9.
Over the bend, entirely bonkers
You like me best when I'm off my rocker
Svetlana jerked her chin upwards, "Who the fuck are you?" She bit, her accent coming into full effect.
"You Svetlana?"
"Who, Are, You?" Svetlana hissed again, not liking the way the woman was looking at her.
Salomé grinned showing her teeth, "Let's just say back at home...they call me Ms. Mad Hatter."
Svetlana took a deep inhale before letting out a small laugh, "Is that supposed to scare me? Or are you just whack job?"
Salomé stepped over the crying woman that lay in between her and Svetlana making sure that she had Svetlana in her gaze, "I am not like other girls. I am not like the women here that will allow you to treat them or anyone else like they're nothing."
"Funny. You break one of my girl's wrist and you want to come to me talking about how I treat people? Stupid girl." Svetlana responded, crossing her arms over her exposed cleavage.
Salomé sighed as she trailed her fingertips up Svetlana's bare arm before harshly tugging Svetlana's hair back giving Salomé full access to Svetlana's neck eyeing her pulse, "It was the only logical way to make you appear, people like you don't belong in my land - well maybe since we do however accept the insane. Listen closely Svetlana I've dealt with people like you before back at home when my parents sent me to live in the funhouse for awhile. There was a man there who raped children and I thought to myself, what would make someone want to do that? Why would anyone want to rape someone? I caught the man in the room one night looking at photos of my little brother and sister, he told me when he got out of the funhouse he would pay a visit to them. He didn't know about my family and what we're capable of. He didn't know my history. Later that night I committed my first murder at the age of ten, first I took his eyes out with my very first dagger Ummi (my mom) gave me on my ninth birthday, then his disgrace of a penis which I left in his mouth. The nurses at the funhouse took forever to realize that I have done that to this rapist pig. Now you see Svetlana, I have low tolerance for rapists."
Svetlana tried to lift her head only to have Salomé pull her head further back making the woman wince, "I do not rape. I do what I am paid to do, most men and women come to me specifically for me to fulfill duties. Duties that I perform since devotshka (little girl). I too have seen things you've done back at my home so your words mean nothing." She spit towards Salomé.
The Spanish-Egyptian kept a smile on her face while she slowly blinked, using her free hands to wipe away the specs of saliva from her forehead and nose. Swiftly she used her pointer and thumb to tightly squeeze Svetlana's throat before realeasing her skin only to use her closed fist to collide it with the Russian woman's throat causing the woman to gasp for air. Salomé let go of Svetlana as Svetlana used her right hand to catch herself against the wall while the other held onto her neck, her lungs fighting for air.
"I understand that you have madness inside of your bones as well. I also understand that you must do whatever it is to earn money, even if that means selling your body. I don't care about that, what I care about is the rape. You raped a friend of mine, Mickey Milkovich who is gay or bisexual or one of those two who is in love with another gay boy named Ian Gallagher another friend of mine. That's where my problem lays, there should be no money in the world that makes it okay for you to rape someone." Salomé announced watching as Svetlana managed to get her breath back now glaring at her.
Svetlana yelled, "You don't know shit. Ms. Whackjob you have no clue what this life is about, how it's done. You're just going with what you think you know. Us girls are not much different than your average girl, we fuck for money. We were born into this world with a vagina that holds so much power that makes people weak at the knees for it. It gives me control just like how you believe murder gives you control. You're no different, I'm sure you can work for me. You're whackjob, yes. I'm sure your pussy is an acquired taste." Her bright green eyes trailing over Salomé' body, her tongue peeking out a bit to dampen her lips.
Once again Salomé took action which set Svetlana off guard. She didn't see it coming since her mind drifted off to a different direction, making her thighs clamp shut against each other. Svetlana dealt with many people before in her life of duties and if it took her to go down on a whackjob to get her to leave then she would. Although she didn't care for the disrespect from the beautifully built woman in front of her, she could take her frustrations out on her in one of the rooms in the massage parlor/ brothel. It was then when Svetlana snapped out of it to find herself underneath Salomé, a gold blade pressed against her throat. Svetlana glanced down at the shinning dagger, wondering how much money it was worth. Flicking her eyes upwards she stared into the woman's unique framed face, her eyes appearing lazier than what she truly felt.
