Water under the Bridge

by Sherryl Hancock

  This was a completely different woman that they were witnessing in their daughter and it was an amazing transformation. They exchanged a few looks, Todd was also anxious to tell Marcel about their exchange in the backyard. It was exciting for them to see Jet so happy. They knew that it had been their own actions that had pushed their daughter away from them, and so being able to witness the change in Jet now was, to them, a gift.

  At lunch they talked about Jet’s job.

  “But I thought you worked for Los Angeles Police Department,” Marcel said, when Jet said that she worked for LA IMPACT.

  “Well, technically I still do,” Jet said. “IMPACT is a task force run by the Department of Justice. LAPD and LASD contribute officers to it.”

  “And they ‘contributed’ you?” her father asked, his look somewhat offended, like the LAPD had gotten rid of his daughter.

  “Well,” Jet said, grinning at the look on her father’s face. “In my case, Kash requested me.”

  “Kash?” Todd asked.

  “Yeah, Kashena Windwalker-Marshal,” Jet said, “my boss. She was rebuilding her team and I had the type of experience she was looking for.”

  “Oh,” Todd said, nodding. “And what kind of experience is that?” he asked, never having known what she’d done in the Army.

  “Well, I work for COID, which is Covert Operations and Informant Development. My time in the Army as an MIO helped there.”

  “MIO?” Marcel queried.

  “Military Intelligence Officer,” Jet said.

  “And what does that job do?” Marcel asked.

  “Well, I was technically part of the Infantry division, but I basically gathered and analyzed data and information on the enemy and helped them plan offensives. I also developed sources of information, Iraqi, Iranian, German, French.”

  “How were you able to communicate?” Todd asked.

  “Uh,” Jet stammered, putting her finger to her eyebrow.

  “Jet speaks many languages,” Fadiyah inserted when she felt that Jet wasn’t going to tell her parents.

  “Which ones?” Marcel asked, looking surprised.

  “German, French, Spanish, Arabic and some Farsi,” Jet said, her tone off-handed.

  “Impressive…” Todd said, smiling at his daughter.

  Jet shrugged. “I pick stuff up quick,” she said simply.

  “You always did,” Marcel said, smiling proudly.

  “Graduated at the top of her class in high school,” Todd said. “Although why they didn’t make you the valedictorian I have no idea.”

  “’Cause I said no,” Jet told him.

  “You what?” Todd countered, looking surprised.

  “I said no, Dad. I wasn’t interested in making a big speech.”

  Todd shook his head at his headstrong daughter; most people would be thrilled at the chance to be valedictorian at their high school graduation.

  “If it makes you feel better, I didn’t make a speech when I graduated Summa Cum Laude with my doctorate in linguistics at Universität Hamburg either,” Jet said, grinning.

  “Doctorate?” Todd asked, looking shocked.

  “Yeah,” Jet said, grinning. “Thanks to the Army.”

  “And Summa Cum Laude on top of that?” Todd asked then.

  Jet nodded, grinning still.

  Todd shook his head, he wondered if his daughter would ever cease to amaze and surprise him. He’d always known she was extremely intelligent.

  “Well, it does make sense,” Todd said, exchanging a look with Marcel, then looking at Fadiyah. “Jet tested off the charts in intelligence, with a hundred and fifty-nine IQ at the age of fourteen.”

  Fadiyah shook her head, not sure what that meant. “That is high?”

  “Anything over one forty is considered genius,” Jet told Fadiyah, not looking too impressed with herself.

  Fadiyah’s eyes widened as she looked back at Jet, then she nodded. “I knew you were intelligent.”

  “Uh-huh,” Jet said, grinning.

  “Do not do that,” Fadiyah said, giving Jet a scornful look.

  “What?” Jet asked, her grin still in place.

  “Use that charm on me,” Fadiyah said.

  “I thought you liked my charm,” Jet said, smiling now.

  “I do, but not when you are not believing me,” Fadiyah said, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

  Jet leaned in, nuzzling her lips to Fadiyah’s temple. “Are you sure?” she asked, her voice soft.

