"How did I wreck your life, Liz?"
"It's your fault I'm pregnant, and that cost me my job -- my entire career. I'm ruined, not only with Interdigital, but with any company worth its salt. No one will be interested in me now."
Flip looked up from the towel and into Liz's eyes, calculating his chances. "Shooting me won't improve your resume, and it won't get your job back. Why don't you put down the gun and let's talk about it? Let's look at your options."
"No! No more talk. This is my option, my only option. But go ahead, try to sweet talk me out of it. Let's hear you beg, just once more for old times sake. You might try crawling too. It won't work, but I'd find it entertaining. I've always found you entertaining, Flip."
Flip’s eyes strayed to the wavering muzzle of the gun. He watched it, waiting for it to stray away from his chest, but Liz's aim was not that unsteady yet.
"No begging, no crawling," he said. He decided to try a different slant.
"If you won't think about your own life, think about your child. What kind of life will your baby have if you're in jail?"
Liz laughed with a trace of hysteria. "I don't give a damn about this parasite within me. I don't want it. I don't like it, and I don't like what it's doing to me. In fact, I hate it because it's a part of you." Her hands shook worse as she sloughed a few drops of Crown Royal onto the floor.
She's on the edge, Flip thought. If I can only send her over without her shooting me first, I'll have a chance. He continued to scratch at the wound he had opened. "You can't ignore the facts, Liz. You're carrying my child, and that makes us connected. Even if you shoot me, it won't break the bond." He studied her eyes, watching for them to break away from him.
Liz took another sip of her drink. Slowly she began to cry, the tears leaving dark tracks of mascara down her face. "I don't want it. I don't want my baby..." her shoulders shook, and the muzzle strayed from Flip's chest.
Now! Flip thought, and threw the towel with all his might at Liz's face. It struck her hard, but she was quicker than he expected. She pulled the trigger, and the gun exploded, shattering the florescent light above them. As he jumped at her, she tried to dodge to the side but was blocked by the bed. Flip grabbed her wrists and felt the scotch spill across his hand. They grappled for several seconds. He felt her tight belly against his own and imagined he could feel the baby kicking at him. He had just about gained controlled of Liz's arms when he felt a searing pain in his groin where Liz had kicked him.
He fell to his knees and felt her wrists pull out of his grasp. Then his head threatened to explode as Liz struck him with the revolver. He lost his balance and fell backward. Dazed by the blow, he tried to struggle to his feet to continue the attack. He was almost steady, when he heard the gun explode again, and felt himself lifted off his feet and flung backward against the wall. Blood flowed down the other side of his face from where she had struck him with the gun. As he crashed to the floor, the dull realization, he'd been shot, waded through his dazed mind.
He lay on the floor on his back, semi-conscious. He tried to rise but found his limbs would not obey his command. With a monumental effort, he opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. With his remaining strength, he turned his head in time to see Liz walk up beside him.
"You bastard!" She screamed at him. "You stupid son of a bitch. This is for the rest of the Harem."
The muzzle of the gun came back in view -- the deep hole, home of the lead and powder. It wavered at his head then moved slowly down towards his groin. Flip closed his eyes, heard the explosion, and felt a renewed flash of intense, searing pain in his groin. Then, blackness.
Revenge
Still a little breathless from the quick trip to Denise's room, Lionel paused at her door and tapped lightly, then entered when he heard her voice. As he did so, he pulled the photograph from the folder he was carrying and handed it to Denise.
"Is this the woman you saw?"
It took Denise a few seconds to answer. "She's much more attractive in this picture than she was in person, but those are the same eyes." She handed the picture back to Lionel. "Yes, that's her. Who is she?"
Lionel slipped the picture back in the folder. "Her name is Liz. She's a very troubled woman at the moment. We've got to find her. Flip could be in grave danger."
Denise pushed herself off the bed. As she started across the room, Lionel noticed she hesitated, and her hands started towards her belly, then stopped.
