think about this,” John grinned, “Stay here and die within the next few months, or go and take a chance on being young again.”
Matt grinned, “First thing we have to do is get you out of here.” Matt brought the cigar up to his face and began blowing on the end until it glowed cherry red. Smiling at his father in law he lit the fuse on all three of the homemade explosives and threw them into the pond.
Jake’s eyes went wide when he saw Matt throw the small explosives into the pond, John just grinned, “There’s hope for you yet son.”
Chapter 5
John sat on the edge of the examination table for what he considered way too long as the woman, who has introduced herself as Doctor Oliver, continued to explain details of what they were about to do to him. “Look doc, I don’t mean to be rude or nothing but you lost me right after the Dyno robo nuclear acid thing. All this stuff is way over my head.”
“But Mr. Dodge I want you to go into this fully informed.”
“Doc I figure it this way, I go to sleep like this,” John waved his hands at his own body, “I wake up as Captain America, or I don’t wake up.”
“Mr. Dodge, there is a chance that you will die.”
“No doc, that’s where you are wrong,” John looked sternly into the doctor’s eyes, “I am going to die and soon. This is a win-win situation for me. If it works, I’m young again. If it doesn’t I don’t have to sit through the next few months with doctors poking and prodding and making me take all kinds of nasty pills and crap trying to postpone the grim reaper.”
“Well then Mr. Dodge if you would disrobe.”
“Don’t ya think we should start with a little foreplay?” John grinned
“Mr. Dodge!” Dr. Oliver frowned.
“Well at least call me John. Can’t think of any woman that didn’t use my first name before she saw me naked. Hate to break the tradition.”
“OK John would you please get undressed.”
“That’s more like it,” John stood on wobbly legs and began undressing. Stopping as if he forgot something, John looked at the doctor and grinned, “You know if you were to find a deck of cards I can think of a fun way of getting this done.” The doctor ignored him so John continued undressing. Once John was down to his birthday suit the doctor and a lab assistant helped him up onto a platform, situated a mask that fit over his nose and mouth that had a long hose attached to a machine, then attached some electrodes to his chest that had wires trailing off to yet another machine. Once they had all their monitoring stuff firmly attached, they inserted an IV into his arm and helped him climb into a tank filled with some warm somewhat slimy fluid.”
Chapter 6
Once again in the small secure meeting room, Dr. Oliver, Captain Sawdey, Captain Wagner and General Tollman sat around the long table while Dr. Hakim stood at the far end of the table beside an interactive white board that was attached to the wall. “General Sir,” Dr. Hakim began, “Subject three’s induction to the project began with a through medical exam. The subject was in poor health due to advanced intrahepatic bile duct cancer. He had also suffered from colon and testicular cancer, all of which was removed in prior surgeries before his induction to the program. We confirmed the subject’s condition was incurable, fatality within three to six months depending on treatment.”
“We knew this doctor,” The general barked, “please get on with your progress report.”
“Yes Sir,” Dr. Hakim agreed, “At zero six hundred hours Friday morning the monitoring equipment an air supply and an IV were attached to the subject and the subject was introduced to the perfluorochemical or PFC solution. All monitoring equipment including video was then turned on and the retroviridae was administrated intravenously. We have a time lapsed video to provide a video of the progress so far.” Tapping a power button located on a small gray panel on the side of the white board, it began to glow as the projector mounted on an arm that stuck out from the wall above the board came to life. The doctor then touched a file folder on the screen and the video began playing.
The first several minutes nothing seemed to be happening to the elderly man submerged in the clear glass tank. Then slowly at first his body began shrinking, the shrinking continued at an ever increasing rate until roughly twenty minutes into the video the elderly man had the appearance of a five or six year old when the General barked, “Stop the video!”
Dr. Hakim quickly hit pause on the screen, “Sir?”
“You both assured us that by using an older subject his age would not regress so far?”
“General,” Dr. Oliver spoke form where she sat at the table, “We believe that the state of Subject 3’s health was the leading cause for this side effect. The amount of cancer cells that the regenesis had to overcome caused the subject to temporarily regress to an earlier state of being.”
“Temporarily?” Matt questioned.
“Yes sir,” Dr. Hakim nodded, “If you will allow me to continue the presentation you will see this was only a temporary condition.”
“Continue.” The general conceded.
Dr. Hakim restarted the video. The child grew even smaller, around the size of a two year old before he stopped getting smaller. The IV had fallen out of the subject’s now too small arm and the hairless child began struggling in its drug induced sleep until it has managed to get the breathing mask off. Bubbled appeared from its mouth and nose for a short time and it calmed down and curled up into a fetal position.
“He can’t breathe!” Matt stuttered.
Dr. Hakim paused the video once again, “The subject is fine Captain. The PFC solution is both nutrient and oxygen rich. It’s very similar to the fluid a baby is in before birth.”
“Although without the umbilical cord a baby has, the nutrients are fed directly into the fluid where the subject ingests them.” Dr. Oliver asserted.
Dr. Hakim restarted the video. The baby began to grow slowly at first then increasing at the same rate the man had shrunk. The video stopped with the subject looking around the age puberty should begin. Captain Sawdey sat with his jaw agape starting at the screen as well as the General and Captain Wagner.
Finally Captain Sawdey spoke, “He is gonna be pissed when he wakes up!”
Chapter 7
When John woke he knew something had gone wrong, he couldn’t have been in that tank of snot for more than a few minutes. Opening his yes all John could make out was strange blurry shapes. A dark shape seemed to move, “She’s awake.” John heard. Another darker shape moved into his vision, blocking out most of the other shapes, “John, it’s me Matt.”
“What happened?” John struggled to ask.
“It worked,” Matt said, “looks like I’m gonna have to stop calling you old man now. Doctors say you have the body of an eighteen to twenty year old now, although we have decided to show on your new ID that you are twenty two to keep from any problems you may have of being under twenty one.”
“Just went in tank, couldn’t have worked so fast.”
“You went into the tank last Friday old man. This is Thursday, you were in the tank for five days, they took you out yesterday. How you feeling?”
“Everything blurry, body feels numb.”
“The doctors say this is normal. Your mind has to readjust to your new body.”
“How long?”
“How long?” Matt sounded confused, “Until everything is working again?”
John tried to nod but couldn’t move his head, son instead answered, “Yes.”
“They tell me you should be on your feet later today although maybe wobbly for a few days.” Matt included, “We should have you out of here so you can attend your funeral.”
“Always said I wanted to be late for my funeral, I guess now I really will be.” John chuckled, immediately noticing that it wounded more like a girl’s giggle.
“OK,” Matt breathed a heavy sigh, “Now for the reason they asked me to be here when you woke up. You want the good news of the bad news first?”
“Good, always start off with the benefits.” John began to wonder why his own voice sounded so strange to him.
“Good idea,” Matt began, “Ok good news, the process worked even better than expected. You are as I said before now around twenty years old, your muscle density has increased slightly above five times more than human normal and you have regeneration capabilities that are only matched by comic books. Literally if you cut off a finger it would grow back and rather quickly according to the doctors. The process has also eliminated all signs of cancer in your body, even regrown that kidney you lost. Also they are uncertain as to how much, but the regeneration has also slowed your aging.”
“OK now the bad.”
“I’m not sure how to say this,” Matt stalled, “So I’m going to explain it as best I can. There was a side effect, the way I understand it, this happened partly because of an earlier operation you had, this left you with a low testosterone one count, and because of the cancer cells themselves. Your cancer cells had X, X chromosomes in them instead of X, Y. So when the retrovirus found the low testosterone along with it took to be female chromosomes in the massive number of cancer cells in your body, the retro virus rebuilt your body as female.”
“So I’m some kind of circus freak?” John gulped, “Half man half woman?”
“No, but…” Matt swallowed hard waiting for the old man to start screaming at him like a drill Sergeant, “You’re a girl, one hundred percent woman.”
Several minutes passed, neither saying a single word when John asked, “Am I a two bagger?”
“Huh, what?” Matt didn’t understand what John was getting at.
“A two bagger!” John was regaining his voice slowly as a nurse entered the room. “You know so butt fucking ugly that the guy puts a bag over her head so he doesn’t have to look at her while the screw, and another bag over his own head incase her bag rips open during sex. What do you kids call that now? Coyote morning? Where she is so ugly you would rather chew your arm off to get away rather than wake her up?
I almost had one of those mornings once,” John thought back as he recounted that story, “First night in Olongapo Philippines. There were three of us guy straight off the ship. Tom had been there once before so he was kinda our guide. At the end of the night we ended up in this hole in the wall two bedroom apartment that sat above one of the bars. I saw and did things that night that night with local women that should never be discussed.
Woke up the next morning in the living room floor when some gal walked around us. She was totally naked, and had a face that would curdle milk. I mean to say she was missing one eye and that was her good feature! I damn near lost the contents of my stomach right then and there when I realized one of us slept with her and it very well could have been me! I breathed a sigh of relief when I noticed my arm pinned down by this really cute little LBFM sleeping beside me on the floor. I thought right then, if she had looked like the one that walked by, I would have lost an arm that morning!”
“I, well,” Matt stammered.
“Your very pretty sweetie,” John heard a woman’s voice, “I’m your nurse dear, you can call me Deb.”
“Hi Deb,” John replied, “I’m Joh… Hell I guess that name don’t fit anymore.”
“That was the next thing I was going to discuss with you, your new name.” Matt said.
“Don’t worry about it dear,” Deb said, “If I was in your shoes, the last thing I would be thinking about was my name, I would be freaking out.”
“Considering the alternative,” John stated, “I’ll take being a girl over that.”
“What was the alternative?” Deb asked.
“Old and on my death bed with only a couple months left to live.”
“I guess that does put things in perspective.”
“Yes ma’am it does,” John grinned devilishly, “Although I do reserve the right to freak the fuck out at a later date when all this finally sinks in.”
“OK so back to my question,” Matt asked, “If you had another daughter what would you have named her?”
“You mean for my new name?” John thought for a moment, “Kathleen, Kat for short.”
“Alright, so the story we have contrived is that you had another daughter by one of your many escapades with women. You are that child. Kathleen Dodge.”
“It sounds like such a far stretch, ME? Cavorting around with women?” John’s attempt to chuckle came out as a giggle.
“Yea, yea you were such a pillar of the community,” Matt added sarcastically.
“Hell son, we both know I was a whore monger when I was young.”
“That’s why this will work John, um Kathleen, Kat. No one would think twice about an illegitimate child showing up at your funeral.”
“True,” John sighed, “I wouldn’t be surprised if I wasn’t the only one.”
“OK I’ll go get the paperwork done making you officially Kathleen Dodge and get out of your nurse’s way, she looks like she has work to do.”
“So how are you feeling this morning Kat?” The nurse replaced Matt at her bedside.
“Things are still really blurry but it’s getting better.”
“On a scale from one to ten, how is your vision?”
“When I first woke up it was an 11, now it’s down to a five or six.” Kat answered, “I can tell you got a nice rack on you, but can’t tell much more than that.”
Deb chuckled, “I’m not the only one with a nice rack.”
“Crap, hadn’t thought about that, how big are they?”
“Hard to tell with you lying down, but I’d bet your at least a C dear.” Deb smiled, “Now then, any other feeling yet?”
“Yea I am feeling like tiny needles are sticking me.”
“Where, any specific spot, and place better or worse than another?”
“Not really, it’s an all over thing, not bad, just annoying.”
“That’s normal hon,” Deb explained, “The serum they gave you rebuilt your body almost from the ground up, it takes a few days for your body to relearn those connections. When your better I’m told you can watch the video, it’s truly amazing to see it happen.”
“Not sure if I want to see that or not.”
“I think you should, if for no other reason to give yourself some closure.”
“Closure I already had,” Kat looked up at the nurse with her quickly increasing vision, “To be honest, I didn’t think this shit would work. Figured I could at least die helping them to figure out this stuff and maybe out flank the grim reaper in the process.”
“In a way that may be good in your situation,” Deb said while wrapping a blood pressure cuff around the girl’s arm. “And if you think about it, you did beat death.”
“I did at that, didn’t I?” Kat giggled. “Now to work on taxes.”
“Taxes? What do taxes have to do with what you went through?”
“They say that the two things you can never beat are death and taxes,” an evil grin spread across the young girls face, “one down, one to go.”
Chapter 8
Kat sat nervously on the bed as Deb braided her hair, explaining what she was doing as she went. Once the braid was long enough Deb pulled it around in front of Kat so she could watch. As Deb continued braiding Kat’s hair she mentioned, “You’ll have to watch it when you sit down so you don’t sit on your hair.”
“I’ll get it cut,” Kat stated.
“Don’t you dare!” Deb scolded, “Women would die to have hair like yours, myself included!”
“It’ll get in the way.”
“Once you get used to it, you’ll be fine.” Deb stated as she looped the now very long braid under Kat’s arm, “When it gets too long to hold tight while you’re braiding it, loop it under your arm like this.”
“Yes mom,” Kat sighed heavily.
“Your hair is amazing Kat,” Deb continued working on braiding it, “it’s like baby hair, silky smooth and soft. Please don’t ever consider cutting it.”
“But it drags the floor!”
Deb grinned, “It doesn’t drag the floor! And there is allot of things you can do with it to put it up. Oh and you have a visitor coming, I want you to look presentable when he gets here.”
“Who’s coming?”
“Someone else you know that is in the project,” Deb grinned, “He’ll keep you company while I go do a little shopping for you.”
“Shopping?” Kat questioned.
“Yes that’s why I took your measurements after you showered, you underwear and real clothes.” Deb smiled, “Don’t worry I’m not going to pick up allot, just a few things to get you by until you get out of here.”
“There all done,” Deb affirmed after finished tying a green ribbon to the end of Kat’s hair.
“What’s with the green ribbon?”
“It matches your eyes.”
Kat picked up the light golden braid looking at it closely. “You know all my kids were born with this color hair, even I was but it got darker over the years.”
“Well maybe it will stay this way this time around, and if not you can always dye it.”
“Hair salon?” Kat shivered. “Rose used to go to that damn place once a month, you could set your watch by her and that place. Only good thing about going there was the mood she was always in when she got home.” Kat winked at Deb.
“That’s because going there makes us girls feel pretty, not that you need any help in that department.” Looking down at Kat’s chest, “You may want to pull that blanket up a bit before he gets here.”
“Huh? Why?” Following Deb’s eyes down at her own chest and seeing her nipples clearly poking out of the front of the hospital gown she wore, “Uh yea, good idea.” Kat quickly pulled the blanket up to hide the display. “So um Deb, are bras on that shopping list?” Deb nodded.
“Hey Spooky, how ya holding up?” The young African-American teen said from the doorway.
“Looks like your visitor has arrived Kat,” Deb stood up from where she had sat on the bed while braiding Kat’s hair, “Great timing too, if I leave now I can beat the rush and get in and out of the mall.”
“I haven’t been called that in a long time,” Kat quizzed, “Where you hear that name from kid?”
“You must have gone senile before your change,” The boy sassed, “Can’t recognize an old friend. It’s me Storms.”
“Earl?” Kat stared at the new arrival.
“In the flesh, well what’s left of it anyway, I go by Ben now” The Earl Storms that John remembered wasn’t the biggest man John had ever met, but he was with the top ten at six foot eight inches tall and three hundred and sixty pounds of sheer muscle. The man could have easily found a career in professional football with his size and strength, but had instead made the military his career just like John.
“They shrunk the hell out of you!” Kat gasped.
“They kinda did a number on you too.”
“OK kids, I’ll let you two get reacquainted while I hit the mall for those things you need Kat.” Deb headed toward the door.
Seeing the Nurse leave the room, Ben grabbed his crotch, “I still got it where it counts!”
“Ahh that’s no big deal,” waving her hand as if to brush off his statement, “You may still have one of those, but with one of these I can have as many of those as I want!” She pointed at her own crotch.
“What do you have her fetching for you boss?” Ben changed the subject, as the discussion was beginning to make him very aware of how pretty his former boss looked now.
“Uh…” Kat paused unsure how to answer without embarrassing herself, “Girl things.” Ben looked confused for a moment, then broke out laughing.
“What’s so funny?” Kat tried to hide how embarrassing this felt to her, but her face gave her away as she began blushing.
“I just realized what you would be needing is all,” Ben unsuccessfully tried to stop laughing, “It’s just the thought of the old man wearing women’s clothes…” Picturing this in her mind had Kat soon laughing along with her friend.
Outside in the hallway where she had stopped out of sight of the two in the room, a broad smile spanned across Deb’s face when she heard the two laughing, Deb then turned and began walking down the hallway toward the elevator. Deb had heard the remark Ben made about retaining his manhood and she worried how Kat would take it. Kat may seem fine with the changes right now, but Deb worried that sooner or later something would eventually break that wall of stone Kat placed between herself and the world and all those pent up emotions she was hiding would come flooding out. She had an idea she was pretty sure the brass would go for, they needed her report anyway. Deb would make the phone call while she was out.
71 year old John Dodge, retired military, now sits in a nursing home, his body riddled with cancer, waiting on the grim reaper to come for him when he is given another option.
Chapter 9
“So I’m officially Kathleen Elizabeth Marlete now?” Kat continued thumbing through folder she had been handed. Picking up the new driver’s license and inspecting it, “This shows I’m only seventeen? I thought you said we were going to make my age older?”
“All things considered,” Matt cautioned, “We thought it best to give you more time to get used to the new you. We have a house just off base being set up for you and your mom to move into.”
“My MOM!” Kat exclaimed, “Who in their right mind would take that job?”
“I did,” Deb confessed.
“Why in the hell would you do that?” Kat wailed.
“For one,” Deb responded, “You may look like a young lady, but you act like a cantankerous old man and you talk like a sailor out on a three day pass in Singapore.”
“But…” Kat tried to speak.
“I’m not finished young lady!” Deb grinned evilly, “You have spent the last fifty plus years getting away with talking and acting as you do. Most the brass turned their heads because of the job you did, the rest, well they were too damn afraid of you to say anything. Someone has to show you how to fit in or else you will be useless not only to yourself but to the DOD. John Dodge is dead, you are not him anymore, you are his daughter.”
“As far as the age,” Matt interjected, “How long ago did Rose die?”
“Eighteen, almost nineteen years ago.” Kat said quietly lowering her gaze to her lap.
“Did you ever cheat on Rose?” Matt asked.
“What kind of a fucking question is that?” Kat’s head shot up and she glared at Matt, “I’d never do anything that would have hurt my Rose!”
“Then you can’t be John Dodge’s daughter and be any older.” Deb concluded.
Kat sighed then looked up at Deb and grinned evilly while crossing her arms under her breasts, speaking in a quizzical voice, “So mom? How did you and dad meet? Did he sweep you off your feet? Was it love at first sight? Or were you just another notch in his belt?”
“I’ve told you before sweetheart,” Deb dropped into the role, “I was working at the hospital in Landstuhl when your father’s old team was brought in. When he heard what had happened he jumped on the first airline he could and flew over. He had retired by then, but he still thought of those men as his best friends. I’m not sure how he got through the security to get into the ward, but there he was barking orders at doctors and nurses like he owned the place and those men were his children.”
“Crap you were there?” Kat’s eyes went wide.
Deb nodded, “I was the one who set your hand after you broke it punching that brick wall.” Deb continued, “You were so angry that you were not there to keep them safe.”
Tears began rolling down Kat’s cheeks as repressed memories of that day came forward, “That was a bad time,” Kat sniffed. “So you met me back then?”
“Yes,” Deb sniffed back her own tears, “I thought you were an arrogant asshole.”
“Yep she met you alright!” Matt chuckled.
“But then I saw though the act,” Deb observed, “For you, it was the only way you knew how to show your love for those men. I didn’t know who you were, but could only imagine you were important as every time an MP came up to you, you pulled something out of your pocket and he would step back and salute you. I never knew what you were showing them until you volunteered for this project.”
“Yea, that’s the only time I ever flashed that damn thing around.”
“I figured it had to be your medal of honor, one of those is like the Holy Grail in the military.” Deb went on, “So your father and I got close while he was there, even gave me his address and phone back in the states. I wanted to look him up when I got back, but I was so afraid he would think I was trying to rope him into marrying me because I was pregnant. After you were born I began work on my PHD and between caring for you, work and working on my doctorate, I was just too busy to think about a relationship.”
“Bullshit,” Kat pretended to sneeze while saying it. “But it’s a touching story that people will probably eat up and it puts the two of us together in a place that we really were at the correct time. So I take it my new birthday shows nine months after I was in Germany?”
“40 weeks almost to the day,” Deb grinned.
“OK,” Kat countered, “Everyone has convinced me why this needs to be done this way, but Deb you haven’t told me why you want to be my mom?” Kat looked directly into Deb’s eyes.
Deb lowered her eyes, not able to keep eye contact with Kat, “I, I fell in love with you.”
“You mean him, the man I was?”
“Yes and no,” Deb tried to explain, “Yes I did fall in love with you back then, but not the man, it was his spirit, your spirit, your heart. A heart so big and filled with love that you stared down eight armed MPs that first day, daring them to try to drag you out of that hospital. I even remember what you said to the MPs, you told them that you didn’t know how many of them it would take to drag you out, but you were damn sure they didn’t bring enough!”
“Luckily they didn’t call my bluff.” Kat giggled.
Pointing at the center of Kat’s chest, “I fell in love with what is in there, not your looks, not your manliness, I fell in love with the heart you have hidden in there.” Deb looked straight into Kat’s eyes, “After finding out that you were hear as a volunteer, well once I got to know you for the few days we have spent together, I realized I wanted to be a part of your life, to be there for you like you were for those men back in Germany.”
Kat smiled at Deb, “So do I normally call you mom or mother?”
“So you are ok with this?” Deb fretted until she saw Kat begin nodding and grinning from ear to ear, Deb smiled and replied, “I think you’ve been too much of a tomboy to call me anything but mom.”
“Wait a minute what’s this PHD shit, I thought you were a nurse?” Kat’s eyes narrowed as she looked up at Deb.
“I have a doctorate in Psychology.”
“Pull the other one sweetheart,” Kat hissed.
“What?” Deb blinked several times, “You don’t believe I am a doctor?”
“No, that I believe,” Kat sighed heavily, “It’s just really convenient how the person that fell in love with my spirit and wants to become my mother just happens to be a shrink.”
“You’ll come to see that what I have said is true honey,” Deb smiled.
“Your options are pretty limited Old ma… um Kat,” Matt added.
“My being a psychiatrist was the deciding factor in them allowing us to do this.” Deb explained, “They were going to assign someone to watch and evaluate you. This way you have someone with your best interests in mind.”
“I assume my other option is to stay here and let the other doctors poke and prod me?” Deb and Matt both nodded.
“So when do we get to go home mom?”
Chapter 10
Old Navy was not what Kat had expected when ‘mom’ had said where they were going there. Having never bene inside one of their stores Kat had expected the store to deal in, well navy clothing, dungarees, maybe some of the old seafarer style pants, but the place turned out to be more like a normal clothing store. Kat did like the idea of buying some tee shirts with their logo on it, she thought wearing one would be kind of poetic justice, since she was in reality old Navy herself and had stopped to look through a rack of them.
Kat had picked out a couple when Deb said, “If you want to buy some of those, we need to find ones that fit correctly dear. Those are not the right size.” Deb began digging through the rack of tee shirts selecting several fitted tees all bearing the Old Navy logo. “Go try these on.”
Kat took the tees and began looking around for the changing rooms. Spotting them near the back of the store she began walking over, while Deb continued looking through the racks of shirts selecting a few more items before following Kat. Standing outside the changing room door she heard Kat, “Mom these are too tight.”
“Open the door and let me see.” When the door opened Deb could see that the shirt was in fact a perfect fit and told her so.
As the two argued over how the shirt should fit as compared to how Kat wanted it to fit another woman walked by about Deb’s age, “I see you have a tomboy on your hands too,” the woman chuckled, “My Samantha is the same way, she is so worried that boys are going to stare at her chest it’s almost impossible to get her to wear anything that fits.”
“I know what you mean,” Deb grinned at Kat, “You would think my Kathleen here was born a boy the way she acts!”
“Well dear, that top looks great on you,” the woman said, “You have a great figure, you shouldn’t be ashamed of it. I bet that pink one would look wonderful on you too.” Pointing on the bench in the changing room where she has tossed the tees down.
“Yes hon, I would love to see how you look in that too, try it on,” Handing her the others that Deb had picked out, try these on too.”
Putting on each shirt one by one, then having to model them for Deb took time. When Kat tried on the cami that Deb had thrown in the pile, she first refused to open the door to let anyone see her in it but Deb eventually talked her into it.
Finally through trying on the tops, Kat put them back on their hangars and was about to open the door when a pair of jeans hit her in the face. “Try these on too” She heard Deb on the other side of the door. Knowing it was a lost cause Kat did as she was told and began removing the baggy jeans she had on. Before she could squirm her way into the new jeans two more pair came flying over the top of the door, “These are cut slightly different, let’s see how they fit too.”
Stepping out of the changing room Kat looked up at Deb, “I think I need these in one size bigger, I had a hell of a time getting into them.”
Deb stuck one finger into the waist band of the jeans Kat had on and moved her finger back and forth along the top of the pants pulling them slightly as she did, “No hon these are the right size, they’re supposed to fit this way.”
“I can’t get my hands into any of the pockets!”
“That’s why we carry a purse dear.”
Leaning forward Deb whispered in Kat’s ear, “You want everyone to see the imprint of a tampon in your back pocket? Or worse, having one fall out of your pocket in front of everyone when you are trying to fish something else out of your pocket?”
Kat’s eyes grew wide from the visualization of what she had just been told, “I, I’ve seen girls with ones that look like they were made out of blue jeans, maybe one of those wouldn’t be too bad to carry around.”
“Good girl, now try on those other jeans, so we can pick out which ones we want and get out of here.”
From there Deb dragged her to the mall, mainly because J.C.Penny’s was there, but walking back through the mall Kat stopped when she something caught her eye, “I want one of those.”
Deb looked over at the black tank top on the mannequin. In archaic white lettering it Read ‘I solemnly swear that I am up to no good with the words I, swear and good in larger lettering than the rest.
“Let’s go see if they have it in your size,” Deb grabbed her by the arm and led them into the store. Once inside Kat began acting like a kid in a candy store looking through the different shirts they had in stock. Finding one like she had seen in the store windows in her size, Kat continued looking through the shirts. Finding another with The Cheshire cat from Alice in wonderland with part of the cat invisible that Read You may notice that I’m not all here myself, Kat grinned as she added that to the one already across her arm. Another quickly followed that read ‘Free Insults’.
Hearing Deb chuckle Kat turned to see what she found funny and found Deb looking at her, “What?” Kat chortled, “I love shirts with funny sayings on them. Oh this one is great!” Kat said picking out another, then reading it out loud, “Your jealous because the voices don’t speak to you,” tossing it across her arm with the rest. Kat giggled as she held up another shirt, “Don’t make me drop a house one you!” she laughed. Kat finally walked over where Deb had been browsing through the store. “I’m done.”
“Good, Go try these on, I think they would look great on you.” Deb handed her a blue halter dress with white trim and a red plaid dress.
“Dresses?”
“I’ll make you a deal,” Deb smiled, “You try those dresses on and I’ll pay for all those shirts you picked out, no questions asked.”
Dropping her shoulders in defeat, Kat took the two dresses and handed Deb the shirts to hold as they headed toward the rear of the store and the changing rooms. They left the store with all the shirts and much to Kat’s dismay, both dresses. On the way back to the car Kat began to realize why Deb had parked on the other side of the mall. After several more stops in other stores and even more skirts, blouses and dresses Kat finally managed to drag Deb back to the car so they could leave. “I know you intentionally parked as far away from J.C.Penny’s as you could,” Kat stated bluntly.
“Guilty.”
“What? No excuses or arguments?” Kat stuttered.
“Nope.”
“You’re not even going to try?”
“Nope,” Deb grinned over at Kat, “You need these things, I know some of them you won’t wear that often, but girls have closets overflowing with clothes. If someone saw how few things you have right now they would ask questions. Did your wife wear dresses allot?”
“No not really, Rose usually wore jeans unless something special was up.”
“Did she have a lot of nice clothes, dresses, skirts?”
“Oh hell she took up her closet and over half of mine with shit she never wore.”
“My point exactly, and you have one year of high school to get through, I’m sure you will make a friend or two and sooner or later those friends will get a glimpse of what is in your closet.”
“Why would they go in my closet?”
“Any number of reasons, maybe to help you pick out the perfect outfit for some occasion like a date.”
“Uh that ain’t happening!”
Chapter 11
“Gated community?” Kat looked curiously over after Deb pulled through the gate and continued driving.
“You have a problem with it dear?”
“No I guess not.” Kat thought about it for a moment before grinning, “But it does cut down on my target practice.”
“Kat!” Deb scolded.
“What?” One side of Kat’s grin curled up devilishly, “You have any idea how hard it is to simulate a moving target that is actually afraid of getting shot?”
“We don’t own any guns,” Deb shook her head.
“If you say so mom,” Kat giggled.
“This looks like the place,” Deb pointed out, “Read it off that paper hon. Kat quickly picked up the printed page and read the address off to Deb. “Yes this is it, our new home.” Deb pulled into the driveway and up to the closed garage door. After making sure the keys they were given opened the door the two began hauling in the spoils of the shopping trip which they dropped on the couch in the living room after wading through the moving boxes to get to it.
The two decided on taking a quick tour of their new living conditions, and to make sure the movers had at least set the beds up like they were instructed to do. Downstairs they had the large living room, which was mostly filled with boxes. The kitchen which was also filled with a considerable amount of moving boxes, a dining room, a room Deb determined would be her office, a guest bedroom and a family room.
Off the kitchen was a door that led to the garage, which they found was also full of boxes. French doors off the family room led outside to the back yard which held a good sized in ground pool complete with a diving board and a slide.
What got the most attention from Kat, in the backyard was a brick island that held both a large grill and a brick oven. When she saw that the oven was wood fired she started jumping up and down like an excited teen.
“I take it from that display that we are going to have some nice meals out here?” Deb joked.
“Damn straight we are!” Kat began babbling about the wood fired oven and baking breads and pizza.
“OK, I get it, you really like the outdoor oven.” Deb reassured Kat, “Just as soon as we get settled, we’ll find you a supply of whatever wood you need to use it.”
Kat ran over and hugged Deb, “Thanks mom, I’ve always wanted an oven just like this, this is awesome!”
“Careful honey, remember your strength,” Deb said through the pain.
“Oh shit, I’m sorry, It’s just all this… I forgot.”
“It’s ok hon, I’m glad you like it.” Deb kissed her on the forehead, “Matt helped allot in finding this place.”
“I’ll give him a big hug too,” Kat giggled.
“Just don’t break any bones.” Deb reminded her daughter.
Continuing their tour of the house they found four bedrooms upstairs the master bedroom and one other had private bathrooms while the other two shared one that had a door that entered into each room. The only bed that had been assembled as it was supposed to, was the one in the master bedroom. “No worries,” Deb put in when she saw the problem, “We can share my bed tonight. Let’s dig out some sheets and get the bed made. Tomorrow I’ll call Matt and he can chew the movers out and get someone out here to do what they were supposed to do in the first place.”
“I can put the other beds together mom.” Kat volunteered.
“I know you can hon but the point is, they were supposed to have it done for us.” Deb insisted, “Plus I am sure Matt would like to impress you with his manly skill of yelling at people for not doing their job.” Deb giggled.
“I guess I was pretty good at that?” Kat stated.
“Legendary from what I am told.” They both couldn’t stop giggling.
After getting the bed ready they wandered over to Kat’s room. “What are all these boxes here?”
“Remember I told you that we had to make it look like you have grown up as a girl?” Deb stated, “these are your old things, your toys, posters, clothes that no longer fit, your stuffed animals, all the things a girl would have laying around in her closet or on shelves in her room.”
“It’s going to take forever to go through all these boxes!”
“I tried to get you to do that before we moved honey,” Deb laughed.
Going back downstairs they both began unboxing in the kitchen and storing everything away. They had gotten through about a third of the boxes when the doorbell rang. “Kat would you get that please,” Deb asked as she was putting away some odds and ends. Clearing a stack of boxes Kat was halfway through the living room when she heard Deb, “Slow down to human levels please.” Kat stifled the laugh as she opened the door.
“Hi and welcome to the neighborhood, we’re your next door neighbors,” The woman who stood on the front stoop said as the door opened. “I’m Barbra Adams, and this is my daughter Becky.” A teen girl stood behind the woman timidly waved. “Is your mother home?”
Knowing how her own grandchildren acted, Kat turned toward the kitchen and shouted, “Mom, it’s the neighbors, here to welcome us into the neighborhood.”
“Show them a path into the kitchen honey,” Deb shouted back.
Once she had guided the pair into the kitchen Mrs. Adams looked strangely at Kat and asked, “how’d you manage to get to the door so quickly through all this?”
“Oh,” Deb quickly interrupted, “Kat’s big into gymnastics, she finds that maze in our living room fun.” Kat smiled and nodded at Mrs. Adams.
“Kat?” Mrs. Adams clucked.
“It’s short for Kathleen, she has always been such a tomboy, and my job doesn’t make it easier. I really hope this is the last move we have to make.”
“Oh?” Barbra questioned, “What do you do for a living?”
“I’m a doctor, I work for the military though,” Deb answered, “For a long time we went where ever they needed us, but I think we have finally managed to find a permanent location.”
“A doctor? Your husband must be proud?”
Kat snorted noticeably and tore into another box.
“I’m sure Kat’s father would be if he were alive today,” Deb answered.
“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to pry,” Mrs. Adams said. Kat snorted again.
“Kat why don’t you go show Becky around?” Deb asked thinking it best to get Kat away from this woman before she said something that couldn’t be explained.
"Was auch immer Mutter, solange ich weg von dieser neugieren Hünding kommen kann," Kat spat out.
Deb glared at the girl, “Why don’t you show her your new room?”
“Come on Becky, I’ll show you around,” Kat motioned for Becky to follow her. “Do you like to swim?” They heard Kat ask as they walked out of the kitchen into the dining room.
“What was that she said?” Mrs. Adams looked at Deb questionably after the two girls had left.
“Kat has gotten real touchy about her father since he passed away.”
“That’s understandable, but what language was that?”
“When Kat gets upset she slips back into German?”
“She speaks German?”
“We moved to Landstuhl when Kat was seven. Kat’s German is often better than her English.” Deb confessed, “I had to make it a rule that only English was used in our house or she would have never used it there.”
“So you’re Army?”
Deb nodded, not seeing any reason to correct Barbra since she wouldn’t understand the difference it made being Department of Defense and not regular Army, “I got a transfer to the base hospital here, figured it a good idea to get Kat back home before she completely forgot her roots.”
Chapter 12
Becky silently nodded in answer to Kat’s question as she stared at the pool though the double French doors that separated the dining room from the back yard. Becky loved to swim but had little opportunity to do so. Becky was never good around crowds, they made her nervous and the thought of boys seeing her in a swimsuit was more than she think about. Becky was picked on enough at school about her looks, she could never go out in public in something as revealing as a swimsuit. “I, I love to swim,” Becky almost whispered, standing there thinking how nice it would be to have her own pool in her yard.
Kat didn’t notice that Becky had stopped until she heard the girl’s soft voice almost too low to make out what she said. Kat had seen the look on Becky’s face in other people and while she couldn’t read her mind, Kat knew what Becky was thinking, “Once we get settled in you’ll have to come over and go swimming with me.”
“I, I don’t know.”
“Please?” Kat smiled at Becky. “Mom’s already said I can’t use the pool unless there is someone with me. She’s afraid I’ll hit my head or something and drown.” Of course Kat and Deb had never discussed this, but it was something Kat had been very strict on with his children and grandchildren.
“I, don’t have bathing suit that fits anymore.”
“Then we’ll just have to buy one,” Kat saw that Becky was ready to come up with another reason not to do something that she obviously wanted, “My treat, I need to buy myself a new one anyway since most of my clothes seem to have been eaten by the twilight zone in the move. I think my mom had something to do with that. She hated the way I dressed.”
“My mother won’t let me even look at a skirt that shows more than my knees.” Becky emphasized.
Realizing that Becky thought Kat was into short revealing dresses she laughed, “I’m most comfortable in old jeans and a tee shirt. Mom hates my old jeans and had tried to throw out several pair on me. Most the time I take out the garbage, so I go through it to make sure none have been accidentally thrown out.” Kat said as she led Becky through the rooms downstairs.
After touring the downstairs Becky asked, “Can we see your room?”
“Sure but it almost as bad as the living room right now, my bed isn’t even put together yet.” Kat led her new friend upstairs. At the top of the landing Kat pointed out her mother’s room and the two spare rooms as she led Becky into what would be Kat’s room.
“Wow your room is huge!” Becky exclaimed, “And you even have your own bathroom!” Becky said after she saw the bathroom through the open door inside Kat’s room.
Becky helped Kat begin sorting out the boxes in her room, the contents of some surprised Kat, as she found an assortment of clothing for a girl in a couple of the boxes, all of which was well worn for the most part and many too small for her to wear.
Becky began grinning as she started dragging one box of clothes into the walk in closet in Kat’s room, “Come on Kat, I’ll help you put this stuff away.”
Kat could have cared less if the clothes ever got put away, but she went along with it, trying to show the same enthusiasm as Becky suddenly began showing. Becky quickly took control of organizing the closet, even began directing Kat where things should go or not go as Kat tried to keep up with Becky’s new found energy.
Kat was beginning to feel that she was just in Becky’s way, although she did love how much doing this excited Becky. Kat figured it must be one of those girl things she may never learn, so she began dragging the boxes one at a time into the closet. Kat had just stepped out of the closet for the last box of clothes when Becky squealed, “It’s so Cuuute!” and came running out of the closet with a purple dress that looked like it would fit a nine or ten year old. “Oh my god, I bet you looked so good when you wore this!” Becky giggled, “Was your hair as long back then? Oh my god I bet the little kids thought you really were Rapunzel!” Becky began hopping up and down on her toes, “You have got to dress as Rapunzel for the school’s Halloween party! You are going to finish school here? Please say yes? If you go I’ll go.”
“Halloween is a long time away, but if you still want to by then I think I can force myself into a dress.” Kat answered, looking mischievously at Becky, namely her shoulder length red hair, “On one condition.”
“Sure anything!”
“You have got to dress as Ariel.”
“Uh, but…” Becky’s enthusiasm suddenly died and she looked down at her feet, “I can’t, Ariel’s pretty and I’m fat.”
“You’re not fat.”
“Yes I am.”
“OK so what if you’re not fat by then?”
“But I will be.”
“OK so how about this deal,” Kat said reaching up to hold her chin between her thumb and forefinger, “If you are still fat by Halloween, you don’t have to do it, buuuut, if you aren’t you have to dress up as a Disney princess with me.”
“Ok I guess,” Becky smiled weakly up at Kat.
“Girls, Pizza’s here!” They heard Deb shout from downstairs.
“Pizza,” Both girls said to each other in unison then turned and almost ran down to the kitchen.
Everyone sat around the kitchen counter on the stools that lined it and made some small talk while they ate. Kat was on her fourth slice when Becky looked at her and asked, “How can you eat like that and stay so skinny?”
“Exercise,” Kat said with a mouthful of pizza, While Kat’s metabolism did run much higher not just allowing but forcing her to eat larger quantities, she knew from experience that exercise was the key to staying healthy and losing weight. Swallowing what she had in her mouth Kat looked toward Deb, “Speaking of which, can I borrow the car tomorrow mom?”
“Why do you need the car?”
“Becky and I need to go shopping for swimsuits so we can use the pool,” Looking over at Becky’s mother, “If its ok with you I mean. I told Becky how mom works so much and it’s unsafe to swim alone, so I asked Becky if she could come over so we both could use the pool.”
“I guess that’s ok,” Barbra looked over at Becky who looked like she was ready to get down on her knees and beg, “But you’ll have to use your allowance to get the bathing suit.”
“Uh, I though since how Becky is doing me such a big favor with this, that I could pay for hers along with mine.”
“Yes you can take Becky shopping, but you can’t have the car, I’ll drop you two off at the mall. Oh and while you’re there you should pick up a new phone.”
“Why can’t I use the car?”
“I need to run into the office tomorrow for a bit.” Deb answered, “Oh and maybe pick up a new laptop if you can find a decent one there.”
“Good idea mom,” Kat grinned, “I can use it to find a car once we have Internet access.”
“Nothing flashy or expensive Hon,” Deb smiled at Kat.
“Actually I was thinking of a fixer-upper.”
“You like to work on cars dear?” Barbra looked shocked.
“Back in Germany, Kat was considered the motor pools mascot, she was always hanging out there and helping. She still won’t admit it but I think she had a crush on one of the mechanics back then.” Deb grinned evilly at Kat.
“WHAT!” Kat objected. Becky couldn’t stop herself from giggling.
Chapter 13
Kat was helping her mother clean up after Barbra and Becky had left to walk home. “It seems you have already made a friend.” Deb smiled over at Kat.
“Becky is very nice, and I get the feeling she doesn’t have any friends.” Kat cocked her head to the side as she looked at Deb, “She almost began to drool when she saw our pool, so I used that old water safety rule to talk her into swimming with me. She seems really self-conscious about her looks, thinks that little bit belly fat she has makes her fat and unattractive.”
“It’s a girl thing hon, we are all like that at least a little at her age.” Deb contended, “She was probably a late bloomer and was teased about it by the other kids in school, and she still sees the ugly duckling when she looks in the mirror.”
“I think she’s pretty.”
“She is, but I bet you noticed she had very little self-confidence.”
“You’d thought differently if you saw how she took command of those boxes of things in my room, most of that stuff is stowed away and it was mostly her doing, what little she let me do, she directed me to do exactly how she felt it should be done.”
“Did it bother you that she did that?”
“No, I just found it interesting how different she acted, I liked it. It’s not like I know what skirt to match up with what blouse, or which shoes. My whole closet is organized better than a Marines footlocker. Everything is organized by size and what it goes with and she explained her whole process as she did it.” Kat said proudly, “I hope she will help me with the stuff we bought today.”
“Wow, I wonder if she would mind doing the same for me.” Deb chuckled.
“By the way, where did all that stuff come from?”
“Second hand shops, thrift stores and places like that,” We thought it best that you had some old clothes. Some intentionally bought in sizes too small for you to make it appear you had outgrown them.”
“I knew they were going to do that, but a Disney princess costume for an 8 year old?”
“Oh you bought that!” Deb chuckled.
“I never bought that!”
“It was a costume you bought for one of your granddaughters, Matt was thoughtful enough to return it to you.” They both found themselves laughing at that.
Kat explained what had happened when Becky found the costume and about the deal he made with her.
“You do realize that losing weight for women is more difficult,” Deb explained.
"Erzähl keinen Scheiß" Kat grinned.
“What?”
“Didn’t you tell me that I should curb the cursing? And since I’m supposed to have lived in Germany for over half my new life, if I did curse shouldn’t it be in German?” Kat reasoned, “So I’m staying in character.”
“Oh so you’re saying women having more trouble losing weight is bull?”
“Yes, and I’ll prove it.” Kat vowed, “I’ll have Becky in an Ariel costume right alongside me even if I have to learn to sew and make it myself.”
“Just remember she’s not a green recruit and you’re not a drill instructor.”
“Yes mother.” Kat smiled at Deb, while wondering if she could find a way to use the bases obstacle course.
Chapter 14
“Thanks mom,” Kat said as she stepped out of the passenger side of her mother’s car. Becky quickly followed out the rear door. “Thanks Mrs. Marlete,” Becky said while closing the rear door.
“Call me when you’re done, and don’t forget, phone and laptop.” Deb said from inside the car.
“Yes mom, phone and laptop.”
“And no jeans!” Deb added.
“Yes ma’am.” Kat snapped to attention and gave her mother a crisp salute.
Once inside the mall the two girls found themselves on a mission. Kat to find a swimsuit that she could get Becky to wear and not feel ashamed of her body, and Becky to get Kat into the skimpiest suit she could talk her new best friend into wearing. After several stores Kat saw the perfect one for Becky to try on. It was called a miracle suit, and had some kind of material that acted like a girdle to flatten the stomach.
