“¡Ay bendito! You scared the hell outta me!” she exclaims.
Mikey’s jaw drops, he looks up at Rosaline.
“Bad word.” he quietly says.
“Bad word? Oh, I’m sorry!”
Rosaline waves her off.
“No, no, it’s fine.”
“You tryin’ to teach him some shi-stuff and I’m messin’ that up.” the young woman replies.
“Really, it’s fine. I swear around him. I just think he’s too young to join in.” Rosaline says, trying to ease her.
The woman forces a smile, attempting to quell the awkwardness of this encounter.
“You two been standin' there long?” she asks.
Rosaline shakes her head, but before she can reply Mikey blurts an answer of his own.
“Yes.” the child innocently replies.
Rosaline tugs on his arm and shoots him a stern look.
“No, not long, no.” she says.
The woman giggles, turning back to the counter to drop the rag on it.
“You two were pretty out of it last night, my name is Sweetie. Don't know if you caught that or not.”
“Uh, no, I didn’t. I’m Rosaline. This is Mikey.”
“Oh yeah, I definitely got your names. You made an entrance.”
“Yeah, I...uh...we-”
Rosaline begins to say, but Sweetie interrupts her.
“Hey, I’m not judging. It’s tough out there. The food on the table is for you two. We didn’t wanna wake you guys up, didn’t know how long it’s been since you slept somewhere safe.” Sweetie says, while motioning to the table.
Rosaline stares at the food, but doesn’t move.
“It’s not poison.” Sweetie says. “What? You don’t trust my cooking?”
Rosaline shakes her head, her hands fumbling in the air.
“No, it’s not that. I’m sure you’re a good cook. I just...look we just met you-”
Again Sweetie interrupts her.
“I get it. Mira.” -she says while taking a strawberry from each plate and stuffing them into her mouth- “They’re good! Better than good, cause I did it!” she finishes, with her mouth full.
Mikey looks to Rosaline, his eyes widened, his lips squeezed together.
“Go ahead.” she says.
The child wastes no time in climbing into the chair and grabbing a handful of strawberries. The child's eyes grow wide with delight as the sweet taste rushes over his taste buds. Rosaline grabs her plate from the table and walks closer to Sweetie.
“So...Sweetie?” she inquires, with a raised brow.
Sweetie giggles, shrugs her shoulders, then resumes wiping the counter.
“It’s a nickname, kinda. It’s my name, my new name. We all got new names.”
Rosaline nods as though she understands.
“Uh huh.” she says, munching down on a strawberry.
“Hawaii will tell you all about it later. So, you two really been on your own out there for three years?”
Rosaline quickly swallows to answer.
“Yeah.” -she gulps the last bit of the sweet fruit down- “You’re the first real people we’ve tried to speak to in, I don’t know, almost two years?”
“¡Ay!, that’s a long time!”
Sweetie moves closer to the woman stuffing strawberries in her mouth. The small warrior's eyes bulge with anticipation as they lock onto bronze woman. Rosaline's body becomes stiff, and she breathes in deep.
“I needa put this in that bin.” Sweetie says, holding the rag up and motioning.
Rosaline exhales, feeling slightly embarrassed.
“Oh, yeah, I’m sorry.”
Sweetie grins and reaches around Rosaline to put the rag away. Rosaline’s face flushes, her golden skin turning red. She looks down at her plate, avoiding eye contact.
“Imma let you two eat. You should join us outside when you’re done. We wanna talk to you, as a group.”
She flashes a smile to Mikey then exits the kitchen. Rosaline glances up to see the boy, who is staring intently at her.
“Why are you being weird?” he asks.
“What?” she hastily responds, “I’m not being weird, you're weird.”
Rosaline scoffs then joins him at the table.
“Okay, yeah, maybe I’m being a little weird. It’s just-”
She pauses, her eyes darting around the kitchen, trying to figure out how to convey her thoughts properly.
“You’re the only person I’ve been around for a long time now. I’m not really sure how to talk to anyone else, you know?” -she places her hand on Mikey’s- “You’re all I’ve needed, you are all I need, it’s me and you always.”
“I know.” Mikey responds, in the childlike manner that only he can. “Why do they want to talk to us?”
“I don’t know buddy. Just finish your food and let me worry about that, okay?” -she wipes food from his face- “You’re messy big guy!” she says with a warm smile.
For the first time in as long as she can remember Rosaline feels safe. Sitting here at this table with Mikey eating fresh fruit brings a wave of euphoria over her. She can’t remember the last time she felt calm. Even if the group asks her and Mikey to leave, which she is fully expecting, she’s glad they got to experience this bit of peace with each other.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“Man, all I’m sayin is they could be dangerous.” Rad says with authority.
“I doubt the five year old is dangerous.” Zee interjects with a furrowed brow.
“You know what I mean. She followed us back here, and we didn’t even know it.” Rad says, the pitch of his voice escalating.
“She’s obviously resourceful, and sneaky. That could be a good thing for us.” Hawaii says, his tone more hopeful than Rad’s.
“We gotta be careful about this.” the lumbering man says again.
Outlaw's brow raises, his hands weave in the air, “I with Rad on this, we don't know them, they could be lying.”
“That's what I'm sayin!” -he points to the young Outlaw- “See, he gets it.”
“You know I got your back.”
Sweetie's face scrunches, her eyes roll before directing them at the two agreeing males.
“Of course you two agree, what else is new? Look, all Imma say is she don’t seem like the type to ask for help.” she says.
Hawaii holds his hands up, stifling the early signs of a conversation getting out of control.
“I agree with Rad too,
