Chapter 12: Hard to Believe

Rey’s house is…let’s call it “run down.” 

Most of the houses are in about the same state as the park where I first saw Rey, but hers is in a particular state of disarray. It’s only a block away from the park, not far from where I parked Windy. The front door is ajar when we arrive, but if there’s somebody else home, it’s anyone’s guess. The living room to the left of the entrance is a mess of blankets, day-old food and kids’ toys. The television is an old CRTV with a cracked antenna. The couch is a ratty, sunken thing home only to an elderly cat that gives me the stink-eye when I enter. “That’s Gambit,” Rey says when I wave to him. He says nothing in return, sinking back into the couch cushion.

“Nice place,” I say, taking off my shoes as I enter once I notice Rey doing the same.

Rey raises her eyebrows. “It’s a dump, you mean.”

I shrug. “Honestly? My old place wasn’t too different.” Hannah’s apartment, that is. I’ve never had a place to call my own.

“Tell me about it,” Rey says. She sits on Gambit’s side of the couch and pets him while I stand awkwardly by the entrance.

“A one-bedroom I shared with my girlf…with my ex. Worked a shitty retail job. Didn’t have much money. Or, you know, spare time.”

Rey nods and stares at her feet. “I hear you. I work at Alt Attire. It’s a thrift store on Main street. Over by the library?”

I think I’ve actually passed that place a few times already—once the first time I visited the library, and again on my way to and from the Gelspers’. “Target for me. If I have to wear red another day of my life, I’ll vomit.” She giggles, and I break out in a grin. Something about making this girl smile is addictive. I could hear her laugh all day. “At least you have Remy over here to keep you company. He’s a real cutiepie.” I walk over and stroke beneath Gambit’s chin while she pets his back.

She lights up when she realizes Gambit is enjoying my company. “There’s a stray out there that he likes, but she’s playing hard to get. So I named her Rogue,” she says.

I grin. “So you’re the dork of the family, huh?” 

She blushes, but nods. “Guess that’s pretty obvious, huh?”

“Don’t worry, I’m a dork too,” I reassure her.

“No offense Lum, but that’s also pretty obvious,” she says with another giggle. 

I pose proudly, hands on my hips, chin high in the air. “I’ll take it as a compliment.” We talk for another half hour while we both continue to pet this little attention slut. Rey is… I don’t know how to describe it other than easy. I don’t mean it like that, get your mind out of the gutter. What I mean is that talking to her is easy. Reading her emotions is easy. Knowing what’s on her mind, how she feels about any particular subject, how to converse with her, it’s all as simple as breathing. It feels like I’ve known her for a very long time, and we have more in common than anyone else I’ve met in this town.

Unfortunately, I can’t stay forever. And I can’t hold in my curiosity any longer. “So…what did you want to show me?”

After getting along so well for so long, that sobers her up pretty quickly. With a sigh, she motions for the stairs. Unfortunately, I only make it two steps before I step on a LEGO on my way over—one of the worst fates imaginable. “Ow, fucking shit!” I belt out. My foot stabs with pain.

“Sorry!” Rey uses her foot to clear a safe path through an ocean of toys. “This is all my little sister’s.”

I massage the sole of my foot for a second before continuing to follow. “I thought maybe it was all yours, but I didn’t want to say anything.”

“C’mon, gimme me more credit than that,” she says, followed by a mumbled: “My LEGOs are actually well organized…”

Rey leads me down a creaky staircase and into an unfinished basement. The walls are covered in posters, some from various anime, many more video game related. Two bean bag chairs sit in front of an old school entertainment center, complete with—you guessed it—an old (but large) tube TV and a similarly old (but impressive) DVD collection, along with an N64 and a Playstation. I’m not accidentally omitting a number there, I mean a straight-up Playstation, before they started accruing numbers at all. At the far end of the room are a few shelves stocked with a variety of board games I don’t recognize, not to mention quite a few D&D books.

“Nice little lair you got down here,” I say, completely genuine. I can imagine Rey spending hours and hours down here, playing retro games, watching 90s anime, or playing D&D with her friends—although they seem to prefer the Rat & Raven for that. I don’t blame them. I’d prefer that place to just about anywhere.

Although any room with Rey in it is becoming a close contender. We share more in common than I could have ever imagined. I can see myself down here with her, hanging out all day. I long for that kind of company. Would she want me here? Does she want that same thing, too?

“It’s kinda like my second bedroom,” she explains. “My sister only comes down here to pester me, and my mom never bothers, so I’m usually down here alone.”

I decide to just go for it. She wouldn’t have invited me down here if she never wanted me here, right? “Well, I’d be happy to keep you company some time.”

She turns and looks at me with a strange expression: joy, sadness and disbelief all mixed together into some cocktail of emotions. “Really?”

“Yeah!” I give her an enthusiastic smile. “This is totally my jam.”

Gears churn in Rey’s head for a moment, then she smiles. “Well, okay then! You’re welcome anytime. I’ll give you my number before you leave.”

I can’t stop the relentless grin on my face. In three days I’ve gone from having nothing to having a place to stay, a new friend, and multiple gorgeous—if a little strange—women dancing around my mind at all times. Including said new friend, because I am bad at setting my own boundaries. And judging from the color of Rey’s cheeks right now, I wonder if the same could be said about her.

