038
“Yes, Lisa, I know. She’ll be done in only a matter of time.”
I screamed.
“Oh, you’re awake! I’ve only just begun…it might take a while. Don’t…don’t scream, please. It scares Lisa’s son.”
I tried to kick Scorch off of me but she was a very strong girl and I was the type to give up very easily.
“Oh, there you go. He’s crying now. I’ll have to paint you more for this.”
I glanced down at my thigh, which Scorch was happily burning the hell out of.
Her match was almost numb against my skin, and it left bubbling pink blurs in its wake.
“You only have a little more to go, honey. It’s okay. I have to. She told me that I have to.”
I could tell that the symbols Scorch was searing into my leg were chinese. She had only finished one symbol and was working on the second.
“See, Lila likes labels. She likes knowing people before even trying to speak to them. I guess I do the dirty work, but it’s worth it. Her smile is the best reward.”
I felt lightheaded.
“I guess I’m just a fool, right? I’m a fool to love her, but I can’t help it. Oh, you don’t wanna hear it. Let me just finish. I’m almost done.”
I begged for it to be over, and then it was.
Scorch was gone before I even knew it, the only thing left behind being the few matches she used to paint me.
I sat up and looked at the words she inscribed on my thigh.
瘋女人
Maybe someday I’d find out what that meant.
