Unusual Circumstances

The door opened, and there stood Mayani’s grandmother, leaning on her cane. The woman looked like a strong wind would snap her in half, though she seemed chipper and certainly glad to see her granddaughter. “Hi, Nana. Nana, this is Kaylin. My temporary slave master.” Kaylin gave a quick snort, then said, “Hello, ma’am.” “Well, hello there. Come on in. Mayani, I was so worried about you being in that jail and all.” Mayani hugged her grandmother and said, “Don’t worry, Nana. It’s not like on TV.” “Nobody forced themselves on you?” “No, they just hit on me.” Kaylin looked slightly shocked at the blunt exchange between Mayani and her grandmother, and even slightly amused, as she took in the small, cluttered living room. Her eyes came to rest upon a large picture of Mayani that she found utterly beautiful. It was a close-up in which the girl was smiling. She appeared to be on a beach somewhere, judging by the background. “Here, Nana. Come sit back down in your chair while we gather up some of my things.” Mayani guided her grandmother to her chair, knelt down in front of her, and said, “Nana, call Bella, okay? It’s very important.” “What? Why is it important?” “Because I have to go and stay with her for the next two months,” Mayani explained, motioning toward Kaylin. “Why must you do that? Is she someone you met in jail?” “Oh, no, nothing like that. Kaylin’s a cop, and they have this new thing where some people reside in their homes rather than in jail. Remember? I told you about it before. It’s sort of a trade-off, you see?” “Oh yes. I see. Like house arrest. How interesting.” She turned toward Kaylin. “You’re with the police?” Kaylin nodded. “Yes, ma’am. A detective, actually.” “You solve murders?” “I try to,” Kaylin said with a slight smile. “You don’t live in the slums, do you?” “No, not at all. I’m over on Cactus Lane.” “She’s rich,” Mayani said. “She lives in a palace compared to this dump.” “That’s not true,” Kaylin said. “Excuse me?” the old lady said. “I’m not rich.” “Oh. Well, hopefully she’ll still like it better with you.” “Not too much better, I hope. She’s only to be with me until July nineteenth.” “Aw, too bad. I’m not going to be around much longer, you see,” the woman said, pulling her colorful, hand-knitted shawl more snugly around her shoulders. “You made it to ninety, Nana. You can make it to a hundred.” “You won a fifty-dollar gift certificate to some online clothing store,” her grandmother told her. “I left it in your room on your dresser.” “How’d you do that?” Kaylin asked. “I don’t just write books. I enter sweepstakes like crazy,” Mayani told her. “Oh.” “She really does,” Nana said, as if Kaylin needed more convincing. Kaylin smiled politely at the woman, then turned to Mayani. “We kind of have to get a move on if you don’t mind.” “Oh, I mind, all right. This here is my Nana. We’ll move at my pace,” Mayani replied firmly. Kaylin looked at her as if to say, Okay, bitch, I got the message. Now quit challenging me. Kneeling down in front of her grandmother once again, Mayani said, “Nana, I want you to remember to take your medicine every night before you go to bed, okay?” “I’m not senile or crippled, for God’s sake, Mayani. Quit worrying about me. I’ll be just fine.” Nana turned to Kaylin. “Don’t you dare abuse this girl in any way, shape, or form.” “She won’t,” Mayani said before Kaylin could respond. “Because she knows that if she does, we’ll just sue her silly, dump this dive, and live it up in her place while she rots in jail.” Again, Kaylin looked slightly amused, though she did her best to suppress it. The girl had spunk, and it was hard not to be affected by it. With one hand on her hip, she ran the other through her hair. Mayani’s grandmother looked up at Kaylin again and said, “Mayani’s a good girl. A little smart-alecky at times, but good-hearted just the same.” “Oh, I’m sure she is,” Kaylin said. “She’s no criminal.” “I’m sure she isn’t, as opposed to someone who made a bad judgment call.” “Does this mean she can stay with you rather than in jail?” “That’s up to her, ma’am. As long as she behaves, she can remain in my custody at my home. However, if she gets in trouble, I’ll have no choice but to arrest her and bring her back to jail.” “Oh, you won’t have to do that.” Kaylin smiled as if to say, We’ll see. “She can’t come home for two months?” “She can visit on weekends, and she can have visitors at my house at that time too, but I’ll need to know about it up front.” “How far in advance do you need notice?” Nana asked. “Well, if you can just call Mayani on her cell phone a day or two before, I’d appreciate it,” Kaylin told her with a smile. Mayani thought Kaylin looked a lot nicer when she smiled. “How often can I use my phone?” she asked. “As often as you want.” “I’ll call you tonight, Nana. And Bella, too. For now, I’m going to go get some things I need.” “Oh, okay, dear. Your friend and I can chat while you’re getting things together.” “Actually, I can’t let her out of my sight just yet,” Kaylin told her. “I don’t blame you. She has such beautiful hair, doesn’t she?” “Yes, ma’am,” Kaylin replied, blushing slightly. She followed a giggling Mayani through a small yet tidy kitchen, past the bathroom and what appeared to be her grandmother’s room, and then to her own room. It was half the size of the one she was using at Kaylin’s house—maybe even smaller than her office. The