His Favorite Girl

by Steph Sweeney

  I reached out and touched her face, feeling the scar tissue where they’d cut into her cheek to widen her mouth. She smiled but looked down at her feet, at once grateful and ashamed.

  I asked Flora to come to the closet and help me pack, but I really just wanted to speak to her privately. It’s not that I didn’t trust Frog Girl. I just wasn’t sure of her capacity to keep secrets. The more time I spent around her, the more I grew certain the Frog Girls were raised with environmental retardation as the end goal.

  I explained to Flora that she would have to take care of Judy, bring her food and any other supplies she needed. That she would have to do so without Liu catching her, if Patton failed in getting Liu moved to another room.

  “I can have Frog block the door,” she said.

  “Good idea.”

  She helped me put together some outfits, even thinking of things that didn’t occur to me.

  “What if he takes you out to a fancy restaurant?” she asked. “You’ll need a bikini in case you go to the beach.”

  It was pathetic that these scenarios occurred to Flora and not me. She’d never been out of this building. For her, fancy restaurants and beaches were the stuff of legends.

  “You have stuff to sleep in?” she asked. “Pajama pants?”

  “Yep.”

  “Deodorant, perfume?”

  “Yep.”

  “You should take a pillow so you can sleep in the car.”

  “My goodness, Flora.”

  She turned to look at me with concern, afraid she’d offended me somehow, but I was laughing. “I’m glad I asked you to help,” I said. “Otherwise I’d be pissed off this entire trip.”

  She returned the smile and went back to rummaging through the wardrobe.

  “I doubt we’ll have time to have much fun,” I speculated.

  “Oh, I don’t know about that.”

  Reaching into the hanging clothes, Flora pulled something out quickly and spun around to face me, holding the article against her own body.

  It was one of Kate’s white see-through baby doll tops.

  “Flora!”

  She shrugged and knelt to stuff it in the suitcase. “You’ll look beautiful in it,” she said. The most charming man in the world couldn’t make me believe that more.

  “Thanks, Flora.”

  “You’re welcome,” she said. Suddenly her eyes widened. “Oh, did you get your toothbrush?”

  “No I didn’t.”

  “I’ll be right back.”

  “Flora, I can get it myse—”

  She was already out the door and jumping across the bed, so I let her go.

  Taking one last look around the closet, I decided I had enough clothes and zipped up the suitcase. I carried it out of the closet and set it at the foot of the bed.

  Frog was watching cartoons again.

  I went to the kitchen and popped open a bottle of wine. Might as well have some fun with the girls before my big vacation. As I poured three glasses, I realized Flora was taking a while. I stood there taking sips from my glass, deducing that she probably had to pee, so I waited a little longer.

  She emerged from the corridor with Liu directly behind her, fully dressed but visibly flustered. Flora brought her over to the table, where Liu took one of the glasses and started drinking without permission.

  “I can’t believe you did that to me.”

  “You looked like you enjoyed yourself.”

  “I don’t want to enjoy myself,” she said. “Why did you leave?”

  “I just wanted to stop you from trying to hurt yourself.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  “Yeah I bet. You just don’t want to have to deal with it.”

  I sighed deliberately, swirled the wine around in my glass. “Just go on assuming the worst from everybody, Liu.”

  “The worst is what I always get,” she said.

  I turned to her and raised my glass. “Looks like we have something in common.”

  To my surprise, Liu actually stayed calm. She even sat down at the table with Flora and me, and when Flora called Frog over, Liu didn’t offer up any insults.

  I grabbed a deck of cards and we started playing spades. Flora volunteered to be Frog’s partner so she could explain the game to her as we went along. I poured Frog a glass of wine, which she accepted timidly. This was her first time drinking alcohol.

  We went through the first bottle quickly, then another.

