Good Riddance
Good Riddance
MAX
My version of no stick and no grass...
...is to find a snake, you must feed one.
So that is what I do. Set the bait...to feed the lie and hope I'm not the only one eating.
“Now that we have established a clear understanding of the most basic of the rules that this house operates under, I’m sure you are all aware that each and every one of you failed to uphold that rule today, when you allowed Gamma Corlys to step over that line-” I point toward the front door “-and into my house. As a result, my brother’s killer, the Shiftless slave Blanca, was taken from here without my consent and then beaten-” I can see it on a few of their faces now, confusion, shock, the horrified glances aimed at Yvette “-and tortured-” Miss Sara, the lead cook begins to cry silently and the groundskeepers lower their heads in shame “-in the fields near the Rim where my vengeance was ultimately stolen from me-” sobs, from two of the younger maids and snake eyes from Vera, the assistant cook, who looks to be on the verge of murdering me “-as I arrived too late to salvage any piece of her-”
“You bastard!” Vera snarls, having lost the battle with her temper. “That poor girl, oh my Goddess.”
“-that might be worth saving,” I lie, pleasantly surprised to see that the staff that Jensen hired appears to be worth keeping.
“She’s dead, then, yes?” comes the voice of destruction itself, Yvette, and the rest of the room falls as silent as a tomb. “Good riddance.”
I stare at her, keeping my face as neutral as possible while I pull out my phone and send Jared a text. “How long have you and Gamma Corlys been seeing each other, Yvette? Just curious.”
Yvette visibly blushes, but ignores my question, placing a hand over her chest in the way she used to do when I was small and she caught me sliding down the banister after my brother. “Now everything for you is going to get better, Max. You’ll see. Your brother’s spirit can finally rest, now that she’s gone.” The voice that she uses is the same too. Stern, but gentle, meant to appease.
My ears perk up when I hear the sound of the Suburban’s doors opening and closing, and then Jared’s booted footsteps as he stalks up to the steps to the porch.
“You lied today, Yvette. You told the staff ahead of time that Gamma Corlys would be arriving on my orders to collect Blanca for work in the fields. And then you called him, letting him know when to arrive so that you’d be there to greet him and not Jensen. You acted falsely, and in my name, Yvette and because of what you did, someone is dead. Do you understand what that means?”
She says, “The girl was trouble, Max. I’ve seen it before with her kind. She was getting inside your head and using her body to stir up trouble for you within the pack. She was manipulating you and her death is justice served.”
Seen it before? What the fuck is she talking about?
“What you did, Yvette, was a capital offense,” I snarl. “And not your decision to make.”
The front door opens and Jared steps inside carrying a long coil of rope and a laundry bag filled with dark gray jumpsuits. He stands next to me and drops the bag with a thud. “How many?” he asks, surveying the staff with open disdain.
“One,” I reply. “Female size medium.”
The staff all gasp when Jared reaches inside the bag to retrieve the standard issue prison garb, then hold it at the ready.
I gesture toward Yvette. “It’s just her. The rest of them passed the test.”
Jared throws her the jumpsuit. “Put it on.”
Yvette glares at him, sticking her nose in the air before turning imploring eyes on me. “Max…I have known you since you were a baby. I was your mother’s best friend. What I did today, I did for you.”
I shake my head. “No. What you did today, you did for your twisted lover and if it weren’t for Jensen, I never would have gotten to him in time.” I step forward, eyes blazing with anger as I yell in her face, “Do you have any idea how much of her blood he spilled?”
Yvette lifts her chin, eyeing the blood on my chest and my shoulders as if just now realizing what it is. The bitch actually has the nerve to smile as she says, “It looks good on you. All that blood. She never deserved your mercy in the first place, the vile little thing.”
Releasing a dark chuckle, I tell her, “Oh…it’s not all hers. A little of it came from Corlys’ neck-” she loses her smile as I widen my grin “-it spewed like a fountain when I ripped off his head.” She gasps, falling back a step as tears fill her eyes and she turns a little green. Throwing her a wink, I say, “But good riddance, right? Your words, not mine.” Then, I put a little power behind my words as I tell her, “Put on the jumpsuit, Yvette. Now.”
Yvette’s eyes flash dangerously as the command in my voice niggles under her skin and she reaches for the suit with shaky hands, pulling it on directly over the plain pants and dress shirt that make up her maid uniform. Once she is all suited up, Jared ties her waist and wrists with the rope, giving it a tug to draw her toward the front door.
Just before she steps outside, she begins to sob and scream, yelling over her shoulder at me, “I did what I had to do, for you, Max! And I don’t regret it as long as she’s dead and gone.”
Well, she’s not, but we’ll save that surprise for when you’ve had a chance to enjoy your new home.
Her yelling continues as Jared tugs her down the steps, and I decide to slam the door on her babble, just to salt the wound a bit, but something in my bones stops me and instead, I decide to listen.
She shouts, “The last thing you needed was some Shiftless whore coming along and mangling your mind like that other one did to your brother, Max. I saved you! I couldn’t save him…but I had to save you!”
What. In. The. Fuck?
Every other sound in the world quiets and I growl, “Wait!”