Dig pulled the man’s gag back up. “So, this was the guy?”
“Hm?” I sipped my water.
“The guy.” He kicked the man’s back. “The guy who touched you when you got out of the hospital?”
“Hm? Oh.” I cocked my head. “No. That’s not him. I don’t know who that is.”
Dig scrunched up his nose and bent down to the man, ripping the gag from his mouth again. “You’re not the guy who touched her?”
“Please!” The man sobbed uncontrolled. “I never touched nobody! Please! I’ll do anything—”
“Shut up.” Dig put the gag back in.
“Did you wash me?” I asked, tangling my fingers through my hair. It smelled like eucalyptus.
“Just your face and the wounds so they wouldn’t get infected.”
“What else did you do to me while I lay unconscious?”
“I brushed a knot out of your hair and kept the loose strands.” He patted his pocket. “So I can smell them whenever the fuck I want.”
“Ew.”
“Oh, sorry. Do you want them back?”
“Can I leave?”
“No.”
“I’m not allowed to leave the apartment?”
“You’re not allowed to leaveme.”
“That’s very possessive of you.”
“Well, it's just until the Battle is over. When it's safe, you can go where you want.”
“I rather go out and die.”
“I don't support suicide.”
I twisted my lips together.
“We’ve got three days left,” he said. “You and I are spending it here, and you’re not leaving my sight.”
He made pasta.
24
Dig Graves could cook.
Lucious locks of steam tendrilled up from the pot making the apartment smell as if we were in southern Italy. The stove and cooktop did not work however he had a two-burner camping stove with small gas bottles to keep the flame alight.
Beethoven tiptoed in the air through a vinyl record player. There were other records, some modern, some upbeat, but Dig only played classical music. When the symphony simmered into sweet little patters, the man crying in the back room could be heard. After a swift booting in the stomach, Dig got him to quieten so that Beethoven would take priority.
While Dig cooked, he refused to let me walk. He picked me up again and planted me on a chair to face the kitchen and ripped his head around to watch me if I dared move.
At least I was not restrained.
