She looked up at me. Her mouth twitched.
He sucked in a breath. “What is the point of this amazing scalp of hair if I do not have bravery in my heart?”
“He’s not going to be so courageous after his hair is gone,” I whispered to her.
She laughed into my chest. We all knew how much he loved his hair. Himself, for that matter, but his hair the most.
Romeo came in even closer, creeping toward us. Then he flung himself on the floor, going on in Italian about the bravery of soldiers and the death of monsters, under the bed and inside of the head. A mild struggle ensued for a bit, grunts and curses.
“I have it! I have skewered it for you, Sissy!”
By this time, Scarlett and I were laughing so hard that we struggled to breathe. When he came up, spandex material shining in the moonlight, dangling from the tip of his knife, Scarlett wheezed for air.
“What kind of monster is that,” I said, narrowing my eyes trying to see in the darkness. I had an idea but continued the game.
“It is the stretchy monster,fratello!” Romeo said, waving it around, doing a victory dance. “And it has attempted to disguise its horrid self with flowers and ruffles!”
“It’s—it’s—” Scarlett broke down before she could go on about whateveritwas. “Eunice’s bathing suit! The one you had her buy for me!”
“Fuck me,” I said. “That’s not healthy. No wonder you’ve been having nightmares.”
Romeo collapsed on the floor, laughing so hard that he rocked back and forth. “Should I put it on?” he barely rasped out. “Wear the skin of it as a prize?”
“NO!” Scarlett and I said at the same time, laughing as much as he was.
A few minutes later, an occasional sigh floating in the air, our humor died down. We all became quiet. Scarlett’s eyes flew open, and before I could stop her, she shot up and ran to the bathroom, shutting the door and locking it.
Romeo sat up, staring toward the door. I followed behind her.
“Scarlett,” I said. “Open the door.”
“I—I need some privacy!”
“Open the door.”
“No! Get out of the room! The both of you!”
“Scarlett.”
“Brando, please!” She pleaded. “Give me a few minutes. Please!”
“Yeah. All right.” I ran a hand over my face, not liking this. “I’ll make you some tea.”
Scarlett was a private person. Not usually with me, but if it was something she felt was disgusting, she didn’t want me to see. And because she was such a healthy person, if she ate foods out of the ordinary, it gave her stomach trouble. That paired with the stress of the dream gave me an idea of what her trouble was.
So it was no surprise when she agreed to tea. The truth was that she just wanted us out of the room.
“Should I have the chef make some tea?” Romeo said as we stood out on the deck.
I ran another hand down my face and shook it. The wind whipped around us, causing goosebumps to scatter on my skin. The air was thick with salt. Out here, the rise and fall of the vessel tilted us up and down.
“What is the trouble?” Rocco said, emerging out of the darkness. All he had on was boxer briefs. He scratched at his balls until his eyes fully opened.
“Scarlett is not feeling well,” Romeo said.
“Ah? Is it the sea? It is rough.” He glanced at it before he faced us again.
“Could be,” I said.
