Page 39 of The Burning
“You can have it for two-fifty. And that’s a good deal. Two-fifty doesn’t even cover the fabric; it’s a steal. I can see the way you’re looking at it, so I’m willing to go that low. I just get off on the fact that that bitch worked so hard on it for me not to keep it.” Her sarcasm was thick with wit. I laughed a little.
I groaned. Of course, I couldn’t afford it. I wasn’t denying its worth, but it was just too much for me.
“Thank you, but I can’t afford it right now,” I said, looking at the chair as I backed away from her stall.
Ugh, it was so freaking beautiful.
My lack of extra spending money was another reason I couldn’t imagine working for Mali forever. It kept me afloat right now, but by the time I was twenty-five, I wanted to be able to spend two-fifty on a chair on a random Sunday instead of feeling the burn of longing for something I couldn’t have.
A voice caught me and the woman just as I was slipping away. “You can’t do one-fifty?”
Kael stepped in front of me, his hands in front of his chest like he was praying.
“It’s a very expensive chair, Martin. My stepmother handmade the upholstery.”
Funny how she was mistress to me, stepmom to Kael. I loved the thought of women being honest with each other. She was a badass, I could just tell. It was also hilarious how Kael just happened to have this woman immediately charmed, and had for quite some time, by the looks of it. She was smiling, touching her long hair in a way that wasn’t flirty, but made me jealous of how well she knew him. Just like the Airstream lady, she was all threaded into this life of his that I was oblivious to.
Everyone here seemed to have drunk an ice-cold glass of the Kael Martin Kool-Aid on a hot summer day.
Everyone except for me. I’d only had a sip. I craved more, but I knew it turned sour before it dripped on my tongue.
“I know, Ms. Rosa. But Karina here is living alone and trying to fix up her house.”
I wanted to elbow him or tell her I was sorry that he was so obnoxious and loved to overstep, but her expression changed as he kept going.
Soon it seemed like he was actually winning the negotiation.
“Her brother’s my close friend. He just joined the service . . .”
I felt a twinge of guilt until I realized yeah, my brotherwasgoing into the damn Army. If a cheaper chair was one tiny thing that made that a little better, then so be it. I’d also have to take the hit of calling my dad to ask him to drive all the way out here to help haul it back, which, apart from the fact that we weren’t speaking, would add at least an hour of judgmental stares and snide comments about my safety, and my outfit, and how I wasn’t being responsible going so far alone, how ugly and unnecessary the purchase was . . .
I was starting to wonder if the chair was even worth the headache and suffocation that would linger with me most of the day. And calling my dad wasn’t rational, not after what we’d been through. But, then again, maybe Estelle would like the market. She seemed to like the picture I posted. But calling my dad was the last thing I wanted to do.
“Her twin brother, only twenty years old.” I suddenly realized Kael was still negotiating on my behalf. Man, was he good at this. His charisma (when he felt like using it) made him impossibly alluring and hard to argue with.
Kael and Ms. Rosa went back and forth in twenty-dollar increments, then five-dollar increments, eventually landing at two hundred. He was insanely smooth at negotiating. It was hard to look away. I really wanted the chair now and watching them barter felt sort of like a game, exciting and now I was even more invested.
“My dad’s in the—” I began to say, but Kael stopped me with a gentle hand on my back. It was so obvious the way he did it, but his sweet friend Ms. Rosa didn’t seem to notice, which was weird.
“One-seventy-five,” he bargained.
Problem was, I only had just a little over a hundred dollars left.
“Kael, I only have one-twenty on me,” I told him quietly.
“It’s going to a good home,” Kael told her, ignoring my warning of insufficient funds.
The tone he was using with her could sell carpet cleaner to a woman with hardwood floors.
With a couple more “pleases” and his huge, bright-white smile, she was so close to caving.
“Is she your girlfriend or something?” Her brow arched and she looked me up and down. I wasn’t sure if she approved or not. I guess I’d find out soon.
“Sort of. I’m trying to convince her to be so if you could help me out . . . that would be great.”
His smile was so infectious.
I caught the worst case and was smiling like an idiot when she finally caved. She broke out of character seconds later, smiling at him as he pulled out his wallet. She looked at me and I felt like she was in on some secret that I wasn’t. It didn’t make me paranoid like that thought usually did. Rather, it made me feel warm and made me smile shyly back at her. Ms. Rosa stuck her hand out for my cash and I placed it in her palm and watched as she counted it along with Kael’s. I would go right to the ATM when we finished paying her and give Kael back every penny he’d put toward the chair. I didn’t want to spend the extra money, but I really fucking wanted that chair, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to owe him anything, not even fifty-five bucks.
