Forsaken Brotherhood by Mary E. Twomey

Author:Mary E. Twomey [Twomey, Mary E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mary E. Twomey, LLC

14

How We Got Here

I grimace, complaining aloud not for the first time since we left the Trapper’s Paradise. “My fingers still smell. I washed my hands twice, but I still have the stink of the juniper cheese on me. It’s going to make the steering wheel smell, which is going to make the whole car reek like a sheep who ate a bottle of old lady perfume.” I glance at Sevan, who has taken up residence in the passenger’s seat.

Sevan doesn’t look up from her phone as she murmurs her reply. “Well, at least you’re not being dramatic about it.”

I point to a sign for a motel. “We need to stop for the night.”

She glances up, her top lip curling. “We are not sleeping there. Gross. Shoot a little higher, Keran. Higher than a one-star hole. That place probably smells worse than your fingers, if you can imagine.”

The corner of my mouth lifts. “Noted. And where would her highness like to sleep? I think the palace is booked for the night.”

“Shame.” She casts me a wry look. “Look, if you’re traveling with me, you have to adjust. I’m not sleeping in a dumpster.”

“Well, that’s what I suggested. I was pointing at a dumpster, not a motel with beds and whatnot.” Though, even as I argue, I know part of me would love to not have to feel the scratchy, unwashed sheets of a skeevy motel. But it’s hard for me to justify a night or two of actual luxury.

“I’ve got a trapper’s credit card that’s hooked up to fool’s gold, just like you do. There’s no rule in the fine print that we have to live like paupers or be on a budget.”

“True. Avet and I always stay in crappy motels because if things get messy, there isn’t anything of value to destroy. The cops generally don’t cause us too much trouble if the wall with holes in it acquires a few more dents.”

“That’s one way to live your life. But not tonight. When you travel with me, we treat ourselves like people who matter. Like people who actually provide a service for which they deserve to be paid.”

I snicker under my breath, impressed by her unapologetic standards. “I like that.”

“You’ll like it even better when you’re not worried you’re sharing your bed with bugs and old semen.”

I cough out a laugh at her choice of words.

When we pass the exit, I look for something better as I drive along the freeway. “I can’t believe you let Avet borrow your motorcycle.”

“Things are just things. I don’t mind. Plus, he needs some time in his own brain to sort out his thoughts, and I need the distraction from mine.” She sets down her phone. “So distract me.”

My brows furrow. “Excuse me?”

“Distract me. That’s all I usually have to tell Avet, and he rattles off his inane stream of consciousness for an hour without pause. You’re his best friend. Some of that’s gotta be banging around in you, too.”

I chuckle airily through my nose.

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