“I’ve noticed.” Marks has this strange way of being blunt but also sneaky. The girl really can be a mystery.
“So I’m going to hit you with it.”
“All right.”
“Hasn’t Zero been asking when and saying you should go back?” I sit down on the side of my bed. “Shit, I’m sorry.” Marks’ voice softens. “But if you want to be a sneaky brat, like I know you love to do, to needle at Zero, then I can help with that.”
“I do want to be a brat,” I admit. Maybe he doesn’t care if I leave anymore. He’s hit his limit with me. “But I want to be a brat that he can’t get into contact with. So my phone is clear?”
“For now.”
“For now?” What does that mean?
“Yeah, for now. I can’t predict what Zero will do, and he’s better at all of this than me. I’m still a baby when it comes to this world. I mean, like Boss Baby but still a baby.”
I’m not shocked. Z always knows what I’m up to and where I am. “I get it. I only want to send him a message, you know? That he doesn’t have all this control over me. Not fully.” I want to piss him off. Is it petty? It is definitely petty, but if he insists on calling me a brat all the time, then I might as well embrace that label.
“You really want to sneak out of there?”
“Is it possible?”
“It will be in twenty minutes.”
“Why in twenty minutes?”
“Zero isn’t home, is he?”
“I think he snuck out this morning.” Did he do the walk of shame? Gah, I’m so pissed and hurt.
“Yeah, I figured as much.”
“Wait? How do you know that?”
“I have my ways. Ways I can’t talk about.” I’m far too nosy to let that stand without some push.
“You know where Z is?” I wonder if I called him if he’d pick up, or is he now going to full-on ignore me? Will he pretend he never took my virginity? I grit my teeth. Yeah, he can get fucked. I’m not calling him, and I’m not making myself available to him.
“I have an idea. Some shit is going down, and I want no part of it. I've got my own crap to deal with,” Marks says.
“What kind of crap are you dealing with?” See, nosy. I can’t help it.
“We have a window here. Ten minutes, and part of that is that you’ll have to maneuver yourself. I can’t get eyes inside that house, honestly. I’m not going to try. I think I have poked enough at the Marino brothers. I don’t need to be on their shit list any more.”
“I’m good with that,” I tell her. “And as much as I adore you?—”
“You wouldn’t help me get in, and I wouldn’t ask.” I smile. I'm really happy Tova introduced me to Marks. It’s nice being able to openly talk to people who get things about the world I live in.
“Move your ass, Cosima, and put sneakers on.”
“Like with shoestrings?” I cringe. I’m not even sure I know where to find a pair.
“Well, I was going to take you through the woods, but after your tussle with Psycho Cop yesterday, maybe you can scale a wall.”
I debate which would be easier. The wall would be hard to get over, but the woods have bugs, and I loathe bugs. Sadly, I’m not sure I can do the wall, and I might end up falling off it.
“I don’t want to scale the wall, but wait, can you scale a wall?” That hooker popped up out of a ceiling yesterday.
“If I planned for it, probably. Your family isn’t the only one who is trained.”
