ชิ้นChîn: Chapter 10. Steel Thy Spirit

-Kate-

Yesterday

[Charlie] Im fine

[Kate] You sure?

Now

[Charlie] Want to work on your car today? :car: :wrench:

[Kate] Sure, 3 good?

Charlie looks at his clock, 11:43 a.m.

[Charlie] ok

Charlie grabs a bottle of liquor from his kitchenette, sits on his couch, and turns on the TV, the infomercial channel playing.

-

Charlie is riding on the bus with flowers in hand.

-

Charlie gets off the bus and walks to Kate's house.

Charlie is on his phone while he walks.

-Kate-

[Charlie] Got everything in the garage?

[Kate] Everything on your list

[Charlie] :thumbsup:

-

Charlie walks up to the house towards the open garage. Kate steps out.

Charlie: "Hey."

Kate walks up to him with a smile.

Kate: "Hi, handsome."

Charlie awkwardly holds up the flowers. Kate grins and takes them.

Kate: "I should have known you were a romantic."

Kate kisses his cheek, and Charlie gives a flustered grin. He turns towards the car as Kate heads back for the house door with the flowers.

Kate: "Want coffee?"

Charlie: "Sure—thanks."

-

Charlie ties all of his hair into a bun.

Charlie changes the transmission:

Unhooks battery

Removes the driver shaft

Kate sits on a chair against the garage wall, going back and forth between watching Charlie work and being on their phone.

Charlie lifts the car with 4 big jacks, leaving one trans jack and parts.

-

Early night

Kate is tired, looks at their phone and sees it's 10:09 p.m.

Kate: "Aren't you tired? You can finish this later."

Charlie, from under the car, puts the final bolts on the replaced transmission.

Charlie: "I'm fine. I'm almost done anyway."

Kate: "Almost done, as in 20 minutes or—?"

Charlie thinks for a moment.

Charlie: "An hour—ish?"

Kate sighs with a weak smile, and they stand.

Kate: "Then decide what you want to eat."

Charlie gets out from under the car to grab a part.

Charlie: "I'm good."

Kate: "It’s been over six hours, Charlie—assuming you ate before you got here."

Charlie: "Eating will just make it take longer."

Kate stands up and heads for the door.

Kate: "I'm not having you pass out under my car."

Charlie: "I won't. I wouldn't say no to more coffee, though."

-

Kate, in the kitchen, puts on a pot of coffee. On the stove, a pot of water is boiling, and a pan of vegetables is frying.

Kate steps out with 2 cups of coffee. Charlie is sitting in the lowered car driver seat, wiping off his hands.

Kate: "Need another?"

Charlie: "In a moment."

Kate: "At least take five for caffeine."

Charlie smiles, drops the rag, and takes the cup.

Kate sets their phone down and drinks from their cup, too.

Kate: "So you're a romantic and workaholic?"

Charlie, tired chuckle: "Not really. I just like working on cars. It's a good distraction."

Kate: "Distraction from what?"

Charlie's smile falters, hiding it behind the coffee as he sips it. He masks with his typical witty smirk.

Charlie: "Oh, you know. Climate change, the economy, existential dread. The usual human struggle."

Kate gives a half-concerned half half-amused smile. Their phone beeps, the timer alarm goes off, Kate takes it and heads back inside. Charlie puts down the coffee and goes back to the car. He begins to replace the shaft.

-

10:42 p.m.

Kate fills two plates with food: Mashed potatoes, fried veggies, and Salisbury steak. They hear the car start and look up, rushing outside with excitement. They watch Charlie pull the car forward and out of the garage.

Charlie turns off the car again and steps out, Kate rushing up to him.

Charlie: "Alright, it's don—"

Kate grabs Charlie and pulls him into a kiss, affectionately hugging him.

Kate breaks it: "Now get in here and eat something."

Charlie: "Yes—uhm… Captain?"

Kate snorts and grabs his hand, leading him inside.

-

Charlie wolfs down the last few bites of food on his plate.

Kate chuckles, less than half done with their plate.

Kate: "Still hungry?"

Charlie, embarrassed: "Maybe."

Kate smiles, grabs his plate, and steps over to the counter.

Clock 11:04 p.m.

Kate: "I knew you should have stopped to eat earlier."

