Unfinished Business -TotB-*HF* Part 3

By Gene

"Don't touch that!"



Chastity made another grab for the A/C control and I pushed her hand away.



"Turn the fucking air down, it's freezing in here!"



"The internal control is set at 70. It's not freezing in here."



Chastity held her forearm close to my face. "See? Goosebumps! I'm COLD!" She jabbed at the control again. I grabbed at her hand and pushed a nerve on the top of her hand between her middle fingers. She jerked her hand away and cradled it.



"Ow! Dammit! What the fuck's wrong with you?"



I glanced at her as I turned the air back to where it was.



"It's summer. I hate summer. It's hot, it's humid, there's bugs everywhere. It will be like this until September or more. Fucking hate it. As soon as it hits 80 or more out there, I live inside. I told you that in South AMerica. Heat always pisses me off. It makes me really uncomfortable and not willing to do anything that will make me hotter. My theory is, you can always put more clotes on, but once you're naked, if you're still hot you're screwed. You don't like it in here, you can morph your outfit into a sweater or a snowsuit or something. But the air stays on."



Chastity glared at me, crossing her arms across her chest. "A sweater or a snowsuit? In July. Gee, thanks. First you tell me to look fat and dumpy to fit in, now you want me to wear a snowsuit. There is defitely something wrong with you. Maybe Gomurr's right. Maybe you ARE gay."



"What?" I spat out, whipping my head around to look at her. "He said WHAT?!?"



"Gomurr thinks you're secretly gay because you were after Mufasa's braid all the time. He says the way you and Mufasa would argue and beat on each other, it could only be a display of homoerotic tension boiling below the surface. He says he always wished you two would just make out and get it over with."



I gritted my teeth, clutched the steering wheel and stared ahead at the road. I counted to ten in my head and tried to think, not just react.



"That little fucker's got a lot of nerve. If anyone's got a hard-on for Mufasa, it's him. I just like that braid because given its soft texture, yet firm resilience, and the aloe scent, it makes a wonderful sexual aid. Other than that, Mufasa gets on my nerves because he's full of himself and likes to get in my way. Now that he's one of the top dogs in the Club, he likes to show off. I knew that the first day I met him. He wants a pissing contest with me, I'm always the one to let him start, then laugh because he's pissing in the wind and it's splashing back on his shoes and pants. My interest in him begins and ends right there. I have to work with him, he pisses me off, end of story."



"Then why would Gomurr tell me that? He went on at length about you two. He says you even went skinny dipping together."



Now I felt myself turning red. My pulse pounded in my forehead.



"THAT was unintentional. We were at Shaman's place. Each of us had been teleported into the middle of the lake, naked. We were never in there at the same time, and we only wanted to humiliate each other."



I shook my head. "That Gomurr, man. He's....grr! He always starts shit like this. He thinks it's funny! He'll see. He'll learn but good when this is over. I have a wife and kid, dammit!"



Chastity smirked. "So did Tom Cruise. So did Rock Hudson. Rosie O'Donnel has kids, too."



"I MADE MINE! I HAD SEX WITH MY WIFE LAST NIGHT! THREE TIMES! GAAAAH!"



Chastity chuckled. "Okay! Okay! I believe you! You're a stud! Gomurr was wrong! You hate Mufasa! And you don't watch gladiator movies! I get the picture."



She stared out the window, studying the trees and fields as the SUV cruised through the country side. Suddenly she sighed and turned to face me again.



"Okay, I'll give on the A/C, but this radio thing has gotta stop. Please. Play something after 1974!"



"This song is from 1978. So is the track after it. And the two after that are from '81 and '82."



"You know what I mean! Please, could we play some modern music!"



I rolled my eyes. "I really hate that hip-hop crap. Dance music and rap make me homicidal. My tolerance level for that runs about 20 seconds before I spiral into a blind killing rage. All those boy bands are just terrible. But we can work something out. I'll put the temperature up to 72 and we'll put on some Creed."



"74 and I pick the radio station."



"74 and I get to veto if I really hate the song. Automatic veto on any rap or hip-hop."



"Done!" Chastity's finger jabbed out as she increased the temperature setting in the car. Another jab ejected my Who CD. She was kind enough to put it back in the case with care as she searched the radio stations for something she'd like.



"Couldn't handle the old stuff, huh?" I asked. "I can understand that. Shit, you're 19..."



"20."



"What?"



"I'm 20. Be 21 in a few months. And I can handle old stuff just fine. But c'mon man, a little variety, please! You're only 30 years old, don't act like a fossil yet!"



