1:45 PM!
The Santee workers at Harbinger Shoals prepared for a late lunch. Work ceasing on the landscaping and interior restructuring of the old homestead came to a grinding halt thanks to Niles Gullivant and a very loud coach's whistle. Shockingly the house was still holding its own being build back in the 1700's but remodeled numerous times through various owners. Updated electrical was installed, a new HVAC system, plumbing, the whole nine yards. The roof was finished, pillars holding a balcony off of the main bedroom stood supported and kept as leisurely decor. Stairwells indoors were all brand spanking new, walls painted, you name it, all done in rapid fashion thanks to some pretty talented, hardworking Native American craftsmen. Lunch was long overdue. For many of them, there would be questions as much as questionable acts.
After witnessing Dawn Bearpaw yesterday showing off her body many of the Santee worried that this white man employing them was abusing the granddaughter of the REZ elder Newton Waterfall. Disrespect on someone's part, they just were not sure which. Until they realized just how happy she appeared to be in her exhibitionist performance. While not one of them denied the fact that she was drop dead gorgeous, it was all about word getting back to Newton that they were enjoying it. Tough call! Shortly, lunch would get very interesting. There was still thirty minutes on the clock.
Her father Samuel Bearpaw suffered over their comments as much as anybody, which tended to go all sorts of directions. Some respected him, others told him she had one sweet body, others hated him for letting Nick Sanchez insist she do the things she did. He however knew through his daughter's own words what this new lifestyle was all about. He tried his best to cope but the stress placed upon his shoulders was a struggle.
For a compulsive gambler in which poker readily settled his nerves he had tried his best to stop. With his daughter acting as she was that simply made him want release again. Sweating bullets as it was in owing Nodin Merrick money already, any new losses might destroy his marriage. With his wedding anniversary to Newton and Rayna Waterfall's daughter Wanita approaching it was all he could do not to sell what he bought her as a gift. Money given to him by Nick Sanchez. He owed this man more than just his daughter. It felt as if he sold Lillian Dawn, even though that was hardly true. Greed was killing him.
With lunch workers leaving the main house to get a bit of fresh air Samuel on the sly went indoors and acted as if checking out his work on the basement staircase. He knew he did an exemplary job already, but thus far Nick Sanchez had not even said, "Good job!" He was too into watching everyone else work or making one call after another to either get something they needed or doing business with whomever worked their magic to make him money. Factor in a rodent security system being installed all around the property to ward off poisonous snakes and critters getting too comfy in his new home, dealing with them only kept him busier. Now? Nick hadn't been seen in a spell, so Sam chose now to strike. That pest control did not work on him.
Having brought a hammer and screwdriver down with him, Sam, all alone down there worked up the courage to try breaking the lock off of that trunk. It was lying in a 4x8 section of dirt surrounded by concrete. Not wanting to leave boot prints to gauge his identity he used a gloved hand to drag it up out of the small shallow pit. "This better be worth it." He sighed as he set out to break the lock. A few good swings and nothing he was getting frustrated.
"Might be easier with a key."
"BEJEEZUS!" Sam fell backwards on his ass. "Nick? Where did you come from?"
"Nice work on the new stairs. Nice and quiet even." Nick finished his trek down holding the trunk key, along with Midnight's former collar key on a new chain in his clenched fist. Now on the concrete he stepped closer to hover over Sam and offered him the key. "Your daughter gave up her life. What was left of it is in that trunk. I intended to bury her past. Why are you not doing the same?"
Tossing it into his lap Sam picked the key up and held it in his palm just staring at it. "Micro cam in case you want to know. I witnessed you eying the trunk while you worked on the stairs. Not much escapes my notice Sam. Go on and open the trunk." Hesitant at first Sam wiped her brow with his wrist, the key up close to his nose. The stench off of it was horrendous. "You get used to that. It's a reminder of just how much a certain someone gave a shit." That was all the info Nick intended to offer. That key had been inside Midnight's digestive system until she finally had the urge and purge to shit it out. Nick could have cleaned it but chose to hold it as if a sacred talisman. It just made sense.
Unlocking the trunk Sam handed the key back and removed the lock, lifting the trunk lid. Within was the waterfall necklace in shards, the string broken, and each tear of gems was separated. "What happened to this? It was so beautiful on Lillian." The original lock key was within tangled up in the stones, he had since changed the lock to regain access without the girls knowing. Kami privileges!
"She gave it up for her new life. That was a reminder of Tom Sylver, her former master. The last tears shed over him are right there. I presume you wanted that and suspected it might be in there."
"I know I'm stupid Sanchez. Let me catch my breath here." Holding the trinkets in his hand he himself wept over being such a horrible father. "I have never done right by my kid. Never! Barely my wife. Nick... I owe Nodin Merrick a lot of gambling debt. I'm running out of time and options. Trust me I've thought of hocking Wanita's earrings and bands... I just couldn't do that to my wife. She's put up with my crap for too long now."
"Have you asked Lillian to spot you money to pay that debt?"
"No. I just... I want her to be proud of me. I gave up gambling even though I cut and shuffle cards like counting sheep at night. I sweat myself to sleep. Don't think I wouldn't have hated myself over stealing these from her."
"They're not hers anymore. Like Dawn, those belong to me. Tom Sylver relinquished his reign, I relinquished the waterfall. Dawn has nothing now. I just purchased Tom Sylver's home; she gave me the Raptor. She just lost her favorite pair of boots. Why? Boot Hill! All things die only to be reborn."
"Phoenix crap?"
"Lots of great casinos in Phoenix, Sam."
"Gee, thanks!"
"You played your hand just now. I folded! Collect your pot."
"No! Five pieces to this necklace now. Full house! Your house, not mine. I'm sorry I tried to steal from you."
"I stole from you. Fair trade in my mind. Take the neck... the former collar. Like I broke that chain... break yours. Pay off Nodin and burn your favorite deck of cards."
"I'll find another way to pay him. I can't do this to my daughter."
"You did nothing to her yet. Like I said, those are mine."
"You've been nothing but gracious to my people Nick. No, I'll find another way. Even if I lose a finger."
"You lose a finger; Nodin loses a hand. That is my promise. You can offer that warning, I'll justify it."
"He won't sweat over you Nick. He's too headstrong and powerful."
"My hand has not been played yet. Aces over King!" Regardless, Sam placed the shards back inside the trunk, lowered the lid and locked it back up. Moving it back into the dirt where it once was, he sat there saddened by his stupidity.
"What's with the dirt box here in the floor?"
"No clue. It felt like a big X to me, so I'll be burying that trunk here soon. Might even let your daughter do the digging. Makes sense for her to bury her past even deeper. Same for Midnight."
"They'll break a nail." Sam sighed with a smirk and stood up. "I can dig that hole. I owe you that much."
"You will not. Let them work for me my way. Go on out to the main road. I ordered in a food truck. Tacos! Eat all you want for free. Take some home to Wanita."
"You are something, I'll give you that. Caring but... strict toward my kid."
"You have not seen anything yet. Live with it."
"Do I have any say?"
"Ask Dawn."
