13. Pepper
Pepper
Flora tried to busy herself with what little she could control, pulling beef and frozen vegetables from the freezer for lunch.
Upstairs, the only remnant echoes of torment were heavy footfalls and the gentle bowing of the floorboards.
Every little sound made her flinch, but Flora stayed rooted in the kitchen, cooking as if normalcy could somehow anchor her.
“You lighting a stove is almost never a good idea,” Davy said, his voice startling her. She hadn’t noticed him leaning against the entryway to the kitchen. “You doing okay?”
“Noec is just…” Flora huffed, forgetting why she opened up the fridge. “I don’t know.”
“Whooping his ass is still an option.” Davy shrugged. “Link might be a gangster with a knife, but say the word and I’ll Mike Tyson him bare-handed.”
Flora clenched her jaw, but didn’t reply. She tried to rinse a spoon in the sink, but an arc of water shot back at her and soaked her shirt. She froze, exhaling a seething breath as though she might explode.
Davy snickered. “I do know where Mom and Dad keep the gun,” he offered, stepping forward. “And I bet Lila’s already got a place picked out to bury a body.”
“He’s not feeling well,” Flora murmured, not looking up as she dabbed her shirt. “But, you’re right, I should see how Lila’s doing.”
Davy scoffed. “That’s not what I?—”
“Drop it,” Flora snapped gruffly, her fist clenched around the paper towel as she slowly lowered it to the countertop. Davy blinked. “He’s sick,” she added, “and he just needs some space.”
Davy walked over, turned the burner off, and moved the paper towels a few inches further from the stove. “I feel like three is the max number of times any person should be allowed to set a kitchen on fire.” He sighed. “Microwave only. No spoons inside.”
Flora grumbled. “Fair.”
Davy hopped up on the counter, where she couldn’t avoid his prying eyes. “What do you mean Noec’s ‘sick’?” he asked.
“I’m…” Flora mumbled. “... I’m not sure. Noec is…” She sighed. “... really, really angry at me.” Flora swallowed and looked up at her brother. “Noec doesn’t get angry, Davy.”
Davy sighed and leaned against the cabinets. As unserious as Davy could be, Flora could see in his eyes that he would make good on his jesting threats to take Noec out if she didn’t watch what she said.
“I’m fine,” she snipped. He raised a brow. “I just…” she deflated. “It’s too much, Davy.” She closed her eyes and lowered her head. “The bad things just seem to follow me wherever I go.”
“I know it feels that way,” Davy said, hopping down and placing his hands on her shoulders. Facing her, he added, “And that’s because it is one hundred percent true. Generally speaking, you are cursed.”
Flora snorted a laugh.
“But some douchebag being a douchebag? That’s not on you.” Davy patted his sister’s head. “How about this: I make lunch, while you sedate yourself with chocolate-covered pretzels and talk to me about why you showed up this morning in tears.”
Flora wiped her eye and sniffed. “Sure,” she agreed with a nod. “Yeah. That… actually sounds nice.”
So, as Flora began to recount the horrors of the past day, Davy began to assemble his “lazy meatloaf”, crafted from boxed stuffing mix, seasoned beef, and ketchup.
“So your alien side hoe is a zombie?” Davy summarized as he read the back of a box.
“I…” Flora started, “don’t love that concept.”
He looked up. “Which one?”
“... any of them.”
“Right,” he muttered thoughtfully. Davy set the box down and continued, “And now he’s trying to use all that trauma to justify acting like a psychopath?”
“... maybe.” She crunched down slowly on a mouthful of chocolate-covered pretzels.
Davy sighed, staring down into the pan. “Hey,” Davy started. “How hungry are you, actually?”
“Honestly…” Flora paused, glancing at the melted chocolate like it was blood on her hands. “Not very,” she admitted.
“Sick.” Davy grinned, opening up the pepper grinder and pouring the rest of its contents into his uncooked meatloaf. “‘Cause I bet snake-eyes is starving.”
He decided to sequester the cursed meatloaf to one half, raking the peppercorns to one side with a fork. As he placed his creation in the oven and set the timer, Flora was stuck thinking about what he’d said.
Davy leaned against the oven, crossing his arms as he studied her. “Bean,” he began, stern but sincere. “A real friend wouldn’t push you away just for being there for him, and a good friend would be there for you right now.”
Flora furrowed her brow and looked away.
Davy sighed, letting his arms fall as he stepped toward her, then wrapped her up in a big hug.
“I know it sucks,” he said, “but a guy’s only as good as his worst moment.
” Davy pulled back and looked at Flora, but when he glanced over her shoulder, his eyes quickly widened. “I mean… fuck desk chairs, amirite?”
Flora glanced back, and Noec was waiting in the doorway. Her throat tightened as she stammered his name.