  Soon we were all drunk and laughing. Even Liu, despite her swollen face. The Libido Drug was still very much in her system. I could tell by her demeanor—and from previous experience. She kept rubbing her breasts, seemingly unaware of it, and any time she made eye contact with me she tried to hold it for as long as possible. This night was sure to end in scandal.

  At some point I remembered that I needed to check in with Judy. We had given up on spades and were now dealing hands of Texas Hold ‘Em. I excused myself from the table under the pretext of needing to use the bathroom. To buy myself more time, I even suffered the humility of saying, “I’ll be a few minutes. It’s Number Two.”

  That put the three of them in an uproar.

  I crawled drunkenly through the air duct, making no effort to keep my knees to the sides, to be quiet. The next thing I knew I was at the bottom of the staircase, apologizing to Judy for not bringing her dinner. We’d forgotten to order any.

  “I have granola bars and a banana,” she said. “I’ll be fine.”

  “You’re not going to believe what I found on Level A,” I said. Later I would feel horrible for my neglect. Right now all I cared about was finding out what news she had to offer.

  That and getting the fuck out of this building.

  “I didn’t see anything,” she said. “The whole floor was empty.”

  “That sucks.”

  “I’ll try again tomorrow.”

  “I’m leaving tomorrow.”

  “Leaving?”

  “Yep.” I slapped my hands together at an angle. “Hitting the road.”

  “What are you talking about, Melissa?”

  “They’re replacing you, remember? Patton’s driving out to California to interview some professor, and I’m going with him.”

  She looked alarmed. “But … what about me?”

  “I’m coming back,” I said.

  “I mean while you’re gone. How will I eat?”

  “Flora’s going to take care of you.”

  “Oh.” She cast her eyes to the floor. “Okay.”

  “So you didn’t see anything,” I said, reeling a little and turning my face up to the ceiling. “That’s disappointing. Now I’m leaving, and whatever Brian’s up to, there’s nothing I can do to stop it.”

  “Sorry,” she said dryly.

  I looked at her. “It’s not your fault. If nothing’s going on, then nothing’s going on. Guess we’ll just have to let it happen. Whatever the fuck he’s doing.”

  I started to crawl up the staircase, saying, “I gotta get back. Told the girls I was taking a shit.” I turned. “Speaking of which, got anything for me?”

  “No.”

  “Awesome.”

  I crawled back through the vents.

  In the kitchen, the girls were still being amiable. They’d abandoned the game and now sat around the table talking about sex. Liu, at least. As always, she was doing most of the talking. Flora engaged her enough to keep her going, and Frog sat there completely fascinated, her only sexual experience that of humping a boy’s face to the point of cracking his skull.

  “You only gag the first couple of times,” Liu explained. “It looks like it hurts but it doesn’t. Guys love it.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” I asked, standing at the head of the table.

  “Deep-throating,” Liu said.

  They all laughed.

  “Oh, sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean to interrupt an intellectual discussion.”

  “Hey no
w, there’s a lot that goes into a good mouth fuck,” Liu said, evoking hysterics in all of us.

  “Like what? You lie on your back, open wide, and hope you don’t puke on his balls.”

  “That’s not all there is to it!” she assured us over the cries of laughter.

  I walked over to the phone, saying, “You know what? I think we need a demonstration.”

  “Okay, bring it on,” Liu said.

  Silence ensued as it rang. Flora had stopped laughing and Frog had followed suit. I glanced at them and was relieved to find embarrassment and intrigue on their faces, not disgust. In my inebriated state, I wasn’t sure if I’d overstepped my bounds.

  James sounded irritated to be called so late. I told him to bring party food: pizzas, chips and dip, cheese and crackers, and a vegetable platter, and to make it quick.

  A few minutes later there was a knock at the door. I jumped when I opened it.

  Instead of James, Sean stood there looking irritated.

  “We’ll give her Judy’s room for now,” he said, snapping his fingers twice. “Let’s go. I’ve got shit to do.”

