****
"What do you mean, Dave?" Kerry said worriedly. His tone of voice had changed, he was starting to scare her. Dave's fingers ran slowly through her hair as she looked up at him. His eyes were vacant and dull as he stared at the solid oak door, the thing that barred their escape into the real world. "Dave? What did you mean, not quite?"
****
"Are you sure you have everything Dave?" Seri said as she sorted through her own knapsack, adding small things like face cloths, packets of instant coffee and sugar.
"Yes!!! For the millionth time, Seri! Yes! I have everything packed. I don't see why you have to treat me like I'm six years old!" Dave grumbled irritably.
"Because you constantly act like one!" Seri snapped back at him.
"Oh REALLY!?" Dave retorted venomous as he strode across the room and grabbed her roughly. His eyes narrowed and his arms wrapped around her shoulders, shaking her slightly as he pulled her into a kiss.
They stood in the veiled darkness of the dawn , Dave's arms now wrapped around her waist as they kissed. His hand traveled up her shirt and she moaned softly as it slipped into her bra.
Seri smiled as he pulled her onto the bed, knocking the bags to the floor and stripping off her t-shirt. They both panted heavily as the two lovers rolled on the squeaky mattress. Dave bit her lovingly as he rolled on top of her, brushing the hair out of her eyes, her lips parted in an exhilarated smile. Her cheeks were flushed and her lips pinked. Her fingers moved to his underpants as she peeled them away gently, with the loving care of a mother pulling away a band-aid off a skinned knee.
Dave grinned and as suddenly as he'd stomped across the room, he pulled away, breaking free and staring at her. "So.. Would a six year old do that?"
"Do what!? Trick me!? Get me naked and horny, 30 minutes before our flight?!" Seri glared at him, crawling across the bed and struggling to stand up on the unsteady surface to retrieve her pants from the ceiling fan.
Her legs wobbled underneath her as she stumbled backward into Dave's arms. "Whoa.. I'll get it.. I'll get it.. Just wait a second.." He murmured softly.
"I WANT TO GET IT!" Seri glared at him, struggling in his arms. "I can get it!"
"Seri.. Your leg.."
"Fuck my leg.. I can get it.." She glared at him struggling onto the floor and grabbing a chair. Serena pushed the chair under the fan and slowly ascended it, her good leg and orothodic planted firmly on the seat.
"Seri..." Dave mumbled, watching her. "Careful will you!!"
"Dave... Shut up.." Seri grunted as she strained on her tip-toes, her fingers reaching upward as she grasped the pant leg and yanked it sharply.
"SERI!!!!!!!???" Dave yelled as the chair wobbled and skittered across the floor, his wife flying backward onto the hardwood floor.
She stared at him dazedly, a trickle of blood from a cut on her forehead. "I'm...fine.." Serena murmured, before rolling on her side and puking..
"Aww Christ.. Shit.. Awww.. Crap.." Dave muttered, pacing the floor.. "I.. I'm calling 911.. You.. I'm.. I'm phoning 911.."
"D-Dave... No.. Don't.. I'm.. I'm okay.." She muttered woozily, leaning on an elbow, in a pool of her own vomit. "We have to get to the plane.. We can't be late."
"Late!? Serena.. You fell on your head!" Dave yelled at her angrily. "You're going to the hospital."
"I fell.. That's all.. I'm okay.. Besides.. I must be brain-damaged to have ever married somebody like you." Seri glared at him.
"Seri!! Please! Just.. Come on.. Please.. To the hospital.. We can go to Srebrenicia tomorrow.. I promise.. Okay??"
*****
Kerry brushed the hair from his forehead, sticky and sodden with sweat. "Dave..." She mumbled worriedly as the doctor stared off into space.. "Come on Dave... Cut that out.." She sighed, laying back on the pillows and rotated the ring slowly on her finger.
***
"This is a cow.. This is a horse.. This is a goat.." Mlungisi murmured softly as he lead Kerry around the perimetre of the fence line. "This is a Jacob Ram.. He's got 4 horns.. Isn't he nice!?" The man carefully scratched the sheep under the chin and smiled at Kerry..
"So... You want to help me feed the animals? I'm sure you can do that.." He smiled, taking her hand and grasping the handhold of her crutches.
"I.. I'm tired.." Kerry mumbled, staring at her feet. "But.. I guess I could do that."
"Well if you want to rest." Mlungisi offered.
"No.. I can do it.. Where do we feed them??" She said determinedly.
"If you want to rest.." He said again, concerned.
"No.. I can do it.. I want to. Where do we get the food?" She wandered towards the barn as Runako exited, carrying buckets of slop for the pigs.
"WHAT IS SHE DOING HERE!!!!!!???" He glared at the young woman standing in his barnyard and over at his son. "What is she doing here!? I told you.. I told you no."
"She says she wants to help.." Mlungsis said angrily. "Kerry wants to help me. If I choose to pay her that is my business.. I have to do your chores without pay.. I have to run your farm. If Ms.Weaver chooses to help me, I'm not going to turn down her offer."
"RUN MY FARM!? YOU DO NO SUCH THING! THIS IS MY FARM. YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A STABLE BOY!!! A NUISANCE!" Runako bellowed, storming towards Mlungsisi who stood leaning against the fence.
"A stable boy..." Mlungsisi muttered, rolling the word over his tongue.. "A stable boy and nuisance.." He repeated again, the anger growing. "If that is the way you feel.. Then you can finish the chores without my help."
