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She could not have been older than her mid-thirties. Her eyes were hazel and her lips were dry. He couldn't remember if Barty's eyes were like hers or not. After he salaamed before her, he wondered if had been offensive. She was either a beautiful older female, or a young one aged beyond her years.

"I'm Domdasa-de-Chero. You're Barty's mom, aren't you?" [1]

A wistful gaze passed over her face. "You're very strange, yana-Domdasa." She looked him up and down once. "You've been gone for a long time."

The cup that Chero had been holding shattered in his grip. "You remember me?"

He looked down with curiosity as a server came unbidden to clean the mess. The semblance of normality made the fox quickly forget what she had witnessed. "No, but I can see you're not from here. None of the land is in your skin."

Chero turned his head and examined her more carefully. In the afternoon light, there was a slight tinge of yellow along her face and in the wrinkles of skin along her paws made dry by years in the desert. She wore two white rings on her middle right finger. "I'm sorry tahn-yani-sen," he said. "I used to play with Barty." [2]

Her face lit up beaming. "You did?"

He nodded. "There were a few sak who disappeared that year. I knew another."

"Of course you did, everyone did. Over a hundred and twenty went missing in this district," she said. Her accent was smoothed with the local inflections of slurred constants. "Was it a cousin? Or a sister?"

Chero clenched his fist so hard his claws cut into his palm. "No yani-sen...someone else."

"The police were useless then," she continued bitterly. "Finally, one night, a few months after Batheki was gone..." She choked. Then she held her head up and visibly brough herself back to focus by gripping an invisible rein in front of her. "...When Ya-Sunden's two daughters went missing, we'd had enough. Many of us spent nights in prison for what we did afterwards, but none of us have regrets. We got the girls back."

"What happened?"

She smiled proudly. "All of us in compound pooled every piece of money and fuel we had. Just like that, no waiting, no discussion. Then we went on a hunt." She held her head up as if she could still see her prey in front of her. "We abandoned our homes and left our doors open. We'd already been robbed of our peace of mind, so our possessions meant nothing. So we found the kidnappers, we caught them. Yan-Sooni, you would never believe she had such power, she was already so old, but she jumped into the truck and dragged the captors all by herself."

She exhaled and steeled herself again. Her wistful gaze returned. "We didn't know what Yi-Sunden's father had planned. We only wanted the girls back. Maybe we wanted more and I have a hard time remembering it. The night was chaos. All I can say is I heard four gun shots over the noise, and then nothing. That was the end of it. Blew their brains out."

Why was Chero so nauseated? They deserved it, he was sure of it.

"Bo-Yam-Sunden is still working on an appeal with his lawyer," she regretted. "His granddaughters are grown up and they visit him often." Yani-Crialis took a deep drink and her face became dark. "That night we sent a message [3,4] We wouldn't tolerate another little one being taken, not then, not ever. We'd had enough. And! Andandand! Not only did we never lose another from our compounds, but now we have all this. Finally. Some civilization! And a decent cup of brew when the rent isn't up!"

She became so cheerful so suddenly that Chero moved back. She frightened him.

"We have a memorial group in the block, you're welcome to join us. We still meet once a month at the tree to rally support for Bo-Yam-Sundeno set him free."

Chero could barely speak. "...When is it?"

She tapped her foot and swished her tail. The caffeine was kicking in. She looked like she hadn't eaten much and drunk too much. "I'm sorry you just missed one. We met early to avoid the conflict with the holidays, but usually the last day of the month, whoever can come. Do you know where the intersection of Dismas and Gestas is? By the white line?"[5]

The names had already been burned into Chero's memory. "I can find it."

She smiled too hard with her head held high. "Better things came from those nights. Our group keeps up the fight and found other territories support us, even if the government is a failure. The fight continues." She was laughing but tears were coming from her eyes. "Did you know he loved motorcycles? He wanted me to buy him one for his birthday so he could do tricks for the sports shows. Did you know that?"

"I think I remember."

She sniffled and finished her drink. "'I hope we see you next month. They'll appreciate your story, and we can remember."

She gave him time to write down the name of her group if he wanted to send support to them. Money was always tight, but even a friendly face did worlds of good. Keep in contact with the group, they were going to rally in the Capitol this week and would be out of communications until they returned. Chero noticed that she had a limp and that one of her shoulders was crooked under the shawl.

Only a few words had passed between them, but already she was gone. She ordered a pound of coffee and a pound of herbal tea to take with her before she waved and departed like someone who was happy.

He cradled the note to his stomach and held it there like a bandage. He hung his head and looked down at the little pencil scribble and the shards of glass at his feet that the server had missed. Someone would step on them and cut themselves for certain. He clutched his stomach more tightly.

Then Dante was in his ear but he was too numb to be startled.

"I'll take you somewhere nice, okay yana-san? It's okay. I'm here.Anywhere you want."

Chero made a gesture that could have meant anything. He put up no resistance when his cloak was draped over him and he was moved like a balloon.

The pie was all but forgotten, and it would be the last time in their lives that they ever set foot in the café. What neither male knew at the time was that, also, this was to be the last time they would see Yani-Crialis alive

***

[1] Yes, Chero does use a family name.

[2] than -pronounced "th-aan"; appellation for a widow. Wearing a white ring means that a loved one close to you has died. White is a common color at funerals.

[3] Bo -professional appellation for someone who is a master of their field. Also an honorific for someone of extreme bravery or boldness as in receiving military awards.

[4] Yam -older male; usually referring to a grandfather.

[5] Reference to one of the public transportation system routes. Either trolley, bus or underground rail.