It was warm. Victoria stood above the bridge, looking down at the void below. Was there water? Maybe, but it was too dark to tell. It didn’t matter though, even if there was a river, they would still splatter upon impact, so it would probably be painless.
She stood there on the ledge, with her younger sister in her arms snoozing away. The two of them had lost everything, and had nowhere to turn to. No one who would help, no one who would listen, and no one who would give a damn. Rather than see the hope fade from her sister’s eyes slowly over the course of a decade, it would be easier for them to end it all right now.
The air was hot and humid, but Victoria still trembled with chills in her spine. Not only was she facing her own death, but she was willingly taking her sister’s life behind her back. It was stupid and cowardly, she knew. Still…what else could she do? If she killed herself, Ally would be left alone to fend in the world. Surely someone would take advantage of her naivety. However, killing her in her sleep? It would end her life on a good note. Still… was Victoria really allowed to make that assumption? Would…would Ally want to live?
…Was Victoria just being selfish?
Every few minutes, Victoria steeled her nerves and inched one step forward before stopping. She wasn’t too sure why she didn’t just rip off the bandage and plunge to their demise. What exactly was she waiting for? Victoria’s throat choked as she uttered out a plea to any deity that would listen.
‘God…’ she whispered, ‘If you or anything out there really does exist… please help. Ally doesn’t deserve this.’
The howls of wind echoed below the bridge, and trees creaked under its pressure. She wasn’t sure how much time passed, but eventually a car pulled up behind them, its headlights casting Victoria’s shadow into the abyss. She turned to face her guest as he stepped out of the car. A dark man wearing shades stood up, staring at the duo. He said nothing, only pulling out a cigarette from his pocket with a lighter. Lighting his cigarette, he walked up to the bridge’s rails and blew out a billow of smoke.
‘So…I’m guessing you aren’t here for the sights?’
Victoria stiffened, and stayed silent. The man inhaled, and sighed. He gestured to the chasm that lay below them. ‘By all means. You aren’t a baby. Stop ruining my smoking atmosphere with your damn drama. Get on with it.’
His response was so callous that her despair was swallowed with a spark of anger. ‘W-what? Who the hell are you?’
‘A man out for a drive and a cigarette break. I saw a fat ass on a bridge, and decided to pull over. Bigger question, why kill yourself with a kid? How selfish can you be?’
Victoria bit her lip in rage. ‘Selfish? What the hell would you know? You have a car and can afford cigarettes. What right do you have to call me out, huh?’
The man flicked his cigarette butt off the mountain, and faced Victoria. He raised his shades, revealing angry eyes. ‘You’re alive, aren’t you? Who the fuck do you think you are to complain? As long as you’re alive, there's always something you can do.”
Victoria grit her teeth. ‘I’ve tried everything. The hell do you know abo-’
The man folded his shades and pocketed them. His eyes had a burning glare. ‘Everything? Really?’
The man reached into his back pocket, pulled out his wallet, then fished out a hundred dollar bill. ‘One Benjamin if you strip naked right here.’
Victoria was taken aback by the sudden request, blinking in sudden embarrassment. ‘...What?’
‘You heard me. Strip and I’ll give you a hundred.’
Victoria slowly swallowed, blood rushing to her throat and ears. ‘No, what the fu-’
The man laughed coldly and pocketed the bill. ‘I knew it. You haven’t done ‘everything’. You’re just a coward who victimizes herself. You don’t know what it means to do everything.’
The man dropped his smile, the coldness in his glare draining the blood from Victoria’s face. He snarled and stepped up to the girl on the ledge. ‘Fight. Steal. Prostitute yourself. Lick shit off the floor. Doesn’t matter what the fuck you need to do, but you don’t quit on life. Ain’t nobody who gives a damn about a quitter. However, you want to live? You claw your way out from nothingness to clutch onto pennies? That’s someone I can respect, not this pathetic scum I see before me.’
He spit at her shoes, causing her to flinch in surprise and rage. ‘Kill yourself. For even considering suicide, you don’t deserve life.'