Kat had Becky almost in the dressing room to try it on when Becky saw the price tag and almost freaked out on Kat. “Do you see how much this costs!”
“No why?” Kat tried to play down the price that she had already seen.
“Its a hundred and fifty dollars!”
“So, try it on anyway, see how it fits, we can always look for something like it.”
Their discussion drew the attention of a sales lady nearby who walked over, “Can I help you girls with anything?”
“Yes my friend really likes this suit but doesn’t understand why it has such a high price compared to some of the other ones?” Becky glared at Kat for getting the sales lady involved. “And Becky is really worried about looking good in the one we buy.”
Taking the swimsuit from Becky the sales lady began her pitch, “This is what we call a miracle suit, it will make you look ten pounds lighter just by putting it on. It does cost a bit more, but that is due to the patented fabric that shapes and firms without bulky linings or girdles. If you are worried about a little bulge this is definitely the suit for you dear.” Becky’s eyes lit up and the thought of the suit doing what it claimed.
“So try it on already,” Kat grinned.
“But it cost so much.” Becky argued.
“So, if it does what it is supposed to do, I think it’s worth it.” Kat countered.
Becky took the suit back from the sales lady and went into the changing room. “Thank you,” Kat quietly told the sales lady. It didn’t take long before Becky stepped out wearing the suit, “I can’t believe how this pulls in my tummy.” Looking down as she ran her hand across her tummy.
“That looks wonderful on you dear,” The sales lady said.
“Yea, wow,” Kat was at a loss of words.
“The light blue goes great with your eyes,” The sales lady continued, “and your hair, you remind me of the little mermaid wearing that.” Becky blushed at hearing that.
“Sold!” Kat purred.
“What?” Becky protested, “I can’t let you spend this much money for one swimsuit.”
“Ok then I’ll buy you two of them!”
“What? NO!”
“It’s my money, if I want to spend it on my best friend I will,” Kat stuck her tongue out at Becky.
“Are you sure?” Becky gulped, “It really is allot of money.”
“Money does no one but the bankers any good sitting in the bank,” Kat chuckled.
“You do know my dad’s a banker right?”
“So?”
“OK you can buy it for me but only if I get the final say on the one we pick for you.”
“I’m not wearing something with only a string up my crack, so don’t even go there.” Kat warned.
“I promise,” Becky grinned, “no thongs.”
“Good because mom would kill us both if she came home to find me sporting a full moon out by the pool.” Both girls began giggling, “Go get dressed and well see what we can find for me.”
“I know the perfect place to find one for you,” Becky giggled.
***
“I’m not going in there!” Kat stopped abruptly when she saw where Becky was dragging her.
“Why not?”
“It’s Victoria’s Secrets!” Kat pleaded, “I’ve seen their ads and from what I saw Victoria don’t have too many secrets left!”
“Oh come on!” Becky grabbed Kat’s hand and pulled her long into the store.
Surrounded by all the lacy underwear, Kat felt like some kind of pervert in the store. She was startled when a sales lady came up, “Can I help you ladies find anything?” She asked.
“We’re looking at swimsuits,” Becky dug a folded page out of her purse, “I printed this off your website.”
The lady took the page, unfolding it and looked, “Yes we have this style in stock, what size are you dear?”
“Oh it’s not for me, it’s for my friend,” Becky motioned at Kat.
“This your first time in one of our stores sweetie?” The sales lady asked Kat.
“Uh, yea, I mean yes.”
“Don’t worry, I think all of us are a bit embarrassed the first time we imagine how sexy we would look in some of these things.”
Kat allowed the sales lady to lead her further into the store and found herself in a changing room holding a leopard print one piece suit to put on. Kat actually felt relieved that Becky hadn’t even tried to her to try on some of the more revealing two piece suits they had in stock.
Stepping out of the changing room Kat kept pulling at the back of the suit as it climbed uncomfortably high in between the cheeks of her butt. “I don’t like the way this fits.” Kat complained.
“I was afraid of that, although it does look great on you!” Becky tossed Kat a two piece suit, “Try this one on.” Kat couldn’t get back into the changing room fast enough to take off the suit that was giving her a constant wedgie.
Stepping back out in the black two piece bikini, “I have underwear that covers more than this!”
“May be, but look at yourself in the mirror!”
Kat turned to look in the full length mirror and found herself turning this way and that looking carefully at herself, “Holy crap!” she finally said, “I’ll cause car crashes if guys see me in this!”
“Well duh! You’re gorgeous silly, its perfect!” Becky excitedly said, “You have GOT to buy it!”
“At least this one isn’t giving me a constant Wedgie.”
“One of the reasons I had you try a one piece, they all do that to some extent. It’s even worse after they get wet.” Becky giggled.
“I think you just want me to look really hot, so the boys are drooling over me instead of you!”
“Curses, you have uncovered my evil plot before I got the chance for my villainous monologue!” Becky laughed.
Kat continued posing in the mirror looking at herself in the bikini. Realizing she liked how she looked in it even if she did think it was a bit skimpier than she had wanted. It did cover her butt better than the one piece had, honestly making her feel more dressed than that one too. Smiling over at Becky, “I think you’re right, I do have to buy this.”
After changing back into the jeans and tee shirt so they could leave, Kat spotted another bikini very similar to the one they had picked out but in a deep emerald green. “I think that would look so hot on you!” Becky’s encouragement was all Kat needed as she began looking for one in her size. Leaving the store with both bikini’s they began looking for a Kiosk that sold cell phones.
Not ever owning a cell phone Kat was glad she has Becky with her to pick one out. Between the two they finally decided on one of the many providers, picking the same one Becky used as much because it allowed unlimited talk and text with each other as it did with the choice of phones they carried. Kat was busy with the boy behind the counter filling out the paperwork when Becky interrupted, “I’ll be right back.”
“Where you going?” Kat looked up from the paper she was filing out.
Becky pointed across the hall to a drug store, “I don’t know about you, but if we’re going to be spending allot of time in the sun, I’ll need sunblock.”
Chapter 15
Coming out of the drugstore Becky almost ran into a large boy.
“Hey watch where you’re going!” The boy yelled at her. Becky cringed, taking a step back when she heard the voice of Doug Sempfer, middle linebacker on their school’s football team who also enjoyed tormenting Becky every chance he got. “Well if it isn’t Becky,” the boy chuckled looking her up and down as if she were a piece of meat, “Looks like the titty fairy finally paid you a visit too!” He reached up and grabbed her breast.
“Doug that is going too far!” Konner shouted, “Get you god damn hands off of her!”
“Look who finally grew a pair guys!” Doug laughed. “Does Konner got a girl friend?” The other two boys grinned at Konner who was now blushing beet red.
“You, you should leave her alone,” Konner spoke much quieter.
Grinning at the boy who was obviously larger than him, Doug laughed, “You going to make me?”
“No but I will!” Kat said stepping up beside Doug grabbing his outstretched arm by the wrist then twisting it around behind his back while sweeping his leg out from under him all in one fluid motion. Doug landed face first on the floor, with Kat’s knee firmly planted in the small of his back. Becky stood in shock at how quickly Kat had taken the much larger boy.
Leaning forward with her face close to Doug’s ear, Kat spoke just loud enough for everyone close to hear, “You ever lay a hand on her again, I will fucking remove it!” Then louder, “Do I make myself perfectly clear!”
“Get this bitch off of me!” Doug shouted to his friends.
Kat felt someone grab her by the hair and yank her hard backwards, rather than resisting she let the momentum carry her backwards while raising her hands up above her head preforming a backwards somersault. When her hands found the floor, she kicked her feet up and back, coming up into a handstand the momentum carrying her over and her knees hit the boy’s shoulders that had grabbed her one on each side. Crossing her feet, she pinned his neck between her legs. Immediately dropping one hand and pushing against the floor with the other, Kat twisted her body as she dropped to the floor, pulling the boy over her, transferring the momentum to his body, throwing him sideways into the other boy who had stepped forward to aid their asshole friend. With an unnatural grace Kat continued to roll over her shoulder to land crouching on her feet.
Before the three boys could collect themselves off the floor, mall security arrived. While they may not have been real cops, the Tasers each held stopped the boys from trying anything further.
“That crazy bitch broke my arm!” Doug shouted cradling his arm with his other hand.
"Sei Froh, das du deinen Arm noch benutzen kannst du verdammtes Arschloch!" Kat hissed.
“Ok I want all of you to follow us,” The other mall cop ordered. Kat walked over to the Kiosk to get her bags where she had left them with the boy behind the counter.
“Where do you think you’re going?” The mall cop demanded.
“To grab the things I bought before that jack ass tried groping my friend!” Kat spat back over her shoulder as she reached the Kiosk. The boy behind the counter reached down for the two bags, then opened the bag with their company log on it and shoved the Victoria’s secret bag inside, before bringing it up and giving it to Kat.
“I put the one bag inside ours, figured you didn’t need to give those assholes anything to talk about.”
“Thanks,” Kat smiled at the boy,
“That was some serious kung fu shit you did,” the boy whispered to Kat.
“My ninja outfit is at the cleaners.” Kat giggled.
“I’d love to learn how to do that.” The boy smiled at Kat.
“Maybe we can get together and I can show you some simple take downs,” Kat smiled meeting the boy’s eyes.
“Young lady stop flirting and get a move on!” The mall cop shouted.
Kat’s face turned bright red when she realized that it must have looked like she was doing exactly that with the boy. Spinning around she began to walk slowly back to the group.
“I’m Will by the way,” The boy said loud enough for her to hear.
“Kat,” Kat twisted around to look back at Will as she continued walking.
Kat and Becky walked side by side behind the two mall cops and the group of boys as they were led to the mall’s security office. “I need to call my mom,” Kat whispered to Becky.
“What’s the number,” Becky asked as she dug her phone out of her purse, “I’ll text her.”
Kat recited the number to Becky who fervently swiped her finger around on the touch screen. *This is Becky, Kat and I was attacked by some boys, Kat says need help asap.*
Before she could put her phone away it dinged an incoming message, *Please tell me she didn’t kill anyone?* Becky showed the message to Kat before answering. Becky’s phone dinged again,*Help on its way, DO NOT SAY ANYTHING!* Becky showed Kat the last message.
“Crap!” Kat whispered to Becky, “I’m in trouble.”
“But they attacked us,” She whispered back. Before they reached the security office two uniformed police officers had joined the group and followed them into the small office. Kat and Becky were led off and into a room while the group of boys were led into another.
Sitting alone in the small room Becky looked over at Kat, “What happens now?”
“They let us sit and stew for a while, letting us worry and talk to each other while they listen to see if we say anything incriminating while we think we are alone.”
“You been watching too much TV,” Becky giggled nervously.
“It’s interrogation 101,” Kat smiled, “Remember I grew up on an Army base.”
“So what do we do?”
“We wait.” Kat sat patiently with her hands in her lap, as if she didn’t have a care in the world while Becky fidgeted nervously.
The two had not sat for more than fifteen minutes when the door flew open, and Kat’s mother rushed in wrapping both girls up in her arms, “Are you two alright?”
Through the open door they could hear arguing.
“I’m fine mom,” Kat stated.
“What about you hon?” Deb looked at Becky.
“I’m, I’m okay,” Becky sniffed back a tear, “Kat stopped them.”
Glaring at Kat, “Thank god all you did was bruise their egos!” Her features softened and became a smile, “But I can’t be mad at you for defending your friend. Let’s get you both out of this place.” Deb stood and led the two girls out of the interrogation room.
“I don’t care what this paper says, this isn’t Army jurisdiction!” One of the Mall officers yelled up at an Army officer.
“That paper states otherwise, so you will hand over all video surveillance pertaining to this incident or these MPs will remove you while we retrieve it. You will also be charged with obstructing an ongoing military investigation!” Becky’s eye grew wide when she saw two Army officers and six MPs in the outer office.
“I’d do as the Major asks,” One of the police officers recommended, “Papers are legit.”
“Major,” Deb interrupted, “May the girls and I leave now?”
“Yes Doctor, they are free to go.” Matt glared at the security officer waiting on him to say anything. The MPs stepped aside clearing the door as Deb led the girls out of the security office.
“Wait, he has our bags!” Becky pointed at the security officer.
“Do you have property that belongs to these girls?” Matt questioned.
“It was put into evidence.”
“Give those girls their property now.”
“But we haven’t had time to determine if those items were paid for.” The guard explained, “For all we know those boys could have caught them shoplifting.”
“That is the last straw!” Matt’s voice boomed, “I want this piece of shit behind bars for obstructing a military investigation.” Two MPs moved forward each grabbing an arm and began dragging the man out of the office. Looking at the two remaining security guards, “Who does that leave in charge here?”
“That would be me sir.” A younger guard gulped, “Jim get those videos the man wants, He’ll want the backups too! I’ll get those bags that belong to the girls.” The guard turned around and began fumbling with a large set of keys and unlocked a door behind their desk. Behind the door appeared to be a closet where he reached in and brought out two plastic shopping bags that he placed on the counter. Kat and Becky quickly snatched their bags off the counter and headed toward the door with Deb.
“Captain, If you would take over here, I’ll see that these ladies make it to their car unmolested,” Matt looked over to his partner Jake.
“Yes sir Major.” Jake smiled.
“So,” the police officer who had seemed to take the lead in this looked at Jake, “Will there be any charges?”
“No.” Jake grinned at the officer, “But would you like to help me put the fear of god in those wanna be hoodlums?”
“Hell, I’d pay just to watch!” The officer laughed.
“OK first the boy whose only involvement was knowing those three other creeps.”
Chapter 16
Konner had no idea how long he had been waiting when he saw the door begin to open in the small room the security guards had told him to wait in. Some time ago when he had begun to think they had forgotten about him, Konner had got up and tried the door but found it locked form the outside so he sat back down and waited. It was all Doug’s fault, why did he have to be such as ass toward Becky. She may not have been cheerleader pretty, but she was far from ugly. Konner thought she was really damn cute.
“Konner McKay?” An Army officer spoke as he walked in, followed by a cop who closed the door behind them.
“Yes, yes sir,” Konner stood up.
“We’ve watched the surveillance video of what happened, you are not in any trouble since it is evident you were trying to stop the boy from molesting the girl.”
“I’m sorry sir,” Konner sighed, relieved that they knew he had tried to stop Doug, “I, I should have done more, girls especially ones as pretty as Becky don’t deserve to be treated like that.”
“Well son,” Jake began, “The only thing you may have done differently was not to shout so loud at him.”
“What?” Konner was really confused at what the man was saying.
“When you shouted at the other boy, it drew Kathleen’s attention. Becky is the first real friend Kathleen has had since she escaped.”
“Escaped?” Konner’s eyes went wide, “From what, where? Was she in prison or something?”
“I’m not supposed to tell anyone this, but you seem like a good boy with a good head on your shoulders.” Jake began reeling the boy in, “If I tell you this you have to swear not to tell another soul.” Konner nodded. “Son you must say the words, this is eyes only top secret, not one word to anyone!”
“I swear I won’t say a word.”
“Her father was a top level assassin for the Chinese government,” Konner’s eyes widened further and his jaw dropped, “He fell in love with an America woman and tried to defect but they were caught before they could get out of China. Our government was able to negotiate the release of her mother, but not before she gave birth to Kathleen. Even though citizenship follows the mother in all international law, they refused to let her go.
This was so they could use the baby girl as leverage against her father to make sure he did as he was told.” Jake saw how Konner was glued to his every word. “Over the years her father taught her everything he knew about fighting, kung fu, ju jestu, karate, tie boxing, you name it he had a black belt in it.”
“Shit, he sounds like a friggn Ninja?” Konner exclaimed.
“Shhh,” Jake put his finger to his lips then glanced around, “Ninjas don’t exist anymore.” Jake winked, “And we aren’t going to tell anyone any different are we?”
“No…not me.” Konner shivered.
“Several months ago after careful planning, Kathleen’s father created a diversion and she was able to escape to the US and was reunited with her mother.”
“So she is like in witness protection or something?”
“Something like that, but you can’t tell a soul. If they find out where she is they will come after her.”
“You can count on me sir.” Konner stood straight with his chest out.
“Good boy, now get out of here.” The cop opened the door so Konner could leave. The cop watched through the door until he saw the boy was back out in the mall proper. “Holy shit! I had a hard time keeping a straight face, you ever thought about becoming a writer, that bullshit you fed the kid would be a best seller!”
You ain’t seen nothing yet,” Jake grinned, let’s see how the other three like the raised by badgers story.”
Chapter 17
“So Major now?” Kat grinned up at Matt.
“Yes ma’am, as of last week.” Matt smiled.
“You know him?” Becky leaned close to Kat as they walked.
“He works with my mom.” Kat whispered back.
“Speaking of that,” Matt stopped and turned to Kat, “Karen knows everything. Figured she would weasel it out of one of us eventually anyway”
Kat stopped abruptly at the news, “She knows?”
“Who’s Karen?” Becky asked.
“My um, sister,” Kat stated.
“You have a sister?” Becky’s eyes lit up.
“Actually she has several of them and some brothers, half brothers and sister. Kat shares her father with them, but they have a different mother.” Matt stated, “I’m married to Kat’s older sister Karen.”
“Matt found out about Kat and I when he was in Germany.”
“So you and Kat’s dad… When he was married?” Becky gasped.
“No, no nothing like that, John’s wife had died a couple years before I met John, Kat’s father.” Deb explained, “I fell madly in love with Kat’s father, then he got shipped off to the war and it became hard to keep in touch. Well when I found out I was pregnant, I knew he would feel obligated to marry me, I couldn’t do that to him. So I never told him about Kat until I heard he was dying.”
“Wow Kat, hanging around you is better than watching those soaps my mom watches!” Becky giggled.
“So your father set aside an equal child's portion of his estate for you, or I should say Karen did.”
“But dad already gave me money?” Kat stayed in character.
“Karen insisted when she found out, and she’s the only person I ever seen that could out stubborn the old man.” Matt grinned, “She’s also expecting a phone call and an invite for this weekend to welcome the sister she never knew she had into the family.”
They walked in silence the rest of the way to the car. Matt held the door for Becky to get in the back, then did the same for Kat then leaned down to the window and said, “From the video it looks like your self-control is getting allot better.” Thinking how hot headed the old man used to be. John wouldn’t have through twice about breaking both of the guy’s arms for stunt like that.
“I managed not to rip his arm off,” Kat stuck her tongue out at Matt. Matt chuckled as he stood and watched the car drive off.
Becky asked a bit timidly from the back seat, “Could you really have ripped his arm off?”
“I really wanted to when I saw what he did to you!”
“You did?”
“Damn right I did, You’re my friend and guys should never treat a woman that way!” Kat pronounced, “Any guy that does deserve his ass relocated above his shoulder blades!”
“I still can’t believe it, you took out those three huge guys like they were nothing.”
“I think mom started me in martial arts classes before I could walk,” Kat smiled at her mother.
Deb nodded, “Pretty close, I think you began them when you were four.” Smiling over at Kat, “You were in love with the Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles back then.” Kat frowned at her mother while Becky snickered. Changing the subject, “So did you girls find some bathing suits you liked?”
“Kat spent too much on mine,” Becky protested.
“Did not, I spent more on mine.” Kat added.
“How much you enjoy the thing you buy is much more important than how much it costs.” Deb smiled, “With that said, do you like the bathing suits you bought?”
“Ohmygod! I can’t believe how mine makes me look!” Becky blurted out before she realized it.
“From that reaction I would say that it was worth every penny!” Deb chuckled, What about yours Kat?”
“I’ll show them to you later,” Kat mumbled and looked away from her mother.
“Why is that hon?”
From the back seat Becky began giggling, “She bought a bikini!”
“I wanted a one piece but the ones that I liked gave me a terrible case of wedgie when I tried them on.”
“It isn’t risqué is it?”
“No, just a bit more revealing that I was ready for.” Kat conceded, “But better than the ones that fit so tight in my crotch and butt that it left nothing to the imagination.”
“OK so let me see what you got.” Deb said. When Kat pulled the Victoria’s secrets bag from within the other Deb’s eyebrow shot up, “Victoria’s Secrets? Maybe you are starting to outgrown being a tomboy after all.” Deb chuckled when she saw Kat blushing.
Pulling the two bikini’s out of the bag Kat held them up for Deb to see. “I thought you said they were revealing? Those are almost tame compared to what some women wear as bathing suits now. But why two hon?”
Becky got me to try on the black one and we both loved how I looked in it so I had to get it, and the green one, well it’s,” Kat lowered her voice to almost a whisper, “it’s pretty.”
“Nothing wrong with wanting pretty things honey,” Deb smiled, “When we get home you two can put those on and hit the pool, I may even dig up my old bathing suit and join you.”
71 year old John Dodge, retired military, now sits in a nursing home, his body riddled with cancer, waiting on the grim reaper to come for him when he is given another option.
Chapter 18
Kat had spotted the old out building a few days after they had moved into the new house. At first Deb had not liked the idea of Kat messing around with a work shop, it being not at all something most girls would be interested in, but did listen to Kat’s arguments and saw that Kat made several valid points, and agreed that Kat could start restoring the old building to suit her tinkering need as long as no explosives ever became involved.
Being one of the few who knew of Kat’s true past Deb was adamant about on this part of the agreement, Kat knew that playing around with that stuff like she had before the change was wrong, hell she knew it was wrong back when she did it when she was still John but she didn’t care what others thought then. Now the thought of something like Becky’s parents not allowing Becky to come over because Kat was doing something like that was enough deterrent to keep Kat on the straight and narrow.
Kat had been working on the old barn in her spare time for almost two weeks now, although it took her, with some help from Becky, almost a week to clear and repair the old dirt path back to it. Several trips to the rock quarry later in the old beat up Ford 4x4 she had bought and the old road was actually passable without using the four wheel drive anymore. A good road in was something Kat needed since she planned on having a company come in and pour a concrete floor as soon as she had it cleaned out, Which Kat realized was going to take much longer than she had first thought. The original dirt floor of the barn was buried in some places three feet deep in a rich compost of old manure and straw.
The first two pick up loads she shoveled into the truck and back out of the truck by hand. While this was nothing with her genetically enhanced strength, it was still time consuming. A small tractor with a front scoop was what she needed, but she couldn’t justify the cost of one for this single project no matter how much time it would save. Kat was able to speed up the dumping process though, by building a liner for the back of her truck out of heavy 3/4th inch plywood that sat on rollers in the back of the truck. Once she had the truck loaded and taken to her dump site, Kat could open the tail gate, then back up and slam on the brakes. The rollers allowed the insert to slide out of the back of the truck, Two heavy cargo straps with one end attached to the truck and one end attached to the insert kept it from sliding all the way out of the truck, making the home made bed liner essentially a dump bed.
Kat was busy shoveling out the barn when Becky came walking in past the truck, “Figured I would find you in here,” Becky giggled.
“This won’t get done by its self.” Kat snorted.
“Dad was going to take me car shopping, I was hoping you’d come too.”
“Oh? And you have no ulterior motives in this?”
“Well even your mom said you really need to find something other than this old thing to drive to school.”
“What’s wrong with my truck?”
“Is that what this thing is called?” Becky joked, “You can’t even tell what color it is supposed to be!”
“It’s brown with some primer!” Kat stuck out her tongue.
Becky laughed, “If someone asked me what color it was, I’d say it was junkyard!”
“Hey!”
“That’s it!” Becky bounced off her heels several times, “The new name for your truck!”
“It’s not that bad!”
“Yes it is, and I’ll make it official too!” Becky turned to the truck as she slammed the palm of her hand hard against the side of the truck bed, some rust fell out on top of the rear tire, “I christen thee, ‘Junkyard’” Looking down at the stuff that had fallen Becky began giggling again.
Using her foot to plant the business end of the shovel in the compost, Kat walked over to the truck and gently patted the side of the bed, “It’s ok Junkyard, I still love you.” Both girls then burst out in a fit of giggles.
“So will you come?”
“Of course I will Bek, it’s not every day I get to help my best friend pick out her first car!” Kat Smiled.
“Cool!” Becky began running back toward Kat’s house, the hem of the multi-hued sundress she wore flapping in the breeze she created as she ran, “Dad’s waiting, and we still have to get you cleaned up!”
“Can’t I just go like this?” Kat asked as she ran to catch up.
“NO!” Becky shouted back, “I don’t want people to think my best friend is some kind of yucky tomboy!”
“But I am a tomboy!” Kat tried to argue.
Without missing a beat Becky threw the back door open and ran in though the kitchen with Kat only a few steps behind. “Hi Mrs. Marlete!” Becky shouted as she crossed the living room and bounded up the stairs.
“Going shopping with Becky!” Kat hollered back behind her as she ran up the stairs.
Barely beating Kat to her room, Becky stopped inside the door, “Brush out your hair, I’ll pick out something for you to change into.” Becky ordered as she walked over and opened the door to Kat’s closet.
Kat had managed to get the rubber bands out of pony tail she had put her hair into that morning and was running a brush through it when Becky emerged from the closet with a green peasant style sundress that had a wide floral pattern around the neck opening, the hem of the dress and the opening of the half sleeves, “Here throw this on so I can do your hair.”
Kat’s eyes went wide seeing the dress that Becky expected her to put on, “Uh, can’t I just put on a clean pair of jeans and a tee shirt?”
“You can’t wear jeans,” Becky’s eyes opened wide as if shocked by Kat’s statement.
“Why not?”
“Because I’m wearing a dress!”
“What’s that got to do with anything?” Kat argued.
“Just think of it as a girl’s rule,” Becky grinned. “We have to dress in a similar fashion.”
“I never got that rule book!” Kat giggled.
“Please?” Becky held out her lower lip while at the same time holding the dress out to Kat, “I’ve never seen you in a dress.”
“There’s a reason for that,” Kat deadpanned.
Sighing, Kat nodded then stood up and pulled her tee shirt off. Becky began to grin as she watched Kat use her toe to catch the back of the tennis shoes and remove them before undoing the fly of her jeans and let them drop to the floor.
Becky held the dress up so Kat could slip it on, then as Kat began positioning the dress, Becky pulled Kat’s hair out of it and began to work on Kat’s excessively long hair. “Igor, the hairbrush!” Becky held her hand out in front of Kat.
“Yes-ss master,” Kat hissed an imitated lisp while she picked the brush up from where she had sat it down on the vanity in front of her.
Five minutes later Becky had Kat’s hair up in pony tail that began high up at the crown of her head. She bound it with a wide green ribbon that she had wrapped tight against Kat’s scalp which made the base of her pony tail stick up and away from Kat’s head with the ribbon wound around her hair for the first three to four inches.
Stretching around Becky grabbed a pair of white sandal wedges she had brought out with the dress and dropped them in Kat’s lap after pushing her back down into the seat in front of Kat’s vanity, “Put these on while I finish your hair.”
Sitting back up after putting on the sandals Kat saw her reflection. “Wow Becky!”
“What?”
“My hair, it looks amazing this way.” Kat normally braided her hair into one single long braid or used several hair ties or rubber bands to hold it all together out of the way. The ribbon wrapped so tight around the base of the pony tail make it look like her hair almost cascaded out of the ribbon tube. Giggling Kat moved her head from side to side watching how her hair followed her movements, “It reminds me of a water fountain.”
“I thought you would like it,” Becky beamed, “Ok let’s go.”
Leaving Kat’s room at a more leisurely pace than they had entered Kat’s mom got a good look at the two girls, “Your hair looks great hon.”
“Thanks mom, it was all Becky’s doing though.”
“Well you should get her to show you how she did it, it is a wonderful look for you.”
“I can’t show her all my secrets, if I did she may not need me anymore!” Becky snickered.
“Never happen girlfriend, you’re stuck with me,” Kat giggled.
“So what are you two going shopping for?” Deb asked, then added, “You’re not taking that old truck are you?”
“No Mrs. M, my dad’s driving us. He’s going to help me pick out a car.”
“Ahh, good idea to take our little grease monkey with you.” Deb grinned.
“Well, she does know more about cars than daddy,” Becky admitted dropping her gaze shyly.
Meanwhile Kat had cupped her hands together behind her back and began swaying back and forth like a little school girl. “What? Sweet little innocent me messing around with cars? Why, why I might get my pretty dress dirty mommy!” Kat began to feign sniffling.
“You sweet?” Becky exclaimed.
“Or innocent!” Deb chortled.
“You guys are hurting my feelings,” Kat stuck out her lower lip. Deb picked up her cell phone and took a picture of Kat as she did that.
“Did you just take my picture?”
“It was a Kodak moment hon,” Deb face glowed with a ‘cat that ate the canary look’, Changing the subject, “You should look for something you want too, you can’t be climbing in and out of that truck in skirts and dresses, you’ll be giving the boys free looks.”
“Yes mom,” Kat turned to open the front door, waving Becky through first before exiting, “You think we can get your dad to stop at a Lamborghini dealer while we’re out?” Kat closed the door before the pillow her mother threw could reach her.
,Strong>Chapter 19
“I’m ready to go daddy!” Becky shouted as she walked through the front door into their living room. Her father was reclined back in his easy chair reading a newspaper when the two girls walked in.
“I thought your mother said you were out cleaning that old barn when I called?” Barbra questioned Kat’s appearance from where she sat on the divan.
“I was.” Kat giggled, “It doesn’t take long to change when Becky’s throwing clothes at me from my closet.”
“Well you look lovely dear, I like what you have done with your hair.” Becky’s mom complimented Kat.
“Becky did my hair while I got dressed.”
“Well your father thought it would take allot longer to get ready is all. Didn’t you dear?”
Looking over at the two girls, his own child bouncing with excitement, “I guess I can finish this article later,” folding the paper neatly as he got up from the easy chair.
Gerry Adams, Becky’s father was not the athletic type, a banker by trade he had very little time to worry about his physique and had grown a spare tire that threatened to grow larger with each passing year. His black hair, kept short and business-like along with a full beard that he kept trimmed very short. His beard had been the first to show signs of his aging, first peppered with gray. When the gray began to get patchy he had almost shaved it off, but thought the gray actually made him feel more distinguished. Now his beard was mostly gray peppered with a little black that matched the hair on his scalp. “Alright girls, “He chuckled, “Let’s get this over with.”
Out in the garage, Becky’s father hit the button on the garage door opener as he stepped into the garage. Kat opened the driver’s side rear door of the Blue Ford Taurus Becky’s father drove, then reached up over her shoulder and pulled her long hair over her shoulder to her front before sitting down and sliding into the car. Becky skipped around the car and climbed into the rear seat from the opposite side. Climbing into the driver’s seat, Gerry started the car, then looked into the rear view mirror, first checking to see if both girls had put on their seat belts, which he saw that they had, then he backed out of the garage.
“So Kathleen are you thinking about getting rid of that eye sore and getting a real vehicle?” Gerry asked as he drove.
“What? Oh no I couldn’t part with my truck, not now that Becky christened it with a name and all,” Kat giggled. “That and I need it to work on the barn, but I do agree with mom, I need something that I can get in and out of a little easier.”
“Kat told her mom, she was going to buy a Lamborghini,” Becky giggled.
Gerry’s eyes grew at the thought of how much one of those cost, not that the girl and her mother couldn’t afford one, Gerry was their banker so he knew they could, “I hope you were joking Kathleen! You realize you could buy a small fleet of sedans for the cost of one of those.”
“Yes sir,” Kat grinned, “Mom knew I was joking, I like American built cars, I know how they tick.”
Gerry nodded in approval of what the girl said, “Nothing against imports mind you, but they don’t do as much to keep our own economy going as buying something that is built here.”
Kat nodded, “So are you taking us to the Ford dealership?”
“Yes, did you want to go somewhere else?”
“No, I just figured since both of your cars are Fords that is where you do business.”
“Yes, the local Ford dealership is a customer of our bank, going somewhere else would feel traitorous. That and I do play golf with the owner,” Gerry chuckled, “Last Sunday we talked about what Becky could afford and he told me they have a few vehicles in her price range.”
“Daddy said if I saved my money he would match whatever I had when it came time to buy a car.”
“Barbra and I believe parents should teach their children the value of a dollar. Too many kids seem to grow up thinking money grows on trees.”
Kat wondered if Becky’s father was directing that last comment toward her and how she has been going through her money lately. If he only knew the truth, how she had scrimped and saved, then worked her tail off to get what she and her children now had. But she could see how it must have looked to him, a teenage girl with more money in the bank than most people earn in a lifetime.
Thinking he may have got his point across Gerry decided to change the subject, “So Kathleen are you ready to start school?”
“Mom says I have to take placement exams first, I think she has them scheduled for a couple of weeks before schools starts.”
“Well, it’s right around the corner, what five weeks left of your girl’s summer vacation?”
“You want me to help you cram for the tests?” Becky volunteered.
“No, I should do fine, but thanks.” Kat thought she had earned an engineering degree for god’s sake, how hard could simple high school placement tests be?
Chapter 20
“You’re not serious are you?” Kat rolled her eyes, standing there as Becky peered in through the windows of the Ford Focus they had stopped in front of for a second time. Both girls had been walking up and down the rows of used cars at the Ford dealer Becky’s father had brought them to for close to half an hour.
“I love the color and I can afford it,” Becky couldn’t stop smiling.
“The color is the worst part!” Kat giggled.
“What’s wrong with the color?”
“It’s the same color as a life raft,” Kat frowned.
“No it isn’t!” Becky glared at Kat.
“Are you kidding?” Kat giggled, “That color screams rescue me!”
“I would think that adds a touch more safety.” Becky’s father, along with one of the salesmen, walked up behind the two girls, “People would definitely not be able to say they didn’t see you.”
Becky turned to her father, “Can I try it?” Becky’s father nodded to the salesman, who walked over and unlocked a small metal box that was rolled up in the driver’s window, producing a set of keys that he handed to Becky.
The salesman then walked around to the rear of the car placing a magnetic license plate on it before walking around to the passenger side. “Aren’t you coming with Mr. Adams?” He looked over to Becky’s father.
“No, I trust you sell a reliable car to my daughter,” Mr. Adams smiled. “I’ll go on inside and wait for your return.”
“Drive around behind the building,” Kat instructed while climbing into the rear seat behind Becky. “Back into the gravel so we can find out of this has any rattles or anything they need to fix before you buy it.”
Turning around to look at Kat over his shoulder the salesman smiled, “All our preowned cars go through a rigorous thirty seven point inspection by our own factory certified technicians.”
“Is one of those thirty seven points, taking it down a bumpy road to check for squeaks and rattles?” Kat smirked.
As if to prove his point the salesman pointed toward the rear of the lot, “Head back toward that row of cars at the fence. You’ll find the lot is roughest back there.”
Once back near the rear fence, the salesman directed Becky to turn to their right. Kat began eying the cars backed up along the fence, “What are all these back here?”
Noticing what Kat was looking at, “These are all ones that will go to the auction. Trade-ins we have gotten that the repairs they would need to be brought up to our standards would cost more than the car is worth.”
“Is that a super coup?” Kat pointed toward a white two door coup as they passed where it sat along the fence.
“Yes, we took that in last week in our push it in, drag it in sale that we had.”
Kat thought of the multiple discussions her and her mother had over the past few weeks about Kat finding a car for herself so that she did not have to use her old truck for her main transportation. Kat thought that while a Thunderbird SC is not what she would consider a rare car, it was one that you did not see every day and they only made them for a couple of years before doing away with that model. “Becky when we get back I want to come back and look that car over.”
“I don’t think a young lady such as yourself would be interested in that one.” The salesman suggested, “It has some major engine and transmission problems.”
Becky giggled, “You don’t know Kat very well.”
“Mom, we’re home!” Kat shouted as she and Becky walked into the front door.
Deb looked over at Becky as she came walking down the hallway into the living room, “So did you find a car you liked Becky?”
It’s right outside,’ Becky beamed, “Want to see it?”
“Sure,” Deb smiled walking across the room toward the girls.
“Uh mom,” Kat grinned, “You’ll want to put on some sunglasses to protect your eyes.”
Becky playfully slapped Kat on the arm, “Stop making fun of my new car!”
“I’m not making fun of it,” Kat giggled. “I just want to make sure the color doesn’t blind my mom.”
“At least I drove my new car home,” Becky grinned, “Kat bought one that they have to bring up with their tow truck.”
Before her mother could comment, “It’s a project car mom, and you did tell me to find something other than my truck to drive all the time.”
Deb shook her head, “If this car doesn’t run yet, make sure they deliver it to the barn.”
“Yes ma’am,” Kat grinned. “Just wait till I’m finished with it mom, you’ll be wanting to borrow my car.”
“Now that would be a nice change,” Deb deadpanned. “Oh by the way, Karen called while you were gone, they are going to drive over with the kids and spend the weekend.”
Chapter 21
“Would you hold still!” Becky tugged at Kat’s hair trying to make her stop fidgeting.
“Sorry Becky, I’m nervous.”
“Do you think your sister would go out of her way to come up here just to yell or something?”
“Yes!” Kat answered, “You don’t know Karen.”
“Neither do you!” Becky stuck her tongue out at the mirror that sat above the vanity in Kat’s room so Kat would see it.
“So why can’t I just wear my hair in a normal braid or pony tail?”
“Because I want you to make a good impression on them,” Becky grinned, “That and I have wanted to try this on your hair ever since I watched the you-tube video on how to do it.”
“You learned this on you tube?” Kat explained, “Isn’t that like saying, hey I saw this on a cartoon once but I think I can make it work!”
“It’s not rocket science silly.”
“That’s what the coyote said right before the trap he set for the road runner blew up in his face!”
“Oh poo!” Becky slapped Kat in the arm with the hair brush she was using. A few minutes later Becky proclaimed, “Ok that’s done, now for the flowers.”
“What flowers?” Kat twisted around and pointed her finger at her best friend, “Don’t even think about it! I am not putting flowers in my hair.”
“It’s only a few and they are small,” Becky pleaded, “and it looks so cute in the video!” Becky reached over and pulled out a clear plastic bag that was filled with various color silk flowers.
Kat jumped from the chair and ran out the door of her room giggling, “NO WAY!”
Becky followed, running after her, “Aw come on Kat, please?”
Kat raced around the upstairs landing and down the steps, with Becky in close pursuit. In the living room Kat turned and ran into the kitchen, totally ignorant of all the people standing in the living room. “Come on Kat its only flowers, they aren’t even real ones!” everyone in the living room heard Becky shout as she followed Kat.
Deb snorted trying not to laugh, the older of the two teen girls looked at the younger and pipped, “wow deja-vu!” Their mother, Karen, began roaring in laughter. With that everyone joined in laughing except the youngest, who felt sorry for the girl knowing how hard it was to keep her older sister from doing things exactly like that to her.
“Oh my god this is going to be so much fun!” Karen said after she managed to stop laughing. “May I?” Karen grinned at Deb.
“Be my guest.”
Karen walked through into the kitchen and out the back door into the yard where she spotted the two girls chasing each other around the pool. Everyone else followed her out onto the patio, “Kathleen Elizabeth Marlete front and center!” Karen shouted like a drill instructor.
“Oh shit!” Kat hissed, stopping so fast that Becky ran into her.
“Is that your sister?”
“Yep.”
“She sounds pissed.”
“Yep, we better get over there.” Kat and Becky walked slowly back as if walking to their own funeral, around to the patio where everyone stood.
The younger teen leaned over to her sister, “Look at her hair, she reminds me of Rapunzel.”
“Every girl with long hair reminds you of Rapunzel. Next thing you’ll tell me is the other one looks like Ariel because she has red hair.” Her sister deadpanned.
“Wow you’re right she does look like Ariel.”
“Oh god,” Her older sister groaned under her breath.
Karen looked both girls over once they finally got to her and stopped, Kat though she could hear crickets chirping as Karen silently walked a full circle around the two girls before stopping back in front of them. “So you’re my sister’s friend Becky?” Karen looked at Becky.
“Yes ma’am.”
“So you must be Kathleen?” Karen said with her best poker face.
“Ya, I mean yes ma’am.” Kat whispered.
Karen stepped up to Kat wrapped her arms around her in a hug and shouted, “Welcome to the family sis!”
The two teens that had come with their parents started giggling. “Man that was hard keeping a straight face, knowing mom was gonna do that to you Kat!” the youngest continued giggling, “I’m Emily!” the youngest waved at Becky.
“Hi Emily,” Becky smiled.
Walking over the older of the girls gave Becky a hug then stepped back, “Hi I’m Susan, Kathleen’s niece.”
“I’m sorry if I scared you Becky, but I couldn’t resist, it was something our father did to us kids when we did something wrong.”
“But she didn’t do anything?” Becky defended her friend.
“No, she hasn’t,” Karen confessed, “Maybe it’s a little revenge since she never had our father around to do that to her?’
“You, you’re not mad at me?” Kat was almost in tears.
“Heaven’s no!” Karen declared, “You can’t imagine how happy I am right now.” A tear rolled down Karen’s cheek.
“Wow mom, you’re acting like you just found your long lost sister or something!” Emily chortled, “Oh wait you did just find your long lost sister!”
“Emily is kind of a smart ass when she thinks she can get away with it,” Susan said holding out her hand to Becky, “Can I help you with those?” looking at the bag of synthetic flowers Becky was still holding, “We can rush her while mom has her pinned.” Becky ginned and held out the bag as the two girls stepped behind Kat.
“Aunt Kat, run, it’s a sneak attack, they’re trying to out flank you!” Emily giggled.
“Wanna be next squirt?” Susan glared at her younger sister.
“Hey what are you doing!” Kat tried to looks behind her and Karen and she released the hug. “I said no flowers!”
“Kat stop being such a drama queen,” Karen looked into Kat’s eyes, “a few flowers in your hair isn’t going to kill you.”
Kat stood with an indignant look on her face as the two girls finished lacing flowers into her braid. “There done!” Becky said.
“Turn around so we can see Kat,” Deb asked. Kat turned around so her mother and Karen could see what they had done.
“Oh my, Kat you look simply beautiful!” Deb said, “Becky you have outdone yourself this time.” Becky glowed with exuberance hearing the praise from Kat’s mother.
“If no one minds, I would really like to sit down with my sister in private for a few minutes?” Karen queried, “And while we’re having our sister talk, girls help your father get the things we brought for the cookout so he can get the grill fired up.”
“Would you like to see my room?” Kat looked at Karen.
“That would be perfect, let’s go sister.”
Karen followed Kat into her room and shut the door behind them. Following Kat over the bed Karen sat down beside her and stared into her eyes for a moment before saying, “Dad is that really you?” Kat nodded while averting her eyes from Karen.
Reaching gently over Karen cradled the young girls chin in her hand and lifted her face so she could look at her. “Why dad? I mean Matt showed me the video, so I know you are you even though I still can’t believe it. But why would you do it in the first place?”
“No one knew it would turn me into a girl,” Kat uttered, “I didn’t even think it would work at all, just figured it was a way to let you and yours get on with your life without having to worry about me anymore.”
“What do you mean?” Karen growled.
“I figured it would kill me.”
“Oh my god dad!” Karen grabbed the girl into a tight hug, “You taught me how to ride a bike, drive a car, bait a hook, Emily worships the ground you walk on! Why would you think we didn’t need or want you around?”
“But I…”
“No buts young lady!” Karen leaned back and pointed a finger in Kat’s face, “I’ve already seen to it that you will never need for money that is unless you go start buying jumbo jets and flying around the world for fun.”
“That money was for you kids.”
“That money was yours, you gave it to us, now I’m giving some of it back!” Karen stated. “And I’m also splitting those royalty payments half to your new account. Anyways, you are one of those kids now!”
“But…”
“Argue with me and I’ll throw the whole thing into your account. Remember everything was signed over to me and I promised you, um him, that I would take care of our family and that includes you baby sister.” Karen grinned. “Look it’s not like you can go play hero for that outfit that did this to you for at least a few years. And while Deb may have a comfortable income, if that outfit loses their funding, you two could wind up with no money and no place to go. I’m just making sure you have plenty of options.”
“Alright, you win,” Kat sniffed back the tears.
“Never doubted it for a minute Baby sister!” Now let’s go wash our face and go see what Matt is making on the grill for us.” Karen stood and reached down for Kat’s hand.
Chapter 22
“Mom, Becky says she has a swimsuit that I can borrow, Can I go swimming? Please?” Emily started begging the moment her mother and Kat walked out on the patio, “Dad said I had to ask you. Please?”
