A Red Leaf & Ten Orchids Ch. 02

"Yeah," Kayla observed, "some girls are like that."

"Amen." thought Josh.

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Rose was thinking about dinner and how the meeting between Joshua and Kayla might go as she drove onto the dirt road. She concluded that there was just no way to predict the outcome. It would depend upon the circumstances, she supposed.

Her attention was suddenly on the rental trailer that was parked on the shoulder. Slowing, she stared as she went past. She was almost certain that this was Kayla's car.

She pulled over and got out. Walking back, she noticed the coloring books and a few toys on the passenger seat. Looking up and down the road, she saw no one. She was getting worried now. Where were they? She saw the tracks leading up the gentle swale to the area beyond. She ran up as quickly as her office shoes would allow. Peering into the distance only raised her heart rate. There was nobody there.

She was really worried now. She cursed herself for not listening to Joshua's repeated suggestions that she get a cell phone. She ran back to her car and then the front of Kayla's abused Cavalier disappeared under a shower of dust and gravel as she fishtailed off toward her own home. She prayed that Joshua was there. What little family she had left might need him now.

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They were coming around a low hill and just starting down the short incline as the house came into view. Kayla stared at her aunt's home and a slow fear began to grip her chest. Kayla looked for her aunt's car and her eyes flicked down to the old leather holster strapped to Josh's leg. She suddenly recognized it as the one that had belonged to her late uncle. What the hell had happened to Rose? She acted on an impulse and decided to pick a moment to lunge for the pistol.

"Stop the car." she said.

Josh looked into the mirror. "What?"

"I said stop the car! Stop it now!" Kayla's voice was rising in alarm.

"I will in about a hundred feet anyway, what's the matter?" Josh asked. "What's wrong?"

"NOW!"

None of them were belted in, and mindful of that, Josh had driven very slowly watching for potholes, but now his land yacht pitched forward slightly on its suspension as Josh gently stepped on the brake. Jillian, who was still holding on to the steel mesh that separated her from her new friend tightened her grip, and stayed where she was. Daisy's huge paws were on the on the other side of the mesh, and therefore she stayed where she was.

The only one affected by the motion was Kayla who was moving forward anyway. The gentle stop added to her momentum, and she stiffened as she continued forward. The console deflected her hands a bit. At the same time, her forearms rocked off the edge of the vacant front seat. The net effect was that she punched Josh in the hip, cracking a couple of knuckles on her left hand as her face hit the back of the seat in front of her.

Josh had no idea what was going on. He thought this woman had possibly lost her mind. Maybe it was a regular thing with her. He turned in the seat and found himself with much the same sight that had confronted the now-dead rattlesnake earlier.

"Hey!" he exclaimed. The muzzle of the Colt vibrated in the air two feet from his face.

"Is for horses." Kayla spoke through her clenched teeth, "Now get out. Get out NOW!"

"Kayla?" Jillian was becoming upset. She liked the man, and she couldn't understand what her aunt was doing.

"It's okay, Jilly." Kayla said without turning her head to look. "Joe, or whatever his name is, was just leaving. Isn't that right? Get out, Joe!"

"My name is Joshua," he said. "Look, Miss, don't do this –" He began to reach for the key in the ignition.

"STOP! I guess you have difficulty with simple instructions. Most men do, I find. Don't touch that key or so help me, I'll shoot you. Just get out and leave the door open. I need you to walk away, and don't stop until I tell you to. Is that clear enough for you?"

Josh hadn't moved. He was fixated on a point five inches past the dancing muzzle of the old revolver. He sat staring at the front of the gun's cylinder. He didn't want to trust his memory and needed to see if there was a loaded chamber there just in case.

He moved his head to get a better look. The muzzle followed him.

"What are you thinking about?" Kayla asked, "I'm making it easy for you. For once, you don't have to struggle to try to get a thought through your simple mind. There's nothing difficult about it. Just do it."

"Now I'M the one who wants to talk to the sheriff." Josh thought to himself as he turned away and opened the door.

"There's really nothing to think about here, Rufus. What's your problem?" Kayla asked.

As he got out, he said over his shoulder "Arithmetic. I find it keeps my simple male mind amused during moments of stress if I start at six, and begin to subtract."