"All I'm asking is for you not bother Mickey anymore. Let him find himself with Ian and if I find out that you aren't willingly to do so, you will die Svetlana." Salomé threatened.
That's when Svetlana's eyes turned into slits before throwing one hand forward, latching onto the blade as Salomé continued to press forward the blade slicing into Svetlana's hand making the woman let out screams but that did not stop her from pushing herself forward to slam her forehead against Salomé'. Salomé toppled back, the dagger now grasped in Svetlana's fist. Forms of blood flopping onto the ground like splattered pain. Salomé felt her face becoming warm and felt underneath her jet black curls to see if Svetlana had caused any injury to the spot. Sniffing she inhaled the scent of copper which gave her the indication that she had ruptured something in her nose causing it to bleed.
Svetlana crawled over to Salomé straddling her larger body now pressing the blade to her throat, "I had no intentions of visiting gay boy again. You threaten my girls, you threaten me by entering my work place. I should be the one killing you."
With Salomé' head in a fog, she shifted her gaze to the dark entity that gave her an extra wide smile. Salomé managed to smile back at the source before snapping back to the reality, she threw her hands above her letting out a sigh while closing her eyes appearing calm and unbothered that her own dagger was pressing painfully into her throat.
"Go ahead and do it already Svetlana, I'm waiting." Salomé cheered, a sense of amusement playing in her raspy tone.
Svetlana eyed the twenty year old in front of her up and down with a frown wondering what was wrong with her. Svetlana used her free hand to slap Salomé' face making her brown eyes meet her's, "We make deal. I stay away from gay boys if you let me have dagger and you pay for Noemi's hospital bills?"
"Sure." Salomé agreed holding her hand out for Svetlana to shake.
Cautiously Svetlana placed her bloody hand out to shake the psycho's hand before pushing herself off Salomé. Svetlana walked over to Noemi who seemed to had passed out from the pain. Once Salomé was on her feet she leaned towards Svetlana as she swayed her hips walking by her eyeing the angle Noemi lay.
"I say that's a fracture, might need surgery. If someone doesn't get her to the hospital quick, she's at risk of infection in the wound and in the bone. Does she have insurance?" Salomé questioned the older Russian woman.
Svetlana rolled her eyes, "What do you think?"
"Here's three grand. That'll cover the non-surgical treatments - meaning x-rays, splints, radiology, and whatever else they put you through. If she does need surgery then come see me, we'll figure out how to fix it for much cheaper." Salomé stated, pulling out some bands from her bra handing it over to Svetlana who watched her in awe.
Svetlana examined the stack of cash turning to the twenty year old who lifted an eyebrow with a wide smile, "What do you do for this type of money?"
"If I tell you, I might have to kill ya." Salomé whispered with a wink before letting out a wild laugh, "Hopefully I won't have to see you around Svetlana, I'd hate for our deal to be broken. Tell Noemi I said sorry about her arm, now you take care."
As Salomé left the brothel Svetlana couldn't help but to wonder who this girl was. She had an idea that might, sooner than later. Svetlana placed the cash into her own cleavage area and called out to the regulars up from to get Noemi to the hospital. While the men managed to carry Noemi to their car Svetlana took her time counting out the wad of cash to see that it was indeed three grand in the stack with a laugh Svetlana said, "Crazy bitch."
The next few days seemed to run smoothly or at least on Salomé' part of mind. When she returned home after meeting with Svetlana she didn't expect to find Mandy, Ian, and Tony waiting up for her in the living room to give her and intervention. It was wonderful that they were concerned for her health on why she wasn't taking her medication that was prescribed to her but she honestly didn't feel like there was anything wrong with her. Little did the southsiders know what Salomé family were into but they didn't have a right to tell her that there was something wrong with her, she had this argument before with her family back in Cairo and Tony knew that so Salomé kept the smile on her face telling everyone that she had everything under control.