"Are you okay?" Lionel asked, taking a step towards her.
"Yes, I'm fine; it's just the baby kicking. I'm going with you. It's too spooky in this room by myself." They had started towards the door, when the gunshot split the night's silence. Lionel flung the door open and rushed into the hall in time to hear the second shot. He hesitated for a moment trying to tell where the sound had come from. The third shot gave him the direction.
"My God! It's from Flip's room," Denise cried from behind him. They ran down the hall, but as they neared the door, Lionel turned to Denise.
"Go get some help, hurry!"
Denise hesitated, an anguished look on her face.
"Please, Denise, hurry!" Lionel repeated.
Denise turned and ran down the hall towards the nurses' station. Lionel turned back towards the door. Someone on the other side of that door had a gun. It sounded like a very big gun, Lionel thought. But Flip is probably in there and needs my help. He cracked the door open slowly, and peered inside.
He took the scene in as though through a slow motion panorama -- Flip slumped on the floor, blood spattered on the wall, Liz standing over him, the gun clutched in her hand at her side. As he watched, she turned towards him, raising the gun as she did. She's going to shoot me, Lionel thought but in the next moment, realized she had a different target in mind. He watched as she placed the muzzle of the gun against her swollen belly.
As she did so, her hand began to tremble, first slowly, then violently. A look of horror spread over her face. The shaking continued to spread up her arm. The gun strayed away from her belly as though it had a mind of its own, wandered without direction for a few seconds, and then, slowly came to rest against her temple. "No, Liz!" Lionel screamed, but the explosion from the gun's muzzle drowned out his words.
Lionel rushed into the room, a feeling of nausea weakened him at the knees. He paused for only a moment over Liz's still body, and then, turned away when his stomach threatened to leap out of his throat. As he stepped over her to get to Flip, he heard a soft groan from his friend. Still alive, he thought, but for how long? Flip was covered in blood, most of it seemed to be coming from his groin. Lionel ripped his shirt off and balling it up, pressed it against the wound to slow the bleeding. As he did so, he heard Denise return, three nurses rushing in behind her.
Lionel looked over his shoulder. "Don't bother with her. She's dead. Flip is hurt badly,” he said as he noticed two of the nurses stopping at Liz's body. He started to turn back to Flip when he caught some motion out of the corner of his eye. Had Liz moved?
He glanced back in time to see Liz's belly contort in a hard spasm. My God, she's having contractions, he thought. The two nurses jumped away from her bloody body. The contractions continued, each one with more force as the baby moved down the birth canal.
"Quick, help the baby! The baby is still alive!" Lionel shouted. "You, help me with Flip. You two get the baby out. Someone go get Dr. Chickowski. "
"He's already been called," Denise said. "He should be here any second. Don't let him die -- dear God, don't let Flip die!"
The two nurses grabbed Liz's legs and spread them out to give more room for the baby. As they did so, Liz's bloodstained head fell to one side as she stared out at nothing, a disinterested body to the occurring miracle.
As the rest of them watched, the baby continued moving down the birth canal. Despite the lack of cooperation from the mother, the baby's head soon appeared. It paused for a brief moment, as though unsure whether to continue. Then it continued to scratch and claw its way
out.
One of the nurses broke the spell that had held them all and reached out to clear the afterbirth from the baby's face.
"It's a girl," she said as she picked the baby up.
The tiny infant opened her eyes and stared at the nurse, then, took a deep breath and let out her first scream.
"My lord, what is going on here?" Dr. Chickowski asked as he rushed into the room carrying his medical bag.
"Doctor, we have a newborn in need of your assistance," Lionel said. "As well as her father who's been shot...twice."
Dr. Chickowski checked the baby over quickly to be sure it was breathing, and then, left it to the nurses to care for her as he rushed to Lionel's side. He opened his bag and removed a large wad of bandage material. "We're going to need to get him into surgery quickly if we've any hope of stopping this bleeding. I've called for a couple attendants to give us a hand."
