Chapter 10 Stone
TEN
STONE
“What do you know about this Hunter guy?” I pry.
Did I already know almost everything there is to know about the fucker?
Yes, I spent a full month researching him on the dark web.
Looked into every single sketchy comment he posted on women’s social media pages.
Read through complaints made about him at work.
Watched every porn video he’s ever clicked on, and WOW is he boring.
Yet, I ask because knowing all this would deter all the progress I’ve made convincing others I’m not as insane as I am.
Jace spins around in his stool as I sanitize the client’s arm in the chair. Some beefy dude with a sleazy haircut and trimmed beard wearing Versace like he means something. The guy actually has the nerve to snort as if he has any idea why I’m asking.
“Guy is an asshole. He and Vanna dated for a while. He cheated, regretted it, and now won’t leave the girl alone.”
“Sounds like a prick.” The guy says with a thick New York accent.
Jace nods his head in agreement.
I place the stencil on the man’s bicep, internally rolling my eyes at the skull crowned in thorns.
“Check the placement.” I nudge my head toward the full-length mirror in the corner of the room, and he makes his way over there.
He spends a minute thinking then nods once and sits back down, the chair squealing under his weight.
The sound of the needle buzzes to life, and I begin the four-hour piece.
"Why is she even entertaining him?”
Out of the corner of my eye, Jace shrugs. “I don't know man, ask her.”
“Hmm.”
“Sounds like ya like her.”
“Alright, man, calm yourself.” I warn.
I can feel his bicep tense beneath the needle.
“Name’s Donny.”
He grunts with a warning in the deep vibrations of his tone. One that tells me to watch my next words carefully.
“My bad, man.”
He nods and lets his body relax so I can continue finishing the outline.
“Donny’s right.” Jace agrees. “Between whatever that was this morning and now, all signs are pointing to you wanna fuck her.”
Donny wags his finger at Jace to silently say he’s on the same page.
How can I really deny that I want to fuck her? Who wouldn’t? Looking at her is like looking into the Grand Canyon; terrifyingly beautiful, but the fall is certain death. Especially, the more I learn about her.
“Forgive me for being a hot-blooded male.” I grumble.
Both men shrug, accepting that as a perfectly good excuse.
“Well, maybe that whole dads-at-the-same-time thing might be a possibility.” Jace jokes.
I scoff, “Vanna hardly lets me within ten feet of her. I doubt I’ll be getting her pregnant. Besides, she’s on birth control.”
Wincing internally, I remember I’m not supposed to know that. However, it isn’t a stretch assuming so, but still.
“I can fix that for you, ya know? I’ve gotta guy that writes fake scripts for birth control.” Donny offers.
“Dude, what the fuck?” Jace stares at the man.
He just shrugs and I bank that info for later.
“Hey, don’t forget about next weekend.” I tell Jace, changing the subject.
“Oh, yeah… about that.” I look up from Donny’s arm and narrow my gaze. There’s no way he’s bailing on me. He can’t. “Mind if I bring Daphne? I think your mom would love her.”
“Seriously?”
“Look, Daphne has never seen Seattle before and it’s perfect timing with the baby coming in January. Your mom could use the extra help.”
“Right, because the second anniversary of my sister’s death is perfect timing.”
“That’s some bullshit if you ask me.” Donny interjects.
I nod to him in acknowledgment.
“Not to mention, if you bring Daphne, she’ll want to bring Vanna, and I might have told her that my sister is still alive.”
“Well, why the hell would you do that?”
I shrug, wiping at the blood starting to bubble from the design so far.
“I don’t know. In that moment, it felt like she was. I wanted her to be.”
“Shit, man. I’m sorry about your sister.”
“Thanks.”
Donny’s starting to rub off on me. I was nervous at first, hearing Tony referred him. I assumed I was being checked up on, but as the time passes, I feel more at ease.
“My sister’s dead, too. You never get over that shit.”
“Sorry, man.” Both Jace and I say in unison.
“Whatever.” I shake my head at Jace, conceding.
“Are you sure? I mean I understand if you didn’t want the girls to come.”
“I said whatever, man. It’s fine. Maybe this year will be less tense.”
Jace is silent for a moment, waiting for me to change my mind, but little does he know, I’d much prefer it if Vanna comes along.
“Cool. Thanks man.”
I finish Donny’s tattoo and clean him up. Handing me a wad of cash, he shakes my hand.
“I like you. You need that fake birth control, you tell me. You need guys for bodies too, I got that.” He winks.
I shake my head with a light chuckle. “Yeah, sure man.”