"I'm almost 34."



"No you're not. Your bio shows you're 30, almost 31."



"Yeah? Well time works in funny ways. Obviously you just glanced at my file, you didn't read the mission reports."



"I looked at those, too."



"How well? If you did, you'd know I just spent a few years in the past. I didn't grow this extra grey hair overnight, you know."



"I hadn't noticed," she said, glancing at my head. "It would explain Malachi's growth spurt, too. I thought he just took his vitamins for a while." She smiled and nodded. "He's coming up fine."



I looked at her. This was going to be trouble. Chastity hot for Malachi. I wondered what she'd think of his Spaniard outfit. Red velvet and a bit too tight for taste? She'd probably like it quite a bit. Looking at a road sign, I changed the subject.



"You know how to shoot?"



Chastity's smile broadened and she wet her lips, but didn't resond.



"Chastity."



She shook her head to clear it. "Huh?"



"Do you know how to shoot anything?"



"With what?"



"I don't know. A gun. A bow. A slingshot. Blow darts. Anything."



"Uh, yeah. Basic training from the Clubs, you know. But mostly I use my spells. Why?"



"You're going to learn today. We're stopping up here to pick up some more weapons. We may need to pick someone off at a distance. My bow is at home, but I'm fine with any bow I can find. It's my weapon of choice. Slinghot or gun also works for me, but the range is limited on one, and the other is too loud. What about you?"



"My spells are fine."



I looked at her again. "Don't learn the hard way. Pack more than you need. It saves you from getting a spear in the chest. If I've got a bow, you should have a gun. We'll get you a .44."



She glared at me, her eyes flashing yellow. "How dare you talk to me like that? Who do you think you are? I used to be Red Queen! I helped form my own Court! I know spells that can turn you inside out and purple! And you're talking to me like I'm an amateur? You're the one who needs help on this mission, not me! So you can take your condescending attitude and shove it up your ass!"



I smiled at her. Her features changed ever so slightly as she ranted, much the way Alice's accent came back when she was mad. It was a good thing to be aware of.



"That's right, you were the Red Queen. Yeah, I was laid off once or twice before, too."



Chastity's eyes blazed and her hair went snow white. Thunder echoed outside, despite the clear sky. "YOU BASTARD! I RESIGNED!"



I smirked again. "Yeah. I said the same thing. And y'know, it all works out. I was fired from two shitty jobs but ended up at a good one. And you were cut from the REd and Crimson Courts, but ended up here in the Majors anyway. You did good!"



Chastity stared at me, her mouth agape. "I...I...they...."



I parked the car and got out just fast enough to avoid her hand as she tried to slap me. I pretended not to notice. She was still in the car. I don't think she had even noticed we pulled off the highway until just then. I walked to her side of the car.



"You getting out or do you want me to shop for you?" I asked. I spoke loud enough for her to hear through the closed window.



Chastity shoved open the door almost into me and stormed out of the car.



"Let's get this over with."



When all was said and done, we had quite a haul. Standard compound bow with two dozen aluminum shaft arrows, 1 dozen field points, 1 dozen broad heads, a back quiver and a bow-mounted quiver for me. I also picked up some forest green camoflage tape for the bow and string silencers. Chastity ended up getting a 15-shot semi-automatic Beretta pistol, a nice box of ammunition, and a .30 -.30 shotgun. Given who we were and what we had, there was nothing in Wisconsin that could have stood up to us very long. My mood was improving.



I loaded our geat into the back of the SUV and unwrapped a piece of the jerky I bought in the gun shop. CHastity cracked open a can of Mountain Dew and sipped at it. I coughed and tossed the jerky out the window.



"Blech! That shit's harsh! Whatever it is, that's not beef. Not teriyaki, either. Can you pass me one of those sodas?"



Chastity shrugged and passed me the can she had just started. I stared at the ring of lipstick around the mouth of the can, then drank anyway. I had to get that taste out of my mouth and throat. I did. A second later, my mouth tasted of unnatural citrus and sugar, then I tasted the warm fruitiness of Chastity's lipstick on the can. Maxwell twitched in my pants and my palms began to sweat. I passed Chastity back the can.



"Thanks a lot," I said. "Sorry about the comments before."



Chastity shrugged, looked at the mouth of the can, shrugged again, and drank. "No problem," she said. "So when are we gonna get there?"



"Half hour, 45 minutes. Hey, turn it up, it's Macy Grey."





End Part 3