Overkill

16 | bad for business

"I just know Viola Davis is embarrassed to be from the same state as him."

Moxie looked up from her phone where her eyes had been glued for the past two hours. "Huh?"

"Giovanni Perez," Mick explained. He rolled her eyes as if she had asked him the most ridiculous question he had ever heard. "He's from fucking Rhode Island and he's gonna shit on their stellar reputation all because he's a big whiny loser who can't fathom that maybe the rest of the world has zero interest in what he has to say?"

"I don't know enough about Rhode Island to have an opinion, but I have a sneaking suspicion that nobody else has a strong enough opinion for them to have a stellar reputation to ruin." Moxie sighed after glancing back at her phone and realizing yet another second had gone by of her not receiving a response from any of her friends. "Also, Viola Davis definitely has no idea who this schlub is."

Now her brother looked at her like she was Rhode Island's most embarrassing export. "We've lived next to it for, like, half our life."

"You sound more offended on Rhode Island's behalf than the entirety of the bisexual community."

Too much silence followed before Mick yanked the phone from her hands and tossed it to the side. Thankfully, they were back on the tour bus where the Kings had far too many throw pillows and blankets than necessary. Not that it helped make her choice of seating much more comfortable. Floors were dirty places, but they were perfect for wallowing in misery. Not that it was her business buried in misery. Her name hadn't been splashed across a gross and disgusting headline, but she understood all too well the shittiness of having her sexuality questioned and invalidated. The rage she felt reading that article was unmatched regardless of who was his unfortunate target.

"You know that's not true."

"Could've fooled me." A tinge of guilt washed over her. "I'm sorry, that wasn't fair. I'm not trying to make you feel guilty for what that asshat said. It's just... it's shitty seeing someone say something like that about people you love, you know?"

After grabbing a couple of drinks from the fridge—definitely not that fuckass Olipop Lana had forced them to try the other day. Had to be worse than the hot dog water—Mick plopped himself down next to her on the floor. She held her hand out for what would be her first sip of anything that day, which she was embarrassed to admit, and he slid it into her hand after snapping the top open. Mick had this weird thing about always smelling like he had walked straight out of a shower. Since he had been using the same shampoo and body wash since he was twelve, it meant he always made her feel like she was back home, back when all they had to worry about was whether they missed their favorite reruns. It felt natural to lean into him as soon as he made himself comfortable on the floor next to her, allowing Moxie to close her eyes and travel back in time for one moment.

"You know how some people do that thing where they get overly emotional about something someone else is going through because they secretly feel hurt by it too?"

"No."

Mick laughed. "Yes."

"I..." Moxie sat up and leaned her head back. "I've spent my entire life feeling invalidated. And I finally feel like I'm in a place where I can maybe feel like myself completely and freely for the first time, but then shit like this happens and I realize how far we still have to go, even within the gay community. Like, it's not enough that we have to deal with people outside of the community. All of those regressive and shitty laws trying to get passed. All the fucking infighting and judgment and bullshit... fuck all of it. It's so fucking annoying. And I get it, this specific thing isn't about me, but I get it. I do. And it still hurts 'cause I know how many people have and would pull the same shit with me if I dared to threaten their paper-thin shred of an ego."