Jodie Carpenter

"Yes you're right Martin; let's get you fit enough to return to active duty and then you get yourself killed and leave me all alone."

I caught her wrist as she went to stand, her eyes were the scariest I had ever seen them. She paused. Mine must have beaten hers because she sat back down again.

"Your folks died in a car accident Jodie, who is to say when I die or you for that matter."

"But I don't want you to die, can't you see that."

"Jodie, when it's our time then there is nothing we can do about it. It's what we do while we are here that counts."

At least she calmed down some. For the rest of the afternoon we set about making this our home, Jodie had the room next to mine and had an intercom system installed. The buzzer sounded around five and Jodie let some woman in, I was introduced to Maria, a Mexican woman in her fifties.

She took one look at the kitchen and made it her own. We both heard her say that the kitchen was missing some things, Jodie got a pen and pad and asked Maria to write down what was needed. Thirty minutes and two pages later Maria handed Jodie the pad back, when she took a look she asked how much this was going to cost.

Maria panicked and said she would shorten the list, Jodie just laughed and said she needed to know how much not get angry because the list was two pages. After Maria had calmed she looked at the list and gave a general figure, Jodie went upstairs and came back with that and more.

When Maria got over the shock of being handed so much cash she tried to hand it all back. I smiled and continued to watch the play unfolding in front of me.

"You can't give me this."

"Maria, tomorrow go into town and get what you need, if you need help then get one of your sons to help you. You are in charge of the kitchen and his diet, I have enough to do getting him fit again. I can't manage the house, kitchen and Martin at the same time. That's why you were hired; take control of the kitchen so I can get on with my job."

Once she had counted out the money in front of Jodie once more she folded it, placed it into her bag and clutched her bag to her chest as she left.

"You will either have a friend for life tomorrow or she will have skipped the country."

Once Jodie had finished laughing she sat next to me.

"I figure a friend for life; she has two sons and a daughter. I hired Maria and her daughter last week. Maria does the kitchen and her daughter will do the house. They plan to send the boys off to college with what they will earn here."

"Oh, how much are you paying them?"

That's when I got one of those looks again.

"I don't pay servants, servant's wages. I pay friends to look after us while my attention is on getting you walking again."

Jodie made it clear from her look that the subject was closed. Well it was until three hours later when the buzzer went off again, Jodie had the door open when two cars pulled up outside the house and Maria's whole family started carrying things into the kitchen. As for me, I tried hard to avoid the smug 'I told you so' look she was giving me.

Maria held out a bunch of receipts for everything she had bought and handed Jodie the change. In retaliation Jodie insisted that her family stay for dinner, Maria and her daughter set about making something to eat, meanwhile Jodie got the boys together and offered them a part time job. Both would do the gardening for two hours three days a week.

Jodie just hired the whole family, it sure helped with the gas bill to and from the house I suppose. The brothers came back from inspecting the garden half an hour later with a list; she disappeared upstairs and came back with the cash for all the things on the list. Poor Maria was on her way to another heart attack.

*******

The cycle began the next day. Maria and her daughter were already in the house by the time I got up. As we ate breakfast a steady stream of three other people came in to help Jodie boss me around, although she cunningly called them nurses and physiotherapists. Throughout the day it was a constant stream of exercises and swimming followed by meetings that I didn't seem to get invited to.

At times like that I sat around in the garden sunbathing; occasionally Maria's boys would be out in the garden doing the lawn or clipping back branches on trees.

"Nice view."

My head spun around so fast I felt my neck click, the sight in front on me sure made me smile.

"Damn Adele you're a sight for sore eyes."

My eyes traveled behind her looking and not finding someone else. Adele noticed and smiled for a moment before her face hardened slightly.

"John's dead Martin, Iraq took him from me. Lindsey is a few months away from exams so it's just me."

It was Maria who broke the silence between us when she asked Adele if she would like something to drink. My cheeks burned as I stood and walked over to her, my mind registered the look she gave me as she watched me walk and the burning in my cheeks was added to by a degree or two.

