Page 61 of Muted

“Well, don’t keep me fucking waiting! What the hell happened?” My raised voice only encourages Susu to play louder, apparently trying to drown all of us out. Interesting. I didn’t foresee her as being moody. I’m not sure I’ll be able to help with that situation.

Chester grits out, “I yelled at her, alright? I scolded her like a child for not contacting me and essentially being irresponsible by getting on the bus after I specifically asked her not to. Instead of asking her what happened first. Then this guy,” he says, jerking his thumb toward Theo in the same way his friend had just done, “attempted to smooth things over and ended up doing the same thing, onlywaymore condescending than I did.”

“Unfair but valid point,” Theo mutters under his breath.

My head bounces back and forth as I look between them. Then, with an eye roll, I wave my hand at them. “You two are idiots. I’m going to go save the piano.” Walking away from them, I watch the muscles in Susu’s back roll beneath her shirt.

Christ, she’s tense as hell. If she doesn’t stop now, she’ll exhaust herself before we even start tonight.

When I get next to her and place my hand gently on her shoulder, the way her body jerks away from me is a blow I didn’t expect to feel as harshly as it hits. Glaring at the two imbeciles over my shoulder, I see both of them stand up straighter, dropping their arms to their sides. I feel not a single ounce of pity for them, evenifthey look fucked over how badly they’ve upset her. Sending my thoughts in their direction, I hope they choke on my disdain.

Yeah, you did this, you twats.

Deciding not to dance around the fact that she’s pissed, I speak to her directly and with facts. “Susu, it’s obvious you’re angry right now, but you’re going to hurt my piano.” She doesn’t stop as she lifts her eyes to me and slices me through my chest. “Don’t be mad at me. I’m just saying, you’re hitting those notes so hard that I’m going to have to get a piano tuner out here and we aren’t scheduled for another few months. Normally, you only need to get it tuned once every year or two, but with how often we play and perform, I’ve always encouraged Chester and Cliff to get it done every six months. Did I tell you I donated these to the bar when I first started here?”

Her playing slows as I speak until she stops entirely, blinking up at me. I pause, waiting on her, but she doesn’t answer. Not with words; I know that. But she typically nods or shakes her head when I ask questions.

“Well? Did I? Probably not, I suppose. Not sure how it would have come up because…” I trail off, feeling ridiculous for pointing out that she won’t talk to me. Looking at everything except for her, I pause when my eyes lock on to the front door. “Let’s go for a walk.”

Not waiting for her to agree, I reach down, grab her hand, and pull her behind me toward the door. To the two morons still standing at the bar, I yell, “We’re going for a walk!”

Pushing the door open with my free hand, I hurry us outside into the sunshine and look around for the best path to take. Deciding there are fewer people to the right, I murmur, “Let’s go this way.”

I realize I’m walking too quickly for her when I hear her panting as she jogs behind me to keep up. Slowing down until we’re side by side, I readjust my grip on her hand and thread our fingers together. Some of the women I dated enjoyed holding hands, so I’m just going to assume that it’ll make her happy as well.

“Hold up!” Theo shouts behind us. I stop us and turn, waiting as he runs over, then stops when he’s only a few feet away. “Your phone,” he says, thrusting it toward Susu. I want to laugh at the way she snatches it away from him but stop myself just before it escapes.

“Let’s go,” I tell her as I check my watch. “Since we came in early, we have some extra time, but not a ton.”

Theo glances at me and nods. “Yeah, a walk will be good.” Then he bends forward, so he’s eye level with Susu. “Iamsorry for how I spoke to you. I don’t have an excuse except that I want to make sure you stay safe.”

I jerk my head back and tilt my head in confusion. “Safe from who? Bus passengers?”

Susu doesn’t acknowledge his apology, just stares at her feet as she kicks at a piece of concrete that must have chipped from the sidewalk. Theo stands up straighter and answers after a pause. “Yeah... Bus passengers.” He looks at her again, then where our hands are joined. His jaw clenches when she doesn’t react, and he blows out a frustrated sigh. “I’ll see you back at the bar.”

This time, Susu tugs onmyhand. I follow her as she marches toward a city park, which is only a few blocks away. The longer we walk in silence, the more her shoulders drop, and her body relaxes until she’s gently swaying our linked hands together between our bodies. I’m not sure where she wants to go, but she’s definitely leading us somewhere.

The hand not gripping mine raises as she points toward a bench on the far side of the park, tucked between some trees and a non-functioning water fountain. As we get closer, she lets her fingers slip from mine as she hurries to sit down.

I settle next to her, keeping some space between us and watch as she swings her legs underneath. Only her toes are able to reach the ground and I feel the corner of my mouth tilt up at the vision. There’s nothing about her that screams childish, but there’s something about the way she swings her legs when she’s sitting high that’s just… adorable.

“Why’d you want to come here?” I ask her, curious about her choice of scenery. The fountain in front of us isn’t large, but the statue in the middle is kind of cool. When we approached from the other side, the only thing visible was an angel standing in the center. But from this side, there’s another one crouched behind it. The pose of the two gives the illusion that the taller of the two is protecting the broken one.

I’m startled when Susu taps my thigh and then hands her phone over.

‘I like the statue. It’s sort of dark, but there’s something about it that’s beautiful.’

My eyes roam over the two angels again and fall on one of the wings that’s been damaged. It almost looks like vandalism because the edges are rough and whiter than the rest of the stone used.

“It’s broken,” I tell her, and then add, “and dirty.” Susu peers up at me, then grins as she uses her index finger to smooth out the lines above my nose. I must have been wrinkling it in disgust. Pointing, I’m adamant as I say, “Look at it! It’s really fucking dirty.”

She jabs her finger where she was stroking my skin, making my head tilt back slightly. Laughing, I reach up and give it a gentle squeeze, then cradle her hand between mine. “It’s also lovely and unique and original.” I eye her when I add, “Sort of like you, if I’m honest.”

The way her soft blush pinks her cheeks only solidifies my statement.Lovely.

“So, you want to talk about what happened in there?” Whenever my mother is upset, she always wants to go through every detail with me and my father. I assume Susu will want to as well. She briefly types, then flips her phone around to show me.

‘Nope.’

---