Cousin Charlie (Part 10)
The captain sat back watching Charlie enjoying his meal. He knew that he had to proceed carefully in questioning Charlie and he wondered what was keeping Spock.
"Charlie, tell me about how you and Hailey met." Kirk said lazily eating his salad, acting as though he was just making conversation.
"Well her mom wasn't the best mother..." Charlie said looking at the captain. "But I'm sure she's told you all that."
Kirk picked at his plate. "It's a shame. She just said that her mother was selling her to the highest bidder. I just can't fathom a mother doing that to her daughter. She must have been mighty desperate. Parents are supposed to protect their children."
"Yeah, I know" Charlie replied. "I was pretty shocked and sickened when she propositioned me. I was dumbstruck. I just couldn't believe it until I discovered that Hailey's mom had a drug problem. Hailey looked so young."
Kirk looked surprised. "You say 'looked'? Hailey told us that she was ten when she met you. Surely she wasn't doing that to that poor child then."
Charlie cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable. "Yeah, she was. I got Hailey out of there as soon as I could. I paid for time to be with Hailey. She was selling her for twenty five credits a night. Disgusting."
"Have you heard from her mother?" Kirk asked lazily picking at his food.
Charlie paused watching the captain closely. Why was the captain asking these questions? Then again, he could just be making conversation. It was normal for people to be inquisitive. He had been asked the same questions before.
The captain noticed Charlie's hesitation and decided to play it off.
"I wonder what's keeping Spock?" Kirk asked changing the subject. "He should have been here by now."
Charlie then appeared to relax. "I guess something must have held him up."
"Well he'd better come on" Kirk replied returning to his food. "I'm sure that you'd enjoy his company much better than mine. I know you two have a lot to catch up on."
Charlie smiled and resumed eating also. "That we do."
"You know I have young nephews about Hailey's age. I can't imagine something like that happening to them" Kirk said stabbing his salad, appearing angry. "It just makes me sick thinking about it. What kind of woman would do such a thing?"
Charlie leaned forward on the table. "I felt the same way, captain. I was just glad that she is now out of Hailey's life. We haven't heard from her in years and all I can say is good riddance!"
"Amen to that." Kirk said and looked up as he watched Spock enter the dining room.
"Spock, I was wondering what happened to you." Kirk said. "Have a seat."
"I was unavoidably detained" Spock replied.
He sat next to the captain. He looked at Charlie. "Charles, I hope you found your meal to be satisfactory."
"It's quite good, cousin. Thank you" Charlie responded. "The captain has been keeping me company."
"Indeed." Spock replied looking at Kirk.
"Hailey is with Ensign Chekov." He turned back to Charlie. "She appears to have recovered remarkably well from her ordeal. You must have obtained excellent medical and psychiatric help for her Charles. She looks remarkably well and adjusted for her twenty seven years."
Charlie looked surprised. "She's only twenty three, Spock."
Spock stared at him. "No Charles, I checked. She is twenty seven."
Charles stared at him. "How do you know that?"
Spock looked at the captain and then back at Charlie, his face stoic.
"It is my duty to vet all guests that come aboard this ship. It appears that her mother had obtained several different birth certificates with different birth dates listed for Hailey as well as herself...a most curious and puzzling phenomenon. However, it did not take that long to obtain the original hospital records with the hospital's seal. She is indeed twenty seven. She was born to Justine and Hailman Graham. Her father passed away when she was two and a half years old. He was a Starfleet officer and was killed in the line of duty aboard to USS Constellation which came under Klingon attack twenty five years ago. Her mother obtained a sizable inheritance from his estate as well as compensation from Starfleet and it appears that she went through the entire thing within two years. Her father's will left Hailey a comfortable dowry that she will be able to claim on her twenty eighth birthday which is coming up in forty five days."
Charlie was speechless. He never knew all of this. He stared from Spock to the captain, totally taken aback.
"I gather you had no idea." Kirk said sitting up and clearing his throat.
"No." Charlie replied. "Even if I did, I could care less about her money-"
Spock steepled his fingers and leaned on the table facing his cousin.
"Charles, I have no doubt about your integrity. Her mother's however, is suspect. Why did you believe her to be only twenty three? Does Hailey really believe that she is only twenty three or is she lying?
"Hailey is not lying!" Charlie snapped. "Her mother is crazy! When I met them, she kept changing Hailey's age. She'd tell different people different things. One day she'd tell someone Hailey was ten and another day she was eight. The child had never been to school and she was thin as a rail! I would've called Child Protective Services except I expected them to run any minute! I befriended her for Hailey's sake. I gave Justine money. I often questioned Hailey about her life as well as her age and she just shrugged her shoulders and told me to ask her mommy because sometimes she was eight and sometimes she was ten. I was truly appalled. The poor child didn't know any better. She could hardly read or write but I could see that she was bright. I knew that I had to do something.
