Page 76 of Collect the Pieces

“Don’t start trouble, Dee-Dee,” Shelby warns.

I turn off the water and grab a paper towel, watching their interaction in the mirror.

“What?” The girl widens her eyes to a comically innocent degree. “I just wanted to say hi. I’m trying to be friendly. I haven’t had a chance to talk to Margaret, yet.”

The little smirk at the corner of her mouth suggests getting my name wrong was intentional, so I don’t bother to correct her.

“You can sprinkle all the sugar you want on that bullshit, Dee-Dee,” Shelby wiggles her fingers in the air like she’s decorating a bunch of pastries, “but you ain’t gonna convince me it’s an apple turnover.”

I burst into laughter, then clap my hand over my mouth.

Dee-Dee frowns in confusion. “What?”

“Don’t mess with my friend,” Shelby warns.

“It’s just sounusualfor Jigsaw to bring a lady friend to a clubhouse party.” Her voice drips with syrupy sweetness. “He usually has more than he can handle.” The veneer of politeness drops from Dee-Dee’s face. “That man has a large and voracious appetite. And he likes it rough, something you don’t look like you’d be good at.”

Vomit crawls up the back of my throat and suddenly I wish I hadn’t eaten so much chili at dinner.

If Jigsaw hadn’t warned me and I hadn’t already practiced my fuck-off face on Bonnie, I’d probably burst into tears.

Instead, I adopt Shelby’s disinterested posture and turn back to the mirror, pretending to check the makeup I’m not even wearing.

“Jigsaw almost had you banned from Downstate for tryin’ to fill my ears with tales about Rooster,” Shelby warns. No wonder she doesn’t like this woman. “Whaddya think he’s gonna do when he hears you talking trash tohisol’ lady?”

“Don’t the guys have a saying, Shelby,” Dee-Dee teases in a slow, cruel tone. “Snitches get stitches?”

“Yeah?” Shelby squares her shoulders. “Well, I got my own saying—bitches get stitches too.”

Enough of this. I whip around and pull the pocketknife Jigsaw gave me earlier free. I hook my nail in the notch, trying to casually flick it open and failing miserably. It had been so easy in the truck when my hands weren’t shaking.

Finally, I open the blade and wave it in front of me.

“It’s okay, Shelby.” I look Dee-Dee right in her heavily made-up eyes. “Did you have something else you wanted to say to me?”

Dee-Dee shifts her gaze from Shelby to me and her eyes widen. She stumbles back a step. “Are you threatening me with aknifejust for telling you I sucked your man’s dick?”

I gag but keep the knife in front of me. “You actually hadn’t saidthatpart out loud yet.”

She lifts her chin in defiance. Her shiny red lips part.

“Girrrl, I’d quit while you’re ahead,” Shelby drawls. “Margot ain’t playin’.”

Dee-Dee snaps her mouth shut.

“My man warned me one of you…bunniesmight give me a history lesson,” I say, proud that my voice isn’t shaking. “And then tonight, he gave me this pretty, shiny new knife as a present. I wonder if the two things are related?” I cock my head and stare at Shelby.

“I’m thinking, yeah. They sure are.” Shelby crosses her arms over her chest and nods.

“You see,” I lift my gaze, meeting Dee-Dee’s shocked eyes and give her a slightly unhinged smile. “I handle dead bodies all the time. So Jigsaw knows nothing scares me.”

Dee-Dee blinks rapidly, then turns and flees, sneakers slapping and sliding over the floor. “You’re both crazy!” she screams as she hits the door so hard, she leaves it swinging violently in her wake.

Shelby hoots and slaps her hands against her thighs. “Dang, you’re fearless.”

With the confrontation over, all my bravery drops into my boots. I click the knife closed with trembling hands. “Maybe it was a bad idea to threaten her.”

What if the guys get mad and banmefor shoving a knife in someone’s face?

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