"Hey, I wasn't exactly looking at her fingers," Sway said, smirking at his friend. "Had to ride out of that town fast, so we made good time," he added, shrugging the whole incident off. "So, this is the famous Navesink Bank Henchmen, huh? Any of you fuck in that glass room on the roof?" he asked.
"Stop thinking with your cock for a minute," Slash demanded.
"I can try," Sway said. "Oh, fuck, but it won't be easy," he went on, pressing a hand to his heart at something behind me.
Turning, I found Billie walking in the back door with an inexplicable handful of green foliage of some sort.
"You look for a second later and you're gonna need to get your eyes gouged out," Slash told his man. "That's one of their princesses."
"Billie, what are you doing here?"
"Oh, me, doing a little gardening. I planted this all along your back fence," she said, waving whatever greenery it was in the air.
"Please tell me that's not pot," I said, barely catching a glimpse of it before she stuffed it in her weird basket bag thing hanging from a chunky strap on her shoulder.
"Pot? Where?" Dezi asked, popping up on the bar.
"I thought you were asleep," Cary said, shaking his head.
"I was. But I have some words that wake me out of a dead sleep," Dezi declared, swinging himself around to sit off the front of the bar. "Pot, party, and pus—vagina," he said, giving Billie a nod.
"You can say pussy," Billie shot back. "I say it all the time. Pussy pussy pussy. Cunt is a good word too. It has some power in it. It sounds like it stands on its own beside cock. Cunt/cock. Cunt/cock."
"Jesus Christ," I grumbled.
"You're sure she's a princess?" Sway asked, looking heartbroken. "Has there been a DNA test and shit?"
"If you met her mom, you wouldn't be asking that," Seth declared.
"Yeah, but it's her dad that counts in this situation, don't you think?" Sway asked, getting finger guns out of Dezi.
"The man has a point."
"No, actually, he doesn't," I said, not sure if I wanted to laugh or sigh, so I made some sort of hybrid noise instead. "Is it pot, Billie?"
"Do you really think I'd plant pot in your yard?"
"Yes," Seth and I said at the same time, getting an eye roll out of her.
"Please. If I were going to plant pot somewhere, it would be in the woods around Malcolm's house. I said if!" she said, throwing up a hand at the look I must have shot her. "Besides, when did you become such a goody-goody?" she asked, reaching into her basket purse to grab a leaf of whatever it was, pulling it apart, then sticking it in front of my nose. "Mint. Smell?"
"Yeah," I said, pushing her hand away. "But why would you plant mint in our yard?"
"Because it's invasive. And I'm already in trouble for sprinkling wildflower seeds all over the grass divider areas in the parking lot at my apartment building. Everyone's always bitching about the bees dying, but heaven forbid I plant some flowers for them to eat."
"Billie, focus. The mint."
"Right. Well, it spreads. It takes over everywhere."
"And you thought we'd want it to take over here?"
"I thought you wouldn't even notice actually. And you haven't. Until right now. When it is nearly done for the year. And only because I told you. So, I was right."
"What do you need that much mint for?" I asked.
"Tea. Herbal remedies. The usual. Oh, and I make the best mint lemonade. If you pull your panties out of your ass, I might be willing to make you some," she said with a saccharine smile.
"Quick. Say something nice," Dezi demanded. "I want mint lemonade."
"How can I deny that face?" she asked, shooting Dezi a sisterly smile. "Oh, and who are you?" she asked, tone dropping a bit, getting more flirtatious as she looked at Sway and Crow.
"Sway and Crow," I explained, waving to them. "Possible prospects. So they're off-limits."
Right then, there was the sound of bikes again before a pause.
And then there was Niro, Malcolm, and Rowe.
I was pretty sure I wasn't imagining it when Billie stiffened beside me. When I looked, her gaze went to Rowe, then quickly away.
"Dezi, man, I am going to need to give you an IOU on the mint lemonade," she said, shifting her feet. Uncomfortable. It was so strange to see Billie uncomfortable that I nearly didn't recognize it at first. I'd never met anyone as sure of themselves and comfortable in their own skin as Billie. What could have possibly changed that? "It really needs to steep overnight," she said, giving him a tight smile. "So I will drop it off sometime tomorrow, okay?"
But she didn't even wait for an answer.
She ducked out the back door so quickly that she rammed her hip into it on her way out.