“That sounds appropriate. Now, is there anything else I can do for you before I leave?”
“There is one thing I’ve been concerned about.”
“I’m all ears.”
“It’s that Hunk I beat up…”
Toxic
I can’t for the life of me figure out what the hell just happened.
Natasha grabs the cleaning supplies from under a cabinet and begins working on the bathroom.
“I got it,” Vanessa says.
Natasha turns and glares at me. “No, you work hard enough as it is.”
“I guess I need to start on the cables.” Vanessa walks past us to go downstairs.
I wish I understood why the hell Natasha is so pissed, but I don’t think speaking to her directly is smart with how angry she gets. Slay’s been acting better, but the last thing I want to do is wind him up again. Maybe Vanessa can give me insight into why they hate Samantha so much.
I follow her outside, to the back of the bus where the cables are stored. I watch her for a minute, wondering how I should approach the subject, finally deciding to be blunt.
“Hey, mind if I ask you something?”
Vanessa shoots me an annoyed glance, but says, “Sure.”
“Why does Natasha hate Samantha so much?”
Vanessa pauses what she’s doing, then drops the cords and dusts off her hands. “Because Samantha is a mean girl.”
“She’s more dominant than mean.”
Vanessa chuckles. “Sure, keep telling yourself that.”
“Care to explain?”
“Look, she’s growing on me, but that doesn’t excuse all the shit she’s pulled.”
“What shit? She’s helping the Hunks.”
“Was she helping Slay when she stained his skin brown?”
“What are you talking about?”
“She had me give him a tanning product she’d tampered with and it made him look all kinds of ridiculous. I took the blame for that, actually, but it was Samantha’s doing. She came to his rescue, offering to fix it if he promised to be nice to you.”
I want to refute her claim, but Vanessa is no liar, and Slay has started acting more amicable.
“There’s just no hope of Natasha ever forgiving her,” Vanessa says matter-of-factly.
“Forgiving her for what? Playing a prank on Slay?”
“It’s not just that. Remember the bachelorette party—never mind, of course you do. You hooked up with her in the bathroom.”
“What about it?”
“When Samantha first came aboard the bus, Natasha asked me to do some digging, and I found out that when Samantha called to make the reservation for the party, she specifically asked for Slay to dance. She rescheduled the party, coming to a different city in to make sure she got him.”
