Page 64 of Wicked Little Game
“And I thought you couldn’t get any weirder,” I mumble. “Fucking pet ducks.”
She just rolls her eyes, snuggling against me as she lays down on the bench, her head resting in my lap while she continues to pet Harry. The other duck slowly walks over to me, softly knocking her head against my hand. I think I prefer Sally over Harry.
“Crazy duck lady,” I whisper as I subtly pet Sally's head. It feels a bit weird. I’ve never petted a duck before. To be honest, I keep my distance from most wild animals. One idiot that would run after an apex predator to pet it is enough for one task force.
The sun is almost down and I don’t know if it’s the obscene amount of food I had or the fact that I unfortunately like Ruby a bit more than I should, but I can’t stop thinking about how well she would fit into our forcedlittle family.
I have to flick my fingers against her shoulder every now and then, because she moves too much and smashes her head against my stomach. She’s talking about something, I think about one of her TV shows, but I’m not really listening.
My thoughts travel back to how sad she had looked and sounded when she mentioned her mom earlier today, even if it was just for a split second.
It’s unusual for her. Ruby is always bubbly, always a - mostly mischievous - smile on her face, always cracking a joke. And even if she’s upset about something, she doesn’t show it like that.
“What happened to your mom?”
The words slip out of my mouth before I can think about the possible severity of my question. Actions have consequences, words have consequences. I should know this better than anyone else, and still, I just opened this can of worms.
Not a single sound comes from Ruby, and I feel how her body tenses up. Just when I want to apologize—God, what is this woman doing to me, apologizing for asking a simple question—she speaks up.
“She left when I was ten. My father told me she ran away with some other guy, that she started a new family.”
“Did you ever try to find her?”
She nods, turning onto her side, looking off into the distance. “I hired a private investigator two years ago, but he couldn’t find her. I don’t know if he was just incompetent, or if she didn’t want to be found. Can’t blame her, my father is a piece of shit. If I had the chance, I’d disappear too.” She breathes in deeply, petting Harry's head.
“What about you? Do you have a good relationship with your parents?”
Now I’m the one staring off into the distance. I don’t enjoy talking about my childhood, or about my private life,not to mention that I shouldn’t talk about it with Ruby, of all people.
“My mom died a few days before my eighteenth birthday. And I don’t know my dad. He left us shortly after I was born.” A ton of untreated health issues caused my mom to suffer from a heart attack at just 38. Probably because she worked two jobs to make ends meet while my dad was never in the picture and my older brother spent his time causing her even more trouble.
“I’m sorry,” Ruby says quietly. “I bet your mom was a wonderful person.”
“She was.”
She snuggles closer to me and I’m grateful for her invading my personal space. I should tell Max to find out more about the disappearance of her mom, because something about her father’s running-off explanation seems fishy to me.
Maybe it’s the bit of compassion I feel for her right now because I know how it feels to miss your mom, or the light of the setting sun is playing tricks on my eyes. Because right in this second, Ruby is the most beautiful being I’ve ever seen.
As if I finally got a glimpse of the real Ruby, the one behind the carefully crafted facade of beauty queen smiles and dirty jokes.
Deep down, I wish for her to say something annoying, to ruin whatever I start to see in her, but once again, the Gods have abandoned me. She’s just lying there, quietly, her eyes fixed on the lake, whispering nonsense towards her damned ducks.
My body operates without my command as I stroke over her head for what feels like hours. It’s only when the sun is down and I feel Ruby shivering on my lap that I snap myself out of my food-induced trance, searching the pockets of my pants for a lighter.
The glowing ember of my cigarette looks a bit like thedollar store version of a firefly as it gets dark around us. I let my arm flop down and suddenly Ruby gets a hold of my wrist, pulling my hand over to her head to take a drag from my cigarette.
“Hey,” I grumble, my voice way too soft to be intimidating.
“I paid for dinner. Be nice and share,” she says with a smirk, and I can’t argue with that. Especially not when she’s looking up at me like that.
It seems like she’s done with being sad and I don’t know if I should be happy or concerned about that, but like every time, she decides for me. She climbs into my lap, blowing smoke in my face.
“You’re getting cocky again.” I try hard to speak sternly, but it’s impossible to hide the small smile on my face.
She’s like a snake, always too quick. Slipping right through my fingers, and maybe that’s why I don’t catch her until her lips are pressed against mine.
Or maybe I just didn’t want to catch her in time.
