Enhanced: Brides of the Kindred 12 (The Brides of the Kindred) (5 page)

There was still a lot of cleaning to do
but when Mei-Li finally had to go, the place looked a lot better than when she
had gotten there. To her surprise, the young mother, Brandi, threw her arms
around her neck and hugged her before she left.

“Thank you,” she whispered in Mei-Li’s
ear. “All I ever heard about you people was how you wanted to take people’s
kids. I never knew any of them was like you.”

“You’re welcome.” Mei-Li patted her on the
back. “We don’t come around
wanting
to take your kids, Brandi—we just
have to make sure they’re safe. Please don’t let your place get so bad again.
I’ll be coming back to check you soon.”

“I swear it’ll look great next time you
come,” Brandi vowed. “I don’t know how it ever got that way…it was just a
gradual thing. I’d be so tired it didn’t seem to matter if one more thing got
left undone. But I promise I’ll do better now.”

“I know you will.” Mei-Li smiled at her.
“Okay, I really have to go. The instructions for the lice shampoo are on the
back of the box.”

“I’ll use it right away. And thank you for
that too.” Brandi’s blue eyes filled with tears again. “Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome.” Mei-Li squeezed her
hand. “I have to get going. I’ll see you soon.”

“I’ll be ready!” Brandi promised.

Mei-Li left her smiling and had gone back
to the office to once again try and get to the paperwork. On the way she went
through the drive-thru at McDonalds for a large fry and a chocolate milkshake.
It was an indulgent lunch and she knew it wasn’t good for her but after the
morning she’d been through so far, she needed a little indulgence.

She had barely seated herself at her desk
with her bag of take out when yet another call came in. This time it was from a
teacher—Mrs. Hemphill who taught first grade. One of Mei-Li’s clients, a little
girl name Kristin, was in her class.

“I know you’re probably busy,” she began
when Mei-Li picked up the phone. “But you asked me to call you if there was
anything suspicious.”

Mei’Li’s stomach clenched. “What is it?”
she asked, trying to keep her tone professional. “Have you noticed any fresh
marks or bruises?”

“Well,
no…”
Mrs. Hemphill sighed.
“But Kristin is back to acting the way she was before—you know, so silent and
withdrawn? She was crying today during art and when I asked her why, she said
it was because she was scared. But she wouldn’t say of what. Or who. She just
clammed up and I can’t get anything else out of her. But she’s got that…that
hunted
look she always did before and I know I’m not imagining it. She’s been so happy
and contented the past few months but today—it’s like someone rolled back the
clock.”

Mei-Li found herself nodding though she
knew the other woman couldn’t see her over the phone.

“All right, I’ll come by and see what I
can find out.”

“Make it soon,” the teacher advised. “I don’t
like the idea of sending her back to that house if it’s happening again.”

“I’ll come right away. Can you send her to
the office to wait for me?”

“Sure. It’s lunch time now so I’ll send
her with her lunch bag. She can eat while she waits.”

“Got it. On my way.” She hung up the
phone, took off her glasses, and put her head on the desk for just a moment,
gathering her strength. The day from Hell indeed. And she still had a shelter
hearing in court to get through at two, plus the mound of paperwork to finish
after that. Also, she was going to have to document everything she had done
today. She’d be lucky to get out before eight o’clock tonight.

If only I could get some sleep, this
wouldn’t seem so bad,
she told herself.
I
know how that poor girl, Brandi felt—I’m just so tired all the time! If only
he
would leave me alone I could—

“Hey, Mei-mei, rough day?”

The voice of Claudia, her best friend and
supervisor, cut through the fog of sleep deprivation and weariness.
Mei-mei
meant
little sister in the Mandarin dialect and it was an apt name for Mei-Li coming
from the other woman. Claudia was a good friend and, even better, a good
supervisor. She was also Mei-Li’s mentor and had showed her the ropes when she
started as a CPI three years before, right out of college.

“You’re not going to have an easy time,”
she had advised Mei-Li frankly on her first day.
“People
don’t like Child Protection and some of them are going to hate you even more
for who you are. They’ll think you don’t understand—because you don’t have
kids. They’ll try to dismiss you because of your age and your race—get ready to
hear every sexual and racial epithet you can imagine and some you can’t because
you’re going to get that and more out in the field. I can’t tell you how often
I’ve been called the N word. Not to mention whore, slut, bitch and every other
nasty word in the book. Also in your case, some people are going to
literally
look down on you
and try to disrespect you because you’re such a tiny
little thing.”

