Page 18 of Gratification in Gluttony

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Jude rose to standing, and Toni gave his ankle a squeeze before releasing him. As he made his way to the fire escape to retrieve his dick—his packer, he’d called it—Toni’s gaze clashed with Gem’s, those oil-spill irises and red pupils locked on his face.

Gem offered a sad but encouraging smile. Toni waved it off. Because it really was okay. Jude was interesting and cool, and sure, he was super hot. But Toni wanted to be his friend, even iffriendswas all they ever were.

Oliver and Jude’s departure began the exodus, and within an hour, Toni and Gem were the only ones left. Gem was taking a long, hot shower, and Toni had managed to swallow down some toast when his phone started to ring. Since his pants were still somewhere in Gem’s bedroom, he rose from the couch with a groan and shuffled past the room partition.

He picked through the piles of clothes on the floor until he found his pants. His phone had stopped ringing, but it started up again as he dug into the pocket. He startled at the sight of his sister’s name on the screen.

Out of all his sisters, Flo was the nicest and most accepting. She had Toni over for dinner every few weeks to update him on the family, and when she babysat Angel, their niece, she’d always let him stop in for a few hours. Their oldest sister, Bett, didn’t invite Toni around—Angel’s birthday was the only exception—but she usually looked the other way when he “coincidentally” stopped in at Flo’s to play dress-up.

But today was not Flo’s babysitting day, and he’d had dinner with her and Mak just last week. So, her call was unexpected. Apprehensively, he brought his phone to his ear. “Flo?”

“Toni,” she said, voice wet and thick, and Toni’s stomach bottomed-out.

“Flo, you okay?”

“Oh Toni, it’s horrible. Just horrible!” she wailed, nearly bursting his eardrum.

“Is it the babies?” he asked in a panic as she sobbed.

“No, the babies are fine. It’s Ma!”

Those two words knocked the breath out of him. His knees buckled, and he landed hard on the end of Gem’s bed.

“What do you mean? What happened to Ma?”

“You gotta come to the hospital! We’re all in an uproar. And Pa—ah gods, Pa is beside himself! Merciful deities, what did we ever do to deserve this?”

“Flo!” Toni barked, frustration and worry mixing into a toxic ball in his gut. “What happened to Ma?”

“Her surgery. It was supposed to be routine, you know? Why do bad things have to happen to good people?” she demanded, sniffling loudly.

“Flo, I swear on every deity that exists, if you don’t tell me exactly what—”

“I can’t say it; don’t make me say it! It’s too horrible. Just come, Toni. You need to come now. Do it for Ma!”

“Where are you?”

Flo blew her nose wetly, then blubbered out, “The hospital in Envy. Give your name at reception and they’ll send you right up. Maybe stop at the gift shop and get me a bag of crisps? The sweet and spicy ones—notthe vinegar! You know the ones I like. Just hurry, Toni. Hurry!” With another mournful wail, Flo hung up, leaving Toni fighting hysteria as he jumped to his feet and scrambled for his clothes.

“Unholy shit, I could hear Flo caterwauling from the bathroom. What happened?” Gem asked as he rounded the room partition, towel secured around his waist.

“It’s Ma!” Toni cried as he tugged on his shirt, growling in frustration when his head didn’t fit. “She’s in hospital. I think she’s dying, Gem! What the fuck is wrong with this shirt?”

“Firstly, that’s the arm hole,” Gem said calmly as he finagled the shirt out of Toni’s desperate hands and fitted it right-side up over his head. “Secondly, you think your mom’s dying?”

“Sheisdying, Gemmy. Flo said so. Oh, I knew it. I fucking knew it.” Toni yanked his jeans up only to realize he had them on backwards when he couldn’t find the zipper. “I woke up with a bad feeling.”

“Pretty sure that’s the hangover,” Gem said as he watched Toni kick off his pants so he could turn them around.

“No, it was more than that. I knew something bad had happened. And you know, my great-great noni had the gift. She passed it on to me,” Toni said seriously.

Gem’s eyes blinked in a wave from left to right. “I mean, everyone knows clairvoyance skips two generations,” he said dryly.

“Exactly!” Buttoning his pants closed, Toni tucked his phone into his pocket and ran a hand through his messy hair. “I gotta get to Envy.”

Blocking Toni’s path, Gem placed several hands on his chest. “You gotta shower.”

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