Page 50 of Seven Oars
“You have a son, Gro?” Rosamma asked in surprise.
“Yeah. Didn’t do too well by him, as you can tell, but he’s a good boy. Seriously. Made Inmate of the Month twice.”
“Get out,” Eze slapped her hands on her thighs.
“Yep. We hope for an early release.”
A swell of noise from the passageway put a halt to the conversation.
Phex appeared a short while later, brought in by Nud and Galan. They dumped him just inside the Cargo Hold’s raised threshold.His head hit a protruding rebar.
“Please, no, he’s not… Put him over here, at least.” Rosamma pointed to the tarp the women had allocated for Phex.
Nud and Galan stopped and regarded Rosamma with hostility.
“Did you hear her? She said to put himover there.”
Then they laughed.
Instead of doing as she'd asked, they picked Phex up.“You want him over there? Come get him, weird bitch.”
And they dragged him away.
Rosamma's chest felt hollow, like she’d just failed an important test.
“What did I just do?”
“You just made Phex’s life a little worse,” Alyesha informed her sweetly.
It was totally on her.
She scrambled to her feet.
“Oh, no-no-no,” Gro raised her voice.“Don’t you dare… Rosamma!”
She was already in the passageway.
She remembered her way to the Habitat. And if she didn’t, the sounds and smells coming from it were a cue impossible to miss.
Hovering just outside the door, she took stock of the room.
Pirates were here—no telling how many—a blurred group on the periphery of her vision, which was laser-focused on Phex, lying in a heap on the floor.
“Look.”
“Hey! Are you new around here?”
“Are you lost?”
Guffaws and snorts.
“Come in! Just don’t fart. We take it personally.”
More laughter and dumb jokes.
They circled her.
The Striker had warned her about leaving the Cargo Hold.A nuisance.