  Fadiyah closed her eyes, smiling softly. “Stop that,” she said, with absolutely no conviction in her voice.

  Jet nuzzled her ear then, and Fadiyah sighed, shaking her head.

  “I hate that you can do that so easily,” she said.

  Jet grinned, glancing at her parents who were watching them with enchanted looks on their faces, then she looked back at Fadiyah.

  “At least I only use my powers for good now, instead of evil.”

  “Oh, I do not know about that,” Fadiyah said. “Did you not charm that officer Jenkins into doing your paperwork the other day?”

  “Damnit…” Jet said, shaking her head.

  “Mmm Hmm,” Fadiyah murmured, looking amused.

  Jet put her head down on the table, shaking it. Fadiyah reached over and touched her hair, smiling fondly.

  Marcel and Todd knew that their daughter had indeed met her match in Fadiyah Antar.

  ***

  It took three days for Tyler to finally get ahold of her wife again. She knew that Shenin was mad about her comments, but she also knew that she wasn’t being completely unreasonable.

  “Are we okay?” Tyler asked when she got Shenin on the phone again.

  She was sitting in their house in Maryland, looking at the pictures from their wedding that were hanging on one wall. Things had been so simple then.

  “Are you sure you want all of those on the wall?” Tyler asked, raising an eyebrow at her wife.

  “Why not?” Shenin said, giving her a questioning look.

  “Just more of my face than I wanna see regularly,” Tyler said, making a face.

  “Excuse me,” Shenin said, moving to take Tyler’s face in her hands. “I happen to love this face.”

  “Well, you’re biased,” Tyler said.

  “Yes, yes I am,” Shenin replied, smiling. “Besides we paid all that money for the pictures, we should display them.”

  “Fine!” Tyler said. “Just tell me where you want them hung and I’ll do it.”

  “Yes, be my good butch and handle that hammer thingy,” Shenin said, grinning.

  “Hammer thingy, huh?” Tyler repeated.

  “Uh-huh…” Shenin said, her eyes sparkling mischievously. “And when you’re done nailing that stuff, you can nail something else…”

  “Oh…” Tyler said, grinning widely.

  She loved that Shenin was forever telling her how sexy she thought she was, or referring to her as the “rock star” when it came to sex. Tyler had never felt that she was particularly attractive; sure she’d had a lot of relationships with women, but had always chalked that up to charm and a small lesbian military population. Shenin had been the one to assure her that she was indeed quite attractive and that many considered her a rock star in the lesbian community. Shenin had gone on to explain that many women in the community wanted to be with Tyler and that Shenin felt very lucky to have landed her.

  Their story wasn’t really typical. Shenin had been straight when they’d met; they had become best friends while working on the same security force team in the Air Force, stationed at Nellis in Las Vegas, Nevada. But spending time with Tyler, Shenin had developed much deeper feelings for this dynamic, beautiful, smart and very gallant woman. It had taken a lot for them to get together, since they’d met during the time of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell in the military. On top of that, Shenin had become an officer, before Tyler, and fraternization between enlisted personnel and officers was strictly forbidden. Tyler had been the one to resist the relationship wi
th Shenin. However, when Tyler had been critically injured while on assignment in Iraq at the Balad Air Base, it had been Shenin who had flown a day and a half to get to her in Landstuhl, Germany. It had been Shenin’s visit and her statement, “You better fight for me, I love you more than life itself, and I will not lose you,” that had been the catalyst Tyler had held onto during her recovery. In the end, she’d flown to Eielson Air Base in Alaska to be with Shenin and finally gave into the love she had for the woman. They’d been married less than a year later.

  Now she was watching this beautiful woman she was married to setting pictures against the wall and shifting them around indecisively. Tyler sat back grinning and admiring her wife’s curves, evident in the short bike shorts and snug fitting tank top she wore. It was summer in Maryland which translated to humid and hot. Shenin’s red hair set off by the sapphire-blue tank top was longer than it had been before, but it was very sexy and Tyler loved it. Moving to stand, Tyler slid her hands around Shenin’s waist, pulling her back against her, lowering her head to nuzzle her neck.