"Shut up and walk." Kayla commanded. She was trying to keep her tone more grim and determined than she felt. Sam's pistol felt reassuring in her hand, but she found that she couldn't keep the stupid thing still. Josh took a few steps away and stopped.

"Christ, you're stupid," she barked, "I didn't tell you to stop yet."

"Well, I can't hit a tin can with that thing from 40 feet away, and I've been practicing. The further away I get, the less probability you have of hitting me." Josh stated, "I'm trying to improve your chances of success."

Kayla got out of the truck and walked to the open driver's door. She wasn't sure what to do next. "Alright then, you can turn around now." she said.

Josh turned around slowly and found that she was now pointing the old .44 caliber more or less at his genitals. Thank God it was wavering around.

"Now that's just cruel." he said.

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Rose was astounded at the scene before her when she came down the long drive. Josh was standing looking at Kayla, and she was pointing Sam's pistol at his private parts. She slid to a stop and got out. "Kayla!" she cried.

"Aunt Rose! Thank God you're all right! I was afraid this maniac might have hurt you, and – please call the sheriff. I'll cover him while you call."

Josh let out a long breath and fumbled in his pocket for his cigarette pack. Kayla spotted the motion, and took a step forward still maintaining the elevation of the barrel on his lower body. But he had turned away, so she raised her point of aim to the side of his face.

"Oh, please call the sheriff," he said, "Pretty please?"

She glared at him. "Don't move!" she said.

Rose shouted "Kayla! What are you doing?"

Having felt the two rounds in his pocket for certain, he looked at her for a moment from beneath his eyebrows as he lit a cigarette and snapped the Zippo shut to put it in his jeans.

He exhaled and quietly growled, "Fuck off," before turning away from her. "Are you going to throw that empty pistol, or just hit me with it?" He was talking to the horizon. "I really can't take much more suspense."

Kayla stared at him. There was something different. The lightning bolt on his face had turned from brown to pink, she noticed. Must be the light, she thought.

"Arithmetic." Josh continued to speak to the horizon, "Six, minus the one that I never put in it, minus the one hit that I got on a tin can all afternoon, minus one beside Mamma Snake, minus one into Mamma Snake – "

"Leaves two!" shouted Kayla.

He continued on, "No, minus two since I unloaded it before I got in so that I wouldn't shoot myself accidentally. I just wasn't really sure until now. That leaves zero, my Lady of the Overactive Imagination."

Kayla groaned.

Josh looked down, his brows furrowed. "Aunt Rose? Aunt freakin' Rose?" he asked his boots.

Rose couldn't believe the scene in front of her. "What's going on here? What are you doing with Sam's gun, Kayla? What's gotten into you?"

Josh spoke up. "I have no idea what's gotten into her, Rosie. All I know is that she's not wearing her federally mandated 'Nutbar' label today."

Rose said "Now Joshua, calm down. I need to know what happened!"

Kayla was amazed. "Rosie? You mean two know each other?"

"Did you think I was an escaped convict or something? What the hell have you been reading?" Josh snapped. He had more on his mind, but suddenly stopped.

He stared at them. "I must be an idiot – how could I have missed that?" He looked at Rose, then Kayla, and then over at Jillian in the back seat. "Oh, I'm definitely sensing a dominant gene or five here." He chuckled, shaking his head.

"I'd say she's working herself into a cell, Rosie. I don't know this state's laws too well, but where I come from, it's an offense to point a firearm at somebody, let alone threaten them with it. Probably is here too. So that's one. And using a firearm in the commission of a crime is another offense. That one's worth ten years by itself back home, so that's two -"

Kayla was getting hot now. "What crime, you asshole?"

"If Rosie hadn't come by just now, I'm pretty sure you'd have made it all the way to 'Grand Theft' inside of another minute by driving away with my truck. That would have been three."

"You knew? You knew all that time that it wasn't loaded? You bastard!" shouted Kayla.

"I was pretty certain it wasn't loaded. Being scared shitless makes me doubt my memory sometimes. It's one of my many flaws. If I told you that it was empty, would you have believed me? I doubt it. You took one look at me, and decided that I must be a part-time axe murderer."

"My only crime is being stupid and well-meaning enough to keep you from getting hurt out there, and then to try to talk you out of committing a federal offense. I can see how that makes me an asshole AND a bastard in your view. Hell, yes."

Josh was hot himself now.