Charlie: "Hey, I got it fixed."

Kate happy: "You did—without passing out, somehow."

Light shining outside from Catherine's car pulling in.

Charlie: "I guess I'm just really lucky, huh?"

Kate sets the plate down in front of him and leans down to kiss him.

Kate's mom enters the house. She looks up. Her expression turns from tired to a sour glare.

Catherine: "What the hell is he doing here?"

Charlie looks up confused, and Kate, annoyed, stands up straight.

Kate: "Well, that's hospitality for you."

Catherine: "I told you I don't want this in my house."

Kate clenches their jaw: "I'm just giving Charlie something to eat for fixing my car."

Catherine: "I'm sure that's all you're giving him as payment."

Kate, upset: "That's not—you know what, yes, I will be fucking him, because. He's. My. Boyfriend!"

Charlie is taken aback and flustered by the outburst.

Catherine, disgust: "Call it what you want, when everyone knows what's going on when you dress like a whore."

Kate tenses up, enraged, as if about to shout. They clench their jaw and turn towards the garage door.

Kate: "Let's go."

Charlie gets up and follows them outside and to their car. Kate goes for the passenger seat.

Charlie stands, waiting, by the driver's side.

Charlie: "Uh—"

Kate looks back, Charlie holding out the keys to them.

Charlie: "I don't drive."

Kate: "You don't?"

Charlie: "Not legally."

Kate walks back around, takes the keys, and gets into the driver's seat, both getting in as Kate's mom steps outside.

Catherine: "Cody—"

Kate slams their car door and turns to shout.

Kate: "It's Kate!"

Kate starts the car and drives off.

-

Charlie sits awkwardly, and Kate is silently upset, holding back tears.

Charlie: "So—what was that about?"

Kate: "Nothing. She just—" snide sarcasm "I'm a sex-positive trans person with multiple boyfriends, so I must be whore!"

Charlie goes to speak, but they keep going, emotional and upset.

Kate: "And who fucking cares?! If I wanted to be a sex worker, that would be none of her—or anyone else's fucking business!"

Kate: "And she's not really worried about my safety! She just can't get over I'm not her perfect little boy—" They shout through tears "—in her eyes, I'm just some perverted freak, some tainted version of the son. She. Never. Had!" Kate smacks the steering wheel as they shout the last words.

Kate wheezes, tears rolling down their cheek.

Charlie awkwardly sits, silent.

Kate wipes their face: "Sorry."

Charlie: "You're fine."

They sit in silence for a few moments.

Charlie, nervous: "This is probably a really bad time to admit I'm an idiot."

Kate glances over, brows crooked in confusion.

Charlie: "I may have heard that 'accountant' was a cover for 'sex work'."

Kate's face drops: "You thought I was a hooker?"

Charlie: "Maybe."

Kate sighs heavily: "God—Charlie…"

Charlie, guilty: "It doesn't bother me—I mean didn't—I mean I don't still think you are—or were—I just…"

Charlie defeated: "I'm an idiot."

Kate passively watches him fumble, faint amusement growing.

Kate: "Charlie. I have never been a hooker."

Charlie, meek: "Understood."

Kate lightly smirks at him and looks back at the road.

Kate flat: "I did strip for a while, though."

Charlie looks over to them, silently surprised.

Kate: "Ayden was the bouncer there. It helped pay for school and surgery."

They glance over to him and smirk,

Kate: "Completely different tax bracket."

Charlie gives an embarrassed smile. Both sit in silence and relax.

Charlie: "Where are we going?"

Kate: "I don't know."

Charlie, half-smiles: "Just driving aimlessly then?"

Kate, realization: "No. I think I know where I'm going."

-

Kate drives up to an abandoned church building with a long driveway, surrounded by a field with a few houses in the distance.

Charlie: "What's this place?"

Kate parks and both exit the car.

Kate: "An old church."

They walk up to it.

Kate: "Mom used to drag me and Dad here every Sunday. When it was abandoned, a group of friends and I started to come here to hang out."

The large door creaks as they push it open.

Kate: "Usually to do stupid shit like drink, smoke, and graffiti stuff."

They walk past some spray-painted walls. A few names are tagged, including a blacked-out 'Cody' with newer paint. A few images are artistic, and a few others are simply crude words, symbols, and genitalia.

