Family Issues Ch. 07

I have to apologize for the time it takes to produce each chapter. This one gave me a headache for a long time.

Madison (ThanatopicFolds) my cool editor helped speed things up, for which I'm grateful. I've also had the kind help of Stylus.

You guys rock.

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The human heart is a puzzle made from pieces of our lives. There is a piece for that first unrequited love, perhaps the girl from your class with the piercing eyes who you were too shy to reveal your feelings to. There is a piece for the time a bully called you terrible names and punched you, just to prove that they could. There is a piece for the time you stood up to that bully. There is a piece for the first kiss. There is a piece for your first sexual experience, and a piece for your first heartbreak. It is an intricate puzzle made of pieces spanning the bounds of our personal universe.

Our puzzle's nature defines its interaction with other puzzles. Some pieces have rough edges, some are sharp, and some are too toxic for any to approach. But sometimes, when two puzzles begin to dance around each other, something strange happens. The pieces synchronise. Aligned, sharp edges gone, borders fused, it becomes impossible to tell where one person ends and the other begins.

-

"He fucking shot me. He got me in the face!"

"Come here. Lemme see your face, Lance," Helen said. She signaled Ryan to watch over the stairwell.

"Got me in the face!" The young marine was shaking, his fear and fury combined. He didn't step towards Helen. "Got me in the face!"

"Shut up!" Helen barked.

"Got me in the face!"

"Let me see your face, Lance." Helen grabbed the young marine in a vise grip. The human touch, more than anything, did the trick, and Lance stopped shouting and shaking. Helen removed his helmet and checked for cuts or bruises. She found nothing and put it back on. "You're fine."

She leaned against the nearby external wall and breathed deeply. The air in Husaybah, Iraq was choked with sand and the acrid smell of burning tires. A dark cloud billowed above the eastern road. Another suicide car.

Andy would come soon, and the marines would go down the stairs where the inferno and pain awaited. She was sitting in her own body, watching the events unfold through two perfect green eyes, but she wasn't the driver. As always, helplessness overwhelmed her.

Someone touched her shoulder.

"Goddamnit! I told you you're okay, Lance!"

"Okay, okay, don't yell at me! Jesus! I'm okay; you're okay. Well actually, I'm okay, you're obviously not, but you can't write a bestseller with a shitty title like that, can you?"

"Kevin?" She turned around.

He sat behind her on a broken wall, his legs dangling, not touching the floor, and his purple eyes were smiling.

"What the hell are you doing in Iraq?"

He shrugged. "Fuck if I know. It's your dream."

"It's dangerous here."

"So I've heard."

"You need to get off this roof, Kevin."

"Why don't you get off? You've been stuck on it for how long?"

"Seven years. Seven fucking years, two months, and twenty nights, every single night."

"Wanna go someplace else?"

"Like you wouldn't believe. But I can't."

"Sure you can. Look around you."

She did. The smell of burning tires and smoke was gone. The sky was clear. There were no distant thump bursts of the M240G. A goldfinch was singing on a nearby elm tree, and she could hear running water. They were standing in a field of wild grass and purple bluebells.

"Where are we?" she said.

"Dunno. It's your dream."

"I know where we are. That's the Eastside River, two klicks from my old neighborhood. It's weird."

Kevin made a backflip in the grass and lay down on his back, staring at a white, feathery cloud high above. "What's weird?"

"The line of buildings behind me. The city's Planning and Development Department demolished that part of the old projects three years ago."

"Good thing they did. Those buildings are ugly."

"I used to live there."

He turned onto his side, propped his head up with his hand, and looked at her. "Good memories?"

Helen nodded. "And bad. What now, Kevin?"

"Depends. What do you want to do?"

"Nothing." Helen laid her tall body on the grass beside him. "Absolutely nothing." She no longer wore her marine uniform but a flowery slip. She closed both eyes and listened. Somewhere in the distance, she could hear two children laughing. "I know where we are. That's the exact spot where I got my first kiss. I remember that tall elm behind us. Scott Pierce kissed me on this exact spot."

"The asshole who joined the other kids who called you cuntboy?"

"He was just a kid. Kids don't have much of a spine, so they have a harder time withstanding peer pressure. She opened her eyes and rolled, turning onto her side so they faced each other. "I'll tell you a secret, Kevin, but you'll have to promise not to tell anyone."

"Okay."

She closed her eyes and leaned forward, pursing her lips.