Rose interjected, "I see you've met. Kayla stop waving that around. Put down Sam's gun!"

"DON'T drop it!" Josh said.

Kayla looked at the pistol. It hit the dust with a thud.

Josh groaned. "I'll need a week to clean the sand out of it. Thanks so much." Josh walked over, and picked up Sam's Colt. Double-checking to be certain, he carried it to Rose, and held it out to her. "Rosie, could you please put this in Sam's chest on the sideboard? I left the key there. I'll clean it up later."

Ignoring Kayla, he walked back to the SUV, and opened the tailgate. Daisy exploded out the back, and began to gallop toward them on her way back to them, but Josh stopped her charge by showing her his open palm. "Daisy, ....Nice." he said.

Daisy stopped instantly and stared at him. He closed his right hand into a fist, and thumped it lightly into the center of his own chest. Daisy dropped to the ground like a sack of flour and looked at him expectantly. Kayla moved to get Jillian.

Kayla opened the rear door, gently lifted Jillian out and set her on the ground. She walked over to Josh and they smiled at each other.

Jillian said, "Thanks, Joshua."

He tousled her hair, and said, "Anytime, darlin'. Try not to hurt Daisy, ok?" Her smile grew wider as she nodded.

Josh turned to Daisy and again said "Nice." Daisy stood up, and walked slowly to Jillian, her tail swinging in a wide arc. He closed the door, and got behind the wheel. Jillian hugged Daisy tightly. They both had bliss written on their faces as Josh pulled ahead.

"AUNT Rose," he accented the syllables pointedly, "you should call Bart over at the garage, and have him come over to do something with this woman's car. I was going to go over and see if I could do anything to help her out, but I'm finding myself to be less charitable than usual all of a sudden."

Rose felt terrible. She knew she'd had a hand in this debacle, even if it was well intentioned. "Joshua, wait. Where are you going?" she asked.

"It's been quite an afternoon for me Rosie. I was shooting at some cans. I got my first shock when I spotted your guests stumbling around. I took off to get them with my heart in my throat. When I got to them, I saw a rattler not three feet from uh, Jillian there. Way too close. I shot that one, and then I heard a second one and kept Drama Girl here from stepping backwards onto it. Then I had to listen as she gave me grief over that, and just now she pointed the gun in my face and at my nuts while she was in the process of stealing my truck. I'd love to press charges, but I can see that you're all related. That's the only thing that's stopping me. I'm feeling a little tense at the moment. I really want a beer right now. " Josh wound down.

Rosie was about to point out that there was beer in the fridge, but Josh headed her off. "And I want to feel a little safer while I drink it, thanks. I think I saw a biker bar down the main road someplace. I ought to be safe enough there. Just don't tell HER where it is. I don't want to be responsible for unleashing her on innocent people."

Kayla found her voice. "But you knew the gun was empty the whole time!"

I should have stayed at home, he thought. He had intended to continue to ignore her, but changed his mind suddenly as he turned his head toward her.

Kayla couldn't believe that blue eyes could glitter so coldly. His tattoo appeared to have changed color again to a dark, almost blood red. It felt as though Joshua had struck her as his eyes flickered and he hissed, "I was staring at it trying to be sure. I thought it was empty, but you pointing it at my face makes me want to be more than at least a little certain."

"It doesn't really matter, does it? You thought it was loaded, and you ramped up a bit of confusion and at worst, a simple case of mistaken identity into World War fucking three. I only wanted to help you, and you were close to killing me. You shoved that thing into my face in the belief that it was capable of killing me. That makes it personal."

Kayla looked up and seethed, "You want personal?"

She spun and pulled the revolver out of her aunt's hand in a split-second. Before any of them could blink, she pulled back the hammer, moved the muzzle to within three inches of Josh's face and pulled the trigger.

There was a sandy scraping noise but the hammer fell on the empty cylinder with a click.

Kayla was disappointed. She'd expected him to flinch or something.

He hadn't even blinked.

She threw the old pistol down on the sand and glared at him. "That's personal, just so you know how I feel about you. You come flying out of the dust and I thought that somebody might have wanted to help us, but you're all shitty attitude. You grabbed Jilly and started shooting!"

