Chapter 18 – October 15, 1993 – Camille #3
“So you’re back.” Venom dripped from her lips as she crossed her arms across her chest, guarding her heart from the smooth rejection.
“For a little while,” Erich answered. His attention was on straightening his jacket and sleeves after Olivia’s assault.
“A little while is anywhere from a day to a year with you.” She spit, a snarky side-eye from the defensive pose she took in response to the assertion of distance. I likely wouldn’t stand a chance against her in a battle of insults. She’d cut me down, then have a picnic on my gravesite.
Mystique watched wearily as a neutral ally to the passing of hostile fire. Her right arm was supported by her left, her jeweled fingers brushing her chin and cheek as she tried to determine what it would take to involve herself and tear them apart by the collars of their shirts.
I can’t say I was doing much else other than watching and waiting as well.
Erich gave a half shrug, his eyes meeting mine briefly. “We’re just taking some time off.”
“Who is ‘we’?” Olivia asked. So she didn’t notice me standing there, or she was making a statement by ignoring my presence. Either way, if her intention was to have me shrink in her presence, it worked. Her gaze followed his to see me standing in the corner of the room.
Erich continued without missing a beat. “This is my friend, Camille.”
I appreciated that he didn’t say more, but I realized it was so I could introduce myself to the intimidating viper woman in front of me.
There was far more to the story than I wanted to share.
What would I say? “Hi, I’m Camille, and your adopted brother/ex—whatever the hell you consider him—found me on the streets after my brother raped me.
What’s your trauma?” Because letting myself say that and laugh at my long-story-short introduction would’ve been inappropriate, I instead gave a grim smile and no comment.
Olivia turned to glance at me, her umber eyes narrowing underneath sharply maintained eyebrows. Was that envy in her eyes? It quickly disappeared, and irritation replaced it. “Your friend, huh? How nice.”
“Alright,” Mystique chimed in, sensing her daughter’s hostility as well. “A friend of Erich’s is a friend of ours.” She put on her warmest smile as she shuffled through the tense pair to the door. “Let me close down and we’ll figure out dinner and sleeping arrangements.”
With that, she was heading out the front door. I knew it would get interesting with the three of us and no referee.
Olivia threw her hair back as she left me to my painful existence and turned her attention back to Erich. “There’s only one spare room. Your friend can have it. You’ll have to stay with me.”
“There’s a couch.” Erich was quick to respond with a stony sidelong glance.
He must have had years of experience dealing with these kinds of arguments—But who usually won? The mind games between these two had to be a separate story altogether.
“And why would you sleep on the couch? We’ve slept in the same bed for years. Nothing’s changed. You just dropped me off back home and took off, is all.” She fired back.
“We aren’t going to sleep together.” Erich held his ground.
“Literally no reason to turn down a real bed.” I was familiar with that logic and was shocked to hear her say the same thing I had always thought to myself.
She leaned on her right side, which caused her hair to bounce as she tilted her head stubbornly.
“It’s not like I’m begging you to fuck me in it. ”
Erich shook his head in disbelief. “Take the goddamn hint. What doesn’t make sense to you?”
“That you said it.” The volume of her voice rose as her pointer finger shot into his chest. She didn’t hesitate or stop to think what she’d say next.
“What, are you so modest now that you can’t stand being in the same room as a woman?
Oh, Holy Saint Erich, next fucking pope of the church now that you’ve changed so much since dropping me at my mom’s house. ”
“I’m done arguing.” Erich cut her off, running his hand through his hair in annoyance. The electricity of the storm brewing between the two made me want to go out and have a cigarette for him.
The locks of hair he fumbled with dropped to his forehead to frame his irritated scowl as he shot her one last glare of warning. He then turned his back to her to go up the stairs to the apartment.
I briefly debated making my way for the door and taking my chances with the dark alleyway I noticed when we pulled up.
“No argument on my end.” She charged for the stairs but stopped short of following him to the apartment. “Welcome home! And enjoy the couch, dumbass.”
The door slammed behind him as a response.
Olivia whipped around from the stairwell to face me, causing the life to drain from my already pained face.
“You’re fucking him, aren’t you?” she asked bluntly.
I opened my mouth to speak, though not entirely sure how I could answer such an unexpected question.
She stopped me with a spine-chilling laugh.
“Who am I kidding? You look too cute and broken to fuck. You’re his charity case, and he’ll leave you, too.
You’ll think things are going great, but he’ll get bored or find you at fault for something.
You’re the precious Steven he could never get back. You’re a little brother.”
As predicted, I was a punching bag, and I had no idea how to pursue our battle. Anything I could’ve said next might’ve ended with her pulling my hair and scratching my face before she pulled out a switchblade and asked which finger I wanted to lose first.
Her lips curled in a sinister smirk. The amusement of my hesitation was more ammo. “Figures. Should’ve known he’d pick up a quiet one next. Less bite when he leaves you without a warning, too. Sit down and don’t get attached, hun.”
With her final parting words to me, she was heading up the stairs. She walked away thinking the battle was won, but I still wasn’t sure what was going on. All I knew was it was going to be a long night.