6. CHAPTER 6
T he snow is late this year. We’re well into November, but the air snapped so cold last night I don't think I trust the storm to stay away until next week.
The wood Jin chopped last night won't last long.
Twice the wood, twice the water, twice the food.
I can't stand the sight of him, but I can’t starve him either, no matter how much he deserves it. No matter how much I want to rip that smart ass tongue right out of his mouth. And I would have done it already if having him here didn't make me forget about Shawn for most of the day.
Fuck, I’m gonna miss her smile. How her tits always half hung out of whatever she wore. And, my god, I’m gonna miss fucking her in the back room at work whenever the hell I felt like it.
After screwing the last new solar panel bracket into place, I stand and kick against the roof, because, fuck Jeon Jintae, that’s why.
Taking the hammer from my belt, I stomp my way to the corner of the roof, kneel, and start to pry out the nails of the furthermost roofing panel—continuing until I reach the two cracked boards that need replacing.
With their nails removed, I pull the first one away from the roof only for a section of it to crumble in my hands and the rest to fall to the ground.
After finding the second board in the same shape, I throw the hammer, and curse into the trees as loud as I can.
“Get your ass out here, Jin!”
“What? What is it? Have you hurt yourself?” he asks, breathless after running from inside.
“Does it look like I’m hurt?”
“Well it doesn’t look like you're alright,” he shoots back at me.
“Go get the hammer.”
He looks off in the direction I gestured. “Why?”
“Because I told you to.”
“And how did it get over there?”
“You don’t get to ask me questions.”
“And you don’t get to throw a tantrum and—”
“Get the fucking hammer, Jin! It’s not too late for me to drive you back to your parents.”
Even from up here I can see him swallow down his impulsive need to respond, but he turns towards where the hammer fell, and retrieves it without so much as a glance back up at me.
“Where do you think you’re going?” I ask him once the hammer is back in my hand.
He points back inside, but still doesn’t look at me.
“Are all the windows done?”
He nods.
“You’ve dusted?”
He nods again.
“And the floors?”
“I haven’t been slacking off.”
Fuck, I hate him so much. Every time I think he’s accepted his place, he climbs back out of his hole. “You’ve got another big day tomorrow. The couch needs washing.”
This time he doesn’t do a goddamn thing; he just stands there like someone pulled out his power cord, and with it, his will to live.
“Just hand me that board.”
He needs to lift his head to see where I’m pointing, but he refuses to let me see his face.
Heading to the back of the cabin, he returns with the two planks and holds them up.
“I didn’t ask for both.”
Still nothing. He just leans one against the cabin and lifts the other higher.
An icy wind howls past, stabbing at my skin through the holes in my flannel, and a handful of juvenile grouse fly over my head.
“Get up here,” I demand of Jin but offer no follow through, because I'm already pounding at the surrounding boards with the end of the hammer’s handle. If there are more infested boards I need to find them now.
Careless with my movements, I knock the pile of removed boards as I shuffle backward.
Too focused on what I’m doing, I don’t even notice they’re sliding away until I hear Jin grunt behind me.
I don’t know how, and I don't know when, but he’s on the roof, crouching behind me, perched between solar panels, one wayward board stopped with his foot and the others in his arms.
“Termites,” I tell him, or maybe I just declare it, cause god knows it wasn’t an invite to a conversation.
Looking back to where his foot is holding the wayward plank in place, I reach my arm out and make a grabby hand at it. The little shit remains frozen, so I stare him dead in the eye, and repeat my motions with more emphasis.
Seconds tick by; five, maybe ten. And when I cease eye contact to look at his foot again, he raises it, allowing the plank to slide further off the roof.
“Cut the bullshit, Jin.”
“Say, thank you.”
“Masters don’t give thanks to their slaves.”
His response is to raise his foot again.
“You’re only hurting yourself.” He lowers his foot. “You’ll be the one getting back down there to pick it up.”
“Fuck you,” he mumbles, then kicks—not slides—kicks, the wood towards me.
“Get over here and hold the other end.”
“And where would you like me to put these, Master?” His voice is sickly sweet, and I just know he’s fantasizing about pushing me off the roof. I’m certain he’d do it too, if he didn’t already know I’d pull him down with me.
“Shove 'em up your ass, for all I care. Just get over here and hold the other end of the fucking plank.”
The boards crash against the roof, and when I glance over my shoulder, Jin is standing—glaring down at me with clenched fists.
“You’re still tiny from up here, so calm the fuck down.”
“Is the word please, something you’ve ever said in your entire life?”
“When you look like me, you don’t need to say please.”
“My god, I…”
“Want to punch you? You’re welcome to try. I'll even let you get a free hit in before I break your face.”
“I don’t know how Tek can stand to be around you.”
“Birds of a feather, little man.”
“Stop calling me that!”
“Stop standing there like child, and help me fix the fucking roof before the storm comes.”
“So without my help it’ll take you four days to hammer six boards back into place?”
Holding the new board in one hand, I reach for Jin with the other and pull him down by the arm until his eyes are level with mine.
“You’ve got a lot of shit to learn. Now get the fuck over here.
” Yanking his arm, he stumbles over the pile of planks and falls to his knees beside me.
Grabbing him by the back of the neck, I hold him out over the edge of the roof.
His arms flail, desperately searching for anything to grab on to, and when both hands land on my wrist, I hold him out further until the whole top half of his body is suspended in mid air. “I can play this game all day.”
“But what about the storm that might come in the next five minutes?”
“But what about your back if I decide I don’t feel like holding onto you anymore?”
“Can I have a match?”
“A what?”
“I’m not asking for much.”
“What in the fuck are you—“
With a swipe of his leg, my arm is forced upward as Jin pushes up from the edge of the roof. Arching his body in a way I’ve never seen a spine bend, he shifts his center of gravity backwards to safety, but in the process, he pulls me down with him.
On his back with his head near the apex of the roof, he stares up at me and asks, "So. Can I have a match?” and then smugly glances to his right, at which point I realize I’m still holding on to him.
I tear my hand from beneath him and push him away.
“Did I strike a nerve?” he smirks, sitting up. “Are you upset you don’t have as much control over me as you thought you did?”
“I don’t know what you’re so cocky about. I could still send you off this roof in less than a second.”
“I might not be strong, but I'm pretty quick.”
“I’m sure the girls love hearing that.”
“And I’m sure they love getting slapped around by you.” Without thinking, my hand is already raised, and Jin instantly cowers away—both arms shielding his head. “I only wanted one.”
My entire body tenses as I stop my fist. “I never… I never laid a hand on Shawn.”
“But because I’ve got a dick it’s alright?”
“Fuck you. It’s different.”
Jin lowers his arms. “Why?”
“It just is.”
“Shawn’s taller than I am.”
“That doesn’t matter—“
“So even though she’s bigger, and probably stronger, she gets spared. But I’m free game?”
“Do you ever stop running your mouth?”
With an over dramatic roll of his eyes, Jin pushes up, takes one of the planks, and moves back to the edge of the roof. “I might be wiley, but you know I don't stand a chance.”
I take four nails out of the bag on my belt, hold them between my lips and pick up the hammer. “And I might not hit women,” I mumble, and begin hammering the first nail. “But that doesn’t mean I won’t take my frustrations out on you every single day for the next three months.”