Mei-Li had felt her enthusiasm waning.
“Seriously?
Are you saying this is the wrong job for me? Because I got a Masters degree
just so I could do this. I want to make a difference.”

“I’m not saying it’s the wrong job—if you
care enough and you really want to, you
can
make a difference. I’m just
saying it’s not gonna be easy. Are you up to the challenge?”

With Claudia’s help, Mei-Li had been—and
was—on a daily basis. At least she had been before she started having the
dreams. Before she stopped being able to sleep at night…

“So, rough day?” Claudia repeated.

Mei-Li looked up. All she could see was a
blur but even so, she could tell her friend was dressed to impress. Claudia was
a tall, statuesque woman with creamy, dark brown skin, large, liquid brown
eyes, and an impeccable fashion sense. People at the office teased that the two
of them looked funny when they stood together because Claudia was nearly six
feet tall and she dwarfed Mei-Li’s petite figure. Mei-Li didn’t mind. She was
happy to be Claudia’s Mei-mei or little sister here at the DCF.

She sat up and nodded. “Yeah, you could
say that. That last call I got was from a house…” She shivered. “Let’s just say
it wasn’t very clean.”

Claudia put a hand on one full hip. “And
I’m guessing
you
cleaned it.”

Mei-Li shrugged uneasily. “It was a young
mom and she was really trying. The boyfriend left her alone with a baby and a
toddler and she was working double shifts at the Ihop. Besides, she helped me
clean—it’s not like I did it all myself.”

“You don’t have to do that, you know,”
Claudia said. “It’s not exactly in the job description.”

“I know.” Mei-Li sighed. “But I wanted to
give her the benefit of the doubt. I’ll go back and check her in a couple of
days when I bring her a food box—I think she’ll be doing better. Anyway…” She
fumbled for her glasses, started to put them on and stopped. “Damn, these are
dirty.”

“And
ugly,”
Claudia said candidly.
“Get rid of those ugly-ass glasses, girl. Then maybe you could find a man. Get
contact lenses.”

“I told you—contacts irritate my eyes and
I’m not a candidate for LASIK.”

Claudia shook her head. “I know. It’s too
bad.”

“It’s probably a good thing,” Mei’Li said.
“What if they messed up and I was blinded for life? You know I’m not wild about
any kind of surgery after what happened to my mom.”

“I know. You always think of the worst
case scenario, you know that? Then again, that’s one of the things that makes
you such a good CPI.”

“Gee, thanks,” Mei-Li said dryly. “I
appreciate the vote of confidence.”

“What would make you feel confident is
going out on a date. How long has it been since that last guy you went out
with? A year?”

“More like two years,” Mei-Li said
uncomfortably. “But who’s counting? Besides—who has time for a man with this
job?”

“Not you, I guess.” Claudia eyed her
speculatively. “Speaking of men, you having that dream anymore?”

“Umm…” Mei-Li looked away, pretending to
be interested in cleaning her glasses.

“You are, aren’t you?” Claudia demanded.
“I
knew
it. You’ve got bags under your eyes that would make Samsonite
jealous.”

“Wow, thanks—you really know how to make a
girl feel good.”

“Well, it’s
true.
And I only say it
because I’m worried about you. I thought you said the Kindred Head Honcho told
you he wasn’t coming for you.”

“He’s not,” Mei-Li protested. “I don’t
know
why
I can’t stop having the dreams.”

Claudia arched one perfectly shaped
eyebrow. “You think he’s changed his mind and he’s coming after all?”

Mei-Li felt her stomach twist uneasily.
“Of course not—why would he? Look at me—I’m not exactly a catch with my giant
black glasses and my nonexistent bra size. The last guy I dated couldn’t be
bothered to come across the street for me—what makes you think somebody would
want to come across the freaking universe?”

“Don’t sell yourself short, honey.”
Claudia’s brown eyes swept over her. “With that perfect pale skin and that
long, silky black hair you’ve got the whole perfectly petite China doll thing going on. Some
guys really go for that.”

“Yeah, that’s what my boyfriend in college
said,” Mei-Li muttered. “Which of course is why he ended up with a blonde
cheerleader with a set of double Ds.”

“The problem is you look frail and
harmless and then you’re
not
. Once someone gets to know you, they
understand you don’t need to be taken care of. And the same guys who want a
perfect little doll don’t like that—you scare them off because they don’t want
a, fearless, independent woman who can fend for herself.”

“I’m glad
you
see me that way,
anyway.” Mei-Li sighed. “I don’t
feel
very independent and fearless
right now. I just feel
tired.”

