Only the Moon Watching

Chapter 33: It's a Crime Scene

It's a crime scene. There's plastic sheeting draped over the stacks, hiding them from view. The fluorescent lights are flickering ominously, then there's a noise from the other side of the room and they shut off. Someone coughs.

"Jos?" Steak's voice floats through the gloom. "Just a second – ah shit. Hang on!"

A flashlight is illuminated, then set on the floor. Three others follow, making the plastic sheeting glow. Through a hole in the sheeting, I see Steak's arm emerge, clutching a bouquet of –

"Are those tampons?" Shiv snorts.

He's holding a fistful of tampons, their tips frayed so they look, vaguely, like flowers. He holds them by the strings, like a jerry-rigged wedding bouquet.

"Best I could do, short notice," Steak shrugs, handing them to me. "There's a girl in here who makes origami rings, I heard. I wanted to find her and ask about flowers but I spent the day bribing my roommate, Chet, to make our guard distract Girdle for a while so you could get away. You must be the roommate?" He turns to Shiv, smiling, and offers her a hand shake.

She dodges it, stepping under the plastic sheeting instead. "Is this a cute pillow-fort-camping thing or are you gonna murder her?" she asks.

"I'm a non-violent offender," Steak reminds us. "May I?"
He offers me his hand. I take it and we duck beneath the plastic behind Shiv.

"I'll leave you to it then," she smirks. "I'll be a few aisles away if you need anything. I'll be in the mystery section I guess, I'll leave you two to the –" She taps the Post-it note label, "romance."

"Ah fuck," says Steak, once she's left. "I swear I didn't realize we were in the romance section but that's kind of perfect, isn't it?"

"These 'flowers' are hilarious. Thanks."

"Can't actually take credit for them. Someone on my floor made them – he's a few decades older, has actually been prison married a few times before. I was gonna ask Chet to draw you some roses, he's really good with art and tattooing, but again, he was busy figuring out how to keep your guard distracted."

"I appreciate how much thought went into this, it's really nice."

Steak smiles. "I just wanted to live up to my notes, you know? Wanted to be thoughtful."

"Oh I noticed that when you were cleaning up my puke." I say blushing. "By that I mean – the way you talk matches your notes. You totally live up to expectations, is what I'm trying to say."

"You still think I'm clever in person?"
I shake the tampon bouquet in his face.

"Alright, noted. Point one, Steak!"

"And your handwriting's nice and your smile–"

"My handwriting? No it isn't!"

He scrunches up his nose in confusion. I like how modest he is: planning a big romantic gesture like this but playing it off like he's surprised I like it, like he's the one who's nervous!

"I meant to tell you," he says, suddenly serious. "You should bring your letters here. My kites. Hide them in a book, where they'll be safe. What Shiv did – stealing your letter from Mike – that's, like, best case scenario. Worst case, Garda Girdle finds them and tears them up. And I put a lot of thought into them, so–"

"I know, sometimes it takes you days to write me back..."

"– I wouldn't want you to lose them. I have all of yours hidden someplace safe."