The Beauty of Hunger

FOUR

               As soon as I walk through the doors of the Wrym there's round of applause. "Why is everyone clapping?" I whisper to Netty. "You punched a guy, he shot you, and you survived that's unheard of around here." Netty says. I just shrug my shoulders and head for the bar. It isn't time for Toni's shift yet, so she sits beside me at the bar.
       "What can I get you?" a female Serpent, who looks around my age asks. "The strongest thing you got." I tell her. She smiles. "You're a tough one, I like that. What's your name toughy?" she asks. "Duchess."
        "Well Duchess, I'm Doll." she says. She doesn't hand me a shot glass or a glass with a shots worth in it, she hands me a glass of Hen mixed with something else on ice. I think this girl and I are gonna end up great friends. The drink is good, it burns but I don't mind, I've always loved the burn.
      "There's been a lot of talk about you around here Duchess." Doll says.
     "All good, I hope?" I ask. "Of course, I mean you beat up an older Serpent, and you survived being shot." Doll, flips her long black hair over her shoulder. "Not every young Serpent can say they've done that." I laugh. "So, girls, what I gotta do to become an official Serpent?" I ask Toni and Doll.
       "Well, first you have to go through the initiation." Doll says, cleaning out a glass.
       "And if you were  to complete them, if you were a boy you'd have to run the Gauntlet, but you're not so you have to do the dance." Toni puts in. "Dance?" I ask. "Yeah, that pole over there," Doll points to the stage and pole on the other side of the bar. There's a lady moving around the pole gracefully. "You have to strip." Doll finishes. My mouth falls open. "I know, I tried to get it banned but you can't teach an old dog new tricks and mostly everyone in here is an old slobbery dog." Netty says.
       "What was that about old slobbery  dogs?" Fangs comes from behind, slinging an arm over Toni's shoulder. "Yeah, I could've sworn we were snakes last time I checked." Sweet Pea puts in. "Fuck off you two." I say. "And who's gonna make us?" Sweets asks. I turn around on my stool to face him.
       "Don't make me kick your ass again." I threaten. Sweet Pea steps closer, putting his hands on either side of me so that they rest on the bar top behind me. "It was a lucky punch." he argues. "I bet your face was all bruised and sore the next day." I tease. He leans in, whispering, he says, "Talk to me like that again and you'll be the one sore." He looks me in the eyes before walking away. I have nothing to say, I just glare, ranting a string of profanities under my breathe.
     I turn back around in my seat. His words forcing me to think about that night.

[flashback]