Charlie: "So like every other teenager?"

Kate chuckles: "Pretty much."

They walk to the podium, and Charlie rubs his tired eyes.

They stare out at the tall ceiling, the ransacked decor, dusty pews, and broken stained glass.

Charlie: "I take it you're not the religious type."

Kate: "Like doing ritualistic worship shit? No."

Charlie: "Me neither. Kind of hard to believe in a god when so much bad shit happens, you know?"

Kate walks off the podium and down the walkway between the seats.

Kate: "I didn't say I don't believe in a god."

Charlie: "Oh."

Kate turns to him, expectant and sly.

Kate: "Problem?"

Charlie: "No—I mean, so long as you don't mind that I don't believe in it."

Charlie follows them.

Kate shrugs: "I don't care."

They leave the service area and into the main hall again.

Charlie: "Didn't it bother you to desecrate your church?"

Kate: "I didn't say I believe in their god either."

Charlie: "Which one then?"

Kate shrugs: "None in particular. I just think there is one. There must be."

Charlie: "Why must it be?"

Kate walks to a door at the back, opening it before turning back to Charlie.

Kate: "Because only some kind of god could make a world that has such strict rules yet so much random bullshit. How else does it make sense for someone like me to exist?"

Charlie: "Well, that's—Ironic."

Charlie follows Kate into the hall.

Kate chuckles: "I aim to surprise!"

They go down a short set of steps into the lower floor.

As Kate talks, Charlie looks down, seeing his bare feet. He shakes it off and rubs his eyes. He looks back up, tired and strained. He suppresses a yawn.

Kate: "I don’t hang out with those guys anymore, but over the years, this place has somehow become a safe space for me. Just a place to be alone and think."

They enter a kitchen area. Past it is a sitting room. There is a light switch on the kitchen wall before the exit to the next room.

Kate: "I spent a lot of time here when I was figuring myself out—and avoiding mom."

They were near the doorway to the next room.

Kate: "Maybe I should check in on the old gang sometime—if they’d even be—"

Kate looked off to the side, both about to enter the room. Charlie sees the silhouette of another victim lying on the floor. The walls around him are fake, paneled wood.

Shocked, Charlie grabs Kate's arm and pulls them back out and away from the room, scared.

Kate: "Ow, Charlie, what the fuck?!"

Charlie grips their arms in a panic.

Charlie: "Go back to the car."

Kate: "What, why?"

Charlie: "Just do it!"

Kate fights him off: "Charlie, let go of me!"

Kate pulls away, going back towards the doorway.

Charlie: "Don't—!"

Charlie reaches for Kate as they go for the lights. Kate flips them on, and both the lights for the kitchen and the next room come on, showing the next room is empty, save for a few scattered chairs and a dusty meeting table.

Charlie stares, confused and a bit dazed.

Kate: "What is wrong with you?!"

Charlie: "I thought…"

He looks down, his breathing becoming ragged, and his hands start to shake. A faint static overlay of Daniel's trailer carpet under his feet.

Charlie: "...I think I'm having an episode."

Kate's expression turns from anger to concern.

Kate: "Oh! Uh—"

Charlie goes to cover his face, hyperventilating. He's standing in Daniel's trailer, hands over his eyes, Daniel's body lying in front of him.

Kate grabs his hands and pulls them from his face, holding and rubbing them.

Kate: "Hey, look at me. It's alright."

Charlie looks up, vision obscured, through the static of the trailer.

Kate: "It's me, Kate. I'm right here, just breathe."

The view fades to see Kate's face in front of him, still in Daniel's trailer.

Kate: "You're in an old church. We were exploring it, and I was telling you about my old friends'

The surrounding view of Kate in the camper fades to the church.

Kate: "We came here in my car. You fixed it earlier, remember?"

Charlie, still shaken and breathing ragged, tries to focus on Kate.

Kate: "Can you tell me what color my shirt is?"

Charli: "…Blue."

Kate struggled to think.

Kate: "And, uhm—my car, what color was it?"

Charlie thinks back, seeing the Ranger's truck.

Charlie, dazed: "Green—"

Kate's concern: "The car you fixed a few hours ago. What color is it?"

Charlie blinks: "... Champagne."

Charlie, calmer, looks at Kate's hands on his, grabbing them.