“It wouldn’t be fair to your sister since she doesn’t have one either and I don’t think Becky has anything that would fit her.”
“She can borrow one of mine, Susan and I are about the same size.” Kat volunteered.
“If that’s the case, I don’t mind.” Karen agreed.
“Wanna run down with me to get it Em?” Becky asked, “We live next door Mrs. Sawdey.”
Emily saw her mother nod her approval, “Sure!” The two girls took off at a trot.
“Becky tell your mother and father they are welcome to join us too!” Deb shouted after the two girls.
“Come on Susan, we can change in my room.”
Susan stepped out of Kat’s bathroom wearing the green bikini Kat had bought, “I hope you don’t mind, I took the green one?”
“No, that’s why I told you to change first, so you got to pick which one you liked best, and to give me time to get all this out of my hair.”
“Here let me help,” Susan came over behind Kat and began pulling the flowers out of her hair, “My mom’s gonna freak when she sees me in this,” Susan giggled.
“Well I asked for one like it last summer and she told me it showed too much skin.”
“I don’t have any one piece suits, I don’t like how they give me a wedgie down there,” Kat blushed.
“They call that Camel toe,” Susan giggled, “I use a panty shield.”
“How does that help?”
“Not only guards against leakage it also protects against camel toe!” Susan giggled. Kat’s eyes went wide when she heard her granddaughter joke so brazenly about something so intimately feminine, but at the same time tell Kat how to overcome it.
Kat you decent?” Kat heard Becky crack open the door to her room.
“Define decent?” Kat joked.
The door flew open as Becky and Emily walked in already in swimsuits. “You’re not even ready yet Kat?” Becky gasped.
“Well if we ever get this Gordian knot out of my hair I will be.”
“Oh it’s not that bad, here let me.” Becky stepped over beside Susan and untied a ribbon near the middle of the strange knotted braid, then started fluffing Kat’s hair with her fingers as the braid began to quickly unravel. “See no problem!”
“I would have never though it ended there,” Susan stated, “You must really be good with hair!”
“Kat has so much great hair, it’s easy to try different things with.” Becky complimented Kat, “And being her best friend I can get all the practice I want.”
“You’re my witnesses, she keeps me around as a lab rat!” Kat stuck her tongue out at Becky.
“I’d gladly be her lab rat if she would do that with my hair!” Susan grinned.
Emily was staring at the amount of Kat’s hair that was now in the floor behind her. “Wow, how long is your hair?”
Kat stood and moved away from the seat she was in, her hair now loose behind her threatening to brush the floor if she moved wrong, “I know, Rapunzel right?” Kat blushed, Emily nodded silently.
“I’ll have to email you guys pics of her in her Halloween costume this year,” Becky grinned.
“You so have to go as Rapunzel!” Emily demanded.
“She is,” Becky grinned at the younger girl.
“And you should go as Ariel,” Emily added.
It was Kat’s turn to laugh, “Told you so!”
“Well I think you both look more like the Disney princesses than the ones we saw at Disney World when mom and dad took us there.” Emily smiled.
Kat turned and smiled at Emily, who she would have called before her change her favorite granddaughter who she would now have to get used to calling her niece. It wasn’t that he had played favorites back then, he had done her best to treat all the kids as equally as possible, but Emily was different. Emily had played with her dolls and stuffed animals like most little girls but by the time she was six, the child was tomboy through and through, more rough and tumble than most the boys in her class.
Little Emily had become grandpa’s shadow too, he couldn’t leave the house without the kid racing along behind him. Kat though that maybe she should have done something differently with Emily, but Emily was so full of wonder and surprise at all the things her grandpa could teach her, Kat didn’t have the heart to say no to the girl.
“You going to get dressed or stand there all day?” Becky chided.
“I’m going,” Kat walked over to the bathroom and closed the door behind her. A few minutes later she emerged in her black bikini and the four girls walked back down and out to the backyard.
Chapter 23
“You know Emily,” Emily’s mother peered over where her youngest daughter sat between Kat and Becky eating the wonderfully grilled steak her father had made, “You may find that you and Kathleen have allot more in common than you think?”
Emily gulped down the large mouthful of baked potato she had just put in her mouth, “Oh? Like what mom?” Emily’s darted beside her to Kat.
“Well for one Kat’s mother told me that she practices Tai Chi.”
“You do?” Emily rubbernecked, “Grandpa taught me. I used to do it with him every morning!”
“I do it every morning too. Becky sometimes joins me, that is when she rolls her butt out of bed before noon.” Kat looked from Emily to Becky and giggled.
“Yea, I would love to be able to do that like you Kat, what you did with those boys was amazing.”
“What boys?” Becky’s mother looked concerned.
“We told you about those boys in the mall mom.”
“You told me, you and Kat had a problem with some boys that were trying to take some liberties they shouldn’t. You never told me anything about fighting.”
“I wouldn’t really call it a fight Mrs. Adams,” Kat answered.
“You were in a fight?” Emily’s excitement showed in her eyes, “What happened?” Emily looked over to Kat, “Do you have a black belt? Did you go Bruce Lee on them?”
“This bully grabbed me,” the memory caused Becky to shiver, “I don’t know how to describe it, what Kat did. It was like watching one of those kung fu movies, but Kat was really, really graceful like a ballet dancer. She had all three boys on the ground so fast they didn’t know what hit them And Kat crouched there in the middle like a tiger ready to pounce if they got up.”
Emily’s eyes were really wide showing how impressed she was, “Cool!” Emily shouted, “My aunt is a bad ass!”
“Emily Language!” Karen scolded.
“Sorry mom.” Then without missing a beat, “So what forms do you study? How long have you been learning? This is so cool!”
“Sometimes it feels like I have been learning that stuff since before I was born,” Kat smirked at her mother.
“Emily, it’s not all about the fighting,” Deb interrupted, “Martial arts are a very good form of exercise, and it doesn’t hurt to know how to defend yourself.”
“It also teaches you the self-confidence and control so that you can use only enough force so that you do not make a bad situation worse.” Kat added. Susan, Matt and Deb all nodded in agreement.
“Maybe we should check into classes for you Becky?” Barbra chuckled.
“Kat could teach Becky.” Deb stated, “She does have the experience.”
“Becky and I have talked about her coming over in the mornings to join me in Tai Chi. If she ever rolls her butt out of bed before noon.” Kat grinned at Becky.
“I think that would be wonderful dear,” Barbra affirmed, “What time should I make sure she is over here in the mornings?”
“I usually start around sunrise,” Becky moaned when she heard Kat say this, “But I can start a little later if she wants to start joining me, say 6:30?”
“I’ll make sure she is over here by then.”
“Mom I was hoping it would be alright if I spent the night tonight?” Becky timidly asked.
“I don’t know dear, Kat and her mother have family from out of town staying.”
“It’s no problem Barbra,” Deb stated, “Becky and Kat can share a room.”
“Please say its ok?” Susan spoke up, “I want her to show me how she does her and Kat’s hair so nice!”
Chapter 24
Kat’s first thoughts were on how inappropriate it was for her to sleep with a teenage girl and almost said something when her mother had suggested it. Not only the fact that Kat used to be a man, Becky was the same age as her grandchildren! But Kat realized how ludicrous her thoughts were. She was now a teen girl herself and would be for the rest of her unnatural second life. Why should she feel so uncomfortable about being in the same bed as her, Becky was her friend. Becky had in fact become the closest friend Kat had in a very long time.
All four girls had begun in Kat’s room that night. Talking and chatting away like teens do. Becky spent allot of the time showing Susan different ways to do her hair and showing Susan various types of braids that can be done using Kat as the guinea pig. At some point Emily slipped out and went to bed in the room she was sharing with her sister. When Susan found herself yawning she excused herself and slipped off to bed also. Her and Becky had done Kat’s hair up in what Becky called a fishtail braid, Kat has really like how it looked and asked them to leave it in.
Susan closed the door behind her when she left leaving Becky and Kat alone in the room. “So what do you usually wear to bed?” Becky quizzed, “I don’t remember seeing any night gowns when I helped you unpack?”
“Um, usually just a tee shirt and my panties,” Kat went over to the dresser and pulled two men’s extra-large shirts out of a drawer, tossing Becky a dark blue one.
Unfolding the shirt Becky held it across her chest seeing it had the words USNAVY written under the Navy seal both the lettering and seal done in gold. The shirt was so big it would fit Becky like a short dress. “Pretty cool actually! They are big enough to wear around the house too.”
“Yep, and comfy to boot!” Kat added.
“Be right back,” Becky jumped up and dashed into the bathroom with the shirt. Becky came back out a few minutes later, the oversized shirt hanging down to her knees and while short sleeved the sleeves stopped at her elbows. Stepping out of the doorway Becky placed one hand behind her head and the other on her hip posing, “Do you think I look sexy in this?” then started giggling uncontrollably and raced over and jumped on the bed.
“I think if our navy all looked like you do in that, they would win wars just by showing up.” Kat commented.
“Oh?”
“Are you comparing me to a sailor?”
“What I meant was the enemy would take one look at you and surrender.”
“Do I look that bad?” Becky pouted.
“No, that pretty.” Kat blushed, “They would see how beautiful you were and forget what they were fighting over.” Kat trotted into the bathroom and closed the door before her mouth got her into trouble. Kat returned wearing a similarly large shirt, although this one a medium gray with the words “God, Guns, Guts, made America, let’s keep all three.” written under an American flag that took up the whole upper chest area of the shirt.
Chapter 25
Kat had always been a light sleeper so when she felt something pressing against her lips her eyes immediately snapped open to see Becky’s still sleeping face pressed up against her own, kissing her. It felt so soft and gentle Kat found herself parting her lips giving in to the soft caress of the kiss. Closing her eyes Kat was lost in the warm feelings that began where their lips touched and spread throughout her body.
When felt Becky’s tongue slip between her lips and trace along the back of her own upper lip and teeth Kat’s stomach began full of butterflies and she could feel her nipples at full attention and her crotch started to become moist. The feelings Kat was experiencing were so overwhelming, her body demanding that these feelings continue forever and told her to ignore the voice that was telling her this was wrong, how could something that felt so good be wrong? Kat’s nipples screamed to be touched, to also feel Becky’s lips against them, her crotch had warmed even further and her panties felt wet.
Kat sat bolt upright in the bed startling Becky awake at the same time. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes Becky asked, “What, what’s wrong?”
“I, you, kissed,” Kat’s mind was still fighting her body’s urges to shut up and continue the kiss.
“What?” Becky sat up much more awake.
“You,” Kat’s face turned a deep shade of red, her voice dropping down to a mere whisper, “kissed me.”
“I, I’m sorry,” Becky softly pleaded, blushing in the process, “I was dreaming.”
“I kinda figured that.”
“So then it was innocent enough,” Becky could see Kat’s nipples poking through the shirt she wore to bed and see how excited it must have gotten her, “So was it a good kiss? I always wondered if I would be any good at kissing, you know when I finally found someone that I wanted to kiss and they wanted to kiss me back.”
If Kat could have turned redder she would have at that moment, how could she tell her best friend the truth, how it was the best kiss Kat had ever felt in two lifetimes. Keeping her foot out of her mouth Kat only nodded.
“Did, did you like it?” Becky blushed deepened.
“Yes,” Kat whispered.
“I’m glad.” Becky beamed.
“Huh? What did I miss?” Kat seemed confused, “Why would you be glad?”
“You won’t be mad if I tell you will you?”
“Becky you’re the only friend I have had in a long time, longer than you can imagine. We are best friends! Nothing you say can change that.”
Becky wrapped her arms around Kat in a hug, “I’m so glad to hear you say that, because I was dreaming about you.”
“What?”
“You heard me,” Becky sat back so she could see Kat, “I was dreaming about you, you were the one in my dream that I was…uh kissing.” Seeing the look on Kat’s face Becky blurted out, “Please tell me you’re not mad at me, Oh god Kat, please don’t be mad.”
Pulling Becky back into a hug, “I’m not mad at you, I’m just confused.”
“Tell me about it,” Becky halfheartedly giggled, “I’m in love with another girl.” Then leaned forward and kissed Kat.
Kat didn’t stop her, but did break the kiss when she began feeling the uncontrollable desire to wrap her arms around Becky and never stop kissing her, “I, ‘I need a shower.” Kat threw the covers back, got up and walked into the bathroom, her mind so wrapped up in her feeling she didn’t bother to close the door. Pulling off her clothes, she grabbed her shower cap and started the water in the shower stall. Starting with the end of her hair braid, Kat carefully put her hair in the shower cap as she drew it on her head before stepping into the shower.
Becky was on cloud nine, as she climbed out of the bed and quickly made the bed singing quietly to herself while bouncing around like she didn’t have a care in the world. She isn’t mad at me, Becky thought to herself, then realized SHE KISSED ME BACK! Glancing at the open bathroom door then back to the bed, she mumbled, “Good enough,” and headed into the bathroom.
Stripping out of the shirt and panties she had on Becky opened the shower door. Kat jumped when Becky stepped naked into the shower with her. Kat backed up against the wall as Becky stepped towered her. “What I can’t take showers with you anymore?”
“It’s, its different now.”
“Oh how so?” I haven’t grown horns and a tail have I?” Becky giggled as she twisted around to look to see if she had grown a tail. “Nope that’s not it,” Becky brought her finger to her temple and began tapping, “It must have been the kiss?”
“Y, yes,” Kat was so confused with her feelings toward the naked girl in front of her she couldn’t think straight.
“Well, was there fireworks?” Kat nodded.
“Little firecracker or fourth of July fireworks?”
“For, fourth of Jul…” Kat was unable to finish her sentence as Becky wrapped her arms around Kat’s neck and kissed her again. Not holding back Becky kissed her with every ounce of the passion she felt toward the girl.
Kat’s heart was racing a thousand miles an hour, her will crumbled as her body took control and filled her with a desire she could never imagine possible. The intense pleasure grew, expanding to encompass her entire soul. Kat wanted to scream out to the world how great this way.
Becky broke the kiss when she felt Kat begin to tremble, She started to take a step back away from Kat then quickly grabbed her and lowered her to the floor. The passion she felt was replaced with concern, “Kat? Kat are you okay?” Kat shook her up and down trying to let Becky know she would be okay. “Fireworks again?” Becky couldn’t stop grinning.
“Thermo…nuclear,” Kat gasped for breath.
“Nice to know I can do that to you but we need to get you up,” Becky pulled on Kat arm trying to get her to stand up, “If we’re in here too long your mom’s going to know somethings up.” Kat allowed Becky to help her up on her shaky legs. Moving as quickly as they could the two got cleaned up and dressed in sweatpants and tank tops.
Kat entered the kitchen grabbed a mug and poured herself a cup of coffee before sitting down at the kitchen counter without saying a word.
“Hi Mrs. Marlete,” Becky sang as she skipped into the kitchen straight to the fridge, her red hair pulled back in a simple pony tail.
“My you’re really cheerful this morning,” Deb said to Becky without turning from the stove top. “I thought you weren’t a morning person?”
“I’m usually not, but this morning everything is just so, so awesome!” the delight overflowing in Becky’s voice, “I think it was sleeping in Kat’s bed, it was so cozy and warm. And Kat is so warm to cuddle up to,” Becky shot a peek at Kat before giggling.
“And you?” Deb looked at Kat sitting there with her head hanging over the cup of coffee she was nursing, praying her mother mistook the shame she felt for allowing what happened with Becky for lack of sleep, “You’re usually up and out in the back yard doing your Tai Chi before I get downstairs?”
“Snuggles there almost pushed me out of the bed twice last night.”
“I did not!” Becky giggled.
“And when she wasn’t being a bed hog, she was squeezing the life out of me.”
“I can’t help it that you are so cuddly!” Becky stuck out her tongue at Kat.
“Well at least you are here and dressed for Tai Chi this morning,” Kat smiled.
“You didn’t start without me did you?” They heard as Emily walked into the kitchen.
“Would you like something to eat Emily?” Deb asked the young girl.
“Sure, I’ll have whatever their having,” Emily came up and sat down beside Kat, “Oh and some orange juice if you have any?”
“I’ll get it Mrs. Marlete,” Becky turned back to the fridge. Opened it and brought out a half gallon container of juice that she carried over to the counter, then Becky produced two glasses from a cupboard above the counter before sitting on the other side of Kat. Filling both glasses with juice she slid one to Emily.
“Wow Aunt Kat you sure eat allot,” Emily said when she saw the mountain of scrambled eggs, hash browns and sausage that was on Kat’s plate.”
“Doctor says that I have a hyper active metabolism.” Kat began shoveling the food into her mouth.
“She was born that way hon, Kat burns through calories almost twice as fast as normal so she has to eat more to sustain her.” Deb confirmed, “Even her normal body temperature is higher than normal.”
“So that’s why she’s so cuddly,” Becky snickered.
Finishing her breakfast, Kat pour herself another cup of coffee while she waited on Becky and Emily to finish eating.
Chapter 26
Deb, Kat and Becky waved as Kat’s sister’s family pulled out of the driveway. “I should probably get home too,” Becky announced.
“Can you stay for just a tab bit longer Becky, I would like to talk with you and Kat,” Deb asked.
“Sure, I’d be glad to stay for a while longer.”
Deb led the teens into the kitchen and poured herself and Becky a glass of iced tea. Placing the picture back in the fridge she turned and sat an unopened beer beside the glass she had sat out for Kat, along with a bottle opener.
“Your mom lets you drink beer?”
“Remember? Germany? I started drinking this stuff when I was ten.”
“She’s only allowed to have one once in a while and only when I’m home.” Deb peered at Kat, “Right?”
“Yes mom,” Kat opened her beer and began pouring it into the glass.
Taking a sip of her tea, Deb looked at both girls carefully, “So what is going on?”
“Nothing,” Kat couldn’t look her mother in the eye.
“Pull my other leg,” Deb quipped, then looked over at Becky, “Do you want to tell me?”
“It really was nothing, really,” Becky answered.
“Well it certainly wasn’t nothing to make you both act the way you both have all day today.” Deb analyzed, “So do we play forty questions or are one of you going to tell me what is going on with you two?”
Anger showed in Kat’s face when she looked up to meet her mother’s gaze, “We kissed! Are you happy now!”
Deb carefully thought about what she was going to say before she said it, one hand she couldn’t allow Kat to be seducing young girls, on the other while it’s not socially acceptable two girls exploring their sexuality with each other is not as uncommon as one might think, but then Kat was not your normal teenage girl, “Kat did you attempt to seduce Becky?”
“What? NO!” Kat’s anger grew.
“Then why are so angry with yourself?”
“I’m…not…” Kat realized Deb was right she was so damn pissed at herself that she couldn’t see straight right now, “I’ I shouldn’t have allowed it to happen.”
“It was my fault Mrs. Marlete,” Becky jumped in, “I was having a dream.”
“A dream?”
“Uh yea, it was kind of steamy, pretty steamy in fact.”
“So that’s all this is over, you kissed Kat in your sleep?”
“The first time, but I was awake for the seconds kiss.”
“Why would you kiss her after you woke up?” Deb tried to make sense of what she was hearing.
“Well, I was kinda dreaming about Kat,” Becky and Kat both blushed.
“Is that all that happened?”
“Just kissing, honest Mrs. Marlete,” Becky’s blush turned a deeper red.
“Just kissing mom,” Kat confirmed.
“So Becky do you prefer girls?” Deb added, “I had always figured Kat would lean that direction.”
Becky nodded, ashamed to admit the way she felt.
“What do you mean I would lean that way?” Kat scoffed.
“Well hon, given your past…” Deb left the rest unsaid.
“You’re not going to tell my parents are you?” Becky pleaded.
Deb observed how both girls were acting toward her and each other, “No I don’t think that is necessary, as long as you both don’t take it further than kissing at least for now.”
“Kat couldn’t make it further than that if she wanted,” Becky giggled.
“Why is that young lady?” Deb stared at Kat, who was staring at her hands in her lab wishing she was invisible.
“She um, kinda,”Becky tried to find the best way to say it without embarrassing her girlfriend further than she already had, “Sorry Kat I don’t know how else to say this,”
“Then don’t,” Kat groaned.
“That’s good, you shouldn’t have your girlfriend try to take all the heat off you!”
“Girlfriend?” The two girls echoed
“Kathleen Elizabeth Marlete tell me what Becky was trying to say?”
Kat glared up at her mother staring her in the eyes without saying a word. Deb sat there waiting patiently, “Oh dammit, when Becky kisses me, I, it, fireworks, global nuclear war fireworks. I , I think I passed out for a moment the last time she kissed me.”
“Okay,” Deb’s features softened, more caring, “Now that we have all that out in the open, we can work on what we need to do about it. First thing I think we should go talk to Doctor Oliver or Doctor Hakim about how easily you can be brought to release.”
“Please this is embarrassing enough!” Kat pleaded.
“I hope I don’t embarrass you?” Becky leaned over and put her head on Kat’s shoulder.
“Not you, just how easily I um can do that.” Kat rested her head on Becky’s
“I don’t know,” Becky grinned, “I think it’s cool that kissing you does that to you.”
“Also, most people will not be as open minded as I am on this. I feel that to attempt to forbid what you are doing would only force you to do it behind my back and could possibly cause mental health issues down the road, most won’t share this view so no public displays, got it?”
“Yes ma’am,” Both girls chorused.
71 year old John Dodge, retired military, now sits in a nursing home, his body riddled with cancer, waiting on the grim reaper to come for him when he is given another option.
Chapter 26
In her old life as John, Kat had always been a morning person not so much that she or back then, he couldn’t sleep, but out of habit. Growing up on a farm there was always chores that had to be done before school. Military life was no different for the then young man, the benefit of which was the opportunity to watch a beautiful sunrise most mornings as he and the rest of the men in his company did their ritualistic morning exercises the military term for which was P.T. many times jokingly called physical torture by many.
John had never complained about morning P.T. Having grown up on his parent’s farm he had seen the morning exercises as much less strenuous as the morning chores he had done each morning as a small boy. When he retired from the military he continued the morning routine until his health no longer allowed it.
Barely awake Kat could tell something was not quite right this morning, there was too much light coming in through her window and she felt off, almost as if she was coming down with something. Groaning she rolled over to look at the alarm clock on her night stand. An alarm clock that she had never bothered to set the alarm on since she was so accustomed to waking early. Kat’s eyes shot wide open when she saw the soft green Led that read, ‘7:46 AM’, “Shit!” she cursed under her breath while throwing back the covers and scooting her legs over the edge of the bed to sit up.
One hand quickly went to her forehead while her other hand to her stomach when the sudden movement of sitting up caused her head to start pounding and cramps in her stomach. Sitting there Kat came very close to laying back down, had it not been for the demands of her bladder she may have done just that.
Since she had gone through the process at DARPA that had changed her, Kat had felt better than she could remember. All the aches and pains she experienced from previous injuries were gone. She was stronger than she had been as a man, and so limber it continued to amaze her even though it had been close to a month since she had woken from the process.
Even sitting to pee wasn’t that big of a deal to her as she had been forced to do that for the last few years after her legs had become too weak to let her stand to pee. So why, she asked herself did some slight twinges of pain and some stomach cramps make her feel so irritable this morning.
At least I don’t have to wait for a nurse to come help me to the toilet any longer, Kat tried to convince herself to look on the bright side as she staggered into the bathroom. Letting her panties drop to her ankles as she pulled the oversized shirt up around her waist to sit down to relieve her insistent bladder.
Sitting on the toilet, Kat’s elbows went to her knees while leaning forward, holding her head in both hands, Kat noticed the blood in her panties. Just fucking wonderful! How can anyone go through life knowing they are going to feel this way once a month!
Finishing up on the toilet, Kat stepped out of panties, leaving them on the floor in front of the toilet then peeled off the oversized men’s tee shirt she had slept in before turning on the shower.
Opening the frosted glass door on the shower stall, she turned on the water and adjusted the temperature before stepping into the steamy cascade of water. Ducking her head under the stream, Kat stood there letting the warmth draw the tension out of her mind and body.
After finishing in the bathroom, Kat rinsed her blood stained underwear in the sink before filling the sink with water and leaving her panties in the cold water to soak.
Chapter 27
“Hello? Are you back here Deb?” barbara shouted as she rounded the corner of the house into the back yard.
“Twisting around in the patio chair Deb saw her daughter’s best friend’s mom and neighbor walking up, “Oh Hi Barb, come on over,” She waved.
Barbara came up and sat in one of the chairs beside Deb. “I took the liberty to grab your mail on the way back here.” Barbara handed Deb a small stack of letters, “So are you all ready for Kat to start school here?”
“Pretty much,” Deb sorted through the letters, “Oh good, I was waiting on this.” Laying the other letters down on the patio table Deb began opening the one she still held.
“What is that?” Barbara asked.
“It’s a letter about those placement tests Kat needed to take before she started school,” Deb explained as she read over the letter. “That’s interesting.” Deb mumbled.
“What is dear?”
Looking up at Barbara over the page Deb held in her hand, “It appears the curriculum is different enough that they felt Kat needs to repeat her junior year.”
“That will put her in the same grade as Becky,” Barbara stated.
“I know Kat won’t be happy about this, but at least she can look at that being the silver lining.”
“Speaking about those two,” Barbara formed her question, “Have you noticed anything different lately with them?”
“Not really,” Deb lied, “I try not to pry too much into Kat’s personal space. I’ve always felt it best to let Kat come to me with issues, rather than butt in and put her on the defensive.”
“What about Becky, have you noticed anything unusual with her?”
“No, if anything Becky seems happier.”
“That’s what I was getting at,” Barbara smiled, “Becky has been floating on cloud nine around the house for the past few weeks. She has become more helpful, even pushing me out of the kitchen and making her father and I dinner. It’s not like her.”
“Well you both did buy her that car without her having to put in the money you told her she had to put toward it.”
“Gerry and I had always planned to do that, we just wanted her to feel she had to work for it.” Barbara stated, “That maybe part of it, but if I didn’t know better I would say she is in love.”
“She hasn’t really been around anyone but Kat, so that couldn’t be it.” Deb hoped to derail the direction this conversation was heading.
“Deb, I don’t know any easy way to say this to you,” Barbara's expression concerned Deb, “So I’ll just come out with it. I hope you won’t let it get between our friendship or that of our two girls. So please keep an open mind when I tell you this.”
“Barb, you and Becky have been a godsend since we moved here,” Deb held up her hand interrupting her friend, “You would have to tell me you were an axe murderer to change our relationship, and then I would only try to get you help.”
“That’s good to hear Deb but when it comes to children, most women react to protect their child first, sometimes without thinking, I know I have in the past.”
“Whatever it is Barb, I’ll listen and if it is as bad as you are making it out to be, we’ll work something out.”
“I think Becky is in love with Kat,” Barb burst out, continuing before Deb could say anything, “I’ve known Becky was different for some time now. I thought, no I hoped it was some phase she was going through, but it’s not.”
Deb relaxed her posture, “Here I was all ready to put on my psychiatrist hat and help you through some deep troubling family secret.”
“But Becky is a…” barbara couldn’t say the word.
“Lesbian?” Deb finished for her, “And will you love her any less if she is?”
“No but what about Kat?” barbara quavered, “What happens if, when, Kat finds out?”
“Kat would never push someone she cares for away.” Deb smiled, “And from what you have said about how Becky has been acting at home, I would bet she has already told Kat how she feels.”
“Do you think so?” Barb’s eyes glistened with moisture, tears threatening to form.
“I do,” Deb continued, “Think about it for a moment, the way you say Becky has been acting. Would you act that way if you were hiding your feeling? Or if you had confessed those feeling and they had been accepted?”
Barbara's eyes went wide as she realized Deb was right! Becky must have told Kat how she felt, it was the only explanation for the way Becky was acting, “Do you think Kat, that Kat is one of, you know?”
“That is something she has never discussed with me,” Deb stated, “It’s something very personal and if she wishes to talk to me about it, I’ll listen. Although to answer your question, Kat has always been very competitive with boys, a real tomboy, so yes I could imagine she could lean in the same direction.”
The large truck pulled up to the entrance of the gated community stopping at the little guard shack that sat to one side of the closed gate. A uniformed man walked out carrying a clipboard as the driver rolled down his window. “Can I help you sir? The security guard asked.
“I have a delivery,” the driver picked up a paper from the passenger seat of the truck, “ it’s for a Mr. K. Marlete.” Then handed the wrinkled page through the window to the guard.
“Give me one sec, to confirm and make sure someone is there to accept the delivery,” turning he walked back into the small air conditioned outpost.
Deb picked up the cordless phone as it rang, “Hello Mrs. Marlete, This is Dan Boyd down at the main gate.”
“Hi Dan,” Deb spoke into the phone, “What can I do for you?”
“There’s a delivery truck down here, apparently Kat has ordered something else for that old Barn on your property.”
“Kat is at the Barn go ahead and send them straight up there, I’ll let Kat know it’s on its way.”
“Yes ma’am.”
“Thank you Dan.” Deb turned the phone off after she heard it go dead.
“What did Kat buy now?” Barbara asked.
“Not a clue,” Deb said as she dialed a number in the phone. A few seconds later she could hear music start playing from inside the house. “Of course, why would she take her phone with her.”
“Let me try Becky on her cell,” barbara reached into her purse.
“No, she needs to learn her phone is not just for her convenience and also is so that others can reach her.” Deb grinned, “Let’s walk over.” Deb thought that surprising the two girls may be a good lesson, if nothing else it may get Kat to stop leaving her phone lying around when she leaves the house.
Chapter 28
“Rebecca Elaine Adams! What do you think you are doing?” Becky had Kat pinned against the side of one of the large support posts that held up the barn and was staring in her eyes after she had stolen a kiss.
Becky’s head shot around at the sound of her mother’s voice, “MOM!” Becky’s eyes wide, frightened at the thought of what her mother may have seen. “Kat thought she had something in her eye,” Becky quickly blurted out as she stepped away from Kat and turned to her mother.
“Um, Hi Mrs. Adams, Hi mom,” Kat waved at the two women standing at the entrance of the old barn, “Becky was just helping me get something out of my eye like she said.”
As the two women came closer to the girls Becky’s mother pointed to the side of her own mouth and chuckled, “Look more like Becky was helping you with something on your lips?” Kat you seem to have smeared the lip gloss that you are wearing.”
“I’m not wearing any…,” Kat’s hand shot up to her mouth, rubbing her lips she could feel the slickness of it on her lips. Becky gasped and turned so that her mother would not notice that her lip gloss must be also smeared.
Stepping up to Kat, Becky’s mother produced a tissue from her purse and helped Kat clean the smeared lip gloss off her face, “You two need to be more careful if you’re going to be kissing each other.”
Becky froze in terror at what she had heard her mother say so casually to Kat. Turning toward her daughter, “What? Do you think I didn’t know?” Barbara smiled at Becky. Opening and closing her mouth several times, Becky tried to say something but found no words. Kat looked over at her own mother who shook her head as if to tell Kat she did not tell.
“Oh dear Kat,” barbara sympathized, “You think your mother told me? It was Becky that told me, not in words but in how her mood has changed. I have never seen my daughter happier than she has been over the past few weeks.” barbara motioned for Becky to come to her. Once Becky was close enough barbara wrapped her arm around her, hugging her close to her side.
“How, how did you know?” Becky stuttered.
“I’m your mother, do you really think I would not notice my daughter was in love?” barbara smiled at Becky, “I’ll be honest dear, I really don’t understand how two women could feel that for each other, but what I do know is that I have never seen you this happy and I want my baby to be happy. If that means accepting you,” Barbara nodded at Kat, “and Kat as a couple, then I’ll support you both.”
“What about daddy?” Becky stiffened.
“Don’t worry about your father, he’ll probably be glad that he doesn’t have to worry about you getting pregnant.”
Becky threw her arms around her mother, “Mom, you’re the greatest!”
“And Kat, consider yourself very lucky that we caught you and not someone else,” Deb scolded, “We walked out here after I tried to call.”
“I left my phone on the counter in the kitchen, I didn’t want to take the chance of breaking it.” Kat replied, and then realizing that she knew Becky always had hers with her, “You could have called Becky’s phone.”
“I could have, but that isn’t the point,” Deb countered, “That phone is not only for your convenience, it’s for mine too, do not forget it again!”
“Yes mom,”
“You have a truck delivering something, it’s on its way up now.”
“Oh good,” Kat smiled, “I didn’t expect it here till later.”
“Well you should walk down the path so you can show them how to get back in here.”
“Okay Mom,” Kat began to jog out of the barn.
Chapter 29
The driver saw the teen waving him down and thought how that did make his job easier, someone sending her down to show him where to go. Pulling up beside the teen, “I’ve got a delivery for a K. Marlete, is this the place?”
“Yes sir,” Kat waved toward the dirt and gravel road, “Down that way to the barn.”
“Jump in kid,” The driver said, grabbing the gear shift. Kat jumped up on the driver’s step and held on to the side mirror.
The driver began staring at her on the side of his truck, “It’s not far,” Kat said. When she could see the barn Kat asked the driver, “What’s your height?”
“Twelve four,” he replied, knowing she would be asking the height of his truck.
“You’ll have to unload outside, doors only twelve.” Kat replied, “If you back up to the door, we can drop everything straight onto the concrete and not have to try dragging it through the dirt.”
Pulling the first pallet off the lift gate onto the new concrete floor in the barn, the driver looked around, “Looks like you are making one nice man cave for you father girl.” Becky giggled at the remark.
“Yep once everything arrives, it should turn out to be a really cool place to tinker on old cars.” Kat winked at Becky.
“Actually it’s not for her father.” Deb replied, “It’s just Kathleen and I, her father is no longer with us.”
“Then who…” The man stopped pulling the pallet jack across the concrete and thought for a moment, “Kathleen, as in K. Marlete? The K stand for Kathleen?”
Kat grinned at the driver, “Yep these are for me!” Then turned to one pallet he had already brought in and began tearing the boards off to uncover a very large two stage air compressor. While no one was paying attention Kat lifted it off the base wood of the pallet and sat it on the floor and started to drag it into position, pretending it was very difficult for her to do as soon as they heard the noise of it being dragged.
“That weights over four hundred pounds girl, You’re gonna hurt yourself!” The man yelled. Realizing that in her excitement she was doing something a girl her size should not be able to do, Kat quickly let go while pretending to strain on pulling the compressor, then let go and fell back on her rear.
“You're right, it’s a lot harder than I thought it would be.” Kat grinned shyly.
“There is no reason for you to be in such a hurry to get that in place anyway Kat,” Her mother said, “You don’t have any electricity out here yet.”
“Sorry mom, I just got so excited that these things arrived.”
The driver finished unloading the pallets then handed a clipboard to Deb, “Just need a signature that you received everything.” Pointing near the bottom of the page at a blank line marked by a large red ‘X’.”
“Can I sign or does it have to have my daughter’s signature?”
“Either is fine, but to be honest I would prefer if you signed it,” The driver glanced over where Becky was helping Kat un-crate another pallet, “I don’t think she is over eighteen is she?”
“No she is not,” Deb took the pen and signed for the items, “But in the future if I am not here her signature is fine.”
“Yes ma’am,” the driver nodded, then walked out, got in his truck and drove away.
“I’m going to have to head home, Gerry will be expecting dinner when he gets home and I haven’t started it.” Barbara stated.
“I’ll walk with you Barb, “Deb said.
Barbara turned to both girls, “No rolling around in the hay loft after we leave!”
“Becky, when was that farmer going to deliver the hay?” Kat grinned.
“I thought you were going to call him!” Becky giggled.
“How are we going to roll around in the hay when we don’t have any hay?” Kat put her hand on her hips looking at Becky before she began giggling herself.
“We could always just put a nice big fluffy bed up there,” Becky laughed.
“NO!” Both their mother’s shouted in unison then broke out laughing themselves.
Chapter 30
“I still don’t like it,” Kat complained while she ate the breakfast her mother made while her and Becky, who was now joining Kat almost every morning, went through their Tai Chi routine.
“Look at the bright side,” Becky looked up from her plate, “we have a lot of classes together!”
“But they stuck me in as a junior!” Kat whined.
“Boo hoo, I’m a lowly junior,” Becky giggled before leaning over and kissing Kat on the lips, “what more important being with your girlfriend, or being a senior?”
“Well I guess being in the same classes will have its perks,” Kat giggled.
“No kissing in school you two!” Deb chuckled, knowing they knew better to try anything like that.
“Aww, but mom!” Kat feigned pouting, “I like kissing her, it makes me feel all warm and gooey inside.”
“TMI!” Becky playfully slapped Kat in the arm.
“Who is driving this morning?” Deb asked.
“We’re taking my car,” Becky glared at Kat for even thinking it would be alright for her to drive that reject from the scrap pile truck to school, “No way am I letting her take that truck anywhere near school grounds, not to mention that I refuse to climb in that thing in a skirt!” Kat giggled.
Becky picked up her empty plate as she stood up also picking up Kat’s empty plate, she walked over and placed everything in the dishwasher before walking back over and sitting across Kat’s lap. “I thought you were ready to go?” Kat asked.
“Almost,” Becky grinned as she wrapped her arms around Kat’s neck and gave her a long passionate kiss. “Just needed that to hold me over until school's out.”
“If you do that again we’ll be late.” Kat’s face flushed.
“Why is that my love?” Becky purred.
“I’ll have to go change my underwear,” Kat whispered into Becky’s ear.
“Knock it off you two,” Deb chuckled, “Oh Kat, please don’t forget your phone.”
“No problem Mrs. M, I put it in her purse while we were getting changed for school.” Becky giggled.
Kat stuck her tongue out at Becky, “You know the government can track where you are by those things.” Kat thought back right after her transformation when they had tried to insert a subdural tracking chip in her. That was when they discovered her new genetically enhanced body rejected foreign substances. It hurt like hell coming out as her body literally pushed it out tearing open her skin as it came out.
Kat threatened to tear the lab apart when they suggested trying a different type of implant. Ten minutes after it happened there wasn’t even a blemish where it had come out, having inhuman regeneration did not mean she had an unusually high threshold to pain. If anything it made it worse as it hurt just as badly as her body healed the wound as it did when it pushed the tiny tracking chip out through her skin. Not that Kat was a wimp, but she was damn well not going to allow the quacks to start doing things that would hurt her just so they could measure how fast she healed.
Getting up off Kat’s lap Becky held her hand out to Kat, “Your chariot awaits.”
After locating a place to park Becky led Kat though the groups of students milling about discussing what they had done during their summer vacation toward the entrance and finally into the school's main office.
“Well hello Rebecca, How was your summer?” An older woman with short gray hair sitting behind the counter asked.
“Hi Mrs. Potts,” Becky answered, “It was the greatest summer ever, “I got a new neighbor and very best friend.”
“So what brings you into to see me so early?”
“Uh, my mom said she arranged for me to be Kat’s mentor. She’s new to our school and there is a mentor program for new students and all,” Becky tried to explain.
Typing away at her computer, Mrs. Potts must have found what she was searching for and looked up at the girls, “Oh yes, so you must be Kathleen Marlete?” Kat nodded, “Yes it shows that Becky has been assigned as your student mentor.” Looking over at Becky, “Why don’t you take Kathleen on back to see Mr. Bishop and pick up both your schedules dear.”
“Hi Mr. Bishop,” Becky has stopped at the open door to his office, “Come on in, I was actually just finishing up on the adjustments to make your schedule match up as close to the young lady you will be mentoring this year.” Looking at the young blond standing behind Becky, “and I am betting this lovely young lady behind you is Kathleen?”
“Yes sir,” Kat said, “Everyone calls me Kat.”
“Well Kat welcome to Roosevelt high,” Mr. Bishop held out his hand.
Kat stepped forward taking his hand Kat noticed he had a firm confident handshake, “Thank you sir. I hope I do alright here, it seems like forever since I stepped foot in a school.”
Mr. Bishop chuckled, “Yes summer seems to have that effect on all of us. ”So,here are your schedules, I was able to match you up in everything this quarter except your math classes. Kat you scored very high in that area and I felt it best to put you in college prep calculus. First block you are both in Mrs. Whitley’s English, second block Miss. Marchal physical Education. After lunch Becky you will be in Miss. Seghal’s algebra class, while Kat has Mr. Spinello for calculus. Then you both meet back up for Mrs. Berkowitz's social studies.” He handed each girl a printout showing their schedules, “You’ll also need to go see Mrs. Pierce before class starts and get Kat a school ID.”
“Yes sir,” Becky said, we’ll go there right now, “Thank you for going to the trouble of getting the two of us in so many of the same classes, I know that will make it easier for the both of us.”
“Yes thank you,” Kat included.
“No problem girls and if you need anything, remember my door is always open.”
Walking out another exit to the main offices Becky leaned against Kat and whispered, “Would you believe I had a crush on him my freshman year?”
“Mr. Bishop?” Kat asked, “never happen.”
“Yes him, and why not?”
“He has a strong firm handshake.” Kat stated.
“What has that got to do with anything?”
“A firm handshake is a sign of strong character.”
“So what’s that say about me?” Becky giggled.
“You’re a hugger not a shaker.”
“I thought you said I was a good kisser,” Becky stuck out her lower lip.
“You want someone to hear you?” Kat peered sideways at Becky, “And I never said you were a good kisser, I said you were a great kisser,” Kat grinned.
They walked into their first class with plenty of time to spare. Several students were already sitting on their desks and more were standing around chatting. On the far side of the front of the classroom a dark haired girl sat alone writing in a notebook, Becky headed straight toward this girl sitting down in the seat beside her while motioning for Kat to sit in the next seat. The girl glanced up to see who had sat down, then went back to writing in her notebook.
Kat was very conscious of the stares she received as she followed Becky across the room. She had tried to mentally prepare herself for this, but as the noise dropped to something close to silence she could feel all eyes in the room following her.
A moment later her pen stopped moving and she turned her head back toward Becky, “Becky is that you?” Becky turned to the girl and smiled warmly, “Oh my god it is you! I didn’t recognize you, I mean your different, um pretty, I mean not that you weren’t pretty before.”
“Stop babbling May, it’s the same old me inside,” Becky offered, “May this is my friend Kat, she moved in next door to me this summer.”
“Hi Kat, I’m May,” The small girl looked across to Kat while pushing her glasses up her nose slightly with a finger. May immediately thought the beautiful blond was the reason Becky now looked and dressed so much better. While happy that her friend could look so good, she thought she would probably not want to hang out with her old friends. May looked down at the floor.
“Something wrong May?” Becky asked.
“No,” the sorrow apparent in the girl’s voice, “I, I just, with you so pretty now I’m sure you don’t want to hang around me anymore.”
“Why would we do that?” Becky questioned.
“Because you’re pretty now.” May confessed, “I’m sure you’ll want to hang out with the popular girls now like Veronica.”
“Why would I want to hang out with that bitch?” Becky gasped and threw her hand up to cover her mouth when she realized how loud she said that. Lowering her voice, “Just because I may look like one of those bimbos doesn’t mean I have become one, you are still my friend and I’m sure they are still bitches.” May snorted at Becky’s remark about the cheerleader and her group of friends.
Leaning over as far as she could Kat spoke low enough so only Becky and May could hear her, “Honestly I envy your looks May, I hate how boys are always staring at me, it’s creepy.”
“You’re kidding right?” May couldn’t believe a girl with Kat’s looks wished she looked like May.
“No I’m not,” Kat continued, “I wish I looked more plain. Looking like this, all the boys stare at me trying to imagine what I look like with no clothes on,” Kat shivered.
“Eww,” May made a face like she was going to be sick, “That is creepy.” Before they could talk more the bell rang and the Mrs. Whitely was calling everyone to settled down and take a seat.
Kat found taking English again after so many years wasn’t any easier, nor was it any less boring and having to spend an hour and a half because of the fancy new block scheduling was torture for someone with Kat’s level of energy. By the time the bell rang Kat was actually looking forward to her P.E. class. She couldn’t wait to get outside and work the kinks out of her system from sitting around doing nothing for her first class. May walked out of class and part of the way to the girl’s locker room with them until she had to finally split off down another hall toward her science class.
Kat found there was a classroom inside the girl’s locker room that they all filed into. Miss. Marchal wasn’t the overweight grumpy, female version of a drill Sergeant Kat expected. She was actually rather pretty, her complexion flawless and lightly tanned with a body that would make any man sneak a second look. Her breasts, while a little on the small side, fit her figure perfectly.