“That’s the sleep deprivation talking.”
Claudia clucked her tongue sympathetically. “Look, why don’t you lie down in my
office for a twenty minute power nap? It’ll do you a world of good.”

Mei-Li thought longingly of the battered
brown leather couch in her friend’s office. Despite its appearance, it was an
incredibly comfortable piece of furniture. Regretfully, she shook her head.

“Thanks but I can’t. I have a shelter
hearing in court at two and before that I have to go check on one of my
clients—Kristin. You know—Angry Mom’s kid?”

“Oh, Angry Mom…” Claudia shook her head.
“Mmm-mm. Now I
really
feel sorry for you. What’s the problem?”

“That’s what I’m going to try and find
out.” Mei-Li sighed and stood up. “And I’d better get going if I’m going to
have time to talk to her and get back in time for court.”

“Take it easy.” Claudia squeezed her
shoulder sympathetically. “Remember, this day
will
end eventually.”

“I know it will—it just doesn’t seem like
it right now.” Mei-Li grabbed her bag of take-out. “Gotta run. I’ll catch up
with you later.”

“Okay. Call me if you need backup.”

“Shouldn’t be necessary,” Mei-Li said.
“I’m seeing Kristin at school.”

“Oh, that
does
make things easier.
All right then, good luck.”

“Thanks.” Mei-Li smiled at her gratefully.
“See you later.”

She ran out the door, clutching the paper
McDonald’s sack with its cooling fries and melting shake. She would just have
to eat her lunch while she talked to Kristin but since the little girl was
having lunch at the same time, it should be okay.

Mei-Li hoped this call was a false alarm
but she was very much afraid it wasn’t.

Chapter
Five

“She’s right there in the nurse’s office waiting
for you.” The school secretary pointed at the small closet of a room at the far
end of the office. “There’s a desk and a couple chairs and the nurse is at
lunch. You can talk to her there if you want.”

“Thanks.” Mei-Li nodded gratefully and
came around the swinging, waist high barrier to enter the back of the
elementary school office. She let herself into the small room, which was
painted industrial gray green like the rest of the interior of the school, and
closed the door carefully behind her. She didn’t want the noisy hustle and
bustle of the office intruding on her interview.

Kristin was already on one side of the
small, cheap wooden desk, her legs dangling as she sat in a dingy yellow
plastic chair. A battered Barbie doll lunch box sat on the desk but it didn’t
look like the little girl was eating.

Probably too nervous.
Mei-Li felt a stab of sympathy. If what she and the
teacher suspected was actually happening in Kristin’s home, she had plenty of
reason to be nervous.

“Hey, Kristin,” she said, sitting down
across from the little girl and placing her McDonald’s bag beside the Barbie
lunch box. “How are you doing?”

“Okay, I guess.” Kristin looked down,
refusing to meet her eyes. She had long brown hair which was usually done up in
a bow or in a neat braid. Today, however, it was a messy halo around her small
face. Her clothes were dirty too—there was a grease spot on her rumpled My
Little Pony t-shirt and a hole in the knee of her jeans.

“You guess? It doesn’t sound like you’re
sure.” Mei-Li smiled at her, tried to catch the little girl’s eyes and failed.
“Well, it’s been a little while since I saw you so I thought maybe you and I
could eat lunch together. Would that be okay?”

“Sure, I guess so.” The little girl
shrugged listlessly.

Mei-Li frowned. She could see why the
teacher had called her—Kristin was normally a happy, chatty little girl. To see
her like this, so silent and withdrawn, set off all kinds of alarm bells.
Still, she knew she couldn’t push or she’d get nothing. So instead of talking anymore,
she opened her sack.

The smell of French fries immediately
filled the small office. Mei-Li ate one—it was more warm than hot but still
good—and put the straw into her chocolate shake.

“What do you have for lunch?” she asked
Kristin. “Or did you already eat before I got here?”

“No, I didn’t eat.” The little girl shook
her head.

“You waited for me? That was nice.” Mei-Li
smiled.

“I didn’t eat ‘cause I don’t got nothing
to eat. See?” Kristin opened her lunch box, displaying nothing but a wadded up
paper towel and a broken plastic spoon. “I think Mama forgot to pack my lunch,”
she explained.

“She forgot?” Mei-Li felt a surge of
anger. “Did you at least get breakfast?”

“Nu-uh.” Kristin shook her head. “Mama
didn’t feel like fixing it. She was real tired from being up all night with—”
She stopped abruptly, biting her lip.

“Up all night with who?” Mei-Li prompted
softly.

