The Prime Minister's Daughter

by William Manchee

  Chapter 6

   

   South Garland High School was packed with students from all over the state. It was the regional debate championships. In past tournaments, Plano High School had been the team to beat and they were favorites again this year. It was late Saturday afternoon, Paula and Alice were watching Kevin's third round debate. The round wasn't going well for Kevin who was up against a tenacious young lady from Cleburne.

   "What's wrong with Kevin, I wonder?" Paula said.

   "I don't know. Maybe he’s just rusty from being out of school so long," Alice suggested.

   "No. I worked with him Thursday night and he knew everything cold."

   "Huh. Then why is he letting that little cheese-ball walk all over him?"

   "He's not concentrating. Look at him, his mind is off in la la land."

   "It's this celibacy thing,” Alice said. “The guy needs a good screw."

   "No, that's not it. Something has been bothering him ever since he left the hospital."

   "Well, if you ask me, if you and I locked him in a room and screwed the hell out of him, he'd be fine."

   "Well, he wouldn't let us do that, he’d high tail it." Paula laughed.

   "Hell, we'll put burglar bars on the windows and dead bolts on the door."

   Paula shook her head skeptically. "Somehow, I don't think that would work."

   When the debate was over, a somber Kevin walked the girls back to Plano's staging area.

   "So. I hope you girls did better than I did today."

   "We both won our rounds," Paula said.

   "Good. How's the team doing?"

   "We're in second place," Paula replied.

   "We needed you to win, Kevin," Alice said. "How come you let that little Nazi beat you?"

   "I don't know. I just can't get psyched up since I've been back."

   "Well, don't worry about it.” Paula sighed. “I still think we'll win the tournament. Everyone else is doing well."

   "I hate to be a drag on the team. I just wish I could forget everything that's happened to me. I can't concentrate anymore. I don't know what's the matter with me."

   "Will you come watch my final round? You can give me some moral support, at least," Paula said.

   "Sure, I'd love to."

   "Good. I'll be in room 232B, at three forty-five."

   "I'll be there."

   The girls went off to their next event. Kevin walked outside and strolled around the campus. That was one thing Kevin hated about debate tournaments. If you lost, there was nothing to do but twiddle your thumbs the rest of the day. Kevin found a pleasant spot overlooking a pond. He watched two ducks sliding across the water and a kid fishing from the bank. Before long his mind began to wander and he started to daydream.

   He was in a magnificent bedroom, ornately decorated in eastern decor. He was wearing only silk pajama bottoms. He went to the mirror to make sure he looked okay. Hearing a noise, he looked up and saw Kiran walking toward him. She was so beautiful, a surge of joy exploded within him. She wore a long, white, sheer nightgown. Kevin tried to breathe, but he couldn't. Finally, she strutted over to him, twirled around so he could see every part of her and then stood directly in front of him.

   "Oh, my God! You're more beautiful than I could ever have imagined."

   "Are you sure?"

   "Of course, I'm sure."

  "What about that girl, Uma? Am I more beautiful than Uma?"

  Kevin laughed, "Oh yes. Much more beautiful than her. He took her by the hands and gently pulled her toward him. Their eyes locked, then he pushed her gently onto the bed and leaned over to get a good look at her. He gazed at her supple breasts and smooth, flat stomach. She lay motionless, beckoning him to explore every part of her body. He rose to remove his pants. Then, carefully, he pulled her nightgown up over her head and dropped it to the ground. She smiled slyly, waiting patiently as he gazed at her naked body.

   "Kevin, wake up!" Alice yelled.

  Kevin jumped. "Huh?"

  "Wake up! What are you doing out here? You're supposed to be watching Paula's debate. She's going to be pissed if you're not there. Come on. It's about to start."

   Kevin shot her an annoyed look. "Okay. Okay. I'm coming.” He wanted to close his eyes again and return to the bed of his lover, but he knew it was no use. Damn you, Alice!

  After slowly getting up, he followed her to the classroom where Paula was about to start her debate. They took a couple of seats near her. She shook her head.

  "Where have you two been? I thought you deserted me."

  "This big lug was outside, sound asleep. It took me thirty minutes to find him."