The only thing Kat could find flaw with was her hair, while the pixie cut the teacher wore was flattering Kat had always preferred long hair on women. Kat’s love of long hair was the biggest reason she let her mother talk her out of cutting her own hair. The other reason she continued to leave her hair long was something she would keep to herself, secretly she loved how excited Becky got when she found some new style to try in Kat’s hair.
Once everyone settled down and Miss. Marchal finished taking attendance she started into a lecture on of all things feminine hygiene which was followed by a thirty minute video. When the teacher began another lecture on sex education, sexually transmitted diseases and birth control Kat was ready to scream. This was followed by yet another video that pertained to the subject of the lecture it followed.
Leaning over to Kat, Becky cupped her hand around Kat’s ear and whispered, “Not like I need to worry about getting you pregnant,” then playfully ran the tip of her tongue along the outer edge of Kat’s ear causing her to shiver.
“Miss Adams pay attention!” Miss. Marchal barked from behind them. Becky quickly straightened up and focused on the video.
When the video ended Miss. Marchal told everyone they could get up a stretch their legs, “Ok everyone you are free to talk among yourselves, walk around, whatever you wish as long as you listen for me to call your name. When I call your name please come up so I can give you your locker number and some paperwork.” Holding one page up waving it over her head, “This one your parents need to fill out. I must have this back tomorrow when you arrive in class. These,” holding up a short stack of pages, “are for you, this is just as important as the one your parents need to fill out within this is also the list of the apparel that you must have to attend and participate in this class. You must have all these with you when you enter class no later than Monday.”
Becky’s name was first to be called. Holding the papers out as she arrived, Miss. Marchal regarded how different Becky seemed to appear since last spring, she even seemed to carry herself with more self-confidence, “Becky you look different, it seems summer has been good to you.”
“Thanks Miss. Marchal,”
“Whatever you’ve done, don’t stop, it really agrees with you.”
“Kat has been teaching me Tai Chi and some of the other stuff she knows,” taking about Kat to the teacher caused Becky to blush.
“Kat?”
“Um, Kathleen Marlete,” Becky informed the teacher of her full name, “The girl I was sitting with.”
“Well it’s nice to see you interested in some form of activity, but be careful learning things on your own, you two could injure yourself.”
“Oh Kat knows what she is doing, She’s been doing it since she was like four years old and has something like three black belts.”
“Oh,” Miss. Marchal mused, she would need to find out if this new student was as good as Becky thought. If so, maybe she could be convinced into some demonstrations or even becoming a teacher’s assistant in gym. Handing Becky the handouts, Miss. Marchal turned and called out the next name on the list.
When Kat’s name was finally called, Kat walked up to the teacher, “I’m Kat Marlete.”
“Your Becky’s new friend correct?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“Becky tells me you are good at martial arts,” Miss. Marchal inquired.
“I’m okay I guess.”
“Well there is a variety of different martial arts, which ones have you studied and what certifications have you gotten?”
“Um, well,” Kat wondered how much she should let this teacher really know, and decided that being honest about what she knew would work, just as long she stuck to the started at four years old story, “I have several black belts, Gung Fu, Jeet Kune Do, Kendo and Kuk Sul Do.
“That seems like a lot of training for a girl your age.”
“I grew up on an Army base,” Kat confessed, “Mom worked really long hours and there wasn’t much to do so I spent a lot of time at the rec center where those were taught.”
“Still belts in four different styles?”
“Yes they are different styles, not completely different things, even Kendo which is a weapon fighting style is still no more than learning how to move with the weapon. Before we Left Germany I was teaching a class in Tai Chi and had become the instructor’s assistant in scars training.”
“What is scars?”
“S.C.A.R.S, it’s an acronym for Special combat aggressive reactionary systems.” Kat explained, “It uses the idea that everyone’s body reacts in the same way to specific injuries and teaches specific strikes that will take down an aggressor by causing a temporary high level of debilitating pain.”
“Do you have anything showing these achievements?”
“I never did it for the awards, I did it because I liked it so I never got any copies.” Kat told the teacher, “But I’m sure my mom could get copies sent to us since it was all done on base.”
“Well if you or your mother could get copies of those I would be interested in letting you do some demonstrations and maybe even some instructing in class.”
“Really?” Kat asked.
“Really,” Miss. Marchal, “I think some martial arts practice for the other girls would not only be a beneficial exercise but also give the girls some self-defense knowledge in case of an emergency.”
“When you put it that way, I’d be happy to show them.” Kat smiled, “I’ll ask mom about getting my certifications faxed to us. I’m sure she can get them pretty quick since she works at the base here.”
Chapter 31
While the block scheduling they used at school was quite different from what Kat remembered when she had been through high school so many year ago, it was the lunch room that really threw her for a loop. Kat has been expecting the normal run of the mill chow line you find in every cafeteria across the world, where you pick up a tray place it on those metal bars and slide it along as ladies that stand on the opposite side of the counter slop ladles of food on your tray.
Walking into the cafeteria of their high school was much different. Instead of the single line everyone was forced to go through, there were several ‘islands’ of food each with a specific type of food. Kat saw a salad island, a taco bar, and even a food island with pizza and various pastas along with the ‘normal’ hot food line that Kat has been expecting.
Knowing it would take Kat longer to get everything she would need to feed her hyper metabolism, Becky headed over to the salad island, telling Kat, “I’ll see you at a table.”
Kat nodded and picked up one of the large flat trays to make it easier to carry everything and got in the hot food line. Once through the hot food line, Kat hit the Pizza island before paying for her food and then trying to locate Becky in the Chaos of the student filled lunchroom. Spotting a familiar looking arm waving back and forth in the distant corner Kat began making her way there, trying both not to spill anything in her tray while at the same time not running into or being ran into by any other students.
Reaching the table Becky was at, two large boys stood at the end looking down at Becky, May and some other girls that were at the table. Another has sat down beside Becky and had his arm around her shoulder, “You know you can come over and sit with us at our table sweetie, you don’t have to sit here with these losers.”
Becky smiled when she saw Kat walk up to the table, “Dan I told you I am not interested, and like I also said when you sat down you’re in my friends seat!”
“Is this your fiend?” He looked up at Kat, “She’s welcome to sit on my lap.”
Kat walked around behind him and sat her tray in front of the goon, “I believe you are in my seat, if you would be kind enough to move please.”
He reached out to her tray picked up a piece of Pizza and took a bite, craned his neck around smiling at Kat, “It looks like you brought enough for both of us babe.”
The other two boys were already backing away from the table, Kat realized she recognized one of them as the boys from the mall. “Uh Danny, I think maybe you should just get up and give her the seat man,” the one Kat recognized said.
“You dipsticks don’t really believe that crap do you?” The boy said from the seat, “A ninja chick? Maybe a ninja’s bitch more like it,” Looking up at Kat grinning, “All she needs is a little one on one with ole Danny boy to show her who’s her daddy.” The boy started humping his hips.
“Kat reached down grabbing the boy by the ear and twisted then began pulling him up and away from the seat. Once she had him up and out of the seat Kat raised her voice loud enough to be heard by most everyone in the cafeteria, “You have been asked to leave multiple times by multiple individuals. You then decided to make comments regarding my parentage, and after that you made an off color statement regarding my virtue. This is your one and only warning! The next time you bother me or any of my friends I will rip this ear off and shove it up your ass in hopes that by placing it closer to your tiny brain you will listen next time. Do I make myself perfectly clear!”
“Yes.”
“Yes what!” Kat yelled.
“Yes ma’am.”
I don’t think everyone heard you.” Kat yelled again.
“YES MA’AM!” He screamed as Kat twisted his ear harder.
Kat let go of his ear, “Now get out of here and leave us alone.” Kat sat down without looking to see if he had left. Everyone that had stopped to watch the scene quickly went back to whatever they were doing and the noise level increased in the room back to its normal deafening level during lunch.
Kat was on her third slice of pizza when one of the school’s security officers walked up. “Miss I need you to come with me.”
“I’ll be happy to once I finish eating.” Kat finished the last slice of pizza and started on the meatloaf and mashed potatoes and gray on another plate she had.
The man moved around Kat, placing one hand on her shoulder, “I need you to come with me now.”
Swallowing what was in her mouth, “It will take less time for you to wait until I am done, than it will take to pick yourself up off the floor if you try to make me come with you before I am finished.” Kat continued eating.
“Mr. Erickson,” Becky looked over her shoulder, “She eats really fast, it won’t take long.” Watching the girl eat reminded him of his days in the Marines, how after coming in off patrol men would sit and shovel their meal like starving coyotes. Kat finished her food at her normal pace, which was that of a ravenous coyote. Then turned to Mr. Erickson, “Thank you for letting me finish that, I’m ready to go.” Kat was led to Mr. Bishop’s office.
“Hello again Kat,” Mr. Bishop frowned, “I would like to say it’s a pleasure to see you again, but under the circumstance that would be untrue. Would you mind telling me what exactly happened between you and Mr. Pardue?”
“Is that the boy’s name that was hitting on my friend and I and then began eating my lunch?”
“If that’s what you say he did?”
“He did. We also asked him to leave multiple times which he ignored.”
“Of course his story sounds quite different and everyone heard you threaten him.”
“I made no threats,” Kat stated.
“What was that about ripping his ear off then?”
“A promise,” Kat stated, “Oh something you might want to inform that jackass of, I do not make promises I do not intend to keep.”
“Kat that is a threat.”
“No Mr. Bishop I disagree. When you tell your child, if you get straight A’s I’ll buy you a new car and they get those A’s and you buy them the car, was it a threat or promise? It was a promise.”
Kat continued to lecture Mr. Bishop, “When you tell the same child if you do this against my wishes you will be punished, you have not threatened them, you have made them a promise. The same goes for that jackass.”
Taking a deep breath Kat stated, “Now I see that you have two options, you can expel me or you can reign in those jackasses before one of them gets hurt. Now expelling isn’t truly an option because I have several witnesses to exactly what occurred, and I also only used just enough force to make the moron do as he was being asked without fighting back and causing further harm to himself or bystanders. Also any form of punishment that you were to give me would only solidify the jocks in thinking they can continue their brutish behavior to the girls in this school, which will eventually become a larger problem that may even lead to this school being sued when some girl is out right raped by one of those goons.”
“Kat this is the first time I have been told of any issues with the players on the football team.”
“Why do I find that hard to believe?” Kat sniped, “I think you should call my mother then.”
“This is only your first incident, there is no reason to have your mother come in at this time.”
“I totally disagree!” Kat pulled her cell phone from her purse and used the speed dial. “Kat? Kathleen I told you this does not need to concern your parents!”
“Hi, Mom. Yes I’m sitting in the assistant principal’s office at school. I’m putting you on speaker so Mr. Bishop can hear you.”
“Kat wait, don’t put me on speaker yet. You didn’t hurt anybody did you?”
“No mom, only bruised egos, and you are on speaker.” Kat said, “Mr. Bishop seems to think I should accept punishment for insisting a boy leave Becky and myself alone.”
“Mrs. Marlete, this is Mr. Bishop the assistant principal, Kat is not being punished for what she thinks, she is in my office because she threatened another student with physical harm.”
“What did you say to this other student Kat?” Her mother asked. Kat relayed what she had told him word for word.
“Kat if this student bothers one of you again do you intend to do exactly what you told him you would do?”
“Yes ma’am.” Kat smirked.
“Then Mr. Bishop I would have to agree that my daughter would not view this as a threat she would see it more like a warning. Similar to a warning sign you see on a military base that reads danger trespassers will be shot, or a sign on a fence that reads Danger electrified fence.”
“Mom it’s not that it bothers me to accept whatever bullshit punishment he wants to throw at me, it’s that by accepting it he is by his act be showing these jocks they can get away with treating girls however they wish.”
“I wish I had pressed charges against those three at the mall now,” Deb spoke, “Mr. Bishop I know my daughter well enough to know when she is telling the truth and when something has her very concerned. I am on my way there to discuss this situation with you personally.” The phone went dead. Kat put her phone away and sat back in the chair with her purse in her lap.
Chapter 32
“Mr. Bishop?” Deb stepped into the office to find her daughter sitting in a hard wooden chair across from a nice looking man sitting behind a desk, “I’m Kathleen’s mother, Doctor Marlete,”
Mr. Bishop stood to shake the woman’s hand, “Doctor Marlete it’s nice to finally meet you, I apologize for the occasion though.” Bishop couldn’t help but notice the ID badge on her lapel that had D.A.R.P.A. is bold letters across the top.
“No apologies are necessary, it’s good to get things like this cleared up quickly so they do not cause further issues later.” Deb turned to Kat, “Kat, I want you to tell me everything that happened, full mission debrief.” Kat did as she was told and in the no nonsense fashion that would befit a military debriefing.
“That was an interesting way to describe the issue Kat?” Mr. Bishop said.
“Mr. Bishop I have worked for the US Army most my life. Kat was born in an Army hospital and grew up on military bases, you’ll find that this has instilled certain traits into my daughter, one of them is being able to describe the facts without letting your emotions distort those facts. She may try to withhold a fact from me but I can assure you she will never distort one.”
“Still the fact remains that she threatened that student. She even admits to doing it.”
“What I see here is a disagreement over a definition of a word.” Deb began, “The problem lays in that Kat is completely correct in that if she accepts any punishment over this incident, by default you are telling those boys that it is acceptable to continue sexually harassing any girl they wish. The only solution I can see is to punish the boy for the sexual harassment and punish Kat for threatening him.”
“But he hasn’t admitted to any harassment!”
“From what I have heard, I believe you have enough witnesses of his actions. What is your policy for sexual harassment?”
“Expulsion,” Bishop almost whispered.
“Then it seems prudent to call in the other girls that are witnesses, take their statements and if they all show the boy was sexually harassing the girls, he should be expelled. And Kat will serve whatever your policy is for threatening another student.”
“But he has never done anything like this before!” Bishop argued.
“Am I incorrect in your school having a zero tolerance policy?”
“But the boy is one of our star players, real clean cut boy.”
Deb looked around at the wall plaques and pictures of the football team that covered the walls in his office, “It sounds like you are hesitant to punish the boy because of his athletic ability.”
“I wouldn’t put it that way.” Bishop backpedaled.
“Well sir, you can see my dilemma too,” Deb smiled at Bishop, “If you do not wish to punish the boy, I cannot allow you to punish my daughter. As a matter of fact if you even attempt to pretend to punish her over this matter and not punish the boy, I will have a legal team bring this up in civil court. If they discover this is not the only incident of sexual harassment that wasn’t dealt with as per your school’s policy this could easily snowball into a real problem for you and your school Mr. Bishop.”
“I got an idea Mom.” Kat chipped in, “No one has to get punished, kicked off any team or thrown out of school and it would show those jocks that we are not their personal playthings to come around and grope whenever they feel like it.”
“So what this idea?” Deb warily glanced over to the suspiciously innocent looking teenage girl whom she knew had experience beyond her apparent age at causing trouble.
“Ms. Marchal, the girls PE teacher asked me if I would do a martial arts demonstration for the girls and maybe even show them some self-defense.” Kat saw her mother’s surprise, “I was going to talk with you tonight about this since you would need to get my records faxed from Germany since she would need the certifications for it to be all legal like.” Kat stopped to catch her breath, “What if I fought the football team for the demonstration?”
“Young lady those boy are three times your size!” Bishop's eyes widened with horror as the image of this young lady being torn apart by his players. There was no way that she could be serious.
“Exactly!” Kat grinned, “What better people to demonstrate with.”
“Those boys would tear you to ribbons!” Bishop spat.
“Care to wager on that Mr. Bishop?” Kat giggled.
“Mr. Bishop,” Deb interrupted, “Kat is quite talented, and it would be interesting. My only concern is Kat doing serious harm to one of the boys.”
“I seriously doubt your little girl could hurt one of my boys!”
“I promise, I’ll go easy on them Mom,” Kat grinned into Bishop's eyes. She knew she had pushed the right buttons with him, it was obvious he was very proud of the school football team and Kat and her mother had just insulted him by saying a girl could beat them.
“Doctor Marlete, I’ll need a signed permission slip from you over this, absolving the school for any injury that may occur to your daughter during this demonstration she wishes to put on.”
Deb smiled at Mr. Bishop, “Of course I would want the same thing of the boys. In the case that my little girl did accidentally happen to harm one of your football players.”
Chapter 33
May was very surprised to see Kat walk into her Calculus class and hand Mr. Spinello, their teacher, a note. When May saw the teacher motion for Kat to find an empty seat, May waved her over to one beside her. Once Kat sat down May leaned over and whispered, “What are you doing in here?”
“This is Calculus class right?”
“Yea, but why are you here?” May questioned.
“This is where the placement tests said I should be.”
“So you’re smart and pretty, now I really hate you.” May giggled.
“Is there a problem Miss Hudson?” The teacher singled May out.
“No Mr. Spinello I was just catching Kat up on what she missed so far.”
“Good thinking, carry on.”
“So how much trouble are you in for what happened in the cafeteria?”
“Not half as much as the football team is going to be in,” Kat grinned.
“They never get in trouble, Bishop covers for them for all the stuff those guys do.”
“They are up shit creek without a paddle and don’t know it yet.”
“How?”
“I’ll tell you after class.”
When the bell rang Kat walked with May to the door. Becky came running up the hall to meet them, “Kat what happened?” A group of students were gathering around that had seen the incident in the cafeteria and were curious.
“Bishop tried to punish me for removing that jackass from our table.” Kat replied.
“And?” Becky begged for the rest of the story.
“You know that Miss Marchal asked me if I could do a martial arts demonstration this morning right?”
“Yes so?”
“I suckered Bishop into volunteering the football team as my targets.”
“For some reason I don’t think you are telling us the whole story Kat,” Becky glared at Kat.
“Kat those guys are mean, they’ll hurt you on purpose,” May objected to this whole idea.
“That’s the whole point May,” Kat beamed, “They will try but all they will do is make a fool of themselves in front of the whole school! Not only will they be taken down a peg or two, a lot of the girls that see it will want to learn how to defend themselves once they see how little ole me can do it against the whole football team.”
“The whole team Kat? Are you insane!” Becky sputtered, worrying that Kat would get really hurt.
“Not all at once,” Kat giggled, “We came up with a bunch of rules, no more than five of them on the mat with me at any one time.”
“Five?” May’s eyes got really wide.
“Kat five are you serious?” Becky asked.
“Well yea, Bishop wanted it to be four, but I got him up to five before mom told me to shut up.”
“Your mom agreed to this!” Becky and May chorused.
“Oh yea, She was all for it. She got fed up with Bishop’s crap real fast. Mom even helped to set all the rules.” Kat continued, “When anyone goes off the mats for any reason they are out and cannot come back in. For them to win they have to get me off the mats, pin me to the mat for ten seconds or, “Kat dropped her voice to a whisper, “kiss me on the lips.”
“WHAT!” Becky yelled, “Not just no but Hell no! No way, you have got to get them to take that rule out!”
Giggling May looked at Becky, “Jeeze Becky you act like Kat’s your girlfriend!” May was shocked when she saw Becky blushing, but remained quiet knowing the hallway was no place to discuss something like that. Thinking quickly she asked, “So Kat what do you know about this rumor of a ninja?”
“It’s not true,” Kat stated.
“Of course it’s not, but those boys don’t know that. You have heard of psychological warfare haven’t you?”
“Well duh, I grew up on an Army base.” Kat giggled.
Walking into their last class of the day, “Do either of you have any plans after school?” May asked. Becky and Kat both shook their heads. “Good because I have an idea.”
71 year old John Dodge, retired military, now sits in a nursing home, his body riddled with cancer, waiting on the grim reaper to come for him when he is given another option.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the Author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Chapter 34
After changing, Kat and Becky explained that they had a some things they had to pick up for gym class after dinner, Kat also gave her mother the permission slip and had her sign it. While they were cleaning up after dinner Becky’s phone rang. Her caller ID showed that it was May, so she answered and placed her on speaker phone.
“Hi May, I was just getting ready to call you and tell you we are on our way.”
“Cool, I told my mother our plans for tonight and she wants to drive me over so she can meet Kat and her mother.” May sighed, sounding slightly exasperated with her mom , “She’s really protective that way.”
Becky and Kat giggled, they both understood the issue of over protective parents. Becky replied, “No problem May, We’ll get Kat’s mom to call the gate and make sure to know to let them through.”
“Oh does Kat live there too?” May sounded surprised.
Becky giggled. Her friend hadn’t changed a bit since last year. She was still the absent minded brainiac, “Silly, I thought we told you she was my next door neighbor?”
“Oh she is?” May sighed with disappointment, “I seriously don’t remember you saying that, but you know me!. I remember how to get to your house, that’s gotta count for something!” She momentarily giggled, “So, which one is hers and are you there already?”
Even though her friend couldn’t see her, Becky nodded. “It’s the white one just past my house.”
“The really big one?” May gasped, “That house is huge!”
“Yeah, it’s kinda big and yes, I’m already at Kat’s. I’m spending the night tonight.” Becky looked over and both Kat and Deb, “You should ask your mom if you could spend the night with us!”
Deb smiled and nodded, signaling her approval of the idea.
Becky smiled with appreciation. “Kat’s mom says it okay, we have plenty of room here and you could ride to school tomorrow with us.”
“I’ll ask,” May hesitated, “but I doubt my mom will allow me to, even if she does she wouldn’t say yes until she meets Kat’s mom. So, I’ll see you when we get there.”
“Okay, but bring your bathing suit in case she says yes. See ya,” Becky turned off the call and put her phone away.
“So what kind of things do you two need to pick up?” Deb asked the dynamic duo.
“Let’s see, Gym stuff,” Kat paused for a beat as she mentally went through her mental checklist, “Ummm, sports bra, school gym shorts and shirts.”
Becky jumped in with a mischievous smirk on her lips. “And the material for Kat’s Ninja outfit!”
“Ninja outfit?” Deb’s eyebrows raised as she looked over her uncharacteristically abashed looking charge.
“Uh yea,” Kat stammered, “Someone started a rumor about that, and the girls thought it would be fun to play a little psychological warfare before the big fight.”
“And ninja is better than the other rumor that is going around about Kat,” Becky snickered.
“What other rumor?” Deb asked.
“That Kat was raised by wild animals,” Becky laughed.
“Wild animals?” Deb laughed, “Let me guess, Badgers?”
“Mom, it’s not that funny!”
“I’m sorry honey,” Deb tried to catch her breath, “It’s just that is so ridiculous, I just can’t get over how that nickname has spread!”
“Nickname?” glancing back and forth between Kat and her mother, Becky tilted her head to one side.
“Kat never told you about the nickname the guards gave her?” Deb innocently asked as Kat anxiously motioned for her mother to stop.
“They call you Badger?” Becky giggled.
Kat groaned, dropping her forehead to the table, causing her friend to grow even more curious. “Come on Kat! Fess up I want to hear the juicy details of this.”
“I sparred with a couple of the special forces guys,” Kat deadpanned.
“You fought Army Rangers!” Becky’s eyes grew wide.
Deb grinned, “Green Beret, and she beat every one of them that stepped on the mat with her. One of them said fighting her was like trying to fight an angry badger because she was small, fast and fierce. They’ve been calling her Badger since.”
Becky’s jaw dropped to the floor. “So, wait, they’re calling Kat, Honey Badger?!?! OMG! That’s even better!” She squealed and excitedly hugged her blushing friend.
“Honey Badgers don’t live in the US,” Kat countered, “We have American badgers here.”
“But you’re so sweet,” Becky cracked, “You have to be a honey badger!”
Twenty minutes later, May’s mother slowed to a stop in front of the house her excited daughter indicated, “Are you sure this is the right house dear?”
May made a show of checking the text message that Becky had sent with the address. “Yes mom, according to Becky this is Kat’s house.”
“I guess it won’t hurt to knock if it isn’t.” Her mother pulled their car into the drive. They had no sooner pulled up in front of the house when the front door sprang open and May’s friends burst out, followed by an older woman who followed at a more leisurely pace.
May had no sooner stepped out of the car when she was pulled into a hug by Becky, “You’re here!”
“I see you found the house okay,” Kat grinned.
“Yep, although it was kinda hard to spot, being how small it is and all, we drove by it twice before we noticed it.” May giggled.
“May!” Her mother scolded as she got out of the driver’s side, “You have better manners than that.”
May sighed, “It was only a joke mom.”
“Hello Mrs. Hudson,” Deb walked up to the car, “I’m Doctor Marlete, Kat’s mother, but please, call me Deb. Would you like to come in?”
“I’d like that,” May’s mother smiled as shook Deb’s hand. “And I’m Lien.”
May leaned over toward Kat as the three followed the two women toward the house and whispered, “You never said your mom was a doctor?”
“Psychiatrist,” Kat deadpanned, “She keeps the mad scientists over at DARPA from going off the deep end.”
“Kat, you know very well that they’re working on cancer research,” Deb chuckled.
‘Cancer research my ass!’ Kat thought to herself. Although she knew the cover story inside and out since they had drilled the story into her before leaving the lab. ‘Curing me was a side effect and honestly it did not get rid of my cancer, it changed it into something else. It changed me into something else.’ Kat wondered if she should talk to her mother about some of the other things she had begun noticing. So far, the fear of being hauled back into the lab for more tests had stopped her.
Chapter 35
Matt tapped his knuckles on the door frame before stepping through the open doorway into the hospital room, “Colonel Lurie?” Matt looked toward the elderly man lying in the hospital bed, and IV in his right arm and a nasal cannula under his nose supplying him oxygen.
“What can I do for you boys?” The bed stricken man Looked up at the two men in uniform.
“Mind if we have a word with you?” Jake asked.
“Well it’s not like I’m going anywhere,” The old man smiled, “pull up a chair and tell me what’s on your mind. I’m kind of curious as to what the Army would want with an old washed up jarhead.”
Matt walked over picking up a chair that he moved closer to the side of the bed while Jake closed the door. “Sir we are actually DOD, more specifically DARPA,” Matt explained.
“Alright son,” the old man grinned, “I’ll ask again, what does the DOD want with an old retired Marine?”
“First off,” Matt began, “What I am about to tell you is top secret. Only myself, Captain Wagner,” Matt nodded toward where Jake stood by the closed door, “and a very small group know of this and it must stay that way.”
The older man’s face became staunch, “Major, once a Marine, always a Marine. I know how to keep my trap shut.”
“That was never an issue sir, I only wanted to let you know how sensitive the information I am about to tell you is.”
“Don’t worry son,” The man smiled, “I’ll carry it to my grave, which from the looks of things isn’t too far away.” Matt nodded then began explaining the project.
The retired Colonel listened without interrupting until Matt finally leaned back in the chair. “That has got to be the biggest sea story I have ever heard!”
“Sea story?” Matt asked.
“Yea, whopper, tall tale, bullshit story,” The older man laughed.
“It’s all true sir,” Jake affirmed from where he still stood by the door.
“You expect me to believe that you boys have some magic potion that turns old men into young supermen?”
“No sir,” Matt explained, “Not quite supermen, but the procedure has been proven to enhance strength and stamina.”
“Proven?” the old man raised an eyebrow, “So you have used it on others already?”
“Yes sir,” Matt nodded.
“Well?” the old man demanded.
“Not sure I follow?” Matt sounded confused.
“Son if I am going to volunteer for this I want to know everything,” The old man sounded off, “I didn’t get this old being stupid, you’re holding back something. So tell me about the others that have gone through this.”
Matt looked over at Jake before turning back to the retired Colonel, “You have to understand that we had no idea that the process would regress your age when the first volunteer when through it.”
Jake finished for his partner, when he saw the look on the elderly man’s face, “It reduced his age to that of a small baby.”
“Jesus fucking christ!” the old man spat, “You gotta be shitting me.”
“Knowing about the age regression, the second man to go through it was in his late forties,” Matt continued, “He ended up around the age of fifteen.”
“Well that’s better than having to wear diapers, but I think I know where you guys are going and why you have asked me.”
“Yes sir,” Jake spoke before the question was asked, “We have set a bottom limit of age fifty five for any volunteers.”
“Also only those with no close family ties,” Matt added.
“Yes I can see some guy coming home to his wife, younger than their own kids creating a little a problem.” The old man deadpanned. “So how many others have gone through this?”
“Just one other,” Matt noticeably cringed.
“I take it that did not go so well?”
“There were unexpected complications,” Jake quickly answered.
“Let's hear it.” The old man demanded.
“Um well Dodge had advanced cancer that had spread throughout his whole body,” Jake explained, “from what the doctors told us, between the cancer, all the medicines they had him on and an almost nonexistent testosterone level.”
“Dodge?” The older man gasped, “John Dodge?” Both Matt and Jake nodded. “You fuck-ups killed a medal of honor recipient?”
“No, no sir,” Matt quickly stated, “He’s alive.”
“Then what the hell happened?” The old man yelled.
“He, well it,” Matt stammered, “he’s a she now.”
The old man’s eyes went wide, “You turned that fire breathing, bullet chewing son of a bitch into a girl!” Then began laughing uncontrollably. Several minutes went by, the old man unable to do anything but laugh every time he tried to open his mouth. Finally regaining his composure, “So what are the chances that would happen to me?”
“That would be something you have to ask the doctors,” Jake answered.
“But they believe those same conditions happening again are pretty rare.” Matt added.
“Okay, say I volunteer,” The old man grinned, “conditionally that is.”
“What conditions sir?” Matt asked.
“First, If at any time I change my mind, we stop. Period, dot, dash and no damn question marks, got it?”
“Not a problem,” Matt spoke, “If at any time you want out, just say the word.”
“I also want nothing held back from me, if I have a question I want an answer. And I want to talk with Dodge before they start poking and prodding me.”
Chapter 36
The next morning at school, May had ran the material they purchased to Mrs. Woodby, Kat headed straight to the girls locker room to give her certifications to Miss Marchal while Becky began the first part of her mission. Becky had never hung out with the Goths but they were always working on some evil scheme of one kind or another to get over on the pretties or the jocks, they would love being in on this.
Becky and Kat met back up in their English class. Both had already taken their seats when another group of three girls walked in giggling at something on a phone one of them held. Noticing Kat the first one froze causing her friends to bump into her, “Ohmygod, ohmygod, it’s you!” Looking directly at Kat. Rushing over to stand in front of Kat’s desk, “You are so my hero now!” the girl chattered away, “Uh, I’m Lynn and this is Debbie and Ann. We saw the video of what you did to those bullies at the mall, and we think you’re great!”
“What video?” Kat sounded confused.
“The one my brother got of you teaching those jocks a lesson!” Lynn stated proudly.
“Your brother?” Kat still not understanding what she was talking about.
“Yes, my brother works part time, he said he sold you a phone,” The girl couldn’t stop grinning at Kat, “When that one boy started shouting at them to stop, and you ran over he got what you did on video and it was amazing!” The girl restarted the video clip on her phone and held it so Kat and Becky could watch it.
“Oh crap,” Kat breathed.
Leaning to Kat so not everyone could hear her Becky said in a low voice, “This is actually great,” looking up at Lynn, could you send that to my phone?”
“Sure,” Lynn grinned, “what’s the number?” Becky told her the number while the girl thumbed it in at the same time.
Becky heard the buzz in her purse of her phone receiving a message, “Thanks!”
Before they could talk more the teacher walked in and told everyone to get to their seats and began class.
When Kat and Becky entered the girl's locker room Ms. Marchal called Kat aside, “Kat, a student showed me an interesting video clip during first block this morning.”
“Um yea,” Kat’s eyes met the floor, “a girl showed it to me and Becky this morning. I didn’t know anyone got that on tape.”
“Care to tell me what exactly happened?” Ms. Marchal gave Kat the opportunity to explain.
“The jerk grabbed Becky and was fondling her breasts,” Kat continued staring at the floor.
Reaching over to Kat, Ms. Marchal gently pulled her chin up so she could look in Kat’s eyes, “Miss Marlete, I can not condone any violence in my class, do you understand?”
“Yes Ms. Marchal,” Kat tried to look away but the teacher held her firm.
“Okay go on and take your seat,” as Kat began to leave Ms. Marchal called to her, “Kat?”
“Yes ma’am?”
“That was a very impressive,” Ms. Marchal grinned then followed Kat out into the classroom.
As she sat down Becky looked at Kat, “What was that about?”
“Someone showed her the video.”
“This is turning out better than we could have hoped,” Becky giggled.
“Alright class,” Ms. Marchal said from the front of the classroom, “I want everyone’s attention.” She waited while the girls settled down and all looked toward her, “Many of you know of or have seen a certain video clip that has been circulating around this morning.” Many of the girls were nodding their heads grinning while a few looked around curiously, “The contents of that short video pertain to part of what we try to do in this class. Without proper physical fitness none of what you see in this video is possible.”
Turning the smart board on the wall behind her on, Ms. Marchal waited for the projector lamp to brighten to full power. Touching a file on the desktop that displayed, it opened a media player. The clip showed three boys surrounding a girl, all in their teens. Another boy off to one side was shouting and another girl with a really long braid was running toward the commotion. The clip was less than ninety seconds long and stopped with all three boys on the ground and the long haired girl crouching like some kind of wild predator in search of her prey.
Several girls turned, their mouths hung open, staring at Kat when Ms. Marchal got everyone’s attention again, “Kat would you mind coming up to the front of class before anyone gets whiplash.” Several girls giggled at that. As Kat stood beside the teacher, “Everyone this is Kathleen Marlete, for those that haven’t met her yet, she is new to our school this year,” Smiling at Kat, “Why don’t you tell everyone a little about yourself?”
Kat looked out at the girls in front of her, all their eyes were glued to her, “Um, well, everyone calls me Kat, not Kathleen, that is unless it’s my mother and I’m in trouble,” most of the girls began giggling and nodding at that, “We just moved back from Germany.”
“How long have you been doing karate?” one girl asked.
“All my life,” Kat grinned sheepishly, thinking to herself that it wasn’t really a lie since she had learned it prior to the new life she now had, “I really can’t remember not practicing it.”
“Are you really a ninja?” One girl shouted above the rest.
Kat frowned, “That’s just a rumor someone has been spreading about me.” Kat glanced over to Becky, “Ninjas don’t really exist.”
“That’s exactly what a ninja would say!” Someone shouted. The girls all laughed at the outburst.
The questions went on until Ms. Marchal finally asked Kat to explain the concepts of Tai Chi exercise to the class and finally asked for a show of hands as to how many girls would be interested in learning Tai Chi during class, if Kat was willing to teach them. The show of hands was unanimous among the seated girls.
Chapter 37
The Next morning everyone had just taken their seats in Mrs. Whitley’s English class when the loudspeaker crackled beginning the morning announcements. At the end of which several students were asked to report to the guidance office and Kat was asked to report to Mr. Bishop’s office.
Mr. Bishop’s door was open when Kat arrived, so she knocked on the door frame.
“Come in Kat,” Mr. Bishop looked up from where he sat at his desk. One of the two chairs in front of his desk was occupied by Ms. Marchal, Kat’s gym teacher, “Have a seat Kat,” Mr. Bishop motioned toward the empty chair. “Miss Marchal and I were just discussing this exhibition that we have planned for the weekend after next. And this fake video that is circulating around.”
“Fake video sir?” Kat saw Ms’ Marchal roll her eyes at the mention of the video.
“Yes Kat,” Mr. Bishop continued, “The one you and your friends faked in an attempt to scare the boys that will be in the exhibition. I want you to make an announcement that this was indeed faked and never happened.”
“No.” Kat calmly answered.
“No what?” Mr. Bishop glared at Kat, “Are you saying, No, the video is not faked or, No, you will not make the announcement.”
“Both,” Kat remained calm, “I didn’t even know the video existed until a few days ago, neither I nor any of my friends made the video as it was taken by someone with a cell phone that was there when those asswipes started the fight.”
“Kat, we are concerned for your safety in this,” Ms. Marchal included.
“That is true Kat,” Mr. Bishop nodded, “that video has allot of the boys riled up, we are afraid they will try to hurt you during the demonstration. I am sure if you announced that the video was faked, most of them would calm down.”
Leaning forward in the chair toward Mr. Bishop, “No disrespect intended Mr. Bishop, but if you had reigned in that group of thugs when they first began to get out of hand, none of this would have ever happened. I may not like it that what happened was caught on video, but the fact is that video is real and I’m not going to lie just so your precious football players don’t lose face.”
“I have half a mind to cancel this demonstration!” Bishop warned.
“Do whatever you want Mr. Bishop,” Kat smirked, “But with that video going around, no matter what reason you give for canceling, everyone will know that you did it to keep those delinquents from getting their asses handed to them by a girl.”
“Watch your language young lady!” Mr. Bishop glared.
“Kat, we are worried about your safety,” Ms. Marchal stated.
“You may be Miss Marchal,” Kat glanced over at the teacher, “But he only cares about his precious football team.”
“I have just about had it with your insubordination young lady!” Bishop stormed, standing up from his chair with both fists on his desk.
Kat jumped up and leaned over his desk staring him directly in the eyes, “Better men than you have tried to intimidate me Mr. Bishop and it did not work well for them either!” Kat spoke in a clear calm voice.
“I will not be threatened by a student!” Mr. Bishop shouted.
“There you go again, saying I am threatening people when I am not.” Kat smirked, knowing that she had gotten under his skin, “I stated a fact, one that apparently you do not like so you try to say it is something that it is not.”
Chapter 38
“HE DID WHAT!” Deb screamed into the phone, “Stay right there I am on my way!”
As soon as she hung up the phone Deb dialed Matt’s office, “Hello Deb,” Deb heard Matt calmly on the other end of the connection, “What did Kat do this time?”
“How’d you know it was about Kat?”
“I could hear you yelling all the way down here,” Matt chuckled.
“She didn’t do anything,” Deb explained, “It’s that Neanderthal vice principal slash athletic director at their school. Apparently someone got a video on their cell phone of that fight Kat had in the mall and it’s gone viral in their school.”
“We knew the possibility existed of someone doing that.”
“Yes but he is demanding that Kat get on their PA system and say it’s faked.”
Matt began laughing, “I bet that went over like a lead balloon.”
“Then he tried to intimidate her by towering over her and pounding his fists on the desk.”
“Oh crap, she didn’t hurt him did she?” Matt gulped, “Do I need to get someone from legal?”
“No, but she is upset enough and I am angry enough to let her!”
“Okay, sit tight,” Matt tried to calm Deb. “Let me make a couple quick phone calls then I’ll come to your office and drive you there.”
“Kat please,” Miss. Marchal continued to try and convince the girl to go along with Mr. Bishop, “I do not doubt that it was real either, but is it worth being suspended over?”
“Marlete, Kathleen E. Eleventh Grade, KM2086493,” Kat said while staring straight ahead.
“Kat stop that and listen to me!” Miss. Marchal begged.
“Marlete, Kathleen E. Eleventh Grade, KM2086493.”
“What is that suppose to be Kat?” Miss Marchal tried to get Kat to talk to her.
“It’s her name, grade and I’m guessing her school ID number,” Karen stated. Kat’s eyes grew wide when she turned to see Karen had walked into the school’s office flanked by two men dressed in business suits.
“Name rank and serial number, it’s something our father would do when he was done talking.” Karen continued.
“Mom called you?” Kat gulped.
“No your mom called Matt and Matt called me,” Karen grinned, “Don’t worry baby sister we’ll take care of everything.” Turning to Miss Marchal, Karen held out her hand, “Hi I am Kat older sister, Karen Sawdey and you are?”
“Miss Marchal,” she took her hand, “Kat’s gym teacher.”
“Friend or foe?” Karen looked over at Kat.
“Friendly,” Kat answered.
“Good,” Karen smiled then knelt down in front of Kat, “I think we have a solution for this that you will love. So while my two friends and I go have a little chat with this Mr. Bishop I want you to think about what dad always said was the best way to lie.”
As Karen walked down down the short hallway toward Mr. Bishop’s office Kat shook her head, “I don’t get it.”
“Don’t get what?” Miss Marchal asked.
Kat explained,”Dad always said the best way to lie is to tell the truth in such a way that no one believes you.”
Miss Marchal chuckled, “I never thought of that before but it’s true.”
“Yea, that way you don’t have to remember whatever story you came up with.”
While they waited on Karen to return from Mr. Bishop’s office Matt and Deb came in. Deb immediately ran over and knelt down in front of Kat, “Are you alright hon?”
“I’m fine mom, just mad as hell right now.”
“Not half as mad as I am!” Deb spat, “This time he has gone too far, I am going to give him a piece of my mind and then let him deal with our attorney.”
“You’re gonna have to get in line, Karen’s already in there with him.” Kat giggled.
“Who called…” Deb peered over where Matt was standing.
Matt shrugged, “What can I say, you play by the rules, she goes for the jugular.”
A few minutes later Karen came back down the hall followed by the two men that came with her and behind them Mr. Bishop. Karen stopped Deb, who had stood up and began to go past her toward Bishop, “Hold up for a moment Deb, I think you will like what I am doing, Karen whispered.
Turning to the secretary, “Could you show me where your public address system is and how to operate it?”
The secretary turned and looked over to Mr. Bishop who was nodding and smiling behind the two men. She then took Karen over to it and showed her how to operate it.
“Thank you,” Karen smiled warmly before turning her attention to Kat. “Kat come over here.” Once Kat was over she looked her in the eyes, “I know this is something you do not want to do, but I want you to put on your best poker face, then read this carefully to yourself. When you are ready let me know.” Karen handed her a hand written page.
Matt walked over to Deb leaning over to whisper to her, “Karen’s got something up her sleeve, she’s too happy to have Kat make this announcement.”
Kat looked up at Karen, her face blank of any expression, “Okay, I’m ready.”
“Sure?” Karen asked, “Do you need to read it again or anything, we don’t want this to sound like you're reading from a script.”
Karen pressed down the talk button on the aging microphone then nodded to Kat.
“Um hi everyone, My name is Kathleen Marlete. Mr. Bishop has asked me to make an announcement about the video of the fight that everyone has been showing around. I am the girl in that video, and Mr. Bishop has asked me to say that the video is faked.” Kat turned her head to looks toward Mr. Bishop, “Was that good enough Mr. Bishop? You said you wouldn’t suspend me if I lied about it like you wanted, right?”
Everyone with the exception of Karen, Kat and the two gentlemen that came with Karen eye’s grew wide, especially Mr. Bishop’s. “You stupid Cun…” He screamed from behind the two men that were now blocking him from getting over to Kat and Karen, “Take your finger off the talk button!”
“What was that Mr. Bishop?” Karen grinned evilly while still holding the talk button down, “You don’t want anyone to know that you tried to blackmail my little sister into lying to the whole school so that you can continue covering up how some of your star football players have been sexually harassing female students?” Karen took her finger off the talk button then smiled down at Kat, “I think we are done.”
Kat wrapped her arms around Karen, “You are so totally awesome!”
“Mr. Bishop could I see you in my office please?” Everyone heard a voice from down the hallway, “And Mrs. Potts would you please give Miss Marlete a pass so that she can go back to class.”
“Yes Mr. McKay,” Mrs. Potts grinned from her chair. “I would be delighted to write one for her.”
Chapter 39
“You know it sucks having to spend my Saturday going to the doctor?” Kat sighed
“Yes but this way you don’t miss half a day of school,”
“I don’t have to see Hakim do I?” Kat asked as they walked into the DARPA building.
“No we’re only seeing Doctor Oliver today.”
“Good,” Kat snorted, “I swear if that jerkwad calls me test subject 3 again I am going to put his head through a wall.”
“Doctor Hakim is a brilliant scientist,” Deb commented.
“With the bedside manner of a barbed wire fence,” Kat added.
Deb chuckled, “True.”
The young army corporal looked up from his desk as the pair walked in through the large double glass doors. “Can I help you?”
Deb fished her ID badge out of her purse and handed it to the young soldier, “I’m Doctor Marlete and this is my daughter Kathleen.”
“Yes ma’am Doctor Marlete,” The corporal handed Deb her ID badge back, “I’ll have to check to see if your daughter is cleared to accompany you and issue her a visitors pass.”
“Oh yea,” Kat began to dig through her own purse, “Sorry I forgot.” She apologized as she finally produced her own ID badge that she handed to the corporal.
