Chapter 12-Force
Alita had a pep inher step on Monday morning as she arrived in the lab where Micah was assessing the effectiveness of the booster of additives to the lemon oil against the coffee borer beetle.He counted the dead carcasses in the case, preparing to collect the bugs to give to Herve the gardener to place in the garden for the chickens to eat.When he looked up, he noticed the smile on Alita's face.
“You seem rather cheerful,” he said, moving to the next container.This one, he boosted with a mango puree and rice water, and the bugs seemed to be hyperactive but also, ruefully, still alive.
“Do you remember Lucía from our World Lit class?Well, she called and said they are having a get-together this Saturday,” Alita said.“She wanted to know if we'd be home and if we wanted to come.”
“She wants you to come,” Micah said going back to watching the bugs.“It is a setup.”
Alita hated when he was like this.He had a bee in his bonnet and was going to stir up the nest, getting everybody stung in the process.However, knowing him as she did, he needed to get this off his chest first, then they would move on to what was really bothering him.
“Why is it a setup, Boss?”She added the last part with a bit of attitude.
“Has she ever invited you anywhere before?See, and now suddenly you are asked to attend,” he said, looking at the beetles almost dancing.“Did Lucía specifically say I was invited or just you?”
“Mainly me,” Alita said, feeling deflated.
“Then it is a setup,” he said.“More than likely, that lopsided, big-headed brother of hers, Joaquín, plans to fuck you.”
“Boss!How did we get there!”Alita said, nearly shouting.
“Alita, they get you to the party, hand you a drink, and suddenly Lucía and the girls wander off, leaving you alone with Joaquín and his friends.You wake up bruised, torn and used up, and no one knows what happened.Joaquín will suddenly attend Uni in another country, and no one is sure where, especially after he tears your hymen, realizing you were not my lover.He will hide, but it won't matter, because I will find him and end his life.”
“Why are you like this?”Alita said, picking up a clipboard to record the results.
“Because this is the life we live, Alita,” he said.“They will ruin you because they are envious.As much as those girls have, the one thing they want is freedom.You are not caste-born and can live as you please.Anytime you no longer wish to be in my employ, you can terminate the agreement, take your money, and go live as you see fit.They cannot and are jealous.Those girls would rather see their brother take you down a peg than be your friend.”
“Right, because I don't deserve friends,” Alita said.
“No, you don't deserve to be drugged and fucked by a brute who is doing it for sport,” Micah said.
“Might be the only way I get fucked at this point in my life,” she mumbled under her breath.
“Baby, if you're in need, my door is open,” he said, trying not to laugh.
“How very generous of you,” she said softly.Then she turned to face him.“I am 18 years old and I have never been kissed.I don't even know how to kiss.”
Micah moved to the next container, counting the number of dead bugs; he used the palm oil as a binder to the lemon and chrysanthemum oils.It produced the desired result, but it took days for the bugs to die.He jotted the notes on the sheet on his clipboard, collecting the bugs in the small basket to take to the gardener.
“If it is any consolation, I don't know how to either,” Micah said.
“What?After all the paramours you've had, not one taught you how to kiss?”Alita said, walking over to him.
“I did not put my mouth on any of those women,” he said, looking her in the eye, arching one brow.He needed her to understand that kissing on the lips, either set, was not something he did.
Alita stood still.She knew this tactic.Experience had taught her to follow his lead in private situations, speak when spoken to, and leave the door open for him to make the decision as to what could or would happen next.
“Again, my door is open if you wish to experiment and learn, within reason of course,” Micah said.
