Chapter 2: Shake Yo Dreads!

When Trinity entered the house, I was gobsmacked. The transformation from plain Jane straight-haired brunette to an Egyptian goddess was profound. Her head was now adorned with countless thick strands of intricately braided locks. They fell past her shoulders and framed her tanned face like a celebrity. She walked into the main room tentatively as if daring me not to notice her extreme makeover. Like that was even possible. I think my jaw dropped when I first saw her and my eyes must’ve reflected my astonishment because I was speechless. I couldn’t even find my feet to stand from the table where I sat.

Emboldened by my wide-eyed expression she approached me and knelt at my feet. Her inquisitive gaze bore holes through my brain as I tried to come to terms with her transformation. “Well,” she said finally, “what do you think?”

I opened and closed my mouth several times as I tried to form words and sounds to answer her. “I ... um. Holy shit, Trin...” I faltered, “You gotta give me a minute...” I reached out and touched her braids, feeling how fine but sturdy they were as they hung from her scalp. I had never envisioned her as Cleopatra until that moment. Or maybe Katy Perry in one of her music videos.

“Do you like it?” she asked with an anxious tone in her voice.

“Like it?” I breathed, “Wow, sweetheart I always thought you were beautiful, but this ... this is incredible!” I met her gaze and smiled reassuringly. “You are stunning! Beyond stunning even...”

Her smile brightened and she wrapped her arms around my neck lovingly. “I am glad you think so,” she said softly against my ear, “I really like it too.”

“I wish I could be at the college tomorrow when you show up,” I grinned. “You are gonna knock ‘em dead!”

She giggled excitedly and bounced back to her feet. “I didn’t think I could sit for even a second longer, but Jenny kept talking me down and making me relax as she worked. Can you believe she did this?” She spun her head about causing the braids to fly out in a sweeping motion, before settling back around her face. “God, she is so good!” she exclaimed with delight. “And she wouldn’t even let me pay her!” She frowned at that. “I’m gonna make her a sword or something!”

Suddenly her eyes lit up and she clapped her hands excitedly. “Oh! I’ll be right back!” And with that, she dashed out the door with Travis on her tail. When she returned, she had her backpack and an oily piece of canvas that was wrapped around something heavy. She dropped her bag absently and set the canvas package on the table before me. “Check it out!” she squealed excitedly.

Curious, I unwrapped the cloth and found a piece of metal roughly 2 feet long 3 inches wide, and nearly half an inch thick. It was deep blue with wavering shades of sheen upon its multiple layers. I recognized the pattern of interwoven layers of steel. “Damascus?” I asked.

She bobbed her head. “Tamahagane, to be precise. Alfred helped me make it,” she rapped on it with her knuckle and it made a distinct metallic ring that I didn’t expect. Alfred was a retired farrier and amateur blacksmith who enrolled in the Welding/Fabrication program as a way to keep busy. Trinity took to him as she did to Gil, respecting his old-school knowledge and absorbing everything he had to share in the art of metallurgy. “It is nearly the same process that the ancient Japanese smiths used to forge the steel they made Katanas from. We took high carbon steel with manganese and chromium and folded it with lower carbon steel blended with tungsten, then we folded it ten times to achieve over two thousand layers.”

I picked up the piece of metal and looked at it closer. “Okay ... that’s actually, incredible,” I stated, impressed with the idea, “dare I ask what you intend to do with this?”

She bounced excitedly a few more times and then whirled to grab her bag off the floor. Digging inside she pulled out a ragged notebook and flipped through the pages until she found what she wanted. It was a concept drawing of a Japanese-style knife, but with a unique blade that appeared longer than a traditional Tanto. “I have a full-scale pattern here somewhere...” she muttered as she rummaged through her bag some more. The drawing she produced was of the blade itself with a full-length tang, nearly two feet in length.

“Whoa,” I said as I held up the drawing.

“Tip to tang is 50 centimeters or nearly 20 inches,” she said excitedly, “I already scored a piece of ebony that I’m going to make the grip and scabbard from.” She set the piece of steel on the drawing and pushed it towards me. “I need your help cutting it down to shape. We can’t use oxy/acetylene because it will temper the steel too much. I got Randy to help me blend some special carbon-sparing oil to quench it, but I think the plasma cutter is the best way to cut it out. I didn’t want to use Randy’s because it’s pretty beat up.” Randy was the guy who occasionally delivered the oversized items like the ISO containers, to my isolated little clearing in the bottom of a canyon. He used Trinity on occasion for various welding chores and odds and ends around his wrecking/recycling yard. In the process, she was learning to operate heavy equipment and practice for her CDL license one day.

