10: Foul play

Time: 14:50. Location: White Lily Avenue, near the Mayers house.

Stefan drives along wearing a reflective countenance, occasionally casting furtive glances at the girl accompanying him. Veronica loses the gaze out the window, her cheek resting on her hand. Rather than being distracted by the landscape of houses whose character and differences are marked by their flaws, Veronica continues to review, over and over again with an insistence that borders on the obsessive, the information she possesses regarding the mysterious Onyshchenko and her father's assault.

"Well?" Stefan decides to break the silence. "Will you finally tell me the truth?

Veronica faces him and gives a look of innocent incomprehension, but Stefan doesn't buy it.

"Please, Veronica, how long have we known each other?"

"Seven years"

"Exactly, seven years, more than 2500 days. I know when you're hiding something from me and when you're lying"

"You really know?" Veronica's face is an indecipherable wall. But Stefan seems to smell what's behind it, nothing definite, but almost a hunch. Maybe Jordi was wrong and the student with the soul of a journalist was him.

"You underestimate me. You can't become student council president without a good head on your shoulders. Joking aside, what's up with you and that Onyshchenko guy?"

Veronica can avoid answering, she knows Stefan won't insist for more than one round. But she also senses that hiding everything could undermine her friend's trust in her. Veronica decides that the healthiest, or least damaging, thing to do is to tell him part of what's bothering her.

"Dad was beaten at work, and also fired"

Stefan's face immediately softens and his detective posturing deflates.

"I'm sorry, Veronica. But how did it happen? Is James all right? When was that?"

"Wednesday... And yes, Dad is safe and sound. He's a stronger man than people give him credit for"

"That's a relief to know. Have they caught the assailants yet?"

"No" Veronica replies as she rests the face in her palm again and looks outside. "Dad's manager turned against him, and invented that he went crazy and that he was the one who started the fight. And there's no evidence for or against anyone... The Sheriff herself said so, it's a dead end"

"I know your father well enough to know the manager lied. You need to find a lawyer, or a syndicate. If they need money to hire, I can talk to my family and-"

Veronica leans over, reaches out and interrupts him by putting her index finger on his lips.

"You're turning this into a drama. Dad has already chosen to get over it, and so have I"

Veronica turns back to the window. Stefan sighs.

"Well, I still think they should hire a lawyer and take the case where it needs to go. But what does Onyshchenko have to do with all this?"

"Dad heard the last name during the raid... Maybe they were his workers"

"And what do you hope to gain by investigating him?"

"I don't know, Stefan. It just bothers me to stand by and do nothing... It feels so unfair to have to let it go... In general, forgetting feels terrible, as if pieces were being taken away from me"

"But, your father is probably right and moving on is the healthiest thing to do"

"Right"

"Relax, Vera, everything will get better" Stefan says and pats Veronica's shoulder in support. Veronica doesn't react, her wide eyes lie fixed on nothing. Now she knows for sure that Stefan is not infallible in identifying her lies.

They arrive at the Mayers house. The fence needs a coat of paint, the curtains leading to the dining room are outdated, and there are a couple of broken shingles on the roof, but overall it's a well-kept home, where fixing is preferred to replacing or discarding. Stefan parks in front of the garage, next to the minivan. Veronica sees the family vehicle and understands that her father is inside. The girl walks forward to the house and announces her arrival, Stefan follows her.

"Jason, time to go! Have you put on your kimono yet?"

"It's called a gi" all three men in the house say at once, Jason from upstairs, James from the dining room, and Stefan mentions it behind Veronica's back.

Veronica enters the dining room and finds her father sitting at the table, spreading four slices of bread with peanut butter and jelly. Father and daughter exchange smiles. James gets up, walks over and wraps her in a hug where Veronica's slender body almost disappears into that bulky bear. As they pull apart James asks:

"Welcome home, how was school?"

"Fine, I met new people"

"Nice people?"

"Nice people"

"I'm glad" James' attention shifts to the boy standing in the doorway leading to the corridor. "Hi, Stefan"

"Hello, Mr. May- James" Stefan must make an effort to call James by his first name, it's been years since Veronica's dad gave him permission to have such informality.

"How did your job search go?" Veronica asks, regaining her father's attention. James' smile falters slightly.

"I've been knocking on doors and handing in papers... But so far nothing official. I came to recharge my batteries, and I'm heading back to the rodeo"

"I bet the next one will be the winning horse" Veronica pats her father on the forearm.

"God willing, sweetie"

Jason appears from the stairs, white gi and green ribbon on, shuffling his feet and with a look of immense annoyance that only a 10-year-old can make.

"What's wrong?" Veronica asks her father.

"He's been like this ever since a girl beat him in the dojo during last class" James says, sits down, and starts eating the sandwiches.

