“I think I’d requested for a circle,” I tell my crew, then glance between them. “And this very much doesnotlook like one to me.”
“Well, we’re working on it,” Alex counters. “I’d like to seeyoutry to discipline overpaid guards who have massive sticks up their asses.”
One of said guards, whose gun Alex has just confiscated, snarls at him. “Give me back my weapon and I’ll show you what an overpaid guard can d–”
“Uh-uh-uh,” I cut him off, and when he directs his snarl at me, I click my tongue. “I asked for silence, didn’t I?”
“But I thought you asked for a circle,” Solo adds.
“Ohmygod,” Safiya whispers, just as Varsha says, “Please go sit under the moonlight and reflect on what you just said, Solo.”
Confused, he raises his hands in surrender before stepping away from her. Fidgeting inside his jacket pocket, he pulls out a Cuban cigar, places it between his lips, and lights it up. As he takes a long drag of it, his shoulders slump in evident relief, and I can relate to that because nicotine may be a deadly little thing, but it sure does help calm you down.
“Did I miss anything?” Magner asks, making his way to us holding a broad, cushioned wooden chair. He places it a good few inches away from Fredrick, then smiles at Cignette before gesturing for her to take a seat. “I noticed you were limping, so I thought you might want to rest your legs for a bit.”
An expression of pure gratitude takes over Cignette’s features as a soft “oh” passes through her lips. She returns Magner’s smile with one of her own, then clears her throat and says, “Yes please.” As she starts walking over to the chair, I look at Magner, and nod my thanks to him when he faces me.
He gives me a two-finger salute, then quickly rushes forward to help Cignette settle down.
“Thank you,” she tells him, smiling again.
“It’s no problem at all, I promise,” he replies, giving her shoulder a quick squeeze before joining Varsha and Safiya, who are working on getting the guards in order.
Alex is unloading every shotgun and AR-15 Varsha passes him, pocketing the bullets and lining up the empty weapons against a tall hedge to his left.
Cignette leans back in the chair and shakes her heels off her feet, then briefly closes her eyes before letting go of a breath. I can tell she’s beyond exhausted, and I hate seeing her like this. I wish I could take away her pain because I know she’s hurting. If I had a say in it, she’d be at the hospital getting checked out right now, but I don’t, because it’s an established fact that I ampowerless against her ability of convincing me to do her bidding. I’m used to it now, just like a junkie is to a drug.
Fredrick makes a gruff noise, pulling my attention to him. He awkwardly rolls sideways, shifting towards his guards, who are now kneeling obediently in front of the armed trio of Magner, Alex, and Varsha.
Fred stumbles as he tries to rise, then, lying on his stomach, shakily points a finger at his men. “Pussies,” he hisses at them. “All of you are fucking pussies. Useless and pathetic!”
“My, my… So demure with your choice of words, aren’t you?” I quip. “Is that really how you should be talking to your pets, Fred? Where the hell is your sense of mutual respect? I have to say: I amverydisappointed in you, man.”
As one, the guards look up and glare at me, making me chuckle.
“Hey, I am on your side here, okay?” I muse, briefly raising my hands and giving them a clinical grin. “If anything, you should be thanking me for speaking up on your behalf.”
“You will not talk to them!” It’s genuinely hilarious when Fredrick, crooked neck and all, once again rolls around, this time on his back so that he can see me. “Stay away from them.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not in the business of stealing trash.” I look at the guards. “I know I said I’m on your side, but let’s be honest, guys: you hadonejob, and you failed at it. Quite shamelessly too if I’m being blunt. Referring to you as trash is as kind as I can be, trust me.”
“He does have a sharp tongue on him,” says Cignette, and when I turn in her direction, I find her studying Fredrick with an eerie sort of darkness on her face. “Treating his security so carelessly; walking around like he’s God himself, brimmed with arrogance that’s self-induced.” Her gaze flicks up to me, just as her bruised lips uptick in a sinister smirk. “Cut off his tongue forme, will you, Dor? I wanna see how he calls me a bitch and a cunt when he doesn’t have the right appendage for it.”
My hands fist on their own accord, causing my nails to dig into my palms. “Hedidcall you those things, didn’t he?” I ask her levelly, if only to avoid giving Fredrick a reaction.
“Multipletimes.”
I look down at Fredrick, stiff-bodied and panting, with his pupils darting left and right in obvious anxiousness, then cant my head a little. “Oh,Fred…” Clicking my tongue in mock annoyance, I hook the back of my shoe into the crook of his elbow and nudge him on his back. “Justwhen I told myself I’d go easy on you, your past actions came banging on the door and messed things up for you.”
He fumes up at me, wincing as he moves his neck to look at me better. “Go suck a motherfucking dick, Ledger,” he croaks out.
I chuckle. “Absolutely juvenile,” I state, then slide my hands into my pant pockets before grinning at him. “But it’s definitely more than what I expected of you, that’s for sure.”
“Why don’t you just get on with whatever it is that you want to do to me?” he questions. “Or are you incapable of doing the one thing you’re supposed to be good at?”
“Gosh, look at you – talking dirty to me as if you have the right to.”
“You love it, don’t you?” he hisses my way, then scoffs and tries to adjust his position, only to groan and give up. “You fucking love toying with people’s emotions; you love massaging your ego by downgrading our fears. I canseeit – that smug self-satisfaction you can’t possibly hide, even if you wanted to.”