Adele moved into what little distance there was left and her arms clung to me as the dam within her burst. Maria took her opportunity to leave us in peace as I guided Adele to the seat across from me so I could wait her out.

Maria came back with two glasses and a jug of iced tea, a box of tissues sat on the small table besides the drinks before she smiled and left us alone again. Adele noticed the tissues and smiled, she even got to say thank you to Maria before she turned to leave. I filled the glasses while she calmed some more, as I handed her the glass it was clear she had regrouped.

"I'm sorry."

"It's ok; you should see me when I watch Bambi. I'm a mess, or Shane, when he rides off into the sunset, I cried all the way through the closing credits."

I got slapped that time.

"You're a pig you know that?"

"I was under the impression that all men were."

This time she looked more closely.

"Not all Martin, not all."

Suddenly the door behind me opened and Jodie walked in.

"Oh goodie you made it, I kept an eye on the flight as best I could although I'm still not sure why you didn't want me to collect you from the airport?"

This time Adele had two people watching her, she placed her hands on her lap the tissue clenched tightly within one of her hands and looked up at Jodie, and her answer came out almost as a whisper.

"In case I changed my mind."

Jodie's laugh seemed to startle Adele.

"Like that was going to happen. I'm going to leave you two alone for a couple of hours I have errands to run."

We both watched Jodie walk over to the kitchen and talk to Maria and Teresa, a moment later Teresa walked over to the two suitcases by the door and took them upstairs while Jodie gave Maria a kiss on the cheek and left the house.

"I guess you're staying then?"

Even as those words left my lips I thought to myself, if ever there was a stupid thing to say I had just said it. Adele took it in her stride, smiled a little uncertainly and said.

"If you're ok with me staying then yes I am."

Both our heads turned to watch Teresa as she once again descended the stairs and walked over to Adele.

"I have turned your bed down and opened the window to air the room I will go up and close it again in an hour. I placed your suitcases on the bed, if you wish I will unpack for you and put everything away."

"No that's fine thank you."

Teresa nodded once and told Adele her room was the third door before she turned and went back to the kitchen. There was clearly something going on here, Adele quietly sat and sipped her iced tea and I sat and waited her out. When she spoke again it was a story of great sadness.

When Iraq started I was still in Europe, the whole of my regiment was in the thick of it and John's unit bore the brunt of one of the most vital pushes in the conflict. When the base commander and the padre knocked on her door she just knew. His body came back a week later along with three others.

It seems John had a bad habit, he liked the horses. The trouble was the horses didn't like him all that much. When he was alive the family barely kept afloat, when he died the true extent of his addiction became apparent. They were broke, John had even used Lindsey's college fund to feed the hole he was pouring his money into.

A year after his death Jodie turned up at their door and told Adele that she would fund Lindsey's college from start to finish and financially she would never have to worry about anything while she was there. But she had to come with her to California.

Something didn't sit right with what Adele had just said. I knew Jodie could do such a thing, I knew the extent of funds she could draw on at any given time. I even took a fair guess at Jodie's worth and it was extensive. But it still left me wondering why.

"Because they are partners, they have been for some time. Lindsey told Jodie what her father had done and Jodie told her not to worry that she would take care of it."

That all too familiar light started to come on and perhaps part of me wanted to deny it, my next question quashed that thought straight away.

"When you say partners, you mean business partners?"

This time Adele shook her head at me.

"She never did tell you did she? I told her she should. No Martin my daughter and your niece are lovers and have been from the time she went to the university."

*******

Adele clearly noticed that she had said more than she should have, excused herself and went to her room. Even the tranquility of the afternoon and natures calls from the garden couldn't calm my thoughts.

My brother and his bitch would be rising from the dead over this. There is no way they would believe that I had nothing to do with this, none at all. Oh fuck what a mess.

