"Oh, my God," I said to three of the ol' ladies who were sitting around in the common room. I looked around to make sure none of the brothers were close enough to overhear. "You won't believe what she's done now."
Glynis leaned forward. "What?"
"Is this going to piss me off again like the time Winnie gave her a picture and she threw it out?" Lauree asked.
That had been a particular stroke of genius on my part. I'd seen my daughter head into the kitchen with one of her precious pictures, heading straight for Euphemia. For some reason, Winnie was drawn to the woman and always sought her out. On that day, I watched Win walk into the kitchen and place her drawing down on the counter, right in front of Euphemia. She smiled at my daughter, then Winnie turned and walked away.
The guys had all been out on a Saturday morning run, so it was safe to take my shot.
"Oh, my God! Stop it!" I shouted.
That would bring the ol' ladies running, hoping for a scene, so I hurried over to Euphemia and snatched the drawing out of her hands, tearing it a bit and crumpling Winnie's picture into a ball.
"How could you do that?" I demanded, holding the ball of paper up so they could all see.
Yep, the crowd had formed. I could hear the ladies and club girls asking what was going on.
"Winnie made this picture for you, Euphemia! It's how she communicates, and she walked in here specially to hand it to you, and you just balled it up and threw it away like it's nothing?"
The gasps of outrage behind me made it hard to keep a straight face. All the ladies loved my daughter, so they wouldn't take kindly to this bit of nastiness.
"You know I didn't do that," Euphemia said quietly. "I would never do something that awful."
"And now you're going to stand there and lie to my face? I watched you do it."
Euphemia, having been on the losing end against me a couple of times before, glared at me without saying a word.
"If she brings you something this precious again, you damn well better treat it with the respect it deserves."
The ladies were muttering behind me as I turned my back on Effie and walked away. Following my lead, they did the same. Now, I had three ol' ladies dying to hear what Euphemia had done this time. So I told them.
"I asked Rogue if he could come see Winnie for just five minutes -- five minutes! -- since she's been having a hard time without seeing him, but before he could answer, Euphemia just said no, she didn't want to be alone, and she didn't want him going to see my little girl and she refused to let him leave her alone."
"Are you fuckin' kidding me?" Sheila was floored. "Who acts like that?"
"What on earth does she have against Winnie? Everyone else loves her. First the picture, now this," Glynis said, disgust evident in her voice.
I closed my eyes as if in pain. "I don't understand it at all, but it kills me."
Lauree's hand closed over mine. "Maybe we should stop protecting Euphemia and tell the brothers. Rogue wouldn't want to be with someone like that."
"No," I said sharply. "We keep this between us for now. I'm hoping she'll come around, and maybe she will if we just give her a little more time. I mean, she was shot, just like I was, but maybe some people don't handle it as well."
"You're a better woman than I am," Sheila said. "You're being way too considerate of her. Keeping Rogue tied to her is a little dramatic, if you ask me. You just got on with things after you'd been shot."
Sometimes, it really was too easy.
YOU ARE READING
The Body #3: Rogue and Euphemia
RomanceI watched as my boyfriend saved another woman when a rival club shot up the clubhouse. He never even checked on me as he took her to the hospital -- and I almost died. So I disappeared for a year, and when I came back, he was waiting for me. He want...