. . .
“...y! Wake up Vicky!”
Victoria’s head throbbed like a resounding gong, and she groaned as she sat up. She blinked multiple times as she scratched her left boob. When her hand met denim, she frowned and looked at her arms. She was still wearing the jean jacket from last night.
Ah. She had blacked out. Guess that explains the hangover.
Daylight trickled through the room, bouncing off of the gold ribbons in front of her. A girl stood in front of her, dressed up in a small pink jacket, white shirt with a rainbow unicorn, a black skirt with pink stripes, and white cotton leggings. Seeing her stare at her, the girl grinned as she tugged at Victoria’s arm.
“Get up Vicky! I’m late to school!”
Adrenaline pumped through her veins as Victoria glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 11:22 am.
…Shit.
Victoria scrambled out of bed and immediately straightened out her shirt. She ran out to the kitchen, where she saw Dante dosing himself with some flicker as his eyes were closed and concentrated. She grabbed a cup and poured herself some water, immediately downing her drink. Gasping for air, she turned to him.
“Why the hell didn’t you wake me up?”
“...Not my responsibility.”
She grit her teeth and flipped him off, then ran to her room. She smiled and smoothed out Ally’s hair. “Sorry about that, pumpkin. Shall we be off?”
Ally giggled and nodded. Victoria clasped her sister’s hand, and the two of them bolted out to the living room. Before they left the house, she yelled to the man in the kitchen.
“I’m dropping Ally off at school!”
“I don’t care.”
Slamming the door shut, the two of them raced down the streets of Blackerd, taking quick shortcuts whenever possible, all accompanied with the sound of ragged breathing and giggles from Ally.
. . .
After they reached the front desk, Victoria gave her sister a quick kiss on the forehead and smoothed out her hair. “You have fun at school, ok pumpkin? Huck is gonna pick you up today.”
Ally smiled as she kissed her sister on the cheek. “Ok Vicky! I love you!”
Victoria’s heart melted. “I love you too, now get going!”
As Ally walked through the front, Victoria waved at her sister with one arm then immediately ran off into the school’s halls. She watched her sister’s backpack jiggle on her back as she sped away, smiling softly. Ally was an extremely adorable girl who always had a positive view on everything. It was as if there were this light that shone around her that soothed everyone in it’s radius. It was a beautiful innocence that Victoria wanted to do everything she could to protect and cherish. She only worried about outside sources abusing her naivety. Well, Huck would take care of any bastard that dared taint Ally. If not Huck, then Victoria would.
She turned and headed back home, breathing slowly to try and get her pulse under control. It was a while since she had ran so hard. Despite her profession, Victoria hated cardio: the sensation of her lungs turning to ash was a nasty feeling. She took the time to slowly walk home, her wariness slowly catching up to her. Dante’s quota had gone up to a nearly unreachable number. The amount of clients she would have to go through, if there were even that many willing, would be astronomical.
Of course, she could always just… do the customers…
She gripped her wrist for even thinking of such a deed. It would be hard, but entirely possible for her if she just kept moving her arms. Who knows? Maybe today’s customers will move like hotcakes. Did hotcakes move fast? Aren’t hotcakes just pancakes? Who calls them ‘hotcakes’, anyhow? Well, Victoria did have a ‘hot cake’, she supposed.
Victoria could hear a mental groan from Huck, and she stifled a giggle. It would be weird for a random lady on the street to be giggling, after all. As a bird perched in a tree chirped it’s song to the world, she thought about her exchange with Huck in his bedroom yesterday.
‘...Dante raised the quota.’
‘Ok, and?’
‘...I swear I’ll pay back the rest of the envelope.’
‘That expense was lost when I gave it to you for the kid’s supplies. I never expected it back.’
‘St-’
‘There’s nothing to apologize for. It’d be stupid to apologize for something that isn’t worthy of an apology. Would you apologize for opening a door, or for breathing?’
Huck turned to the door. ‘Besides…that was blood money. I hate it. The sooner it’s out of my hands, the better.’