We hold each other’s gaze for a moment that is just too long not to be awkward. Then Rey adjusts her glasses, breaks eye contact, and heads over to a shelf on the left wall, near an open door leading into what looks like a boiler room. Speaking of boiling, it’s hot as hell down here. Why does everybody but the Gelspers keep their heat turned up so high? I get that it’s cold outside, but come on.

Rey grabs a framed photo from the shelf and hands it to me. It’s a picture of Rey and several of her friends, all of whom I recognize as her D&D crew, all standing in front of the Rat & Raven. There’s about 7 of them including Rey and the metalhead from earlier today, his beanie replaced by a long mop of straight black hair. Addy and Val stand next to them, both with enormous grins on their faces. A sign on the window of the café reads: GRAND OPENING! All of them are wearing summer clothes—a skimpy crop top and shorts for Addy, a pair of skirt overalls for Rey. They all look so godsdamn happy. It’s infectious.

“Oh, wow,” I gasp. “This is from when the Rat & Raven first opened?” I notice a date scrawled in sharpie above the picture: June 16th, 2021. Almost three years ago. Now that I think about it, they all do look a little younger, especially Rey and the rest of her friends.

Rey nods. “We all helped Addy and Val get the place ready, so she wanted us in the picture. I asked for a copy because it meant a lot to me.”

I don’t even have to ask the question that’s on my mind—just a glance and a raised eyebrow is enough to get her to continue. “The Rat & Raven is…important. It’s hard to explain. It’s like a sanctuary for us. That’s what Addison wanted it to be when she opened it. A safe place, a neutral zone, a place where nobody goes wanting. She wanted a place for her people to feel welcome there. It’s like…a second home for us.”

Whoa. That does explain a lot of Addy’s behavior when we first met, how she took care of me despite not knowing who I was. Although, that same warm welcome certainly did not extend to her landlord. “But only for ‘her people.’ There are some who are less welcome, then, I take it?”

Rey frowns and says nothing.

“...like the Gelspers?”

Her frown deepens. “That’s just the thing. Malcolm wasn’t originally Addy’s landlord. But when Ms. Albright, the original landlord, passed away, he snatched the place up and jacked up the rent.”

“What?! Why?” The hair on the back of my neck bristles. How could someone do such a thing? No wonder she hates him so much. Gods, I hate capitalism. If 6 years of retail didn’t do the trick, shit like this certainly would. “I don’t understand.”

“That’s my point. This rivalry goes waaay back. And it’s…not exactly one-sided, either.”

I wince, remembering what Laetitia said about how they were “dangerous,” that they “tore things down.” She called them miscreants. Did they do something to the Gelspers before all of this? I decide to pry a little further. “What do you mean?” 

“I shouldn’t be saying anything,” she says with a sigh. “A lot of us just want to be left alone, in peace, you know? But this whole town is one big feud. And if you’re hanging out with both Laetitia and Addison, you’re…” she trails off.

“I’m what?”

Rey takes a long breath and closes her eyes, then levels with me. “Let’s just say, it’s liable to cause some drama.”

I can see that now, that much is obvious. I still don’t feel like I have a full picture of what’s going on—there’s some stuff Addy and Val said earlier that won’t get out of my head—but at least now I have a deeper understanding of why Addy and Laetitia both act the way they do. “Thanks, Rey. I appreciate you telling me all of this.”

A sheepish smile crawls across her face. “I just want you to be safe.”

I blink. “Why does everyone seem to care about my safety?”

Her brows furrow in confusion. “I…that is…” She clears her throat. “It’s just, we don’t get many newcomers in this town. And you seem really nice.”

Hmmm. How much of this do I believe? I don’t even know. It’s getting harder and harder to trust my own judgment. “I can make my own mistakes. Gods knows I make them often enough.”

She nods. “I know. I just wanted to give you some more context. That’s all.”

“Well…thanks. For the context. And for wanting me to be safe. I really do appreciate that, it’s just hard to believe sometimes.”

Her bottom lip quivers for just a moment. She lifts her glasses higher on her nose and studies my face. “You’ve…been through a lot, haven’t you?”

“That’s one way of putting it. But I get the feeling you have, too. I’m glad you have a refuge like the Rat & Raven to call your home away from home.”

She puts her hand on my arm. “You do too, now. It’s your refuge too.”

I can’t help the smile that appears on my face. There’s a nice long moment where we both just stand there, her hand touching my arm, our gaze matched. Her eyes are wide as she stares at me. She looks at me differently than anyone else, I realize. Laetitia looks down at me (despite her height), like I am beneath her, which, yeah, I don’t disagree with that, but still. Addy looks at me like an equal. But Rey—she’s actually looking up to me, her eyes shining like I’m some kind of jewel.

Damn. It does feel good to be wanted. However which way she wants me.

“Do you want to stay for a while?” she asks, biting her lower lip adorably.

I check the time on my phone. I’m about to be late for the lunch rush. “I totally would, but unfortunately, I have to get back to the Rat & Raven. It’s still kinda my shift. But, we have that bonfire on Saturday, right?”

She nods. “Right. The bonfire. I’ll see you there?”

“You can count on it.” Not that I have anywhere else to be, but I wouldn’t miss it for the world.

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