  “Are you sure I can’t just nail you now?” Tyler asked, her tone husky.

  Shenin turned in her arms, looking up at her. “You want to nail me now?” she asked her tone soft.

  “I want to nail you all the time,” Tyler said, moving to kiss Shenin’s lips.

  Shenin immediately slid her arms up around Tyler’s neck, pressing close to her. Tyler deepened the kiss, and Shenin moaned against her lips. They ended up making love on the couch for the next hour, becoming hot and sweaty in the process.

  “Well now we just need to take a shower…” Shenin said, her eyes sparkling in amusement.

  “Well, damn…” Tyler said, moving to get up and taking Shenin’s hand to help her up off the couch, both of them naked.

  They made love in the shower and again in their bed. The pictures didn’t get put up until the following weekend when they had time off again.

  Staring at the pictures, Tyler remembered that time, only six months into their marriage. She felt a tug at her heart, wanting to believe that nothing had changed between them, but she knew it had and she had no real idea why.

  “Shen?” she queried when she realized Shenin hadn’t answered her question.

  “I just don’t like that you automatically think that because my friends are butch women that they’re going to make moves on me, Ty,” Shenin said.

  “I know, I’m sorry,” Tyler said.

  “They’re really great,” Shenin said doggedly. “If you ever get out here you’ll meet them and you’ll see.”

  Tyler blew her breath out. She knew that her not having managed to get out to California yet, was part of the problem. She’d put in a request for leave and was hoping it would be approved. Unfortunately, in her position, she was critical to many of the missions that occurred with the security force on base, so it was very difficult for her to get leave approved.

  “Okay, babe, okay,” Tyler said, her tone placating.

  “I miss you, Ty,” Shenin said then, her voice sad.

  “I miss you too, Shen,” Tyler said. “I love you.”

  “I love you too, Ty,” Shenin said. “It’s just really hard being here by myself, you know?”

  “You’re not alone, you have Muffit,” Tyler said, referring to the dog that Shenin had brought back from Iraq with her.

  Shenin grinned, looking down at the scruffy wired hair terrier that lay at her feet.

  “She’s cute and all,” Shenin said, “but she’s really a lousy kisser.”

  “Too much tongue?” Tyler asked.

  Shenin laughed, a wonderful sound to Tyler. “Yeah, you got that right.”

  “Are you doing good with the shelter thing?” Tyler asked then.

  “Yeah,” Shenin said, nodding. “I’m getting to work with some of the more timid dogs. They are very sweet.”

  Tyler smiled fondly. Shenin had not only brought back a dog from Iraq, but a desire to work with animals in shelters.

  “They’re in cages and scared, I want to help them,” she’d told Tyler.

  It had taken a while for Shenin to find the right fit, but she was finally settling into a volunteer group made up of PTSD sufferers and it seemed to be helping.

  Tyler had been worried about Shenin when it came to PTSD, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. It had been quite obvious when Shenin had returned from Iraq that she was definitely suffering from PTSD. Her sleeping patterns had been erratic, or non-existent. She would go for days without sleep, and then finally crash sleeping for sometimes up to forty-eight hours. She lost twenty pounds on top of the twenty she’d lost during her time in captivity. Tyler had tried to talk to Shenin about what had happened, but she’d been very vague and didn’t want to talk about it.

  Shenin had agreed to see a counselor about the PTSD and that had eased Tyler’s mind immensely. It had been the counselor’s suggestion that Shenin work with animals, since she’d obviously developed a bond with the dog she’d rescued in Iraq.

  Lying on the dirt floor of the cell, Shenin came too feeling the pain of the head wound she’d suffered when they’d hit her with the butt of their AK47, not to mention the gunshot wound she had to her arm. Opening her eyes she was surprised to see the kind brown eyes of a dog staring at her through the bars.

  “Hi there,” she said to the dog, whose tail had started to wag immediately.