Kate, relieved: "That's it. And what type of car is it?"

Both smile.

Charlie: "1979 Ford Mustang notchback coupe'

Kate: "Dork."

Kate puts their hands on either side of Charlie's face, giving a comforting smile.

Kate: "You're safe, Charlie."

Charlie: "Sorry—"

Kate: "No, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were struggling. Want to go home now?"

Charlie nods.

-

1:13 a.m.

Charlie lies in his bed, Kate is asleep beside him. The red static persists around his vision. He closes his eyes; his arm is bound to the floor. He looks up as a rubber boot steps over to him. Charlie's eyes open again, brows furrowed, and breath hitching.

Kate stirs and rolls over, opening their eyes to look at Charlie.

Kate: "Can't sleep?"

Charlie: "No."

Kate: "Any way I can help you get to sleep?"

Charlie: "Knock me out with a crowbar."

Kate gives a pained chuckle. They lean over and kiss him.

Kate: "I think we can figure out something better than that."

They lay close together, kissing for a moment before Kate shifts and moves over top of Charlie. Both shift under the covers, Kate pulling Charlie's shirt off and tossing it to the side. Charlie pulls Kate down, holding them close to his chest as they rock. Their breath quickens.

They stop, both exhale, Charlie's head leaned back against the pillow, catching his breath.

Kate grins: "Feel any better?"

Charlie smiles: "A bit."

Kate: "Good."

Kate kisses him on his brow.

Charlie gives a wide, happy smile.

Charlie: "I love you."

Both of their faces flinch with a mix of anxiety and happiness.

Both stay awkwardly silent for a moment, Kate avoiding eye contact.

Kate, masking humor: "Try that again, before sex next time."

Charlie gives a nervous chuckle.

-

Late morning

Charlie is stirring a bowl of pancake mix, Kate is in the shower.

Kate exits the bathroom, drying their hair as they sit down at Charlie's table.

Charlie puts a coffee in front of them.

Kate: "Oh, thanks."

Charlie: "Pancakes?"

Kate: "Sure."

Charlie sets a plate down in front of them and goes back to making more.

Charlie: "Uh—Thank you. For helping me calm down last night."

Kate: "Yeah, no problem. Sorry if taking you to the church triggered you."

Charlie sits down with his own food and coffee.

Charlie: "No. I—I think I was just really tired."

Kate: "Oh, yeah. That'll do it."

Charlie: "You seem to know how to handle me when I'm… like that."

Kate: "Hardly. But my dad had episodes like that."

Charlie: "You helped him with them?"

Kate: "Not really. But I saw my uncle do stuff like that to help ground him."

Charlie finishes off his food quickly.

Kate: "Well, not uncle exactly. He worked with my dad and became a good family friend after my dad left his job."

Charlie: "Mm. So like a 'don't tell my wife' kind of 'not-uncle'?"

Kate, amused: "Heh—They were both straight. But he definitely didn't act the part, really eccentric."

Charlie smiles: "Platonic 'not-uncle' then, got it. Where did he and your dad work?"

Kate: "Not sure, some government agency, I think. Not the army, but maybe the military, or something else. He didn't really talk about it."

Charlie takes his empty plate back to his counter, turning on the burner to make more pancakes.

Kate watches him cook for a moment.

Kate smirks: "You know, this counts as 'before sex'."

Charlie gives a nervous chuckle, his back still turned away from Kate as he cooks.

Kate's expression falls, and they look down at their coffee.

Kate, mutters: "Exactly."

Charlie's back still turned, expression anxious.

Charlie, internal: 'Don't make it worse.'

Kate, disappointed, stands, grabbing their bag and keys.

Kate: "I need to get going."

Charlie glances back: "Oh… Alright."

Kate, light smirk: "I have a client to get to."

Charlie looks confused for a moment.

Charlie: "Oh, you're joking."

Kate: "Accountants have clients, too."

Charlie, embarrassed: "Right."

Kate snorts, amused, as they leave.

-

Evening

Charlie is lying on his couch. On the coffee table is a single empty shot glass, an open car magazine, and his phone. The TV is on, infomercials are playing. Charlie is not paying attention to it. He stares at his two-thirds complete ring finger and rubs it with his other hand. The two pieces slip off from the knuckles, then snap back on.

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