Stealing Second (The Amendments Book One 1) (14 page)

After making some awkward introductions, we all went inside and waited for Kyle to dry his eyes and tell his story. “I don’t believe it,” he said, at least ten times, before he had gathered himself into semi-coherence.

The inside of my fort looked smaller than I remembered it, but the few things that were out there looked no worse for wear. The twin beds were still at the far ends of the rectangular room and the middle was still occupied by mom’s old kitchen table. Kyle had a candle burning in the center of the table and we all sat down. Next to the candle was a black semiautomatic pistol, a little larger than the one that Cathy carried.
Next to the gun was a quart of whiskey.

Kyle’s
blonde hair was short, but otherwise he still looked like he did in high school. Kyle had always been the best looking of our group. He was short and still had the gorilla-like build of his youth. When we were younger, Kyle was always there to protect us. He had graduated high school and joined the army. The two of us had lost contact during that first year, but I still ran into his parents every few years, and they had more or less kept me up to speed. Kyle was dressed in an olive green t-shirt and blue cargo pants. A green rucksack lay next to the table.

“I
thought you were still in the Army?” I asked, unsure of where to begin.

Kyle nodded his head. “Technically, that’s true,” he said. “But only until they find me. I deserted the army when this shit came down,” he then looked at
Violet. “Sorry, I forgot we had a child at the table.”

“I’m not a kid,” said
Violet, raising her chin to Kyle. “My mom says shit all the time.”

“And that doesn’t make it okay for you to say it,” scolded Cathy.

Violet gave her a defiant stare. I caught something in her eyes that made me proud of her. The two of us had bonded on our journey and I couldn’t say I was happy to see Cathy when she had arrived at the farm. I wasn’t Violet’s father, but I had made an emotional investment and I felt as protective of her as if she were my own flesh and blood.

“I’ll watch my mouth,” Kyle continued, smiling for the first time since we’d arrived. “Do you know what an Oath Keeper is?” he asked.

“Are you kidding?” asked Cathy. “I’m an Oath Keeper. I deserted my unit when they came looking for me. I’m also in the army. I put my four years in and joined the National Guard. Wow. Small world, huh?”

From that moment on, Kyle and Cathy talked while
Violet and I sat and listened. She and I exchanged glances and I knew the kid was thinking exactly what I was thinking. I wasn’t happy about being excluded from the conversation, but my anger was more directed at Cathy than it was at Kyle. Cathy began by telling her story and brought us up to speed on what had happened with Todd’s group. Todd had been killed and I can’t say I was sorry or surprised to hear that. She told a gruesome story and given the company, I found myself wishing she had left out some of the more gruesome details. She also used some four-letter words, which I didn’t appreciate. I knew she was trying to impress Kyle; she used military terms and spoke in a matter-of-fact tone, as if she’d seen plenty of action.

Todd
and his group had been playing war in a soldier’s world. Just hours after Violet and I had left them, they had attacked a convoy and had been virtually wiped out in less than ten minutes. According to Cathy, Todd had taken a large caliber round to his throat and despite her heroic efforts he had bled out in her arms in less than a minute. Most of the others had suffered a similar fate. Luckily, Cathy had managed to escape and make her way out to the farm.

Kyle listened and shook his head. “You’re lucky to still be alive,” he said. He then began his own story. He was also a member of the National Guard,
but he had worked his way up the ladder and had become an officer. I had known this, but little else. “I was in charge of coordinating the integration of the U.N. troops into the local Guard units,” he said, taking a swig from his bottle. “When those troops began to outnumber our own, I had to walk away from the Army. I knew they would come after me, but I also knew that we were all doomed. I wanted to see my parents before they were killed or captured.”

Cathy took Kyle’s bottle and raised it to her lips. When she drank,
Violet lightly kicked my shin under the table. We exchanged a knowing glance.

