To Rhial

14

Brenden

"I'm not dealing with her bullshit right now." I paused and took a breath. "If she doesn't want help, then that's too bad. She's getting it."

Adam kept pace behind me. "Dude, I'm pretty sure everyone is just overreacting because we're all tired and-" he yawned "-and beat down from yesterday. She saw us when we were all beat-up, so she's worried."

"And you didn't think to say that earlier? She would have eased up on the bitching if you'd given your two cents."

"I'm gonna be honest, most of that conversation was me trying to not break shit and find a way to sit comfortably."

"Well anything you could have said sure would have been better than anything Tells did."

"Did I do something?" Tells was suddenly caught up behind us.

I groaned a little more obviously than I would have liked. "No, Tells. You've never done anything to irritate anyone ever."

"I know." She proudly hummed and nodded.

"My ass still hurts from you slapping it." Adam rubbed his hand on the sore cheek.

She proudly hummed and nodded even louder and harder.

I stopped and looked back. "What the fuck is taking Desmond so long?"

Adam and Tells shrugged in unison.

"Jesus Christ!" Desmond emerged from the door of the clinic about a hundred feet back down the road, yelling back in like a disappointed dad. "I can't believe you'd drop the hard r on me like that! What would Tells say?!" He started walking away, but after a brief pause, stopped to yell back like an angry gnome. "I'm gonna lay into you after class you freaking worm!"

We all waited, a little shocked at the uncharacteristic display from Desmond. He caught up, shaking his head in disappointment. "I can't believe her. I thought I raised her right."

I sighed. "What happened?"

"After everything I taught her. The r is the most important part, man! It's what separates wannabe gangstas from the real Little Rockers."

"Desmond, you know you can make jokes that won't get us punched or hated."

He chuckled, holding his arms out in a challenge to the sky and waving to a passing farmer. "These people don't have a clue what it means. What are they gonna do, summon the keyboard warriors to cancel me? They ain't gettin' up for shit. Got unwiped asses are so swampy their cheeks fused to the cushion. Just look how that Reddit mod turned out!"

Adam turned around, "Erm, it's called gamer gunk and it's what we marinate our keyboards in for grip."

"Adam, I oughta kill you for making my ears hear a sentence so nasty."

"You can certainly try."

Tells slapped my back. "Don't worry B, I gave 'em the lifetime pass."

I rubbed my chin and raised a finger. "But we all died."

"True." She pointed at Desmond. "Dee, your pass expired, we all died. Say it and I get to legally kill you."

Desmond pushed forward down the road. "Shit, you right."

I followed his lead and we wound up back at the stable to pack up. "Tells, what's the place we're going?"

She was already leaning against the frame of the entrance to the stable. "On the side of the road, a ravine with a bunch of blue flowers. A cabin with cages outside of it."