Someone knocked.

"Fuck!" Helen woke up, and for the first time in eight years, five months, and twenty nights she regretted leaving a dream. She wasn't sweaty as usual, but there was wetness downstairs. "Shit!"

Someone knocked on her door. "Yo, Helen, you decent?"

"Yeah."

Kevin entered the room smiling, carrying a tray of coffee, fresh orange juice, green salad, and a fantastic-looking mushroom bruschetta.

"Wow! Yummy!"

"Yeah, but this is the last time I spoil you like this. The doctor said you should take a day or two to be able to walk on your own. 'A day or two' passed five days ago. I think you're bluffing."

"How dare you?"

"Easily."

Helen took a bite of the bruschetta, and her eyes fluttered. "Goddamn." She put the bruschetta down, and licked each finger clean. "Alright, I promise I'll start walking soon. Like in a day or two, maybe a month, a year tops."

"You're a terrible person, Helen. If someone tells you otherwise, you should correct them."

"Be kind. I don't have an appendix anymore. It's hard." She wiped a fake tear.

Kevin mimed playing a tiny violin, blew Helen an air kiss, and left.

Well, every good thing must come to an end, and the last week had been a dream. Of course, Helen roamed the house freely when Kevin was working or at the university. But when he was home, she pretended walking around was too painful, and he would cook lunch and dinner, bring them to her room, and stay with her. His presence had a relaxing effect on her, even when he was just studying, and they were not watching TV together or sharing a meal he cooked. She was always checking her watch, dreading the time Diana would come home and drag him away.

Helen took her time with her breakfast, savoring every bite. She then tried to go back to sleep to that sweet dream. At least Diana couldn't reach into the dream world and snatch Kevin from it.

-

Sharon Richardson left Kevin a WhatsApp message. It read, "Ginger is an Alpha Pi Alpha you owe me big time xoxo." She also sent a pic. Kevin opened it and sprayed the coffee he was drinking onto the instructor's desk. It was a full-body selfie of her in her dorm bed. She wore only a fig leaf made of cloth, and it had an embroidered message: 'Right here, right now.'

The leaf didn't cover anything.

"You okay, dude?" One of the trainees, a blond guy with the tanned surfer look, enquired.

"Yeah, yeah. Just had me a 'Well, fuck me running' moment, that's all."

"Lemme see."

"Fuck no!" Kevin dumped his mobile into his duffel bag.

"Oh, one of those messages. Don't be an ass. If some bitch sent you pelfie, you gotta share. It's the law. Bro to a bro."

"Oh, I bet. All right everyone, gather round. You guys at the back, move forward. We're not in school; you wanna listen to what the teacher says. My name's Kevin. I'll be your diving instructor. I'm twenty-one, been diving since I was twelve. I got my instructor's certificate two years ago, and I've been diving these waters almost daily since then. You're in good hands. Now let's do a quick...what do you call it when everyone introduces themselves?"

The Siam Club diving classroom used to be crammed with fins, BCDs, wetsuits, and drying regulators. Kevin, with his OCD, put an end to that. Since he'd joined the club, the small room got a facelift and could now rival an air force squadron briefing room.

Kevin nodded and joked as each person told a little about themselves, trying to assert that at least when it came to a sharp tongue, he dominated. He knew it was going to be a tough group. They were all young men in their early twenties, whereas he preferred to instruct women, or at least a mixed older group. For a slim short guy like him, being authoritative around a bunch of wild bucks was always a challenge.

"Okay, I think I can remember everyone's names now. Just so you know, the dude behind you making all that noise is Jack." Kevin motioned to the tall, stocky young man with a long brown braid who was angrily fighting with a locker, pulling stuff out and rummaging through bags. "Jack, take a break from wrecking the club for a sec and say hi."

Jack growled something noncommittal.

"Jack is a divemaster, and he's training to be a diving instructor assistant, so he'll be joining us on all the dives, assisting me."

"Did you see my fucking screwdriver, Kev?"

"He means the tool, not the drink. Don't panic," Kevin said, and the group of trainees laughed. "Chief took your screwdriver."

"Goddamnit! I told him not to touch my stuff."

"We've also been trying to train jack to be an Alpha male. We're not losing hope yet." That got Kevin another round of laughter.

"Why, didn't you tell him not to take my screwdriver?"

"Jack, go to the boat and check if I'm there."

"Just asking."

