Arrival

A couple texts and a lot of watching my wife try to relax went on over the next half hour. I don't know why but I just kept feeling the urge to instantly forgive her. Her words had been sweet, but at the same time, I had been lied to before. And it hadn't been for a short period of time either.

"So... when she gets here... wondering if we should totally do a line up, and make him seem like a creepy cult leader." Charlotte helpfully suggested at a moment when things had gotten uncomfortably quiet.

"Oh yah, that will go over real well with a cop." Nikki replied, taking a seat by the fireplace and poking at it with a long metal bar. The wood rolled over, revealing a quilt of coals that radiated a bit more heat out into the darkening room.

"Dress right dress... " Helen snickered, her fingers rapidly working at a small piece of paper coalesced around some plant material. "Could do the Brady Bunch cadence..."

"That one's forbidden, don't you know." I reminded her, remembering all the times stateside we'd been chided in formation for singing inappropriate cadences. "Can't do Yellow Bird, Jodi, Smurfs..."

"They banned Smurfs? That was like my favorite one to screw around." Helen groaned. "Anybody got a lighter, don't want to light it off the fire again, I almost burned my face off."

"Yeah, but for some reason Barbie Girl is OK." I rummaged in the drawers, hoping to find something that met her specifications.

"Just use a twig from de kindling pile." Nikki found the right item, and within seconds we had a second merrily blazing joint being passed around.

"That's... totally a double time..." Helen reflected. "I mean, better than that damn Cee One Thirty cadence."

"What the hell are they... are they speaking English right now?" Kaila asked, looking over at Charlotte.

"I have no idea." Charlotte answered with a confused expression.

"Yes. And don't worry, eventually you'll get it if dey keep talking long enough." Nikki scraped at the coals again, sending another burst of heat through the room.

"Of course, my absolute favorite... There she was... just a walking down da street..." I choked on a little bit of the smoke. Ok, I won't smoke more than... that. Stay sober, just enough to take the edge off. I needed... well, perspective. I was enjoying conversation, singing a goofy song, with people I really cared about.

"Singing Doo wah Diddy diddy dum, diddy doo..." Helen chimed in at the appropriate time, bringing a burst of laughter from the other three women.

"Ok, I have no idea what is happening here." Kaila shook her head. "But... I'm not complaining, this is... uhm... fun?"

"That's a Fact, Jack!" Helen shook her head up and down repeatedly.

"Uh... what?"

"You never saw Stripes?" I asked. "Ok, I don't think I saw that one with you... has Carla seen it?"

"No idea." Kaila remarked.

"Ok... something we can do. Get a handle on it. I mean, you want to know about my life, that film was shot at where I did Basic." I thought about it carefully. "You never wanted to talk about it, but... here's a chance to build some stuff back. We can start... simple."

"Show her that Pauly Shore one... the one they shot at Fort Sill." Helen remarked brightly.

"With the Cattle Cars? Oh man those were awful. Never again. Somebody ever tells me to get into one, I'm politely giving them a one finger salute and walking instead, don't care how much gear I gotta carry."

"So... just so you know... I think your date just drove past de cabin." Nikki leaned back in her seat, taking note of a passing engine in the darkening outside.

"Shit." I mumbled, glancing at my phone. As expected, it soon lit up with a message asking me for directions.

[A Note to the Reader! Thanks for the sticking with me through the twists, turns, tribulations and terrors. I just like alliteration. ;P So, Folks have been saying they want different things from the story at this point. Some folks want Kaila GONE, some folks want forgiveness. Some folks want more drama, some folks want it to cool off. I can't make everybody happy, but I hope that I can make as many happy as possible.

__With that in mind, I'm doing another Branch point! Yep! Because this seems like a good point to let people actually have some input and have some choice. These aren't going to be NEARLY as long as the main path.

__Thanks again to everybody who's supported me over two years. Story's not going AWAY, Don't Panic! Just wanted to give you all a head's up where we're heading.]

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