only furniture in the room was a twin-size bed sagging in the middle, a badly nicked nightstand, and a small dresser. Dolls, bottles of perfume, and books sat atop the dresser. “Perhaps Nana’s not too sound of mind at times after all.” Kaylin said nothing as she watched Mayani pull clothes from her closet and drawers and stuff them into a large duffel bag. Then her eye caught Mayani’s name on the spines of a few paperbacks on the dresser. She plucked one out and asked, “Is this one of your books?” “Yes. I’ve gotten three published so far. I’ve got copies on my hard drive, so I can throw them onto a disk for you sometime.” Kaylin put the book back and shrugged, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. “You make much money at it?” “Unfortunately, I don’t. There’s just not a huge demand for this kind of writing. There are still too many bigots in the world, I’m afraid.” “Is that so?” “Well, you know how it is.” “Oh, I do, do I?” Kaylin said, raising an eyebrow. “I guess it just takes one to know one.” “Take a swimsuit if you think you might want to use the pool,” Kaylin said, changing the subject. A moment later, Mayani pulled a string bikini from a drawer. “This is your suit?” Kaylin asked, taking the shiny pink suit and studying it curiously. Mayani laughed. “It’s not a G-string, though it is rather brief and to the point.” Kaylin rolled her eyes and handed it back. “Where’d you end up with a suit like that? It looks a bit pricey.” “It is. I won it. I win all kinds of things, though they’re mostly small stuff like CDs, DVDs, books, and T-shirts.” “Well, I’m afraid you can’t use your clothing certificate at my place. You can order things from there, but they must be delivered to my house.” “That’s okay. And if you’re nice to me, I just might let you pick something out for yourself.” “Thanks, but no thanks,” Kaylin said. Mayani went to grab a bottle of perfume, but Kaylin quickly snatched it from her and set it back down. “No. Nothing unnecessary goes with you other than the suit. Where’s the laptop?” “In the living room. Let me grab some stuff from the bathroom, then we’ll get it and take off.” “Okay.” Kaylin followed her to the bathroom and then back to the living room. The laptop was hidden beneath a pile of bills, magazines, and papers on a small, old, scuffed-up desk. “Okay, Nana, I’m taking off now. If you need anything—anything at all—you call me.” Kaylin pulled a business card from the back pocket of her jeans. “Here’s my card, ma’am.” “Oh, thank you,” Nana said, taking it. “You can drop her off next weekend while you go grocery shopping or perhaps visit friends or family of your own.” “I’m afraid I’ll have to stay here with her and supervise the visit, and it can only be for half an hour at a time. That’s just department rules.” “Or only as long as you’d be willing to put yourself out and be bored,” Mayani said. “No, that’s the rules,” Kaylin replied irritably. “We’ll go over them as soon as we get back.” Mayani bent down to kiss her grandmother one last time. “If I end up in jail, it means I was framed. If not, I’ll come back on weekends, tidy up for you, and we’ll have a nice chat. Don’t forget your meds and to call Bella, though I’ll call her, too.” “I won’t, dear. You run along now and have fun.” “Oh, I’m sure I’ll have myself a merry little time,” Mayani said sarcastically. “I’ll lock the door on the way out.” With Kaylin carrying some of her things, they left the house. A small boy was running through a sprinkler in the neighboring yard. “Mayani!” he called excitedly. “Hi there, kiddo. How ya doin’?” “Okay. I got to be Peter Pan in school. We did a little play.” “Peter Pan? How fun!” Mayani said as Kaylin put her bag in the back of the SUV. Just then, a young woman rose from a bench in front of the house and strode toward Mayani. “Hey, you. How goes it?” “It’s going okay. I’m taking off with her now,” Mayani said, motioning toward Kaylin. The woman’s gaze settled on Kaylin. “Oh, you finally met someone, huh?” she said playfully, her voice loud and scraggly. “Uh, well, no. She’s just a friend.” “And just your type, too. Way to go, girl.” Kaylin had reached the driver’s door, facing the other house, but had heard everything. “I’ll see you around soon,” Mayani said, heading for the passenger door. “Have fun. I know you like ’em tall and dark. I’m so happy for you. She’s way good-looking.” “Yes, she is. But she’s not very nice.” They got into the SUV, and Mayani placed her things on the floor by her feet as her neighbor walked back toward her son, looking confused. Without a word, they buckled up, and Kaylin backed out of the driveway. Mayani put a hand to her mouth, trying to suppress her laughter. Kaylin noticed. She shot her a look that clearly said, What the hell are you laughing at? Mayani chuckled audibly. “I’m sorry, but it was funny. It really was.” A few minutes later, they pulled into the police department’s parking lot. Mayani’s heart raced. “You’re arresting me because someone got the wrong idea about us and I laughed? My God, don’t you have any sense of humor at all? This is crazy!” Kaylin calmly gathered some papers. “You need to be ID’d.” “What for?” “Because that’s the rules, okay? Now come on. I don’t want to spend all day dealing with this. We’ve got enough to do as it is.” Mayani obediently followed Kaylin into the station. What choice did she have if she wanted to stay out of jail?