“Can’t say.” Kristin’s blue-gray eyes
shifted to the side evasively. “Or I’ll get in trouble.”

“Okay.” Mei-Li nodded. It wasn’t time to
push—not yet. Instead she took a sip of her shake.

“I’m hungry,” the little girl whispered,
looking up at her at last.

I am too.
Mei-Li gave an inward sigh as she looked at her fries.
She had a feeling she was going to stay that way.

“Uh-huh,” she said, nodding. “I bet you
are
hungry if you didn’t get breakfast. It’s been a long time since dinner last
night.”

“I didn’t have much for dinner either,”
Kristin confided. “Just some chips. I had to go to bed early—way early.”

“Why was that?” Slowly, Mei-Li pushed the fries
towards the little girl. “Go ahead—you can have some.”

“Thank you!” Gratefully, Kristin grabbed
some fries and crammed them into her mouth. “You got any chicken nuggets?”

“Sorry, no. Maybe next time I meet you at
lunch I’ll bring a happy meal. Okay?”

“Okay!” The little girl nodded
enthusiastically and reached for more fries. “These are really good, though.
Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Nice manners.” Mei-Li
smiled at her. “So why did you have to go to bed early last night?”

“’Cause Randy was mad. He said I was
talking too loud and he— Oh…” Kristin stopped in mid-chew, her mouth full of
fries. “I shouldn’t of told you that,” she whispered. “Mama’s gonna be so mad
at me.”

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” Mei-Li said
gently. “You can tell me anything—you know that.”

“But I shouldn’t of.” The girl was near
tears now. She swallowed the soggy lump of fries in her mouth with obvious
difficulty. “Mama said not to say. She’s gonna be so
angry.”

Mei-Li thought it was likely true that
Kristin’s mother would be angry—she was
always
angry. But the fact was,
it was better for the little girl to deal with her mother’s shouting than the
kind of abuse her supposedly
ex
-boyfriend was bringing into the house.

“Are you thirsty?” she asked, pushing her
shake towards the girl. “This is chocolate.”

“Thanks.” Kristin sniffled and took a sip
of the melting shake. “Mmm, good.”

“I know, chocolate is the best, isn’t it?”
Mei-Li shared a conspiratorial grin with her. “It’s my favorite.”

“Mine too.” Kristin grinned and took
another sip.

“So how long has Randy been coming
around?” Mei-Li tried to keep her voice casual. There was a court order stating
that the man couldn’t be near Kristin or her little sister. For the last couple
of months it had seemed like her mother was complying with it. But now…

“I don’t know.” Kristin shrugged. “A
while?”

Mei-Li sighed, reminding herself that a
first grader wasn’t exactly the best judge of time.

“You said he was there last night,
though?”

“Uh-huh. Him and Mama were fighting.”

I just bet they were.
That seemed to be the basic pattern in their
relationship—they would scream and fight and then Kristin’s mom would deny
Randy sex and then he would take his anger out on Kristin and her sister. It
sounded to Mei-Li like the whole messy, abusive cycle was beginning all over
again and the two little girls were going to be caught in the middle.

But how long had it been going on? She
made a mental note to talk to the girl’s teacher and see how long she’d been
listless and quiet. Chances are the timing coincided with Randy’s reappearance
in her life.

“These are really yummy. Can I have some
more?” Kristin looked at her hopefully.

“Have all you want.” Mei-Li tried to
smile. She watched the little girl reach for another French fry and saw the
shiny circle of an old burn scar on the inside of Kristin’s thin forearm. Randy
had done that with his cigarette because she and her little sister were being
“too fucking loud” having a tea party while he was trying to watch the ball
game in the next room. He had done some time for it but a technicality had
gotten him out of jail early and now he was slinking around where he didn’t
belong. Not that scum like him belonged anywhere but at the bottom of the ocean
in Mei-Li’s opinion.

Just the sight of the scar made her jaw
clench. It wasn’t the only mark Kristin and her little sister had courtesy of
Randy Dungston. There were other old scars and at one time sexual abuse had
been suspected, though it had never been proven. Just the thought of him coming
around Kristin and her sister again, making their lives hell, made Mei-Le so
angry she couldn’t see straight.

And she wasn’t just furious at Randy who
was an abusive asshole—but also at Kristin’s mom. Mei-Li didn’t have kids of
her own but she knew if she did she would love them with all her heart. It was
a mother’s responsibility to protect her little ones from harm. How could any
woman have a relationship with a man who could hurt her children? How could she
turn a blind eye to the abuse and pain he inflicted on her girls? How could she
pick
him
over her own daughters?