  I turned back to the table where they were all laughing and, for once, enjoying each other’s company, and Sean stepped past me, so close his body brushed up against mine.

  “Liu, let’s go,” he said loud enough to disrupt the chatter.

  “Um …can I wait till tomorrow?” Liu asked.

  Sean shot me a cold glance just before he stormed over to the table, snatched Liu up by the arm, and dragged her out of the room. She was crying by the time he slammed the door shut.

  No one said anything for almost a full minute. Then James knocked and I blurted out, “Well, that’s one problem solved.”

  I opened the door and James immediately wheeled in the cart and walked away without looking at me.

  ─Looking Back─

  PATTON KNOCKED lightly and I jumped up from the table where I’d sat waiting in the dark. Pulling the door open the width of my face, I asked him to wait just a moment and went to the bed to wake Flora.

  “I’m leaving now,” I whispered, putting my hand on her forehead.

  I leaned over and gave her a kiss, and when I tried to pull away she wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me down for a hug.

  “I’ll miss you,” she said. “Be careful, okay? Don’t let Patton drive fast.”

  I teared up a little and laughed. “I’ll miss you too, Flora.”

  I suppose the idea lingered somewhere in my mind that I might not ever see her again—that if and when the opportunity presented itself, far away from Your Favorite Girl, Inc., I would run away and never look back.

  “I love you, Melissa,” Flora said, her voice cracking.

  “I love you too.” I pulled away and stared into her big blue eyes. “I’ll see you in six days, okay?”

  “Okay.” But I don’t think she believed me.

  “Go back to sleep.”

  “Will you call me?”

  Could I? The phone didn’t dial out of the building, and for the sake of keeping this place a fortress, it probably didn’t accept incoming calls either. I would have to ask Patton.

  “If I can,” I told her.

  Then I waved awkwardly and walked away.

  Carrying my suitcase out into the quiet, empty hall, I started to feel excited on a whole new level, despite the sadness I was carrying with me.

  “Let me carry that,” Patton said, taking the suitcase. “Get much sleep?”

  “Hell no. It was like Christmas Eve times a thousand.”

  “I bet you’re ready to get out of here.”

  “That’s the understatement of the year.”

  He chuckled politely.

  “Ever been to California?”

  “No. I’ve never been anywhere.”

  “Well it’s going to be a lot of driving, but I’m sure we’ll have fun.”

  We walked side by side out into the lobby, just me and Patton under the dimmed lights—if nothing else noteworthy, at least this company practiced energy conservation. I’d never been allowed out of my room this early in the morning. It felt different. Like going to your high school at night for a play. So quiet you can hear the air blowing out of the vents.

  I was exhausted and still a little drunk. Flora had told me to wear pajama pants so I’d be more comfortable and could sleep through the morning drive, and though no one was around, I felt strangely insecure. Like I was being watched.

  Still, leaving the building felt like a dream. It took a scary turn when we got off the elevator on Level B and had to walk past Brian’s lit-up shelves of jarred fetuses and the dark pit where the pendulum swung silently, but when we got to Level A and walked past my office and then Bob’s, I was so excited I thought I was going to cry.

  We took the elevator to Your Favorite Gem, stepping out into the manager’s pitch-black office. I waited, afraid, while Patton turned on the light and opened the door. As we crossed through the empty store I held onto his arm, suddenly convinced this was all a ruse, a cruel prank, that I would never actually step out of this building, that Sean was waiting behind one of the rotating displays, knife in hand.

  At the front, Patton pulled the glass door open.

  My heart felt like it was trying to climb up in my throat.

  “Forget something?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” I said. “Flora.”

  He smiled and reached out to take my hand. I obliged and let him lead me out onto the street, where a chilly breeze beat against the thin fabric of my pajama pants.

  It felt amazing.

  “She’s going to be fine,” Patton said, the wind carrying his voice away and making him sound distant. “We’ll be back before you know it.”

  “That sounds fucking great.”

