Page 114 of Tainted

“Go enjoy our picnic.”

“Everybody’s got jokes, huh?”

“I’m just fucking with you, bro. Growth looks good on you,” Nolan smirked, dusting off my shoulder.

“Save the sentimental shit.”

“I forgot, that’s only forBabygirl. Tell Sis, I said wassup.”

Brandy’s car went down, adding to her string of bad luck, so she had Zara’s. That left me to play chauffeur, but that worked to my advantage today. This morning, I dropped Zara off at the hospital while I ran a few last-minute errands. Now that I was done at the warehouse, I left to pick her up.

Strolling down the hallway, I was glad I didn’t run into her aunt again. I wasn’t even sure if she’d come back. She reminded me a lot of Aunt Delores. They were always around when it wastime to gossip or have fun, but when it was time to show up for family, they were ghosts.

“Banana Girl,” I greeted her with a hug and kiss as if we’d known each other for a lifetime.

“Oh, please. You can call me Lily.”

“You’ve never let me call you Lily,” Zara replied, throwing her hands on her hips.

“And I never will,” she quipped, causing Zara to scoff.

“Are you behaving yourself today?” I asked after wiping the slight pout off Zara’s lips with a kiss. Even though it was just Banana Girl, a part of her was still jealous.

“I’m always behaving myself.”

“Except when you refused to eat your lunch,” Zara tattled, wearing a twisted expression.

“I wouldn’t feed that nasty shit to a dog,” Banana Girl groaned, causing me to chuckle.

“We talked about this,Lily. Not eating won’t get you home faster. Do what they ask you to do.”

“Something tells me that’s the pot calling the kettle black Soul Snatcher.”

“What do you want to eat tomorrow? I’ll hand deliver it myself. We’ll make it a date,” I offered, learning firsthand where Zara got her stubbornness.

“Chicken from Chix On The Beach.”

“I can make that happen for you,” I winked, causing her to blush.

“She’s getting a date before me?” Zara whined.

“If you were my girlfriend, it would’ve happened by now, but you keep giving me a hard time. What's up with that Banana Girl?”

“That’s just who she is. She doesn’t take anybody’s shit. Not even mine, so you better get used to it if you plan on sticking around,” she replied.

“Noted. In that case, sorry to cut girls’ day short, but we have a date.”

“A date?” Zara repeated.

“Please, get her out of here.”

Zara’s head whipped around at Banana Girl’s comment, “I’m starting to get offended by how you keep handing me off to him.”

Banana Girl leaned forward a smidge, examining me before relaxing with a mischievous grin.

“From the looks of it, you’re in good hands. Where are you taking my baby?” I walked over to the bed and whispered my plans in Banana Girl’s ear while Zara stared at us with her arms folded. “You did good Soul Snatcher. She’s going to love that.”

Zara jumped up on her legs and hugged Banana Girl, eager to find out what I had in store for us.

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