Captain Vincent’s previous case had warranted such extreme measures. Everyone knew a Mary Jo Kronus Cable, every neighborhood, at one time or another, had been forced to deal with someone in need of rebranding. They were the anti-social, the provocateurs, the questionable, the uncertain, the dangerous, the uncomfortable, and they had to be quickly, quietly rebranded in order to maintain harmony. Mary Jo Kronus Cable was a young woman who had a considerable trust fund from her father’s mining operations; she didn’t work, she was unmarried, she was lazy, and allegedly, of questionable moral values. Neighbors had petitioned representatives about her, they reported all sorts of accusations about the young woman. Ms. Mary Jo Kronus Cable, they said, often arrived home quite late in the company of several different men (observed by the varying types of automobiles parked in front of her home), invited them in and was seen kissing them the following morning; she was often surrounded by other women’s husbands during social engagements; she made a habit of retrieving her mail on Saturday mornings at exactly one p.m. in a drapey, sheer lace robe and many families observed various men always found a way to also be at their mailbox at this time; Mary Jo Kronus Cable, it was reported, never mowed her own lawn, cleaned the gutters of her home, or washed her own automobile, these tasks were always completed by various neighborhood men whom, it was said, were rewarded for their kind, neighborly services by Ms. Kronus Cable appearing to serve them refreshments or offer them a snack in a pleated baby-doll peignoir or, on certain occasions, in a silhouette sleep-shirt with nothing underneath.
Then, there was the case of Bobby Edwintech, a sixteen year old who fancied himself a bit of a handy man and who had posted small flyers on local telephone poles offering to perform menial tasks for small sums. Ms. Mary Jo Kronus Cable, at this time, was having her kitchen remodeled by a reputable contractor and had contacted Bobby about performing clean-up services for her. Bobby’s parents reluctantly, it was reported, allowed the teenager to accept the contract and he went to work for Ms. Kronus Cable. The parents of the boy, realizing something was wrong after the first day, were able to coax from Bobby a rather torrid episode that had occurred inside Ms. Kronus Cable’s kitchen.
The young man alleged that Ms. Mary Jo Kronus Cable had answered the door on his first day of work in a mesh chemise that allowed him to see her breasts and underpants. She put him to work picking up after the contractors (who were not yet finished with all their services); however, within an hour or so, Ms. Kronus Cable discovered that her sink was leaking and instructed Bobby to climb underneath and tighten a clamp between two pipes. Bobby, under duress, as his boss yelled at him to not let go of the wrench for any reason, soaking wet, from the puddle that had accumulated, as well as the dripping pipe, unable to maneuver, as he laid on his back within the cupboard below the sink, claimed that Ms. Mary Jo Kronus Cable, stilled wearing only lingerie, suddenly appeared at his waist (which was outside the cupboard) without any underwear on (visible due to the leopard spot inspired mesh of her chemise) and unbuttoned his pants. When the boy attempted to object, the owner of the home ordered the impressionable boy to continue holding the pipe so that water did not get all over her new linoleum floor and proceeded to pull his pants down to about his knees. Bobby, who had been taught to respect his elders and afraid of upsetting his new boss, complied with her orders even as Ms. Kronus Cable mounted him and began to gyrate against him.
According to the report, Ms. Mary Jo Kronus Cable then forced the young man to have sexual intercourse with her on the kitchen floor, his upper body still underneath the sink and still holding the leaking pipe. Afterwards, according to Bobby, she told him to never tell anyone and that if he kept their secret, he could come back every weekend and Ms. Kronus Cable would allow him to touch her and potentially, continue their sexual relationship. Bobby Edwintech, a respectable and vulnerable young man of only sixteen, wrought with guilt and uncomfortable lying to his parents, was unable to keep his promise and admitted to his parents the entire episode.
This altercation, along with several other reported subversive activities, initiated an investigation by Section 6 (who handled the case in the most Amesian of manners). After four weeks of surveillance, Captain Vincent gave the order to have Ms. Mary Jo Kronus Cable rebranded. Although the investigators could never substantiate any particular accusations (in fact, the altercation between Ms. Kronus Cable and Bobby Edwintech was later proven to be false, rather, it was shown that Ms. Kronus Cable had terminated Bobby’s employment after he exposed himself to her), Ms. Kronus Cable had turned thirty years of age and was not involved in a long-term relationship that could warrant a marriage proposal in the near future. Along with this, an agent who had gone to her door under the pretenses that he was selling vacuum cleaners, reported that Ms. Mary Jo Kronus Cable had made certain statements of questionable moral value during their interview and had asked the agent (thinking he was a salesperson) if he wouldn’t like to meet her some night for dinner, rather than waiting for him to ask her.
A week after Ms. Kronus Cable turned thirty; she was retrieved at her home and sent away. Three months later, she returned from her sabbatical a wholly new person, she mowed her own lawn, joined several local women’s clubs, baked cookies and cakes for neighbors, met a man and accepted his marriage proposal, threw out her lingerie, and made a general apology to her neighbors at their annual block party. Mary Jo Kronus Cable is now Mrs. Franklin Ortense (Ortense Diamonds and Fine Gems); she has one child and is pregnant with her second. There have not been any further reports against her.
Captain Vincent was in his sixteenth month of surveillance on Elisa Greene and already he had observed evidence he knew would assist the WPS. But, for some reason, he had not yet turned it over to them yet. Something made him wait. Then, one night, he had heard her on the phone. The original purpose of his mission had suddenly changed. If he reported the conversation, he would no longer be in charge of the case. It would be handed over to the Black-Ops Domestic Assistance Team, Section 9. Captain Vince was not ready to be off this case. He didn’t know why, but he couldn’t convince himself to follow official protocol. He was making an exception for her, he did not know if he was helping her or destroying her…
* * *
She has caught a hold of me, I am not falling, I’ve stopped midair. I can feel her arms around me, the soft, dead skin of her arms supporting my weight. I can smell her body, her individual taste within my nose. She’s rocking back and forth, the motion of her wings, flapping so strongly against gravity. She is my bird of purgatory, I can feel her carrying the weight of suffering on her shoulders, it’s almost unbearable.
Day One: the sky is quaking with howls. Eruptions dissipate the clouds.
Day Two: it feels as though I’m caught in the grip of unbreakable chains and the wind stings my skin as though I’d been dropped into a great pyre.
Day Three: I’m shipwrecked in the air, no water, no food, only the screaming of the wind, as if it’s calling to me.
Day Four: I can see no light, only the darkness of the dungeon.
Day Five: A baleful deluge of air continuously bombards my skin. She is gone.
Day Six: The silence ends, I talk to the others. They’ve all fallen from the top floor. They’re giants, tormented.
Day Seven: I am imprisoned in the fall. She has left me, it is as though the earth is at the center and I am falling through it.
Day Eight: They are weeping, they are repenting, they are crying out for some penal collision with the earth.