Both Maria and her daughter seemed to pick up on the sudden change of atmosphere and kept well out of the way. Jodie felt it as soon as she came back, after a few whispered words with Maria and a glance up the stairs she walked over and sat down.

"I don't want a fight over this Martin."

As much as I wanted to talk about this, I simply stood.

"No."

I heard her say 'what' as I walked towards the stairs.

"You were fifteen when I took you away from your life Jodie and introduced you to a life that was totally alien to you. The day you told the lawyers that you wished to return to California to complete your education I no longer had a right to interfere."

I made it half way up the stairs before I had the courage to say anything else.

"Although in fact you were my niece, you were the closest to a daughter I ever had. At eighteen you made your choices Jodie. I didn't stand in your way then, I don't plan to now."

"No Martin you went and hid in Europe. Where else did you go Martin? For four years I waited for you to come and see me, even if it was a few days and what did I get Martin. I will tell you, you son of a bitch. I got silence."

Her voice reached screaming pitch as I got to the top of the stairs, even Adele came out of her room as my niece unloaded a world of hurt that had been kept buried for too many years.

"As the hours turned to days and the days turned to weeks, I heard nothing you bastard. Soon I was counting months that added up to years and still nothing but fucking emails."

My hand was on my bedroom door handle as Adele ran past me and down the stairs.

"And then they came for me. Even when I was told I was to report to the dean's office my heart broke into so many pieces."

Adele had a hold on Jodie, trying to calm her. The tears streamed down her face and yet the anger within her, that anger that was so buried deep within her poured forth.

"Captain Martinez told me nothing other than you where alive Martin, because he wasn't allowed too. That man in one small sentence told me more than you had in four fucking years."

It was then that Adele slapped Jodie in a desperate attempt to bring her back from the edge of insanity before pulling her close to herself as the dam of emotion within Jodie engulfed both women. I knew I had hurt my niece deeply, just as I knew that if I had sat her down and told her what I was doing while we were apart for those years my relationship with my niece would never be the same and that thought made me fight the smile trying to push its way to my lips.

After all, look at the condition my relationship with my niece was in right now. I don't think either of us could stop ourselves now. Adele was simply the match thrown onto a simmering and dangerously combustible mix of emotions

"The army was my life before you Jodie, for three years you were a pause that gave me a chance to reflect on what being a career officer in the army had cost me by not having a family. When you left to return to California I simply picked up where I left off."

Even Adele looked shocked by what she was hearing; her shock was short lived when Jodie practically tried to climb over Adele to get to me.

"Fuck you, you hear me cripple. Fuck you... Fuck you..."

By now Maria and Teresa came to Adele's aid and between them they pulled Jodie away from the confrontation. Going into my room helped us both pull back from the brink as well, the crying was heartbreaking to hear and I felt like a total shit. As I lay on my bed looking up at the ceiling I was left to wonder if the bond that we once had between us had become irreparable.

*******

The house was silent when my eyes once again opened. Even when I opened the door to my room the silence became even more oppressive, Maria waved from the kitchen and I waved back as I headed out to the pool. After the first three lengths I heard someone get in next to me and match my length.

I think it became a case of who was going to stop first, as five lengths went to fifteen and then twenty, the pace didn't change at all, and neither of us turned it into a race. By the thirty second length of the pool curiosity finally got the better of me as I came to a stop to watch Adele. She soon sensed that she was swimming alone and on her return to the shallow end of the pool she lifted herself onto the edge alongside me, both our feet still resting in the pool.

"That was an interesting hello Adele welcome."

Although she tried so hard to make light of what had happened it was plain to both of us that she had set out to get to the bottom of what was going on.

"You've told her nothing have you? So it is true, even when Lindsey told me you two only ever e-mailed each other I just couldn't believe it."

The only words that left my lips were those I had used so many times in my head.

"I just couldn't Adele, the job I was given when I got there got dark real quick and the less contact I had with Jodie the better."