Mandy and Ian sort of became like new roommates for the Tarik siblings. Whenever they didn't want to be at home they always had a place to run to, Tony was out either every night or every other night hanging out with his new friends and just being himself. There was no way that Salomé needed to "Fix" Tony because he didn't need fixing although he thought Salomé did. She would always do what her father had asked of her but this was one of the many things that she did not agree with. Just because their reality was much different than what their father expected doesn't mean they had to change themselves in order for the man to like it. Salomé let Tony run wild while having Ian tutor him to get him ready for enrolling into the high school in a few weeks. Everyone and everything seemed to be fine until Ian finally informed Salomé that Mickey had been ignoring him which a bit expected.
One early afternoon on a Friday Salomé sat in the living room with Mandy and Ian just lounging around having a good time. Tony was upstairs showering while Salomé sipped at her tea and passed her blunt over to Mandy, leaving Ian to explore Salomé' tattoos.
"How many do you have?" Ian asked, reaching over Salomé to take the held out joint from Mandy.
Salomé leaned back into the mocha colored couch as Ian traced the face of the mad hatter on her thigh.
"Just two. I plan on having more," Salomé answered staring up at the ceiling, her vision viewing swirls of purple, orange, yellow, and green.
"I had Mickey pierce my nose while Iggy held me down so I didn't punch the shit out of him once he stuck the needle in. I was drunk off my ass so I thought I wouldn't feel it as much." Mandy commented.
"So no tattoos in your future?" Ian smiled over at the dark haired teen.
Mandy shook her head, "Nah I'll stick to piercings. Maybe the night one I'll get will be my lip or maybe my nipples...I'm sure Lip would like that."
Ian groaned, "I don't want to know what my brother would like on you, okay?"
"What about you ginger star? Ever thought about getting one?" Salomé spoke, rolling her head against the edge of the couch to stare into Ian's dark green gems.
Ian shrugged his shoulders, "Yeah I've thought about it once before. I'm not sure what I'd get."
Salomé smiled at that before jumping to her feet and spinning to face the two, "Would you let me give you a tattoo?"
Ian chuckled, "There's a lot of things I might let you do but letting you ink my skin? Do you have a license to do that?"
"Back in Cairo I used to give tattoos to kids in the back of the school for sixty to ninety bucks and not once did any of my clients get any infections. You can trust me." Salomé encouraged, placing her hand over her heart.
Mandy nudged Ian's shoulder, "Come on. If you show it to Mickey maybe he'll get a hard on, stop acting like a little bitch and get back with you."
Ian glanced between the two girls before grinning letting the smoke escape from his nose, "What the hell? Let's do it!"
Salomé clapped her hands as she bounced on her toes leaning forward to high-five Mandy who laughed at her excitement. "Okay. I'll get my gun and cleaning stuff."
As she left the room to get her things, Tony entered the room glancing at his sister oddly before staring at the two. "Has she been acting off?"
"Nah..." Ian answered with a shake of his head.
Mandy nodded agreeing with Ian, "She's a little more upbeat than her usual Jennifer Tilly seductive ways but still normal. Maybe she's right, maybe she doesn't need her meds like you think she does."
Tony sat down in a chaise chair, "Just because you feel alright doesn't mean you should stop taking your meds. Her psychiatrist had to be the one to give her the okay to do so."
"Well I read a few things about people with mental illnesses," Ian stated pressing his elbows into his knees, "They don't like to feel attacked or pressured by people they love. So don't smother her."
Tony sighed as he glanced over that red haired boy, "Look I know you think you know Salomé after a couple of months but try living with the girl. I know my sister and I know even if she says she's okay don't let her dazed or calm nature fool you. The girl believes in a fairy-tale and she's twenty."
"We all have to believe in something. Why are you tearing her down behind her back? I know you're concerned about her and everything but you don't have be a dick about it. Me and Ian have been around her in the past few days longer than you have and not once did she have any of the symptoms you told us to look out for. You believe that you were born in the wrong body and Lo stands by you for that so why can't you stand by her if she believes in some fucking wonderland?" Mandy rounded off as she finished the last of the joint.
Tony was at lost for words. He didn't think about it that way, he's only reacting this way because of how his family normally treated his older sister back home. He didn't think he let his family's words get into his head when it came down to Salomé but at the end of the day they don't know the things Salomé has done. They don't know what it is that makes her tick, he was looking out for her believe it or not just like how he was taught and sent here to do.
"The way Salomé lives in her imagination will get her killed, that's why I'm so damn concerned." Tony snapped.
