Page 68 of Homebound
“Smooth talker, you. I feel like shit, so I’ll be brief. I want to come back to the third floor.”
“Okay. I can’t help you with that. Can I pass now?”
“You had me moved out. You can move me back in.”
Arlo spread his arms out. “Are you insane? Do I look like our esteemed Operations Overseer, moving people around? Go corner him near his fucking office and see if maybe your chapped lips and sunken eyes will scare him into submission.”
“Save the sarcasm. You’re the one I blame.”
He didn’t exactly deny it. “How about being grateful? The chicks’ ward is sweet. We all should be that lucky. In any case, what’s done is done.”
“Arlo,” his name was like a crack of the whip. “You don’t understand…”
He didn’t let her finish, “I do! I understand. I just don’t give a fuck.”
“Try harder.”
“No, Gemma, I won’t. I don’t have to.”
“Let’s see if I can help you change your mind.” She placed one hand against the wall to give herself a prop. Standing upright was getting increasingly difficult. “I want to go back to the alien floor.”
“So you said. And I can’t figure out why. Are you missing your Obu boyfriend? Hey, come with us to the courtyard and he’ll be right there for you. I won’t call in help, I promise.”
Gemma stayed silent, drilling holes in him with her eyes.
“No? Not him? And here I thought… “ He cut himself short and his gaze grew speculative and lewd. “Well, well. It’s that sickly lizard Simon, isn't it? Saintly Gemma has a kink for comatose men. ‘Scuse me, comatose aliens. What do you do with him? Or should I ask, how do you do him?”
“You’re disgusting.”
“Compared to who? I don’t get off on vegetative prisoners.”
“Simon isn’t vegetative, and you know it.”
Arlo laughed. “This is rich. She’s reassigned to the most coveted cell block in the prison and pitches a fit because she has serious hots for a scraggly cripple who resembles a garden rake on his good hair day. I could write a book about this. If I could write, that is.”
Their discussion wasn’t going in the direction Gemma had envisioned for it to go. She should’ve listened to Ruby’s advice and taken her time preparing for the confrontation with Arlo. But here she was, getting weaker by the second, flying by the seat of her pants. She had to make him scared enough to act.
“Arlo,” she said pleasantly. “If you don’t make things happen, I’ll take matters into my own hands.”
His face split into a derisive sneer. “Since when have you become a hassler? Gimme a break.”
“Ah, but you forget about my biggest asset. My tits.”
His gaze slid to her breasts. “What about them?”
“You’ve noticed them.”
He put up a defensive hand. “I’m not the only one. Hard not to when them koomba-loombas turn corners ahead of the rest of you.”
“Good. OO likes them too. You think me and my tits can persuade him to get me assigned to a cellblock of my choice?”
Arlo’s face betrayed no emotion but Gemma noticed his pupils shrink. If it wasn’t from fear, it must be from super close attention he was now paying to her words.
“I call your bluff,” he said with his usual sneer. “You’re not the one to sleep with top brass to get what you want.”
She smiled. “Thank you for your kind words. But it all depends on what I want and how badly I want it. I swear, Arlo, if you don’t have me reassigned back, I will go to OO and I will suck his dick dry to have my way. And in the process, I’ll talk about you, about Bug, and about the dope that turns up like magic in the cells of your inmates.”
“What does Bug have to do with anything?” Alarm rang in his voice. So he was afraid of Bug. She’d hit the payload.
