Moose and Goose

Chapter Sixty-eight

Judith strolls toward Jerome's lawn with pep that grows like vines when they see each other. He's sitting on his steps with Khalíd and Eric, and though his friends groan at her presence, he flashes her a smile which she returns.

"Hey," he greets her, then glances at the bouquet in her hands. She approaches him, and Khalíd draws the fresh cigarette from his mouth. He blows the grey smoke in her direction when she stops in front of them. "You look better."

"Thank you. I feel better." Judith looks at Khalíd, ignoring the fog hitting her face. She glances at Eric and the leather boot on his lap. He's polishing it without looking.

"I see you got Derek's flowers." She takes a deep breath and returns her attention to Jerome.

"David – is his name, and yes, but I didn't accept them." Khalíd's lips stop on the cigarette butt, and Eric pauses with the grease-stained rag in hand. They share a glance as Jerome confusedly looks at the roses. "Okay. He sat them on my tv after I told him off, but like I said, I didn't accept them."

Eric kisses his teeth just as Khalíd grumbles with defeat. She watches one hang his cigarette out of his mouth, and the other drops his rag on the shoe. They reach into their respective pockets, and Jerome bears a victorious grin.

What's going on?

They retrieve folded cash – five dollars each – and extend their arms across his shoulders. He grins with his top row of teeth and takes their money just as Manuel steps onto the porch.

"Well, well, if it isn't Goose." He gently shuts the door behind himself, and she stares at him without emotion.

This guy again. I should've known.

"Manny, he was right. You gotta pay up," Khalíd informs him, inhaling the burning tobacco. He rolls his eyes and swears under his breath in Spanish, his Southern accent overpowering the rural Mexican one accompanying his first language.

"Were you betting on me," Judith asks Jerome as Manuel removes a Lincoln from his back pocket. He nods innocently, and Manny sits between him and Khalíd to his right. "What am I, a horse?"

"No, he's the stallion," Khalíd says before Jerome can answer. Manuel slides his money into Jerome's right hand, snickering.

"More like a mule," Manny teases, and the three men belt out hyena laughs. Jerome pushes his winnings into his left pocket with a deadpan expression aimed at her, rolling his eyes. "Moose and Goose."

Manuel's eyes widen, and his mouth falls open, quivering with a suppressed cackle.

"You're so fucking annoying." Judith scowls at him, and they gradually stop laughing. "Is your whole personality you being a bully?"

"Lo tuyo es ser una perra sensible," he asks, and she chuckles, but it resembles a short exhale blowing from her nose.

"Perra? Soy una perra?" She emits a mixture of a scoff and a chuckle, rolling her eyes. "No, pero bésame culo y déjame en paz."

Manuel blinks his head back, and Eric slows the motion of his rag scrubbing the sides of the boot. Khalíd puffs smoke around the cigarette, and Jerome watches them interact with confusion laced on his face.

"So you speak Spanish, Goose," he asks, and she shrugs nonchalantly. "I guess that explains why you were shagging that Venezuelan guy, Andrés. Crazy, you don't have a type at all."

"What's he talking about," Jerome asks, shifting his gaze between the two. Judith grinds her teeth and scoffs from her nose.

"Nothing. I gotta go." She extends her arm to him, offering the bouquet, and they look at it, then at him. He accepts it, and she takes a deep breath, straightening her posture. "By the way, I was wondering if maybe you wanna go out with me?"