“For the tang sure,” I countered, “but the edge...”

“I kept it thicker than 10 millimeters, which will be its final thickness. I will grind it down once we get it shaped and retemper the edge before honing,” she added.

I just nodded my head while I came to terms with the fact that this striking young woman who looked back at me like an Egyptian goddess, was suddenly more knowledgeable about the properties of metal than I was.

I sat back and stared at her with amazement. She returned my look with a worried frown.

“What?” she asked defensively.

I felt like I was choking as I stammered to reply. “Nothing, it’s just ... you,” I replied harshly, “I can’t believe how far you have come in so short a time.” I swallowed. “Trinity you are such an amazing young woman and I am so happy that you came into my life when you did...” I was cut off when she suddenly flew into my arms and hugged me tightly. “ ... you are so beautiful and smart!” I whispered in her ear.

I felt her shaking in my arms and tried to get a grip on my own emotions as I held her.

“Thank you,” she mumbled against my shoulder, “I love you so much!”

I waited until she stopped shaking and sniffed loudly. “Um ... has Rachel seen your new look yet?”

She unlatched her arms from me and wiped her eyes as she regained her composure. “No,” she shook her head, “why don’t you take a pic and we can send it to her.”

“Maybe that’s not such a good idea,” I replied cautiously, “she is due any second, and seeing you now might just send her into labor.”

For her part, Trinity grinned and blushed at the same time. I took several pictures of her while she posed around the living room. It was one of her hugging Travis, with his sloppy grin, that I adopted for the background on my phone, and sent to Kevin to share with his wife. Less than a minute went by before it buzzed in my hand.

“Hey there Kev, you’re on speaker. What’s up?” I asked with a grin.

“Oh, my Gawd!” Rachel shrieked from the other end, causing Trinity to grimace hesitantly.

“She’s something else, eh?” I asked tentatively.

“Oh, sweet Jesus! She looks incredible!” the pregnant woman gasped, “Trinity darling, please come and see me tomorrow! I have to see you with my own eyes!” Her thick Texan accent belied her tiny little Asian body.

“Yes Ma’am,” she replied with flushed cheeks. I could see the tears forming in her eyes again as she regarded the words of her favorite ‘mom’ figure.

“Oh sweetheart, I can’t believe how gorgeous you look! Who did your braids so well?”

“My BFF Jenny French, she runs the Pelican Salon on Tremont Street near the college,” she picked up my phone and walked towards the bedroom as she talked.

“Oh, she is so hired!” Rachel replied, “I can’t wait to lose this little person inside me so that I can go and get my hair done again...” her voice faded as the door closed on their conversation.

I chuckled and turned to pick up the Damascus blank on the table. I could almost see the final blade in my mind’s eyes as I rubbed my fingers along the uneven surface.

“Carter,” Trinity whispered in my ear as we lay together under the covers, “you know that I love you more than anything in the galaxy, right?”

I felt a cold weight in my gut as I sensed the direction of her message. “Of course,” I replied.

“I...” she suddenly cut off and I felt her sudden gasp as she began sobbing. I put a finger to her lips and shushed her.

“I know Trin,” I said quietly, “I’ve known for some time now that it would come to this.” I hugged her and she gripped me tightly, wrapping her arms and legs around me and clingily to me desperately. “You are about to turn 18 and I know you need to move closer to town, to be closer to school and your friends ... I get it.”

She wept as she pressed her face into my neck. “I just feel so bad!” she cried, “I love you so much and I can’t even begin to think of how I can do this without you...”

“You won’t have to baby girl,” I assured her with a kiss on her head, “I will always be here for you and you know this.”

“I will always visit!” she declared with a sniff.

“I know.”

“And when school is out, I will come back.”

“I know.”

“It’s gonna be so hard!” she sobbed.

“It’s okay sweetheart,” I replied softly, “You can do this, and I’ve always got your back!”

“I know.”

I traced my fingers softly down her back and cupped her firm ass cheeks in my hands. “It’s nothing that can’t wait for a day or two.”

She responded by shifting herself so that she lay atop me with her legs spread invitingly over my crotch. “Or three,” she murmured as she pressed her lips against mine.