Victoria bit the inside of her cheek nervously. Huck’s eyes were growing darker and heavier with every passing day. She was worried that his job was taking a toll on him mentally, but she wasn’t too sure how she could help. She was already burdening him with finances. She wasn’t stronger than him, smarter than him, nothing. In every aspect of her life she fell short of Huck, and s-
Victoria slapped her cheeks with both hands. Hard. It did nothing to whine about her shortcomings. If she couldn’t find any boons, they would come over time. Until then, she would try her best in… whatever. She took a deep breath, and marched on home with a passionate vigor. When she reached her home, she saw a familiar man standing at her doorstep, holding a pizza box, talking to someone. Her heart skipped a beat and she grinned. She ran as fast as her flipflops would allow her, and tackled the man’s solid waist.
“Awww, you come to visit me?”
...
As Victoria strut to the curb, her heart tore slightly. Though she didn’t look in his direction, she recognized Huck’s car slowly driving off by Carlos’s roaring engine and the cracked gravel crunching beneath his tires. Huck’s eyes were always so busy, so calculating. He had the mistake of thinking he could fix everything by himself, and that put so much burden on his plate. If she could do anything to even lift a morsel of that suffering away, then she would do anything.
She stood on the corner of the street and jut her hip out, accentuating her butt. She stuck her lower lip out slightly, and tilted her head down a few degrees. She kept her elbows close, pushing her chest upwards. Even if she had no notable audience, there was always someone sneaking a glance at her, and she needed to present herself.
Surely enough, a few minutes passed before a man strode up to her, clearly high or drunk on something. He ogled at her chest and butt, causing a sense of nausea to build in her throat.
Ugh. “Hey hun, like what you see?”
He grinned, reeling his arm back to her behind, his intentions clear to anyone. As he swung, Victoria grabbed his wrist, stepped aside, and pulled the man to the ground. She smiled politely. “Sir, please don’t touch the goods unless you’ve purchased.”
He scowled. “Fuckin’ skank. Whore.”
She softly smiled as she shrugged. “Correct, I am a whore… but I could be your whore, if you have the coin for it.”
She bent down, giving the man a long view down her dress as she extended a hand to help him up. “Sorry cutie, couldn’t help but tease. You in?”
The man’s ears turned red as he slowly grinned. He roughly grabbed her delicate arm and pulled himself up. “How much would…”, The man pulled out his wallet and checked the contents. “...twenty four dollars get me?”
She looked up to the sky as she quizzically put her index finger on her lip, despite knowing the answer. “Hmmmm, how about a handy?”
The man scowled. “Seriously, not even a blowjob?”
She chuckled. “If I were any common whore, maybe!” Victoria leaned in with strong eyes, causing the lecherous man to nervously step back. “...buuuut I’m the whore of Blackerd. Dante himself scouted and deemed me of the utmost quality. Hell, I bet he doesn’t even know I’m here right now, but I can keep a secret…if you want.”
Victoria winked, causing the man to swallow with jittery anticipation. “D…Deal.”
He handed over the contents of the wallet, to which Victoria plucked out of his hands with a charming smile. “Cheers, love. Let’s do the deed behind the dumpster over there, yeah?”
...
51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzyAZqXOEdP
After a few minutes of elbow work, she flicked as much liquid as possible from her hands onto the floor. The man leaned against the wall, basking in the afterglow. She reached under the dumpster and pulled out a pre planted box of wet wipes, cleaning up the rest of the mess on her hands. She looked down on the man and smiled, patting his head.
“Good boy, you clean up after you’re rested, alright?”
She walked out of the alleyway, and repeated the same routine: butt out, lip pout, chest up, and hair fluffed. Some of Dante’s prostitutes would take these moments to dose up in flicker, but Victoria stayed sober. Not only was it a stupid idea to get high during work hours, but Victoria also had horrendous experiences with flicker in the past. Even if Victoria were indifferent to flicker, a raised quota would mean less money to buy flicker and less time to be idle.
