Violet Grenade(69)

I turn and head up the stairs without responding. I'm almost out of earshot when I hear Madam Karina mutter under her breath, "The mouth on that girl. Does she expect me to be frightened of her?"

Not her, Wilson replies quietly. Me.





Chapter Forty-Four

See Me

It's Saturday night, six days after Cain and I went into town. Jack is back with a bronze coin in his pocket, and it's going to be mine by the end of the evening. He helped me become a Tulip, he said, and he'll help me become a Lily next.

Bold words.

But, so far, he's stood by his promises.

I'm back to drawing in my sketchpad to entertain the customers. I draw their dreams, their lovers, anything they want. My illustrations aren't always good, but that's not what they care about. They care about my hair falling over my shoulder, and that I let them push it back behind my ear. They care that when they pat my knee, I don't kidney-punch them.



       
         
       
        

And they care that when they speak softly in my ear, I don't pull away.

All the Tulip girls allow the customers to touch them. Not in especially intimate ways, but it's a line I stepped over alongside Poppet. Sometimes it feels like Madam Karina challenged me with this, and each time I let a stranger's fingers brush my skin, I'm showing her I can handle anything she throws my way.

Poppet and I were in third and fourth place last night, which means we'll have to come in first or second tonight to have a shot at finishing the week at the top of the class. The Tulips aren't particularly competitive, but they have a way of stealing clients without using words. It's in the way they look at us, with disgust. The customers see it. Of course they do. That's what the senior Tulips want. And it doesn't take long before our clients wonder if they chose wrong.

Tonight, especially, they seem to know the stakes are high. I don't think any of them want a place among the Lilies. But they don't want us to have it, either.

When an older woman lays a hand on my arm and strokes my skin, asking sweetly for a glass of tea, I bow my head and stand. Jack watches as I cross the room and approach the gold rollaway cart. Upon it is china embellished with hand-painted tulips, sugar cubes, and thick cream. I'm reaching for the teapot when a Tulip cuts me off. She snatches the pot and pours much slower than necessary, then takes her time with the sugar and cream. Meanwhile, my customer is waiting for me to return.

I grit my teeth and wait for her to finish, but once she does, another Tulip blocks my path and does the same thing. I glance over my shoulder at Poppet, and she rolls her eyes before returning her attention to a young boy who's twirling her hair around his thumb. When the second Tulip walks away, I push myself against the cart and grab for the pot. But the moment I have it in my hands, a third Tulip snaps up the sugar and creamer and strides away with both.

"Hey," I say. "I need those, too."

The girl sits down on a suede couch and holds them in her hands like goose eggs. A man on her right lays his hand on her upper thigh and pays no mind to the things she snatched. I close the distance between us and notice the man isn't even drinking tea. Neither is the Tulip.

"May I have those?" I say to her, barely controlling my anger. "I'm serving tea to a customer."

The girl smiles, but doesn't respond.

I groan. "I know you can hear me."

The man looks up at me and then pats the couch beside him, but I'd rather break his nose than join their party of two.

"Look, I don't want any trouble. I just need those." I reach for the items in the girl's hands, but she rips them away. 

She glances at the man and grins. "Do you hear something? I think I must have left a window open. It's like the wind is whistling through here."

"Are you cold?" the man asks, putting his arm around her.

"This isn't funny. Give them to me." I reach for the sugar and cream a second time, and again she jerks them out of reach.

"Hey, Breanne," the Tulip says to another girl. "Do you hear something?"

Breanne shrugs. "I certainly don't see anything."

I turn around and note that the older woman I was making tea for has moved on to a different Tulip. My sketchpad lies open on our empty table, a half completed drawing of her pug, Sadie, exposed to the world. Blood simmers beneath my skin, and Wilson readies himself for a fight.

Want me to hit her? he asks. Something tells me she'd see you real quick then.

I can handle this.

Can you? Even your Jack seems unimpressed.

Wilson's right. Jack is talking to another Tulip with long brown hair that shines, even in the dark. She has full eyebrows and a nose that turns up at the end. I hate her. Even though I'm not sure I care about having Jack's attention, I hate her for taking it.