I shook my head, re-orienting myself to reality having fallen into a fantasy where Cody was tied to a tree, blindfolded, and I was nailing him into the trunk like a fucking wood pecker.
“Yeah…” I replied.
“Good.” He snatched the towel he’d brought from the bedroom and went outside. Draping it on the grass, he lay on his stomach, basking in the sun on his beautiful back.
Brat.
Sue walked in a moment later. “All right! This should get you boys through the week.” She set several brown paper bags filled with groceries on the little wooden table. “I’ll let you put those away.” She said.
Jesus. Anything else you need me to do, ma’am?
She stood across from me with her arms folded over her chest. “Gimme your duffle.” She demanded.
“What? Why?” I asked.
She huffed a breath, and I swear to God, smoke from the nine thousand Virginia Slims she chain-smoked in the car shot out of her nose. Her eyes trailed the cabin. She spotted my black duffle on the ground and made a beeline for it.
I tried to outrun her, but she was closer and snatched it. She opened the zipper and started rummaging through it.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I shouted. “This is my bag. That’s my shit. Get off it.”
Sue took out the bottle of Smirnoff I had in there. “Don’t,” I begged. “Don’t fucking take that or I swear to God I’ll do something. I’ll tear this place apart—light it on fire and burn it to the ground.”
“Be my guest. Just know that if you harm a hair on his head, I’ll kill you. Slowly. Painfully. And just as you’re about to die, I’ll revive you and slowly kill you all over again. I’ll do it for days, Rafael. I don’t give a shit about this place. It reminds me of one of my many shitty ex-husbands. But just know that if anything, and I mean anything, happens to him, you will not last long in this world.” Her voice seeped into my skin, making me shiver. Her breath was a combination of smoke and Juicy Fruit gum. It was a terrifying aroma.
Sue smiled, her smoke-stained teeth glistening in the sun shining through the dirty cabin windows. “You’re not getting drunk during this week. You’re going to deal with whatever the fuck is happening sober. End of discussion.”
With that, she turned around, Smirnoff in hand, and left the cabin. A moment later, she came back in, “Oh, and don’t even think about trying to get more. Good luck getting cell reception out here. You’ll need to use the landline if you want to make any calls, and I already told my nosy neighbor from across the way to keep an eye on you. She’s old and bored, and you two ain’t too shabby to look at, so I know she’ll be quite invested in the goings on here. Cody knows my number, in case you need me. You won’t have a car either.” She winked at me then added, “Good luck, kiddo.”
Cody
The burger patties sizzled in the hot skillet. Sue bought the kind of food you’d expect at a camping trip. Aside from breakfast, every meal planned for the rest of the week would come on a bun. There were even ingredients for s’mores. It was cute, but my goal was to make things far less G-rated.
Rafael hadn’t moved from the sofa in hours. I baked in the blazing hot sun, waiting for him to grab a towel and lie beside me. He didn’t.
When I finally needed a break and came back inside, Rafael told me that Sue had taken his booze.
That was the last thing he said to me before he took a nap on the couch. He looked furious. I’m not sure if I would have encouraged Sue to do that. Was it the right thing to do? Absolutely. Rafael was on his way to becoming a major alcoholic if someone didn’t intervene, but I wasn’t sure that ripping the band-aid off and letting him detox in the middle of the woods was the right approach.
The cabin had no microwave, so I baked the fries in the oven. I didn’t know if Rafael liked tomatoes, but I did, so I sliced one up as I monitored the burgers. The produce up here was always great. It came from nearby farms, and I loved feeling the crisp lettuce—
“Jesus fuck, Cody!”
Rafael woke up to find me completely naked aside from my apron. Did I forget to mention that detail?Whoops.
“I’m done.” Rafael hopped to his feet and paced about the room. “I’m done playing these fucking games. Go upstairs and put some clothes on.”
I continued carefully slicing the tomato as I replied, “I’m on vacation, and if I want to cook naked, then I will.”
Rafael approached. I didn’t turn around, but I could feel his presence looming over me. “No. No, you’re not doing this to relax or whatever the fuck reason you’re giving me. You’re doing this on purpose—to torture me.”
I turned around with the tomato slices on a plate and handed them to Rafael. “Put those on the table.”
He looked at it like he’d never seen a fucking tomato before. “What?” he asked.
“I’m making dinner. Do something useful instead of bitching and moaning for once in your life.”
Rafael’s eyes widened, and his jaw clenched.