She held her promiscuous pose for roughly twenty minutes before a car slowed down in front of her. As the window rolled down, an extremely muscular man in shades waved his arm towards her, beckoning Victoria forward. She swayed her hips as she approached the vehicle, thinking of a script for the potential client.
She leaned down at smiled at the man, giving him a clear view of her goods. “Hey hun, want a little snack for your ride home?”
The man lowered his shades and smirked. “One hundred dollars, raw. Deal?”
Victoria quizzically placed her index finger upon her lower lip again, pondering the offer. After a few seconds, she smiled and shook her head. “Sorry sweetie, Dante specifically told me nothing more than a handy. Wish I could do more, but you know him… he’s always watching, and I gotta keep daddy pleased.”
The man scowled, spitting at Victoria. Victoria didn’t dodge, allowing the spit to splatter against her forehead. She smiled. “Oh? Spit play? That’s fine, I can add that along with a handy to your total.”
The man laughed, as he grabbed a quarter from his cupholder and chucked it at Victoria’s face. This time, she flinched, using her arms to block the coin. The situation was escalating rapidly, and Victoria needed to quickly find a way to soothe this man.
The man grinned heavily upon seeing Victoria flinch. “Either you take a hundred to get rawdogged, or you take zero to get rawdogged. What say you, whore?”
Victoria dropped her smile, but still leaned into the car. She sighed and wiped the spit slowly dripping from her forehead. “Go ahead, rape me. Try. You really think you can get away in this town with Dante hunting you?”
The man grinned. “Actually, I do. You don’t know shit about me.”
“X88HJ4A.”
The man blinked. “Huh?”
Victoria smiled. “That’s your license plate. Go on, rape me. Try. Hell, kill me if you want, but you won’t escape Dante. The more crimes you commit, the more harsher it is on you.”
Victoria’s previous client stumbled out of the alleyway behind them. Noticing this, she smiled, jutting her thumb to the man. “I’m supposed to give him a status report every fifteen minutes, and now he’s seen you talking to me. What do you think will happen if I suddenly disappear within a fifteen minute time interval?”
The man sputtered for a few seconds, before gritting his teeth. “Never mind then, I don’t want your services, bitch.”
Victoria chuckled, raising her spit-covered hand. After revealing her dirty hand, she wiped it on the front of her dress, confusing the man further. “Oh no, you’re paying for my services. After all, you’re into spitplay, right? As much as Dante may hate me, he still trusts my word. So, how do you think it’ll look if you received a service then didn’t pay? And, unlike you, I can ‘prove’ it because your spit is on my dress.”
The man’s face paled, and he swallowed slowly. “Uh…”
Victoria smiled. “Don’t worry, as long as you pay for the services I’ve provided, you’ll get away scott free! Isn’t that lovely?”
She beckoned with her mildly spit-covered hand. “So, that’ll be five hundred dollars.”
The man choked. “W-what? Why the hell would I be carrying five hundred on me?”
“Same reason you’re carrying a hundred in this part of town. You’re probably in a good mood after completing a deal, right? I just want a little cut of that.”
A slow smile creeped to her lips. “So, hun? Personally, I think five hundred is extremely cheap for protection and wellbeing, don’t you think?”
...
The rest of Victoria’s day went on without further complications. Everyone always wanted more, but she was always able to negotiate an absurdly high price for a handjob. As the sun slowly set and the wind grew harsher, Victoria’s dress did little to block the elements, sending shivers down her spine. Foot traffic was slowing down, plus Victoria wanted to greet her sister, so Victoria decided to call it a night. She had barely met the quota, and a decent portion of that was due to her earlier scuffle. She wasn’t too sure how she would meet that quota, but Dante sure as hell wouldn’t care, so Victoria would just have to keep being lucky.
Or, you know, you could ask Huck to he-
She grit her teeth. She relied on Huck way too much. His plate was already overflowing, and it would be selfish of her to ask him of even more. No, she would meet her quota without Huck’s aid and that was that. She would rather steal from another person than to ask Huck for more help. Poor guy was already working overtime. She patted her pocket for the fourth time to ensure the money was secure, and made her way home.