One of the nurses from the other hall ran into the room. "Dr. Chickowski, you're needed in the O.B. ward."
"It'll have to wait, nurse. I've got a critically injured patient here."
"But it's the women. They're starting to deliver."
Dr. Chickowski stood up. "Which one is in labor?"
For a moment, the nurse paused to get her breath before answering. "All of them, doctor. They're all going into labor at the same time." As she said it, Denise grabbed her belly and gasped as a wave of labor pains coursed through her body. She reached out and grabbed for one of the nurses.
Dr. Chickowski’s face turned pale. "Oh my lord. Call Duke Hospital and get me some help -- immediately!"
Blackness. Down deeper and deeper. Flip felt himself falling through a deep black well where time and space had no meaning. Death. So, this is what death is like. He was still contemplating the statement when he heard voices -- except he heard them from within. It was more like sensing the voices. It reminded him of the feeling he had while in Jamaica, except this time there were a number of distinct "voices."
What is happening? one cried out.
It is time to come forth into the world, from another.
She shot him! from still another.
Shot who?
Shot he who was our window. Tried to shoot me too, can you believe it, while I was still within? I showed her who's boss, but she acted so impulsively, I could not stop her from shooting him.
I feel his presence still. The voices were coming from all directions. It made Flip's head ache, then he recalled the bullet hole in his temple and wondered if that might not account for the pain. No, this pain was different. It was not of the world out there. He was not of that world now.
Yes, he's still with us but very weak. He's fading fast. He won't be with us long." The finality of that statement made Flip nervous. It's okay. We won't need him now. We're coming forth. No need for a window.
No -- wrong. We do need him. He is part of us.
Strange, Flip thought. I'm starting to recognize the different "voices." This one was the same one who had witnessed the shooting.
We must pull together to keep him in our presence, the same voice continued.
No way. I need all my strength to get through this tiny hole...
Listen to me, Flip's defendant said. He is part of us. He is our father. We must not let him perish.
Oh, all right, if it will make you happy. Come on. If we all pitch in just a little we should be able to do it. We have more than enough life force to go around.
Our father? Are you sure?
Of course. He's listening to us now. How else could he be doing so if he was not connected? His defendant continued. Flip tried to shout to let his presence be known but the communication pathway appeared to be in one direction only.
How do you know? The skeptical one asked.
Shut up, Flip thought. Listen to my friend.
Trust me, I know. Pull together and keep him steady.
Okay, the voices finally agreed, and with that Flip felt a rush of energy from beneath him and the falling stopped.
THE KINDRED
Resort
Two years later
The almost empty parking lot looked strange to Alphenius as she stared at it from her perch on the steps of the Snowshoe Resort Center. Like a cemetery without the headstones, she thought. She was bored -- bored to tears. She considered trying to convince her brother to give up the idea of scoring one more mark today and just going home. There'd still be time before dark to play in their new tree house if they hurried. She glanced across the steps at her brother.
He's like a hawk, she thought, staring intently at its prey. Melaenis leaned against the wooden railing of the steps, his eyes focused on the door of the resort center. He'll never call it quits, she thought. He's too damn stubborn, not to mention the fact that he loves his work. She decided to try anyway.
She donned her most playful voice. "Mel, let's go home and finish the second deck of the tree house. Sarrah will understand if we don't bring our quota home today. She knows how slow it gets after Labor Day."
"Like hell she'll understand. The battle-axe understands only one thing, money. It's one of her few redeeming values," Mel replied without leaving his post. "This is our worst day ever. That's what she'll understand."
"But I'm tired." Alphenius' voice took on a pleading tone. "This is no fun. Besides, we’re not going to hit a mark this late. Hardly anyone is checking-in, and those checking-out have already spent their wad."
"Sssh!" Her brother hushed her as he pushed himself away from the rail and stood with his head cocked to one side. "Our luck is about to change."