“He’s right.” Noec smiled slightly, weakly, with bags darkening his eyes. “Pixie, I’m so sorry.”
Flora swallowed.
“Don’t worry about it, snake-eyes,” Davy grinned.
“Florabelle figured you were just hangry, so she went ahead and made you lunch.” Davy strolled toward Noec, then slapped his hands onto his upper shoulders, his hands clenched like a threat.
“You just have to make it 45 minutes without giving me another reason to bury you.”
A slight twitch tugged at Noec’s lip, and he gripped his hands around Davy’s. Noec closed his eyes, tilting his head down as he inhaled sharply. He exhaled, his hands relaxing as he gently peeled Davy away from him. He opened his eyes, looking up slowly as he replied, “I can do that.”
Davy still glared at Noec, and Noec, red-eyed and locked-in, glared back.
“Great!” Flora exclaimed nervously, abruptly jerking Davy back by his shirt and handing Noec a bag of pretzels.
Noec blinked down, and in the sun-lit kitchen, she could see how his pupils oscillated wildly as he did—far too narrow until there was nothing but green, then far too wide until there was nothing but black.
“I want to keep apologizing,” he said, his expression softening as he looked up to her.
“But ‘sorry’ doesn’t begin to express how awful I feel,” he said.
“Whatever’s happening to me, I don’t think it’s over.
That’s why I want to be away from you. Not because I don’t care about you.
” Noec stepped back. “If it’s alright, I’d like to be alone for the next 45 minutes.
I’ll go outside, where I won’t be a problem for you. ”
Davy blinked, then glanced at his sister. “Yeah-p. Sure, dude.”
Noec set the bag on the table, then disappeared out the back door.
“So, uh…” Davy started. “Your situationship might be bat-shit crazy, but he also does look kinda…”
“Sick,” Flora murmured.
“Yeah.” Davy paused, then cackled. “Well, I know something that’ll clear his sinuses.”
For a while, Flora stared out the glass door. She didn’t see Noec, but she saw how swarms of birds suddenly flocked away from the grove out back.
45 minutes later, Davy’s influence had more than sharpened Flora’s worry into spite. As Davy stood cackling to himself in floral oven mitts, Noec quietly reemerged through the door.
Seated at the dining room table, Noec winced as he took his first bite. “This is… so great, Flora. Thank you.”
“So, so glad you like it,” she said with a smile, leaning on her hand.
He coughed as he bit into a full ball of pepper ground. “Wow,” he observed, “this is… this is different, but I’m really excited to grow more used to your food.”
He took another bite. Then another. And Flora could see on his face that he was actually trying to convince himself that he liked it. He smiled and nodded, but each chew cracked way more than it should.
“Didn’t know how much you liked pepper,” he said.
“Oh,” she replied sweetly, “I don’t.”
He covered his mouth, and his eyes met hers. He slowed his chewing, closed his watering eyes, and breathed out slowly.
“You done breaking my shit?” Flora said, leaning back with her arms crossed.
His eyes flicked open, and they were sharp upon her. His pupils shifted, fluttering and shrinking unnaturally.
“Sure,” he replied low, setting his hand down and taking another crunching bite.
Flora blinked, then breathed a long sigh. “What’s your deal, Noec?”
He narrowed his eyes and looked away, then muttered, “I told you, I don’t know.” Noec sighed through his teeth, and she could see that his hand was still shaking. “I feel like I’m on fire,” he said. “Like every nerve is on fire.”
He clenched his fist around his fork and went to take another bite.
“Stop, stop. You don’t have to eat that.” Flora went to pull the plate away, but he stopped her.
“Most of me is on fire, but part of me knows how special it is that you took the time to make this for me.”
“The fire is probably the half cup of peppercorns you just ate.” Flora finally jerked the plate away. “And I’m offended that you genuinely can’t tell if this was meant to be edible.”
“Well…” he stammered. “I haven’t seen you cook anything since… uh… ”
Flora groaned. “Since I set Perri’s house on fire, I know.”
“Are you serious?” Davy squawked, leaning in from the kitchen. “FOUR TIMES?”
“Five,” Noec corrected.
“Jesus fuck, Flora,” Davy said.
Noec coughed, choking on remnant of pepper. He covered his mouth with a napkin, red-faced, and his eyes rolled from Davy to Flora. “You feel better now?” he said.
“No, I don’t feel better!” Flora raised her voice, then breathed and tried to reel it in. “I’m worried about you. Your hands…”
Noec turned his right hand, looking between it and her with a brow raised. “What about them?” The scrapes from the shattered mirror were gone, and Flora’s jaw lowered. He gave a forced grin and shrugged. “Maybe Lunara’s healing tears stick around for a while?”
“I…” Flora stammered. “I don’t think they do.”