       "Fuck." I say under my breath. I locked myself out of the trailer, left not only my key, but my glasses on my bedside table. I can't see shit. Mansa went back to Chicago for a few days to grab some things, and Netty is no where to be found. Wish I could find her, she has the spare key.
      We only just moved out of Grandpa's trailer two weeks ago, how could I lock myself out?! If Mansa were here he'd silently scold me for being irresponsible. To make matters worse. . .it's raining. Just my shitty luck. I can't really leave, my phone just died, and it's dark out. I'm blind as a bat right now. I've been sleep all day and I decided to come outside for air only to be looked out. I sit on the steps, trying to light a cigarette, teeth chattering. I give up after a couple of tries.
        Relief floods through me when I see light and hear the sound of a motorcycle coming towards me.
      I look up, hoping for Toni. Instead I get a drenching wet Sweet Pea. "Is Toni here?" He shouts over the rain. I shake my head no, hoping he can see better than I can. "What are you doing sitting out in the rain?" he asks. "Enjoying the weather, what do you think shit head?" I try to sound as threatening as possible but it's hard with the chattering of teeth. He shakes his head laughing.
          "Did you get locked out?" He asks in between laughter. I nod my head yeah. He turns his bike off, and makes his way towards me. He stops in front of my door, ruffling in his jacket pocket before pulling out a pick. He inserts it into the lock before moving it around a little.
      A couple seconds pass before my front door swing open. "Oh my God, thank you so much." I jump up to hug him. I don't even realize what I've done as I walk into the trailer. I grab my space heater from beside the couch and plug it in. I immediately strip out of my wet clothing and put it on the couch in front of the heater.  When I turn around Sweets is looking at me with a raised brow.
       "What, if you want to get out of your wet clothes feel free to do the same." I say.  "Uh, yeah, okay." He says. I bet I've confused him by undressing in front of him. I head back to my room, grab my glasses off of the night stand and look around in my drawers for something to put on. I find a hoodie and a pair of my old dance shorts, throwing them on. I have to look in my drawers of forgotten things for a shirt for Sweet Pea.
      I find an old shirt I don't wear anymore that belonged to my brother. Heading back into the living room I find him taking his shirt off, already having removed his pants. I can't help but stare at the v-line that dips into his boxer shorts. "Take a picture." he says smugly. "Get out of your head, babe."
         "Stop calling me that."
        "What ever." I  say throwing him the shirt. "You hungry?" I ask. "Can you cook?"
        "Grilled cheese." 
        "Sure." he shrugs. I head into the kitchen. I grab the block of cheese, some butter and a loaf of bread from my almost empty fridge. I gotta remember to go grocery shopping. I find a worn skillet that Grandpa gave us in one of the cabinets under the sink. I use a lighter to light the stove, and I begin cooking.
        "So, what were the boys you dated like? Let me guess, they were all Mama's boys who wore suspenders and glasses." he teases. "No, actually I didn't date back in Chicago. I don't date at all. And what's wrong with mama's boys?" I ask. "So, what? You're a virgin." I roll my eyes. "Not that it's any of your business babe, but I never said I was."  Which I'm not, lost it to a friend of mine named Thomas. I flip another sandwich onto the plate.
      I turn the stove off, putting the skillet in the sink, and grab a bag of Doritos from off the fridge. I grab the plate of sandwiches, and head into my living space. I set it all on the coffee table before sitting down next to Sweet Pea. He picks one up and bites into it, I copy his actions. I open the bag of Doritos, and find the remote to turn on the box set television.
       After  my sandwich is gone, and so are half of the Doritos, I stand up. "You want a beer?" I ask Pea. "Yeah."
I can feel his eyes on me the whole time as I'm in the kitchen. I can't help but tease him by bending down to grab the two beers. I can hear his intake of breath as I stand up.
     I walk back into the living room, an innocent look on my face. "You okay, babe?"  I ask. "You look like you've seen a ghost." I sit back down, my shorts rising a little. I watch him swallow, his adam's apple bobbing up and down. "I'm fine." He says, his voice deeper, a growl almost. I hand him his beer, opening mine. "So what about you, what kind of girls do you hook up with?" I ask, taking a swig of my beer. "Don't you mean date?" he grins, amused. I look him dead in the eyes, smiling, "You're not the type to date." I say. He sets his beer down on the coffee table, scooting closer to me.
          With his face just inches from mine he says, "The kind of girls I look at are sexy, and badass." I let out a shaky laugh. "Let me guess, they can fight too?" I whisper.  "Yeah, how'd you know?"
          "Lucky guess."
       He takes my can from my hand, placing it on the table next to his. His eyes never leave my lips as he leans in closer. Before I know it, his lips are on my. At first it's a slow kiss. We explore each other, taste each other. Then it speeds up. Next thing I know I'm in his lap, my arms around his neck, my fingers tangled in his hair. His hands rest on my hips.
        He tastes like peppermint. He picks me up, carrying me to my room. He sets me down on my bed. Stopping to take his shirt off. He climbs onto the bed, spreading my legs  to crawl between them. I lay down letting him crawl on top of me. He stares down at me a little while, before I pull him down for a kiss. I take my hoodie off, throwing it to the floor. I start to work on getting his pants off. I have his pants unbuckled when he pulls my shorts off.       
          "You're wearing too many clothes."
It comes out as a whimper when he begins to bite and kiss and suck on my neck. He stands up to take his pants off. I smile and pull him back down. He wastes no time getting my underwear off.