Sophia let out a soft snort at my question. I rolled my eyes. Okay, okay, so the dwarves were probably a little old for board games, but I was just trying to make conversation. It wasn't like I knew a lot about them, especially not Sophia.
Sure, she worked at the Pork Pit, but she never seemed to pay much attention to me, except to pick me up and move me out of her way whenever I got between her and the stoves. Literally, Sophia would put her hands under my armpits, hoist me up into the air, carry me around the counter, and plop me down on a stool, like I was some dumb kid who didn't know any better than to touch a hot stove or put my hand in the french fryer when the grease inside it was bubbling away.
Whatever. I was thirteen, not a complete idiot.
"You don't talk much, do you?" I asked.
Sophia looked at me out of the corner of her eye, but she didn't even deign to answer me with so much as a grunt this time. She kept right on mopping as if I hadn't said a word.
I huffed, letting her know how much she annoyed me, but I gave up trying to talk to her. Instead, I cracked open the book of fairy tales that Fletcher had given me and started reading.
Twenty minutes later, I had finished the first two stories.
Why did giants and witches always get such a raw deal? They were just defending themselves from bratty kids who wanted to steal their stuff and eat their property. If someone tried to swipe my golden goose or nosh on a piece of my gingerbread house, well, I'd unleash some of my wicked new self-defense moves on them and show them what was what. And so would everyone else in Ashland. Nobody took kindly to thieves in this city, especially not the folks over in Southtown.
Thinking about gingerbread houses made my stomach rumble, so I slid off my stool and went over to the cake stand sitting in the middle of the counter. I'd helped Fletcher make
some sugar cookies earlier. There were only five left, and I
knew that he wouldn't mind me eating them.
I lifted the glass top, set it aside, and grabbed one of the cookies. The sugary, buttery concoction melted on my tongue, bringing with it the sharp, sweet tang of the almond extract that added extra flavor to the dough. I sighed with contentment and reached for another one -
The bell over the front door chimed, signaling that we had a customer. I quickly chewed and swallowed the rest of my cookie, then wiped the c umbs off my hands, ready to tell the person that the restaurant was closed for the night.
But there was no need, since Jo-Jo stepped inside.
The dwarf was wearing a long pink coat, and her pearls peeked out from underneath the collar. Gloves the same cotton-candy color as her coat covered her hands, and a matching, fuzzy hat perched on top of her head, hiding most of her white-blond curls from sight.
At the sound of the door chime, Sophia came out of the bathroom, which she'd been cleaning. "Problem?" she rasped.
Jo-Jo shook her head. "I've got to go get Finn. The boy's at some party over in Southtown. Apparently, he decided to flirt with the girlfriend of the guy who brought him, and now he doesn't have a ride home."
Sophia snorted. Me too. With Finn, there was almost always some girl involved.
"Anyway, I thought I'd stop and see if you needed anything before I headed in that direction."
Sophia shook her head. Jo-Jo turned her clear gaze to me.
"What about you, Gin?" she asked. "I've got to swing by the grocery store on the way home. How about I get you some of that spearmint hard candy that you like so much, since you'll be spending the night with us?"
"Sure," I said in a soft, hesitant voice. "If it's not too much trouble."
"No trouble at all, darling."
Jo-Jo smiled at me, causing the laugh lines around her mouth to deepen and making her face look that much
warmer and more inviting. I found myself grinning back at her. Jo-Jo was one of those folks you couldn't help but like.
Sophia, not so much. Especially since she was frowning at me - again. She probably didn't like Jo-Jo bringing me a treat. Then again, Sophia didn't seem to like
anything about me.
Well, the feeling was definitely mutual.
"Actually, before I forget, Finn said that he left his coat in the back of the restaurant," Jo-Jo said. "He asked me to bring it to him. Gin, can you go get it for me, please?"
"Sure."
I pushed through the double doors and went into the back.
It took me longer to find the coat than it should have, but then again, I didn't know why it was in one of the walk-in freezers to start with. Maybe Finn had been in there making out with one of the college-age waitresses. You'd think those girls were old enough to know better, but they all giggled whenever they saw Finn. I didn't know why.
I grabbed his coat, which was cold and crusted with ice, and headed toward the front of the restaurant - "You don't approve of what Fletcher is doing with Gin,"
I heard Jo-Jo say.
I froze, my hand against one of the double doors. One good push, and it would swing wide open, and I could step into the storefront with the sisters. But instead, I found myself leaving it shut and peering through the small round window set into the top.
Jo-Jo and Sophia stood in the middle of the restaurant in the same position as before. Even though I knew that I didn't have to hide from the dwarves, I remained perfectly still. An old habit from living on the streets and trying to make myself as invisible as possible to all of the big, bad people out there.
"Why don't you like the thought of him training her?"
Jo-Jo asked, even though Sophia hadn't answered her first question yet. "He just wants to teach her how to defend herself. The way he taught you."
Silence.
"Too young," Sophia finally said in her eerie, broken voice. "Too innocent. Too soft."
Soft? Too soft? I seethed. I wasn't soft . Not anymore. Not since my family had been murdered, and especially not since
I'd been living on the streets. I'd seen things, done
things, that couldn't be unseen or undone. Like eating garbage on a regular basis, scrounging through Dumpsters for enough newspapers to stay warm at night, and running away from the vampire pimps so they wouldn't try to force me to be one of their girls. So if there was one thing that I was not, it was soft
."Well, I guess we'll see," Jo-Jo said. "Now, where is Gin with Finn's jacket - "
"Right here," I said, finally pushing through the doors to the other side.
I handed Jo-Jo the coat.
"Thank you, darling. I'll see you two at home." Jo-Jo winked at me, then left.
I turned to Sophia, but she'd already disappeared back into the bathroom to finish cleaning. Of course she had. Anything would be better than having to talk to me.