  It had been the beginning of a month long relationship with the animal she’d named “Muffit” after the robot dog in eighties TV Show Battlestar Galactica. She knew it was silly, but the dog made her time in captivity less terrifying. In the end, when she’d been rescued, she’d grabbed the dog on the way out, insisting on bringing him home with her.

  “So what are you up to today?” Tyler asked.

  “Going for a ride with the girls,” Shenin said, smiling down at Muffit.

  “Which girls?” Tyler asked, too quickly, grimacing as she realized that.

  “Well, a few of them, actually,” Shenin said. “There’s a pretty big group of women here who have bikes. There’s Jericho, Raine, Quinn, Jet and of course their girlfriends come too. I figured the Shadow could use a good run.”

  “That should be fun,” Tyler said, wanting to ask who all of those women were, but also not wanting to sound like she was questioning Shenin again.

  “Yeah, they’re a pretty fun group,” Shenin said, nodding.

  “Well, once I get my ass out there permanently, hopefully they’ll let me ride with you all,” Tyler said, grinning.

  “Oh, I think that might be possible.”

  “What kind of bikes do they ride?” Tyler asked.

  “Well, Jericho rides a Harley, nice custom job, you’d love it. I’ll take pictures of it and send them. Um, Raine rides a Shadow like me, Quinn rides a Harley too, but hers is an Iron eight eighty-three and Jet rides a Ducati.”

  “Ducati? That’s a nice bike…” Tyler said.

  “Oh yeah, and it’s a Superleggera, so it’s really nice.”

  “She has a Superleggera?” Tyler asked, stunned. “That’s like a sixty thousand dollar bike.”

  Shenin chuckled. “It’s still cheaper than the Maserati she drives.”

  “Jesus, how much does DOJ pay down there?” Tyler asked.

  Shenin laughed. “Not that much. Jet said she bought it with a bonus check she got from doing some contract work with the Army.”

  “Damn, I’m in the wrong friggin’ branch,” Tyler said, shaking her head.

  “Tell me about it!” Shenin said, grinning. “Oh, and that’s not counting the sixty-seven Mach Fastback Mustang she has in her garage.”

  “The girl does know how to play, doesn’t she?” Tyler asked, thinking this Jet was some serious player and she didn’t want her wife anywhere near her.

  “She does seem to love her toys,” Shenin said, knowing she was now talking too much about Jet and that Tyler’s ire was rising, so she switched subjects.

  “Are you going down to mom and dad’s
for dinner today?” she asked.

  Tyler narrowed her eyes at her end of the phone, catching the sudden subject change. “Yeah, they’re doing crab,” she said, grinning.

  “Ugh!” Shenin said at her end.

  Tyler chuckled. “I know you won’t miss it, but I’m looking forward to picking a few dozen.”

  “Have at it,” Shenin said, shaking her head. “I won’t be there to witness it.”

  Maryland was known for its Chesapeake Blue Crab, but Shenin absolutely abhorred the practice of cooking live crabs in steaming water. She considered it barbaric, which was something that Tyler’s large family, who’d grown up crabbing, found endlessly amusing. She’d threatened on many family occasions to ‘rescue’ a few of the live crabs. It was just another really cute and endearing thing about her wife that Tyler loved. Shenin often referred to the “rending of bones” and the “carnage” when talking about the crab feeds her family liked to have for special occasions.

  “I better get going,” Shenin said, looking at her watch. “I gotta meet the girls in two hours and I haven’t even showered yet this morning.”

  “Okay,” Tyler said, disappointed that they didn’t have more time to talk when they were finally getting along for the moment. “I love you.”

  “Love you too, Ty, have fun at dinner, give everyone my love.”

  “Will do,” Tyler said, smiling.

  They hung up a few minutes later. Tyler sat staring at their wedding pictures, wishing things could be as they were then. They’d been so damned happy. She sincerely wished she knew how to fix things, but she really had no clue where to start. It worried her that Shenin was spending so much time with lesbians down in LA, especially butch ones. But she knew that she had to be careful in what she said, she didn’t want to put anymore walls up between her and her wife. It really sucked to be in the situation she was in, and she saw no way out of it.