“I was out in the woods,” Kyle said. “My dad wanted me to stash my gear and planned to hide me in the cellar.
I heard the trucks when they rolled in. I heard my mom screaming and I knew what was happening. I just knew it. I watched them as they were cuffed and stuffed into the back of a truck. I couldn’t help them. I wanted to help them, but I would have been shot dead. They’ll kill them if I don’t turn myself in. That’s how they do things. I know too much. They can’t have me running around out here.”

“Where are they taking the people from Pine City?” I asked.

“Down to North Branch,” whispered Kyle. “They’ve got a detention center there.”

“You mean a concentration camp,” I corrected.

Kyle shrugged and nodded his head before returning his attention to Cathy. Violet and I sat and listened to them talk. They traded taking nips at the bottle and when they began slurring their words, I got up from the table. I pointed to the bed against the far wall. “Violet,” I said, “why don’t you take your sleeping bag over to that bed over there? You and your mom can sleep there. Kyle, you and I can share the other one. I’m tired and my head hurts. I’d appreciate it if you and Cathy kept it down, okay?”

Kyle gave me a nod.
“I’m so happy to see you, Gary,” he said. “I prayed you’d show up. I wasn’t sure if I’d live to see the light of day.”

“Do you think the
Army is going to show up?” asked Violet.

“No,” I said, mussing her pageboy hair. “Kyle was thinking stupid thoughts, but he’s not anymore. Are you, Kyle?”

Cathy put her hand over the handgun. “He isn’t,” she said.

Kyle rested his hand on top of Cathy’s. “That’s right,” he said, staring into Cathy’s eyes.

Violet gave them both a look that said that she wouldn’t care if Kyle blew his brains all over the wall. She tore at the shoestrings that held her sleeping bag to her backpack and wordlessly carried it over to the other bed and spread it out. I did the same and Cathy and Kyle continued talking, albeit, in a whisper. I crawled into my sleeping bag and prayed for sleep.

I’m not sure how much later it was, but I felt a hand tapping my shoulder. I looked up in the flickering candlelight and saw
Violet. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. The table was empty and Violet and I were alone. I was going to ask her where her mom and Kyle had gone, but then I heard the unmistakable sounds of a man and a woman in the throes of passion. Cathy and Kyle were out in the grass and I fought the urge to scream at them. Violet had her bedroll and I nodded to my bed. She slid against the wall and into her sleeping bag. I slid into mine and put my arm around her protectively. Violet clung to my arm and wept softly. Rarely have I ever felt such rage. My ears burned as Cathy’s moans became more pronounced. Thankfully, the moment soon passed and the crickets blotted out the sounds of their lovemaking.

As angry as I was, I began to doze off. A minute later, I heard the door open and the sound of Cathy giggling. I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep. Cathy was soon tapping me on the head. I turned to see her pointing at
Violet and shaking her head. I nearly leapt to my feet. “The both of you can sleep over there,” I hissed, pointing at the other bed. “You woke us up and I don’t have to tell you what we heard. Do not wake us up again. Do you understand me? Leave us alone.”

“Oh shit,” said Cathy.

“Go to hell, Mom,” sobbed Violet.

“Oh baby,” Cathy pleaded. “
This is so embarrassing. We’ve talked about this. You know that’s what big people who like each other do, honey. I’m sorry you had to hear us.”

“
Cath
,” said Kyle. “Come on, Gary is right. Let’s get to bed and we can sort this out in the morning.”

I glared at Cathy and she shrank away from me. I had s
aid all I was going to say and crawled back into my sleeping bag. No wonder this kid was screwed up, I thought. I wondered what else she had seen in her short life. I told myself that it was high time I found out. I was so mad that my jaw ached from clenching it. But I kept on clenching it because that’s just what you have to do, sometimes.

The night was slightly cool, but I wasn’t about to surrender one of our sleeping bags to them. They had each other to keep themselves warm. I heard the other bed groan and then someone blew out the candle. After some disgruntled whis
pering from Cathy to Kyle, silence returned and sometime later both Violet and I fell back to sleep.

