They both snickered at that, which made me wonder if they were smashing, but I didn’t want to pry, since Gizmo was touchy about that sort of thing.
“What do you all think of the B-holes,” I asked, switching subjects.
“Aside from this one who’s trying to steal your boyfriend?” Wylie asked.
“So, you see it too?”
“Ansel flirts with everyone, even Gizmo,” he said.
“Don’t worry, darling, I am immune to his flirtations,” Gizmo said like some kind of demure Southern belle. The kid was a riot.
“He doesn’t flirt with me,” I muttered.
“No one flirts with you, Cipher. I honestly don’t know how Kitten got so far under your thick armadillo skin,” Wylie said.
“Easily enough.” I recalled what a pest he’d been in the beginning. How I’d pretended not to enjoy his artless seductions. No one had ever pursued me like that, had made their intent so clearly known, completely unashamed. He’d been innocent, sure, but also ballsy as hell. Wylie was right though, Kitten got what he wanted. I could only hope that he’d continue to want me.
“Despite trying to make a move on my man, Ansel is helpful,” I said. “People like him. Rafi and Selena have been a huge help to Teresa and Kitten. Santiago…” Santiago was always respectful, yet there was a lingering tension between us–because he didn’t like taking orders from me, or because I was Kitten’s boyfriend, I wasn’t sure.
“Santiago has ideas,” Wylie said.
“What do you mean?”
“He wants to expand the compound to encompass the whole block, recruit more people to live here, start a commune,” Wylie said.
“Sounds so easy, doesn’t it?” I said.
“Yeah,” Wylie said with a bitter chuckle. “He came around here trying to get us on board with the plan. You may have a mutiny on your hands.”
“If he wants to be in charge, we can put it to a vote. I’m not some tyrant, you know.”
“We had to practically force you to be King Asshole in the first place,” Wylie said, and I rolled my eyes at the fact that the nickname had taken off.
“Somebody had to do it, I guess,” I replied. I’d never wanted the power, and it wasn’t like the job paid anything. I simply wanted to live my life in peace with my family safe and cared for. “In my opinion Artemis would be a better leader than any of us. She’s a fucking boss with that chore chart.”
The chore chart was a work of art: a massive whiteboard that listed out all the various jobs around the compound and assigned everyone in shifts for the entire week, including time-off. Prior to the chore chart we’d always just winged it, but having the chart meant having a plan, and no one could make the excuse that they didn’t know where they were supposed to be. Civilizations lived or died by their efficiency, Artemis had told me, and I agreed.
“I don’t think she’d let us call her Queen Asshole,” Gizmo said.
I chuckled. “Yeah, probably not.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my boyfriend on screen, laughing again. Maybe I was a tyrant, when it came to him at least. “I need something to do before I start tearing shit up,” I said.
Wylie grabbed a huge, jumbled mess of wire and dropped it in my lap. “Here, untangle this, and keep your eyes off the monitors.”
“Mean task for a guy with only one arm, but okay.” I worked on that for a while, making what seemed like zero progress. Ansel must have had somewhere else to be because the next time I looked, Kitten was alone in the garden, talking to the plants, which wasn’t that unusual since he talked all the time.
“Cipher here?”
I swiveled around in my chair to find Santiago standing in the garage doorway with a couple canvas bags slung over one shoulder. He’d gained a bit of weight in the two weeks he’d been here, and he’d trimmed his beard, which gave him a cultured, academic look, like a hip humanities professor or a youth pastor whom everyone said was hot behind his back. The haunted look in his eyes remained though. That would probably take much longer to go away.
“What’s up?” I said.
“Strawberry season. One of the neighbors has a patch of ‘em down the road.” He jerked his thumb over one shoulder. “Joshua reminded me about it yesterday. Thought I’d go see what I could find. I need backup though.”
“Yeah.” I stood and dropped the mess of wire in my chair. “Let me just grab my weapons and I’ll meet you at the gate in ten.”
I collected my gear from upstairs then took a detour to the garden to check on Kitten and let him know where I was going. He stood up and raised his dirty hands at me, growling like a cute little beastie.
“I don’t care if you’re dirty.” I pulled him in for a hug. He smelled like fresh grass and sunshine and all my favorite things. “How’s your morning been?”