  Kevin shrugged in response to Paula's disgusted look. The debate began and it wasn't long before it was clear Paula would be victorious. She had the ability to destroy any opponent with subtle sarcasm. Her opponent today was no match for her. Unfortunately, Plano came up two points short and placed second in the tournament. Kevin felt badly. If he had won but one more round, Plano would be the regional champions. The bus ride home was somber and Kevin avoided everyone for the remainder of the weekend.

   

   

  On Monday, Kevin had an appointment with the FBI. Since he was the only person who had gotten a good look at the would-be assassin, the FBI wanted him to look through mug sheets and computer photographs of possible suspects. He left at eight-thirty, drove downtown to the FBI headquarters and asked for Agent Simmons. After a minute, Simmons strolled into the waiting room.

  "Hey, Kevin. Thanks for coming down today," Agent Simmons said.

   "No problem."

   "How's the hole in your chest?"

   "Healing nicely, I believe."

   "Good. We've got everything set up for you."

   "Okay, I'm ready, I guess. I just hope I can remember what he looked like."

   "I’m sure you will. We've got a lot of pictures for you to look at. I hope you planned to be here the whole day."

  "Yeah. I told my counselor I'd have to miss all my classes. I'll need a note from you though, so they won't count it as an unexcused absence."

   "No problem. Don't let me forget to give it to you before you leave."

   Agent Simmons led Kevin through a door and down a long corridor. After a minute, they came to another door with a security pad on it. Simmons punched in the code and a buzzer sounded. He held the door open so Kevin could enter. Inside the room was a large table with numerous stacks of mug books and a computer terminal.

   "Okay, just sit down. I'll turn the computer on and show you how to flip from one photo to the other."

   Kevin watched the screen illuminate. Agent Simmons typed some commands on the keyboard and a picture of a black male in his mid-twenties appeared.

   "That's not him."

   "Well, just hit return when you want to move on to the next picture. There were about two thousand pictures that came up from the parameters we fed into the computer."

   "Two thousand?"

   "Yeah," agent Simmons laughed. "Don't worry though. You'll get through them pretty fast. When you're done with them, we've got eight or nine mug books."

   "Jesus! Come get me next week."

  "It won't be that bad. I'll check on you in a couple hours. If you happen to find anyone that looks familiar, pick up the telephone and dial two-three-one-four. That's my extension."

   "Okay."

   Agent Simmons left the room and Kevin began to flip through the computer photographs. It was slow going at first, because Kevin studied each face carefully. As time went on, he began flipping the pictures more and more quickly. After going through the first thousand or so, he got up to stretch his legs. He went to the bathroom, snooped around the room a little, then sat back down and started going through the remainder of the pictures. He was getting pretty bored, so he started flipping the pictures faster and faster. Suddenly, he saw someone who looked familiar. He stopped a moment. Then he flipped back to the
last picture he had seen. It was the picture of Ray Mohammed from San Fernando, Trinidad. He had dark skin, a beard and a scar above his left cheek bone. His eyes were brown with a slight greenish tint. Kevin closed his eyes and thought back to when he saw the assassin come in the waiting room. He could see the man in his mind's eye, but he wasn't sure about the scar. He hadn't been close enough for it to stick out.

   Kevin wrote down the number of the photo and went on. Hundreds of photos later, he ran across another photograph that also looked like his assailant. This photograph was identified as Peter Gosne from Tunapuna, Trinidad. This man didn't have a scar, but looked very similar to the first suspect. Kevin stared at the face on the screen. Again, he closed his eyes to try to determine if this was the man. He opened up his eyes again and looked at the sinister character, who seemed to be staring back at him. Just then the door opened and Agent Simmons walked in.

   "How are we doing?"

  "I don't know. I've found two photographs and either one could be the man."

   "Good, who are they?"

   "This guy, Peter Gosne and then, another guy named Ray Mohammed."

    "Hmm. Let me print them out. We'll get them out on the wire and see what happens. Nice job."

  "I just hope one of them is the guy. It's so hard to be sure. I just saw him for straight on for maybe thirty seconds."