"What the hell was I supposed to think? I'm sorry that I overreacted and made a mistake," she hissed at him. "I thought for a second that you were a lunatic instead of the regular garden variety asshole that the world has no shortage of. You sure had me fooled. You actually don't look like the assholes that I left behind in Phoenix until you open your mouth and the same shit falls out. So pardon me for ruining your fine afternoon of tin can shooting, but I didn't ask for your help."

He looked down at her, his face completely impassive and cold. His voice was even colder.

"You'll pardon me Carlene, or whatever the hell your name is. I don't know you from a hole in the ground, but if you'll allow a bit of conjecture on my part here, I'd take a wild-ass guess that you probably go through life leaving a lot of very confused and upset people in your wake. Just sayin' is all."

He threw his head back and laughed, "And oh, wait! I just had a thought! That in itself is amazing, considering what men think with, isn't it, Miss Snap Decision?"

"Whether you see it or not, you're an idiot who was about to have a sunstroked little kid down in the dirt right in front of a rattler that you pissed off. No no, that's alright, I don't need any thanks for helping a sweet little girl out of the danger that you put her in, but I'm pretty sure now that I shot the wrong snake."

He almost felt the glare from her green eyes then. "You think I need to hear more of your noise? Give me just one of the bullets that you took out of the gun. I'll show you real personal. So go soak your bullshit male pride in a glass someplace, just as long as it's not near me, got it?"

Joshua had just decided that she wasn't worth any more of his breath when Kayla smiled at him sweetly and added the icing to the cake, "Now why don't you just fuck off and die? I just know the world would be a better place for it."

She spun on her heel and walked away.

Josh drove past Rose's car and was gone.

There was a moment of almost-silence. The SUV could be heard accelerating out on the main road in the distance. The breeze puffed fitfully. Rose looked over at Jillian and Daisy running around in the dust together. They'd both need a bath tonight. She stepped over to Kayla and cleared her throat.

"Well, that went better than I thought it would." she offered.

Kayla turned to face her aunt. "You're joking." Kayla said.

"Yes I am," sighed Rose. "Don't worry about Daisy by the way. She wouldn't hurt a fly, though she gets defensive around children and wants to protect them. Jillian is safe with her."

Kayla turned to her aunt, "Couldn't you have warned me or something if you keep stupid gorillas like him around?"

"I don't do anything of the sort," Rose replied, not liking where she thought this was going, "Would you mind telling me what the hell just happened here? I just tried to get home from work to get here before you and I find 'Gunsmoke' being filmed in my yard. Did he hurt you or anything?"

"No," Kayla said, turning away in case she burst into tears, "I think he saved our lives." Kayla tried to exhale the tension that she felt. She was surprised to find herself losing at fighting back tears. "I've only known one helpful person around here for not even half an hour, and he's got me pegged. I don't know why I thought that it would be any different here."

She looked down, "I know I just overreact sometimes and I made a mistake here, but ..." She looked at her aunt, "I don't know what it is about him. I mean, I know he's an asshole. That's obvious, but I really went over the top on him. God knows how many laws I just broke."

Kayla knew where it came from and why she did it, but she couldn't really tell her aunt - at least not yet, but where she'd spent a lot of her time, you needed to have quick thoughts and a loud mouth sometimes. It didn't matter all that much back there if they were incorrect, but that sure didn't translate too well here.

"Joshua is not, ... what you just said. You just got off to a bad start."

Kayla had a reply loaded and ready to go. "They're all - "

Rose raised her finger in Kayla's face. She knew exactly what was about to come out.

"No they're not," she said quietly. "Not all of them. Not even most, and not that one for damn sure. If you think you've figured out one half of the human population with what you were about to say, it only points to your own failure as a human being. If that's what you truly believe, then you'd better take a good look in the mirror so that you have a starting reference. Maybe you ought to think about that a little before you stick a gun in a man's face."

"What the hell do you think you came off here as? Which one of you just acted like the lunatic? You might have gotten some signals crossed between the two of you, but that's no reason to threaten him with a gun if he did nothing to you or Jillian."

"Really, Kayla, did you just HAVE to win whatever this was that badly? Did you really need to piss all over his shoes for helping you and then get nasty when he got a little tense after you pulled a gun on him? All you needed to do, no matter how you felt, was say two things to him - 'thanks' and 'I'm sorry'. It wouldn't have cost you a thing."

"Why are you taking his side?" her niece asked.

"I'm not," Rose said, more than a little exasperated now, "You were both acting like idiots."