"Okay then. Who can tell me what's the most important aspect of water for us as divers? Ah, Frank, right?"

"It's Francis." The dark-haired young man with a copious number of tattoos showed his teeth in his weird version of smiling. "It's wet?"

One of his amigos slapped him on the head for being extra dumb.

"Yeah, nailed it. The most important fact is that water is denser than air. In the open air, we carry one atmosphere of pressure. Using Boyle's law, we know that for every 33 feet of salt water you add one atmosphere. It means that at 99 feet, which is the max depth—"

"Hey, Kevin," came a metallic shout from the office's intercom.

"I'm in the middle of class, boss."

"I know. Do you have room for one more student?"

"Only one? No problem, we only just started. Send him in."

"It's a she."

"Even better. I hope she likes testosterone. So there is—"

The door to the small classroom opened slowly. Kevin stared, mouth agape, at his new student, and then he started laughing.

"You said I should start checking out what the world has to offer. Well..."

"Can't get out of bed, eh?"

"I got better."

Laughing, he jumped off his instructor's seat and to everyone's surprise, gave the tall woman at the entrance a warm hug.

"Okay, guys, this is Helen, my former landlord and a good friend. My best friend. She surprised me. I'll do the introduction. Helen is twenty-nine, and a badass. Don't try anything; she knows Krav Maga. The lady got skillz. A veteran, served in Iraq, got a bronze star and an injury to show for it, for which I believe she deserves a round of applause."

"Kevin!" Helen blushed as the gang clapped.

"What? If I am ever a war hero, you get to decide if you wanna brag about it to complete strangers. Find a seat; we're on a schedule here."

Kevin went back to his instructor's seat, shaking his head and laughing. "Okay. Just a side-note here, people, in case any of you are afraid that this course will have favoritism and that I might pay more attention to her. Let me reassure you that you're absolutely right. She's a good friend, and I've known you guys for like ten minutes. But teacher's second favorite pet position is still up for anyone who is a brown-noser. I'm totally into that. Okay then, water and pressure."

-

The club's diving boat, the Black Pearl, was big enough to take thirty divers, and it had space for three scuba tanks for each of them. Kevin was helping Francis to spread the weights on his weight belt more evenly when he noticed Helen slipping off behind the captain's cabin, and went after her. He found her in the stern, readjusting her mask to the point of choking herself.

"What's going on?"

She didn't ask how he knew she was in turmoil. He always knew. Kevin nowadays even helped her in her dreams. "The stupid mask."

"There's nothing wrong with your mask." He took her mask off and readjusted it to a less tight fit. "I gave you a Scuba Pro. We have two of those, and we never give them to students. Try again."

"It's no good; there's almost no vacuum. My eyepatch's string is in the way. I can't take the eyepatch off. I can't, Kevin. I can't take the eyepatch off."

"Okay, okay. Lemme check." He pulled on the mask. "There's enough vacuum, don't worry. Down there, because of the water pressure, everything sits tight. It's okay. You'll be great."

"Are you sure?"

"Are you sure you know which building to buy and which to sell? I've been diving since before I knew you could do other stuff than just peeing with a penis. Now take it off, stop playing with it, and come to the bow. There's a pack of dolphins that have been hunting near the reef lately, and I think I just saw one."

"Okay, okay. I, I get stressed in new situations. Call me paranoid, but I feel like everyone is staring at me, Kevin."

"Of course they are, you idiot."

"What?"

"Helen, this is what happens when you leave your room and those ugly suits you're always wearing to your office."

"Huh?"

"Wait." Kevin went to the cabin and returned with his Samsung. "Smile. Not like you're sitting in the dentist's seat, and he's drilling your tooth. Smile. That's it." He snapped a picture and showed her. "What do you see?"

"Me, stressed?"

"I see a tall knockout blonde with a super-hot body in a very tight black and purple rubber suit. They are all young males over there. They stare. In fact, if one of them wasn't staring, I'd have to assume he's dead."

"Bullshit. Most men aren't into futanari."

"Jack, my assistant, already asked me for your number before we left. Francis asked for it a minute ago. That's two out of eight. I think the other six are seriously considering changing teams."

"What?"

"You're a beautiful woman, Helen; I told you everyone thinks so. Now you know it too."

She stared at him, then back at the group. "Did...did you give them my number?"

"Why not?"

"I'm done with dating."

"Because you had one shit experience with that idiot Dennis?"

"See. Even an idiot didn't want me."