  “Argues for enjoying the trip, no?”

  He stepped down to the curb hitting the unlock button on a set of keys. Across the street, the lights flashed on a solid black Cadillac with heavily tinted windows.

  “I figured you drove a Jaguar or something.”

  “I like to travel in comfort,” he said, leading me over to the passenger side door and opening it for me. The feel of the soft, cool leather seats made me instantly sleepy. Patton threw my suitcase in the trunk and climbed in the driver’s seat. “We’ll stop for breakfast when we get out of town.”

  “How about when we get out of the state?”

  He snickered. “Whatever you say, boss.”

  I passed out before we hit the interstate and awoke a little while later to the click of the turning signal.

  Patton was taking an exit.

  “Hungry now, sleepyhead?”

  I sat up rubbing my eyes. It was much brighter outside now.

  We stopped at the first diner we came to on this stretch of gas stations, restaurants, and retail businesses. I ordered hash browns with cheese and jalapeños, two strips of bacon, and an order of biscuits and gravy.

  Patton ordered a bacon cheeseburger.

  While we waited for our food, Patton read a newspaper he’d bought outside and I sat slumped in my seat, staring at him with really knowing it. I could go back to sleep right now. I could use my hash browns as a pillow.

  Patton’s eyes had mesmerized the waitress. She was a heavyset girl with a stud in her tongue and purple streaks in her dirty blonde hair. Flat-out giddy over him, but she didn’t so much as look at me. I was too tired to take offense, and it was easily forgivable anyway. His eyes made him look not human. Of unknown origin.

  That was something still foreign to me. I’d heard bits and pieces of his past, how the family business had progressed from real estate and illegal prostitution to a corporation now in the process of spreading its tentacles all over the world.

  Taking control of the world.

  It sounded absurd, the very wording of it, but it made so much sense.

  First step, subdue and control the masses with the Libido Drug.

  Second step, build an army of support with the bra
inwashing capacities of the Love Drug.

  Third step, placate the elite with the Longevity Drug’s inherent promise of life.

  Suddenly I felt an incredible desire to hear the company history, the family history. All this time I’d been so focused on wanting to escape, wanting Your Favorite Girl to not exist, and now, a few hours free of it, I wanted to know everything.

  “Patton?”

  He looked up from his paper, smiling.

  “What was your childhood like?”

  “Uh-oh. We must be getting serious. I can’t take you to meet the parents. Unfortunately, they’re dead.”

  “Patton, shut the fuck up.”

  He laughed. “I’m just messing with you. My childhood. Well, let’s see. It was … weird, I suppose. How do you compare your childhood to others’ when yours is the only one you know?”

  I sighed. “I don’t know. Just forget about it.”

  He cocked his head. “You really want to know about my childhood?”

  “I want to know everything,” I said. “About you, about your brothers, the company, the whole story.”

  “That might take a while.”

  “Thirty hour drive, you said.”

  “Yeah, that’s true. I just thought you might want to take your mind off these things. Take advantage of the trip.”

  I sat up straight. “Are you serious? That’s impossible. It’s not like we’re some normal couple going on vacation here, trying to take our minds off our boring jobs.”

  “So we are a couple,” he said playfully.

  I wasn’t in the mood to play.

  “I don’t know what the fuck we are, Patton, because I don’t know who the fuck you are.”

  He folded his paper and set it to the side, nodding. “You do have a point, I must admit.”

  “So tell me.”

  The waitress came with our food, asked Patton if he needed anything else, and walked away, her giddiness restored. Again, she didn’t look at me.

  Patton took a bite of his cheeseburger and, with a mouthful, said, “Where would you like me to begin?”

  “How should I know? It’s your life. If you were going to write a book about yourself, where would you start?”

  “Hmm.” He nodded eagerly while he swallowed, holding up a finger over his cheeseburger. “That’s easy,” he said. “The day my father took Brian and me into his office to give us ‘the talk.’”