He grabbed Kerry, a little more roughly than he had intended, and stomped towards his truck, helping Kerry inside. "We're just going to leave him here?" She said worriedly.
"Yes.. We are. We are going home to my apartment." He muttered angrily, slamming his door and starting up his truck.
"Don't you live here?" Kerry asked, looking out the window at the rolling hills, the green pastures and the animals that peppered the scenery.
"No.. I don't. Not anymore. Runako may think he has power to run everything, but he can't run my life. Not anymore. I help him run his farm. I do not like to leave him in such a state, but right now.. Right now I'm going home and making you something to eat."
****
"DOUG!!" Carol screamed tearfully, clawing at his unconscious form and pulling on his lifeless limbs.
"Get her away from him." Elizabeth murmured sadly, as she edged in beside the body. "Get her away. I have to assess his injuries. I can't do it with her screaming in my ear."
Abby tugged at Carol's arm, pulling her onto the bank. "LEAVE ME ALONE YOU OB-NURSE WHORE! DOUG!!!!!!!!!" Carol stumbled back into the water as Abby stood helpless on the bank. Where in the hell was Luka??
****
"Another game of crazy eights?" Nikola murmured, looking up from his cards.
"I don't have any money left." Luka muttered angrily. "What sort of man plays crazy eights for money. I've never heard of such a thing."
"Aha.. That is why I win and you lose. When is the last time you play crazy eights?" The old man smiled.
"I don't know... I play it with patients.. It's nothing special. Game of chance..." Luka shrugged, woefully watching his former-father-in-law stuff the dinars into his pocket.
"Just like poker?" Nikola grinned.
"I.. I guess so.. Can I have my money back??" Luka pleaded.
"You want to win it back?" The man laughed, taunting his son-in-law.
"Win it back? Sure..." Luka smiled, hopeful.
"Okay.. Let's play Old Maid.." The smile grew till it looked like the old man's teeth would consume his face. Luka knew he was screwed.
"Old Maid? I don't thin-" Luka started, unsure. Old Maid? He hadn't played that since he was a boy.
"It's settled then." Nikola grinned, plopping the money back onto the table and counting out the cards.
***
"Doug!! Please!!" Carol yelled.
"GODDAMMIT!! HATHAWAY! GET AWAY FROM ME BEFORE I HIT YOU! UNLESS YOU WANT YOUR HUSBAND TO DIE, SIT DOWN SOMEWHERE AND DON'T MOVE!" Corday yelled angrily.
Carol blinked tearfully before suddenly plunking down into the muck and water, her boots and pants filling with mud and marsh grass.
**
"So what do you say? Another chance? Ray smiled, his aged eyes pleading.
"Another chance? I don't think you deserve another chance, Ray." Doug glared at him, at the pieces of tickets clenched in the old man's fist.
"Doug.. We're grown men. Certainly we can come to some sort of compromise." Ray sighed, slumping down in table and idly messing with the place setting on the mat.
"Compromise?! What do you have that I want?! Nothing Ray. Nothing. This conversation is finished." Doug stood, pushing himself off the barstool and throwing down a twenty to cover the tab he just run up.
"Scott. Leave it. His money's not good here. I'll cover it." Ray said to the Bartender, pushing the bill back towards his son.
"Like hell you will!" Doug said angrily, grabbing the money and shoving it in Scott's hand.
"Wait Doug.." Ray put out his hand, it landing squarely in the man's chest.
"Get your hands off me." Doug growled, pushing the old man backwards.
"I know where he is. I know where Brendan is."
The words stopped the paediatrician in his tracks. Slowly turning, his tense hands unclenched and hung loose at his sides. His skin paled and beads of nervous sweat dripped on his brow. Doug's bottom lip quivered and he licked it slowly. "Pam. Is she alright?" He murmured softly. His knee had started to twitch as he fidgeted.
"She's been taken care of." Ray sighed.
"and the kid?"
"He's good.. He calls me Grand-dad."
"What's he call me? Does he know about me?" Doug turned, standing in the doorway. Scott busied himself as he polished the bar, trying not to listen, trying to busy himself with cleaning. Smooth round circular motions.. Just like on Karate Kid.. Wax on... Wax off.. The spot he focused on would soon be the cleanest six inches of Bar mahogany in all of Illinois.
"He doesn't call you anything. He doesn't know about you. Why should he? He knows I'm his grandfather. He knows that his grandfather is his father's father. That's the extent of his knowledge of the Ross lineage. I haven't told him anything about you."
"Are you going to?"
"Not if you don't want me to Doug.. The kid is old enough to comprehend and know. He knows your not around. Pam is happy enough. He doesn't hate you, if that's what your thinking. I haven't poisoned him against you."
"So.. You've made them comfortable?" Doug stared at the floor.
"He *is* my grandson, Doug. You want me to tell you where he is?" Ray put a hand on his son's shoulder and Doug sighed and shook his head.
"No.. I don't... I'm sorry. I don't want to see him. I've closed that chapter of my life. Pam was a crackhead-"
"She's clean now Doug."
"I'm done with it. You can tell him what you want, but I don't want to see him." Doug shrugged the hand off his shoulder and walked down the street.
"You're more like me than you think Doug. More like me than you'll ever
know." Ray shouted after him as Doug shuddered, continuing down the darken
sidewalk and ignoring the man who shouted out from the lobby of his own
5 star hotel.