"Come on, Helen! You're on a new road! Try new stuff. If you're not interested, just blow them off."

"Like I would know how to."

"You'll do fine. Only be kind about it."

She checked out her image on the phone. "I do look good."

"That's the spirit."

"I look mighty fine."

"Yeah, yeah, just don't let it go to your head."

"I would stare at me too; I'm hot in that suit."

"I liked the old Helen from ten seconds ago better."

"She's gone. I'm a sexy, confident Helen, and this hot booty is on fire." She slapped her ass playfully, then caught Jack checking her out. She changed into fifty shades of red, wanted to dive into the waves and disappear, then decided that between the old Helen and the sexy, confident Helen there remained a few steps to climb yet.

Kevin laughed. She leaned against the rail, buried her burning face in her hands, and started laughing too.

-

"All right folks, the sea is flat, and the visibility is super good." Kevin made a final round among the divers floating in the water, checking that each air valve was open. "It's great for a first dive. We won't be doing any of the basic drills, just getting the feel of it. Top depth is gonna be thirteen to fifteen feet so there will be no decompression issues, but if you feel ear pressure, you'll need to regulate. If you get vapors on your mask, clean it like I taught you. We usually go down together, but just this once I'll go alone, and Jack will be sending you one by one. Helen, you're first. Go!"

Helen pressed on the BCD's deflator. Nothing happened for a second, but then gravity and the weights took her under the salty water. She had a weird weightless moment and then she panicked because the reef was coming too fast and Kevin said that only assholes touch the reef. She kicked with her fins and shot upwards, then tried to push herself to the sandy bar beyond the reef. She flipped and found herself with her legs up.

Helen searched wildly around her, seeing only deep blue water and rocks. Her breath through the regulator sounded like a tornado blowing. She started turning, kicking uselessly, and waving her hands, trying to find balance. Then a familiar hand closed on hers, and her heart stopped its wild race.

Kevin turned her around slowly, inflated her BCD a little, and Helen found out that she didn't need to continually kick to stay afloat. He swam around her on his back, graceful like a dancer in the deep blue. When he made sure she was well and balanced, he floated in front of her in lotus pose.

He gave her the "Okay?" sign.

She gave him a thumbs-up, then remembered that it was a marine sign and changed to divers' 'I'm okay.'

He signaled her to breathe in and out slowly, but then pointed at his eyes and frantically behind her. She kicked and turned around, feeling like a cumbersome whale compared to Kevin's graceful maneuvers. A long grey shape was coming their way fast. It swam like an arrow and then flipped. Helen tried to follow it and watched in wonder as it plowed into a school of bright-hued fish. The dolphin then turned and swam lazily at them, cutting the water between her and Kevin. It turned its pointy snout at her, curious, then opened its mouth and sang a weird ditty. It sounded like a child playing a comb wrapped in paper. She didn't speak the language but was sure that it was a welcome song and decided that she liked diving. A lot.

Heart racing, she reached out to touch the grey form, but the animal turned and shot away in a blink. Helen turned to Kevin. He pulled his regulator out and blew an air ring out of his mouth. It looked like a spinning alien wheel as it raced towards her.

Helen was five again. A little girl exploring a new world.

Another diver went down, and Kevin kicked his fins to help him. After he fussed around the diver, he sent another set of air rings her way. The rings jiggled, danced, and twisted.

Helen imagined they were bright spinning hearts.

-

"It's just one night."

Diana took the mascara and lipstick from Helen's desk. Helen didn't say anything, but she knew it was unlikely that she'd see either again.

"Not a good idea," Diana said.

"Can't you spare Kevin for a single night?"

"Get your own boyfriend."

"A little more than kin, and less than kind."

"What?" Diana smirked.

"What's the big deal?"

"You go to the movies on Sunday night. You're diving partners. You spend more time with my boyfriend than I do, and now you wanna take him on a real date. Next, you'll want to fuck him too."

Helen closed her eye and her mouth twisted. "Why do you have to be like that?"

"Kevin is not escorting you to a party."

"It's a fundraising event, not a party, and everyone will be arriving with their husbands, wives, and boyfriends. I can't always be different. Poor Helen who can't get a date. I've been telling people for years that I have a boyfriend. Eventually, people will catch on."

Diana searched Helen's drawer and found an eyeliner. "Then don't go."

"I've got to be there."

"Tough!"

"You're something, Diana. Really amazing."