...
After some time passed of Victoria navigating through back alleys to avoid more “troublesome” people, she wound up standing in front of Dante’s home with sore feet. Unlocking the door, she walked in to see Dante on the kitchen table in the same chair as he was in the morning, closed eyes with his right hand gripping his left elbow. In front of him were multiple scattered papers with indiscernable scribbling, but Victoria knew it was speculations and information about Rebecca, a missing prostitute who had suddenly vanished from their home.
Dante’s ears twitched upon hearing Victoria open the fridge, but he kept his eyes closed and continued to concentrate. Victoria pulled out a water bottle, downing its contents. After a few seconds of silence, she sighed, pulled out the wads of cash from her dress’s pockets, and slapped it on the table. This time, Dante’s eyes opened. He removed his right hand from his left elbow, grabbing the stack of cash and counting at an abnormally slow rate, his flicker-induced eyes fluttering as he counted the number of bills, and the value of each bill. As he counted, he would flip through the dollars, steadily placing each dollar with its corresponding value in the stack, lowest to high. After a minute, he had fully ordered the stack of bills from lowest to high and had fully counted its contents. He then efficiently organized the bills into three separate stacks, in a seemingly random order. Once he finished, he looked up at Victoria with orange-cracked eyes.
“Any complications?”
She shook her head. “Nah, some guy threatened to rape me, but we found a compromise.” She nodded to the pile of papers and cash on the table. “That for Rebecca?”
“None of your business.”
She raised an eyebrow, and let her silence speak words. Dante sighed. “Fine, it is, but you aren’t gonna do anything about it.”
She nodded to the three piles of cash. “What’re the different piles for?”
“Not telling you.”
“One for the hunting party, one for intel, and one for rent and utilities?”
He scowled. “If you know, why do you ask?”
“Just to piss you off. You need to lower the quota, I barely made it today.”
Dante squinted at Victoria. “Do you know which of the money piles is for rent?”
“Enlighten me.”
He tapped the smallest pile that couldn’t have been more than $50. “Everything else is being poured into finding Rebecca. That quota is the bare minimum, and even with that high bar, we’re gonna be without lunch for a while.”
He locked his jaw and met Victoria’s frustrated gaze. “Let me repeat myself. That quota is literally the bare minimum. Personally, I would love to have a full stomach, but there are some dumbasses who refuse to do anything more than a handjob.”
Victoria grit her teeth, but looked down. He had a point. “Fine.”
She turned around and left the kitchen to get changed and pick up Ally, and Dante resume his “flicker braindive”, closing his eyes as he considered all possibilities on what happened to Rebecca. She stomped into her room, feeling slightly more pissed than usual, as she flung off her dress and slapped on a pair of jeans on the floor, a cream shirt from the drawer, and a jean jacket draped over a chair. After she changed, she checked her outfit out in the bathroom mirror to make sure there wasn’t any “leftover gunk” in her hair. She wanted to make sure that Ally didn’t get exposed to her world so early, after all. If possible, she wanted to hide it from her sister forever…but Victoria knew it was unrealistic to hide the fact from her sister for eternity.
She pulled out some chapstick and lightly dabbed her lips. She straightened out her shirt, and combed her bangs. She was tempted to put on makeup, but it would make it seem as if she were trying too hard.
She capped her chapstick and smacked her lips, giving her reflection a cheeky grin. Definitely wasn’t trying to look cute for Huck. Nope.
...
She showed up at the doorstep of Huck’s apartment, with Ally’s muffled giggles leaking through the door. She smiled, and slowly knocked the door. The quick piddlepaddles of footsteps approached the door, and the blond child greeted Victoria upon flinging open the entrance.
“Hiya Vicky!!!”
Victoria’s heart melted as she smiled. She bent down, and gave her sister a big hug, accompanied with little kisses on her neck which caused Ally to giggle. “That tickles!”
Victoria got up, and entered the house to see a weary Huck bent over his laptop, and an equally weary Joel slumped on the couch. She grinned as she entered the house. “Thanks for babysitting, you two.”