  "There must have been something about him that got your attention, otherwise you would have no recollection of him at all."

  "Well, I was sitting in the waiting room when I noticed him walk in and take a look around. He must have felt my stare, because he gave me a hard look, then turned and left. I think it was the intense look on his face—like a man on a mission— that got my attention."

  "Hmm. . . . Well, it's nearly five o'clock. I think you've done enough today. Go on home and I'll keep you posted. Okay?"

  "All right. I'll need that note."

  "Oh, sure," Agent Simmons said as he pulled an envelope out of his inside pocket. "I've got it right here."

  Agent Simmons walked Kevin to the waiting room and thanked him again for coming. Kevin left and headed back home on Central Expressway. It was rush hour, so traffic was slow. As he was sitting in traffic, he thought about Kiran and how much he wanted to see her. He knew that the likelihood of that was next to nil. His depression intensified as he analyzed his desperate predicament. What if Kiran doesn't have feelings for me as I do for her? I could spurn every woman I met, hoping, praying for the day I’d finally be with her, only to be rejected.

   Suddenly he realized how foolish he had been. He had to forget Kiran. She was just a dream, a figment of his imagination. She wasn't real. When Kevin got back to Plano, he decided to stop by Plano High. He wanted to pick up some books so he could study when he got home. He walked into the main building and headed for his locker. As he was rummaging through his books, deciding what to take home, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around quickly and was surprised to see Stacy smiling at him. She was wearing a halter top and the shortest shorts Kevin had ever seen. Her legs were sleek and deeply tanned. It was a pleasant surprise.

  "Oh. Hi, Stacy. You startled me. I didn’t hear you walk up.”

  She smiled, obviously amused at his reaction. “You're here awfully late," she said.

  “Yeah, I had to go downtown today and look through mug shots.”

  “Mug shots?”

  “Yeah, the FBI asked me to do it. You know, to see if I could identify the guy who shot me.”

  Stacy nodded.

   “Since I missed some classes, I thought I better get some books so I could study tonight. . . . Although I don’t feel much like it, actually.”

  “How come?”

  Kevin closed his locker and shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve just been kind of down lately. I guess I’m just coming back to earth after all the excitement in my life.”

  “You feel kind of lost, right? Like you just don’t know what to do next?”

  “Yeah. . . . Something like that.”

  “I know what you mean. I feel that way every year when football season is over and there are no more cheerleading practices to go to. It’s like–What am I going to do all afternoon every day?”

  “Hmm. . . . So is that why you’re here so late–practice?"

   "Right, we have it every single day."

  “Don’t you get tired of practicing all the time?”

  “No, I like it and it keeps me in shape.”

   Kevin gave Stacy's body a once over.

  "I can see that."

  Stacy’s eyes thanked him for the compliment. She said, "Hey my parents are going out tonight. We could study together."

   "Study together? Hmm. I don’t know. . . . I haven't eaten yet and I should probably get home."

   "I'll cook for you," Stacy replied.

   Kevin pondered the idea a moment, obviously intrigued. "That's really nice of you, but I wouldn’t want to impose.”

   “It’s not any trouble.”

   “Do you like to cook?"

   "Sure, I make great lasagna. We can stop on the way home and get what we need. It would be fun. Come on. Let me cook for you and then we can study."

    Kevin shrugged. "All right, if you're sure, but it seems like a lot of trouble."

   "I've got to eat anyway. If I were alone, I'd probably have junk food. This will be better. You can tell me all about what happened today."

   "It wasn't very exciting. I think I looked through two or three thousand photographs."

   "That's sounds pretty exciting to me. You know, helping the FBI and everything,” she said taking his hand. “Let's go. You can tell me about it on the way. I'll drive, since I know where we're going.”

   Kevin laughed at Stacy's enthusiasm. What she was lacking in intellect, she certainly made up in charm and beauty. Stacy led Kevin out to the parking lot to Stacy's Mazda Miata convertible. Kevin stopped a few feet away and gave the car a good look.

  He smiled and said, "I love your car. It's definitely you."

   "My dad gave it to me when I made the cheerleading squad. He said since I was the prettiest girl at Plano High School, I needed a car that complimented my beauty."