Salomé entered the room shortly after the silence that followed after Tony's words. Her arms were full of towels, a wine bottle, and tattoo kit. She placed everything onto the coffee table as Tony watched in confusion.
"Uh Meme what the hell are you doing?"
Salomé stood up straight, "Giving Ian here a tattoo."
"Why?"
"He wants one."
Ian gave a stiff nod at Tony who stared at him asking if it were true, still feeling a little irked at his opinion on his own sister. "Yeah I do."
Salomé pointed at the record player stand, "Mandy play us some music while I get set up? Thanks babe."
Mandy moved to do as her friend had asked of her while Ian watched Salomé getting everything set up. Salomé slapped some gloves onto her hands turning to Ian who had his eyebrows raised, "Do you want color or just the standard black ink?"
"Um...depends what you're tattooing on me?" Ian stated but it sounded much more like a question.
Ian watched the twinkles in Salomé eyes as she moved to sit on the edge of the coffee table grasping onto Ian's hands, "To test out your pain tolerance I think we should just go with a quote. If you feel you can tolerate more I'll add a photo to go along with it. Sound good?"
"Yeah sure."
Salomé smiled as she ordered Tony to switch spots with Ian so he had more room and space to get comfortable. Salomé rolled her supplies over to Ian as a song from mumford & sons began to play making Salomé roll the tension from her shoulders and back.
Glancing over her shoulder at Mandy she asked, "Now where should I ink him?"
"On the side of his right ass cheek would be interesting." Mandy offered.
"No." Ian didn't hesitate to interrupt causing the two girls to laugh.
Salomé smiled, "Well you get to choose my ginger star."
Ian glanced up at the Victorian ceiling fan before placing his palm on his chest, "Here."
"Excellent choice."
As Salomé moved back to allow Ian some room to peel his shirt off, Mandy moved forward to get pull the cork out of the expensive wine bottle to hand over to Ian.
"I think he might need something a little stronger than Cru des Ptolmees." Tony suggested.
Mandy sniffed at the bottle getting a whiff of a distinctive smell before taking a sip of the wine of the cool wine, "Yeah Ian I might keep this one for myself."
Ian chuckled as Salomé ran her fingers over his chest, "That one is my mom's favorite. Cru des Ptolmees also was a favorite of Queen Cleopatra. Hey Tone, I think Ian might like Rubis D' Egypte or Abarka."
Tony nodded standing to his feet, "Those are down in the cellar right? Which one would you prefer Ian?"
"Bring both," Ian answered eyeing the needle and trying to ignore the buzzing sound the flowed over the music, "Yeah definitely both."
Salomé sterilized the gun a second time before cleaning off Ian's skin,"I think we should have a dinner party tonight. I'll invite Mickey and Mandy you can bring Lip over. It'll be marvelous." Salomé spoke trying her best to get Ian's mind off of the needle piercing his skin.
"What time?" Mandy asked, searching the couch for her phone to tell Lip.
Salomé hummed, "Let's say six - six-thirty. Maybe seven."
"Cool." Ian winced as he took a deep breath.
Salomé glanced over at Mandy who quickly flew her thumbs over the keys of her phone, "Make sure you tell Lip not to be late. Everyone must be on time."
"Okay. Okay," Mandy mumbled.
"How are we going to get Mickey here?" Ian wondered, now throwing his arm over his eyes.
Turning her attention to the task in front of her she answered, "Don't you worry about Mickey Mouse. Leave that to me."
Outside of the living room Tony removed himself from behind the wall as he made his way into the basement with his phone pressed to his ear, "Baba it's Tony. Yes. Tonight. Yes, everything is in place. Arrive at six-thirty would be best, okay. See you soon."
Tony ended the call picking up the correct wine bottles before heading back upstairs.
A/N: I'm on a roll with these updates! Every time I say this, I disappear weeks later smh. So Svetlana and V are married and are having a Triad relationship with Kev I honestly can't say I'm surprised. It was interesting to see though. I'm happy Ian is finding himself in a career he enjoys and it looks like on the finale he's going to slay his boss on mental illnesses in a work place and I'm ready for it. Also where is Yevgeny?
Any ideas on what's going to happen next? BTW this chapter is unedited ;p
More coming soon!