"Oh, so you always say..." Alphenius stopped herself. Just as her brother had an uncanny knack for picking out well-resourced marks, she was equally effective at knowing when he was right. He was right this time.
Within a few seconds, the double-doors of the Resort Center were pushed open by a man so fat he needed the width of both to get through. Oh boy, Alphenius thought. This should be interesting. She prepared herself for the play.
The man lumbered towards the stairs still looking at his bill and shaking his head. Unlike most of the guests, at this point of their vacation, he maintained a pleasant smile. He folded the statement and stuffed it in his back pocket, adjusting the expensive Nikon that hung from his neck like a medallion. Alphenius watched as he strolled a couple of feet by her, then taking a deep breath; she released her first heart-rending sob.
"Mommmmie!" She wailed, the tears already streaming down her face. She twisted the knuckles of her fists into her eyes to make them redder. By the time the man turned to see where the crying was coming from, Alphenius looked like she had been crying for days.
"What's wrong, little girl?" The man asked as he bent down awkwardly to her level. Perfect, Alphenius thought. You just stay there perched like a stork on one leg -- just a few more seconds. She could see Melaenis out of the corner of her eye positioning himself. She tried not to look but instead kept her attention on the mark.
"My...my Mommie -- I want my Mommie!" She managed to say between her sobs. She looked up at the man, her lower lip quivering.
"There, there, it'll be all right. Ol' Jack will help you find your Mommie."
"You will?" She asked with a sniffle.
"Sure I will." He reached out with his pudgy hand and brushed a tear off of her cheek. That's his cue, Alphenius thought. "When the mark reaches for you, I'll come a running." Mel had instructed her over and over. She prepared to jump out of the way. She didn't want the big buffoon to crush her. Then she looked into the man's eyes, and real tears filled her own. This man was only trying to help her. He was a nice man. She could see it in his soft brown eyes. It wasn't right to take advantage of him like this. In her moment of hesitation, she almost ruined the whole thing. She was startled when Mel jumped on the man's back and started pounding him on the head. The two of them fell to the ground.
This point in the scam was always the most difficult part for Alphenius, when she came the closest to losing it and bursting ou
t in laughter. It was even worse this time as she gazed at her small brother and the giant man. They're like David and Goliath, she thought. She was torn between feeling sorry for the man and the ridiculous appearance in front of her. The man was beginning to figure out what was happening to him, or at least what they wanted him to think was happening and began to laugh. It was time to save him from her rescuer.
"Leave him alone, David." She changed Mel's alias at the last second and noticed the momentary look of confusion from her brother. "It's okay. Leave him alone you big bully. He was only trying to help me."
She pulled at Mel's shoulder, and he obediently stopped. As he stood next to his sister, the look of confusion she had seen a moment ago returned. This one she was expecting.
"Oh, no. I'm sorry. I thought he was pestering you. You know what mom told us about strange men." The man fought to control his laughter. He tried to get to his feet but was too weak from laughing so hard, so he crawled to the steps and sat there.
"It's okay. Don't worry about it. No harm done." He rubbed his head to verify to himself that it was true. "You were a very brave little boy to help your sister like that."
Mel looked bashfully down at the ground. "You won't tell on me, will yah? I really didn't know."
"Of course you didn't. No, I won't tell a soul what happened. Do you know where your mom is?"
Mel brightened. "Of course I do. Mom is down at the car with our little brother. She sent me back to find Betty. We'd better go before she begins to worry."
Alphenius was so intent on the familiar play before her she failed to notice the security guard approaching. "Hey, you kids, what are you doing around here again!" She recognized the voice at once. Already Mel was backing away from the fat man. Alphenius was not as quick.
"Stop those two kids!" She smiled at the man and tried to slip past him, but he was quicker than he looked. He grabbed her by the wrist and smiled back. "What's going on here, little girl?"
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