   "Well, I think you'd look good in just about any car, Stacy."

   "Do you really think so?"

   "I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it. You’re probably the prettiest girl I've ever seen."

   "Including Uma Thurman?"

  Kevin laughed, then shook his head affirmatively. "Yes, absolutely. She doesn't hold a candle to you."

   "Oh, you're so sweet, Kevin. We're going to have so much fun tonight!"

   A few minutes later, they were shopping at Tom Thumb. Kevin enjoyed watching Stacy shop. He couldn't believe that any human being could get so much joy out of buying tomato paste and ricotta cheese. Stacy's happiness was becoming intoxicating. Soon, Kevin was laughing and having a great time. Once they finished shopping, Stacy drove them to her house. It was a nice home at the end of a cul-de-sac. Kevin looked around to see if anyone had noticed them drive up. The street was quiet.

   "When will your parents be home?"

   "Oh, not until after midnight. They're going to dinner with some friends. Then they've got theater tickets. After the show, they usually stop off at a club and have a few drinks. We've got the place to ourselves for at least six hours."

   "Huh. You sure live in a nice neighborhood."

   "Thank you."

   Stacy grabbed Kevin's hand again and led him to the front door. Kevin felt a tinge of excitement feeling Stacy's warm grasp. But when she opened the door and he walked into the spacious house, he suddenly felt awkward. What am I doing here?

   "Come on in. Let's go back to the kitchen. We can have some wine to drink while I'm cooking."

   "I don’t know if we should be drinking if we plan to get any studying done."

   “Oh, come on. One glass won’t hurt you.”

   Kevin raised h
is eyebrows but didn’t argue the point.

   “Nice house,” he said.

   "Thank you."

    "My dad is a dentist. He does pretty well, unless the economy gets sluggish. Daddy says that dentists are the first thing people drop from their budget if cash gets tight. That's why he always saves as much money as he can."

   "Your dad's a smart guy."

   "He is. He's wonderful."

   Stacy began pulling out bowls and ingredients for her lasagna and spreading them out on the counter. Kevin watched her in amazement. He never had imagined her being such a whiz in the kitchen.

   "Oh, the wine. It's in the refrigerator, in the bar. Get us some blush, okay?"

  Kevin hesitated. He had promised himself he’d never drink again, but he hated to spoil the party. Stacy was having so much fun.

  “I don’t drink, actually,” he finally blurted out.

  She smiled and shook her head. “Don’t be silly. You may be able to fool your friends, but you can’t fool me.”

  “Excuse me?” Kevin said.

  She laughed. “Go, silly. It’s in the bar.”

  Kevin didn’t move. Stacy stopped and their eyes locked.

  They stared at each other for several long seconds before Kevin finally looked away.

  “Please Kevin, get the wine. You can’t eat Italian without wine.”

  He threw up his hands. "Okay, okay, I’ll get the wine."

  Kevin went in the direction Stacy had pointed and spotted a bar in the den. He opened the refrigerator. Sure enough, there were several bottles of blush, as well as an assortment of other wines. If they ran out, he noted there was a full wine rack above the bar filled with at least fifty bottles. Kevin grabbed a bottle of blush and a couple of glasses and went back into the kitchen. He opened the bottle and poured two glasses to the brim.

  Stacy smiled at him, grabbed one of the glasses and took a swig.

  "Oh, I love this stuff."

  Kevin gave it a whiff and then tried it. It had an interesting bite he thought. He took another sip.

   "Yeah, not bad," he said.

  Before long Stacy had her masterpiece in the oven. She and Kevin sat down at the kitchen table to talk and drink their wine. Since Kevin did not often drink, consuming the wine on an empty stomach began to take its toll. When the first bottle was gone, Stacy got up and got another. When the lasagna was almost done, Stacy set out a salad and hot bread for each of them. Finally, she served her lasagna.

  "Oh, this is excellent, Stacy. You amaze me. I didn't know you were such a good cook."

  "My dad taught me. He's really good at it."

  Hearing so much about Stacy's dad made him curious about her mother.

  "What does your mom do?"

  "She's a lawyer."

