Page 41 of Driftwood Daffodil 3

“Uh huh.”

“I’m serious.”

“Whatever you say.”

Ugh, why couldn’t he just believe me? “Can you just finish? We’re going to be late.”

Doing this while sitting in my truck in the parking lot of St. Agatha’s probably wasn’t the best choice, but Veda was running behind this morning. So, I didn’t have a choice. Going into the school with a big bruise visible on my face wasn’t an option. How many people would I have to talk to after that? The gossip train was bad enough already.

Memphis swept a brush across my cheek and sighed. “I don‘t know why you’re making me do this?”

“Um… because you’re better at it than I am.” Duh.

“No, I’m not. You’re just too lazy to do it yourself.”

Well, there was that. But in my defense, if he had to spend half a day explaining why he was hunting a rat with a rifle to Maw Maw, he would be exhausted too. I spent the rest of the day denying the existence of a half-naked fella that Mr. Garibaldi said paid me a visit.

Apparently Gio had no modesty. Bastard walked right outside with his stuff on display. Or as Mr. Garibaldi put it, with his one eyed trouser snake flapping in the breeze. There was an image I’d never get out of my head.

Needless to say, I was grounded for the foreseeable future. When I skipped school tomorrow to go and see Kato, I’d probably be locked in my room for the rest of my life.

I thought about waiting until Maw Maw cooled down – going for the trifecta of bad behaviour was not a good idea when it came to a woman like her – but I hid her slippers, so, at least my brain cells would be spared.

“How did you get out of the house without Maw Maw seeing this?”

That was a good question, and one I had a genius answer for. “I told her I slapped myself.”

He stopped and rolled his eyes up to mine. “And she fell for that?”

“Is it really that unbelievable?”

In the five minutes we’d been sitting here, I’d elbowed him in the gut and poked myself in the eye. The eye thing was kind of his fault, though. A little warning before coming at my face with a make-up brush would’ve been nice.

“Fair enough,” he nodded and went back to work.

While Memphis continued to perfect my ‘I wasn’t slapped in the face’ look, I scanned the parking lot.

St. Agatha’s looked extra religious in the morning. The sun crested over the cross on the roof, casting a shadow on the parking lot, as if it was trying to bless every student that parked there. Then again, it could be trying to keep out demons and vampires. Not that I believed in those things, but I could appreciate the extra caution.

I could name a few people who could use an exorcism. Like a certain asshole and his dipshit friends. Thankfully, they were nowhere to be seen. It was just the usual morning crowd milling about.

‘I think I’m cool’ guy was standing by the door in a stance that was anything but cool, like he did every morning. ‘Blushes a lot’ girl was sitting on a bench trying not to look at him, the three ‘we’re going to ruin your morning’ cheerleaders were off to the left gossiping, and ‘bush girl’ was walking up the path with her friend—‘I want to be her boyfriend’ guy.

I was a little disappointed that Bush Girl hadn’t done a single arch nemesis duty. What was the point in dubbing someone an enemy if they weren’t going to make your life hell? I shot her evil glares every day, and nothing. Then again, she seemedcompletely oblivious to the way her friend looked at her, so I may need to amp up my game.

My hand slammed down on the horn, sending a loud crackly blare that was closer to a gagging goose than a car horn. Everyone in the parking lot now knew that I needed to replace my horn, but I got my desired reaction. Not only did Bush Girl trip and fall while Memphis jerked back, but ‘I think I’m cool guy’ lost his not so cool stance.

Excellent.

“What the fuck, Nova!”

“What. I have to let them know I’m here.” More specifically, Bush Girl.

Memphis shook his head. “I think your muffler accomplishes that.”

“Not anymore.” Stupid Atlee, fixing my truck.

“Huh?” Memphis leaned back in to continue applying make-up. “I thought it was oddly quiet this morning.”

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