The Devil on Kazoo

18: Dinner Guest

"Oh, yeah, I'll tell you somethin'
I think you'll understand
When I say that somethin'
I want to hold your hand"

"I want to Hold Your Hand" by The Beatles

Kathy wrung her hands together as she and Jim walked down the wharf.

"No, it's Syl and Smiley. Syl is the girl and Smiley is the boy. How is that so hard for you to understand?"

"Because you said Smiley played bass–"

"No, I said Syl played bass."

Jim threw his hands up in the air. "Why don't I just remember their names when I meet them?"

"Because that's just not the way."

"The way of what?"

"The British!"

Jim sighed and came to a stop just as they were about to cross onto the docks. He put his hands on her shoulders. "Look, I can tell you're nervous about this. I am too. So maybe we should just call it off. I can ask around and see if anyone else can run the sound for the concert."

"No. No." Kathy closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "We need someone we can trust. And even though they might not trust you yet, they will. Besides, I want you to meet them; they're my family, which makes them just as important to me as you are. It's just..."

"Just what?" Jim prompted anxiously.

Kathy looked down at the ground. "It's not like you're some bloke I'm going about town with. They're going to be more wary of you than I'd like because...well because you're technically our enemy."

"Then what do we do?" Jim asked simply. "Do we be brave and see what happens or play it safe and leave ourselves to wonder?"

Kathy grinned and looped her arm through his. "Onward!"

They marched down the dock to the dinghy, where Kathy rowed them across the water.

"So as long as your boat is anchored out there, you're legal to run your own radio station?" Jim asked, feeling as if he were being taken to some top-secret government facility.

"We're able to run a station without grounds for arrest," Kathy clarified. "It's still not legal."

"So you have to row this thing out every time you want to go somewhere?"

"Unless that place is jail, then yes."

Jim whistled under his breath. "We sure have it easy compared to you."

That's what we've been saying, Kathy thought but didn't say out loud.

They pulled up to the boat and Kathy hopped aboard without a second thought. Jim, on the other hand, had not quite grown his sea legs.

After much teetering and tottering, Kathy was finally able to give Jim a hand onto Wolgemoth.

"No wonder the feds can't catch you," Jim muttered, "it's too blasted difficult."

Kathy opened her mouth to answer, but the shuffling of feet behind her made her turn.

Syl, Bash, and Smiley had accumulated on the deck, faces like stone.

Kathy felt her heart sink. She'd at least hoped Bash would attempt to be friendly.

Jim raised his hand in an awkward greeting. "Hullo. I'm Jim Randall."