Unusual Circumstances

They turned onto a residential street that was lined with palm trees. The houses were mostly newer ranch-style homes with stucco walls. The yards were well-manicured and decked with colorful flowers, Queen Anne and fan palms. Some yards had grass while others had gravel. Scattered clumps of various cacti were visible as well. Mayani could see saguaros, prickly pears, barrel cactuses, organ pipes, and ocotillos. Sprinklers watered some of the yards they drove by. “What a beautiful neighborhood,” Mayani commented. “It is gorgeous,” agreed the officer. A moment later, they pulled into a driveway behind a silvery blue SUV that sat in a single-car garage with its door open. A long-legged woman who appeared to be in her late twenties was arranging something in the back of it. When she heard the car pull up, she turned and glanced behind her. She then frowned with curiosity, as if she hadn’t been expecting them. Mayani felt an instant attraction to the woman. She was tall and boyishly shaped in a sexy sort of way. Her dark hair was cropped evenly at the shoulders. She had dark eyes that were made up nicely, and her light pink lipstick gleamed in the sunlight. Dressed in a red T-shirt and jeans, Mayani admired the long, taut muscles in her arms. Despite how thin she was, she looked strong and downright appealing. They exited the car and strode toward the woman. “Hey, Tanya. Long time no see,” said the woman. She spoke with a slight yet distinctive Southern drawl. “Yes, it’s been a while,” Tanya replied. She turned to Mayani. “This here is Mayani Nolen, your new house guest. Mayani, this is Kaylin.” Kaylin’s gaze shifted from Tanya to Mayani. She studied the beautiful girl before her, clad in a bright pink sleeveless top and lavender denim shorts. The girl was very feminine, curvaceous, and of average height, with stunning violet eyes and thick, wavy blond hair that fell to her upper thighs. A sense of doubt suddenly overtook Kaylin’s senses. Did she really want to have someone around this good-looking? This girl was the stuff fantasies were made of. Instead of saying anything about it, however, she simply asked, “Why now? What happened?” Now it was Tanya’s turn to look confused. “Don’t you know?” “Well, I knew they were bringing me an inmate to consider for housing, but I thought that was supposed to be for tomorrow. I just got back in town not even five minutes ago when you pulled up. I had out-of-state business to tend to.” Studying Kaylin’s mannerisms and overall appearance, Mayani suspected that she might be a lesbian. However, as she continued to listen to the two women discuss her as if she weren’t even there, she felt her irritation grow, slowly replacing her anxiety. “Do you want me to bring her back to the jail?” Tanya asked. Mayani’s heart jumped with panic. “You mean I have to go back to jail while you two get your plans straightened out? That’s not fair. I really need to get back to work.” “You ain’t working while you’re with me, if I even agree to take you in in the first place,” Kaylin said in a stern, authoritative voice. “What do you do?” “I’m a writer.” “She wants to get her laptop,” Tanya explained. “She lives nearby with her grandmother.” Kaylin eyed Mayani with a mixture of doubt and consideration. “Have you done this before?” Tanya asked Kaylin. “No. I’ve gotten a few offers, but they just seemed so hopeless. The last one they had me interview was telling me she’d take a hammer to my head in my sleep if I didn’t let her see her boyfriend every day, so I told them, ‘Get this bitch out of here. I don’t want her.’” Tanya laughed. Even Mayani couldn’t suppress the urge to smile. “Well, this one doesn’t have a boyfriend,” Tanya told Kaylin. “No?” Kaylin asked, feeling a measure of surprise. “I prefer women,” Mayani said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice. “Oh,” Kaylin said flatly, her face void of expression. Chuckling, Tanya said, “At least she’s honest.” Kaylin flashed the officer a look as if to say, How nice, in a sarcastic sort of way. Turning back to Mayani, she asked, “What are your charges?” “Being in the wrong place at the wrong time.” “Is that so?” Kaylin asked, placing one foot on the SUV’s bumper and leaning on her elbow. It was a casual and relaxed sort of pose that Mayani found attractive. Mayani nodded. “I asked an old friend for a ride home, whom I ran into in the store. Only she had some pot on her and was dumb enough to take off speeding like a bat out of hell and got pulled over.” “And let me guess,” Kaylin said sarcastically. “You had no idea she had drugs on her.” “Oh no, I knew. I just didn’t know she’d be dumb enough to speed and get pulled over.” Again, Tanya chuckled as Kaylin rolled her eyes, shook her head, and glanced toward the street. “Furthermore,” Mayani continued, “I didn’t think I’d end up going down with her, no matter how much I insisted I was clean and that all they had to do was test me to prove it. And of course, the public defender I was dumb enough to use neglected to tell me I’d be holed up in jail till I was placed in someone’s home.” “Yeah, life’s a bitch,” said Kaylin, though it was without empathy. “Meanwhile, I haven’t had a chance to go through your file, much less interview you or break you in on the rules, and I don’t know a damn thing about you other than what you’ve told me.” After a moment of silence, Mayani said, “I’m a Gemini, and I don’t take no for an answer.” Tanya laughed as Kaylin rolled her eyes and shook her head once again. “How old are you?” Kaylin asked. “I’ll be twenty-six not this Saturday, but next Saturday.” “How’d you get a name like Mayani?” asked Tanya. “It’s a neat name. It has a bit of an oriental touch to it.” “My mother heard it somewhere and thought it