Spock watched as Charles shook with rage, pushing the plate away.
"I was determined to get her away from Justine, but I had to play my cards just right. I didn't want her snatched from her mom and just put in the system. I had to gather evidence and then I bought time with Hailey for a night and shipped her with a friend. When Justine came back for her, I confronted her and threatened to call the police. She was mad as hell, but what could she do? I told her I had evidence and if she called the cops on me I'd turn it over to them. It wasn't easy, but Justine finally agreed to go into rehab and signed custody of Hailey over to me. I sent her to away to school after about six months and the doctors felt that she was ready. I obtained her birth certificate and other personal items from Justine and I assumed that what she gave me was the original. I should have known better."
Kirk looked puzzled. "What possible motive could she have for lying about her child's age?"
"That's an easy question" Charlie replied bitterly. "I heard her tell one of the girls at the club I played at that she had to keep Hailey young, if she wanted to stay young herself. She said she couldn't walk around with some big kid, because guys might guess her age. She had poor Hailey totally confused and on top of that she was feeding the poor child capromorelin, that dangerous 'youth drug'. Thankfully there appeared to be no side effects from it, so I guess that's why she looks so young.
"Has Hailey heard from her mother?" Kirk asked.
Charlie shook his head. "Hell no! I know for a fact that Hailey does not want to see her mother under any condition!"
"She's about to turn twenty eight" Kirk reminded him.
"And she is about to come into a sizable inheritance." Spock added.
Charlie straightened up. "Justine wouldn't dare!"
"Desperate people will dare anything, Charles" Spock replied.
Charlie looked from Spock to the captain.
"Alright guys. What's really going on here? First this offer of lunch and then all the talk about Hailey. You know more than you're telling me, so out with it. Is Hailey's mother trying to find her?" He sat back in the chair and crossed his arms across his chest.
"Look Charlie," Kirk said "All we know is that Justine Graham is a person of interest with Starfleet. They want to talk to her. We believe that she's hiding out on Alpha Seti where you just so happen to be going for on an extended gig...all paid for in advance."
"How do you know that?" Charlie snapped.
Kirk and Spock stared at him and didn't reply.
"Oh, right. Starfleet, no doubt" Charlie replied dryly. "It's not unusual to be paid in advance. This is peak season and the hotel sponsored us. Everything is on the up and up."
" Perhaps so" the captain replied. "However Justine may try to contact Hailey once we arrive on Alpha Seti. Your gig has been heavily advertised. Maybe she deliberately misled the child so that she would not know her actual birthday and somehow will try to get her to sign over her inheritance ignorantly." Kirk speculated.
"I'll be dammed if I let that happen." Charlie snapped. "I'm going to talk to Hailey."
He stood up and Spock quickly grabbed his arm.
"Are you sure that is wise Charles" he asked. "You don't know how Hailey will respond to this information."
"Surely you don't believe that Hailey is hiding something do you Spock? You think that she's lying about not hearing from her mother?"
"She is an abused child, yet she seems perfectly comfortable with Chekov. She sings seductive songs-"
Charlie snatched his arm from Spock's grasp interrupting his words. "Now listen here!" He looked from Spock to the captain.
"I was there! That child was scared to death, hungry and abused. The first time I got her away from her mother, the first thing she did was go in the bathroom. She came out totally naked as a jaybird and asked me what she could do for me. Never in my life had I felt so sick. I was the one who made her put her clothes back on and sat her down and talked to her. I was the one who explained to her that she had more to offer than just her body. I was there when she cried at night with nightmares, spilling from her soul the things she had been through. I was the one with her when she had to tell the psychiatrist what her mother made her do with men. So believe me, she's not faking!"
His hand shook as he picked up his glass of water and sipped it. The room was quiet for a minute except for his heavy breathing.
"Charlie" the captain responded quietly. "I believe you. The fact that she has recovered as quickly as she has is nothing short of a miracle. I am just afraid that maybe because of what she's been through that she may not be able to be in a healthy relationship.
"Chekov is the first man that I've known her not to be afraid of outside of me and Rory and Luke. I don't know why that's so, but it is." Charlie replied. She was always fearful of men. Counseling helped and she got so that she was able to tolerate men without shaking, but she's never dated. Now you say that she's four years older than I believed her to be then...so that made her fourteen when I met her. Still when I think back, she looked like she was no more than ten back then. All of this is unbelievable!"
