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“Yes. Merkins. You know, like napkins but with Mer? Mer-Kins.”
Oh.
His impatient tone makes me positive none of this ever saw a serious vetting process.
“Right. Um…”
“It’s a double entendre,” he huffs, clearly annoyed at my ignorance.
Yep. Got that much.
“I see.” I clear my throat and do my best to arrange the “Mer-Kins” in nice piles. No way in hell I’m selling these to a bunch of twelve-year-olds tonight. He’ll be running this table on his own. I’ll see if Bruce needs anyone at the main stand.
“You know what that is, right?” Chad asks.
“A merkin?”
“An entendre.”
“Yes, I know what an entendre is.”
“It’s a metaphor, Val.”
“Well, no?—”
“Take for example, an egg. It’s a key phase in a chicken’s reproductive cycle but also a breakfast food. A metaphor, right?”
Pretty sure that’s just the food chain, but okay.
Chad scoops up one of the fabric squares and flattens it tenderly between his palms.
“In this case, we have this cloth here that’s part Mer, part Kin. Mer-Kin. But wait! See the designs?”
“More Mer… things.”
“Yes, but not just random ones. They’re a family. See where I’m going with this?”
“Not really.”
“Try to keep up, Val.”
“Sorry.”
“Anywho, this one is the grandma. The uncle. The little sister. A cousin. Another cousin. Also a cousin… The point is, they’re all related. Yes, this is a napkin, but these little ones are also kin. So Mer-Kin and Mer-Kin. Get it?”
Right.
“Okay,” I say with a tight smile. “Cool.”
I have zero intention of explaining what an actual merkin is. May I never have to have that conversation, or anything close to it, with this person.
As Chad goes back to work, my thoughts return to the less amusing aspect of his info dump. I can’t begin to guess what any of the Jarvis spy stuff means, but the fact that there even is a Team Jarvis is concerning. I’ve never trusted the guy, and now I have evidence that I shouldn’t. Why would he need a “spy” in the first place? And why would it involve Sandeke Telecom and their weird-ass fish dolls?
I have no idea, but whatever the reason, it can’t be good for Larinda. My instinctive need to protect her triggers all kinds of alarming scenarios in my head. From now on, I’ll have to stay close to her and even closer to Jarvis, who hates me. I’ll also have to work my new bestie Chad to find out what the hell Jarvis is up to, all without anyone being aware of what I’m doing. Which means…
Fantastic.
Now I’m a spy too.