Joel groaned as he rubbed his face. “Dude…she has so much energy.”
Huck sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m a sheriff. I’m a sheriff. I’m a sheriff.”
Victoria frowned as she looked at Joel. “He, uh, he ok?”
Joel shrugged. “After the second hour of questions, he just kinda sat there and went off into his own little world. Guess your sister broke him or something.”
Victoria chuckled as she ruffled her sister’s hair. “You’d think he’d be used to it by now. Ally’s boundless energy is unadaptable, isn’t that right?”
Ally grinned. “Yeah! I’m un-credible!”
“No, first off, the word is ‘incredible’, and secondly, its ‘unadaptable’.”
Ally frowned. “Huh?”
“Unadaptable.”
“Un-apple?”
“Un ah dap table.”
“Ok!”
Ally scrambled to her feet and slapped the dining room table, grinning as she did so. It was a stupid response, but regardless, one that warmed Victoria’s heart even further. She grabbed her sister’s hand and gave a small curtsy to Huck. “We’ll get out of your hair now, thanks once again.”
Huck looked up with heavy eyelids and scowled. “Like hell you are. We’re having dinner together.”
Victoria blinked. “We are?”
Ally threw up her hands. “Yay!”
Huck walked over and leaned into Victoria’s ear. “Quota was raised, but Dante isn’t the kind of person to do that for the sake of money. He’s probably cutting corners where he can to do what he needs to, right? If that’s the case, he’s probably rationing food.” He tilted his head towards Ally, who stared at them quizzically. “It’s fine if you starve, but what about her?”
Emotions ran rampant through Victoria. Gratitude, relief, frustration, shame, and more. However, Huck had a point: it would be selfish for her to put her own emotions over her sister’s wellbeing. She smiled and winked at Huck. “I’ll take ya up on a meal then, sure!”
He muttered a response and trudged over to the kitchen. He peered inside the fridge, seeing what they had available. “Give me about thirty minutes and I’ll cook something up.”
“Anything I can help with?”
“Nah. Just watch over your sister for me.”
Victoria led her sister to the couch where Joel sat slouching. Upon hearing her footsteps, he looked over with tired eyes. Victoria grinned. “She wore you out, huh?”
He waved his hand. “Kinda. Honestly, I’ve been exhausted ever since school. People tire me out.”
“Oh yeah, you had school today! How was it?”
Joel frowned. “Weird, if anything. The teacher called out a kid who was goofing off and kinda stomped all over his dreams.”
“Mr. Mackelson?”
“Yeah, that’s him. He said something along the lines of, ‘Forget becoming an engineer if you can’t even get a C on this exam. At most, you’ll be a burger flipper.’, or something like that.”
Victoria winced. “Yep that sounds like Mr. Mackelson, alright. The dude is a tough nut, but he has his reasons. In his eyes-”
“...its more kind to abruptly step on one’s dreams than to encourage them?”
“No, but he would rather give them a wakeup call while they can change things. To him, nothing quite as saddening as someone living their life through denial and wasted potential.”
The teenager frowned. “I mean… I guess that makes sense. How do you know him?”
Victoria smiled. “Met him at Gus’s bar one night. The guy was crying with a beer over some student who had apparently committed suicide because that student set unattainable goals. Say what you will about him while he’s sober, but nothing speaks quite an honest truth like a drunk man, no?”
Joel stayed silent as a soft sizzle echoed from the kitchen. Ally played with Victoria’s legs, pulling them back and forth, crawling under them, and so on. After a few minutes, Joel’s eyes focused with a squint.
“Hey, what's Huck like when he’s drunk then?”
Victoria chuckled. “Couldn’t tell ya: never saw the guy even touch a drop of alcohol. Apparently, he made a promise to his late wife about not drinking or something.”
“Late wife?”
“Yeah. Huck was married, but his wife died in an accident.”
“Oh.”
“Yyyyyep. Don’t tell Huck I told you.”