"Charlie, I know this must be difficult for you but you've got to be prepared in case her mother does show up. Can she handle it mentally? I don't mean to be insensitive, but I've got to think of Chekov too and how all of this will affect him" Kirk said standing.
Charlie looked from the captain to Spock. "I understand, captain. You have to do what you have to do. My loyalty is to Hailey. Yours is to your crew. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to talk to her."
He did not wait for them to reply, but swiftly exited the dining room.
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Nyota smiled to herself as she reflected on her conversation with Spock. Now that she had gotten him warmed up so to speak, she knew that she wanted to push things a bit further. After all, she was a grown ass woman. She wasn't going to wait around for his
logic to catch up with his libido. Now that she knew that he was in fact jealous, she knew that he was interested. If he wasn't interested, then he wouldn't be jealous!
She looked through her closet for something to wear to the concert...something that would make him forget about acting logical. She stopped at a cream dress that she had that she had never worn. Perfect! She was most definitely going on the offensive, but not become too pushy.
Her door chimed and Janice Rand walked in.
"I got your message, what's up?" Janice said. "I'm on my break."
"Do you still play the violin?" Nyota asked. "Charlie is looking for crew who want to join in for a jam session tonight. I told him that you played the violin."
Janice was surprised. "What? I haven't played in years. I'm not about to stand before all those people and make a fool of myself. I can't believe you even told him that."
Nyota laughed. "Well, I know for a fact that he's interested in you. You could slide up beside him with your violin while he plays the guitar. Music made in heaven."
Janice slapped her arm playfully. "You so bad! Why are you being such a matchmaker all of a sudden?"
"Who me?" Nyota replied innocently.
Janice rolled her eyes. "You're up to something for sure. I'm going to find out too. Just you wait and see."
"Well there is a certain Vulcan who thinks I'm after his cousin." Nyota said studying her nails. "I had to make him understand that I was not."
Janice looked puzzled. "Make him understand? How"
"Uh...let's just say I gave him a little mouth to mouth."
Janice gasped. "You didn't! What did he do?"
"What could he do?" Nyota replied. "He ran off as quickly as he could."
"Damn!" Janice said plopping down on the sofa. "Now what?"
Just then the door chimed and Spock entered her quarters. Janice stared at him a moment with her mouth hanging open.
"Lieutenant, I'd like a word with you" Spock said and then turned t Janice "in private."
"I was just leaving." Janice replied nervously. "Uh, I'll see you later Ny"
Nyota watched her as she made her hasty exit and then turned to Spock.
"What is it Spock" she said looking at him. She tried to calm the nervousness she felt as her belly did flips.
"You were quite forward earlier. You have been in my quarters taking your lessons and never have you behaved in such a manner." He stood before her with his hands behind his back.
"Desperate times calls for desperate measures." she said sitting on the sofa crossing her legs.
Spock tried not to stare at the ample amount of thigh that she was revealing. Why were her quarters becoming so hot? He averted his eyes from her thighs and brought them back to her face.
"Lieutenant, I don't understand what you mean by that statement."
She stood up coming close to him. "I think you know exactly what I mean Spock. We've been practicing the lute for months now. I've been waiting patiently for you to make a move, and you have not. I assumed you were not interested in me until today when I realized that you were jealous."
"Vulcans do not get jealous" he replied. "That is illogical."
"Illogical or not, you were jealous of the fact that Charlie was in my quarters. She ran her hand across his chest and up to his face cupping his chin in her hands.
"I think I like seeing that human side of you, Spock."
"I think I'd better leave" he replied.
"Did you like the kiss?" she said smiling. "Remember, Vulcans do not lie."
"I am well aware of that fact, lieutenant. The kiss was satisfactory."
She stared at him in disbelief. "Oh really?" She tried not to sound offended. "Well perhaps then I can improve your rating of my kiss."
She then reached up and pulled his face to hers. He did not resist her. In fact Spock knew that this was what he wanted from her. The memory of the last kiss was still fresh in his mind.
He felt her lips press against his and she took his lower lip between her teeth and sucked gently on it. Spock pulled her closer yielding to her demanding lips. She ran her fingers over the tips of his ears sending sparks of fire throughout his body. He could feel his control slipping and knew that he had to end it before things went too far.
She was the one to pull back and looked at him curiously. "Well?"
"I believe that I need further data in order to reevaluate your kiss" he replied his voice low and husky.
Nyota chuckled and pulled him down with her on the sofa.
