For Shits and Giggles [2024]

Chapter 17

The faint drip, drip, drip echoing through the concrete building was unsettling.

Paola had slammed her head back against the chair so much that she knocked herself unconscious. Amid her screaming, she had lost control and urinated on herself, which in turn made her thrash and struggle against her restraints even harder. Now she sat in the chair, her body limp and hunched over, her legs dripping with her own piss.

Gracie had watched the entire thing happen, sitting across from Dr. Sny, who had taken several moments to continue writing in his notebook. He hardly noticed Paola, writing about her as if she wasn't there. As if he were studying some animal in a zoo.

"Hello?" Lotto said, pressing a button on the cell's security pad. "Did you fall asleep, little miss?" he said, speaking into the pad. Dr. Sny shooed him away, told Lotto to leave her alone. But the little red light on the security pad remained on. That's when Gracie noticed the relentless drip, drip, dripping.

Liam and Scotty were in the cell next to Paola's, still as statues but smiling ear to ear. Every few moments, they would glance at each other, then at Dr. Sny, Lotto, and Gracie. They'd snicker to themselves, exchanging looks only they could understand.

Even as children Liam and Scotty had been troublemakers. Gracie remembered back in high school. They were notorious for selling contraband on school grounds: gum, sugary sodas that weren't allowed in the vending machines, and even school night concert tickets. They were in and out of the principal's office and eventually in and out of jail. They weren't "bad" guys— they'd been arrested for petty shopplifting or underaged drinking. One things for certain. They were fun to party with, or buy the occasional preroll or edible from, but they weren't the type of guys you would let house-sit for the weekend, either.

Lotto finally walked over, setting a warm cup of coffee in front of Gracie and Dr. Sny. Dr. Sny looked up from his writing, pouring ample cream and sugar into his mug.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Lotto went to sit down, missing the chair entirely and falling ass-first onto the ground. He yelped as the hot coffee pot spilled all over him. Dr. Sny looked annoyed as Lotto ran off to clean himself around the corner, where presumably the bathroom was.

If only Paola had been granted that same kindness.

"You'll have to excuse the Sheriff, the Tree has made him a little bit..." Dr. Sny paused to think. "Daft."

"But anyway," he continued, sipping his own coffee before deciding it needed more sugar. With his pen, he shoved Gracie's coffee closer to her. With shaky hands, Gracie grabbed the warm mug and brought it to her lips. It was bitter.

"The curse is in your eyes."

She stopped mid-sip, coughing inside of her mouth as she heard his words.

"What... what does that mean," she asked impatiently, her throat burning, heart pounding. It was those words that Felix said to her that day in the park, the words that Santiago refused to talk about whenever she brought up her eyes.

"I was hoping you could tell me," Dr. Sny said calmly, flipping through the pages in his notebook. He read a couple of words to himself, paused, flipped a page, and continued reading. Without looking up, he pointed toward one of the cells with his pen. There was a man wrapped up in blankets that Gracie hadn't noticed until then. He was asleep.

"Is that..." Gracie said, leaning forward for a closer look.

"Felix Cain. That's correct. You see, he refused to work with me unless you were here."

"I don't understand..."

"Your guess is as good as mine. I've made a minimal amount of progress since the beginning of the Tree."