The corporal examined her badge carefully before looking up at Kat. His gaze quickly moved down from her face to her chest. ‘I hate how men always do that!’ Kat thought to herself realizing she was just as bad if not worse, ‘I wish I could go back and apologize to every woman I stared at or made rude comments to.’ Deb, who also could tell where the corporal’s eyes seemed to be glued, cleared her throat.
“Um, sorry ma’am,” The corporal face reddened slightly as he handed Kat her ID badge back, “I was reading your shirt. It’s pretty funny, considering this place.”
“Yea I thought so too,” grinning, Kat looked down at the shirt she had worn that had a picture of a mad scientist in a white lab coat holding a beaker. The the side of the picture of the mad scientist it read, “Screw lab safety,” and under both those words and the picture in larger lettering it read, “I want superpowers!”
“You and your daughter are cleared to go on in Doctor Marlete.” Realizing that they could tell he was still staring at Kat, “Uh sorry, it’s just that you look so much like that Disney princess.”
“I get that allot,” Kat smiled weakly before turning to follow her mother, who was already walking toward the elevator.
Inside the elevator, Deb held her ID badge up to the control panel before pushing the bottom button marked sub level 1. Kat knew from her own experience in the building that there were more levels below that but those could only be accessed from another elevator and set of stairs once you arrived on the floor they were heading to now.
Two armed guards stood in the small room the elevator opened into. “Doctor Marlete,” Gray sideburns and receding hairline gave testament that the Sergeant was older than his partner.
“Hey master sarge,” Kat grinned at the older man, “You ready for a rematch yet?”
While Master Sergeant Williams had not been fully read into what went on at the lab, he had been told that anything he learned about her was classified when they had asked him to get on a mat with her to determine what fighting skills he could teach the young woman. He had no idea what the girl could or couldn’t do and had determined to go easy on her. That was his second mistake, his first mistake was breaking the cardinal rule, know thy enemy. He had stepped on the mat thinking at most the girl had some minimal self defense training. “Hey Badger,” Master Sergeant Williams smiled at Kat.
Kat giggled quite girlishly at his use of the nickname he had inadvertently gave her after she had beaten him twice. Master Sergeant Williams had commented that it was like trying to fight an angry badger. The name quickly spread around to the military personnel that worked in the lower levels of the complex so much that many in uniform and some of the non-military staff now referred to her as Badger.
“If you do have time for a little fun,” Master Sergeant Williams grinned widely, “We got a noob that thinks the stories are a load of crap.”
“Not today Sergeant Williams,” Deb intervened, “After we see Doctor Oliver, Kat has plans.”
“Yea,” Kat grinned evilly, “I’m going to spar with our football team next Saturday and the sewing club is making an outfit for it.”
“Damn I would love to see that!” The Master Sergeant laughed as the two ladies passed their desk into the hallway beyond, “And by the way, nice shirt.”
Deb knocked on the door to Doctor Oliver’s office. Opening the door, they walked on after hearing the doctor reply to the knock. “Good morning Sofie,” Deb smiled at the woman sitting behind the desk.
“Good morning Deb.” Doctor Oliver smiled, “Good morning Kathleen. By the way I love the shirt.” The doctor chuckled as she read the cute saying.
“Hi Doctor O,” Kat greeting was not as enthusiastic. Turning her head toward her mother, “Told you she would like it.”
“Not happy to see me Kathleen?” The doctor’s eyebrows raised.
“She’s upset that she couldn’t bring Becky along.” Deb chuckled.
Noticing how Deb emphasized the other girl’s name, “So is Becky more than just a friend?”
Kat’s eyes went wide as her mouth fell open at the doctor's question. Kat did not have to answer as her body answered for her with her face turned a bright shade of red. “You, you’re not going to put that in my files are you?”
“Don’t worry dear,” Doctor Oliver countered, “I don’t think your preferences in that area has any bearing on the project, so I see now reason to include that. I was only curious, with all the other changes you have gone through, if that had changed also.”
“I guess that has changed too,” Kat confessed. “I really don’t think about other girls the same way I used to.”
“How has that changed Kat?” Her mother asked.
“Um, seeing a pretty girl doesn’t like turn me on or anything.”
“What about Becky?” Deb thought this was as good of a time as any since Kat seemed willing to talk about this.
“Um, that’s different, I like being with her.” Kat thought how they that could be misunderstood and quickly added, “It’s not about, um, sex or anything.”
“So, has your attitude toward men changed?” Doctor Oliver asked.
“Yea,” Kat sneered, “ all guys are assholes.” Doctor Oliver and Deb both laughed at the statement.
“Since we are on that subject, there is one thing I think we should discuss with you,” Deb grinned.
Kat’s mouth fell open when she realized what her mother was going to talk to the doctor about.
After Deb finished explaining to doctor Oliver about Kat’s reaction to being kissed, Doctor Oliver smiled over at Kat who’s face had become very red. “Given the fact that most of your senses have increased dramatically, this is not that surprising,” the doctor stated. “You should think of that as a benefit dear, there are many women that have a difficult time achieving orgasm.”
Hearing those words from the doctor Kat began coughing. Deb reached over putting her hand on Kat’s shoulder, “You alright hon?”
Catching her breath, Kat looked up at her mother, “Uh yea, I just wasn’t expecting to hear something like that.”
“It’s my experience that women are more open about things like that than men are.” Deb smiled.
“If that is any indication,” Kat looked between the two women, “Then yea, that will take some getting used to.”
Standing up, Doctor Oliver came around from behind her desk, “Lets go get your exam out of the way, shall we?”
Once Doctor Oliver had led them to the exam room, she had Kat go behind a screen and strip down and put on a hospital gown. Emerging from behind the screen Kat walked over and stepped onto the scales the doctor pointed at. Doctor Oliver’s eyes widened when the beam finally balanced out showing Kat’s weight now at 203 pounds. Writing this down on the clipboard the doctor then looked up at Kat, “You’ve gained another twenty-one pounds this time. Have you noticed any changes, pants or bras any tighter? Shoes?”
Kat shook her head, placing both hands at her waist to bring the hospital gown in to show her thin waist, “No, everything fits fine. And I’m not getting a beer gut or anything.”
“Alright, why don't we get your pelvic exam out of the way so you can at least put your underwear back on.”
“You just did one last time, do we have to do another one of those?” Kat pleaded.
“If you were an average teenage girl I would say that no you don’t need one for at least six months to a year,” The doctor stated, “But then you are not an average teenage girl now are you?” Kat sighed and jumped up on the exam table.
Once that was over Kat was allowed to put her underwear on, then her mother took careful measurements while Doctor Oliver wrote down the results. Along with height, hips, waist and bust measurements they measured and recorded every muscle group both relaxed and under load.
While Doctor Oliver was taking her temperature she was talking, “The only explanation I can come up with for the increase in weight is either or both your muscle or bone density is still changing. I would like to do an MRI to find out for certain if that is the case.”
“When can you schedule that?” Deb stepped over protectively placing her hand on Kat’s shoulder.
“Right now.” Doctor Olivier replied, “I planned on having one done on Kat after her last visit, if her weight had not stabilized.”
Not having any medical knowledge further than how to tie a tourniquet correctly Kat worried over this sudden concern, “Does this mean something went wrong? Am I going to keep getting heavier?”
“It’s impossible to say for sure,” Doctor Oliver shook her head, “I’m positive it has to do with bone and muscle density, which would mean that you are really stronger than you look. Something we already know.”
Deb leaned over giving Kat a quick hug, “Yes hon, there are only two ways to make a muscle group stronger, either add more muscles like weightlifters do, or like nature does it in animals by making the muscle cells smaller and more closely packed together.”
Looking up at the doctor, Kat asked, “Did Ben have this problem?” Deb looked over at the doctor waiting for the answer too.
After a long pause Doctor Oliver shook her head, “You know we expected the retrovirus to eliminate your cancer in the process. Bonding and using the cancer the way it did was completely unexpected.”
“Yea,” Kat waved her hands downward across her body, “like this was expected.”
“Let’s go make sure that is the only big surprise we have okay?” The doctor motioned for Kat to follow her.
Leading Kat and her mother a short way down the hallway and into another room that held a machine that had a narrow table with a small pillow. Behind the table a very large donut shaped device stood, the hole in the center appeared large enough to accommodate person laying on the narrow table to enter.
“Hello doctors,” Kat turned to see a young woman wearing scrubs had came out of another door within the room. Holding out her hand as she walked over to Kat, “You must be Kathleen, I’m specialist Houston but you can call me Rena. I’ll be the one giving you the MRI.”
“Um, hi,” Kelly took her hand.
“You’re not wearing any earrings or other piercings?” Rena asked while looking over Kat for anything that would cause a problem for her once in the machine.
Kat shook her head.
“Okay up on the bed and once we start you need to lay as still as possible.” Kat climbed up on the narrow table pulling her braided hair around to her chest. “That’s good, leave you pony tail just like that.” Rena stated as she walked over and helped Kat lay out the long ponytail down her torso and between her legs where it would not get caught when the bed moved within the machine. “Now stay as still as possible, anytime you move the machine will have to reset and start over.”
Kat was no stranger to the MRI, having to have the procedure done once when as John, a stray bullet had destroyed his left knee, then once again several years after John had retired from the military when several visits to his chiropractor failed to relieve his lower back pain like they always had in the past. They had done another one here in this very room the day after Kat work after being in the tank of snot. Laying back, Kat closed her eyes and ignored the noise as the big machine came to life.
Chapter 40
“Have a nice nap hon?” Kat’s mother grinned down at the teen laying on the narrow table.
Kat opened her eyes to find her mother, the doctor and Rena, the lab technician all standing around where she lay. “Is the test over?”
“Yes Kathleen,” the doctor announced, “We are done here.”
“So what did you find out?” Kat sat up from the table.
“It will be a few days before we know anything for certain,” the doctor explained. “I’ll call once we know something.” Doctor Oliver walked with Kat and her mother back to the exam room where Kat was able to get dressed back in her own clothes.
Walking out from behind the changing screen, “Um Doc, you aren’t going to write that stuff we talked about in your office in my records are you?”
Knowing exactly what the girl was speaking about, “I wrote that you have acute sensitivity to certain stimuli.” The doctor smiled at Kat, “I think that is descriptive enough to cover that, don’t you?”
“Thanks,” Kat blushed.
Matt came walking down the hall toward them as they approached the doctor’s office, “Great, I caught you guys before you left.”
“Hello Major Sawdey,” Doctor Oliver greeted.
“Hi Matt,” Kat grinned.
“Deb would you mind if I borrow Kat for a bit?” Before anyone could object Matt continued, “There is someone who wants to meet her, it shouldn’t take long.”
Kat stepped back as she folded her arms under her breasts, “This isn’t more tests of some kind is it?” Deb also looked warily at Matt.
“No,” Matt threw up his hands, “honestly someone that just wants to talk to you, ten maybe fifteen minutes I swear.”
“Who is it?” Deb asked.
“Lieutenant Colonel Lurie.”
“Am I supposed to know him?” Kat cocked her head to the side, trying to remember the name.
“He knows you, or I should say he knew John Dodge,” Matt stated.
Kat shook her head, still unable to place the name. “Okay, let’s go meet with the Lieutenant Colonel. The girls are expecting me at the sewing club at one o’clock so this better not take too long.”
Matt chuckled as the vision of Kat sitting behind a sewing machine in a room with other girls busily working away crept into his mind.
“What’s so funny?” Kat peered at Matt.
“Nothing,” Matt turned away to hide the grin that he was unable to stop. “The Colonel is this way,” Matt began walking away from the group.
Doctor Oliver looked over at Deb, “I’ll give you a call soon as I know anything.”
“Thanks,” Deb turned to follow Matt and her daughter down the hallway.
Matt held the door allowing Kat and Deb to enter before closing it behind them. Kat thought the room looked almost identical to the one they put her in after her transformation. A privacy curtain that ran along a rail in the ceiling was open showing the hospital bed sat in the back of the room, the head of it against the far wall. To her right there was another door that Kat knew led to a bathroom. To her left she saw an older slightly overweight balding man with closely cropped white hair sitting in an arm chair. Sitting in a chair near him a middle aged man of middle eastern decent looked up as they entered.
Kat’s dislike of the younger of the two was evident in the cold glare she gave him. Quickly closing the lid on a laptop that was sitting across his knees the man stood up. Looking back at the older man, “There are some thing I need to attend to in the lab, I will return later Mr. Lurie.” Giving Kat a wide berth as he walked over to the door and left.
“Good morning Major,” The white haired man grinned. “Are you going to introduce me to these two beautiful young ladies?”
“Of course Colonel,” Matt waved his hand at Deb, “This is doctor Marlete and her daughter Kathleen.”
Leaning forward the older man held his hand toward Deb, “Pleasure to meet you ma’am, I’m Chuck Lurie.” As Deb took his hand, the Colonel’s eyebrows raised as his gaze lingered on Deb. Noticing he was making the woman uncomfortable, “Uh sorry ma’am, I just can’t believe that you used to be Chief Dodge.”
Kat’s hand flew up to her mouth as she tried to stop from giggling. “That’s good since I never was,” Deb smiled as she turned her head toward Kat.
Realizing what the woman was suggesting, the Colonel’s eyes went wide, “You have got to be shitting me!” Quickly apologizing for his outburst, “Pardon the French ma’am.” Letting go of Deb’s hand he gave Kat his full attention, “You’re Master Chief Dodge?”
“Not anymore,” Kat almost whispered, her face turning red as she looked down at the floor.
“Hey look, I’m not here to pass judgment or anything, I only wanted to find out from someone that went through this what I can expect.” The Colonel smiled warmly, “And I never got the chance to say thank you for saving our bacon back in Nam.”
“Sorry,” Kat pursed her lips, “I can’t remember ever meeting.”
“Oh we never really met,” The Colonel chuckled, “We found out who our savior was from the VC that surrendered. The ones that came were white as a sheet. Our translator said they were begging us to stop the ‘quy ma’ the devil ghost. Later we found out that was the name they used to describe you or at least who you were then.”
Kat sighed heavily, hearing that brought back memories that she would love to forget, “Yea that’s what they called me.”
“From what we heard, the VC thought you were some kind of demon or spirit or something.”
“I’m guessing you didn’t want to see me just to hash out old war stories?” Kat wanted to change the subject.
“Yea,” The Colonel grinned, “Most of what Doctor Hakim told me about this thing they do went over my head. You’ve been through it, what can you tell me about it?”
“Not a lot really. They hook up some IV’s and put a mask on you, you climb into this tank full of stuff that has the consistency of cooking oil and fall asleep.” Kat explained what had happened with her, “I woke up in a hospital bed like this.”
“No pain, no memories of it at all?”
“None, when I woke I thought something had went wrong as it felt like I had just gone to sleep but a week had gone by.”
“The sex change, they said that was caused by your cancer?”
Kat nodded, “That and very low testosterone levels.”
“They told me it cured your cancer.”
“You have cancer too?” Kat saw the Colonel nod, “So you think it’s possible that you could end up a girl.”
“It’s something that has crossed my mind,” The Colonel confessed. “Do you regret it?”
“What?” Kat looked up at the Colonel.
“Do you regret letting them do this to you?” The aged man asked, “Are you happy as a girl?”
Kat sighed as she thought about what she had lost going through the process, her identity, her manhood, her family, her friends. Looking over at Matt and Deb Kat realized that she had not lost her family, Matt, Karen and the kids were still there. Of course their kids now thought she was their aunt, but if anything this had brought them closer together than she had been in years. And Mom, at first Kat had thought the idea of Doctor Marlete pretending to be her mother was a big joke. A smile spread across Kat’s face as she looked over at Deb. It was Obvious now that Kat thought about it, Deb had never pretended to be her mother. While she may not have given birth to Kat, she had as much love for Kat as if she had given birth to her, and Kat loved her in return.
Kat’s smile broadened as she turned back to look at the retired Colonel, “It’s the best thing that could have ever happened to me.”
The Colonel paused as he examined Kat closely, “Even being turned into a girl?”
“Being a girl has some disadvantages but some interesting advantages too.” Kat giggled.
“Care to name some of those?” The Colonel asked.
“People especially guys, see me as a small weak girl.”
“So a disadvantage,” The Colonel stated.
“It would be if I was a small weak girl,” Kat grinned, tapping her finger to her temple, “I’m still me up here and I’m a lot stronger now than I ever was.”
“You think it will change my sex?” The aging man could only wonder if he could accept the changes as well as the young girl that stood in front of him.
Kat pondered the question for a moment before answering, “I think the better question is, does it really matter? Don’t get me wrong, it was one hell of a shock to me. But then no one even thought something like that could happen. All I can say is it does take some getting used to, it’s not bad it’s just different. You know it’s a possibility. The doctors say what happened to me was a one in a billion thing. Between you and I, they could be blowing smoke up our asses and we would never know the difference.”
71 year old John Dodge, retired military, now sits in a nursing home, his body riddled with cancer, waiting on the grim reaper to come for him when he is given another option.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the Author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
I want to apologize for how long it has taken me to post up this part of the story. I read many of the serialized stories here also and know how frustrating it is to begin reading one from an author and suddenly the author stop posting any updates. Just so that everyone knows, my day job, which gives me the money so that I can afford a few of luxuries I have grown accustomed to (eating, living indoors & an internet connection) got very busy and many times I now end up sitting down in front of the computer at home to write and find myself falling asleep at the keyboard. While I can see the light at the end of this tunnel, that light is still a ways off. Although it will not stop me from continuing to write and post this story, it will only slow down my progress
Chapter 41
Kat grimaced when she saw the football team out on side field practicing as they pulled into the school’s parking lot. While she knew that not all those boys were jerks, Kat knew it only took only one or two rotten apples to ruin the whole group and their team captain, Doug Semfer, in Kat’s mind was that rotten apple. Kat had not been going to the school long enough to know that many people yet, everyone she knew had warned her of how he acted. He had not tried anything with Kat or Becky since he had grabbed Becky in the mall but the little snipes and comments he made toward them in passing left no question that he felt that Kat taking him down in the mall was merely luck.
Spotting Becky’s car, “I can get a ride home with Becky if you just want to drop me off.”
“What, and miss my daughter’s costume fitting?” Deb smiled over at Kat while pulling the car into a parking space.
“I just thought you may have more important things to do.”
“Honey nothing is more important to a mother than her own children.”
“Um, remember Karen,” Kat grinned.
“That’s different honey, you were not her mother.” Turning her head to look Kat in the eyes, “One day you may get to experience just how different it is for a woman.”
Kat felt her stomach tighten as she realized that her mother was suggesting that Kat could now get pregnant and have her children. “If you’re thinking about grandchildren, I wouldn’t hold my breath.”
“No,” Deb countered, “I would never try to talk you into something you did not want. I’m just saying that it’s possible that one day it’s something you may start thinking about on your own. Maternal instincts can be pretty strong for some women.”
Kat couldn’t help but think about what had been said as she led her mother through the school to the room the sewing club used. Could I even have kids after they played around with my genes so much? If I could would they even be human? Kat shivered at the thought of what she would have to do to even have a chance of becoming pregnant. No way in hell am I ever doing that with a guy!
Walking into the room Kat’s thoughts were interrupted by Mrs. Burkowitz, “You were supposed to be here a half hour ago!”
“I had a doctor’s appointment.”
Kat’s doctor decided to run some tests today that we didn’t know about so it took longer than expected,” Deb explained.
“Here,” May came up handing Kat a bundle of black fabric before pointing to a door on the far side of the room, “go change into this top so we can see if it needs any adjustments.”
Opening the door Kat found it to be a small room about six feet by ten feet lined with shelves containing what looked like supplies for the classroom and close to a dozen large plastic tubs. Finding the light switch, Kat flipped it on before closing the door behind her.
After a handful of minutes had passed everyone moved closer to the door when they heard Kat say something but could not make out what she said. Deb raised her voice to make sure she could be heard through the door, “What was that honey, no one could hear you.”
“I said I can’t wear this!”
“Is it too small?” Mrs. Burkowitz asked.
“It’s see through.”
“That’s just the under layer Kat,” Heather, the taller blond learned close to the door, “It keeps the outer material from irritating your skin.”
The door creaked open just enough for Kat to stick her head out, “it’s still see though.”
“We see more in the locker room,” another of the girls pointed out.
After glancing around to make sure they were the only ones in the room Kat opened the door and stepped out. Deb could immediately see Kat’s concerns over the material, the translucent black material doing very little to hide the beige sports bra Kat had worn that day, knowing it would be needed for this fitting.
It seemed like an eternity as the girls pawed over her, pinning and marking the top while calling out measurements and other things one of the girls jotted down in a notebook she held. Although in reality it took only around fifteen minutes before Kat was able to slip back into the storeroom and put her tee shirt back on.
Reemerging from changing the girls gathered Kat and her mother around one of the tables where they had laid out several drawings and sketches of the final designs of the outfit they were making. Looking over the sketches Kat suddenly realized the one who she knew would have drawn them was not present. “Where’s May?” Kat looked around to the crowd of girls.
“She went to the bathroom,” Jenny nodded toward the door that led out into the hallway before going back to the sketches laid out on the table.
Several minutes later, “She has been gone a long time,” Kat’s mother stated while looking down at her wrist watch.
“I’ll go check on her,” Hanna spoke.
“No, I’ll do it,” Kat started toward the door.
The bathrooms were only a short way down the hall, the last rooms on each side of the hall before one of the side exits of the school. The bathrooms in their school had no door to enter, being built instead with two offset openings that forced you to zigzag past another wall that blocked anyone from seeing into the bathroom. Walking into the bathroom, Kat found it to be deserted, no sign of May had even been there. Back out in the hall Kat looked both directions for any sign before walking over to the two sets of glass double doors that led outside. Kat could see the team was still holding practice, and while there were several girls there even at this distance Kat could tell none resembled the short oriental girl she was looking for.
Turning to go back to the classroom Kat heard a noise from the bathroom across the hall. Sticking her head around the first corner of the boy’s bathroom, “May are you in here?”
“HELP ME!” Kat heard May scream from inside.
Rushing into the bathroom Kat found May pinned against the cabinet that held a row of sinks by a boy wearing a football uniform. “Let her go!” Kat demanded as she ran up grabbing the boy by the jersey and jerking him away from the girl he had pinned. “YOU!” Kat screamed when she saw the boy’s face, “You god damned son of a bitch, I told you what I would do if you fucked with any more of my friends!”
“You want a piece of me little girl?” Doug screamed back.
“I don’t want a piece, I want the whole thing you bastard!” Kat screamed before lowering her voice, “May get out.”
“Come on Kat,” May reached a shaking hand toward Kat’s arm.
“No, I need to have a little discussion with this jackass about the way he treats women.” Kat smiled, “Tell my mom to call the paramedics, Doug is going to need their services.”
“You think because you got lucky in the mall that you can take me bitch?” Doug laughed, “I’m going to enjoy teaching you a woman’s place by tapping that fine ass you got.”
“Kat please…” May begged.
“Get out May, I don’t want you getting hurt.” Reaching over and pushing May toward the door.
At the same moment Doug reached toward Kat. Grabbing his outstretched arm by the wrist, Kat ducked under his arm while twisting it. As his back became exposed to Kat, she let go of his arm while delivering a side kick just below his ribs. Doug landed sideways into one of the privacy partitions. The partition bent inward against the force of impact as it tore away from the wall.
As the boy staggered back to his feet, Kat turned toward May, “RUN! NOW!” May heeded Kat’s order and ran out of the bathroom.
“You’re all alone now little girl,” Doug steadied himself into a boxing stance with both fists up.
“Exactly,” Kat giggled as she walked slowly toward him, snapping her open hand up shoving his left fist into his face, causing the boy to hit himself in the eye, “no witnesses.”
May threw the door open to the classroom, “Kat, Doug, he’s, he’s gonna, he tried to…”
Deb quickly grabbed the girl into a hug, “Slow down honey, what happened?”
“Doug, he… he was going to rape me,” May choked out. “Kat stopped him.”
Helping May over to a chair, Deb sat her down, “Where are they?”
“He pulled me into the boy’s bathroom.”
“You stay right here honey,” Deb let go as she stood, “Mrs. Burkowitz would you call the police.” Mrs. Burkowitz quickly stepped over to the phone hanging on the wall.
“She, Kat said to call an ambulance,” May sobbed.
“We have to help her!” Becky shouted as she ran for the door.
“We have to stop her!” Deb shouted as she ran out the door behind the girl.
Becky’s eyes went wide when she saw the disaster inside the bathroom. Several of the partitions between the stalls lay mangled across the floor, one toilet was broken, spraying water across the floor, the mirror behind the sinks was cracked in several places and one of the hand dryers was hanging by the electrical cords that powered it. Kat held the boy up against the wall between two of the urinals holding him off the ground by his jersey, her right hand in a fist preparing to swing. “KAT!”
Kat let go and took several steps back. Doug fell to the floor immediately scurrying towards the doorway on his hands and knees several feet before rising up to his feet. Pushing past Becky he ran from the bathroom knocking Deb against the wall as she tried to enter.
Running over Becky wrapped Kat in a hug, “Thank god you’re okay.”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Kat grinned, “We just had a little chat about how girls like to be treated.”
“A little chat?” Deb looked around at the damage done to the room, “It looks like a tornado came through here.”
Chapter 42
An officer Came into the classroom while the two officers in plain clothes were taking everyone’s statements, standing by the door until the female officer finished taking Kat and her mother’s statements. Kat couldn’t hear what the three were saying after the female officer went over to them, but could easily tell it was about her the way they kept looking over at her.
The lady officer walked back over to Kat and her mother shaking her head, “The boy is claiming that you attacked him and filing assault and battery charges against you.”
“Am I under arrest?”
“It stinks I know,” The officer looked apologetically toward Kat, “but I need you to go with this officer.”
“You can’t be serious!” Deb questioned, “My daughter stopped a rape, and you should be pinning a medal on her, not arresting her!”
“Doctor Marlete if it was up to me I would. Even as ridiculous as the charges may seem, we still have to follow procedures.”
Deb scrutinized the male officer standing by the door, “What is your department’s policy regarding the escort of underage females?” Knowing that the police department would have a similar policy to that of doctors of always having a female nurse present during an exam, “not that my daughter would ever accuse anyone of something they had not done of course.”
Looking over at the male officer the lady officer realized her mistake. Turning toward the other officer in plain clothes, “Tom, I’m going to take Miss Marlete back to the station with me.”
“It’s under your jurisdiction Linda, I only came by to help.” The man smiled thinly.
“WHAT!” Becky realizing they were arresting Kat, “You can’t arrest her!” All the girls jumped up and all began complaining including May who was still very shaken from what had happened.
“I’m calling Tollman and your sister, then I’ll follow you down Honey,” Deb shouted over the noise as the other detective was failing miserably in calming the girls down.
Kat wanted so badly to tell her mother, not to call Karen or at least not to tell Karen about what the boy had tried with May, but she knew Deb would want to know why and that was something Kat would not shout out in front of everyone. Seeing the handcuffs in the detective’s hand, Kat sighed while turning around with her hands behind her back for the detective.
The uniformed officer looked at the female officer as she led Kat toward the door, “Chief what do you want me to do?”
Looking over her shoulder at the poor man that was surrounded by teen girls all talking at once, “See if you can help the sheriff, I think they have him cornered.”
A man in police uniform looked up as Kat was led into the small police station, “Who’s this Chief?”
“Kat, this is officer Jacobs,” She stopped in front of the desk he sat behind, “Tim this is Kathleen Marlete. I was informed there is a warrant for her arrest?”
The officer’s eyes got big looking at Kat, “You put the Semfer kid in the hospital?
“Surprised?” The chief looked across the desk.
“Uh yea, I kind of imagined anyone that could take that boy would look a lot bigger.”
“There is no greater danger than underestimating your opponent,” Kat said in phony oriental accent.
“And you’ve read Sun Tzu?” Officer Jacobs stared up from his desk.
“You can discuss the Sun Tzu with Kathleen while you process her Tim.”
“Sure chief,” The officer stood.
Kat twisted so she could see the woman, “Um, actually that wasn’t Sun Tzu, it was a Chinese philosopher named Lao Tzu that said that.”
“Okay miss philosopher,” The woman chuckled as she gently began turning Kat around so she could remove the handcuffs, “let’s get those handcuffs off you so Officer Jacobs can get you fingerprinted.”
Kat turned in the direction she was being directed only to continue turning until she was facing the female chief of police. In her hand she held the Chief’s handcuffs out toward her. Sheepishly grinning, “They were biting into my wrists so I took them off in the car.”
“You’re just full of surprises aren’t you?” taking the handcuffs from Kat’s outstretched hand.
“That was a neat trick with the handcuffs,” Officer Jacobs quietly said as he led Kat over to one side of the room where a fingerprint scanner sat on a table. “You’re not going to give us any trouble are you?”
“No sir, Officer Jacobs.”
“Just call me Tim,” Officer Jacobs began scanning her fingerprints into the machine. “I’m sure that as soon as old man Semfer gets one look at you he’ll drop the charges. He may do a lot for that boy of his, but if word got out that he went after a pretty girl for beating the crap out of his kid he would lose customers and this town is too small for his dealership to survive that.”
“Dealership? You mean Semfer Ford?” Kat’s eyes went wide, “I bought an old super coup from there.”
Tim suddenly became very still, “I can’t believe he sold you that piece of junk!”
“Piece of junk?” Kat’s body stiffened, crossing her arms under her breasts while shaking her head, “It’s a classic! Ford only made them for a few years.”
“Yea I get that, but that one was run hard and put up wet way too many times. It’s got a cracked head, water getting into the oil and at least one burnt valve.”
Kat’s eyes grew wide, “You seem to know an awful lot about my car?”
“I should, I used to own it.” Tim chuckled, “My dad bought it new, he gave it to my older brother when he got his license and then to me.”
“I’m restoring it.” Kat said proudly.
“It needs a lot of work, who are you going to have do it for you?”
“You think because I’m a girl I need someone else to do the work for me?”
“No, no,” Tim held his hand up in front, “I didn’t mean it that way, it’s just most girls could care less about that kind of stuff.”
“Tim I think we’ve already determined that Kathleen is not like most girls.” The Chief chuckled as she looked up from the small stack of papers in her hand.
Once Tim had finished with Kat he started to lead her back to one of the two holding cells they had in their small office. “I don’t think that will be necessary Tim,” The chief spoke, “I think we can trust her not to try and run away. Can’t we Kat?”
“Yes ma’am,” Kat nodded.
“So now that all your friends can’t hear what you say, do you want to tell me what really happened?” The Chief cocked her head.
“I told you, he was trying to rape May!”
“I am talking about the part where you said he, “The chief cleared her throat, “tripped and fell. The damage I saw in the boy’s bathroom appeared have come from more than someone simply tripping and falling.”
“He may have fell more than once,” Kat’s voice barely above a whisper avoiding eye contact with the woman.
“How many times did he trip and fall exactly?”
“Um, he was pretty clumsy,” Kat looked up at the Police Chief with a cheesy grin.
Before she could ask the girl any more questions the door opened and Kat’s mother entered the small police station. Seeing Kat standing there Deb got her daughter’s attention, “Kat! Do not answer any questions until Karen gets here with her lawyers!”
Kat’s shoulders hunched forward as she looked over at the Chief with pleading eyes, “You think I could get you to lock me in that cell before my sister gets here.”
“Sister?” The chief looked at Kat then to her mother, “I thought you said your daughter was an only child?”
“Kat is my only child, Karen is her half-sister.” Deb turned toward the Police Chief, “Chief Millman, What do we need to do so that I can take my daughter home?”
“Since Kathleen is a minor, that process is fairly simple.” The chief explained while walking over to a desk where she logged into the computer that sat on it, “She must have a legal guardian present, which of course you and you need to sign her bond.” A few moments later the printer sitting on the desk came to life and slowly fed out a sheet of paper that Chief Millman handed to Deb.
Deb took several minutes to read the paper before handing it back to Chief Millman, “There is a little problem. That would sign over our home if Kat did not show up in court.”
“Why is that a problem Mrs. Marlete?”
“It’s Miss, I was never married,” Deb corrected, “The problem is the house is not in my name. It’s in Kat’s name and held in trust by Dodge Industries until Kat turns eighteen.”
“Why would a big name security company like that manage a trust fund for your daughter?”
“Because the man who started the company, John Dodge, is Kat’s father.” Deb explained, “I’d be happy to put cash up so she can come home, I just can’t sign a promissory note against something I do not own.”
“A cash bond has to be set by the judge which would mean Kat would have to stay here until Monday morning for the judge to set one.” The chief cringed at the thought of having to keep the girl until then as it meant as the only woman on the force, she would have to stay also.
“We’ll have to wait for Karen,” Kat sat down heavily onto a bench that sat against one wall putting her elbows on her knees, her head resting on her open palms as her long blond tresses spilled down piling in the floor at her feet, “She’s the executor of the trust, she can sign it.”
Chief Millman sighed with relief before looking over at Kat, “Well at least I know why you were able to get out of my handcuffs so easily. Being a Dodge you’ve probably been picking locks since before you could walk.”
Deb gave Kat a stern look, “You picked the locks on the handcuffs you had on?” Kat nodded, failing to look up to meet her mother’s gaze. “Why on earth would you do something like that?”
“I got bored,” Kat mumbled. It was partially the truth, she was bored sitting in the back of the police Chief’s car, although she was curious as to whether her genetically changed body had the agility to do it.
Everyone sat around mostly silent after that until slightly over ten minutes later Karen came in through the door followed by Matt and their two girls Susan and Emily. “Can Kat go or do we need to wait for the sharks to arrive?” Karen looked straight at Deb as she spoke.
Chief Millman stood up from the desk she was sitting behind, walking forward toward the group that arrived, “You must be Kathleen’s sister? I’m Linda Millman, the police chief of this great metropolis. Only thing stopping Kat from leaving is a signature.”
“I couldn’t sign as it needed the homeowner or in our case the executor of Kat’s trust,” Deb stated.
“What do I need to sign?” Karen stepped forward.
Chief Millman led Karen back to her desk where she handed Karen the paper.
“Hey Chief, hold up on that release,” Tim spoke up from his desk, where he had returned during the wait. “There is a hold order on her now. The chief walked over to look over his shoulder at his monitor. A window was open that covered the center of the file he had open. It read “REMIT to FEDERAL AUTHORITY. U.S. MARSHAL SERVICE DISPATCHED FOR TRANSPORT.”
Chief Millman dropped her chin into her chest in defeat, “Sorry but it looks like we have to hold Kathleen until the U.S. Marshall arrives.”
Chapter 43
It was another ten or fifteen minutes of bickering back and forth, which could have been much longer if not for Kat and Matt, both well aware that the Chief had her own hands now tied, helping to calm a very irate Karen and her youngest daughter Emily. While Karen was still quite angry, she was sitting with her oldest daughter Susan when two men and a woman entered the small police office. The first through the door, his gray tinged short black hair proved him to be the oldest of the three, Held the door as the woman came in, followed by a younger blond man. All three had a chain lanyard that held an ID low on their chest. Each of the three also had a pistol on their side and a small badge that consisted of a five pointed star contained within a circle on their belt.
“We’re looking for Chief Millman,” The older man spoke, “I am Deputy US Marshall Bergman, these are my associates, Deputy US Marshall Brown and Deputy US Marshall McKinney.”
“I’m Linda Millman, Police Chief for Bowling Green.”
“Pleasure to meet you Chief Millman,” He held out his hand. Chief Millman shook his hand while taking a good look at the ID card hanging from his neck. “We are here to pick up a Miss Kathleen Marlete that you have in custody?”
“We were about to release her to her mother when your hold order came through Marshall. Would you care to tell us why the feds are interested in a teen girl with no prior record?”
“I’m sorry ma’am, I am not at liberty to discuss that.” Turning his head toward Deb, Karen and Matt, “Are you the child’s parents?”
Deb stood up, “I’m her mother,” Waving her hand toward Matt and Karen, “This is Kat’s sister and her husband.”
The Marshall nodded at Matt and Karen, “Ma’am, Sir.”
Slowly reaching for his wallet, Matt decided to try and play his trump card, “Marshall, I am Major Sawdey with the department of defense.” Opening his wallet to show the Marshall his ID. “Is it possible for the DOD to take Kat off your hands?”
“I’m sorry Major,” Shaking his head, “our orders specifically state that we are to transport and deliver one Kathleen Elizabeth Marlete to the District Marshall in Alexandria.”
“I know there’s a Marshal's office in Richmond,” Karen asked, “Why aren’t you taking my sister there?”
“As I stated our orders are to take her to the district Marshall, who is in Alexandria, not Richmond. You are welcome to follow us, although please do so at a safe distance and obey the posted speed limit. There is no need for you to rush in right behind us as it will probably take at least a half hour to process Kathleen once we arrive.” The Marshall smiled before turning toward the female Marshall, “Marshall Brown would you please escort Miss Marlete to our vehicle?”
Deputy Marshall Brown stepped toward Kat while producing a pair of bright neon pink handcuffs that were obviously different than police normally carried since they lacks the small chain that held them together, instead being made together with the ends of each being locked together with a hinge.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Kat sighed.
“Procedure dear, you have to wear them,” The female Marshall apologized.
“I figured handcuffs, but pink ones?”
After helping Kat into the passenger side rear of the large black SUV, Marshall Brown went around and climbed into the other side in the back seat with Kat. A few minutes later the other two marshals joined them, the older one climbing behind the wheel while the blond man got in the front passenger seat.
As they left the parking lot the younger one twisted around to look at Kat, “Not a big fan of pink I take it?”
Kat shook her head, “It’s not in my top ten of favorite colors.” Turning her head toward the female Marshall sitting beside her, “Why pink anyway?”
“They are kind of expensive to replace and I have had some lost in the shuffle. Haven’t had a single dispute about who’s they are since I went started painting them this color.” Marshall Brown smiled over at Kat.
“A lot of us have color code our cuffs now, makes it much easier to make sure you get them back.” The blond added, “I’m CR by the way.”
“Can you guys tell me what the US Marshal Service wants with me?”
Not taking his eyes off his driving, “You’re a high profile target kid.”
“What!” Kat gasped.
“Sorry dear,” patting Kat on the leg, Marshall Brown explained, “It’s possible that someone could use you to influence members of your family.”
“You mean try to kidnap me?” Kat giggled as she thought of the can of whoop-ass she would open up on anyone that tried that.
“It’s no laughing matter, people can be much more subtle when attempting to manipulate others.” Marshall Brown continued, “For example a legal charge that they agree to drop if the person is willing to influence a vote to go a certain way or hand over confidential information.”
“Yea so you can figure on seeing us anytime again anytime you’re involved in anything,” CR grinned back at Kat.
“Just great,” Kat groaned.
Chapter 44
As the Large SUV drew nearer to Fredericksburg Kat saw CR play with the dials on one of the two radios that were mounted under the Vehicle’s dash. The chatter on the radio increased immediately after turning it into the frequency used by Fredericksburg police. Breaking the silence as the Marshall took the exit off US 17 onto the Blue and Gray parkway, Kat asked, “We’re taking 95?”
Turning around once again CR answered, “It’s the best way up to Alexandria.”
Before anything else could be said the radio came to life again, this time with a more serious call, ~Two eleven in progress… corner of Plank and Task Force.~ gaining the attention of everyone in the SUV, including Kat.
“That’s just the other side of the Mall!” Kat sounded surprised.
CR chuckled, “Leave it to a girl to give directions based off where it is in relation to the Mall.” Marshall Brown leaned forward smacking the younger man in the back of the head. “Ouch! What was that for?” He turned so he could see the older woman.
“Because she has on handcuffs and couldn’t do it!” Marshall Brown smirked, “And by the way there are two females present in this vehicle.”
~All cars in the vicinity of Plank and Taskforce, Two eleven in progress, shots fired, officer down, needs assistance.~
Before the message had finished repeating a second time, the Marshall driving had turned on their lights and siren and floored the accelerator. “Get me a map now!” he ordered at the younger Marshall who was already digging through the glove compartment for one.
Leaning forward against the heavy acceleration, Kat raised her voice to make sure she would not be misunderstood, “Stay straight on this road, the Mall is just past the interstate on the left, Taskforce is the 2nd left after the Mall. The road we are on turns into Plank.
“Let them know we are assisting,” the driver ordered.
Reaching down CR pulled the microphone out of the cradle and keyed the side button, “This is US Marshall Tango Sierra seven four two, west on Plank moving to assist.”
~Roger Marshall Tango Sierra seven four two. Be advised multiple armed suspects.~
Nearing the scene CR pointed out a man run across the street carrying what looked like a military M4 ahead of them, “We got a runner!” Marshall Bergman slowed just enough to take the right turn to follow the runner who they saw duck into an alley. Marshall Bergman floored the accelerator pedal on the big SUV to quickly close the distance to the alley, then slammed on the brakes. The runner was near a quarter of the way through the alley when he turned with the rifle.
“EVERYBODY DOWN!” Marshall Bergman yelled.
Marshall Brown turned toward Kat, grabbing her and forcing her down covering Kat with her own body. The side window shattered, covering both Marshall Brown and Kat in a spray of tiny pieces of glass as Kat heard the crack of the rifle being fired which was followed by two muffled ‘thunk’ sounds as more rounds from the rifle impacted the bullet resistant material added to the interior of the SUV’s doors, as the rifle roared twice more. CR rolled out of the SUV, immediately Opening Kat’s door, unbuckling her from the seat belt and pulled her out by the arm. Bergman exited out the same side as CR pulled Kat out of the SUV and sat her down with her back against the rear tire “STAY!” CR shouted.
“I’m hit,” Brown said as she rolled out across the seat exiting through the open door CR had pulled Kat from.
“How bad?” Marshall Bergman, now standing with his pistol laid across the hood of the SUV pointing toward the now deserted alley.
“I’ll live,” Marshall Brown winced as she sat down beside Kat, “Got me in the shoulder. Go get that bastard!”
“Got to take care of you first,” CR knelt down to inspect her wound.
“Give me your first aid kit,” Kat looked up at the two Marshals near her, “I can take care of her.” CR looked over at Marshall Bergman.
“You know first aid kid?” Marshall Bergman glanced over to see Kat nodding, “Do it!”
CR trotted over opening the back of the SUV, returning with a large tackle box and two tactical vests. Tossing one of the tactical vests to the other Marshall, he knelt down placing the tackle box down by Kat and Marshall Brown, “Give me your hands.” He told Kat as he laid the other tactical vest down while digging his keys out of his pocket to unlock the handcuffs. Looking Kat in the eyes as he removed the handcuffs, “Don’t make me regret this.”
“You won’t, I’ll be right here when you get back.” Kat did not look up as she opened the large tackle box and began digging through the medical supplies it contained, “Go get that son of a bitch.”
Donning his own tactical vest, CR stood up then retrieved two AR-15s from the rear of the SUV before closing it up handing one off to the senior Marshall the two slowly made their way around the front of the SUV, their eyes searching the alley for any sign of movement or danger coming from the alley. Kat located a pair of the safety scissors with the blunted lower jaw that nurses and paramedics used to cut away clothing and used those to cut the Marshals sleeve back to expose the entry wound the bullet made.
Kat stood up, looking through the SUV’s rear window toward the alley after she completed bandaging Marshall Brown's gunshot wound, “They should have been back by now.”
“What?” Marshall Brown looked up from where she was sitting on the ground.
“They should have been back by now,” Kat repeated. “That guy didn’t have time to run all the way to the other end of that alley.”
“If he would have still been in the alley Jim and CR would have found him.”
Kat knew the guy was still in the alley, which meant he had to have some kind of training military or otherwise. To be good enough at concealment that two experienced US Marshals walked past him made Kat believe he may possess other skills that could also be outside of the training and experience of the US Marshals. Kat knew that sitting back and letting the police and Marshals handle this would result in more people shot, the guy getting away or both. Kat felt she wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if she allowed that to happen. “I’ll be right back,” Kat began to walk around the Marshall.
“Hold on,” Marshall Brown reached out to grab Kat by her leg as she passed but missed.
Wincing as she got up, the Marshall followed Kat, catching up to her at the mouth of the alleyway. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“He’s still here, I know it,” Kat whispered.
“All the more reason for you not to go into the alley.”
“Okay then who?”
