The next evening was another success. The room began to fill. Antoinette sang and flirted with the customers, fending off the more persistent with practiced ease. Mr. Pete brought folding chairs from a storage room and set them up near the stage. A few hurried phone calls brought a part-time waitress to help Flora.
About eight-thirty, a man walked in, creating a stir of excited admiration. He wore well-tailored street clothes but topped it off with a broad Sam Browne style belt displaying a control panel on the buckle. A holstered laser pistol hung from the belt. The badge of a FORCE Deputy lay pinned over his heart and he carried himself with confidence. He bought a drink from the bar, then walked over to an empty chair near the stage and sat down.
Antoinette smiled, flirting with him while she sang.
When she finished her set, she put her guitar on the floor by the stool and stretched. Someone whistled and she laughed, pleased, then stepped off the stage and walked gracefully towards the bar. The deputy rose and intercepted her.
”Hello, beautiful. May I have the pleasure of buying you a drink?” the deputy said.
She looked up at him with a playful smile. “Oui, m’sieur. I would like a glass of the red wine, s’il vous plait.”
”Two glasses of red wine, please.” He dropped a bill on the bar. “Keep the change.” He handed one of the glasses to her. “How about a short walk?”
”Okay, but I must be back for my next set in fifteen minutes.”
”I’ll have you back by then.” He offered his arm, holding his wineglass in the other hand.
They ambled along the sidewalk. “I’m Carl Royden,” he started, introducing himself. “What’s your name?”
”My name is Antoinette, Carl.”
”I never expected to find anyone as breathtakingly beautiful as you in this little town. You’re French, aren’t you?”
”Oui, Carl. I am just passing through.”
”I’m glad our paths crossed.”
She smiled back. “Bon. And now, I must go back.”
As she sang during the rest of the evening, she kept glancing over at him, flirting. Between sets, they sat on the edge of the stage and talked. He told her about his life; asked about hers; always lavish in his praise of her skill and beauty. She greatly enjoyed his attentions.
After her ten-o’clock set, Carl asked, “Care to go out with me and get a bite to eat after your last set?”
”I would like that, but I am sleeping in the tavern and, once I leave and lock the door, I can not get back in again.”
After a minute, Carl said, “Antoinette, your beauty and your personality stir me like no woman has done for a long time. Come out with me and, if you don’t like what I’m offering, I’ll rent a room for you in the motel I’m staying at, no strings attached.”
She looked up at him, head tilted and lips parted for a long moment. I have heard that one, or ones like it, many times from many men, she thought. I do not know him, but I like what I have seen so far. And, well, he is FORCE officer. A familiar glow was spreading through her body. It has been long since I have been with a man like him, so strong and confident. I wonder what he is like? He is obviously interested in me, perhaps I will join him. “Let me think about it, Carl. The tavern closes at two in the morning. I will tell you before then, okay?”
”Okay. And in the meantime, I’ll sit and look at you, listen to your lovely voice, and hope.” He smiled at her.
Later, during her next set, she finished a song with a flourish and a wide smile. As the applause died away, she plucked a note. “This next song is dedicated to the brave men and women who help keep us safe from each other — the Deputies of FORCE.” Taking a capo from her guitar case, she retuned into a minor key. “The song is called, ‘Mutant Burning’.” She smiled at Carl, then closing her eyes, she let her fingers pluck a haunting melody from the guitar.
“They say I’m just a mutant, and I’m only fit to burn,
Ne’er asking what I want from life, nor towards what goals I yearn.
I never ask’d to be this way, but now I have to die,
Because one day, some aliens came and battled in our sky.
“Oh, I was just a nobody, until the aliens came,
And hunted thru our peaceful skies and played their deadly game
Of cat-and-mouse until our skies erupted with their Hell,
And raining down upon all men, the radiation fell.
It crept into the genes of men, and there it left its stain,
Its incubus of shame and dread, its all-consuming pain.
Insane, deformed, or different, we changed under its stress,
And men began to hate and kill, the mutant to suppress.
She opened her eyes and smiled at the silent audience, then closed her eyes again.
“I didn’t know that I’d been changed until one fateful day
A mutant-hunt went down my street; a man was left to lay.
Not knowing what was wrong with him, I brought him back from death;
I healed his knife-wounds and his bones, and gave him back his breath.
My healing powers grew and grew, I could but it obey,
A healing nimbus ’round my form, I could not say it nay.
And then my wings began to grow, no longer could I bide
Within the town I knew so well; I had to run and hide.
“Although some call me Angel, now, and praise my healing skill;
Still others called me Satan’s Own, and wanted me to kill.
At last, one day, it happened, and a traitor bade me stay;
A mob of people took me then, I could not get away.
And no-one came to help me now, to save me from their glee,
They whipped me and they hurt me and they took my clothes from me,
And naked to the burning-post, they bound me, wrist and thigh,
And they threw wood upon the heap as people shouted, “Die!
She paused for a few seconds, then resumed in a louder voice, smiling at her audience.
