Page 24 of Her Wonderful Wonder Bell
“Are you going to kill them?” I stammer out.My turn to get to the point.
“Yes. Now, where are they?”
“At least you’re honest.” I huff out a laugh filled with no joy. “Why would I tell you if you’re going to kill them?”
“Because if you don’t, I’ll kill Delia.”
“What’s to say you won’t kill her, and me, once I tell you anyway?”Come on, Delia. We gotta get this guy.
“Guess you gotta trust me. What other choice do you got?” He looks around the room. “Don’t see anyone who can stop me from snapping my fingers and taking out whoever the fuck I want. All you people are lucky to still be here. Everyone in this goddamn town is only here because I haven’t wiped them from existence. So, you’re gonna do what I say, Pearl, or your girly goes bye-bye.”
“I’ll tell you.” Delia stands in the opposite doorway, in her pajamas, water dripping from her hair. “Just warning you that we haven’t found them yet, so I don’t know what kind of condition they’re in. We just got the magic tolocate them today.”
Brigley slaps his muscular thighs and smiles at me. “See, doll? That wasn’t hard. Let’s get this over with.”
Brigley stands as Delia shoots me the briefest of glances. In that short glance, however, I see one sentiment:I’ve got this.
“It’s in here. It’s from the candy store. You’ve gotta chew it.” Delia waves Brigley toward the kitchen as she starts to head there.
“That fucking family is nothing but trouble,” Brigley mumbles as he follows Delia.
I hop up and follow them. The small kitchen feels cramped with all three of us in it. Delia stands awkwardly in front of the refrigerator, flexing and unflexing her hands and feet. Brigley stands stone still watching her.
“Get to it, Rogers,” he barks.
“Okay, okay,” she says as she opens the door and points to the lone piece of gum on the shelf. “You just chew it, and you’ll know which direction to go to find them. Easy.”
“Very easy.” Brigley turns to me. My stomach drops. He sets his massive hands on my shoulders and crumples them in the process. Iwince in pain. “Now, you chew it, and I’ll follow you.”
“What? Why me?”
“They’re your teammates. Besides, I don’t trust you two for shit. This way, I know it’s safe.” He pushes my shoulders harder. There’s an awful sound as a piece of my neck tears. I can’t hold back my scream and the pain shoots through me.
“Stop hurting her! We’ll do what you want, just stop!” Delia screams, pulling at his arms.
Brigley lets me go. I slump forward and watch the wobble of the rubbery, pink strand slowly leaking from the crevice between my neck and shoulder, before standing upright again.
“Merrrg,” Mavis says, an angry sound I didn’t know she could make.
I look down and see her, fifth and sixth legs out, standing protectively over her food dish. It seems she doesn’t like the perceived threat to her dinner.Me either, buddy.
“What the fuck is that thing?”Brigley asks.
“It’s a cant. And she’s wonderful,” I reply. “Anyway, I’ll chew the gum. No worries.”
Delia looks at me with terror in her eyes. “I can do it, Pearl.It’s okay.”
“Nope, I’ve got it. It’ll be fun,” I say in the cheeriest tone I can work up as I open the door. I grab what I need from inside the refrigerator. “Hey, Mr. Brigley. Did you see the claws on Mavis’s extra legs? If you look closely, they, uh, look like baseball gloves.”
“They what?” Brigley crouches close to Mavis, squinting at her spider-like legs, as I wrap the piece of turkey against the side of the gum.
“Yeah, they’re so strange. Hey, what did the baseball glove say to the ball?” I wave the turkey-covered gum just to the side of Brigley’s face, but a little behind, so Mavis can see it and he can’t. Her eyes widen at the sight of it.
Brigley turns to me, mouth open, ready to snap his cap at me for making a joke. Then I do what’s just about the most cockeyed thing a dame could do. I lunge forward, and I cram the gum pasthisgums.
For a split second he’s too shocked at my moxie to do anything, the turkey-wrapped piece of bubblegum half in, half out of his mouth as he crouches in front of Mavis. He doesn’t take long to react, though. As Brigley slowly stands, I hear the “hehhppff” sound of him beginning to spit the gum out—but not before Mavis does as I’d hoped she’d do.
The cant locks her eyes on the turkey, springs upward on her extra legs, and grabs at it. The man pulls back, reflexively sucking the gum back into his mouth in surprise. His teeth close on it, just once. That’s all it takes.
