and throw the wolf fucker off you. I was this close to fucking him up that day.”
His words catch me off guard. “Why?”
Rook shrugs and buries his eyes and hand in the chip bag, like he’s avoiding looking at me. “Because. I didn’t like to see you hurt.”
Aww.
My cockatrice perks up inside me, and the hair on my head turns a deep, beating heart red, right along with the plume of feathers at the end of my tail.
“Oh,” I say awkwardly.
“I should’ve let you fuck him up,” he goes on, swallowing his mouthful. “And I wouldn’t mind tasing some of those guards, either.”
“See?” I say, pointing at his face. “Terrible prison guard. You definitely have fucked up standards.”
“Fucked up standards?”
“Mm-hmm. Why else would you be hanging out in solitary confinement with a convict?” I challenge.
Rook chuckles and finally sets aside his bag of chips. I’m half-relieved, half-disappointed that I won’t see any more finger-tongue action. “Come on, now. I saw what you were found guilty of. You’ll have to forgive me if I don’t lose sleep at night over talking to someone who took an ice cream truck and went all Robin Hood with the contents. If the police hadn’t forced you to crash, you’d have had to pay a fine for the ice cream and gas and that would’ve been it. You’re not exactly a hardened criminal.”
I wrinkle my nose. “Am so! I set off a glitter bomb in the cop’s car, and it went off right in his face,” I tell him, urging him to be impressed with my unlawful prowess. “Plus, I have my shank business to prove it,” I argue.
He starts laughing, and I watch as he grabs his stomach, his whole body rocking with amusement. It would almost be contagious if it weren’t at my expense.
Rude.
“Do you really think the guards around here would let you make actual weapons?” he questions, his laugh getting a little higher in pitch as he wipes a laugh-tear from his eye.
I look at him incredulously. “What do you mean actual weapons?” I demand.
“Pieces of comb stuck in tooth paste?” he offers, like it proves something.
“Hey, The Minty Hedgehog is lethal as fuck!” I defend, and Rook completely loses his shit at the name.
He starts laugh-squealing like a ticklish little girl while mouthing The Minty Hedgehog over and over again. I watch his breakdown with a lot of judgement in my green eyes, not appreciating his lack of appreciation at all. He slaps his knee with one hand like that will help him get over the giggles faster.
I have to bite my bottom lip to keep it from poking out to reveal the pout I feel. I’m tempted to throw something at him.
“Well, the joke’s on you, because people are buying them. They clearly see the potential my work has in aiding their vendettas,” I argue, crossing my arms over my chest. “They’re super dangerous. You could totally shank-kill someone with one of them.”
Rook stops laughing long enough to shake his head and reply. “They’re buying them to get on Zen’s good side. Word on the block is that she’s got something in the works for a break out. They all want to be taken with her,” he tells me, and my mouth drops open.
Well, shit. He just might be right.
“Word on the block, huh? More like, word from Alpha Bowen, your puppet master,” I accuse.
“Why would I be working for Alpha Bowen?” Rook asks.
“You tell me.”
He shakes his head, and I go quiet as I try to think through other business opportunities I could do. I can’t believe no one really likes my shanks. I thought they were awesome. I have to make money somehow though, or I’ll go crazy without being able to make deals for necessities and snacks.
I guess I could keep selling them, regardless of whether or not the other inmates actually find them useful or not, since I’m still turning a profit. I try to think about what else I could procure or fashion into a must-need item here in Nightmare Penitentiary.
Rook smiles as he watches me think, and I’m momentarily distracted by his dimples again.
I want to lick them.
I shake away that thought and grab the rest of my cornbread, shoving it into my mouth in a massive bite. Maybe if I keep my mouth full, I can convince it not to do all the naughty things that are currently streaming through my head.
Rook watches as I chew, his eyes darting down to trace