There had been a few years when Betsy was obsessed with developing her innate psychic abilities. Tarot card reading, auras, water divination, crystals, astral projection. You name it, Betsy studied it.
She'd finally called me one night in tears. She had given yet another faulty tarot card reading. She was a fraud.
I'd talked her down and now we could joke about it. But at fifteen years old, she'd been devastated. She took this stuff very seriously.
"I don't need mind rays to know that it's because of this Adonis of yours."
I sighed.
"I don't want to talk about it."
She nodded wisely.
"Not yet. But you will. And then you won't shut up about it!"
I laughed, shaking my head at her. She was probably right. She grabbed my hand and pulled me down the street.
"Come on, I know just what you need."
"What's that?"
"Pickles!"
"Don't tell me... are they?"
"Yes! Artisanal organic pickles!"
Chapter Nineteen Kyle
"How you doing man?"
I shook my head, staring at the computer screen. Kenneth's big dopey face filled up nearly the whole thing. I video chatted the guys every couple weeks or so, but they were hard to pin down. This was the first time we'd talked in a long ass time.
"Don't ask. I want to hear about you guys."
Kenneth sat up straight, looking very serious. He saluted.
"Can't tell you, civilian. It's classified."
I threw a ball of paper at the screen.
"Your dick is classified, jackass."
"That's Sergeant Jackass to you."
"No shit!"
"Without you around I guess they had to promote someone."
I laughed. It was good to talk to him. It was the first time I'd laughed in a week.
"How the fuck are you, Thick?"
I shook my head.
"I'm in a world of shit K-Dawg. I need to figure some shit out."
"Money? Girls?"
"Girl. Singular."
"You, Thick? I thought for sure you'd be playing the field."
"No, man. I met someone special. And... I got her pregnant."
"Fucking A man, that sucks."
"No, man. It's good. I'd be fucking psyched if everything wasn't FUBAR."
"What happened?"
"Belinda's amazing. But her old man is pissed and she doesn't want to trap me or some shit so she took off. He's also my coach. He kicked my ass off the team."
"No shit?"
"No shit."
"Wait, she took off with your baby? That's messed up."
I nodded. I was desperate to locate her. To know she was okay.
"I just want to find her. I'm worried about her."
"Man, you have it bad. This girl must be something else to nail down Dr. Thick."
"She is."
Kenneth rocked back in his chair, rubbing his hand over his chin like a super villain from the movies.
"You know my brother is FBI right?"
I sat back and stared at the screen. I had forgotten about that. I nodded slowly, afraid to get my hopes up.
"I bet he could find her for you Thick."
"Would he do that? He doesn't even know me."
"Fuck that, man! You're family."
I smiled at the screen, my body relaxing for the first time since she disappeared. We were going to find her. It wasn't over.
Everything wasn't going to hell in a handbasket.
"Give me a description of her man."
I gave him a look.
"Are you sure you won't just jack off to it?"
"I can't make any promises, man."
I was laughing as I described Belinda. I told him everything I knew about her. I told him how sweet she was, how kind. But there wasn't much to add. She didn't have any identifying marks. She'd been so isolated, it's not like she had a crew of people she would run to. No ex-boyfriends.
I was her crew dammit.
Me.
When I was done Kenneth was grinning ear to ear. He held up the piece of paper he'd been writing on. He'd sketched a naked lady on the back with hair down to her ass and big boobs.
"A natural redhead? Oh yes, I will be making use of Mr. Hand later on."
"That's my future wife, you sicko."
"Mrs. Thicky to be? Alright then. I'll find someone else to drill."
He tapped his skull. He was very proud of his memory banks. He always wore his helmet outside, even off duty.
Even to take a piss.
"You do that, you perv."
He was about to sign off but I stopped him.
"Thanks K-Dawg. I owe you one."
He grinned.
"And don't you fucking forget it."
Belinda
"This is your room!"
I stood in awe, looking around the enormous bedroom. The ceiling was arched high above my head. Wall to ceiling glass looked out over the woods. Literally, all you could see was green.
"It's beautiful."
"I'm glad you like it. It's my favorite room to do yoga in. Evan made the furniture from wood we found on the property. There are so many types of trees here, but sometimes thinning them out is helpful for the ecology. We were very careful..."
I tuned her out as I took in the room. Intricate woven rugs on the floor. Heavy wooden carved furniture. And a few very large, very colorful pieces of art.
An enormous sculpture hung just outside the window under an eave.
"What's that?"
"It's for the birds."
"It's what?"
"All this glass confuses them, they would fly into it without it. They think it's a hawk or an owl and they steer clear."