He nodded, and the two of them silently sat on the couch together as Ally rolled around on the ground out of boredom. After a few minutes, some plates clattered against the table, and Huck called out to the members in the living room.
“Alright, dinner’s ready. Wash your hands.”
Ally immediately sprung up and ran over to the bathroom as Joel and Victoria both got up. Joel followed Ally, but Victoria opted to wash her hands in the kitchen sink, causing Huck to frown.
“That’s where I wash my dishes.”
“What does it matter? The plates are dirty, my hands are dirty. The plates aren’t gonna get ‘extra dirty’, and even if they did, you’ll just wash them anyways.”
“Well, it's for proper order and structure.”
Victoria rolled her eyes. “Oh no, the anarchy.”
Huck sighed. “Help me put out the cutlery.”
As Victoria set out the forks and knives, Huck put the meal on the table, which consisted of refried wings from Gustavo’s, boiled pasta with alfredo sauce, and a few scoops of mashed potatoes. She curiously looked at the meal and slowly smiled.
“Excellent mix. The mashed potatoes will wondrously thicken my saliva, making it impossible to swallow the pasta. Plus, the saucy wings will smear fabulously over the fork handle. Also, what’re the knives for, anyhow?”
Huck tightened his lips as he stared at Victoria, causing her heart to leap as she grinned. “I wasn’t planning on cooking tonight, and you were the one who set out the knives.”
“Ah, you’re right. Still, it’s your silverware, so its your fault.”
He slowly closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. Victoria cackled as she stuck the tip of her tongue out at the exasperated sheriff. “Just…just sit down.”
Victoria gave Huck’s shoulder a soft punch, causing him to grumble, and she sashayed over to a chair. Ally ran down the hallway and into the kitchen, immediately tumbling into a chair with her socks slipping on the tile kitchen floor. Joel peeked around the corner to see Ally rubbing her forehead with watery eyes.
Joel half trotted over to the fallen child, and crouched down. “You ok? Told you not to run.”
Ally sniffled, but gave a big grin. “I beat you in the race though!”
Joel hesitated, unsure of whether to compliment her victory or to scold her for running in the hall. He looked up to Victoria with a confused expression, causing Victoria to nod to the boy. He looked back at Ally and chewed his lip.
“I…uh…yeah, you won! So that means you don’t need to run in the future, right?”
“Nope! I’m gonna run every time!”
Joel winced, and mouthed the word ‘help’ to Victoria. She stifled a laugh, but right before she was able to speak, Huck spoke up:
“Anyone sitting on the ground doesn’t get dessert, and if running makes you fall to the ground that means runners don’t get dessert.”
Ally gasped as she scrambled to her feet. “Nooooooo! I want dessert!”
Huck looked down at the child as the corners of his lips rose ever so slightly. “Well, you aren’t on the floor now, so I guess you can have dessert.”
The little girl jumped excitedly. “Yesssssssss!”
Huck placed the last dish on the table and ruffled Ally’s hair, causing her to bubble in laughter. Victoria plopped down in a chair, propped her head up with her arm, and internally screamed at the adorable sight. Joel sighed in relief as he slumped in his chair. Huck guided Ally to her chair, then promptly sat at the head of the table. He held out his hands to the neighboring seats.
“Let’s say grace.”
Victoria internally gagged. She would never say it to Huck, but she thought the idea of christianity as a whole was contradictory. A “god” existed, but he never speaks. He’s kind, but allows evil. How could an ever-loving god see Ally, and allow misfortune to ever fall her way?
Despite these thoughts she firmly clasped Huck’s hand. Her… respect… for Huck outweighed her hatred for god. Not by much, but she wasn’t gonna miss an opportunity to hold Huck’s hand. Joel timidly grasped Huck’s other hand, and they all bowed to say grace.
