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Briony walks past as she heads towards Finger's home. “You want company for a while, Briony?” I ask hopefully.

“Yeah, come on. But we may have to leave a note letting Finger and Cilla know that you were in the house,” Briony grimaces, which makes me laugh.

“Cilla won’t mind. I’ve been in her house a few times now. Where is she anyway?”

Rolling my sleeves back, I grab the mop after Briony has everything ready to wet mop the kitchen floor. “Are you and Echo a thing?” I ask carefully, then follow it up so it doesn’t sound way too nosy. “I’m giving Joker and me a chance. If we don’t try, then we could miss the man of our lives couldn’t we?”

Briony finishes rinsing the cloth she had wiped counters with and quietly replies, “I don’t know. We’ve said we’ll be friends for now, but I have a lot of things to clear now that I’ve finally finished paying the medical bills for my parents. I’m thankful they had some savings and medical coverage. It didn’t cover all of it, but it has only taken me five years to pay it all and be clear.”

“What do you mean by clear?” I ask gently.

Briony turns to look at me while folding the cloth she’s still holding. “I have been renting a small place near the edge of town. In a neighborhood that really isn’t such a good one. I have to get more furniture, and you know get a better place to live.”

“Briony, where exactly are you living?”

“It doesn’t matter, Miri. I have to get on and get finished here because I have to get over to Pres’ house and clean his place. You can’t come with me to his house.”

“You didn’t answer my question fully, Briony. Are you going to give Echo a chance?” I pushed a little, so I am clear I’ve changed the subject from where she is living, for now at least.

“I don’t know yet, Miri. Now come on I have to leave here.”

I don’t hang around and I ask nothing else. I give Briony a hug and tell her I’ll talk to her soon. I watch her go into Tracker's house before heading into the clubhouse.

Entering the clubhouse, I nearly walk into one of the club women. Officially they are called Fluff, but I’ve mostly heard them called club women so that’s what I’m going with. All four of them are standing in the doorway to the kitchen, basically blocking my way inside.

“You need to leave. Joker is ours,” snidely said to me by the one I know is called Flick.

I nod along with a smirk, “Is that right?”

“Yes, we‘ve all been with Joker. He likes variety in his women and the sex,” Trix says admittedly in a nicer tone, but still, it’s a type of warning.

The other two look at their feet, then seem to realize they do that and look up again. One of them looks me in the eye and seems to find her courage. “We don’t want you stealing our man. We’ve a good relationship with Joker and he won’t stay with just you, he needs a mixture of women, as Trix just said, variety.”

“I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I’ll speak with Joker about it and see if he’s more interested in sleeping with all of you. Oh, sorry, fucking all of you, then I’ll walk away. I’m happy to do that since I’ve never seen or used his dick.” I say all this so calmly that they are not sure what to do with it. Before they can start again with their bullshit, I push past knocking Trix into the door frame. Do I care? Not a jot.

I take only three steps before my hair is grabbed, and I stumble back. “I told you to back off our man,” Trix snaps.

Now, I may be a placid person, but I don’t like or accept bullying, and that is what this is. I turn quickly, although she’s still holding a chunk of my hair, which I ignore even though it feels like my hair is coming out by the roots. I lift the heel of my hand and smack her on the nose, hard. She squeals, lets my hair go, and stumbles back with her eyes watering.

I point at her and do my best snarl, “You ever touch me again and I’ll put you down like a dog.”

“You four get to your rooms and stay there until I come and speak with you. Go now!” Turning my head slowly I give a blank look towards Scalpel who is glaring at the four club women as they hurry away. “Are you okay, Miri?”

“I’m fine, just a sore patch where the schoolgirl drama hit.” I do my best to sound like it hasn’t bothered me, but in reality, it has.

“I heard all that, Miri. Remember that before you, Joker was a free agent, and he had women. He never had a relationship, only quick sex. Speak to him before you do something you’ll regret later. As for the Fluff, I’ll sort them out.” Scalpel squeezes my hand before turning and heading to the rooms where the club women stay.

Walking into the common room, I see Ayla playing in the large playpen in the corner of the room. Cilla is having a conversation with nobody. If we didn’t understand and believe Cilla, she’d be in a psych ward somewhere at this point.

Noticing a chess set on a table in the opposite corner to Ayla and Cilla, I wander over and take a seat. I love chess and sure I can spend a little time playing a game by myself.

Rubbing my hands together, I make my first move, moving a white pawn forward. Standing, I walk to the other side of the board and make a first move for the black. Popping back to my original seat, I make a second move on the white side of the board. Standing ready to go around to the black side of the board, I jump to my feet, take two steps back quickly because freaking heck a black piece has moved by itself. Holy. Mother. Of. God!

Cilla laughs, which grabs my attention. “Miri, Tank is playing with you. He loves chess and won a lot of games when in the forces.”

I slowly retake my seat. Look at the seat in front of me and state clearly. “No cheating. Just because you’re a ghost doesn’t mean you can cheat. My move.”

Two hours later, game over, and after freshening up I head towards the kitchen but come to a stop when I hear Tracker talking to Cap and Finger.