Free Blood in the Water (Kairos) by Catherine Johnson Page A

was mad at you for a long time for leavin’ us.  It felt like that guy you hurt was worth more to you than us. That you were prepared to leave us all that time just to beat him up.  That really hurt me, Daddy.  It was so hard sometimes with those girls at school always sayin’ how you were a deadbeat and a criminal and I knew you weren’t an angel but I hated to hear them say that.  And they only ever wanted to come round to the house to be nosey and then they’d make fun afterwards.”
     
    She felt the release of finally letting go of the pain of all those years, but doing so cut her like a knife as she knew that her words would bring agony.  Ashleigh had to stop to swallow the sobs that were building.  Her father, however, was letting his tears run freely down his face as he stepped over to her and folded her in his arms.  The effect of the embrace was lost a little by his attempts not to crush this delicate thing they’d dressed her up as and that made Ashleigh’s soul hurt just a little more.
     
    “I never realized how much that hurt you, baby bird.”
     
    “It’s fine, Daddy.  I got over it a long time ago.  At least once Mama and Aunt Dolly stopped tryin’ to force me to find friends that weren’t somethin’ to do with the club.  It’s fine.  I’m happier for not havin’ those sorts of friends, Daddy.  Tanya dropped out of high school when she got knocked up, and Melody married Thomas and spends her days gettin’ drunk on vodka and orange juice before lunch while everyone pretends they don’t know about it.  I’m better off bein’ me, Daddy. I never needed them and I’m better for not ever havin’ had them.
     
    It took her father several attempts to be able to speak.  When he was finally able to force the words out, they were little more than a hoarse whisper.  “You’re so strong, baby bird.  You really do make me so proud.  I know I’ve not always done it right, but I’ve always tried to be the best daddy I could for you.”
     
    Ashleigh had to pull away and scramble for a tissue.  She was in danger of walking down the aisle looking more like Alice Cooper than a radiant bride.  “You always have been, Daddy.  I’ve never not loved you.”
     
    She handed her father a tissue as she sniffed and dabbed at her own eyes, trying in vain to save her makeup.  Shirley and Aunt Dolly would likely have a fainting fit when they saw her.  Her father was going to speak more, but the brash honk of the horn from the waiting limousine split the quiet.
     
    “That’s our call.  We better go.”  Ashleigh made a few final dabs and tossed the crumbled, stained tissue into the wastebasket under the dresser. Her father, unable to speak, balled up his own tissue but shoved it into the pocket of his dress trousers.  He held out his crooked elbow and Ashleigh slipped her hand through it and, lifting her skirts with the other, allowed him to escort her out of the house to the beginning of a new life.
     
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
    PART TWO
     
     
     
     

Chapter One:  Present Day
     
    As Samuel parked his bike outside The Priest’s clubhouse, he was reminded of the day twenty years ago when he’d returned home from his previous, and so far last, stint in prison.  He wasn’t sure what it was that had triggered the memory of that crowd of people waiting outside for him.  It might have been the weather.  The anniversary, when he thought about it, was more than a month away.  Maybe it was the spring freshness to the air beginning to reclaim ground from the humidity of the day as evening closed in.  He’d never forgotten the taste of freedom on the air that day.
     
    The clubhouse had changed some since that day.  The limestone gravel spread over the drive in front of the clubhouse building that had been relatively new on that day was showing its age now.  The window on the gable end that faced the road had been bricked up after an unfortunate incident involving some