There’s a crowd gathering outside the tent, and suddenly, people give way, and Dex appears. He looks furious—like an avenging angel.
“What the fuck is going on here?” I read off his lips, and then he signs it.
I’m relieved he’s here, but it still stings. It figures I’d end up needing my hearing—whatever he counts as—to pull me out of trouble at a Deaf-friendly event.
And just watch. Dex isn’t even going to ask if I want to take care of this. He’s going to steamroll the whole thing and treat me like I can’t do this myself, and?—
‘Want me to interpret?’
I blink at him. He repeats the question. My throat feels too thick when I try to swallow, but I dip my chin slightly.
He’s not the perfect interpreter, but if I temper my anger and go slow, it’ll be okay.
He motions for me to go ahead, and the anger and frustration in my chest tangle with something dangerously close to love.
‘I don’t know what this man is screaming at me about,’ I start. Dex steps into my eyeline next to the security guard, who looks at him for a long beat, then back at me. ‘I was looking at books, and he grabbed my arm and started pulling me into his tent.’
The man behind me must start shouting again because Dex’s signs change to large and angry, his face matching the expression the man is wearing.
‘He was attempting to steal two T-shirts from my stall, and when I asked him to pay first before walking out, he ignored me!’
Dex’s face does something that tells me he wants to intervene, but he doesn’t.
I roll my eyes and turn to look at the vendor. ‘I’m Deaf, you asshole. You didn’t even try to get my attention before you grabbed me and started shouting! I was just looking at the table next to this tent!’ My hands are shaking, and I can see Dex relaying my fury by his expression.
Fuck, I want to kiss him for that. I want to lay him out and make him see god for all the ways he’s been getting it right this whole time.
The security guard waves his hand at me, and Dex interprets for him. ‘Are you going to pay for those shirts?’
I glance around and spot them where they fell after I threw them, and I scoff. ‘Fuck no. I don’t want anything from this stall.’
‘Theft!’ the vendor insists.
Dex doesn’t remain neutral for that one. He rolls his eyes and signs as he speaks. ‘That’s bullshit. He didn’t take your T-shirts and run. He was two feet over there, looking at books.’
‘Were you a witness?’ the security guard asks.
Dex lifts his chin. “Yes,” he says, then signs it.
Oh, he’s lying. I can tell. He didn’t see anything until the T-shirt asshole started shouting. I fight back a grin as the security guard sighs and shrugs.
‘It’s obvious he wasn’t stealing.’
‘I want him trespassed!’ the vendorinsists. Dex’s fingers have a little trouble spelling that word, but I think he spells it so I know exactly what the vendor is trying to do. He wants me banned from the street fair.
The security guard gives the guy a flat look. ‘I’m not going to do that over a misunderstanding.’
I turn to face the vendor. ‘You might want to work on your social skills, you dick. This is discrimination.’
The guy’s face reddens. ‘I’m the least bigoted person in the world!’
I burst into laughter and turn back to Dex. ‘Finished. Don’t need to hear more. Let’s go.’
Dex looks at the security guard. “We can go?”
The guy nods, then must make some noise because Dex stops halfway to reaching for my hand. ‘Better if you don’t shop here anymore,’ the guy says, and Dex signs for me.
I burst into laughter. ‘I wouldn’t shop here if my life depended on it.’ Then I take Dex’s hand in mine, exit the tent, and pull him along after me.
