Oh, Holy Father.
Forgive me my sins.
It doesn't take long for me to understand it was more than champagne I swallowed. Three whirls around my merry-go-mind and I knew. I didn't care that Jack slipped me something as much as I should. It pushed Wilson down the way I thought it might, and now the people that reach out aren't as intimidating as they were before. Poppet grabs hands with a customer next to her, and another one, too. We form a circle and sway side to side slowly, though the song calls for something much faster. Jack takes a piece of my hair in his hand, and I close my eyes to his touch.
I don't know the first thing about him.
But he wants to know about me.
Should I tell him I'm lethal? That I'm as safe as a highball of arsenic? That would go well, I think. Jack's hands find my neck, and I'm pulled away from the pack of customers, singled out like a gazelle, a hyena in pursuit.
I open my eyes, and Jack is everywhere at once. How can a skinny guy take up so much space? Maybe guy is the wrong word for him. He's in his mid-twenties, I'd say. But I can already spot the place his hair will thin, like it's holding its breath for an especially windy day.
"How do you feel?" His words slide down my back, sticky-sweet sap oozing from the trunk of a tree.
"Good." I cross my arms over my head and let the music hold me up by the collar. How long have I been dancing? An hour? Three? "You put something in my drink."
He smiles shamefully, shifts to his right.
That's when I see Cain over his shoulder. His jaw is tight, and his hands hang heavy by his sides, the muscles jumping in his biceps. He reaches for me and pulls me away from Jack. But Jack's not one to be abandoned so easily. He makes a grab for my wrist and tugs.
I turn around, and his face blurs in and out of focus.
"You didn't tell me anything," Jack accuses.
I bow for whatever reason. "You haven't guaranteed me anything yet. Tomorrow, we'll see."
"Domino," Cain says low in his throat.
Jack ignores him. "Tell me."
I don't look back at Cain. Instead, I keep my gaze steady on this man who does as he pleases. This man who is laughter and playfulness to Cain's biting truth and solidarity. "Okay, Jack," I say. "You want to know something about me?"
He nods, solemn.
I lean close. "I was born with my eyes open. When I slid from my mother's womb, my eyes were open. I see everything. I don't always pay attention, but I see it."
"Do you see me?" he asks.
"Yes, you," I answer. "One day, you may wish I didn't."
Cain touches my shoulder blade and I spin around, head downstairs toward our place beneath the stars. My blood kicks in my veins, and my mind thumps recklessly. I answered Jack's question, but it's Cain who has my attention.
Tonight, I'll ask him a question of my own.
Already, nerves fire through my body, anticipating how he'll react.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Asteroid
It's the first night Cain has come for me since I've become a Daisy. I never expected it, but that doesn't mean I didn't secretly hope he'd show.
We head behind the house in silence and take our places in the two plastic chairs. The one I sit in has a back leg that's shorter than the rest. I rock side to side to hear the off-balance thumping. Eventually, Cain reaches a hand over and lays it on my arm to stop me. Maybe that's why I did it in the first place.
He lights a cigarette and we watch the Lilies' and Violets' guesthouses. I think about Lola, wonder what she's doing in there. Question why I care. Then I look at Madam Karina's empty flowerbed. Wonder how often she prayed for her mother to give her a fistful of violets and say she was worthy. As worthy as her sister who moved to Detroit and opened her own business.
I turn to Cain. I've got a bombshell question up my sleeve that I'm ready to toss into open water, take cover and wait for the salty sting. "Why do you work for Madam Karina?"
His cigarette is halfway to his mouth when my question hits him square between the eyes. He doesn't bring the cigarette any farther. It just sits there, wrinkled, crumbling ashes onto his lap. "What do you mean? It's a job."
"Does she pay you?"
"That's a pretty personal question."
My teeth snap together. "Well, let's try being personal for once. We've done enough tiptoeing."
"You don't want to know why I'm here, Domino. If you did, you wouldn't want anything to do with me."
I shoot to my feet, and my head spins. Whatever Jack put in my drink takes full effect. Cain must see how dizzy I am because he stands, too, flicks his cigarette toward the ashtray, doesn't get anywhere near it. "What's wrong with you?"
I put a palm flat against my forehead. "Just answer my question. I need someone to be straight with me. Just one person."