I was up at fir
st light and I risked a short nature walk back to the outhouse out at the farm. The morning was cool, but the sky was clear and I knew the day would be warm. In the distance, gunfire popped at regular intervals. My anger returned as I walked. I had never had a child of my own and knew little about raising them, but I didn’t think Cathy was fit to be Violet’s mother. I had a sneaking suspicion that Violet’s grandmother had been responsible for raising her. The little bit that I understood about parenting told me that these were very formative years in Violet’s young life. From what I’d seen and heard of Cathy, she was a terrible parent. I also thought she lacked the moral fiber to raise a twelve-year-old girl. I knew Violet would be better off with me.

I was also angry with Kyle. They both should have had the decency to walk far enough away to be out of earshot of the fort.
Violet should never have heard them making love out in the grass. That was disgusting. There was something else that bothered me, and it had to do with Cathy and me. I knew she had slept with Kyle and I was relatively certain that she had slept with Todd, so why hadn’t she been interested in me? After last night, I no longer wanted her, but that didn’t stop me from wondering what she saw in me that she didn’t interest her. The longer I walked, the more this thought burrowed under my skin.

When I returned to the fort
, I found Violet outside. She had taken her sleeping bag out onto the lawn and spread it out on the damp grass. On top of it, she had set us out a nice breakfast of granola bars, fruit and sodas. “Good morning,” I whispered.

“Good morning,” replied
Violet. “Nature walk?”

I chuckled and nodded my head. “There’s an outhouse back at the farm
. I can bring you over there if you like.”

Violet
giggled and blushed. She then directed me to sit down. “I made us breakfast. I know it isn’t much.”

“This looks great,” I said, honestly. I had barely eaten a thing yesterday and my stomach was growling. I sat down and tore into an orange.

“How does your head feel?”

I held my hand up to the bandage. “Feel’s great,” I said. “Can you see any fresh blood?”

Violet smiled and shook her head. “I do good work,” she said, confidently.

“You sure do,” I said. “You saved my life.”

“I don’t think so, but thanks for saying that.”

“And you’re the most modest girl I know. How are you feeling today?”

She shrugged and stared down at her granola bar. “I don’t like Kyle.”

“Don’t say that,” I said. “He’s a good man, but we’re in a difficult situation and people act differently in times like these. I know it’s going to be hard, but you’ve got to try and forget about last night. I’m sorry you had to hear that.”

Violet
nodded. “I’ve made up my mind,” she said. “I want to stay with you.”

I looked up and saw that Cathy had just opened the door.
Her eyes were puffy and her hair was a tangled mess. The look on her face changed from confusion to open hostility. She glared at me with such hatred that I felt genuine fear. She sprang out the door and slammed it behind herself. “What did you just say, young lady?” she growled. “Are you out of your freakin’ mind? You get your skinny ass back inside there and pack your things. The two of us are leaving!”

Violet
had been sitting with her back to the door and closed her eyes. When she opened them, the blank expression had returned. She had gone back to her safe place in her mind and I quietly cursed Cathy for her timing. She strode over to the sleeping bag and I stood to meet her charge. I had no sooner stood up when Cathy slapped me hard across the face. I reared back with my fist and she stared at it defiantly. I knew then that this woman was no stranger to physical violence. Instead of hitting her, I took her by the wrist and led her away from the fort. “You and I are going to have a talk,” I growled. “And don’t you dare ever hit me again. Do you understand me?”

Cathy struggled for a moment, but I
strengthened my grip and led her away. Violet sat watching us, as if she were uninterested in what was happening. I watched her raise a granola bar to her mouth and slowly take a bite from it. Cathy began to follow and I led her a good hundred yards further into the woods. Finally, she dug her feet in and I let her go. “What the hell do you want?” she asked.

“Just keep your voice down,” I said, tepidly. “We don’t need
Violet to hear anything else that will further disturb her.”