All is going well until the screen door of the house slides open with a screech. It needs some oiling, clearly. A snide voice greets them, absent of friendliness. “Well, well, well. Look who it is. Miss Uptown Fucking Gold herself. Gracing us with her champagne presenceagain.”
Oh, no. I almost forgot about him, Minnie thinks with dismay.
Her stomach drops a bit, hearing that voice. How could she forget about this roommate?Red. The nasty, sneering tone. The way he looks at her like she’s an unwanted problem. It’s almost as if he looks down on her just so she can’t look down on himfirst.
Marlin stiffens and his friendly face turns sharp, eyes glinting. He points his tongs at the new arrival to the cookout, saying firmly, “Don’t be starting that shit in front of my grill, Red. I will snap you like a crack pipe.”
Chase and Gage snort with laughter. “You know he will,” Chase adds. He leans closer to Minnie, beer heavy on his breath, saying, “Minnie, have you met Red? He’srealnice.”
Unfortunately, is the first thing on the tip of her tongue, but Minnie has manners. “We’ve met briefly in passing,” she says instead, trying to keep the peace. There’s absolutely nothing she likes about the red-headed man. He was ill-tempered and hateful the first time she laid eyes on him. Oh, the awful things he said to her!
The lanky douche in question steps outside, closing the screen door with a horrid screech.
“Didn’t I tell you to WD40 that stupid thing?” Chase winces, placing a hand over one of his ears. He shoots an accusing glare Red’s way.
“Do it yourself if ya want it done, Chaser.” Red lights a cigarette, cupping a hand around it as he does so, the tattooed lettering on his fingers reading F-U-C-K in vulgar bold. He blows out the smoke and goes over to the grill asking Marlin about the timing for the meat to be done.
“Is it bad that I forgot about him?” Minnie whispers the words in Gage’s ear. He snorts with amusement.
“You know what? Some days,” Gage whispers back to her. “I wish I could forget I know him, too.”
They share a conspiratorial smile. It brings her relief to know that the awful man isn’t a close friend of his. That would somehow make it worse if he were. Chase and Marlin make sense, but Red? Not at all.
Mercifully, Red remains by Marlin, helping with the plates and such for the meat, leaving Minnie to converse with Gage and Chase. Despite Red not engaging with her, she can still feel a certain tension, a certain dislike just oozing from him in her direction.
She knows people from Harrow’s Row often hold immense dislike for those from Uptown Gold, but this isobnoxious. Red is an absolute turd in her esteemed opinion.Grow up, jerkface, she finds herself thinking.
When dinner is served, Marlin gestures to the steaming hot chicken on Minnie’s plate, asking, “How is it? Best chicken you ever had? Don’t be shy now, girlie.”
Itisquite possibly some of the best chicken she’s had. Grinning, Minnie politely finishes chewing before she answers, dabbing her mouth with a napkin. “It’s really good, Marlin. I’m glad you invited me over; this is lovely.” He smiles, quietly soaking in her praise.
“I like her. She’s sweet,” Chase says offhand to Gage. “It’s like she craps sunshine out every end.”
Gage makes a face, talking around his full mouth. “Nice image, man.”
There’s only one person who doesn’t seem onboard with being friendly at the dinner table. Red’s pale eyes narrow briefly as he continues to stare at her in an unnerving way. It’s almost like he’s trying to see something, just out of reach. A piece of knowledge that he can’t grasp. “Ya know, there’s somethingabout you that’s fucking familiar, now that I’m looking at you in the sunlight. I can’t place it. Why are you familiar?”
Minnie’s stomach drops. Gage looks up sharply from his plate. His reaction is so sudden that Minnie doesn’t understand it.
“…Red.” Gage’s tone is underscored with warning.
Chase tilts his head to the side, trying to focus through his alcohol gaze. “How do you mean? What’s familiar, Red? She look like some girl you jizz to on the porn hub?”
Red seems intent on ignoring whatever either man is dishing. He points a finger at her face, squinting. “Naw, seriously, I’ve fucking seen her before, and I don’t mean in this house. I just can’t picture where-”
Oh, please, no, Minnie finds herself thinking miserably.Don’t say it, you big hateful jerk.
“Red,” Gage snaps, voice dipping into a malicious growl that makes the hair stand up on the nape of Minnie’s neck. He knows she hates it when people bring up the hostage scenario. “Shut your trap before someone does it for you.”
“There’s a lot of blonde girls out there, Red.” Chase rolls his eyes, not catching on to Gage’s growing aggression. Marlin sees it, though, his expression becoming contemplative as he looks at Minnie.
Here it comes, Minnie thinks remorsefully.
Red snaps his fingers and sneers victoriously, disregarding Gage entirely. “That’s it. I know what it is. Those big doe eyes and glasses. You’re Minerva Fray.” His sneer grows wider, malice glittering in his pale blue gaze. “The Abducted Girl.” He looks at her, as if he can see a scared, crying fifteen-year-old sitting in front of him. She’d been in the news plenty, after all. After a pause, helaughs.
Hearing those words spit from his hateful mouth makes Minnie wither inside. She’ll never escape that moniker, will she?It’s an awful title that will follow her like a bad joke her entire life. She’ll never beanyone else.
Chase seems to pale under his alcohol flush, eyes darting back to Minnie.