After a quick prayer, they all released hands and began to feast. Joel timidly picked small portions of chicken to his plate with his fork, nibbling tiny bites while keeping his head down. Huck used some tongs to bring the wing to his plate, before tearing away both gristle and meat with his teeth. Ally excitedly grabbed two wings using both her hands and messily ate the chicken. Victoria frowned, wiping Ally’s cheeks with a napkin as she scolded her sister’s behavior. Ally squirmed as Victoria dabbed at her sister’s face showing clear discomfort at being cleaned. Once her sister was cleaned, Victoria nabbed a wing with her hands and chewed slowly, sneaking glances at the two males who sat quietly chewing.
Huck nodded to Joel. “So, how was school?”
Joel flinched slightly, but met his eyes with a shrug. “Eh, it was ok. Teacher kinda told a kid he had no future, today was apparently someone’s two month anniversary of ditching school, and the girls screamed at a moth flying around in the room. All the stuff in class was stuff I had learned a year ago, so it’s closer to a refresher than actual schooling.”
Victoria’s ears perked up and her eyes darted to Huck. His lips tightened ever so slightly, before twirling pasta around his fork.
After slowly chewing the pasta, he nodded with understanding. “Yeah, I imagine you won’t feel too challenged, but slack off. Warm up to the school and it won’t be all that bad. Also, you catch the name of the girl who was ditching school?”
Joel frowned as he tilted his head. “How’d you know it was a girl?”
Huck waved his hand dismissively. “I might be the sheriff, but the town likes to shove the most menial tasks onto my plate. Hell, I’m closer to the town’s janitor more than a sheriff. One of the tasks entrusted to me is keeping tabs on kids playing hooky. So, remember the girl’s name?”
Joel nibbled on his fork as he slowly thought. “I can’t fully remember, since the teacher didn’t really give it much attention. I think her name started with a “z”, though.”
Huck sighed. “Yep, that's the kiddo. Last time we talked was a month ago and she promised she would start going to school. I’ll go talk to her again. Don’t know where I’m gonna fit the room in my schedule though.”
Victoria chewed her lip nervously. This would be Zephia’s second conversation with Huck. At this rate…
She glanced over at Ally, who had clenched the fork with hammy hands and was attempting to use her fork like a spoon to lift pasta. Victoria leaned over to slowly teach her sister how to twirl the fork to pick up more pasta. Ally’s eyes brightened as she grinned at her sister, causing Victoria to smile back.
Victoria’s eyes flicked back at Huck and saw his eyes looking slightly heavier than before. She looked away. Whatever happened with Zephia wasn’t her concern. Besides, Huck wouldn’t appreciate Victoria worrying for his sake…
…Is what Victoria wanted to believe, but as the dinner continued, her worry only grew more and more. Once everyone had finished their meal, the two children went off to the living room to kill time as the adults spent time washing dishes together. Under the sound of loud running water, Victoria flicked on the garbage disposal, causing Huck to look over in confusion. She leaned in a bit closer to ensure he could hear her.
“So...what are you gonna do with Zephia?”
Huck tightened his lips, and his eyes seemed to wither. “Its…fine. I’ll manage something.”
“Are you gonna-”
“Maybe. If I have to. I hope not, though.”
“I see.”
They washed the remaining dishes in silence, the clattering of china stacking in the dishrack filling the air. Behind her, Victoria could hear Ally squealing as Joel chased her around. Huck was the one who was able to bring Ally that happiness, so Victoria wasn’t going to question Huck’s methods. After all, he wasn’t an idiot: he knew the weight of his actions.
After washing the dishes, they dried their hands and slowly walked to the living room. Victoria saw Huck’s back, and in a split second of impulsive instinct, she hugged him. He stiffened, but didn’t move.
“What are you doing?”
“Hugging you, why?”
“No I mean, why a hug?”
“Everyone deserves a hug, don’t you think?”
Huck stayed silent, and after a few seconds, Victoria let go. Huck turned around to meet her eyes. His eyes looked so…sad.
Victoria rubbed her arms. “Sorry, sorry. I just felt like hugging for selfish reasons.”
“Mm.”
Huck turned around and headed off to the living room. As the duo exited the kitchen, Victoria could only note how long the shadow looked on Huck’s back before he flicked the kitchen light off.
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