Sunbeam

7) Coming out

"Would you rather I throw you out?" Kezia remarks, "how would that look? The face of the Birmingham police department being laid out by a niche type of young lady. Leave whilst I allow you to still have your dignity intact."

He turns to leave, stopping when Kez speaks one last time, "one more thing, Mr Campbell, don't try to play games with Shelby's, I can assure you that you will not win. We're a competitive bunch."

Kez grabs a clean cloth and the bottle of whiskey from the shelf, tipping some of the liquor onto the cloth before wiping the blood from her cheek. She had to stop herself from doing something stupid. She needed someone that would stop her from doing something stupid. Her gun was looking too tempting. Following Campbell down one of the dingy alleys and putting him down like a lame horse was all too tempting.

She needed Ada. Her Chakano. Star. When Kez was young, she was going down a bad path. Worse than what she's ended up with now. Ada pleaded with her, helped her get back on track. She probably saved Kez's life. Ada guided her home, like a star shining against the darkness Kez was getting involved in.

Kez clenched her fist, and then pinched the bridge of her nose. Stepping away from the gun, walking out of the store, closing up before storming home to find her younger sister.

"You're in a good mood," Ada teases, opening her bedroom door when Kez knocks, "can I come in?"

"Of course, what's wrong?" Ada queries.

"I ran into Campbell," Kez states, "the new copper."

"Oh, so did Arthur, you got off a lot better than he did though," Ada hums.

"Don't tell me that," Kez responds, "I almost followed him back to the station, revolver in hand. I don't need another reason to blow his brains out."

"That wouldn't have been your smartest idea," Ada says, "what'd he say to get under your skin?"

"Ada, I'm a lesbian," Kez blurts out.

"Like women?"

"Yes women," Kez confirms.

"Okay," Ada nods.

"Okay?" Kez repeats. Ada was normally quite dramatic. It wasn't the reaction she was expecting.

"Okay... it's nothing you can control, Kez, I don't not care, it doesn't change anything between us," Ada states.

"Campbell knows, I don't know how he knows, but he knows," Kez tells her, "he called me something."

"And he hit you," Ada adds.

"I'm very comfortable with who I am, but when it's used as a threat to throw me in jail, I'm not okay with that," Kez explains.

Ada nods supportively, "you shouldn't be okay with that, nobody should be okay with that."

"I came to you, Chakano, because I didn't want to do anything stupid that would give them a viable reason to throw me away," Kez states.

"It's good you came to me," Ada says, "I'm glad you came to me, and I'm glad you trust me with your secret."

"It's not a secret," Kez replies, "I might not have stated it explicitly, but you've never seen me with a boyfriend, never seen me show any interest in a man. I don't hide it, I just shield the person I'm with because they're not comfortable telling people. In this family, they'd want information about my life, you know what it's like to have no sense of privacy. If you told them you had a boyfriend, they wouldn't stop until they knew his name. I didn't want to be under a microscope so I can protect the women I've been with."

"If you don't mind me asking, who else knows?" Ada questions.

"Tom, Tess, and Bea," Kezia lists.

"... if you get a girlfriend, you'll tell me, right? I won't tell, and I won't snoop, I just want to know you're happy," Ada pleads.

"You won't tell? You tell Bea everything," Kezia responds.

"If she knows that you're a lesbian, it won't hurt if she knows you have a girlfriend," Ada says.

"Fine, I'll tell you if it happens, but don't expect it to be for a while," Kezia states.

"Oh, I'd love to see you in love, Kez," Ada squeals, hugging her sister, "I'd love to see you happy."