  "Really? Wow!"

  "I don't see much of her. You know, being a partner and everything, . . . but we have some good quality time together."

   "Oh, . . . well. That’s good. What do you like to do with her, . . . with her the most?"

   "Shopping. I love to go shopping with her."

  "Oh. Yeah…Shopping,” he nodded approvingly. “That’s cool."

   "Unfortunately, she doesn't like to shop."

   Kevin smiled, then burst out laughing. "Bummer."

   At first Stacy frowned but then she began to laugh too.

   “It is pretty pathetic isn’t it?” she said.

  “No, no,” he said rubbing his temples. “I’m sorry, I know it’s not funny. I’ve just had one too many glasses of wine.”

  Stacy got up and extended her hand. “It’s okay. . . Come on, let’s go to the den.”

  Once they were seated comfortably on the sofa, she kicked off her shoes and nestled up close to him.

  "You want to watch television a little while before we start studying?" Kevin asked.

  "No, I just want to talk to you. I never have anyone to talk to. Every day I come home to this empty house. This beautiful, empty house."

   "You get lonely, huh?"

   "Uh huh. Sometimes I run outside just to see if any of the neighbors are around, so I can talk to them. They never are, though." Stacy shook her head. "So, you know what I do sometimes?"

   "What?"

  "I go next door to borrow a cup of sugar. Can you believe it? I never need the sugar. We never run out of anything. Mom is super-efficient. . . Do you think I’m nuts?"

   "No, not at all." Kevin laughed. “I’ve made up stories to get what I want before.”

   “Really?”

   “Sure.”

      Suddenly Stacy sat up and looked Kevin in the eyes. "You know what I want to do? You’re going to think it’s silly."

   "What?”

   "I want to kiss you like Uma did."

   He frowned. "Really? Why?"

  "To get your opinion. You know—how I stack up compared to Uma.”

  Kevin smiled. "Well, I sure as hell won’t stop you."

  Kevin didn’t know why he had said that, but it was too late to issue a retraction. Stacy quickly moved onto Kevin's lap, grabbed him behind the neck and pulled his lips to hers. Kevin closed his eyes and, for a moment, forgot about everything else in the world. Stacy nudged her tongue into his mouth, where it was graciously accepted. While engaged in mouth to mouth combat, Stacy began to unbutton Kevin's shirt. He didn't resist. She pulled it open and began caressing his chest. Then, she pulled her halter top over her head, exposing her exquisite breasts. Kevin stuck a nipple in his mouth and began to stroke it with his tongue. Stacy moaned in delight. She got up and started to pull off her shorts.

  “I knew you’d come around,” Stacy moaned.

  Suddenly, Kevin was hit with a moment of sobriety. He let Stacy go.

   "Come around?" he asked.

  “I mean–”

  Kevin sat up and pushed Stacy away. “You planned this?!”

   A stunned Stacy watched as Kevin quickly got dressed. “No, it’s not like that,” she moaned. “Paula…”

  “Paula? Did you and Paula have some kind of bet?”

  “Well, sort–”

  “I can’t believe this!” Kevin said as he searched the room with a glance. “What do you have? A camera? A tape recorder?”

  Suddenly his eyes focused on the hutch in the corner of the room. The door was slightly ajar. He stormed over to it and pulled it open. A video camera was set on the middle shelf. The door had been closed just enough to conceal the camera in darkness but not block a clear view of the sofa. Kevin ejected the tape and stormed through the house to the front door.

  “Oh, Kevin. Don’t leave. Let me explain.”

  He laughed. “Right, like it would make a difference.”

  Once outside, Kevin started to run. He didn’t stop until he’d gone several miles. He finally found himself in front of his church, St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church. He went inside and knelt in the Chapel. What is this, Lord–some kind of a test? The mind is strong but the body is weak. Is that it? I’ve been trying to live my life the way you would want me to, but it’s so hard. It’s just so hard and I’m so tired of fighting. It seems like everyone is out to derail me, even you. Why did you bring me Kiran only to take her away? I don’t understand. You know, it would be so easy just to give up–oh so easy. Help me, Lord. Please, help me and give me strength to go on.