Mei-Li didn’t have the answers for any of
that but she
did
have an idea of what to do. The only problem was, it
was going to require extra vigilance on her part and with her massive caseload,
she was already stretched thin. Still, she would do whatever it took to make
certain Kristin and her sister were safe from harm.

A bell buzzed somewhere outside and
Kristin swallowed her mouthful of fries and looked up.

“Oh, lunch is over! Now we get to do PE.”

“You like PE?” Mei-Li asked, smiling.

“I love it!” A little of the old
enthusiasm was shining in Kristin’s big eyes. “And today we get to play with
the parachute! I
love
parachute day. Can I go back now?”

“Sure. Are you finished?” Mei-Li nodded at
the mostly empty carton of fries and the shake.

“Uh-huh.” Kristin scooped the last two
fries into her mouth and slurped up the rest of the chocolate milkshake. “Can I
go?”

“I’ll go with you.” Mei-Li stood and held
out a hand. “Come on, I need to talk to your teacher.”

Kristin’s eyes grew suddenly wide as she
took the offered hand. “Are you gonna ask her about Randy? He never comes to
school.”

No, he wouldn’t dare. He just shows up
slinking around the house at night and scaring two innocent little girls to
death, the bastard!

Somehow Mei-Li kept her smile in place. “I
don’t want you to worry about that, Kristin. I’m going to take care of it.”

“Okay.” But the little girl sounded
doubtful.

“Come on.” Mei-Li tugged gently on her
hand. “Parachute day, remember?”

“Oh, yeah!” Kristin’s smile reasserted
itself and she tugged back, leading them to the door. “Hurry—I don’t want to
lose my spot!”

“Okay, we’ll hurry.” They rushed, giggling
out of the office and through the hallways to Kristin’s classroom. But though
she entered into the spirit of fun with the little girl, Mei-Li couldn’t help
being worried. Was Randy Dungston having a relationship with Kristin’s mother
again? She knew if she called and asked the woman would only deny it, and the
call would just put her on her guard. No, the only way to be certain was to
make an unannounced visit some evening and night visits were
never
fun.
Still, it had to be done and she knew she could count on Claudia for backup.
They could also call in a squad car if necessary—the police were there to help
if need be.

Mentally, Mei-Li changed her idea of
getting home around eight, pushing it back a couple of hours to ten or later.
If she was going to do a stake out of Angry Mom’s house, it was going to add
some time to her work day.

Well, maybe I’ll be out all night and I
won’t get to bed at all,
she told herself.
At
least that would keep me from going to sleep and dreaming…dreaming about him.

Avoiding the frightening dream was the one
bright spot in the whole awful situation. But Mei-Li knew she couldn’t keep
this up forever—if she didn’t get a decent night’s sleep soon, she was going to
drop.

That’s a problem for another time,
she told herself firmly.
For now, I just have to keep
going. Have to be in court in forty-five minutes. And after that, I have
got
to get to that paperwork…

* * * * *

Six frowned as he watched her exit the
door of the low, sprawling building which seemed to have something to do with
educating young. It was strange to see so many little ones running here and there.
He only ever encountered youngsters of any species when he visited the medical
barges. On Z4 all the organic inhabitants were grown to adulthood before they
were released from their medically induced comas and extracted from the
incubation tubes. Here on Earth, it appeared that they were made in a
more…unrefined fashion and allowed to grow to adulthood with no chemical
manipulation or enhancements at all.

Almost as odd as the children was the
proliferation of females. Because the females of Z4 had all died off soon after
the Collective took over, he wasn’t used to seeing them. They seemed so
different from males—shorter, more slender, more vulnerable.

But none that he had seen was as tiny as
Mei-Li. She could almost have been mistaken for a young one herself until you
looked at her face and saw the wisdom and life experience in her big, dark
eyes. Also, she was dressed as the other adult females were with a piece of
cloth that wrapped around her waist and thighs and left her legs bare and
strange, stilt-like shoes attached to her feet. Six wondered about those—were
they just to make her taller? For a while he thought they might be some kind of
enhancement but he didn’t see any electronic components so he decided they must
just be strange footwear.

Speaking of enhancements, that was another
thing he found strange about this planet—seeing everyone, everywhere completely
unenhanced. The inhabitants looked oddly bare to him. Not a single one of them
had so much as a mechanical hand or an ocular scope. How did they manage
without the added input such enhancements provided? Six didn’t know and he had
no desire to find out. He didn’t really care about the other inhabitants of
this world—all his attention was currently focused on Mei-Li whom he had been
watching intently for hours.