It was the nicest mind your own business I’d ever gotten. My head dipped in a nod and I shut my trap.
“Kinda hypocritical of you, isn’t it? You know, all things considered,” Tiny piped up.
“Excuse you?” I didn’t understand. What things considered? What was hypocritical of me?
Lolly sighed, stood, and walked off towards her daughters. I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing as I caught Lolly mumbling about big mouths, gossip, drama, and folks needing to mind their own business. She wasn’t wrong.
I should’ve minded my own business. I know this. It was kind of gross sitting here like I’m part of this group while Red mocks Dace down the way.
“Leave it. She doesn’t know.” Louisa frowned Tiny’s way as she began to pat her little man’s back and rock from side to side in place.
“Maybe she should,” Tiny shot back.
“Does it matter?” Red cut in. The look on Red’s face while polite was just shy of passive but it clearly said she’d already decided where my loyalty lay and it wasn’t with them.
“She’s partaking of Dorothy’s family’s hospitality and all. It is Bia’s place she’s staying in, is it not? I mean, she should know who she’s been getting friendly with.” Tiny thought she was rather smug.
Red and Louisa did not.
“So, I’ve gotta get going but it was nice meeting you, Prudence.” Louisa said her good-byes, grabbed the handle of the laundry she’d just washed, dragged it about five feet before a beastman working on cutting up a large slab of meat at a very long table across the way called out to her, barking at her, “Eh, my Lou! You wait! Smengal come!”
Louisa tossed back as she released the basket’s handle, “Your wish is my command, my Smeagol!”
Her punny quip had me snort laughing.
Once more, Dace chirped from her exile, “I don’t get it.”
As Louisa left, more women trickled in to do their wash.
There were at least twelve women surrounding us now, peppering me with questions that ranged from fine, normal, to stuff we plain weren’t going to go there. Yes, I am hairless. I am Lo denaii. Yes, that is odd. No, I didn’t think being bald and Lo denaii was funny. Why am I not with Kehlor? Isn’t he my mate? I didn’t know these people at all. The inquisition was jarring.
Tiny thought it her mission to try and interject with bits here and there about Dace’s sordid past with Bia’s mate Mina and answering questions as they were shot my way, even if she answered incorrectly.
Not much for information secondhand, I did what she did to Dace and pretended she hadn’t even spoken.
After about twenty more minutes of Tiny’s nonsense, dragging more women into it to gossip along with her, I grabbed my soggy clothes, the bit of soap wrinkling my hand, and stood.
“Where are you going?” Tiny frowned as I started off towards Dace.
“It’s too crowded here. I’m making room,” I tossed back.
I could feel Red’s eyes on me as I took my dripping mess down to Dace’s end of the river.
Maybe I’m a bit of an asshole too, I thought as I settled and smiled Dace’s way. She looked so surprised to see me I had to ask her twice, “Mind if I join you?”
“No! Of course!” Dace’s smile was so wide it looked ghoulish. Speaking of Smeagol. I’d probably be a little deliriously happy to have someone acknowledge my existence after the lengths the others went to ignore her and treat her like a leper too.
Dace was nice to me. Until she did otherwise, we were cool.
“I heard Tiny,” she mutteringly mumbled as we worked in tandem.
“I didn’t hear it from you or Mina. It’s just talk otherwise,” I muttered as I wrung out my t-shirt as good as I could.
First day on the job and I already missed washers and dryers.
“She’s not wrong.” Biting at her lip, the tiny blonde’s shoulders slumped. “If you’re staying at Bia’s, you probably shouldn’t be seen talking to me.”
“Doyouwant me to stop talking to you?” My hands paused and I lifted my head to meet her wide-eyed gaze.