“A sudden rush, a booming voice, and lasers stabbing down,
The torch that meant to take my life lies gut’ring on the ground.
‘This is FORCE, surrender now!’, the voice above me said.
A burst of shots, the laser’s hiss, and then five men lay dead.
Then frightened and outnumbered, the others break and run,
Not wanting to face punishment for evil they had done.
A man lands close beside me now, a lone FORCE Dep-u-ty;
And when I ask, he laughs and says, “There’s no-one else, just me.”
“They say I’m just a mutant, and I’m only fit to burn,
Ne’er asking what I want from life, or towards what goals I yearn.
I never ask’d to be this way, but now I have to die,
Because one day, some aliens came, and battled in our sky.”
The last notes died away to roaring applause. She smiled. As the room quieted again, she thought, I wonder what the world would be like now, if those two groups of aliens, whoever they were, had not fought and killed themselves in our sky forty years ago? The hatreds and the killings would not have happened. All the people in the cities destroyed by the aliens, all the killings of the mutants and the people thought to be mutants, all the people that died in the famines when society broke down and people stopped trusting each other. She thought of all the empty miles of abandoned farmlands that the trains had passed through on her journeys. So many lives lost, so much joy gone. She sighed, removed the capo and retuned back into G major.
After her twelve-o’clock set, she turned to Carl. “I want to help Flora clean up after we close. Afterwards, if you still want, I will go out with you. We close at two, but if you came back about three …?”
”What if I stay and help clean up?”
”That would be fine, if M’sieur Pete does not mind.”
Three hours later, after Pete locked the doors of the tavern, Carl took her to an all-night restaurant next to his motel. They talked and ate, alone in the dining area.
”What does FORCE mean, Carl?” she asked.
”Federal Office for Research and Control of the Enhanced. Why?”
”You are the first FORCE Deputy I have had to myself. Are you a mutant, too?”
”No. Some are. Most aren’t. When it was first set up as a law-enforcement agency, back during the Bloody Years, all of us were highly-trained normals hand picked from the remaining military and police services. When the EPs, Enhanced Persons like Angel in your song, started to trust us, some of them joined up, too.”
At last, he pushed back his chair. “Well, do I get a room for you?”
She shook her head and traced his body with her eyes. “Non, Carl. I do not wish to sleep alone. Do not rent another room.”
He looked at her and grinned. “I’ve been hoping all evening you’d say something like that. Come on, what are we wasting time here for.” He stood, dropped two twenties on the table, then seized her hand. She followed eagerly.
He locked the door of his room, then turned to her. She smiled seductively and looked at him from the corner of her eye, then began to dance. As she performed an impromptu strip tease for him, she thought to herself, Ah, that feels so good, a thrill coursing through her body.
She could feel his eyes on her, intense and hungry, and a warm, familiar glow filled her body. She undid the button of her wraparound skirt and tossed it on a chair. While she danced, she stroked her body, caressing herself with her fingertips as she guided his eyes to her charms.
He took her in his arms and she rubbed against his body like a cat, her hands admiring the strong muscles of his back. She put her arms around his neck and lifted her lips to his. He kissed her, picked her up in his arms and turned towards the bed.
Hours later, she murmured in contentment and snuggled against him. Carl is a good lover and a good man, she thought. She sighed and cuddled against him, already half asleep.
She awoke before him the next morning. She lay with her head on his chest, her hair a tangled cloud covering them. He caressed her jawline with strong, gentle fingers. “Want a bath before leaving paradise, Toni,” he asked.
”Oui. That would be lovely, Carl. Bathe with me?”
Afterwards she sat on the edge of the bed and combed her damp hair with her fingers while he shaved.
”Here.” He turned away from the mirror. “This’ll work better.”
”Thank you.” She took his hairbrush with a smile. “It smells good.”
He nodded. “It’s made of cedar.”
She ran it through her hair, then held it to her nose. “I like it, Carl.”
He dressed and packed, then lounged on the bed and watched her. She sat brushing her long hair on the foot of the bed. He shook his head with a sigh. “If I weren’t in the middle of an assignment, I’d take two weeks of vacation and spend it with you. This has been magical.”
She smiled and stood, handing him the hairbrush. She picked up her skirt and wrapped it around her waist. He sighed again, drinking in her every movement. “You are so incredibly beautiful, Toni.”
She smiled at him, then arched her back and ran her fingers through her hair. “Thank you, Carl. You have made me feel so good.” She picked up her bolero and slipped it on, ready to leave. After putting his suitcase in the trunk of the car, he walked with her to the restaurant for an early lunch. “Is there anything I can get for you, Toni? Anything you need? I’ve got plenty of money, and I’d like –”
She reached over and put her finger on his lips. “Non, Carl. Do not say it. There is nothing I need and I had a wonderful time sharing with you.”
He nodded, then took her hand and held it. “What do you want out of life?”
”Right now, to see the world. I hope, some day, to find something I want to do, and a man to share it with me. Until I find them, just wander, sing, dance, enjoy life.”