"That's not why!" Jason complains, making it even more obvious that it is.

"Does it bother him that much that he's being beaten by a girl?" Veronica asks.

"It's the girl he likes"

"Daaaad!" Jason shouts, his cheeks burning.

Stefan leans down with his hands on his knees and gives Jason a sympathetic smile.

"Don't worry, Jason. The girl I liked used to beat me up every day, and look, now we're boyfriend and girlfriend" Stefan's smile disappears as he reviews what he just said. With one hand he readjusts the glasses. "Maybe it's not as inspiring a story as I assumed"

Stefan looks at Veronica for reassurance, the girl shakes her head.

"Why is everyone embarrassing me?!" The little warrior puts the hands to his hair.

"There is nothing to be ashamed of, Jason. It's natural in any boy's life to change" James says before taking a bite. He chews, swallows, and adds: "First you liked your teacher, then you liked your sister, and now you like this little girl in karate class"

Jason is dumbfounded, stunned that his father would reveal these dark secrets. Like a decomposed robot, the boy slowly turns his head to his sister. Veronica show a small smile and moves her eyebrows up and down. Jason blushes even more.

"You guys stink! I'm leaving!" The boy says and runs for the exit.

"See you at the altar, dear!" Veronica shouts, making speakers with her hands.

The only response from outside is an exasperated grunt followed by a slamming door. Stefan and James burst out laughing.

...

Time: 21:01. Location: Scale Storm Project RV.

Lucy bites the nail of her thumb, already with the varnish broken and worn. It's a habit she has, that she hates, and that stress pushes her to revisit... It used to be worse, she used to prefer to cut herself with a razor. She runs a hand over the face and sends the appeal email with the other, five minutes go by, and the response from YouTube is the same again. Lucy grits her teeth. Martha's touch, gentle and steady on her shoulder, helps her not to lose the temper.

"Rejected again?" Jordi asks, sitting on the other bunk, leaning with his elbows on his knees and his hands framing his mouth and nose. Lucy turns the laptop towards him.

"What if we delete the photos?" asks a bruised Barry lying on the top bunk of Jordi's bunk.

"We can't delete the photos, that's the only emotional and human leverage we have with the Kiratas" Martha replies. "Otherwise for most viewers they will be strange names of a place they can't even locate on the map. Under those conditions we could be talking about elves or goblins, and the result would be the same"

Jordi nods in agreement with Martha, but his attention remains on Lucy's laptop. The only thing he can make clear from that dialectical and corporate flattery is that without more accurate and verified information, the assumptions made in the video could be, in exact words: Discriminatory to certain minorities.

Martha snorts and looks to the heavens for mercy when Jordi paraphrases the message.

"Who are we discriminating against? Honey magnates? Ukrainian businessmen? 1% of human beings in the world? Seriously, is it possible to discriminate against power?"

Lucy, seeing the frustration of her peers, tries to lobby her friends and acquaintances on YouTube and Google, but the response from her contacts is the same across the board: We're standing idly by. It's as if the documentary Honey Blood Moon is cursed.

"There's more to this than politics and public relations... They are playing dirty with us" Martha comments on what everyone is thinking.

They all watch Jordi waiting for a decision or the next action to take. Jordi lowers his hands, inhales and exhales.

"There is no alternative. We will have to turn our assumptions into indisputable facts, even for the moderators of Youtube, or any other website" he says and sweeps the eyes over the faces of his colleagues. "To achieve that might require a tactic closer than searching the Internet or interrogating citizens"

"You're talking about infiltrating the greenhouses...? And the mansion?" The excitement and tension are perceptible in Barry's tone, a revitalizing mixture for his battered body.

Jordi nods. Martha looks at her belly.

"I might have a hard time getting into one of those beekeeper suits, but..."

"Not you, I'll do it"

"But-"

"No one told you to get pregnant, Martha" interrupts Jordi. The woman rolls her eyes. "You will stay here in the control room, I will enter the greenhouses, record everything I can, and try to find out what Sweet Hills Honey.inc. is hiding. If I don't find anything, we will try to infiltrate Onyshchenko's house"

"Remember what the KKK guy said" Barry warns. "It's true that we haven't seen the beekeepers have any weapons yet, but... There's a good chance it's dangerous. It would be like infiltrating Mordor, if they made honey in Mordor"

"And since when does danger scare us?" Martha crosses her arms and smiles confidently.

"Since now" Jordi declares. "I don't want stupid things... And remember that if we find danger, real danger, the kind that can cause harm to us and our families, we will cancel the documentary. Is everything clear, team?"

Lucy, Barry, and Martha exchange glances, there is no doubt in any of them, they nod. Jordi smiles.

"Then let's rest... This weekend we will have a lot of work to do"