Oh I’m sure
No harm will come to you no more
Cause I find myself in your hands
Don’t you be so hard on yourself
Previously…
Gabriella walked up from behind. She wrapped her arms around Andy.
“It’s okay, Baby.” Andy felt lost. And scared.
“We’re gonna be okay. Just not today.” While Andy was on the verge of actually envisioning the reality of the someday aspects of her mother’s words, the cold truth of the immediate hit her hard, and she sobbed. Not a girl friend. Not a girl? Not THE GIRL. Just what was Andy?
But really, it wasn’t all about what Andy was. It was all about who Andy was. And the next few days would help Andy discover the answer that would forge a lifetime of definition...
A few weeks later in Wharton, New Jersey…
The room was plain, almost Spartan. Andy had acquiesced and added an old grayish-brown leather love seat.
“Now that we’ve moved in, you need a place of your own that’s more than just for sleeping,” Gabriella had encouraged. Andy was seeing Ellen more frequently, and while both had declared a moratorium on sex, cuddling seemed to be strengthening their relationship. An amalgam of Andy’s connection with THE GIRL and her need to be in her own world where she at least had a say in what she wanted. After months of sex with Jackie, she realized she had been expecting of Ellen exactly what she realized Jackie demanded of her.
“Andy?” Gabriella called from the kitchen. A few moments later Andy had wended her way through the still unpacked boxes. Gabriella smiled and patted the chair next to hers at the table. While her expression was inviting, her body language almost seemed to scream ‘warning!’
“You want some coffee?” She pointed Andy in the general direction of the newly-purchased coffee make sitting on the counter. After a few seconds Andy was seated with mug in hand and a fearful grimace on her face. He glanced at the papers on the table.
“The judge…. He ruled on a new petition.”
“Dad can’t…” She stammered.
“Because of your diagnosis, the judge doesn’t consider you to be emancipated.”
“That’s not…”
“Fair?” Gabriella asked.
“Not scientific. I’m not delayed,” Andy preached to the one-woman choir in her emotional balcony. She hated that any discussion seemed to include her as-nebulously- undefined ‘disorder.’ Autistic screamed FREAK, which was not only ignorant but hurtful to a girl already dealing with a world of neglect and sorrow.
Almost like THE GIRL, she was seen more for what her peculiarities helped her accomplish rather than being seen just as another girl with issues and strengths and weaknesses like any other kid her age.
“Poppa George is pretty sure this won’t stick,” Gabriella said, referring to her father George Patrillo, Andy’s attorney grandfather.
“But…”
“Until we can get this fixed, your father…”
“No,” Andy stood up and scaled the half-empty coffee mug across the kitchen, shattering against the far wall. Gabriella resisted the frustrating temptation to remind Andy of how such behavior might, however erroneously, confirm the judge’s opinion.
“Fuck… Maybe we can get Dr. Chung to come up with Andipatrillo Syndrome. Or maybe Pretty-much Distracted Disorder,” the girl shook where she stood, crying loudly. Gabriella stood up and hugged the girl.
She didn’t have the heart to tell Andy that her father was demanding full custody, or that the judge was a personal friend and abuse enabler of her ex’s side of the family.
“We WILL be okay!” She said it with as much strength she could muster, but in a minute both Patrillo women were weeping without care. Time enough in just a short while to fight, but in that moment, their tears were not only from outrage but from a commonality that Gabriella had long ago recognized but now was apparent to Andy. She had things to deal with. She had issues to overcome, perhaps only a bit more than her neuro-typical friends. But now Andy was finally able to know for certain that she indeed was a girl….
Stockholm...
Never win and never lose
There’s nothing more to choose
Between the right and wrong
Nothing lost and nothing gained
Still things aren’t the same
Between you and me
“Just what is it I can do” Mikael waved to get Lizabeth’s attention. She raised her head slightly and smiled.
“A Happy Meal at one time, Mikke, but maybe just a Korbel from the fridge?” She lowered her head, not waiting for a response. A moment later he reappeared with a bottle and a small glass of beer. He placed it carefully away from the computer but still within reach.
“Oooh. A glass. Nice touch of elegance.” She returned her attention to the laptop and spat out a curse.
“FuckerLundquist has some prick judge covering his ass!” She reached blindly for the beer, knocking the glass over. She stood up and grabbed a newspaper and quickly blotted the beer. Mikael held back, reluctant to invade where uninvited. She turned ad revealed a face struggling between sadness and rage.
