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Rolling my eyes, I look away to hide my amusement and take in the room we are standing in. Faded orange carpet that kind of smells a little like mildew covers the living room flooring, but at least it looks somewhat clean. I glance around, taking in the ninety’s furniture and the peelingwallpaper in the dining room that I can see through a doorway. It's a small home, but it doesn’t seem too bad. I’ve seen a lot worse. Two kids are playing a video game as they shove each other on the couch while yelling at the screen. The preteens completely ignore Tey and me as he leads me through a swinging wooden door into a kitchen.
Instantly, the smell of cigarettes and spoiled milk hits my nostrils, and my gaze snags on the baby bottles littering the counter. As for the smoke, it’s coming from the woman sitting at the kitchen table, muttering under her breath as a cigarette dangles from her mouth. She ignores the whimpering baby in the high chair, focusing on the quarter she’s using for a scratch-off.
Tey tenses next to me, his arm dropping from my back as he stalks forward on silent feet towards the older woman. I watch as he reaches behind his back, his shirt rising up to show the glint of his knife as he pulls it out of his belt with a quiet slick. I cross my arms and lean back against a counter to watch the show. The lady doesn’t even know the danger she’s about to find herself in. It’s like watching a snake move silently and stealthily. If you suddenly move too quickly, it will strike viciously and fatally. Tey is at the stage of watching her with his head tilted to the side, a few steps away. Studying her.
I huff quietly under my breath, wondering if I need to search for a body bag around here. There's probably one in Tey’s room, no doubt, but I wasn’t really looking forward to helping him hide a body today.
Oh well. Beggars can’t be choosers.
“Gloria,” Tey says in a low voice, causing goosebumps to break out over my skin and causing Gloria to jump in her chair with a yelp. “Tell me you haven’t been ignoring Izzy for a scratch-off you’ll never win.”
Menacing.
That’s the energy currently surrounding Tey.
“N-No. I was, uh, just about to feed her.” Gloria bangs her shin against the table as she quickly stands up, her cigarette hanging from her mouth, until she notices Tey glaring at her. “I just lit it; I’ll put it out. It's bad for kids to be around, ya know? I really have to quit.” She fumbles with her hands and puts out her cigarette, which is clearly half-smoked already, as she dumps it in her glass of water.
“Don’t bother.” Tey swirls his knife between his knuckles, walking around the kitchen with a look of disgust at the dirty dishes lining the counter and the empty fridge as he pulls the door open. “Go to the grocery store before I decide to stuff your body in the fridge instead.”
She was already inching towards the kitchen door when he started walking around, and by the time he closed the fridge, the kitchen door was flopping back and forth.
“I’ve never seen someone run so fast. Is this a recurring thing?” I state this, gesturing around the kitchen with a frown as I walk towards the baby.
Hell.
I would have helped him stuff Gloria in the fridge. I have an eye for seeing the bullshit and bad in people; she obviously doesn’t give a shit about the kids. Maybe it’s all for the paycheck for her, but then again, what do I know? This house is probably a lot better than most places; some foster parents shouldn’t be allowed near children, much less take care of them.
“Yeah,” Tey mutters darkly, his brows furrowed as he stares at me while I gently grab the baby out of her highchair and rock her side to side until her little whimpers quiet down. “That's why I haven’t left. If I’m not here looking out for them, who will?”
“I hate this so much. How can anyone ignore this little cute chunkster?” I coo at the baby, smiling as her wide eyes slowly blink as she stares up at me like she’s wondering who the hell I am.
Tey groans out loud. My gaze looks up from the baby to see him leaning forward over the counter as he grips the edges until his knuckles are white. He stares at me unnervingly, not even blinking, and it starts to make me nervous. What is going on in his head?
He clears his throat and reaches for the baby bottle sitting next to the sink, checking the temperature while still staring at me. He nods his head to the left, indicating that I should follow him as he walks out of the kitchen. I glance down at the baby with a wary look, wondering if we should make a break for it. Whenever Tey gets quiet and has that special twinkle in his blue eyes, crazy shit is about to go down.
“Tillie, come here. Bring Izzy.” Tey calls from somewhere that sounds like the back of the house.
“Izzy. That’s such a cute name, cutie pie.” I make silly faces at baby Izzy as I follow where I think his voice came from.
The baby doesn’t even know I’m sweating bullets over here because Tey hardly ever uses my name. I walk past the living room, where the kids are still playing a video game, and see a dark hallway off to the left. I figure that’s where he went. His head peeks out of a doorway near the end of the hall before he disappears. Stopping at the threshold, my gaze bounces around, trying to take everything about Tey’s room in at once.
I was expecting medieval torture devices as decor and maybe a naked chick poster here and there... I was way off. His bedding is a blue comforter with a brown nightstandand a lamp next to his left bedside. That’s the most normal thing in here.
The walls… Dear God. The walls!
Unicorn and rainbow posters line his walls. He even has a poster of a rainbow with a cat riding on the unicorn's back. It’s very, um, Tey.
“I like what you did with the place,” I choke out, avoiding looking at the windows at all costs because I’ll lose it if I see the pink, glittery curtains up close.
“Thanks, babe. Really makes the place bright, the creme de la creme.” His facial expression is so serious that I know he’s not joking.
He’s lucky I love him and his love for mystical creatures.
“Want me to feed her?” I gesture towards the bottle in his hand, changing the subject before he tries to tell me he’s going to be in charge of decorating our future home.
“Naw. Hand her here. I love feeding the lil stinker. She gets this dreamy, peaceful look on her face. Plus, she doesn’t know the horrible ways of the world yet. Completely innocent.”
My heart cracks open at his words, wondering how old he was when he first learned that life isn't all rainbows and gumdrops. I eye his room more curiously after I hand Izzy over to him, placing myself in his shoes. I think I can appreciate his decorating, trying to keep life bright and silly in his safe space. I’ll have to sit the guys down before we find our forever home because they won’t get to make one peep over Tey’s love for unicorn decorating. I guess I’m going to hand the interior design plans to him if it makes him feel at peace in his own home.
