An empty beer can thunks off Red’s head, effectively silencing his crude cackling. “Hey!”
Gage scowls meaningfully, having thrown the projectile. “Fuckin’ leave her alone, man. Can’t you see she doesn’t like talkin’ about it?”
“She doesn’t?Oops. I thought a girl like her might like a little fame.” He doesn’t sound apologetic in the least. An ugly, mocking look brews in Red’s eyes as he stares at Gage. He appraises him, as if trying to unlock some odd puzzle. “You’re something else, G. You are really, and I meanreally,are onesickpuppy-”
Minnie frowns in confusion and hurt, not following the conversation anymore. What is he talking about?
The air fills with tension, as if a storm is about to strike. “I will knock you the fuck out with the next bottle I find,” Gage interrupts, color crawling up his tattooed neck. Minnie isn’t sure she’s seen him look so furious, and she can’t seem to figure outwhy.
Chase gathers himself together and pipes up in his laissez-faire manner, saying, “Gee, Red. What a super sleuth you are. Is that your conclusion after staring at her for the past two hours? A girl from the news?”
The other man makes a face, gesturing with one hand, red hair glinting in the dying sun. “You’re telling me you don’t see it?”
Chase shrugs unconvincingly and looks at Minnie, alcohol tilting his gaze. “I mean. Now that you say it…”
Gage groans and runs a hand down his face.
Slapping a hand down on the table, Red crows, “See? I’m fucking right. You just needed someone to point it out. You’ve never been very observant, though, have you?”
“No, that’s what we have you for,” Chase grumbles. “Whatever though. So, she has a famous name in town. Whocares? Stop trying to start trouble. We all know you’ll lose if Gage decides he wants to break your face. I, for one, don’t want to listen to your crying when he does.”
“Neither do I,” Marlin drawls darkly, eyes flickering with warning. “Remember how crack pipes snap, bub.”
Red looks between the men with a disgusted look on his face, scoffing in disbelief. “All of you fucking suck the big one. I’m just playing with her. She needs a backbone.” His voice turns snide. “Sorry, Gage.”
Gage drinks his beer with his eyes pinned on the other man, but says nothing in reply. There’s a muscle ticking in his jaw, so Minnie leans against him, trying to let him know she’s fine, she’s just a bit rattled. She wasn’t expecting that part of her life to come up today.
What did you expect? She thinks darkly.It always comes up eventually. Someone always figures it out; it just depends on how long it takes them.
Wanting to be strong, Minnie decides to harden the backbone that Red thinks she needs to grow. She refuses to be a wet noodle; she’s a new Minerva Fray. “What’s the grey blob on your arm?” Minnie asks boldly as she looks at one of his tattoos, wanting to knife him somehow. He’s been rude ever since he first met her, the night Gage brought her over some months ago. She might as well insult his poorly done body art.
Red looks down at the inside of his wrist, at the weird-looking monster there. “It’s a ghoul, obviously. Aren’t you stupid?”
“I’m not; your art is just atrocious.” She blinks slowly, stunned, but not for the reason he thinks. A ghoul. She’s notheard anyone say that word in a long time. The tattoo is poorly done, nowhere near as horrifying as the Ghoul mask. But, the spirit of it is the same. “But now that you mention it. I was…one of the men who abducted me had a Ghoul mask on. It didn’t look like that.”
“God, really?” Red drawls with something like mocking, pale blue eyes on her face. “How fucking weird. What a creepy coincidence. What other masks were there? Do you remember?”
Minnie’s stomach turns, her face feeling icy. She remembers every mask in clear detail.
Marlin pushes the plate of teriyaki steaks closer to the other man, grumbling, “Eat something, Red. You can’t talk if your mouth is full.”
“We all prefer when you don’t speak,” Gage says waspishly.
Instead of grabbing more food, Red stands up from the table, aggressively lighting yet another cigarette. “Whatever, chodes. I’m done with this cute family sesh.” With that, he turns, yanks open the darn screechy screen door, and vanishes.
“Good riddance,” Minnie blurts out, making the other men chuckle. “What a turd.”
“I’ll drink to that,” Marlin concludes.
Seeing Red retreat with a certain swagger, Minnie contemplates asking the others what his problem is with her. It’s not in her nature to be confrontational, but she might make an exception if she builds enough courage.
He’s a rude troglodyte, and she shouldn’t take his crap.
Later, she decides to ask Gage as they retire to his bedroom. “What’s his problem with me? Red’s?” A part of her is glad to escape the group environment. The other part of her is embarrassed, because they all know what she does with Gage when they’re alone.
Gage shakes his head and smiles stiffly at her, slinging an arm around her waist, pulling her flush with his body as he speaks hiswords against her throat. “He’s just a shithead. Ignore him. He can’t stand people from Uptown Gold. He’s green with envy.”
She would ignore Red, but it’s hard to ignore someone who hates you so much.