Carl glanced at his watch. “Twelve o’clock. Past time for me to get moving. I’ll drop you off at the tavern, then hit the road.” He parked in front of the tavern, then took her inside to a table and held a chair for her. Going to the bar, he asked for a paper bag and two glasses of wine. He took something from his pocket, wrote a brief note on it and put them both in the bag. When Joey brought the wine, he rolled the bag down. “Give this to her after I’ve left, please. Here’s a five for your help.” Joey nodded.
Carl walked back to her. “A toast, to the best night of my life.” She smiled, then took one of the glasses and stood.
”To love. To men and women together. To life. To you and me,” she said. They drained the glasses in silence. Taking her in his arms, he kissed her, a long, slow kiss.
She looked up at him. “This has been wonderful, Carl. I will never forget you,” she said.
”Nor I, you, Toni. If you ever need anything, anything at all, call the FORCE toll-free number and leave a message for me. Code nine-nine-TONI. Code 99 is a priority code. It will reach me, no matter where I am. I’ll come help you.”
”Thank you, Carl. It feels good to be cared for.” She hugged him.
He hugged her, then let her go. “Goodbye, Toni. Best of everything for you. I hope you find your purpose and your man.”
She walked with him to the door and watched him stride to his car.
Flora came over. “What’s wrong, sugar? You’re crying!”
She wiped away her tears. “Parting is sad, even when it is happy.”
Joey came from behind the bar and walked over. “For you,” he said. He handed her the bag.
She opened it and took out the cedar hairbrush. She held it to her nose. “Ah, Carl,” she whispered. “That was not necessary.” On the handle was written, ‘To Toni, with love. Carl’.
”Tell me all about it,” Flora said after Joey had returned to the bar.
”It was wonderful. He can make a woman feel very good.” Her dark eyes grew thoughtful and introspective. “I could devote my life to a man like him.” Her voice dropped. “I knew a man once. Roger ran a children’s shelter, and I worked with him, caring for the children. He died, and others came to close the shelter. I found places for the children to stay and then I took to the road again, to escape the pain.” Tears brimmed in her dark eyes, and she wiped at them, then raised the hairbrush to her nose and breathed in its spicy aroma.
”If there had been some way I could have joined in Carl’s work, I would have gone with him. But not without being able to share his work. I like to play with a man, but I will not live as any man’s toy.”
She went over to Mr. Pete. “M’sieur, tonight will be my last night here. I will leave in the morning. And thank you, it has been good here.”
That evening, after a few songs, she stood. Her dark blue skirt came just above her knee. “My friends. People have asked me what I am doing here, and I tell them I am visiting America. I have seen many countries in Europe, and of all the countries I have seen, I like America the best. The people are very friendly and the country is so big and so beautiful. So I wander, to see it and to love it. I will be leaving tomorrow, to see more, but I will always remember this lovely town, and the wonderful people who made me their friend. Thank you.
”And now, a song about my favorite country.”
The last notes of “God Bless America” died away and the room erupted into applause. She looked up, startled, then covered her face with her hand. The applause rolled over her. “Thank you, mes amis. You are too wonderful.
”And now, let us have a party!” She struck up a rollicking chantey with a simple chorus. Soon everyone was singing and clapping. Carried away by the excitement, she did not take her regular breaks but continued singing with only occasional pauses.
About ten-thirty, someone yelled, “Pass the hat. Let’s get her bus money!” A bearded young man stood up, holding a floppy black leather hat with a beaded band.
He went from table to table. People dropped bills into it while she sang. He came up to her and held out the hat. “From all of us, to a very special lady. Thanks for all the hours of music.”
She laid down the guitar and took the hat, taking the money out by handfuls and dropping it onto the bills already in the guitar case. She looked at him, then at the audience. “What can I say? Thank you very, very much. You are the most wonderful audience I have ever had.” She put the empty hat on her head.
He cocked his head to one side. “You look prettier in that old hat than I ever did. I think it likes you. Can I give it to you to remember us by?”
”It is a very pretty hat. Thank you, I would love to have it.” She took his hand and drew him up onto the stage, put her arms around his neck and kissed him, a long, slow kiss. The audience cheered and whistled. When she released him, he turned, raising his arms.
”Ya-hoo! That was the best swap I ever made! Now I’ve got something you fellers can only dream about.” She laughed.
”Where are you going next?” someone called.
She chewed her lip and thought. “Now that I have so much money, I think I will take the bus and go see the great swamp, the Everglades. I have never seen a big swamp before.” She turned, picked up her guitar and struck a chord. “This is a song about a swamp.”
”Lordy, I am wore plum out. And, sugar, you must be ’bout dead. Is it often like this when you sing?” Flora asked, after the last customer had left.
”Non. Only rarely does the audience catch fire like they did. It is usually like the first night. Sometimes the magic never comes. It has been good here. I am glad I stopped.” She hugged Flora. “I have enjoyed knowing you, Flora. And you, Joey,” she said. She hugged him as well.
She turned to Mr. Pete and held out her hand. “Thank you for giving me a chance, m’sieur.” He took her hand, then reached out and hugged her. She smiled and returned the hug.