Marshall Brown sighed as she stepped into the alley, “Stay behind me and out of sight.” She hadn’t taken more than three steps when she heard a noise to her right, jerking her head toward the noise her eyes grew wide at the sight of Kat pulling herself over the top of the fifteen foot wall of the building on the right side of the alley. Before she could say a word, Kay looked down from the building’s flat roof putting her finger to her lips, motioning for the Marshall to keep quiet.
Marshall Brown could not believe what she was seeing as she looked up at the girl standing atop the roof of the one story building. With no windows, ledges or hand holds of any sort how did that girl scale the brick wall and so quickly. If not for the fact that Kat was standing on the roof, she would have said such a feat was impossible. Any further thoughts on how the girl did manage to get on the roof were cut short as she saw Kat point to her own chest, then down the alley then with two fingers at her own eyes. Realizing Kat was using hand signals to tell her she was going to have a look down the alley the Marshall shook her head trying to stop her.
Kat turned, crouched down and soundlessly crept along the edge of the roof line, her eyes focused on the alley looking for anything out of place. Years of military training, Kat knew that people tended never to look up unless something caught their attention such as a shadow or noise. The sun was at an angle where she did not have to fear that it would cast her shadow into the alley, all she needed to do was make sure she made no noise in the pea sized gravel that covered the flat roof. This would have been no problem if she had the time to move slower, but she could see the Marshall was also coming down the alley, Kat had to stay ahead of the Marshall and find the man’s hiding spot before he had the chance to ambush the Marshall. The man had already proven he had no problems shooting at someone wearing a badge, Kat did not want to give him a chance to do it again.
Making it to the spot on the roof just above a dumpster that sat against the wall of the building she was on, gave Kat the vantage point she was looking for, a place where she could see everything in the alley below without having to move. Kat thought that if she were in the man’s shoes, she would have the hiding hole somewhere behind the dumpster, that way when everyone ducked as he fired he could use the dumpster for cover as he climbed into a hiding spot. Whatever hole he had ran into was good enough to fool the two trained Marshals so it would not have been a last minute spot he had located, no he had set up this spot a day or more in advance. Everything about the situation screamed sniper to Kat.
Knowing what she was looking for Kat realized there was no way she would see the sniper under his camouflage at least not until after he was able to fire off his first shot, but there was one thing she could look for. A sniper would make certain to have a clear field of fire to his target. Kat figured that the Marshall would probably enter his field of fire as she passed the dumpster.
Along the wall below her there was dozens of wooden slatted crates all measuring around two feet by three feet and about a foot deep. None large enough that even Kat could hide inside but if he had came out earlier and re-stacked them to create a space inside the crates, there would be plenty of room to hide and wait. Kat was ready to jump down and tear into the stacks of crates when she noticed one crate that appeared to have fallen off the stack and lay almost perfectly like it was aimed at the corner of the dumpster. Moving so she was directly above the lone crate Kat saw the Marshall had walked into what Kat now considered the kill zone of this guy.
Something about that lone crate bothered Kat, focusing on it she saw what had to be movement inside the crate between the gaps in the wooden slats. Without hesitating Kat leapt from the roof landing beside the lone crate and kicked the end closest to the Marshall with everything she had. The thin wooden slats splintered from the blow and Kat’s foot found something much more substantial within as her foot caught the foregrip and barrel of the M4 rifle knocking the aim off as it fired a shot into the opposite wall of the alley above and ahead of the Marshall, who immediately raised the sidearm she held as she looked for a clean shot.
With the crate gone Kat could see the man had positioned the crate to cover a storm drain that its metal grates was bent allowing the man to slip between the metal bars so that only his arms and head were above. Kat grabbed the rifle with her left hand on its fore grip tearing it out of the man’s grasp. With her right hand she grabbed a handful of his hair and began dragging him out of the drainage grate. Soon as the man had his knees under him he wrapped his arms around Kat’s waist and tackled her to the ground. Bringing her knees up as she fell the man landed on Kat’s knees which she immediately kicked up and out as he landed sending him sailing over her.
As the man got to his feet the Marshall aimed her sidearm at him yelling, “Freeze US Marshall!” Just as Kat got to her feet stepping into her line of fire. Seeing that the Marshall could not fire without hitting the girl, the man pulled a K-Bar knife from his belt slashing at Kat. Kat side stepped past the knife while grabbing his wrist that held the knife. Cow kicking the man in the side of his knee a sickening ‘pop’ could be heard as his knee gave out. Kat continued her spin so that she now held his outstretched arm over her own shoulder as he began to fall. Pulling down on his wrist as he fell another ‘pop’ came from his arm as it was forced to bend the wrong direction. Kat let go of his wrist as the knife fell out of his hand.
“God dammit you broke my arm!” The man swore from the ground.
“That’s what you get for shooting my fairy god Marshall and making us late for the ball.” Kat grinned.
The man’s eyes got wide, “What the fuck? Who are you?”
“Well Duh,” Kat put both hands on her hips giggling, “Only princesses have fairy god Marshals!”
Kat turned to see that Marshall Brown shaking her head, trying her best not to laugh as she pulled her cell phone out of the belt holder it was in.
Marshall Brown took Kat by the hand and led her away from the injured man, “Fairy god Marshall?”
Kat shrugged her shoulders, “It sound a lot better than the raised by badgers story someone else started about me.”
“Do I dare ask how that story got started?”
Kat took a deep breath then sighed, “I kind of spar with the special forces guys on base. One of them kind compared fighting me to fighting a badger and the nickname kind of stuck.”
The Marshall looked over at the man lying on the ground then back to Kat, “I can see how you got that nickname, badgers can be vicious little things.”
“Well he did have a knife,” Kat deadpanned.
71 year old John Dodge, retired military, now sits in a nursing home, his body riddled with cancer, waiting on the grim reaper to come for him when he is given another option.
Chapter 45
Several minutes after Marshall Brown put her phone away both Marshall Bergman and McKinney came running back into the alley followed by one uniformed police officer, “What happened?” Marshall Bergman leaned forward both hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.
“Marshall Brown spotted something unusual in the alley, “Kat’s arms waved wildly as she spoke, “She went to check it out, and I was really scared and didn’t want her to leave me alone so I followed her. And, and this guy jumped out from those boxes with a knife and grabbed me!” Kat’s eyes went wide in mock fear as she did her best to imitate a frightened girl, “Marshall Brown was awesome! She got me away and then, then he tried fighting her and she like really let loose like in the movies!”
“Pull the other one kid.” Marshall Bergman frowned at the girl that was so obviously lying to him before looking over at Marshall Brown with her left arm secured under her breasts with white bandaging material that wrapped over her right shoulder around her back to her left waist and back around rendering her arm immobile, “Want to tell me what really happened Beth?”
“The suspect had the drop on me, Kathleen jumped down off the roof disarmed and took him down.” Marshall Brown them added, “She saved my life.”
Marshall McKinney, CR, looked up to the roof of the building inspecting the brick wall of the building, noticing no ledges, windows or other features that would allow someone to climb to that height, “How did she get up there in the first place?”
Kat smiled sheepishly at the Marshal’s and the lone cop that was all looking her for an answer, “I like running parkour stuff.”
Noticing the bandages on the female Marshal’s shoulder the uniformed cop asked, “You’re injured?”
“Yea, He fired a few rounds at our vehicle after he darted into the alley,” Marshall Brown glancing at her shoulder, “one of them caught me in the shoulder.”
Looking over toward Marshall Bergman, “I can take over here if you want to take her to go get looked at?” Thumbing toward the man on the ground with an arm and leg both bent at unnatural angles, “I doubt he’s going to cause any more trouble.”
“Thanks officer,” Marshall Bergman smiled at the cop before looking over at Marshall McKinney, “CR see if you can clean that broken glass out of the back seat so the ladies have a place to sit.”
“I’m on it boss!” CR grinned as he started jogging back up the alley back toward their SUV.
Looking toward Kat and Marshall Brown, Marshall Bergman waved his hand in the direction of the SUV, “Ladies, after you.” Marshall Brown and Kat turned and walked side by side back down the alley toward the SUV.
Marshall Bergman could not help but wonder about this teenager as he followed the two women back toward their vehicle. She looked like a normal teen girl, a little on the skinny side. He knew that had been the trend for some time with young women, at least this kid didn’t look anorexic like so many young women tended to be today, so worried about their looks they would starve themselves at meals and when they did eat it would be little more than rabbit food.
No he could tell now that this kid was obviously athletic, which confused him since she has such unusually long hair. Most athletic women kept their hair short, some so short they appeared quite butch to most men. From the file he had received on her and what she had done to the suspect she could clearly defend herself, evidently some type of martial arts training that had to have begun at a very young age.
Looking at the teenager’s hair falling clear down to her lower calf's he saw a darker streak of reddish brown about five inches long and an inch or so wide at the end of her long blond tresses. Marshall Bergman immediately recognized the darker color as blood, figuring it must have gotten into her hair while the girl was bandaging Beth’s shoulder wound. He thought to himself, ‘Strange that the blood stain would be limited to such a long streak in her hair like that,’ looking the girl’s long hair over carefully for any other signs of blood as he followed the two toward their vehicle.
Marshall Bergman was already at the nurse’s counter in the emergency room with the injured Marshall Brown at his side when Kat and Marshall McKinney entered. CR pointed to their right to a small alcove that contained some seats to wait in, “Let’s go have a seat.”
Walking over into the alcove Kat saw there was one woman already sitting in one of the seats. The woman’s auburn hair was tied back into a high ponytail that looked long enough to still reach below her shoulder blades. To Kat this woman didn’t appear to be more than thirty, thirty-five at the most. In her lap sat a small girl wearing a pink dress with purple trim that could not have been more than three or four years old. When the small girl saw them enter she held tighter to her mother as she watched the two strangers come in and sit down across from them. The small girl’s eyes grew wide when she saw Kat sweep her hair around over her shoulder to sit down.
“You think I could call my mom and let her know we are here so she doesn’t drive all the way up to Alexandria?” Kat looked up at CR using the sweetest voice she could, “Please?”
CR sighed heavily as he looked down into Kat’s big sad eyes that appeared as if she were ready to cry, “Boss is going to probably have my head for this,” he said to no one in general as he fished his cell phone out of the breast pocket of his jacket and handed it to Kat. “Make it quick.”
“Doctor Marlete,” Kat heard her mother answer.
“Mom, it’s me.”
“Kat? You’re not already in Alexandria are you?”
“No, One of the Marshals to let me call you,” Kat explained. “We’re still in Fredericksburg, at the hospital.”
“Oh god, are you okay?” Deb gasped.
“I’m fine mom. Some bas… um I mean bad guy shot at our car and the lady Marshall took one in the shoulder.”
“Which hospital?”
“Mary Washington, in their ER.”
“Okay, we are not that far. Williams turn around, they are at the hospital in Fredericksburg. We’ll be there soon as we can honey.”
“Williams is with you?”
“Yes Honey, we stopped at the base, he and O’Connell are with us. The general was at home and will be following us soon as he can. This reminds me I need to call him and let him know where we will be.”
Handing the phone back to CR, “Thanks.”
“Who’s Williams?” CR questioned, “I overheard you saying he was with your mother.”
“Um yea, he’s kind of in charge of security where Mom works,” Kat mumbled looking over at the small girl and her mother to avoid looking at CR.
Noticing the little girl still sitting in her mother’s lap wide eyed staring at her, Kat smiled and waved at her, “Hi.” The small girl quickly turned her head into her mother’s breast while tightly hugging the woman. The small girl continued to steal glances at Kat, burying her head back into her mother’s breasts anytime she saw Kat looking her way and whispering to her mother for the longest time.
“I think you have a fan,” CR grinned at Kat.
“I’m sorry,” Looking over at Kat, the woman holding the small girl apologized, “She thinks you’re Rapunzel. I have to say, the resemblance is quite remarkable.”
“I get that a lot,” Kat smiled. The small girl’s jaw dropped when she saw Kat wink and then place her finger to her lips in a gesture to keep quite.
Kat sat there twirling a bit of her long hair around her finger for several minutes before separating it where it came across her shoulder and began braiding it. Kat had braided all but a foot of her long tresses when she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. Looking quickly over she saw that Marshall Bergman and another man, who she was certain must a doctor from the white lab coat and the stethoscope that hung from his shoulders and around his neck.
“Miss Marlete would you be so kind as to explain to the good doctor and myself why the bullet is not showing up in the x-rays taken of Deputy Marshall Brown’s injury?”
“It’s in your first aid kit,” Kat lowered her eyes from his stern gaze. “It felt like it was all the way into the joint and I was afraid it would do more damage if I left it.” Realizing that the way she was playing with her hair would only draw attention to the dried blood in it, Kat dropped the hair from her hands.
“CR would you please go grab our first aid kit from the vehicle?” Marshall Bergman looked over toward his fellow Marshall sitting beside Kat.
“Sure boss,” Smiling over at Bergman as he stood and walked around toward the exit.
Kat noticed the doctor’s sour look directed at her, “Young lady, what in the devil made you believe you could remove the bullet? You realize you could have done more harm than good!”
Looking back down at her now empty hands in her lap Kat thought to herself as she tried to hide the anger that rose up, ‘How can he even say that? That bullet was lodged in her shoulder joint, if it didn’t come out it would have sat there grinding at the cartilage and stuff in her joint causing more damage! Hell them digging it out would have caused even more damage!’ Kat sighed deeply, ‘I can’t let them start asking how I did it, and I can never let anyone know about that! If they ever found out I would end up more of a guinea pig than I am now. They could stick me in the lab and never let me outside of the building again. I would never see Mom or Becky again!’
‘Use your head girl!' Kat thought to herself, 'I’ve used that tone of voice with Karen when she was young, they’re trying to frighten me, show me that what I did was a mistake. Use that to your advantage! Show them the frightened teen girl they are expecting.' Pushing back her anger Kat let her thoughts dwell on her new life, her new mom, Karen and especially Becky. Thoughts of being taken away, not being able to be around the people that she loved and had come to love did scare her, Kat could think of nothing that scared her more!
Sheepishly Kat looked up at both the Marshall and the doctor, her lower lip quivering. “I, I’m sorry,” Kat’s choked out, “I, I was trying to… to help.”
The doctor could see the tears running down both her cheeks when Kat looked back up toward them. 'Thank god my wife is not here, she would have my hide for upsetting a young girl this badly.' Stepping forward he placed a hand on Kat’s shoulder, “I’m sorry this upset up so much miss, I know you were trying to help. I only want you to understand how dangerous what you did was and to please never try that again.” Sniffing back the tears, Kat nodded.
“I will say this young lady,” The doctor continued, “You did an excellent job of dressing the wound. That was a unique use of the um, supplies you had on hand. I would have never thought of using what you did to pack the wound, but truthfully that was exactly what it was designed for.”
Rubbing his chin, Marshall Bergman looked as if he was about to say something when they were interrupted by CR reentering the waiting room carrying the red and white first aid kit. “Guess who I ran into while I was out grabbing this,” holding up the first aid kit.
Seeing the tears, Deb rushed over and knelt down in front of Kat, “Honey are you alright? Are you hurt?”
“Mom!” Kat wrapped her arms around Deb and began sobbing louder into her shoulder.
“Shhh, it’s okay honey I’m here,” Deb rubbed Kat’s back gently as she held her.
“I, I don’t… so afraid… losing you… Be… Becky…” Kat’s sobs increased, Can’t… stop… crying…”
Deb looked up at the doctor, “Where’s the nearest restroom?” Then before he could answer she glared over at Marshall Bergman, “I’m taking my daughter to calm her down.” Deb stood, holding on to Kat as she did, pulling the girl up with her.
The doctor pointed over his shoulder, down that hall on the right, just before those double doors.”
CR took a step toward Deb and Kat, Marshall Bergman held up his hand stopping CR with the back of his hand against CR’s chest. “Don’t ever get between a mamma bear and her cub,” whispering as he shook his head. “If she was going to rabbit on us she would have done it by now.”
Karen stepped around the Marshals, leaving the General, her husband and the two enlisted men standing there as she followed Deb and Kat to the restroom. Halfway to the restroom two police officers came walking out from the double doors. The shirt of one was unbuttoned and hanging open allowing the bandages to be easily seen that covered his lower chest area. Both men stopped and followed the two women as they walked by.
Karen stopped by the two police officers, “That’s my sister you’re staring at!” she huffed.
“Uh sorry,” the bandaged officer stammered, “She, the girl I mean, fits the description of the woman that took down the perp. I kind of imagined her to be a lot bigger, you know taking down a man the size of the perp.”
Karen chuckled, “What did my baby sister do now?”
“From what I heard,” The second officer said, “guy pulled a knife on her and she broke his arm. Just hard to imagine that little wisp of a thing could do anything remotely like that.”
Shaking her head while smiling at the two officers, “Yea pulling a knife on her is isn’t the smartest thing in the world to do,” Karen chuckled. “If you officers will excuse me, I really need to go see what has my sister so upset.” Karen began walking toward the bathroom that Deb and Kat were already in.
It took quite some time to calm Kat down, then even longer as she had to retell Karen and her mother what had happened with Marshall Brown getting shot and Kat capturing the gunman. Exiting the restroom they found Master Sergeant Williams and CR leaning against the wall waiting on them.
Williams smiled, the concern he held for Kat showing through his rough features, “Hey Badger, feeling better?” Kat nodded.
“Badger?” CR looked over at Williams.
Williams began chuckling, “Yea that is kind of the nickname the guys on base gave her after she started sparing with us.”
CR began rubbing the back of his neck while looking down at Kat through narrowed eyes, “Badger huh?” The vision of the suspect lying on the ground after the attack came to his mind, “Sounds kind of fitting actually. Buddy of mine does a lot of hunting, told me he once saw one fight a bear that must of been ten times its size. But all that aside, we need to get over to the conference room. District Marshall arrived while you ladies were indisposed and he is waiting in one of the conference rooms the hospital was kind enough to loan us.” CR motioned for everyone to follow him as he began down the hall.
“Jurisdiction be damned!” Kat heard the large gray haired black man as CR opened the door for them, “My investigation supersedes any jurisdiction the Army thinks it may have.”
“There’s nothing to investigate!” The General raised his voice.
Looking over at those entering the room, the black man waved his arm gesturing at the chairs on the left of the table as she stood, “Ladies please have a seat. I’m District Marshall James Kern.”
Deb took his hand then motioned toward Kat, “I’m Doctor Debra Marlete, this is my daughter Kathleen.” Placing herself protectively between the Marshall and Kat as she sat down.
Karen took the chair on the opposite side of Kat, “Karen Sawdey, Kat’s sister.”
Marshall Kern looked across the table where Matt was sitting, “Your wife?”
Matt nodded, “Yes sir.”
“What exactly are you investigating Marshall?” Karen questioned.
“Your father’s death.”
Karen glanced over at Kat then back to Kern, “Our father died of cancer. He had been fighting it for years before his death.”
“Yes ma’am, I have read the medical reports. What I am concerned with is how and why he was transferred from the nursing home he was in to a military facility that supposedly does cancer research and that he died while under the care of said facility just a few weeks after his transfer.”
“Our facility has cared for many terminally ill patients, Deb interrupted.
“None of which has ever left alive,” Kern stated.
“What part of terminally ill are you misunderstanding Marshall?” The General mocked.
“Then the fact that one of the doctors there is now alleged to be the mother of an illegitimate child that he never knew about.”
“Marshall I’ve seen the proof, Kat and I are both products of our father and thus is my sister,” Karen put her arm around Kat’s shoulder.
“You don’t find it a bit convenient that a sister you never knew about suddenly shows up after your father’s death?”
Kat tensed with anger as she realized what the man was insinuating, ‘Who does he think he is to accuse me of trying to take advantage of my own family!’
Feeling Kat tense up, Karen gave the younger girls shoulder a squeeze while glaring at Kern, “Of course I did, even after I was shown irrefutable proof I had several concerns, which I quickly came to realized were unfounded. My sister would move heavens and earth to help me if she could, and I would do no less for her, we’re family and that what family does.”
Marshall Kern sighed heavily, “Alright I can see that my suspicions may be unwarranted, so I’ll drop it for now.” Changing his attention toward Kat, “I still need to speak with Kathleen about the assistance she gave in the capture of the suspect earlier.”
After over an hour in which Kat was asked to retell her story three times along with a barrage of questions many of which were asked multiple times, Kern told everyone they were free to take Kat home. Once the door closed leaving the three Marshals alone Kern looked over at Bergman, “What do you think Jim?”
“They’re hiding something.”
Kern nodded, “Got any ideas?”
“It’s something to do with the kid,” Bergman paused as if deep in thought, “You see those pictures of that bathroom her and that boy fought in?”
Kern nodded once again, “Yea, looked like a bomb went off in there.”
“The boy is one of their football players, good sized kid too. He got beat up pretty badly, she walked out without a scratch on her,” Bergman pondered.
“Not that hard to believe when you take a look at her training,” Kern handed Bergman the brown folder that had been lying on the table in front of him.
Bergman thumbed through the pages it contained for several minutes before looking up from the folder, “This list of training looks like something you would find on a special forces resume.”
“Or a trained assassin’s,” Kern stated.
“That kid, an assassin?” CR gulped, “You can’t be serious?”
“Doubtful that is the case,” Kern’s stern expression was not lost on CR, “but with all the military brass that became involved so quickly, that kid is definitely not the simple teenage girl they would have us believe. I want to know what the hell is going on.” Standing up, “Let go see if we can speak with Beth yet.”
“No sir, I have no idea how she got up on that roof so quickly, one moment she was behind me and the next thing I knew she was pulling herself over the top of the wall.” Marshall Brown sat with the head of the hospital bed raised to allow her to sit up comfortably while talking to the other Marshals that were standing in her hospital room.
“You did see her fight the suspect though,” Kern said most as a statement than a question.
“Yes,” Beth nodded, wincing as the movement irritated her wound, “she jumped straight down, landing on her feet uncovering the suspect and taking the rifle from him—”
“The girl jumped off a fifteen foot wall landing on her feet?” Kern interrupted.
“Yes sir, then after disarming the suspect of the rifle she pulled him out of the storm drain he was partially hiding in. There was a scuffle and they both went to the ground when they got to their feet he had a large knife. I was looking for a clean shot but Miss Marlete was in the way. He lunged at her with the knife and she took him down hard.”
“Martial arts training,” Kern nodded.
“I assume she knows some type of martial arts sir,” Beth agreed. “Although the way she moved, she was, I can only describe it as graceful, like a ballet or belly dancer.” Beth then added, “I have no idea what style of fighting that was but I would love to learn it myself.”
“Bruce Lee School of dance,” CR quipped.
Kern began rubbing his chin, “What would you say if we arranged that for you Beth?”
“Arrange what sir?” Beth asked.
“To learn more about that fighting style Miss Marlete uses,” Kern stated.
“You want me to spy on Kat?” Beth’s jaw fell open.
“Call it what you want, but I want you to start keeping an eye on her.” Kern explained, “There is more going on than they are telling us. Look at the facts, John Dodge dies weeks after being transferred to the same cancer research center that that the mother of a daughter that no one knew he had works at. His other daughter, the CEO of a defense contractor welcomes the girl into the family with open arms without so much as a single legal hiccup. And when we get involved high ranking military brass come out of the woodwork protecting the girl.”
“That is a lot of coincidences,” Bergman acknowledged.
“Once is luck, twice is coincidence, more than that is planned,” Kern maintained.
Chapter 46
Kat knew there would be trouble the moment she saw Bishop standing inside the front doors glaring at her as they walked into the school that morning, although it was something not only Kat, but both her mother and sister knew would probably happen and had prepared for.
“Young lady, my office now!” Bishop grabbed Kat by the arm as her and Becky entered the school.
Becky waited until Bishop had disappeared with Kat into the office before pulling her cell phone out of her purse.
“Zero tolerance policy!” Kat’s face red with anger as she stood up from the chair in Bishop’s office, “You can’t be serious, he tried to rape May! Where’s the zero tolerance for that?”
“You were fighting on school grounds,” Mr. Bishop bluntly stated, “That is automatic suspension of three days.”
“So what’s the suspension of attempted rape?” Kat spat back.
“Rape? I’m told you walked in on two students showing their affection toward each other in an inappropriate manner on school grounds, both of which will be punished for their sexual misconduct, which by the way is none of your concern. You on the other hand attacked the boy without provocation.”
Placing both fists on Bishop’s desk, Kat leaned toward the much larger man, “Who are you trying to convince with that line of bullshit, me or yourself!”
“I’m calling your mother Kathleen!”
“Want me to dial the number for you?” Kat spat.
“Kathleen I am fed up with your insolence!”
“Maybe you should look for another career path?” Kat grinned, “One where you don’t have to deal with people that are smarter than you? Maybe the zoo? No that wouldn’t work the monkeys would make fun of you. I got it you could raise earthworms, you got to be smarter than an earthworm!”
Bishop stood, face red with anger jumped out of his chair, “If I was your father—”
Kat stormed, “I would slap my mother!”
The door to Bishop’s office opened quickly after three sharp raps of someone knocking ended their arguing. “Good morning Mr. Bishop,” Mr. McCray, the principal, stuck his head past the partially open door. “Good morning Kathleen,” He smiled warmly at Kat before his attention went back to Bishop. “I think under the circumstances it would be best if you allow me to handle this Mr. Bishop.”
‘It’s my responsibility to handle disciplinary issues,” Bishop declared.
“Yes, yes it is,” Mr. McCray’s smile never faltered, “But I think it best if I handle any issues we may have with Kathleen from now on.” Opening the door all the way as he stepped in allowing Kat enough room to exit, “Kathleen would you please join me in my office?”
Once Kat walked into the hallway, Mr. McCray looked curiously at the door his gaze stopped at each of the three hinges that held the door to the frame before he tentatively swung the door back and forth as if testing it. Looking back toward Bishop, “I’ll have maintenance come take a look at this door for you since I know it must have somehow swung closed on its own as I know you would never violate the district policy on being alone with a female student.”
Once inside his own office, with the door left wide open, Mr. McCray motioned Kat to have a seat, Mr. McCray walked around the large wooden desk and sat down, “Well Kathleen, for only being enrolled in our school for a few weeks you have found your way into the office quite often,” Mr. McCray watched to see how Kat would react, “I hope this isn’t going to become a habit with you?”
“I hope you’re not trying to say that just because I am a student, I don’t have the right to defend myself or assist someone in danger of being assaulted?” Kat spoke with a calm but clear voice.
“Heavens no,” a slight gasp escaped as Mr. McCray replied, “I would never insinuate that a student should not defend them self, especially when it comes to a female student defending herself or another girl from sexual assault, if that is what this turns out to be.”
“It was,” Kat glared.
“It’s the police’s job to determine that my dear,” Mr. McCray leaned back in his chair, “I’m just a lowly high school administrator, it’s not my job to investigate all the aspects of what happened Saturday and if any legal charges should or should not be pressed. What is my job is to make sure the rules and guidelines set forth by the school board and the school districts policy are followed, even those rules we may not agree with.”
‘Yes sir,’ Kat nodded, already understanding where he was going with the lengthy explanation.
“Good,” Mr. McCray smiled across the desk at Kat, “So you understand that your suspension has nothing to do with why you were in a fight. The fact is fighting is against the rules and punishable by a minimum of three days suspension. The district’s policy does not discriminate on how justified a fight may or may not have been. There was a fight, all involved are punished, Mr. Semfer, Miss Hudson and you are all officially suspended for three days.”
Kat’s eyes opened wide as her head shot up, “May? All she was doing was trying to get away from him!”
“I think Miss Hudson could use a few days to get over what happened, don’t you?” Mr. McCray winked, “She didn’t grow up a tomboy living on Army bases like a student we both know.”
Kat realized what Mr. McCray was saying, ‘He isn’t punishing her, he is giving her a few days to heal!’ “Yes sir, I think she could use a couple days to get herself together.”
“Good, now do I need to call your mother to come take you home or has that already been taken care of for us?” Mr. McCray gave Kat a knowing smile.
“Um, my sister was concerned about what happened last time so she stayed with us last night so mom wouldn’t have to leave work.”
Mr. McCray chuckled, “I never met your father but from what I’ve heard he could be quite a force of nature. It’s apparent that you and your sister take after him in that respect.”
“I, I never met him until right before he died.”
“I am sure he is proud of the strong, intelligent young woman you have become,” Mr. McCray smiled warmly.
The intercom on the phone sitting on his desk chirped as it came on, “Mr. McCray, Mrs. Sawdey is here for Kathleen,” the voice of Mrs. Potts, the schools secretary came over the speaker.
Picking up the handset, “Could you please send her back to my office Mrs. Potts.”
Mr. McCray stood, holding out his hand as Karen walked into his office, “Good morning Mrs. Sawdey. Kathleen and I were just discussing your late father and what a great role model he was, while we waited on you to arrive.”
Karen, having prepared herself to defend Kat in yet another lingual duel, was surprised at receiving such a warm greeting after the last time she had come to the school. Taking his hand, “Sorry I wasn’t expecting such a gracious greeting. Mr. McCray isn’t it?”
“Yes, I’m the principal of our school.” Mr. McCray smiled, “Mr. Bishop who you met with on your last visit is our assistant principal and athletic director.”
“I hope he is a good coach?” Karen smirked, making sure that Mr. McCray knew that she felt he was terrible as an administrator.
“With cutbacks we were forced to combine the two positions a few years back.” Mr. McCray explained, “As a businesswoman I am sure you know how demanding a position with multiple roles can be.”
“Yes,” The smirk on Karen’s face still blatantly obvious, “finding someone that is qualified and able to balance both roles can sometimes be impossible.” Karen’s expression changed back to that of stone, “but we are here about Kat, aren’t we?”
“Yes ma’am,” Mr. McCray ignored the change in Karen’s attitude and continued smiling, “District policy is that anyone involved in a fight gets a minimum of three days suspension. It may not seem fair at first, but in all honesty it gives everyone a chance to calm down, allow tempers to settle and everyone to begin putting the incident into the past.”
Nodding her acceptance of the logic he used, Karen turned to Kat, “So you ready to go then?”
Climbing into her SUV Karen noticed that Kat was staring at her, “What?”
“Uh, you gave into McCray pretty easily,” Kat voiced her concern, “Is something wrong?”
“His argument made sense,” Karen smiled while putting on her seatbelt and starting the engine. “I can see why the school board would create such a rule.”
“Still it isn’t like you to give in so easily. There’s something you’re not telling me.”
“Do you think I always have some secret agenda?”
“Yes,” Kat deadpanned.
“Now is that anyway to talk to your sister, a sister that took the day off just so she could spend the day with you?”
“I thought…” Kat’s train of thought derailed as Karen turned the wrong direction out of the school’s parking lot, “Where you going?”
“I thought we could spend the day down in Richmond.”
“Hey you said we were heading to a park?” Kat protested as Karen turned into the parking lot.
Grinning, Karen pointed to the large sign at the entrance that read, ‘Stony Point Fashion Park.’
“So your idea of having a fun day with me is shopping?” Kat shivered at the thought of following Karen in and out of the women’s fashions.
“Well I hate to say it baby sister,” Karen looked over at the way Kat was dressed in blue jeans, tennis shoes and a tee shirt, “but you look like some coal miner’s daughter that just came down out of the hills for the very first time.”
“I do not!” Kat argued, “Lots of girls wear jeans, even you!”
Karen huffed, “I’m surprised you’re not wearing combat boot too!”
“I, um…” Kat blushed as she remembered the deal she had made with her mother to only wear her boots when she was planning on working in her shop. “I kind of made a deal with mom about that, which part of that deal is that she doesn’t force me to dress up all girly either.”
“I am not part of any arrangements you and Deb have made,” Karen grinned as saw Kat’s eyes widen, “But I will promise not make you wear anything that is uncomfortable. It’s not like I’m trying to force you to wear nice clothes all the time, but you are going to find there are times that dressing in something other than worn out jeans can be highly beneficial to you, and not just to distract men.” Karen waved her hand down her side pointing out the power suit she wore. “Do I dress like this all the time?”
“No,” Kat almost whispered.
“What do you think when you see me dressed this way?”
“Um, look out she means business.”
“Exactly why I dress this way for work,” Karen explained, “I want the men to see a shrewd businesswoman who is ready to go toe to toe with anyone who disagrees with me. How do you think I would be treated if I went to a meeting wearing a peasant’s blouse and gypsy skirt?”
“I get what you’re saying.”
“We women have it easier and at the same time harder to pull off certain looks. A man in a business suit, whether it’s a cheap suit or expensive suit still looks like a businessman, a man in a pair of slacks and polo looks casual but nice and a man in worn out jean and old tee shirt, well he looks like he probably lives in a van down by the river. The thing that makes it easy and hard at the same time is the wider variety of clothing we can choose from. We can tweak our appearance just by changing one item. For instance the color or style of the blouse I have on or how I wear my hair would make me look completely different in the same skirt and jacket. So it’s easier for us to come up with a different look but sometimes very difficult to get just the right look you are going for.”
“Alright, lead on oh great master of fashion,” Kat giggled as she stepped out of the vehicle.
Walking back into the large open area inside the mall after their third trip back to the SUV to unload more bags full of their shopping, Karen looked over at Kat, “Want to grab a bite to eat?”
“Sounds good to me!”
“How about there?” Karen pointed to a sushi place.
“You know what I think of that stuff,” Kat made a disgusting face.
“Well it doesn’t hurt to try,” Karen chuckled, “I’ve gotten you to do some things today that I am sure you would have never tried before.”
“I draw the line at eating something that should be dangling from a hook on the end of my fishing pole.” Kat giggled, “Fish should be cooked, preferably battered and deep fried!”
“Okay, we can go over to the bistro,” Karen suggested, “Their menu is excellent.”
Finding an empty table Karen watched as Kat swept the skirt under her that she had talked Kat into changing into. “Very good,” Karen smiled.
“What?”
“You swept your skirt under you without giving it a second thought.”
“It’s not the first time I’ve worn one.”
“So then Becky makes you wear them?” Karen chuckled.
Lowering her eyes to the table, “Um, yea sort of. She says that it would look weird if she wore one and I didn’t. Not sure why it would look weird, but it’s easier to wear one than to watch her pout.”
“She’s right it would. So what do you think?”
“About what?” Kat was confused.
“The skirt and top you’re wearing.”
“Oh,” Kat looked down at the red peasant blouse and blue maxi skirt or gypsy skirt as she had always called them she had on, “They were way too expensive.”
“No silly, I mean don’t you think that outfit is more comfortable than those old jeans and tee shirt you were wearing?”
“Yea I guess,” Kat hated the thought of telling her the truth of how comfortable and cooler the new clothes really were. “It is easier to get in and out of this with all the other things you’re having me try on.”
“Exactly why we both changed into these outfits,” Karen who was now dressed similar although in a white top and burgundy skirt smiled knowingly. “It’s a lot cooler than jeans too isn’t it?” Seeing the scarlet glow appear on Kat’s face, Karen reached across the table placing her hand on top of Kat’s, “Liking how comfortable and pretty your clothes are is nothing to be ashamed about sis.”
“I know,” continuing to look down, “It’s just…”
“There’s nothing wrong with feeling pretty,” Karen’s smiled.
“It’s not that, well maybe it does embarrass me a little.” Kat stammered, “It’s just when I see myself in the mirror when I get out of the shower, or just in my underwear I feel like…” Kat’s head fell further down as she whispered, “a pervert.”
Karen reached up from the table to Kat’s chin, gently pulling the young woman’s face up so they were seeing eye to eye, “When you look in the mirror you see the reflection of a beautiful young woman.”
Kat nodded, “Yes.”
“And you like looking at her right?”
Kat quickly shook her head before letting out a long sigh and nodding, “Yea, I do.”
“I bet you’ve even struck poses in front of the mirror in different bra and panty sets to see how you look in them haven’t you?”
Kat’s eyes grew really wide at the accusation. ‘How could she know? I’ve never done it when anyone is around and I always locked my door!’
Karen tried to stifle the chuckle that escaped her lips, “It’s okay sweetie, it’s something all us girls do. I’d be more concerned if you didn’t.”
Kat felt a vibration in the small purse she carried right before the musical chime of an incoming text message. Retrieving the phone from her purse she read the message. Looking back up to Karen, “It’s Becky, she wants to know what happened this morning.
Kat spend a minute replying to the message, ~Everything ok, won’t be back to school till Thursday. Karen shanghaied me for the day. See you tonight~
~U in trouble?~ Kat saw the new text appear.
~No. Karen said she wanted time to bond with her sister~
~OMG!!!! She took you shopping didn’t she? I am so jealous. Where did you 2 go? Did you find any good sales?~ Kat giggled then handed her phone over so Karen could read the last message.
Handing the phone back, “Tell her you both are welcome to come spend next weekend with us. We can do a girl’s weekend hitting the malls, the water park and any of the historical sights anyone wants, Becky, Susan, Emily, you and I. And don’t forget to invite you mother too, I am sure she would love to go.”
“We can’t, this weekend I have that demonstration.”
“Oh I almost forgot about that,” Karen chuckled at the thought of how bad Kat would make those boys look. “Matt, the girls and I will probably be spending the weekend with you. Emily has done nothing but talk about it since she found out what you were going to do.” Grinning over at Kat, “You know she has been telling her friends that her aunt is a ninja.”
Kat’s mouth fell open, “I hope you told her that isn’t true!”
“Of course, but do you really think it did any good?” Hearing the musical note informing them that Kat received another text message, “You probably should answer her.”
Chapter 47
Kat entered the kitchen wearing a black sports bra and pair of cut off blue jean shorts. On her feet she had laced up the black combat boots everyone kidded her so much about.
“Perfect timing, breakfast is almost ready hon,” Deb said, glancing over her shoulder at Kat.
Sitting the laptop she was carrying down on the table Kat went over to the counter to pour herself a cup of coffee.
Sitting at the table sipping on her own cup of coffee, Karen frowned seeing the way Kat was dressed. Karen had decided to spend one more night due to how late they finally got in and the fact that she was quite tired after spending the previous day on an all-day shopping excursion with Kat. Remembering one of her father’s favorite saying Karen eyed Kat evilly while shaking her head, “Buy them books, send them to school, they rip off the covers and eat the pages.”
“What?” Kat rolled her eyes at Karen, “I’m going to be working on my shop today. Digging the hole for a septic tank if you must know!”
“Septic tank?” Deb turned to look over where Kat was pulling a chair out to sit down, “Why?”
“I’m putting a bathroom in the shop.”
“Shoe’s on the other foot now that you can’t whip it out and pee on a tree anymore!” Karen began laughing.
Deb saw Kat stick her tongue out at Karen, “Am I missing something?”
Still chuckling, Karen explained, “Dad’s original shop was almost as far from the house as Kat’s is now and it didn’t have a toilet. Any time I needed to go he would tell me to either run back to the house or go squat down beside some bushes outside.”
“Kat!” Deb scolded, “How could you.”
“Um,” Kat blushed, “I never realized…”
“Well you make sure you have plenty to eat and drink if you’re going to be exerting yourself that much today,” Deb sat a plate in front of Kat turning to go back to grab the plates she made for Karen and herself, “I don’t want you getting sick.”
“I have some stuff in the freezer in the shop, plus I was planning on making a sandwich to take with me,” Kat grinned.
After everyone was finished with their plates Kat took them all to the sink where she rinsed everything and placed it all in the dishwasher, once done with that Kat used a folding step stool to get in the cabinet above the refrigerator where she found a large roll of butcher paper that she placed on the counter beside the refrigerator. Getting down from the stool, she proceeded to cut a long section off the roll, before putting the butcher paper and the stool away.
Retrieving one of several loafs of French bread from a baker’s rack on the other side of the kitchen, Kat removed it from the clear plastic bag it was purchased in, then used a knife out of the butcher block knife holder on the counter to cut the long loaf of bread open lengthwise.
Karen watched Kat is awe as Kat piled several types of meats and cheese on top of one half of the two foot long half of bread after coating the bread first with a layer of yellow mustard, knowing the small girl would have no problem eating the whole sandwich later.
Finishing it off with lettuce and a layer of sliced tomatoes, Kat capped the massive sandwich with the top half of the bread just as Becky walked into the kitchen. Prancing over, she kissed Kat on the cheek, “How sweet, you made lunch for me!” Picking up the knife Kat had been using and slicing off about five or six inches off the end of the sandwich.
“Hey!” Kat giggled as Becky side stepped to the refrigerator before standing on her tip toes to reach the cabinet above it and pull out the aluminum foil.
“What?” Becky giggled while tearing off a piece of foil then placing the box back in the cabinet. Standing back beside Kat she began wrapping the section of the sandwich up in the aluminum foil. “If the only thing better would be if you could be there at lunch to share it with me,” Becky kissed Kat on the cheek once more. “But since you’re not going to be there for a few days I wanted to give you a kiss before I took off for school.”
“What about our morning exercises?” Kat leaned over so her shoulder was against Becky as she wrapped the rest of the sandwich.
“I went through the twenty four that you said I was doing correctly this morning in our backyard while mom was making breakfast, that way I can get to school early. Jenny texted me last night and said she Hanna and Maddy needed my help with something before school.”
“With what?” Kat gave Becky a peck on the cheek.
“No idea, she said she would explain in the morning when we met up.”
“Becky, wait up!” Becky, who had been hurrying toward her car in the student parking lot so she could get home and see Kat, turned to see Hanna, Britney and Jenny walking quickly in her direction. All three were members of the sewing club that were creating the costume Kat would wear for the demonstration she would give this Saturday. Like Becky, both Hanna and Britney had grown up in the area of Bowling Green and all three had been friends since third grade. Jenny’s father was in the army and had moved to the area two and a half years ago and had quickly become part of their group.
“Are you going over to see Kat?” Hanna asked once they had caught up to here Becky waiting on them.
“Well she does live next door,” Becky grinned.
“Um, would you mind if we tag along?” Britney asked.
“No, I’m sure Kat would love it if you guys came along,” Becky looked at Hanna, “You drove today right?” Becky saw Hanna nod, “Cool you can follow me in your car.”
“If it’s okay I’ll ride with Becky?” Jenny asked.
“Okay with me,” Hanna agreed.
“Okay with me too,” Becky motioned Jenny to come with her. After getting in the car they waited until they saw Hanna’s car before taking off.
Once they were out of the parking lot Jenny turned to Becky, “Are you worried about Saturday?”
Becky glanced over then focused back on her driving, “You didn’t see what she did at the mall. I was there, Kat went all leaping dragon, crouching tiger on them.”
“I saw the video, so did my mom. Mom gave me and all her students in the dojang a big lecture about it. The big thing she kept telling us is that there is always someone bigger, stronger or better trained than you.”
“Probably not many for Kat, You know she has like five black belts.”
“I’ve never seen anyone as good as my mom, but daddy can still beat her if he gets hold of her. He’s so much bigger and stronger than me and mom.” Jenny’s thoughts went back to all the times she had sparred with her father in her mother’s dojang. Even how much better Jenny’s technique and forms were over her father’s she had never stood a chance against him on the mat.
“You saw how that jerk Doug ran from her.”
“Yea,” Jenny nodded, “But he’s just a goon, some of the guys on the team are in my mom’s classes.”
“Any of them any good?” Becky unconsciously bit her lip.
“Kayden is and so is Danny and since he saw the video Danny’s been talking about how much he would like to see how good she really is.”
“Now I am starting to worry,” Becky glanced over at Jenny then back to the road.
“Kayden seems like a nice enough guy, I don’t think he would hurt her intentionally. He acts more like he just wants to test himself against her on the mat, Danny I’m not so sure about. On the bright side I did hear mom telling dad that since the video went viral enrollment in her school has went up, especially with girls,” Jenny giggled.
The two chatted about several subjects on the drive, which teachers and classes they liked best, dresses and clothing they wanted. The one subject Jenny was careful not to mention was boys. Once at Becky’s house, Hanna pulled her car up in the driveway behind Becky’s car. After going inside to let her mother know she was home and that she and her friends were heading over to see Kat, they all went back out the front door.
As Becky led them up the driveway to Kat’s house Jenny gaped at the sight of the house, “Kat lives here?”
“Yea, Kat and her mom,” Becky led them up the drive and around to the side of the house toward the backyard.
“What does her mom do?” Jenny questioned.
“She’s a doctor,” Becky answered.
“Oh, I didn’t know,” Jenny conceded, “I guess that explains how they have such a big house.”