sounded cool, so I got stuck with it.” Kaylin eyed Mayani intently, making her feel somewhat self-conscious in ways she wasn’t used to. It was almost as if she were suddenly an open book that Kaylin could see into. She hoped that the detective couldn’t sense her attraction to her. She had a feeling that even if she was right about Kaylin being as into women as she herself was, she might not be happy to know Mayani was attracted to her. The woman was just too businesslike and serious, and Mayani sensed that she rarely even smiled. Perhaps Yvonne had been right in warning her about the strictness of the officers who took in inmates. There was something stern about the woman that made Mayani hesitant, though her desire to remain out of jail overrode any hesitancy she might have had. The rest would be up to Kaylin herself. “Got any family around here?” Kaylin asked her. “The only family left is Nana. We rent a house not too far from here.” Again came the thoughtful look as Kaylin turned her gaze toward the street. The warm wind blew her straight, silky hair back from her face, exposing a pronounced jawline. “Well, what do you think?” asked Tanya. “Take her or leave her?” Kaylin’s gaze returned to settle upon Mayani. After one more bout of hesitation, she finally said, “Leave her.” “Oh, good,” the officer said, almost as relieved as Mayani was that she wouldn’t have to bring her back to the jail. “Just keep in mind, little lady, that if you screw up, back to jail you go,” Kaylin said firmly. “Yes, ma’am,” Mayani assured her. “I’ve been told.” Kaylin stood up straight to her full height, standing nearly a head taller than Mayani, just as her cell phone rang. Kaylin looked at the caller ID display, turned on the phone, and said, “Bennet.” Mayani and Tanya stood in the growing heat of the day as Kaylin listened to her caller and then said, “Yeah, okay. I’ll be down soon.” She switched the phone off and said, “She’s gotta go back to the jail, like it or not. I have an important meeting I forgot all about till now.” Mayani felt a surge of anger. “What? This is insane!” “Calm down,” Tanya said, sympathy evident in her voice. “Calm down? How can I calm down? I’m being jerked around here and—” “You know what?” Kaylin said, cutting off Mayani’s shouts. “Forget it. Just forget it. I don’t want her.” “Oh, come on, Kaylin,” said Tanya. “You’d feel the same way.” Kaylin eyed Mayani with reluctance as she slammed the back of the SUV shut. Then she said, “Look, if you didn’t want to be jerked around, you shouldn’t have messed up.” “You’re right,” Mayani told her, “but I did. And what’s done is done. I can’t undo what I did. I can only learn from it, and I can assure you I’ve done just that. Meanwhile, tossing me back in jail isn’t going to change or help things.” Kaylin turned back to Tanya. “You gonna be tied up for the next hour or two?” “No, not at all.” Kaylin pulled out a set of keys. “I’ll unlock the door and you can sit with her until I get back, but whatever you do, do not let her out of your sight unless she has to use the bathroom, okay?” “Sure. No problem,” said Tanya. Mayani flashed Tanya a look of gratitude and followed both officers into the house. Upon entering, they were greeted by a medium-sized corgi. It was a beautiful dog. Its fur was black with patches of white on its underside and face. It stared curiously at them with clear blue eyes. “Hey, Poochie,” said Kaylin. “No one’s forgotten about you, but you gotta go on out back for now. There’s a doggie door in the back,” she explained to Tanya, making Mayani feel as if she weren’t even present. Quietly, she followed them on a tour of the house. The house was bright and cheery, with modern furnishings and décor. Kaylin gave them a quick tour, which was mostly to show Tanya the layout of the house. The front entrance was in the middle of the house. Three bedrooms and a bathroom branched off a hallway to the left, and to the right was the living room, which was in the front of the house. Across from the front door was a small dining area. Instead of a dining table in this section, however, there were many large houseplants that consisted mainly of palms. Mayani recognized ponytail, date, and banana palms. The kitchen was to the right of the dining area and behind the living room. It was equipped with modern appliances, adequate counter space, and a full-size dining table. Through the window above the sink, Mayani could see a moderately sized backyard with a built-in pool. Off the kitchen, opposite the main entrance, was a utility area with two doors. One led to the garage, while the other led out back. “You have a lovely house,” Tanya said. “Thanks,” said Kaylin. “It is very beautiful,” Mayani added. Kaylin glanced at her with a look that was subtly unappreciative. The house was set on a concrete foundation. Mayani liked the solid feel of it under her feet. She had never cared for houses with crawl spaces or cellars. Concrete never creaked or vibrated under the footsteps of someone with a heavy gait. Without a word to Mayani, Kaylin let Tanya know she could watch TV and help herself to anything in the kitchen. Then she took off for her meeting. As soon as the door closed behind her, Mayani turned to Tanya and asked, “Are you sure she’s not going to kill me or anything?” The officer smiled. “I’m sure. Remember, she deals with a lot of fruitcakes in her line of work, so she just needs to get to know you a bit.” “Until then, am I considered a fruitcake too?” Tanya laughed, and the two sat and watched TV in the living room while they awaited Kaylin’s return. All the while, Mayani tried not to fidget with nervous anticipation. She tried to focus on the program before her, but all her mind seemed capable of focusing on was Detective Kaylin Bennet.