“Just like my fucking father. How many girls?” She fell prey to her own curse as the faces of the girls from the folder flashed before her eyes. Mikael moved cautiously and held his arms open just a bit. She stepped close and accepted the proffered hug. Mikael went to stroke her hair, but there was always the risk of being too kind with Lizbeth. A few moments later she pulled back and wiped her face with her sleeve.
“I should leave you to this,” Mikael said, pointing to the laptop.
“I changed my mind. Thai. Next block over.” He nodded and she actually blew him a kiss. The vestiges of attraction still occasionally inserted themselves even as their professional relationship was waxing. A moment later he was gone.
“Let’s see, Judge Fuckingbastard? What do you like to watch?” The shadow program quickly revealed the Honorable Judge Anton Povelsson’s search history, leaving Salander downing the remainder of the bottle of beer in semi-euphoric relief...
Wharton
I keep a close watch on this heart of mine
I keep a close watch on this heart of mine
I keep a close watch on this heart of mine
“Andy? You okay?” The petit girl sat on the leather couch, staring at the mostly sleeping form of her girlfriend.
“I don’t know what to do, El…” She sighed. Ellen hopped off the couch and lay down on the bed.
“No, El.” The words were soft; a request rather than a rebuke. Ellen rubbed Andy’s back.
“I know. I just figure since I could use a hug, you could as well?” The closer the date for the hearing became, the more vulnerable Andy felt. And the back rub did nothing to help her resist. She turned to Ellen and before long each was crying enough to send a small river of mascara onto the cream colored bedspread below.
Later...
“Your Grandfather has a few ideas, but he needs some help.” Gabriella winked, but not at Andy. Ellen looked up from the game on her laptop and waved her left hand.
“Just let me get through this….” She paused as the screen seemed to glow like a kaleidoscope.
“Level. Whatcha need?” She smiled broadly It was no secret that Andy was disappointed that her gifting did not include a mastery of the internet, something that her Net-savant girlfriend practically oozed. Andy was, however, destined to become the next great paleontologist, if her professors at NYU were on target. Nevertheless, Gabriella paused and pointed to The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nes DVD lying on Andy’s desk.
Andy raised an eyebrow in question, wondering what her mother was thinking. Gabriella caught the expression and laughed softly.
"Like Anneke tells Lisbeth just before they go to court, Var bara dig själv!" Andy tilted her head in question u ntil Gabriella continued,
"It means 'just be yourself,' babe."
Lisbeth’s apartment…
If Mimmi Wu was anything to Lsabeth, she was a constant support without the accompanying guilt attached to Lizabeth’s relationship with Mikael. It just was what it was, with zero strings attached, including heartstrings. She rolled over and nibbled Lizabeth’s ear, evoking an uncharacteristic coo. Sex had almost been a bulwark against any invasion of real emotion, but the cracks in the wall were growing; certainly not enough for a torrent, but with enough relief for an oddly-welcome attachment that wandered occasionally away from the physical.
“You want me to go?” Mimmi asked as she sat up.
“Actually, no?”
Lisabeth was surprised by her reply. Her worlds seldom collided, but in those recent times, life had gotten violent for those around her. Mimi’s continued presence after that helped Lizabeth see that Task Salander and Purely Physical Salander could actually co-exist. Of course she did manage to fling a book past Mikael’s head when he talked about self-integration. Whatever was going on, Lizabeth was content with whatever changes in her might come sans any explanation. Too many people for too long tried to figure her out when all she wanted was just to be herself.
“Maybe order in Pizza?” She leaned back and drew Mimi into a very long kiss. For a variety of reasons, the night would prove to be highly satisfying...
Zelda Zonk Hairdressers, Jefferson Township, New Jersey…
“We don’t get much call for this, but I just love it…” The stylist tapped the rat tail comb against her cheek and smiled at the girl in the mirror. Not as long as she’d have preferred, but the hair was definitely going to attract attention, The best way to get seen for who she was demanded dressing exactly how she might in her monthly on-campus visits to the city.
“Dr. Patrillo, I presume?” Gabriella sat down in the vacant styling chair to Andy’s right, pushing it around in a circle like a little girl. Gone were her dark makeup and clothing, replace by modest makeup and attire more suited to a Sunday School teacher than a freelance and free spirit journalist. Better that she appear just as a contrast to Andy’s almost over-the-top punky Goth look. Ellen, however, almost looked like a twin to Lizabeth save for pink spiky hair instead of black. In for a penny?