“From what Kat told me her sister bought the house for them when they moved here a few months ago,” Becky explained.
“I thought it was just Kat and her mom?” Britney asked, “And why are we going through her backyard?”
“Kat has been fixing up an old barn that’s way back on their property, she’ll be out there working on it,” Becky stated then went on to explain about how Kat has a half-sister that was over twenty years older and two nieces around their own age as the passed through Kat’s backyard, past the in ground pool and onto the footpath that led to the barn. “Their dad had this big company that he left to Kat and her sister that her sister runs.”
“She doesn’t act like someone with a lot of money,” Jenny commented.
“You’ve never been shopping with her,” Becky giggled.
“Figured I would find you out here. Have you been out here all day?” Becky asked as she walked into the old barn Kat had been renovating into a workshop.
Kat looked up from the work bench to see Becky walking into the barn, “What are you doing out of school already?”
“Schools got out almost an hour ago.” Becky leaned over the fender to peer under the hood of the old Ford Thunderbird Kat had bought, to see what Kat had been doing while Becky had been in school. Becky didn’t know much about cars, but she knew enough that there should have been an engine in the space between the fenders, which now was bare except for several bundles of wires and what looked like some steel lines hanging from the inside of the area. “Isn’t there supposed to be an engine in here?” Becky motioned at the engine compartment being careful not to lean against the car or touch anything for fear of getting grease on her clothes.
“Very funny,” Kat stuck her tongue out at Becky. “Figured since Bishop was so kind in giving me three days off, I would use it to get as much done around here as I could. I got the hole dug for the septic tank they are delivering tomorrow and started stripping out the thunderbird so I can restore it and start driving it.”
“Restore it? You mean like rebuild it totally? I thought you were just going to fix it and start driving it?”
Shaking her head, Kat grinned at Becky, “Nope, this baby is getting a frame off restoration. Well it would be if it had a frame, it has uni-body so no frame to speak of, but everything is coming apart, checked, cleaned painted, etcetera before it gets put back together. This baby is going to be brand new when I get done.”
“God,” Becky roller her eyes at Kat, “my girlfriend is a bigger grease monkey than the guys in auto shop.”
“Girlfriend?” Kat looked behind Becky to the entrance of the old barn at the three girls that had followed her in then back at Becky, “Are you telling everyone we are a couple? I thought you were afraid of what people would say?” Looking back over at the three who were all looking over the interior of Kat’s shop except for Hanna who was grinning back at Kat. “Hi Jen, Hanna, Britney.”
Becky walked over to Kat aware of how dirty and greasy Kat was as she kissed her on the cheek, “Well it’s not like we are wearing signs advertising it but we are a couple aren’t we?”
Kat felt tingly all over as she thought of how Becky’s kisses made her feel, “I do like how it sounds when you say it.”
“You say the sweetest things,” Becky gave Kat another peck on the cheek, jumping back as she saw Kat trying to reach around to hug her, “Don’t you dare touch me with those greasy hands!” Becky giggled.
“Don’t worry Kat,” Hanna smiled, “We kind of already knew you and Becky were an item.”
“Is it that obvious?” Kat leaned back on the stool she was sitting on.
“No,” Britney giggled, “but I don’t think any of us have seen Becky this happy ever.”
“Yea and there is only one thing that can make a girl that happy,” Jenny giggled.
All three girls looked at each other then chorused, “She’s in love.”
“My brother would go nuts with a place like this,” Britney tried to change the subject when she saw both Kat and Becky’s face reddening.
“Your brother?” Hanna giggled, looking around at the neatly organized benches and machinery, “My dad would call it his dream garage. Your dad must have been quite a gear head to build a shop like this one. Heck put in a recliner and a really big TV my dad would call it a perfect man cave and my mom would never get him to come out.”
“This all Kat’s, she built it.” Becky watched the others to see their reaction.
“Well the barn was already here,” Kat explained, “We’ve been fixing it up.”
“So it’s your girl cave?” Hanna asked.
“Girl cave?” Britney giggled, “Wouldn’t it be a she shed?”
“Lady Lair or Babe barn,” Jenny added.
“The Kat cave!” Becky grinned at Kat.
Kat giggled at the pun on the Batman movies, “At least no one has tried to call it a Kat house.” All the girls groaned at Kat’s bad joke.
“What would you call it Kat?” Hanna asked.
“I don’t know?” Kat pondered the question, “It’s a shop, some place I can be myself and tinker around with stuff. I guess it’s kind of like a little haven for me.”
“Haven maybe, but this place is anything but little!” Britney’s gaze went around the large interior to show how large she thought the place was. Spotting steps that led upward for the first time, “It even has an upstairs?”
“It’s the hay loft or was a hay loft at one time,” Kat answered, “It’s empty other than the bathroom I’m putting in. Would have put the bathroom down here but I didn’t think about it before they poured the concrete so it’s easier to put it upstairs.”
“And it doesn’t take up any of your precious shop space down here,” Becky giggled.
“Hey walking up a few steps is a lot better than going all the way back to the house when you need to go,” Kat stuck her tongue out at Becky.
“I’m thirsty,” Becky ignored the look Kat gave her, “Anyone want a soda?”
“I’ll take diet if you got one?” Britney replied.
“Sure I’ll take one,” Jenny answered, “Diet too please.”
“What do you have?” Hanna asked.
Becky opened the fridge that sat under the stairs and started calling out what it held for drinks, “Diet we have Pepsi one, Dr. Pepper, Cherry Pepsi. Regular soda we have Mountain dew, Root beer and RC.
“You have RC?” Hanna grinned, “I’d love one of those! That’s the only soda my grandmother ever bought. She always had two or three wooden cases of bottles any time we went to visit.” Becky came back handing out cans of soda, placing a Mountain Dew on the bench in front of Kat.
Kat opened her soda, “So what was so important for all you guys to get to school early for?”
“Oh my god, Becky didn’t tell you?” Britney blurted out.
“Duh!” Becky cocked her head while making a funny face at Britney, “No one told me until I got there remember?”
“Okay so anyone want to clue me in?” Kat urged.
Hanna was first to begin, “We heard that after Mr. Bishop was going to try to cancel the fight after you beat up Doug!”
“So Maddy’s mom, you know she has a print shop right?” Jenny grinned, “Well she printed out all these fliers that tell everyone about the event on Saturday that she and Clair put up all over town Monday after school. And well Tonya got permission from Mr. McCray to let us in to school early so we could put them up before school started.”
“Why would he give one of the Goths permission?” Kat shook her head in disbelief.
“Maybe cause he’s her dad?” Britney giggled, “But now with all the fliers up everywhere, Mr. Bishop and his precious football team would lose too much face if he canceled it now, especially since everyone has started buying tickets already.”
“They’re selling tickets?” Kat’s disbelief grew.
“Mr. McCray is calling it a fund raiser and some of the other clubs are going to put on exhibitions of their own too!” Jenny stated, “My parents have already bought ours. My mom wasn’t going to go but my dad kept insisting that she really needed to watch you fight. Dad shooed me away to get my homework done after that, but I knew it was really because there was something he didn’t want me to hear so I snuck back close enough to listen, but by that time he was talking about some guy on base called Badger that can kick his butt on the mat when they spar, he kept going on and on at how good this guy was, so I went to my room.”
Becky began laughing at the same time Kat shot the soda she was drinking out her mouth and nose. Kat quickly grabbed a roll of blue colored paper towels, tearing off several sheets to clean herself up with. “You okay Kat?” Jenny hoped she hadn’t said anything wrong.
“Yea, I’m fine,” Kat responded, “I just realized your dad is Master Sergeant Williams.”
“Yea he works on the Army base,” Jenny nodded.
Becky finally catching her breath, “Kat’s nickname is Badger.”
“You’re the Badger he was talking about?” Jenny gasped, “But you’re the smallest one of us, the way he talked it sounded like you were seven feet tall and strong as an elephant.”
Kat thought of the public story everyone had agreed on, “The doctors had me using the same gym the guys at the base use. There were some guys doing some martial arts and the Master Sergeant, um, your dad let me join them. Since then I practice with them whenever I get the chance. You dad said after one of those times that fighting me was like fighting an angry badger and everyone started calling me Badger after that.”
Britney gasped, “You were in the hospital?” Kat nodded.
“My mom told me Kat had cancer,” Becky smiled weakly at Kat, “I hope you’re not mad that I found out?”
“Were they able to cure it?” The concern in Jenny voice apparent.
“No, I’m glad that you know and yes the cancer is gone.”
“How, how bad was it?” Hanna bit her lower lip.
“Doesn’t matter now, the cancer is gone,” Kat felt terrible lying to her friends, especially Becky, but reasoned that the story they had concocted was actually the truth just not all of it, “But I do have to keep going to see the doctors a lot because what they did was so new and they want to make sure nothing changes or that there aren’t any other side effects.”
“There were side effects?” Hanna blurted out.
“You’ve seen how much she eats at lunch!” Becky giggled before turning to look at Kat solemnly, “I was worried and talked to mom about how much you were eating, that’s when she told me about the cancer and how it supercharged your metabolism making you eat so much more.”
“Oh my god, you can eat as much of anything you want and never get fat! I am so jealous,” Britney giggled.
“I would get fat just like anyone else if I didn’t exercise,” Kat proclaimed.
Becky smiled proudly at the girls, “Kat getting me to exercise is how I lost so much weight over the summer.”
“I’d love to learn whatever you did to make Becky look so gorgeous,” Britney’s hand snapped up to cover her mouth, her face taking on a warm red glow when she thought about how that must have sounded.
“I’m sure Becky wouldn’t mind if you joined us,” Kat smiled.
“Really?” The excitement evident in Britney’s eyes.
“Sure,” Becky chimed in, “we usually go through all the Tai Chi exercises here at Kat’s in the morning before school.”
“Before school?” Britney gulped, thinking about how hard it was for her to get ready in the morning and get to school on time. “I’d like to, but I’m not sure if I could get here that early.” Looking over at Hanna while she softly bit her lip.
“Britney’s not a morning person,” Hanna giggled, understating how bad it could be to drag her out of bed in the morning.
“Neither was I until I started exercising with Kat,” Becky grinned.
“Don’t let her fool you,” Kat giggled. “It took her a little bit to get used to getting up early.”
“But now I’m up before my mom most of the time and have coffee ready for her,” Becky beamed. “I’ve even had breakfast ready for her and daddy a few times when they come downstairs.”
“Maybe we both could come?” Hanna grinned at Britney before looking over at Jenny, “What about you?”
“Actually my mom has had me doing Tai Chi in the morning with her and dad since I was little.”
“How about we all head back to the house so you can get cleaned up and I can finally get a hug?” Becky grinned at Kat.
“What’s a little dirt and grease when someone needs a hug so badly,” Kat got up from the stool and stepped toward Becky with her arms outstretched.
“Not before you get cleaned up!” Becky giggled as she ran out the large open barn doors.
Kat took off jogging behind her slowly enough that she wouldn’t catch Becky, “Aww, come on Becky, it’s only a little dirt, it will wash out.”
Nodding his understanding, after listening to the directions, the driver pulled the flatbed truck carrying the heavy concrete septic tank through the now opened wrought iron gate.
The younger man sitting in the passenger seat of the company truck was the first to notice the girl standing out by the road, “Damn!” He grinned, eyeing the long tan legs that protruded down from the cutoff jeans she wore, cut so short that he could see an inch or so of the white material of the front pockets. An inch or two of the white of the socks she wore could be seen above the pair of black work boots that protected her feet. A baggy off white tee shirt with a faded American flag centered on the front concealed her figure from view, “I think I’m in love.”
Taking one look at the young girl, the older driver muttered, “Jailbait.”
“No way?”
“I’m betting she’s still in high school,” The driver told his coworker as he brought the truck to a stop.
“Okay, you’re buying lunch if she isn’t,” figuring this to be a sucker bet, there was no way a girl that lived in this neighborhood would play hooky from school.
“And you’re buying if I’m right.”
Kat had walked around the front of the truck to the driver’s side, looking up at the older driver, “The road to get back where this is going is kind of hard to spot so I figured I would need to show you where it is.”
Looking up the road, the driver could see that on the right side of the road, past the large white house the girl apparently lived, it appeared to be forest although on the left side he could see that houses continued as the road gently curved to the left. “How far is it to this road?”
Kat jumped up on the step, grabbing the side mirror to hold on, “Two, three hundred feet. See that tall pine there,” Kat pointed ahead toward a very tall yellow pine that stood above the other trees along the edge of the road. Kat saw the driver nod, “Just past there.”
“Okay,” looking at how she was hanging on the side of his truck, “Although I can’t have you hanging on the side of the truck, insurance doesn’t allow anyone not an employee in or on the trucks.”
Kat stepped down off the truck, “No problem, I can walk.”
The older driver waited as Kat backed up until he thought she was at a safe distance before putting the truck in gear and proceeding further up the road toward the pine that Kat had pointed out.
Kat watched to make sure they found the entrance before walking back up her driveway and taking a shortcut through the backyard toward the barn. When she got to the barn, they had already backed the truck up to the hold Kat had dug for the septic tank. The back of the truck held a metal framework attached at the four corners of the flat metal rear. The metal beams formed arches at the front and rear with an I beam that bisected the center of each of the metal arches, they were in the process of extending the center I beam out behind the truck that they would use to lower the tank into the hole.
The older man saw Kat walk up, “So why aren’t you in school, you are in school aren’t you?”
“I go to Caroline High,” Kat smiled thinly, “The principal sort of gave me a few of days off.”
The older man chuckled, “A few days off? Is that a polite way of saying you were suspended?”
“Um, yea,” Kat nodded.
“What did you,” He grinned at Kat, “Forget to wear your cheerleading outfit to a pep rally?”
Kat felt her anger rise at the accusation that she could be some kind of petty airheaded girl. Although logic quickly rose to the surface, ’Calm down,’ Kat told herself. ’He’s a blue collar worker that sees a teenage girl, living in a rich neighborhood, silver spoon and all that goes with it.’ Kat grinned at the man, “Well it was like, you know, the color of my nails was like all wrong to wear with my cheerleading outfit and like the other girls would have made fun of that and it would be like embarrassing and they wouldn’t give me time to like change my color.”
Both men stood there staring at Kat with their mouths open. After a long silence the younger man laughed, “Um, you’re joking right?”
Giggling at the thought that either of them could believe a girl would actually talk like that, “Yes, I’m kidding. I had a discussion with a boy about his treatment of women.”
“You did what?” the younger man grimaced.
“That’s a fancy way of saying she beat up a boy that couldn’t keep his hands to himself.” Everyone turned to the sound of the new voice to see a woman with shoulder length brown hair, wearing a dark blue pants suit and lighter blue blouse with her arm in a tan canvas sling.
“Marshall Brown!” Kat ran over and gave the woman a hug, careful of her arm as she did. “How’d you know where to find us?”
“Please Kat, I’d like to think we’re friends, call me Beth. Your man at the gate was very helpful, once he saw this,” She tapped her fingernails against the badge clipped on her belt. “He told me that you would be out here and how to find it,” Marshall Brown returned the hug using her good arm.
“What brings you out here?” Kat quizzed the Marshall.
Beth leaned closer to Kat speaking softly, “I need to talk with you, privately.”
“Well then why don’t I give you a tour of the little workshop I’m building, while these two guys finish up with the septic tank?” Taking Beth’s good hand, Kat led her around the work the men were doing and over to the barn. Sliding open one of the two large double doors partially, Kat led the Marshall into the barn.
Looking around at the equipment Beth gasped, “All this equipment looks brand new.”
“Most of it is,” Kat grinned, “This place had a dirt floor and was knee deep in in old straw and manure that had turned to rock hard compost when I started on it.” Kat noticed Beth looking closely at the Thunderbird, “That’s my project car. I found it at the dealership, probably bound for the scrapyard I’m restoring it.”
“So is this your next project car?” Beth pointed at Kat’s truck.
“That’s Junkyard,” Kat giggled.
“Junkyard?”
“Becky, my friend, she named it.” Kat explained, “First time she saw it she said it belongs in a junkyard. Honestly it runs and drives perfectly, it just looks like crap.”
“I have to say Kat, you are full of surprises.” Beth exhaled, “Which is one of the reasons I’m here.”
“Oh?”
Beth’s face took on a serious look, “Kat you seems to be a great kid, hell I’m sure what you did saved my life and possibly the lives of other officers!” Beth took a deep breath, “That’s why I’m going to be straight with you. The district Marshall is convinced something is going on with you.” Placing her good hand on Kat’s shoulder, “Is there something I should know about? I owe you, if you need my help…”
“Excuse me?” The older of the two men walked in the partially open barn door with a clipboard in his hand, “We’ve set the tank in and need a signature before we take off.
Kat walked outside to find the younger guy standing on the back of their truck retracting the boom arm that allowed them to place the tank. Looking over into the pit she had dug, she saw the tank was in fact there and properly placed. Signing the document she handed the clipboard back then pulled a twenty dollar bill form her back pocket and handed it to the man, “Thanks a ton, lunch is on me! I’ll make sure to call your company and tell them what prompt and courteous service you two gave me.”
“Um thanks,” surprised that Kat had not only praised their work bit tipped them too.
Beth walked up from behind to join Kat outside as the two guys climbed into their truck and left, “About what we were talking about in there, Kat the district Marshall has told me to keep an eye on you and wants me to report anything unusual.”
“So no using my super powers when you’re around, check.”
“Kat this is serious.”
Turning to face Beth, “Look I know things are kind of weird around me right now, but in the past few months I met my father who, I had always imagined was some asshole that left my mom when he found out she was pregnant, but instead never knew I existed. I find out I have a sister and two beautiful nieces. And my family is filthy rich, including me now that my father left me a considerable sum of money. It’s like a fairy tale ending.”
Chapter 48
The next few days went by in a blur as Kat was back in school. Then Saturday was upon her and the demonstration now turned circus that Kat had promised to give.
Leaning over Kat spoke softly so that only Becky could hear her as they stepped out of the Girl’s locker room into the school gym, “I feel stupid wearing this.”
Becky’s eyed the long black sleeveless cheongsam dress they had made for Kat to wear for this occasion. Both sides of the dress were slit up the sides to just above her hips making the front and back of the skirt appear like long red trimmed black flags that hung from her waist. The arm openings and neck were also trimmed in the inch wide red trim that matched a wide crimson scarf tied around her waist. The top of the outfit had a short straight collar that while concealing any cleavage was skin tight, leaving nothing of her figure to the imagination. “You look great!” Becky smiled at her best friend.
“This makes my boobs look enormous,” Kat grimaced, “I feel like I’m walking two steps behind them!”
“It’s the padding.”
“Well they used too much!”
Becky giggled, “Think of it as a distraction.”
“Oh it’s definitely distracting.”
“For them silly,” Becky grinned, “they’ll be so busy staring at your boobs they won’t be able to fight.”
“Oh goody,” Kat rolled her eyes, “Just what I wanted more boys ogling my chest.”
Kat stood there for a moment taking in the gym. The lower bleachers that folded up into the walls had been pulled out and metal folding chairs had been placed in neat rows at each end of the gym allowing as much seating as possible in the space. The bleachers seemed to be over half full of students and their parents and Kat could see more filing in through the doors looking for a place to sit.
What appeared to be a new olive green wrestling mat with two white circles, the smaller ten foot circle in the very center of the mat surrounded by a larger 28 foot circle took center of the gym’s floor. Each of the four corners of the mat held the US Army Logo of a white star bordered in gold inside a gold bordered square with another gold bordered rectangle underneath that had, “U.S.ARMY,” written in white. Inside the center circle the words, “Army of One,” were printed with a graphic script.
Across the mat Kat could see her mother sitting in the front row in one of the metal folding chairs. Beside her sat Karen with Emily, Susan then Matt, who was in his military uniform. Kat smiled inwardly to herself when she saw that The Master Sergeant had been able to make it, Kat reasoned that the oriental woman beside him must be Jenny’s mother. Spotting General Tollman sitting between Matt and the Master Sergeant, Kat was reasonably sure where the new wrestling mat had come from. In front of her mother and friends a wooden podium sat half way between the first row of chairs and the wrestling mat.
The lust filled stares Kat saw in the eyes of the male students that had already found seats in the gym gave Kat a sour taste in her mouth, although the looks from many of the adult men that had accompanied their kids made her skin crawl. She seriously considered turning around back into the girl’s locker room to change out of the outfit her friends had made for her, although knowing that doing so would have everyone believing she was afraid to fight.
While Kat felt fear, it had nothing to do with the fight its self, no her fear came from knowing the thoughts hidden behind those lustful stares, the same kind of thoughts she had on so many occasions in her past. Kat realized there was no difference between all the looks she was receiving and the ones she used to give women in her past. She also knew that most of the guys giving her those looks, like she had been in her past, would never act on the fantasies that ran through their minds, ‘I deserve this, it’s punishment for the way I used to act.’
Glancing over to the bleachers where the boys on the football team sat Kat spotted each of the trouble makers. It was those few, the ones that felt that women were beneath them, something they could possess, and something they deserved due to their status on the team. Her eyes met Danny’s, the big oaf from the cafeteria that was responsible for beginning this chain of events. She saw him grin wide then pucker his lips into a kiss toward her when he noticed she was looking at him.
‘Show no weakness,’ Kat though as she returned the disgusting gesture with the sweetest smile she could muster.
“What are you doing?” Becky gasped, seeing the interchange between the two, “How can you smile at that asshole like that?”
Leaning over, Kat whispered, “Easy, I was thinking about what his smile would look like after I knock his teeth down his throat,” turning back around to see the other girls with her, “We should get going.”
“Not yet,” Hanna grinned.
“Yea,” Madison smiled, “We need to wait for Mrs. Burkowitz to announce us.”
“She’s going to what?” Kat’s eyes narrowed as she looked back at Madison.
Clair, who had always been the quite one of the group smiled sheepishly at Kat, “We couldn’t pass the opportunity to do a little fashion show.”
“A what!” Kat jerked back, her eyes opening wide.
“Aww, come on Kat,” Hanna pleaded, “This is like the first time we have ever been able to show off the dresses we make.”
“I just wish I would have worn higher heels,” May, the only one shorter like Kat, forced a smile.
“Heels!” Kat took a deep breath, “There are TV cameras out there and you’re worried about your shoes?”
“Yes isn’t it great!” Clair squealed, “Our designs will be on TV!”
Becky giggled, “Make the biggest jerk on the football team cry, cool. Made the assistant principal look like a fool, awesome. Shivers in fear over a television camera, priceless.”
“I’m not afraid of a camera, I just don’t want to be on national TV.”
“It’s only the local news silly,” Madison grinned, “They always cover the high school sports.”
“Yea you act like you really did escape from a North Korea Ninja training camp,” Jenny giggled, “You didn’t did you?”
Pursing her lips, Kat glared back at her, which got all the girls giggling.
“What are you girls doing out there?” They heard a voice behind them.
“Sorry Mrs. Woodby,” May lowered her eyes innocently, “I forgot to tell everyone.”
“Well get back here behind the screen, for the reveals.”
Noticing the pastel pink paper which looked like someone had painted to look like it had branches covered in cherry blossoms covering the partitions they had walked right past when they left the locker room. Kat turned and followed the group over behind the screen.
From behind the screen Kat heard their principal Mr. McCray being speaking over the PA system in the Gym. “Ladies and gentlemen, students and parents, thank you all for coming out and supporting our school. We have several demonstrations that will be taking place this afternoon, of course not the least of which is a martial arts demonstration. One of our fine students has given us the unique opportunity to watch as she puts on a martial arts demonstration. Now while most of us have seen people break boards and other items using martial arts, she will be demonstrating the self-defense side of the physical training, the basic reason that many take up marital arts in the first place. To do this our football players will be playing the part of the attackers that she will defend against.” Mr. McCray stopped as noise rose within the gym as everyone began talking to each other in the bleachers.
Once the commotion had died down he continued, “I also wish to thank the U.S. Army and General Tollman for donating the fine new wrestling mats that we will be using later in the program,” Turning to his side where he could see the general, “General Tollman would you please stand up.” General Tollman stood and a round of applause went throughout the gym. He took a quick bow then sat back down. “Now I would like to hand the mike over to Mrs. Burkowitz who sponsors one of the many after school clubs available for our students.”
Moments later Kat heard Mrs. Burkowitz on the PA system, “Thank you principal McCray. “A couple of our after school clubs would like to take the time to demonstrate a little of the types of activities that takes place within their club. First up we have our clothing design club.” As she said this Jenny walked over to the end of the screen they were standing behind and stepped out. “Here we have Jennifer wearing a quarter sleeved maxi length dress fashioned along the lines of the oriental Cheongsam that is done in a black background with red roses…”
As the number of girls dwindled behind the partition screen Kat felt the butterflies in her stomach increase, ‘I can’t believe they are putting me on display like this. How can they want parade themselves out there knowing the boys will be drooling over them?’
The next thing Kat knew it only her, Becky and Mrs. Woodby were left. Becky leaned over giving Kat a kiss on her cheek, “You’ll be fine, just imagine them after you’ve knocked their teeth down their throat.” Becky giggled before walking out from behind the partition screen. Kat listened at the teacher introduced Becky to the crowd then began describing the details of the top and skirt that Becky wore, along with how it had also been designed and hand made by their clothing design club.
Suddenly Mrs. Woodby was pushing Kat into position to preform her catwalk across the gym, “Remember back straight, arms at your sides.” The aging home economics teacher smiled warmly at the nervous teen, “You’ll be fine dear. I’m more worried about this fighting thing you’ll be doing.”
“Fighting is what I know best, it’s parading myself in front of guys that scares the hell out of me.”
“Oh dear, you must have been a late bloomer huh?”
“You could say that,” a giggle escaped Kat’s lips as the irony of that remark caught her.
“Well dear I don’t know what you may have looked like before, but with the way you look now you could easily go into modeling after you graduate.”
As Kat stepped out from behind the screen she heard Mrs. Burkowitz introduce her to the crowd, which from sneaking peeks out from where they had waited several times while the other girls were doing their walk of fame, she knew was her cue to start the walk toward the other side of the gym around the side of the wrestling mat. Between thinking about keeping her back straight, not swinging her arms like she was so accustomed doing and trying to make sure she did not trip and break her neck in the four inch heels they insisted she had to wear, Kat was on the other side of the gym standing beside Mrs. Burkowitz before she had the chance to worry about the looks she may have received during her catwalk across the gym.
“Let’s have a big round of applause for Kathleen!” Mrs. Burkowitz said into the microphone while smiling over at Kat.
Kat turned toward the unoccupied chair beside her mother, then noticed the way General Tollman was looking at Kat as he tried to hide the humor he saw in the position Kat had been placed in. The corner of Kat’s lip curled upward as an idea came to mind. “Grandpa Tollman you did come!” She squealed like an excited little girl before prancing over and sitting down across his lap while embracing him in a hug. Both Kat’s mother and Matt were doing their best to cover up their laughter at what Kat had done.
“What the hell are you doing?” He whispered in her ear.
Squeezing him in another hug before turning her head so she could whisper a reply in his ear, “Giving you plenty of plausible deniability. If these people think you are my grandfather or at least treat me like your granddaughter, then they will think the new wrestling mat and you being here is nothing more than an old man spoiling a little girl.”
“Is that your only reason?”
“Well, the look on your face when I yelled grandpa then jumped on your lap may have had a little to do with it,” Kat finished the explanation with a kiss to his cheek before getting up off his lap and going over to the empty seat beside her mother.
“Next time you are going to do something like that warm me so I can have a camera ready,” Her mother leaned over speaking softly so General Tollman did not hear. “That was a Kodak moment if I ever saw one, the look on his face was priceless. I have never seen anyone get the old man’s goat like that before.”
“It was a spur of the moment thing mom,” Kat explained, “I was so worried about falling off these stilts they made me wear, all I could think about was not tripping over my own two feet in front of everyone.”
“Speaking of your heels,” Deb reached into a bag she had in the floor by her chair, producing a pair of black tennis shoes with red laces that she handed to Kat, “Put these on and I’ll put your heels in my bag.”
Taking the shoes her mother offered, “You knew? You knew they were going to make me wear those heels?”
“Of course I knew, I bought them,” Deb smiled.
Kat was lacing up her shoes as Mrs. Burkowitz introduced then handed the microphone over to Mr. Robertson, one of their science teachers. He began talking about their robotics club then on cue nine boys walked out the edge of the wrestling mat carrying quad copters and simultaneously threw them all into the air. Each of the quad copters righted themselves and immediately formed up in a square formation of three rows of three all equal distance from each other hovering in place eight feet off the floor. The boys all walked back over to the bleachers were people made room for them to sit.
Once they sat down the quad copters all started moving. At first they all seemed to be doing a figure eight pattern of follow the leader, but from there the patterns they began flying became more and more complex with them weaving in and around each other in several sophisticated patterns, some so intricate that Kat was amazed none crashed into each other.
While everyone’s attention was focused on the precision aerial acrobatics going on inside the gym someone cupped their hands around Kat’s ear, “We dyed all the boys jock straps hot pink last night.” Kat turned just in time to see a girl with short black hair, wearing all black, mini skirt, leggings and tee shirt and of all things a pair of combat boots walking away quickly.
Once what turned out to be an incredible quad copter display was over Mr. McCray stood and went back up to the podium, “Let's all give a big round of applause to the robotics club for that amazing display!” taking one step back and began clapping himself. Once the applause died down Mr. McCray stepped back up to the microphone, “Okay as cliché as this sounds, time for the main event.” Turning toward Kat while holding out his hand, “You’ve all been introduced to Kathleen during the first part of our program with Mrs. Burkowitz and her clothing design club, come on up here Kathleen,” motioning for her to join him.
Over half the boys on the football team seemed entranced at the sight of Kat standing patiently in the center circle on the mats laid out on the gym floor, most of them with their mouths agape. “You’re keeping the lady waiting!” Bishop yelled at the group of boys, “John, Mike, Tommy, Konner you’re up first!”
“Sorry coach, I’m not fighting a girl,” Kat heard the one boy that did not stand speak up. Kat recognized him from the mall, he had been the boy that tried to get his friends to leave Becky alone. Mr. Bishop walked over and Kat could not hear what Bishop was saying although the boy replied loud enough so she could hear his reply, “My mom and dad taught me a guy should never under any circumstance hit a girl, I don’t care if this is an exhibition I’m not fighting her!” Bishop stormed away from the boy glaring at Kat as he did.
The three boys that had stood walked side by side into the circle. Once in the circle they spread out slightly but did not attack. Kat stood with casual ease, her arms crossed under her breasts for several long seconds tapping her foot impatiently waiting for them to make a move, “Anytime boys.” Kat grinned at the three, “By the way, all us girls really appreciate all you guys showing your support for breast cancer.”
“What the hell you talking about?” One of the boys spat.
“You know,” Kat glanced down at his crotch, letting him know all too well that she knew about the teams jock straps being dyed, “wearing pink the way you guys did for this.”
“You bitch!” the boy on Kat’s right launched toward her. Reaching out, he tried to grab Kat by the shoulders as her own hands grabbed his loose fitting tee shirt chest level. His momentum carried him forward into Kat who raised her knee up into his stomach as she let him carry her backwards a couple steps. Kat leaned back, letting her other leg sweep up between his legs, her weight and his momentum carrying them both to the mat. Arching her back she landed on her butt then let the momentum roll her body upward toward her shoulders at the same time pulling hard with her hands while pushing him away with the knee she had planted in his stomach causing the boy to flip upward over her. Letting go of his shirt as he sailed over the top of her, the boy landed on his back, several feet outside the circle. Going with the built up momentum, Kat continued to roll backwards bringing her body up into a ball allowing herself to roll backwards until she was once again on her feet, crouched on the mat.
The boy that had been in the center of the group was only a couple steps behind his partner Kat feigned trying to stand as he made a grab for her, ducking under his hands to plant her shoulder in his stomach before heaving upward with her legs while rolling her shoulder against him causing his feet to leave the ground as he began to somersault over the smaller girl. Twisting as she felt him go over the top, Kat planted one hand on the mat and released a side kick into his stomach, kicking the boy further away and out of the circle.
Spinning around toward the third boy that was upon her, Kat’s outstretched leg arced around behind the legs of the third boy, coming back around to sweep his feet out from under him. Still trying to turn to grab Kat the boy twisted in the air and instead of landing on his back, did a face plant directly into the mat beside Kat.
Swinging back around toward the last boy Kat gasped when she saw the amount of blood, “Time out! We got an injury!” She yelled going down to her hands and knees, rolling the boy to his side so she could see how badly he was hurt. Both his hand were covering his face, blood seeping out around his fingers. “How bad are you hurt? Let me see.” Kat reached over trying to get him to move his hands.
“God dammit! You broke my nose!” the muffled scream could be heard through his hands.
Kat looked up and over to where the two men and a woman of the ambulance crew had been sitting to see that two of them were already heading over. “Lay still the paramedics are coming over to make sure you’re okay.” Once they arrived Kat helped the woman escort the injured boy over where they had him lie down on the gurney after elevating the head portion. The second paramedic had stayed behind to clean up the blood from the boy’s nosebleed came up behind Mr. Bishop who had followed them over.
Pointing at Kat, “You left the mat, that’s a forfeit!” Mr. Bishop grinned.
Standing up glaring at Mr. Bishop, “One of your players was hurt don’t you think you should be more worried about that?”
“He’s fine it’s only a bloody nose!” Mr. Bishop’s face red with anger, “Rules are when someone leaves the mat they are out, you left the mat… It’s over, you lost!”
The crowd could not hear what Mr. Bishop and Kat were saying to each other although the outburst from the female paramedic that stood up and faced him was loud enough to be heard by everyone in the gym. “You call yourself a coach!” she all but screamed, as the whole gym went silent “You, You’re a hypocrite! You should be over there telling your team how this girl showed true sportsman like conduct in making sure that an injured opponent was given prompt medical attention, rather than come over ranting that she left the mat and should forfeit!”
The booing was so loud no one could be heard until Mr. McCray walked back up to the podium and began tapping the microphone. Finally getting everyone to settle down, Mr. McCray spoke, “Thank you for reminding all of us of the conduct that we expect from our students and staff in both athletics and academics.” Looking over where Kat and Bishop stood by the paramedics, “I take it Mr. Sutton will be alright?” He watched as one of the male paramedics gave a thumbs up, “That’s good to know, Now Mr. Bishop if you would escort Kathleen back to the mat, I think we should continue the demonstration Kathleen has been gracious enough to provide for all the parents and students that have come to watch.”
Mr. Bishop glared at Kat as he motioned for her to lead the way. Knowing that it would bother Bishop more than anything she could say, Kat smiled warmly at him before walking back toward the wrestling mat. Once Kat was back on the mat and Mr. Bishop standing beside the bleachers the football team sat on as a group, Bishop looked over at the players, “Danny you’re up!”
“My turn!” Danny shot up from where he sat on the bleachers.
Bishop nodded as he smiled as his largest member of their football team. Heavily muscled and standing six foot three, Danny was one of his star players that could easily end up in the pros if he played his cards right. Knowing that Danny had an Axe to grind after she had blindsided him in the cafeteria weeks ago was icing on the cake.
Walking up onto the edge of the wrestling mat Danny smirked, “I guess Coach is tired of playing around, he told me I had to give the other guys a chance since he knew I would get that kiss once he let me play with you.”
“Sure of yourself aren’t you?” Kat stood casually in the small center circle of the mat, seemly relaxed with her arms at her sides.
“Why don’t we cut through all the foreplay and you come on over and give me a kiss now.”
“Don’t you want to dance with me first?” Kat lowered her chin, looking at him with big sad eyes and her lower lip stuck out pouting.
“Hell ya!” Danny grinned wide as he walked over and reached for Kat’s arm. Grabbing his arm Kat stepped in close while turning to her side pulling him over her hip and down to the mat on his back.
Quickly regaining his feet, Danny went into a classic three point fighting stance. “You’re not the only one who knows a thing or two,” Danny grinned before twisting around letting his leg sweep upward and around in a round house kick toward Kat’s head. Kat easily ducked under the move before jumping over his leg as he continued to spin around but with his leg just above the ground.
“I hope you got more than that, I saw those kicks coming from a mile away.”
Danny stepped in close with a flurry of punches and kicks, everyone Kat either dodged or blocked easily until she grabbed his arm during one of the punches and threw him across her hip once again, “You’re not half bad,” Kat giggled as the boy rolled over and got back to his feet. “I bet you’re one of the guys that are in Mrs. Williams classes aren’t you?”
Danny nodded as he stood there breathing hard to catch his breath, “You, you’re really good.”
“Why thank you Danny,” Kat smiled, “that’s something you should try with girls more often.”
“What’s that?” He began to slowly circle around at Kat.
“Being nice to them, giving them compliments like you just did,” Kat explained, “Girls like that kind of stuff. Not the macho, me Tarzan, you Jane crap you’re always coming across with.”
Danny was careful not to get to close to the outer ring while they sparred back and forth, never close enough so that Kat could throw him out without making her real strength obvious to those watching. Finally after what seemed like an eternity of Kat blocking and ducking his attacks Danny threw up one hand in a sign to stop. His other hand went to his knee while he panted for breath. “I’m done!” He gasped out.
“What do you mean you’re done?” The blood vessels in Mr. Bishop’s forehead clearly visible as he yelled.
Danny looked over at Mr. Bishop, “Coach she may be small but she knows her stuff. Hell Coach I don’t even think she was trying that hard.” Several of the boys had gotten up from the bleachers and walked closer to the wrestling mat.
“It’s because she’s some kind of Mutant alien freak!” someone screamed from within the crowd of boys standing there. Doug Semfer pushed his way to the front of the group, emerging with a large hunting knife in his hand and charged toward Kat. Grabbing Doug by the shoulder as he past, Danny tried stopping his teammate only to feel a searing burning pain as Doug spun and embedded the knife into Danny’s abdomen.
Pulling the knife out Doug turned back toward Kat only to find that she was already beside him. Kat grabbed him by the wrist that held the knife, twisting his arm so that his elbow pointed outward with his arm intended as she spun to his outside. The force of her forearm connecting to his elbow caused a loud snapping sound as his arms bent backward in a sickening angle. Losing his grip on the knife it fell to the ground as the pain of his broken arm sent him to his knees. Kat kicked the knife away before rushing over to Danny.
Helping Danny to the ground, she got him to lie down and using both her hands to put pressure on the gaping stab wound in his upper left stomach. Within moments the paramedics were there pushing Kat out of the way so they could work on stabilizing him and getting him up on the gurney and loaded in the ambulance.
71 year old John Dodge, retired military, now sits in a nursing home, his body riddled with cancer, waiting on the grim reaper to come for him when he is given another option.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the Author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Deb pushed her way through the people that had so quickly surrounded Kat and the paramedics, “I’m a doctor let me though!” Witnessing the deep scarlet color and amount of blood as the paramedics fought to staunch the heavy loss of blood, “Where’re you taking him?”
“Mary Elizabeth,” One of the paramedics replied without looking up.
“We need to get him into emergency surgery now,” Deb took command of the situation, “We’re taking him to the base hospital.” Looking over at the blood on Kat’s hands before looking up at her face, “Get that washed off, then follow us to the base hospital in my car honey.”
“Come on, Kat,” Becky grabbed Kat by the upper arm and began leading her toward the girl’s locker room, “Let’s go get changed.”
Deb looked over at General Tollman, who along with Williams had pushed their way through the crowd, “General, can you call the base and have them ready for us?”
Tollman nodded, reaching into his pocket for his cell phone he looked over at the paramedics, “They’ll wave you through the gate, the surgeons will be ready.”
All of the other girls that had worn the fashions made by the sewing club straggled in and began changing back into their normal clothes as Kat was washing the blood off her hands. Becky helped Kat out of her outfit then filled a sink with cold water as Kat walked into the shower area, her hair twisted up and under a shower cap she kept in her locker, a towel in one hand and a clear plastic bag in the other. The bottle of body wash and netted bath sponge easily seen inside the clear plastic.
Exiting the shower with the towel wrapped around her, Kat could see Clair, now back in the jeans and sleeveless blouse she had worn to the event, now at the sink working on rinsing the blood out of Kat’s outfit while Becky was changing. The rest of the girls had finished changing and were huddled around Marshall Brown, who Kat assumed had entered while she was in the shower. “Marshall Brown?” Seeing the look that the Marshall gave her Kat blushed, “Um, sorry Beth, I didn’t know you were coming.”
“You think I would miss watching that incredible style of martial arts you have?” Beth grinned, “I probably don’t need to ask, but are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” Kat took a deep breath while her right hand rubbed her left arm, “just wish I would have gotten to him faster. Someone got hurt because I was afraid...” Kat tensed catching herself before she said too much.
Beth walked over holding both Kat’s hands in hers, “Sweetie, he came at you with a knife, that would terrify anyone.”
‘Thank god’ Kat relaxed, ‘She believes it was the knife that frightened me, best to let everyone believe that.’ Failing to look up at Beth, Kat stared at the floor, ‘I shouldn’t have hesitated, Danny could die because I was afraid of anyone finding out what I am. What good am I if I don’t use what I have to stop something like that from happening!’ Hunching her shoulders, tears began to stream down Kat’s cheeks at these thoughts.
Becky leaned up against Kat wrapping her arms around Kat in a hug, “It wasn’t your fault. Come on, let's get you dressed.” Leading Kat over to her gym locker.
Beth noticed a small amount of blood on her hand as the two girls walked away, “Hold on a second Kat, I think you may be bleeding.” Walking over to where the two girls had stopped and turned around, Beth reached down to Kat’s left hand. Bringing her hand up, Beth turned it over to see she had a deep scratch across her palm.
Seeing that she could no longer hide the cut. “It’s only a scratch,” Kat shrugged, “It’s almost stopped bleeding already.”
“It looks like more than a scratch to me.” Turning to look where the other girls were standing around, “Do any of you girls know where your teacher keeps the first aid kit?”
“I’ll get it!” Hanna rushed off.
Once Hanna returned with the first aid kit, Beth began cleaning and bandaging the cut on Kat’s hand. “Looks like I get to return the favor,” Beth grinned.
After finishing the task of bandaging Kat hand Beth look up, “Once you get to the hospital, make sure to have a doctor look at that hand, it may need stitches.”
It took two tries before Kat managed to get the combination right and unlock her gym locker. Pulling her gym bag from the locker, Kat dropped it on the bench before sitting down beside it.
Sitting down beside Kat, Becky hugged her once again, “It’s okay Kat, he wasn’t even after me and it scared me silly!”
“It’s not that,” Kat sniffed back the tears, “If I hadn’t got in that fight with Doug, Danny wouldn’t have gotten stabbed.”
“Are you crazy!” Britney blurted out, “He was going to rape May!”
May timidly walked over squatting down in front of Kat. Looking into Kat’s eyes as she took both her hands in hers, “I’m sorry Danny got hurt, but Doug, if you hadn’t come… As far as I’m concerned you are the best thing that ever happened to this school.”
“Damn right!” Hanna grinned while the other girls standing around were nodding in agreement to May’s statement.
“Girls, why don’t you give Kat a few minutes to compose herself and get dressed?” Beth looked over at the girls that were now surrounding Kat. “We’ll meet you outside.”
Unzipping the bag, she pulled out a pair of light beige bikini panties that she slid on under the towel she had wrapped around her. Pulling a matching bra from the bag, she dropped the towel across the bench and put that on, leaning forward to situate herself comfortably into the cups as she reached around behind her back and fastened it. Next she put on a yellow tank top that was in her bag and then squirmed into the tight fitting skinny jeans she had worn earlier.
Beth watched as the group of girls filed out of the locker room. Looking over at Becky who had stayed, “Becky would you mind?” Glancing toward the door, “I’d like to speak with Kat in private.”
Becky looked over where Kat was now sitting on the bench putting on the tennis shoes she had worn originally from home. Kat looked up nodding her head, it’s okay, I’ll meet you in the gym.”
As Becky left the locker room, Beth walked over and sat down beside Kat, “So, you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Kat answered as she finished tying her shoe.