So, clearly, he knows… of course he would.
He pats my shoulder and wishes me luck with Vanna to which I roll my eyes and shove him out the door of the studio.
With it being almost midnight, I decide to just head home to see what my roommate is up to. I can only assume she’s still with Daphne since Jace is here with me.
Opening the apartment door, I find my assumption to be accurate. The girls are cuddled up under a blanket on the couch, a wine glass in Vanna’s hands, and a mug of tea in Daphne’s.
“Honey, I’m home.” I call out.
Both women look to me, Daph with a slow growing grin.
“That’s my cue. Bye babe.”
She stands and kisses Vanna on the top of her head before slipping her shoes on. She offers me a smug, knowing smile, then leaves.
I drop my bag on the counter and pour myself a generous glass of wine before taking Daphne’s previous spot on the couch. I set my glass down on the coffee table and before Vanna can ditch me, I grab her right foot and start to squeeze.
“What the fuck are you doing?” She snaps.
“I see you’re in a good mood.”
“Dandy. I just got an earful from my best friend about boy choices when she herself should really figure out her own.”
“Yeah, I hear that.” I chuckle to myself.
“And now, my weird roommate is rubbing my foot.”
“So, I can spread you out on a concrete counter and make you cum until you can’t breathe, but rubbing your foot is off limits?”
She yanks herself from my grip, scowling.
“I thought we agreed to pretend it never happened.”
“Why would we do that, Darkness?”
Her brows pinch together. She decidedly ignores my question and asks one of her own.
“What’s this about Seattle?”
That was quick.
“I’m visiting my mom and Jace usually comes with me. He wants to bring Daphne, and I assume she’s now asked you.”
“She has.” Vanna confirms. “But why are we all going?”
“So, you’re coming then?”
I pick my wine glass up and take a giant swig, stifling the excitement spurring to life.
“Maybe. If I get the truth from you.”
It seems her best friend has outed my lie. I look down at the space between us and think on how to tell her about Ella.
“What has Daphne told you?”
“Just that we’re going to help your mom grieve and that your family’s been through a rough time, but she didn’t exactly get to specifics before you walked in.”
“My sister Ella didn’t just graduate.”
Her face falls flat, “That’s it? You’re all devastated over that?”
My lips twitch, sadness clawing at the smile that threatened to break loose.
“Nah. She’s, um, dead.”
Vanna winces, regret twisting the features of her face.
“She was supposed to graduate college this past May, but she killed herself almost two years ago now.”
“What the hell?” She breathes in disbelief. “I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah, me too.” I gnaw on my lower lip. “I promised my mom I’d visit so she didn’t have to spend the anniversary of her death alone. Jace came with me last year and this year he has Daphne.”
For the first time since I’ve met this girl, her eyes soften like muddy grass after a thunderstorm.
“But why lie to me?”
I study her face for a moment, and I decide I don’t mind the sorrow that stares back at me. Not from her.
“Sometimes, I like to pretend she’s still alive. Just kind of makes shit easier, I guess.”
A heavy breath swooshes out of her. “So you just live in denial?”
“From time to time.”
“I get that.” It’s a whispered admission. “I’m sorry to hear about your sister, but I don’t think I can go. I don’t want to impose. I’m not sure Daphne knew how serious this trip was.”
“I think I prefer it if you do go. I already told Jace I don’t mind if Daphne tags along and since they’ll have each other, it wouldn’t be the worst thing if I had someone to hang out with.”
She chews her thumb nail in thought before nodding once.
“Okay. Fine.”
Despite wanting to come across nonchalant, I can’t fight the sheer lightness that swells inside me.
With a genuine smile, I tell her, “Great.”
“Great.” She repeats.
There’s a moment of dead air between us that feels more like the world has stopped than an awkward pause. In this whisper of time, she looks the most like herself. Walls down and open for consumption; not that of the body, but the mind. Like I could ask her anything in this moment.
So, I do.
“Tell me about your family.”
I know about her history or what’s documented out there on the web. What I don’t know is how she feels about it. But that question seems to be a bomb, detonating and turning a peaceful town into a war zone.
The barricades rise and the guns are positioned.
“There’s nothing to tell.” She snaps, pushing herself off the couch, and placing her glass in the sink. “Night.”
“Wait. I thought we were sharing. I don’t like feeling off kilter. It’s your turn now.”
“There’s nothing to say.”
“Something tells me that’s not true.”
“Whatever. I don’t want to talk about it.”
I watch her stalk up the stairs for the third night in a row with a certain irritation in her step.