Page 41 of Chaos Destiny
Dallas added, “Me, personally, I’d be wanting to hear some rap or something. I like me the female rappers. They’re nasty, and I love me a nasty woman.Man,I love me a nasty woman. You remember Temi, Memph?”
Memphis put away his air guitar and, eyes closed, leaned backward over the side panel. “Did we tag-team her?”
“No, dickhead.Temi.”
“Oh, you mean your li’l college girl from all the way back when we was, like, nineteen, right? The one that almost had you signing up for classes knowing we both dumb as hell? But Temi seemed too sweet to be nasty.”
Dallas grinned. “I know.”
I tugged on Memphis’ shirt, jerking him upward before his head would have collided with the driver’s side mirror on an abandoned, newer-model Ford.
“But we did tag-team Dana,” he said, unfazed by the fact that he’d almost gotten his head knocked clean off. “Never would’ve done that with Temi. Things change withThe Obsession.”
Omar turned the truck onto the grass to maneuver around a fallen tree branch. Something about its positioning didn’t sit well with me, and my sense of foreboding was made worse by the dozen or so tattered-wing moths perched on top of the chipped bark.
“What’s ‘The Obsession’?” I asked, scanning the woods.
“Running on nothing but pure crazy,” Dallas explained. “I met Temi, and a week later, I was hiding in the cellar behind her grandmama’s house, eating up all their pickled veggies. Then, I used to keep this little jar with her blood in it ‘round my neck. Hell, I kidnapped her daddy for screaming at her.”
“But her father never yelled at her again, did he?” Memphis chimed in.
Again, their accents slipped, but what I did manage to pick up on didn’t sound distinctly American.
The previous topic finally caught up to me.
“Wait, youbothhad sex with Dana?”
“None of what we just said seemed strange to you?” Dallas studied me, scratching the side of his face. “Interesting. Andyeah, we went a couple of rounds with Dana. So did Omar. And Phil. And…well, this might be easier if I tell you who she ain’t been with. That would be your wife, Dr. D, and you…I think.”
“I haven’t slept with Dana,” I clarified. The last thing I wanted was for some rumor to get back to Tayler and interfere with my plans. “But I commend her for being so hungry in her sexuality.”
Condoms and antibiotics were in short supply. It would be both ironic and tragic to succumb to a resistant form of the clap when, these days, death by other means was so easy to come by.
Memphis tipped his head in Allen’s direction and thrust his hips. “And not just once, neither,” he whispered.
I stared at the back of Allen’s head, hoping he’d had to resort to getting off elsewhere because Tayler wouldn’t let him anywhere near her naked body. If Memphis knew Allen was screwing Dana, more people might have known. Not only was Allen a fuckwit for insulting Tayler’s expertise, but he was also potentially making her look as if she was being taken advantage of in front of the rest of the camp.
The truck rolled to a stop next to a massive body of water. The tree leaves had begun to change color, falling like golden pellets onto the surface. It was still early, the sun right above our heads. Here, the waters had more life to them, and I didn’t know why I’d expected to see others foraging and fishing.
I tossed my legs over the side of the truck bed and dropped to my feet on the semi-hard ground.
Dallas and Memphis followed.
“Where are we?” I asked.
“A lake, obviously,” Allen quipped, slamming the passenger door.
“Kid, what’s your problem with me?”
“Kid? Do you know how old I am?”
“I know how old you act.”
The brothers snickered.
“I don’t like you,” Allen said. “You keep flirting with my girlfriend, and it’s starting to piss me off.”
I raised both eyebrows. “Is that right? Well, that’s on me, mate. I apologize. Who’s your girlfriend? Have I met her?”