“Watching that fight made me almost believe those rumors I heard in the bleachers where I was sitting.” Gently placing her hand on Kat’s shoulder, “I know if there was any truth to it you would have been told not to say anything, but I want you to know that I am your friend and if you need to talk to someone…”
“I wasn’t raised by badgers and I didn’t grow up in a Shaolin monastery.” Kat grimaced as she recalled the latest rumors that were being spread about her, “And I’m definitely not some alien that crash landed on Earth or some kind of monster or demon.”
Beth chuckled at how ludicrous some of those rumors sounded, to think that anyone could believe that this beautiful teenage girl could be some kind of monster, demon or even an alien was completely absurd. Beth thought she would give more credence to the raised by wild animals story, but badgers? How could anyone seriously believe that? But to have so much skill with martial arts at her age while not impossible, is strange. And the way she acted after she took down that shooter, there was no fear or remorse in her eyes. It was a look that Beth has seen countless times over the years she had been a U.S. Marshal although it was the first time she had seen it in the eyes of a teenage girl, it was the look of a trained killer. She could tell that Kat was hiding something but what? Is it possible that she really did escape from some ninja assassin training camp and our military is hiding her in their own version of a witness protection program?
A cold shiver went down Beth’s spine when she thought of the alternative. Would our own government do this to children? Take them and train them from birth to be nothing more killing machines, teenage assassins? Beth knew she needed to learn more, but she had to be careful because if any of this were true then Deb was probably not Kat’s real mother, she would be Kat’s handler and would report anything suspicious going on around the girl. “I just want you to remember that I am here if you need help.”
“Thanks but I’m fine, really.”
Beth knew she couldn’t push the girl any further, she would need to earn her trust before Kat would entrust her with whatever secret she held. “Okay then, let’s get out of this locker room,” Beth held her hand out to help Kat up as she stood.
Chapter 50
It was close to two hours later when Kat and Becky walked into the emergency room of the base hospital. As they approached the desk, the nurse behind it looked up, “Can I help you girls?”
“We’re looking for Doctor Marlete,” Kat forced a smile at the older woman.
“One sec,” The nurse began typing at her computer monitor before looking back up at Kat, “I show Doctor Marlete’s office as E-212, that would be in the east wing of the hospital.” The nurse glanced around for a moment, “Um, the easiest way to explain how to get there would be to go back out and enter through the east entrance.”
“She came in with an emergency a little while ago, a boy that was stabbed,” Kat explained.
“I can’t give out information on patients dear.”
“No, I’m not looking for information about him.” Kat fished her military dependent’s ID from her purse showing it to the nurse, “I’m Kat Marlete, she’s my mom.”
Taking the ID from Kat, the nurse looked it over before handing it back, “I have to say your mother looks too young to have a daughter your age, but then I would never have guessed you to be the age shown on your ID either. She left a note for you to meet her in her office.”
“Thanks,” Kat smiled at the nurse before turning toward the hallway on their left and leading Becky through the maze of corridors toward the east side of the complex.
The two walked into Deb’s office to find her sitting behind her desk wearing a set of olive drab colored hospital scrubs. Looking up for the paperwork she had been working on Deb smiled at the two girls, “Good, you finally made it!”
“Sorry mom,” Kat weakly smiled, “It took a while before the cops would let us go. I think we would still be there if Beth hadn’t said anything.”
“Beth?” Deb questioned, not recognizing the name.
“Marshall Brown,” Kat continued, “she asked me to call her Beth.”
Deb nodded her understanding before looking back down at the papers on her desk, “Okay girls, give me a few minutes to finish this and we can head home.”
“Um mom?” Kat bit her lower lip, “How’s Danny, is he going to make it?”
Looking up to see her daughter smile at her, “He was still in surgery when I came up here. Barring complication I believe he will be fine. Doctor Jenkins is one of the best trauma surgeons around.”
“No chance of seeing him later?” Becky asked.
Deb shook her head, “I doubt anyone but immediate family are allowed to see him until Monday or Tuesday. So why don’t you both have a seat while I finish this.” Deb looked back up from her work at the girls, “Have either of you eaten lunch yet?” She watched as both girls shook their heads, “Kat, why don’t you take Becky down to the cafeteria. You two grab some lunch and I’ll join you soon as I am done.”
“Cafeteria food?” Becky cringed.
“It’s nothing like the food they serve us at school.” Kat snickered, “Here the food actually tastes like what it looks like.”
“No chicken cordon Blah?” Becky stuck out her tongue while making a disgusting face.
“Chicken what?” Deb laughed.
“It’s what everyone calls the chicken casserole they serve at school.” Becky grinned, “It looks like shredded cardboard covered in glue and tastes even worse.”
“I’ve ate it,” Kat flashed a frown at Becky, “it’s not that bad if you put enough hot sauce on it.”
Becky giggled, “This coming from the girl who can’t cook and eats anything that can’t run away from her.”
“Hey!” Kat grinned at Becky, “I don’t eat everything. I’ll have you know I’m also a pretty good cook!”
“Good cook! You don’t even know where your mom keeps her pots and pans.”
“I know where they are at!”
“Oh yea, then why have you never used one?” Becky snorted back the giggle.
“You know mom won’t let me touch her fancy All-Clad stuff!” Kat giggled, “You’ve never complained about the sandwiches I make or the hamburgers I cook on the grill.”
“Piling huge amounts of pre-sliced meats and cheeses on some bread is not cooking!” Becky laughed, “And your hamburgers are still pink in the middle!”
“That’s called medium rare and the only way to cook a hamburger,” Kat giggled.
Deb couldn’t help but laugh at their antics, “Go on you two clowns, get out of here and get something to eat so I can finish this. I’ll meet you two in the cafeteria.”
Kat had devoured three of the five sandwiches and was pouring the cracker crumbs out of the clear cellophane two cracker package that she had smashed up before opening. Sitting the empty wrapper on top a pile of similar empty cellophane wrappers on the corner of her tray, Kat began stirring the small mountain of crushed crackers into the bowl of chili when she heard a voice she recognized, “Hello Kathleen.” Looking over Becky’s shoulder, Kat saw Doctor Oliver walking toward their table carrying her own lunch tray.
“I thought you had something going on at school today Kat?” Doctor Oliver walked over to the two smiling. Looking at the empty chairs at the round table Kat and Becky were sitting, “Mind if I sit here?”
“Hey Doc,” Kat smiled up at Doctor Oliver, “Sure have a seat.”
Placing her tray on the table, Doctor Oliver sat down across from the two girls, “I’m Doctor Oliver, you must be Becky. Kat’s mother has told me all about you and Kat.”
“She told you about us?” The pitch of Becky’s voice much higher than normal.
“Just that you two are such great friends that you’re almost inseparable. What do you kids call it nowadays, BFF’s?” Doctor Oliver noticed the flush of Becky’s cheeks as she quickly looked away. ‘It appears that it could be more than just friendship,’ Doctor Oliver thought to herself. Not wanting to make either girl uncomfortable she changed the subject, “So, I heard that there was a problem at your martial arts demonstration?”
Kat nodded, “Yeah, I had to take a knife away from a nut case. He stabbed another boy before I could get to him.”
Becky shivered at the memory of the attack, “Doug lost it, he came out screaming that Kat was some kind of alien monster.”
Doctor Oliver cocked her head to the side while smiling at Kat, “Now, what could ever give anyone the idea that you are anything more than the pretty young woman I see sitting here?” Kat shrugged and went back to eating.
“It’s crazy, huh?” Becky added, “How could anyone think Kat was some kind of monster?”
Nodding at the bandage on Kat’s hand, “You were injured?” Doctor Oliver asked.
Glancing over at Becky then back to Doctor Oliver, “Just a scratch really,” Knowing she needed to downplay how bad the cut to the palm of her hand truly was due to how fast it would heal. “I’m sure by morning it will be hard to tell I even got cut.”
Doctor Oliver held back a chuckle knowing that Kat would heal so quickly, it could cause concerns if anyone outside their lab found out about her ability to regenerate. Thank god she was smart enough to make the injury out to be much less than it was since it would help to explain when someone saw her hand healed. ‘If the truth of what we do here came out…’ Doctor Oliver’s thoughts were broken by someone sitting down in the chair between her and Kat.
“I see you found my terrible twosome,” Deb chuckled as she sat down.
“Doctor Marlete,” Doctor Oliver smiled at her colleague, “I’m glad you’re here. I was about to suggest that since Kat was here, we go ahead and take care of her exam today.”
Deb could see Kat pleading with her eyes, “Sorry, but we really must get back to the school while someone is still there to let us back in. In the rush to leave Kat left her duffel bag there.”
“That isn’t a problem,” Doctor Oliver smiled at Deb, “we’ll keep the rescheduled appointment for next Saturday like we had planned.”
“Mom, that won’t work,” Kat gulped. “Remember, I’m going to be down in Richmond at Karen’s next weekend.”
“We really can’t put Kat’s checkup off for the following weekend,” Doctor Oliver stated.
“Well then how about one afternoon this coming week?” Deb tried to compromise in a way that would not spoil Kat and Karen’s plans. “Wednesday afternoons Kat gets out of school early, how’s your schedule look then?”
After pulling her smart phone from her purse and checking her schedule Doctor Oliver agreed, “That works, my afternoon is free after three.”
“I can drive Kat up after we get out of school,” Becky volunteered.
“Then it’s settled,” Deb smiled. “So, if you girls are finished eating, we can head home.”
Chapter 51
Sitting her purse down on the counter, Deb reached over and hit the flashing play button on the answering machine, “Hey Kat, this is Randy over at Lew’s salvage. I know you’ve been looking for an engine for that Thunderbird you’re building and we just got in something that I think you may fall in love with. I don’t think it will sit around long either, so if you’re interested in it you need to act fast.”
“I bet he found a navigator engine.” Kat grinned, “I need to get up there before someone else buys it.”
“Navigator engine?” Deb questioned.
“Um yeah, the Lincoln Navigator came with the engine I want to use in my thunderbird, it’s a higher performance 32 valve version of the Triton engine they put in the trucks.”
“Is that safe?” The concern evident in Deb’s voice, “I don’t want you building something that you may get hurt in.”
Kat grinned at her mother, “Mom I plan on putting in a full roll cage and better seat belts, it will be safer than anything coming out of the factory.”
“Roll cage?” Becky gasped, “I am not climbing in and out through the windows!”
“God girl, you have been watching too much TV!” Kat giggled, “I’m not building a race car. Now I need to change so I can go see what they found.”
“Oh, just how I wanted to spend my Saturday afternoon,” Becky groaned, “Chasing you around another junkyard.”
“You can stay here if you don’t want to come,” Kat stuck her tongue out at Becky playfully.
“Oh no!” Becky feigned panic, “Someone has to go with you to make sure you find your way home!”
“She’s right honey, you lose track of time in those places,” Deb chuckled.
“I’m not that bad!” Kat yelled back over her shoulder while walking toward the stairs, “I’m going to go change into some old jeans and a tee shirt so I don’t get any grease on my good clothes.”
Walking into the living room after having changed her clothes Kat saw her mother sitting in what had become her favorite chair with a magazine, “Where’d Becky go?”
Looking up from the magazine Deb answered, “She went home to change . Said something about not climbing into your truck or parading around the men at the junkyard in a short skirt.”
Shrugging her shoulders as she turned toward the kitchen, “Okay, I’ll go get the truck and pull it around while we wait.” Once out the back door Kat jogged across the backyard to the path that lead toward her shop.
Becky held her hands together in front of her as she followed Kat into the office of Lew’s Salvage. While the office was clean by salvage yard standards, the sheer amount of parts and pieces taken off wrecked cars that were stacked up along the walls or lying on the counter was staggering to someone that their entire knowledge of how cars operated was you put the gas in one place and turned the key to start it. Of course Kat had changed that, not only showing Becky how to check things like her oil and tire pressure but explaining why it was important.
“Hi Kat, Hi Becky!” The girl sitting behind the counter looked up from the computer she was working on.
“Hi Gina,” Kat smiled.
“Hi,” Becky forced a smile toward the girl.
“Randy told me he tried to call.” Gina grinned, “You are not going to believe what we towed in. Insurance just released it for salvage this morning.”
“You found a 32 valve Triton?” Kat tried to hold back the grin that began spreading across her face.
Gina’s short brown ponytail flipped from one shoulder around her back to the other shoulder as she shook her head, “Better!” Her grin widened. Walking to the end of the counter Gina waved for them to follow, “Come on, I’ll show you.”
Following Gina through a side door that led into the large building, Kat and Becky followed her through rows and rows of large metal shelving piled with parts taken out of the wrecks brought into the salvage yard.
Becky, having never been into their warehouse before couldn’t believe the amount of things there, “How do you keep track of all this stuff?”
“It’s easy when the guys fill out the paperwork correctly.” Gina did not break stride as she lead them through the maze of shelves, “They list the make and model of the car, then a list and location of the recycled parts. I enter all that into our computer so when we need a windshield for a 98 Jeep Cherokee, all we have to do is look it up on the computer. If we have one, it will show up in the inventory. The great part is that our computer can access other salvage yard’s inventories all over the country so if we don’t have what you need we can find out who does and get it for you.”
“So why didn’t you do that for this engine Kat wanted?”
Gina stopped then turned around to explain the problem better for Becky, “If Kat only needed an engine that would have been easy, we could have had one shipped here from another yard but Kat needs the whole vehicle. At least more of it than just it’s engine. Engines are computer controlled now days, so Kat needs the onboard computer to run the engine, then there is the wiring harness to connect the engine to the computer.”
“I’m sure I could sit down with the schematics and wire up everything but I’d like to actually drive it before I’m old and gray,” Kat giggled.
Becky looked over at Kat, “I thought you said changing the engine was no big deal?”
“It isn’t,” Kat shrugged, “as long as you have everything you need to do it.”
“I think this is going to be worth your time, Kat,” Gina grinned as she motioned for them to follow her once again. Finally emerging from the long rows of parts ladened shelves the three entered an even larger open area inside the large warehouse-like building. There were at least eight or more wrecked cars scattered around inside the building several of which men were working on dissembling. Gina pointed toward a red car on the other side of the large shop area. The back half of the car, what was left of it, was a mass of twisted metal sitting on the ground with no rear tires, although the front of the car seemed to have survived relatively undamaged other than dents and deep scratches.
“A mustang?” Kat continued to follow Gina across the shop area toward the car, “I didn’t think Ford put the five point four in any of those?” About fifteen feet away from the car Kat suddenly stopped, “Holy shit! That, that’s a…”
“GT 500,” Gina flashed a wide grin. “Five point four, all aluminum, supercharged, Condor engine. Engine and trans seems to be in perfect condition and only has fourteen thousand on the odometer.”
Rushing over, Kat pulled open the already unlatched hood to look at the engine, “How soon can you load it on a flatbed and deliver it?”
“Don’t you think you should see how much they want for it?” Becky tried to curb Kat’s enthusiasm.
Kat looked at Becky like she had grown a second head, before she could say anything a teen boy that looked like a male version of Gina came running over, “Hey Kat, Hey Becky!” he greeted the girls while trying to catch his breath. Turning toward Gina, “You said you would call me when they got here.”
“Hi Randy,” Kat smiled, “We just got here. Thanks for calling and letting me know about this. It’s perfect for my project!”
“Dad said he needed to get fifteen for the engine and trans,” Randy weakly stated, hoping that the price his father had set would not upset the vision of perfection that stood before him.
Kat didn’t flinch at the price, “I’ll give you eighteen for the whole thing and you can have what I don’t use back. I won’t even ask for scrap price, you can have it free when I’m done.” Kat raised her hand when Gina began to speak, “You can go ahead and strip the doors, any glass, suspension, wheels and tires, sheet metal before you load it up to bring out as I’m not going to be using any of that.”
“I’m sure Daddy will be happy with that. You just bought yourself a wrecked GT500.” Gina grinned at Kat, “So, how’d the fight go? I really wanted to come watch but Daddy needed us here. How bad did you make those jocks look?”
“Oh my god, you don’t know yet?” Becky’s hands covering her mouth as she gasped. “Danny Wilkes got stabbed by Doug Semper!”
“What!” Randy and Gina chorused.
“Yeah,” Becky began speaking really fast in the way that only an excited teen girl can, “Doug came at Kat with a knife and Danny tried to stop him and got stabbed and Kat broke Doug’s arm taking the knife away. Kat’s mom, you know she’s a doctor too right? Well she ran over to help and rode with Danny to the hospital after giving Kat the keys to her car and telling me and Kat to follow her in her car.”
“Shit and I missed it!” Randy cried out.
“Is Danny going to be okay?” Gina asked apprehensively.
“Mom had him taken to the base hospital since it was closer,” Kat informed them.
“He’s in critical care,” Becky told them what she knew about the boy, “They wouldn’t tell us anything else while we were there.
“Damn!” Randy’s eyes grew wide, “Between that and the shit Doug’s been saying about Kat, he’s sure to get fitted for an I love me jacket!”
“I love me jacket?” Becky asked.
“What’s he been saying?” Kat asked at the same time.
“Yeah, you know a crazy coat? How they tie your arms around yourself in one?” Randy hugged himself mimicking how someone would look in a strait jacket.
“What’s he been saying about me?” Kat asked again.
“Oh, after you kicked his ass in the bathroom, he’s been going around telling anyone who’ll listen that you're some kind of alien monster. He’s gone completely nuts, who in their right mind would believe a girl as pretty as you is a monster right?” Realizing what he had said about Kat being pretty, Randy Turned his head away from the girls trying to hide his blushing. “I, I probably should get back to work,” he began to turn away.
“Hey Randy?” Kat stepped over wrapping her arms around him in a hug as he turned back to face her, “You’re awesome, thank for finding this for me.”
Once released from the hug, Randy began walking back out of the shop, the wide grin painted across his face could be seen by all three girls since he couldn’t seem to take more than four or five steps without glancing back at them, tripping over an air hose laying across the floor not halfway to the large open garage door.
Watching her brother run into the corner of the door frame caused Gina to begin giggling, “I think you broke my brother.”
“What!” Kat’s eyes snapped wide open at Gina’s accusation.
“He’s got it bad for you girl.” Gina laughed at Kat’s expression, “What boy wouldn’t? I mean, come on, you’re cheerleader hot, you fight like some kind of ninja super hero and you’re great with a wrench. It’s no wonder he trips over his tongue every time you’re around.”
Back in the front office Gina was working on all the paperwork involved for the sale and transfer of the salvage title when a very large man walked out of a door behind the counter. The man must have been at least six foot two and even though he was somewhat overweight it was apparent that he had more than enough muscle lying underneath to carry the extra weight with ease. “Good afternoon, ladies” The large man greeted Kat and Becky, “Is Gina taking good care of you?”
“Hi Daddy,” Gina twisted around to look at her father, “This is Kat and Becky. Kat is the one we told you would be interested in the GT.”
Cocking his head inquisitively as he looked at Gina, “The one you kids were telling me wanted to swap the engine into a thunderbird?” Gina nodded.
His brown furled as he looked over at Kat, “Swapping in an engine that a car was never designed to have is a big project. Is your father going to help you?”
Shaking her head Kat looked down at the floor, “My father is dead.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” The large man sounded sincere. “So who is going to help you with this? Don’t get me wrong It’s a big sale for us but I don’t want you to spend this kind of money on a project that may turn out to be more than you can do.”
Kat knew his concern was well meant but that didn’t stop the anger from rising at how he had already stereotyped her into the ‘too small and weak to do real man’s work’ group in his mind. She had a degree or did have a degree in engineering and more experience with cars than she could ever admit to. The anger subsided and a grin spread across her face as Kat thought about challenging him to arm wrestling. Making sure to get the stakes high enough so that he would really try his hardest by getting him to agree to take a couple of thousand off the price if she won. Looking at the size of Gina’s father’s arms, Kat knew she couldn’t do that. She knew she could probably win such a match, but in doing so it would unveil her real strength to people that she couldn’t let know the truth.
“I’m sure Kat can do this, I’ve seen the blueprints she has drawn up and you haven’t seen her shop,” Becky grinned. “Also, her sister would send someone up from their Daddy’s company if Kat ran into any big problems.”
“Her Father’s company?” The large man questioned.
Becky grinned smugly, knowing that while Kat would not appreciate the name dropping but it would impress Gina’s father. The company their father had started while not anything as large or as well-known as national brands such as Sears, it was big name here where they lived, “Kat and her sister own Dodge enterprises.”
“John Dodge was your father?” He watched Kat nod, “I met him once years ago, he was a good man. We actually use one of his security systems here. If you inherited some of your father’s abilities I am sure you’ll do just fine.” Gina’s father chuckled. He watched over Gina’s shoulder as she finished the paperwork and had Kat sign, after which he picked it up and read glanced over the documents.
After reading what they could remove before delivery he looked up at Kat, “You sure you don’t want the suspension left on?”
Kat shook her head, “No, it’s not like it can roll with the damage to the rear end. I have a chain hoist that we can lift it off the flatbed and put it on a rolling cart when it’s delivered, so it would actually help not to have the suspension.”
“Your hoist can handle a three thousand pound car?”
“The I-beam it runs on is rated for twenty thousand and the hoist fifteen thousand.”
“You planning on picking up armored cars with that thing?” Gina’s father chuckled.
“I just figured it was better to have one put in that was stronger than I would ever need,” Kat confessed.
“That’s actually pretty smart thinking.” Gina’s father sat the papers down on the counter, “I think we could have it ready for delivery Tuesday. I assume you do wish us to deliver it?”
“Yes, I don’t have anything to haul it with.” Kat added, “Oh, it’ll =have to be after four since I’ll be in school and mom will be at work.”
“We’ll see you around five Tuesday.”
Leaving the salvage yard, Kat turned her old pickup truck back toward town. They drove in relative silence until Kat drove right past the turn they needed to take to get home. “Kat, you missed the turn!” Becky called her attention to the mistake.
“I need to do a little shopping before we go home.”
“Cool,” Becky grinned, “where we going?”
“The hardware store,” Kat responded.
“What? Why there?”
“To buy the stuff to make a rolling cart we can put the GT chassis on.”
“Going to a hardware store is not what I call shopping!” Becky huffed, folding her arms under her breasts.
Chapter 52
Once the time lapse video ended, Jake walked over and turned the lights back on in the conference room. Before he could walk back over and sit down the General grinned over to his right at both doctors Hakim and Oliver, “Congratulations doctors, a success!”
“Thank you General,” Hakim smiled. “Although we have managed to reduce the amount of age regression it is still a concern. Until we are able to duplicate the results from subject four in a second test subject we do not know if the age regression had truly been diminished.”
“There is also the issue of gender conversion,” Doctor Oliver included. “To determine the specific conditions that caused this, so that we can avoid those conditions in the future, we need to experiment with combinations of the conditions that caused the conversion.”
“Are you telling me that you want to TRY to turn men into women?” The anger of such an idea clearly showing in the general’s face, “Not just no, but HELL NO!”
Doctor Oliver attempted to make the General understand her concerns, “But without knowing what caused it, it can and probably will happen again.”
“You heard me doctor!” Slamming his fist on the table, “Under no circumstances will you conduct any gender experiments on anyone in this facility. These are men you’re talking about, good men! You will confine any experimentation into that area strictly to lab animals. We’re not a god damned sex change clinic!”
“General, I believe that you are misunderstanding Doctor Oliver’s concern,” Doctor Hakim began to explain. “While I agree that intentionally attempting to turn men into women with our process is quite appalling, until we are certain of the conditions that cause such an abnormality the threat of it reoccurring will always be present.”
“Excuse me doctors,” Jake interrupted, “Mr. White, the latest volunteer to go through the process, was informed that it was possible that he could end up female. We even had Kat speak with him before he made his decision.”
“He pretty much took the news of what happened to Kat the same way Kat did,” Matt explained. “He said that that given a choice between a pine box and a skirt, he would rather be fitted for the skirt.”
“Considering the pool we are recruiting from, I believe we can expect to see about the same attitude from future volunteers,” Deb joined the conversation.
“Why would you think that?” Dr. Hakim glared across the table at Deb.
“I would think it obvious Doctor,” Deb met his gaze. “The group that we are currently limited to recruit from are all elderly retired military. Most have a painful poor quality of life, many not even able to perform simple everyday actions we take for granted, like using the toilet without assistance.”
“Alright then, Wagoner, Sawdey, you two will continue to vet recruits as you have been, adding in that there is a possibility the process can cause their sex to change once they have signed the NDA.’ The General stated before looking over at Dr. Hakim, “When will Colonel White be ready to exit the chamber?”
“Everything indicates subject four should be ready to be removed from the chamber sometime early Thursday morning,” Dr Hakim replied.
“So he should wake sometime Thursday afternoon?” Deb asked.
“Yes, so far all have waken between five and eight hours after they have been removed from the tank,” Dr. Oliver stated.
“I’ll let Kat know that I may not be home until late that day.”
“Speaking of Kathleen, General I would also like to state that in our tests Kathleen appears to have higher level of strength and endurance than Benjamin,” Doctor Oliver stated. “How much higher we do not know as both Doctor Hakim and I feel she has been holding back during her tests.”
“Then come up with a way to retest her where she can’t hold back,” The general ordered.
“I’m not sure if that can be done General,” Dr. Oliver stated, “Mr. Dodge was not your average soldier, he was a highly intelligent man holding three different master’s degrees and several lesser degrees. Our tests indicate that Kathleen’s intelligence is substantially higher.”
“How much higher?” The general asked.
“Um we not sure about that either,” Dr. Hakim answered, “We do know she cheated by intentionally missing some of the questions and taking longer to complete the tests than she needed.”
“What leads you to believe this?” The General asked.
“She left us a message to find in the test booklet,” Dr Oliver continued the explanation for Dr. Hakim, “Small pencil marks almost undetectable under certain letters throughout the booklet.”
“And the specific order in the questions she missed,” Hakim stated. “She missed question three, then six and twelve, then twenty four, forty eight and so on, progressively increasing the number between incorrect answers until the end of the test.”
“I see,” The general thought about how Kat had managed to miss those exact questions. “What was in the message she left?”
“Well sir we are not sure what it means. Let me pull it up,” Dr. Hakim picked up his tablet and began touching the screen, “ahh, here it is. The message she left is. ‘Then its hi hi hey the army’s on its way count off the cadence loud and strong’…”
“That’s enough Doctor,” The General stopped Dr. Hakim from reciting any more of it. Dr, Hakim looked up from his tablet to see the General grinning, “I think we know the rest of the message. it’s the chorus of the, The Army goes rolling along.” Losing the grin the General’s face grew stern once again, “I think we can safely say that she has been testing the the good doctors and our staff. I want her in my office at zero nine hundred tomorrow morning.”
“Sir,” Deb Interrupted, “she has to be in school tomorrow.”
“Oh right,” Realizing his mistake, “What time does she get out of school?”
“Fifteen hundred hours sir,” Matt replied.
Good thinking, we don’t want to blow the cover we spent so much time and money on. Make that my office sixteen hundred tomorrow.”
“If I have to, I’ll pick her up myself sir,” Matt nodded.
“That won’t be necessary,” Deb rebuked. “My daughter is quite capable of finding the base without assistance.”
***
Later that night, after the kitchen was cleaned from dinner and Becky had gone home, Deb pulled Kat down beside her on the sofa in the living room. Holding both of Kat’s hands her her own as she looked into Kat’s eyes, “Honey, Tollman wants to see you tomorrow after school.”
“Okaaay?” Furling her brow at the way her mother seemed to be treating this as more than a simple visit, “Why does the General wanting to see me have you so concerned?”
Deb explained everything, what they had found in her written test results and that they had determined Kat was holding back.
“I take it they finally saw something in those test papers they had me take?” Kat giggled, “Took them long enough. I was beginning to think they were too arrogant to see anything past the nose on their faces.”
“You wanted them to find the things you left?”
“Well it wouldn’t be much of a joke if no one got it,” Kat grinned.
“It caused a bit of a ruckus in the labs, now they are questioning all your test scores, including the physical ones.” Explaining her concern to the teen, “Doctor Hakim wants to force you to retake all your tests.”
“He can shit in one hand and wish in the other and see which one fills up faster!” Kat’s dislike of the doctor apparent in her voice.
“I’m positive that is what the General wants to speak to you about,” Deb stated. “And I think you should tell him everything.”
“WHAT!” Kat’s voice raised in surprise.
“You told me before that you trusted him?”
“Yeah but…”
“Hear me out,” Deb continued, “Tell him everything, and I mean everything, including why we have kept certain things secret. Think about it, if you explain yourself well enough I am sure he will keep our secret. Also if he knows and keep the information to himself, then you can not be accused of keeping secrets from the project later.”
Kat sighed, “Yeah you’re right. If he found out by accident the ass chewing he would give me would make a nuke look like a firecracker.”
“Not to mention lose any trust he had in you,” Deb added.
Smiling, Kat loosed her hands from Deb’s and wrapped her arms around her in a hug, “How did I end up with such a great mom?”
Wrapping her own arms around Kat, “It’s because I have such a wonderful daughter.”
***
Kat was unsure of how to take her newfound popularity in school Monday. While she knew her exhibition over the weekend would bring more girls into wanting to learn martial arts to defend themselves she was surprised to have the entire wrestling team come by the table she and her friends were sitting at during lunch to congratulate her and tell her grandfather thanks for the new wrestling equipment.
After the boy on the wrestling team left, Tanya who had decided to come with with the group today, looked across the table at Kat, “General Tollman’s your grandpa?”
Kat snorted, the milk she was drinking almost coming out her nose. Coughing for a moment before she regained her composure, “Um, that was a prank. He really isn’t my grandfather, I joking around.”
Jenny gasped, “You joke around with the General?”
Kat shrugged her shoulders, “He puts his pants on the same way everyone else does.”
Hanna leaned forward so only those sitting around could hear her, “So I though maybe after school we could all go over to Kat’s and work on the clubhouse?” All the girls perked up and began talking at once about ideas they had on decorating the upstairs portion of the old barn Kat had restored and turned into her workshop.
“Guys, GUYS!” Kat tried to everyone’s attention. Finally managing to do that she continued, “I’m sorry but Mom’s picking me up after school for an appointment. I don’t know when I’ll get home.” Seeing all the crestfallen faces of her friends Kat quickly came up with a solution, “Of course Becky has a key, maybe if you asked nicely she could open the barn for everyone?”
***
Walking into the General’s office Kat found the General sitting behind his desk with his usual stone face.
“Have a seat Kathleen,” The General motioned at the two chair opposite his desk.After Kat sat down the General turned back toward his computer and a song began playing. Kat immediately recognized it as the theme song the Army has used for years. Looking over at Kat the General grinned, “Do you know why I’m playing this song?”
Kat smiled innocently at the General, “Because you’re highly dedicated to preserving freedom, democracy, our country and love the Army?”
“You always been that bad at brown nosing? The general chuckled, “Care to try again? And this time keep in mind that while you might very well be the smartest person in this room, you are not the highest ranking.”
Kat sighed and lost the innocent smile, “I’m guessing someone finally figured out I left something in one of those test booklets and told you about it?”
“It isn’t your little message that bothers me Kat,” Leaning forward in his chair toward Kat, “It’s the fact that you’ve been sandbagging every test they have given you. Care to tell me why?”
“This doesn’t leave your office?” The seriousness of her request evident in her eyes.
“You have my word.”
“General I trust you and most of the enlisted, it’s the civilians that I worry about.”
“Look I know you have issues with Doctor Hakim, hell who doesn’t? He’s got the personality of a pissed off porcupine and the only thing bigger than his ego around here is his budget. Although his dedication to this project is unquestionable.”
“At least he talks to you and not down to you!” Kat spat out, “He treats me like I should jump when he says, and ask how high on the way up. I told him if I heard him call me subject three once more I was going to put his head through a wall.”
“Yes he told me you had threatened him.”
“It wasn’t a threat,” Kat stated calmly.
“I told him I thought as much,” The general chuckled. “Now as for the tests, I want you to redo them and this time no sandbagging, got it?”
“No sir,” Kat sat straight in the chair.
“I don’t think I heard you correctly?”
“Sorry sir, but let me ask you a question,” Kat explained, “Have you ever kept something out of general knowledge or kept a non-issue hold out weapon as a backup for those ‘OH SHIT’ times when everything goes south?”
“What has that got to do with your tests?”
“Maybe I should say this differently? I don’t have a problem with you knowing everything but the civilians know everything I want them to know about me. I didn’t sign up to become a girl, little on supergirl. Don’t get me wrong I am enjoying this second chance that I was given and being a girl isn’t as bad as I first thought it would be, hell anything has gotta be better than dead right?” Kat watched the General carefully, “I can do some shit that scares the fuck out of me! I can only guess what your lab rats would do if they found out.”
“So what? You trying to tell me you can fly like super girl too?”
Kat sighed heavily, “I think we both could use a drink before I show you this.” Standing up and walking over to cabinet where the General kept his Cognac. Opening the cabinet Kat reached in pulling out a Brandy snifter in one hand and the bottle of Hennessey in the other while a handful of her hair came up on it’s own quite magically and wrapped around a seconds glass before pulling it from the cabinet and holding it out in front of Kat as she walked back over to the General’s desk.
Sitting abruptly up in his chair, the General’s eyes went wide at the sight. As Kat approached another lock of her hair moved up to the top of the bottle in her hand, removing the cap then laid the cap gently on the desk. Pouring roughly three fingers worth of the amber liquid into each glass Kat sat the bottle on the desk as she sat down. Moving across the desk, her hair held the glass in front of the General, then began waving it back and forth in his view attempting to break the General out of the trance like shock he seemed to be in staring at the glass held by her hair, “I think you may need this.”
As the General continued to stare at the Glass being held in front of him by nothing more than her hair, Kat began to wonder if sharing her secret with him was such a great idea. But she needed to confide in someone, someone that she could both trust and possibly find some answers to some questions that had been growing in her mind. The doctors and scientist had come up with what to Kat seemed very plausible explanations for everything they knew about so far, but those explanations were theories, educated guesses.
Kat’s train of thought was interrupted by the sight of the General’s hand shaking ever so slightly as he reached up to take the glass from her. Kat’s hair came slowly back across the desk and fell normally as the General raised the glass to his lips, then threw his head back, gulping down its contents. Sitting the glass noisily down on the desk the General motioned with his other hand for the bottle. Half filling the short glass the General gulped that one down in one shot before looking over to Kat. “Prehensile hair?”
“Tails are just the elongation of the spine. This,” Kat reached up to grab a handful of her hair, “is something completely different.”
“But couldn’t it be explained by…”
Kat cut the General off, “I’ve racked my brain trying to think of any animal that has hair even remotely like mine, there isn’t any! Hakim lied to us and I’m not about to trust him or any of those other brainiacs right now.”
“Okay,this stays off the record for now.” The General took a deep breath, “So answer me one question, what made you decided to tell me this secret you’ve been keeping? And who else knows?”
“Just you and Mom.” Kat’s voice dropped to just above a whisper, “and the boy that attacked me.”
“I saw nothing unusual in the gym?”
“It was when I caught him trying to rape May, I may have lost my temper just a little.”
Raising one eyebrow as he looked over at Kat, “Just a little? I saw the pictures of that bathroom. But you still haven’t explained why you’re coming out with this now.”
“I needed to tell someone, you and Mom are the only ones in the project that I trust. Well I trust Williams and most of his crew too, but it’s not something they need to know. Also you’re the only one that might be able to find out what they really mixed into that cocktail they gave me.”
Chapter 53
Although Becky would have waited, Kat had insisted that she go and open up the barn for their friends while Kat would ride home with her mother. With her meeting with the General over Kay found herself with some time on her hands. Heading toward the elevators she thought she would go check on how the retired Colonel was doing, although the thought of running into Hakim and remembering that the Colonel would still be in what she had begun calling the ‘snot tank’ Kat walked past the elevator and turned down the hallway toward the cafeteria. Being neither hungry nor thirsty, Kat found herself walking past the cafeteria and into the main part of the hospital. Before she realized where she was going Kat found herself in front of the nurse’s station in the intensive care unit.
Looking up from the monitors at the desk to Kat, the Nurse asked, “Can I help you miss?”
“Yeah, um, is Danny Wilkes up here?”
“Are you family?”
“Um no, just a friend. We go to the same school.”
“Sorry miss but I can’t give out information on a patient unless your family or hospital staff.”
“I understand thanks anyway,” Kat turned to leave before remembering her ID hanging on the lanyard around her neck that Mark had told her to start wearing. Turning back around to the nurses station Kat held her ID badge up over the counter so the nurse could see it, “Does this count?”
The nurse pulled the ID a bit further over the counter so she could see it better before looking up at Kat, “You’re in the research department?”
Kat nodded but saw doubt in the nurse’s eyes, “Look I don’t want to get you in trouble or anything. He got stabbed trying to stop the guy from coming at me with the knife, I just wanted to find out how he’s doing.”
A thin smile came over the nurse’s face, “That sounds like a brave thing he did but I still can’t give out any information about any patient in the ICU.” Kat sighed, knowing that the nurse was right. The nurse continued, “But a victim of a knife wound would have been taken to Med-Surge after he got out of surgery.”
Realizing what the nurse had done Kat smiled wide, “Thank you so much!” As Kat left she heard the nurse behind her, “That’s up on the seconds floor, south wing dear.”
Kat was walking down the hallway looking for the nurse’s station in the area the ICU nurse had told her to go when she heard a woman’s voice behind her, “Kat?” Kat stopped and turned around.
“You’re Kat right?” The woman asked.
“Umm, yes ma’am.”
“I’m Mrs. Wilkes, Danny’s mother,” the woman explained. “Danny saw you through the doorway. Were you looking for him?”
“Yeah, I was hoping someone at the nurse’s station would tell me which room he was in,” Kat smiled then followed Mrs. Wilkes into the room.
Kat could see from the smile on Danny’s face when she entered the room, that Danny was looking much better. “Hey Danny, how you feeling?” Kat smiled at the boy lying in the hospital bed.
“I’d do a lot better if they would give me something other than Jello to eat,” Danny grinned, picking up an empty container of Jello that was on the hospital tray that partially crosses his bed. “I’d give anything for a Roy’s triple king burger right now.”
Danny’s mother shook her head gently, “The nurse said they would start you out on some solid foods in the morning.” Looking over at Kat, Danny’s mother elaborated, “They had to remove Danny’s spleen.”
“Yeah,” Danny nodded, seemingly unfazed by the seriousness of his injuries, “Doc said they had to sew up my intestines and my stomach too. Got a wicked scar…” Danny saw his mother gave him the evil eye when he started to pull the hospital gown around so he could show Kat his wound. “Um yeah, can’t really show it to you because of the bandage anyway.”
“And that is why you can’t have any greasy food like those burgers from that place all you kids hangout,” Danny’s mother stated. “Your stomach has to heal before you can eat anything like that.”
Kat had been to Roy’s Kingburger a couple of times. Kat thought back to her or what was then his teenage years to their hang out, ‘Jack’s Drive In’. Like Jack’s from his youth, Roy’s still had the soda jerk fountains. Both sported the checkerboard floor tiles and bright stainless steel decor that reminded one of a diner from the 1950’s. Roy’s even had car hops like the one from her past, although at Roy’s they didn’t wear roller skates, or at least Kat had never seen the car hops wearing them the few times she had been there. Smiling at the injured teen laying in the bed, “I’ll make you a deal? Once they tell you that you can eat regular food, you let me know and I’ll bring you two of their triple king burgers.”
Noticing Kat’s ID badge did not have the word ‘VISITOR’ like the one she was told to keep on her at all times she decided to ask, “Kat, the ID you’re wearing, do you work part time here at the hospital?”
“Yeah, but only a couple days a week,” Kat looked over at Danny’s mother as she answered.
“So you’re a candy-striper?” Danny’s mother asked, “Do they even have those anymore?”
“They don’t have candy-stripers here. I’m not sure about civilian hospitals,” Kat giggled. “I mostly file papers and stuff over in the research wing. My Mother got me the job, she works there.”
Kat retrieved her phone from her purse after hearing it buzz. After reading the text message that came in, “That was my Mom, I got to go.” Kat turned stepping toward the doorway.
“Hey, wait!” Danny caught Kat’s attention, “I don’t have your number or anything. Umm, You know for the king burgers?”
Kat turned back around, spotting the notebook and pencil laying on the bedside table she used the pencil to write her phone number down. Looking up from the paper to Danny, “Although if you call over the weekend I’ll have to wait until Monday to bring them for you, I’ll be in Richmond at my sister Karen’s all weekend.” Kat giggled, “From what they’re planning I think I’d rather stay home.”
“Whatever could they plan that would make you not want to visit your sister?”
“They’re taking me shopping,” Kat sighed. “Karen said she was going to shop the tomboy out of me even If it took all weekend.”
Danny’s mother remembering the gossip that had been going around the office about the Owner taking her tomboy of a younger sister Kathleen shopping the coming up weekend, looked curiously at Kat, “Is Kat short for Kathleen?”
“Yes ma’am,” Kat nodded.
“Your sister is Karen Sawdey?” Danny’s mother watched Kat nod again, “The buzz around the office is that you are like a female version of your father. I sort of expected you to be taller and more butch from the stories Karen told about you.”
“What kind of stories is my dear sister telling about me?” Kat giggled.
“Oh nothing truly bad,” Danny’s mother explained, “That you spend half your time tinkering on cars and building things like your father did. She called it grease monkey mad scientist and what’s even funnier, she was telling us that you fight against a group of Army Rangers for fun.”
“From the way she fights, I can believe the part about the Rangers!” Danny grinned over at Kat, “I know you were playing with me when I got on the mat with you.”
“Don’t put yourself down, you are pretty good.” Kat replied before turning to Danny’s mother, “I guess I am sort of a grease monkey. I love tinkering and building stuff, right now I’m restoring a 1989 Thunderbird Super Coup.”
Danny’s mother smiled at Kat, “Good for you dear. It should never matter whether something is seen as a girl’s or a boy’s activity, if you enjoy it, you do it. Now you best get moving since your mother is waiting.”
“Yes ma’am,” Kat smiled, turning to look at Danny, “I’ll see you later okay?” Seeing Danny nod, Kat hurried out to meet up with her mother.
After making her way through the hospital, Kat found her mother standing beside her car waiting for her. “Sorry I took so long to get here, I was on the other side of the hospital.”
“I expected as much,” one corner of Deb’s mouth turned upward. “So how is Danny doing?”
“Complaining that they only give him Jello to eat.” Kat snickered, “He asked me to bring him a double Kingburger.”
Looking across the roof of the car as they both got in opposite sides, Deb rebuked, “I hope you told him no.”
“I told him I would, but only after the doctor said he could have that kind of stuff.”
“Good, the last thing he needs right now is food from that place,” Deb stated as they pulled out of the parking lot. Glancing over at Kat, “What other feelings do you have about Danny?”
“You mean like feeling guilty over him getting hurt?”
“You know that wasn’t your fault,” Deb answered. “You can’t control what others do. What I meant was how far do your interests go with Danny? He is a very nice looking young man and it was obvious to me that you were taking it easy on him when you sparred against him at school.”
Kat’s jaw dropped hearing her mother say that. “Uh, I took it easy on him because I thought it would make the demonstration look better with the skill that he was showing.”
“You sure that was the only reason?” Deb glanced over to Kat smiling.
“None that would make you start thinking about grandchildren, if that’s what you’re getting at!” Kat quipped.
“Kat you know that wasn’t what I meant,” Deb slowly shook her head while keeping her eyes on the road. “I just want you to know that your toward boys could begin changing and If they do I don’t want you to worry over it.”
Leaving the base, Deb broke the silence that had formed in the car, “I think you did the right thing by telling General Tollman.”
“He talked to you already?”
“Called me into his office not long after you left,” Deb acknowledged. “He agrees with you on keeping the more unusual things you can do between us. I am glad you told him everything, he’s the one person we need on your side if what you can do ever gets out.”
Once home Kat walked over and spent some time with the Becky and the girls, who were already out at the barn. The girls had plenty of ideas on how they could use the large empty space above Kat’s shop and even more on how it should be decorated. Having only ran enough electrical into the upper part of the barn so that she could hang the four 150 watt bulbs that gave the space what illumination it had, Kat tried to get the girls to focus on what they planned on putting in the area as the electrical would have to be installed before any of the exterior walls were covered up with paneling or drywall. Having school the next day they called it a night, everyone agreeing to think about exactly what they really wanted to do with the space.