Memories

XIX

CHECKMATE

'You think you're funny, right?
Calling me drunk when it's too late at night
Telling me truths that you know all are lies
Yeah, you think you're funny, right?' 

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"You know, I get it," Neil started, and Thalia was immediately impressed. "Being raised as a superstar must be really, really difficult for you. Always a commodity, never a human being, not a single person in your family thinking you're worth a damn off the court - yeah, sounds rough. Kevin and I talk about your intricate and endless daddy issues all the time." Thalia's eyebrows flew up and looked over to Kevin behind the seats.

"Neil," he said frantically. Nicky elbowed Thalia in the side, but she swatted his hand away and watched Neil, knowing he wasn't done just yet.

"I know it's not entirely your fault that you are mentally unbalanced and infected with these delusions of grandeur, and I know you're physically incapable of holding a decent conversation with anyone like every other normal human being can, but I don't think any of us should have to put up with this much of your bullshit. Pity only gets you so many concessions, and you used yours up about six insults ago, so please, please, shut the fuck up and leave us alone."

Jaws dropped, and silence ensued, but Thalia was impressed. She laughed a little and clapped a few times, obviously snapping people out of their trances, because Dan looked shocked and told Matt to get Wymack.

"You can't say things like that," Jean said, still shell-shocked.

"Then why the fuck did Riko ask him to speak?" Thalia said incredulously. Jean turned on Kevin.

"What the hell is this?" he asked. Thalia understood it, but didn't remember learning the language. She knew it wasn't English, but couldn't comprehend why she knew it. She'd never learned another language. Had thought it'd be useless, and didn't understand Neil's obsession over learning Spanish.

"His antagonism is a personality flaw we're learning to deal with," Thalia snorted at 'antagonism' because what Neil just did was clearly much more than that.

"No! You should have dealt with him two weeks ago when he first stepped out of line. We trusted you to discipline him. Why doesn't he know his place yet?" Jean asked. "And she isn't much better, with all her snarky comments." Thalia frowned at Jean then.

"Neil and Thalia have no place in Riko's games." Kevin countered, and Thalia was grateful but confused.

"They are not Foxes!" Jean said. Thalia had almost had enough, but was still trying to understand why she knew what the two were arguing about.

"Funny," Neil said in the same language, startling Thalia and Jean. "I'm pretty sure the contract we both signed said Palmetto State University." Thalia pointed to Neil in agreement, though she was sure Jean wasn't paying attention to her.

"A contract does not change facts." Jean argued. "Did you two forget who bought you." Neil looked confused and Thalia snorted.

"I don't have any memories, so no. Not really." Thalia said, making Jean frown a little, but he got back on track easily.

Kevin looked as lost as Neil and Thalia. "Jean, what are you talking about?" Jean seemed shocked that they didn't know what he was talking about.

"You don't know," Jean said. It was clearly supposed to be a question, or maybe an accusation, but it didn't come off as either. "You don't know? But why else would you have recruited them, Kevin?" 

"Neil has potential, and we were a player short, so he suggested Thalia." Kevin said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, which, to Thalia, it was. Jean laughed.

"You useless fools. How any of you live this long when you're so miserably stupid is beyond my understanding." Jean said with his hysterical sounds. 

"What the hell is going on over here?" Wymack said as he approached with Matt trailing behind him. Thalia looked at him with a small smile on her face as if she were finding the situation extremely amusing.

"Well, Jean here it explaining something about buying people, which I understand is pretty illegal in America, so -"

"Shut up, you illiterate fool," Jean hissed in what Thalia had guessed by now was French. Thalia looked back at him with raised eyebrows. 

"I did not lie," Thalia said. Jean side eyed Thalia as he turned in his chair and spoke to Riko in a hurry. She figured it must have been Japanese, but Kevin seemed to understand what she didn't. Riko looked between Kevin, Neil and Thalia - who stuck her tongue out at him - and responded to Jean.

"On your feet. Abby is taking you to a different table." Wymack explained. "She's talking to Blackwell's coach over there. Go see her." Thalia stood up along with the rest of the team, but Jean grabbed her arm, along with Neil's, and said something in quick French that Thalia only understood parts of.

"Riko..time..unless you want..Butcher's children." was all Thalia understood, though Neil and Kevin seemed to have got all of the sentence, because Neil pushed Kevin back and looked at Jean.

"That's not true," Kevin said. Thalia glanced helplessly between the two of them, and finally back to Jean.

"Would you mind repeating that, I didn't quite catch all of it." Thalia said to him with a gake sweet smile on her face.

"I would suggest you take Riko's time later, unless you two want everyone knowing you're the Butcher's children." Jean said in French. Thalia was confused, but Kevin whimpered again, and Neil looked stone cold.

"Shut up," he said, mostly to Jean, but possibly to Thalia and Kevin as well. "Don't say anything else."

"Run along, it's what you're best at, isn't it?" Jean said to Neil, then turned to Thalia. "Well, that and faking your own death to get out of the Ravens nest."