“I sent a copy to Poppa George and one to the guy at the courthouse. Here’s another copy, but it’s in the Cloud just in case, okay?” Gabriella stepped close and hugged Ellen, leaving Andy feeling almost left out. Ellen turned around and walked straight to Andy’s chair and kissed her. She actually hummed a few bars from the Star Wars them before adding, “For Luck.”
Gabriella pointed to the exit and spoke.
“It’s nine. The hearing is at 11, so we have plenty of time, but I want to be sitting in court when your father walks in.”
“You still don’t hate him, do you?” Andy sighed, but shook her head.
“Why can’t I hate him, Mom?”
“Because you don’t have it in you. And I thank whatever god… “She paused. It wasn’t a wave of new-found religion so much as a small hope in a long forgotten faith.
“I thank God for that. And I am so proud of you.” She half-smiled before opening the salon door. As the girls approached the exit, she laughed softly and spoke.
“Let’s go kick some ass?”
The office of Nina Twardoska, SVT -1..
The woman sat at her desk with her office door closed. She was about to get up to leave for home when the alert for her email chimed. She opened it up to reveal four new emails, the first two of which were messages from her realtor. She shook her head and decided to open them up on her home laptop. The third was from her ex-husband, which she immediately deleted. The most recent was from 'LundquistLiar", and the accompanying subject line said ‘LINK to secure website.” She opened the message and discovered the following:
“The Lundquist matter can be resolved by accessing this website through a burner phone in your station mailbox. DO NOT open the link with any other device.” She stared at the screen and noticed the link at the bottom of the message sans the dot.com suffix. She copied the address on a post-it and walked to the outer office where she discovered a near tablet-sized android phone with the password ‘getthebastard’ written on a piece of paper taped to the back.
She quickly reached the website in question. The background was black, with the title, Hell in white. Nina hesitated until she remembered that only the burner phone in her hand was online with the site. She moved the cursor over the internal link and tapped once. In mere seconds, photos of nude teenage girls were revealed, albeit heavily edited. A popup announced that the originals could be found on at least four computers owned by David Lundquist, CFO, NordeaBank, Denmark and Judge Anton Povelsson.
Accompanying the corresponding URL’s were links to three shell businesses owned by Lundquist with interests in a least two ongoing civil projects whose import clearance hearings were presided by Judge Povelsson. The screen continued to open up windows that displayed documentation to back up the information about the two men. She paused and blew out a breath in near relief.
Nina had only used the words twice in her life. First in anger and hurt when she learned that her husband was cheating on her with at least three women across Sweden and Denmark. The second time was actually an almost an ecstatic utterance when her attorney informed her that her now ex had actually invalidated the pre-nup the insisted she sign, leaving her with only a nose for news as a reason to keep working.
She stared at the screen, laughed once, and shook her head and said,
“Helvete!”
And from only sixty or so meters away, a solitary figure sat on the Harley parked across the street from the station. She looked up at the office building and tilted her head at the phone in her hand, speaking in a near whisper,
”Jävla ja!”
I still hear your voice at night
When I turn out the light
And try to settle down
But there's nothing I can do
'Cause I can't live without you
Any way at all
To be concluded…
Lisbeth Salander and other characters created by Stieg Larsson
Close Watch
Words and music by John Cale
Performed by Agnes Obel
Comments
Get the Bastards!
Wow Drea, you've totally nailed the character of Lisbeth Salamanders!
I'm loving the way the two stories parallel each other but not exactly...
Andi's troubles aren't quite on the level of a Millenium Trilogy technothriller
but they're bad enough, and I'm really hoping she can pull a Lisbeth and somehow
get the goods on her Dad and his little cabal of powerful but corrupt men
so she & Gabriella (and Ellen) can be free of their manipulations...
I'm kind of sad this is only gonna be a three-parter,
but there's a whole world of wrongs that need to be righted;
(like say... Andi's new college covering up rapes)
which gives me hope for a sequel!
~hugs, Veronica
And remember...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifLqzLEB3E0
coming down to the wire
will they be able to save Andy?
I'm Sure They Will
Get the bastard! And the judge too.
Hand in the cookie jar
Oh, my, the judge and father not only teamed up in questionable business adventures but sorid personal activities. Wonder how both will react when all the information comes to light during the hearing?
The judge will have to recuse himself and father will have to drop his demands. Of course when the authorities get the information neither will want to worry about Andy. They'll be too busy with their own lawyers.
Others have feelings too.