My dick began swelling and she adjusted herself over me until it straightened and pushed into her well-lubricated core. I felt her body arch as she pushed herself up until her hips straddled mine. She began moving her pelvis forward and back as she rode me. She moaned softly and began twitching her Kegels as she worked herself up and down my shaft.

It was our second lovemaking of the evening and we both wanted to make it last for as long as possible, so we took it slow and just savored each other’s bodies and warm loving embrace. She slowly relaxed and lowered herself back down upon me, letting me control our coupling. I slid myself in and out of her, pressing my dick gently against her cervix. She gasped in my ear, shuddering every time I buried myself to the hilt inside her. Soon her shudders became frenzied spasms and she started panting harshly as an orgasm began sweeping through her. I timed my thrusts with her increasing tremors until she peaked with a cry of passion. Then I forced myself tightly inside her and felt her ride the frenzied wave of her climax, gripping and milking me for all she was worth until she collapsed back down upon me exhausted.

I remained buried inside her as she recovered, my only motion was the involuntary twitching of my penis as it eagerly tried to press even further within her. Suddenly my climax erupted and I pumped in and out of her frantically until I began ejaculating large spurts of cum inside her, for the second time that night.

“Oh God!” she gasped as she lay limp atop me breathing hard, “one day I’m going to settle down with a man like you.” She kissed me deeply and settled herself more comfortably. “He’s gonna have a lot to live up to.”

I chuckled and gave her tight ass a swat as I rolled her off of me. “Don’t settle for second best,” I teased her as I got up to use the toilet.

“Yeah, you’re right,” she called after me, “I should just stick with girls.”

I followed her into town the next morning and we stopped by Kevin and Rachel’s home before she went to her first class. Rachel was so pregnant that she could barely walk. I couldn’t imagine a full-term baby inside her tiny little body as she waddled over to us for hugs and kisses. She was beside herself over Trinity’s transformation. She handled her micro braids with delicate fingers and marveled at how they flowed like burnished bronze down her face. “Wow!” was all she could say as we joined them in their living room.

Kevin looked rather gaunt to me as if he were losing weight and not getting enough sleep. I pulled him aside and we went into his office.

“What is wrong?” I asked directly as he went and sat behind his desk.

He tried to appear stoic but I was far more observant than most people reckoned, and he knew it.

“I’ve been run down lately and taking care of Rachel hasn’t been easy for me,” he replied. “I will be all right in time. This has happened before and I bounce back eventually.”

“What has happened before?” I wasn’t about to let him off the hook so easily. I could tell something wasn’t right with my friend.

He sighed and nodded with resignation. “I have a condition called Lupus,” he confessed. I had heard of it but knew next to nothing about it. “It is an autoimmune disease that affects various systems in my body. It’s like my ability to fight off diseases, will sometimes turn against me and I become sick for a while. I get fatigued easily and feel achy and sore. Sometimes I get confused and I have to rest a lot. Rachel understands and tries not to burden me with her pregnancy when it flares up.”

“Jesus Kevin,” I whispered, “and you called me a stupid ass hole for not relying on you guys more!” I stood and paced around the room nervously. “What can I do to help? I mean starting now! I can move into a spare room, or have Trinity stay here until she gets a place of her own ... yeah, that is what we will do first off...”

He raised his hand and stopped my tirade before I could get the momentum to really let him have it. “Carter, I appreciate your concern, but I am fine now.”

“Bullshit!” I said, “Go look in the mirror you fool!” I strode over to the office door and called for my fosterling, “Trinity!” She appeared in a second with concern on her face. Rachel waddled up behind her.

“What’s wrong Carter?” she asked.

“These two dimwits are what’s wrong!” I retorted, taking Rachel’s arm and guiding her to one of the office chairs. I explained Kevin’s condition to her and how I planned on intervening. I turned to them as I stood beside her. “Trinity is getting ready to move into town anyway, because it will be a lot less driving for her while she is in school and working over at the wrecking yard.” I put my arm on her shoulder. “It would be ideal if she were to stay here for the meantime until we find her a place of her own,” I shrugged, “honestly we haven’t even begun looking yet.”

“Trinity is always welcome to stay here,” Rachel smiled. I could see she was already liking the idea, if for no other reason than to have another female around to talk to. Kevin nodded his agreement as well.

“I would be more than happy to help her look for a suitable apartment or townhouse,” he added. I nodded my appreciation.

“Trin and I will try to be here most of the time, we will work in shifts,” I declared. “I will come by most days when she is in school and be here to help out until the baby is born and things ... um, do things settle down once a baby is born?”