Veronica Stone

Pt. 1

Veronica didn’t notice many things, she definitely didn’t notice the Malaysian sea steadily bobbing and rocking her body. She didn’t notice her men inspecting their rifles, polishing their favorite scopes, and squeezing ceramic plates tight to their chests. 

“Babe! Babe!”

She didn’t notice that either, her gaze travelled over nodding velvet-blue waves, locked onto a horizon alight with 1:00PM sun.

She felt a thoughtful pressure on her chin, it came from a familiar thumb and index gently holding it, and with that she fell back into the present.

“Yuh alright?”, Trevor asked, the concern worn into his face. She’d been acting funny ever since they got the mission.

She sighed.

“Listen Madness ain jus’ she name, she is one ah dem feminist types-”

“Like Tasha?”, Trevor laughed.

Veronica held back a grin. Not the time. 

“Worse, much worse dan she. Find sainna do when she get hey I doan want wunna clash.”

“Tanks fuh de ‘eads up, I will”, Trevor punctuated his promise with a kiss. It was met with a solid wall, Veronica didn’t return the gesture, eyes still fixated on whatever was off in the distance. 

Actually, if something really was coming over the horizon, Veronica wouldn’t know. Her mind was in the Victoria Institution, eight years ago, clinging to that shot up jet ski, blubbering and trembling from the cold and the shame. She remembered how much she hated herself as her mind rolled over the moment, the cold metal whistle hesitant to settle onto quaking lips. She blew in quiet defeat yet right after, found the strength to punch a hole through the already swiss-cheesed fiber-reinforced-plastic jetski hull. 

Nain like yuh-

“MADN-”, Veronica almost blurted as the black speck in the distance yanked her out of self loathing. 

She glanced back frantically at her men, tossing cases of ammo, M.R.E kits and lizard-feet from the cruiser to their colleagues below.  

“Jay-ahhhm...WAN!”, she corrected herself, “Double check de O.B.A!”

“Yea Ronnie!”

Veronica’s blood lit up.

“OFFICER...WAN!”, She exploded, almost trembling.

Officer Wan, known to everyone on every other mission as Jay, froze up, puzzlement and fear shared his face. 

“Y-Yes MAAM!”

He got it. Veronica shot him a thin affirmative smile paired with a tight powerful nod.

“And wuh alla wunna stop and staring? Tink dis soap opera!? Move it ladies!”

“YES MAAM!”, the men rang out and joined Officer Wan in looking busy.

Veronica was a mother frantically buzzing about trying to keep her house in order just before the in-laws’ visit. 

Trevor could tell, and Veronica caught every concerned glance in the corner of her eye. She simply forced her lips together and fixed her badge for the 50th time. 

Madness was coming.

Veronica’s heart raged within her chest like a caged animal. She knew she’d be nervous but this level of anxiety should have died eight years ago. She was past that. Yet here she was, just the sight of the black dot on the horizon turned her skin to hot ice.