Adele took her time looking around her, and then it occurred to me what she was doing, she was checking for open windows or anyone listening in on our conversation.

"I had no idea what you were doing Martin, other than the promotion and assignment that was on your paperwork. No sooner had you gone then even Tony stopped talking about you and that asked more questions than it answered."

This time I looked directly at her. "Please don't Adele."

For a moment she bit her bottom lip.

"It's too late Martin, I was covering for Becky while she was off sick one time, the General came in with two suits and started barking orders so fast that we had difficulty making the mechanics of his request. The suits ordered us out but the General overruled them saying that we were needed in case of equipment failure."

Even as Adele talked my mind was already calculating the true extent of her knowledge. As I looked at her, the only words that filled my thoughts were 'oh shit'.

"We watched it all Martin, I recognized your voice within minutes of the operation starting. The General knew that I knew it was you, but before he could say anything another suit entered and ordered a lock down."

This time I did what Adele had done moments ago and scanned the windows and doors.

"So why bring this up now Adele, it only highlights why I can't tell Jodie."

"Were you ever told what went on in that ops room Martin? Please tell me they told you."

Again I found myself looking towards the house even shaking my head as I did. Adele remained silent until my gaze once again fell on her.

"The General knew what was going to happen and ordered a back-scan of the area; he went crazy when he knew how much in the way of back-up you had with you. The suits tried to get the General into one of the back offices away from us so they could talk to him."

That thought alone brought on a smile, General Marshal was a -men first and politics second- kind of guy, he knew he would never rise any higher up the promotion ladder. He didn't have the political cunning to move ever upwards and I think he was proud of the fact he didn't.

The picture in my mind of the General sticking it to whoever was in the ops-room with him that day made me smile. Adele matched my smile, pausing before she told me that one of the suits went to override the Generals order before he himself stood in-front of the man and ordered him out of the ops room. Before the suit could move it seems the drama unfolded on the big screen and all stood and watched as the joint task force assaulted the building.

Adele kept her description to a minimum when she noticed my anxiety. When the smoke cleared the General ordered that the surveillance on the car I was in be maintained. The suits over-ruled him and they took the conversation into a room at the back. The discussion became so heated that one of the suits moved to stand in front of the door.

"The General took a call in that room, and a minute later he came out with the suits and ordered us to switch everything off and wipe all recordings"

We talked for a few moments but even then it was more a one sided conversation. The realization of my true task in Europe made me distance myself from my niece as best I could for both hers and my own protection and yet at the same time try in some way to let her know that I loved my niece so much. It was strange that in trying to do the right thing you could also do so much wrong.

Adele rested her hand on my arm, she waited me out, what she wanted to say next she wanted to emphasize and to do that she needed me to look directly at her.

"The General wasn't all that pleased that he had effectively been lied to about your transfer but he could do nothing about it."

I knew what she was saying, just as I knew the General. His hands were tied and between me and the joint task force we were effectively left to clean up after everybody else, the words 'plausible deniability' was used a great deal in my four years in Europe.

We once again went back to our swimming regime and of course Adele being Adele she would do two more lengths before she too came to a stop. Teresa came out carrying drinks on a tray and placed them on the table.

She tried to hide her anger, her youth gave her away. I didn't take it personally since Adele was perhaps the only one who knew and officially she wasn't ever supposed to know as much as she did.

"She wanted to explain her relationship with my daughter and you shut her out. At least tell her something Martin. She's floundering around in a sea of confusion."

I held Adele's towel for her as she climbed out of the pool, as I wrapped her in it I pulled her to me, our faces inches from each other.

"Lieutenant, you will keep your mouth shut. It happened and we all walked away, I know you were in the ops room that day but you will keep your mouth shut do you understand me?"

The hand around my nuts and the not so gentle squeeze quickly reminded me of my own mortality.

"I'm retired Captain, now ease your hold on me and I won't rip these off your body and make you sterile."