Mercy was waiting on the other side of my bedroom door, her face thunderous like she had been issued the worst insult of her entire existence. The furrows of her brows cut deep into her face, causing her eyes to wrinkle with an emotion I could not quite place. Her eyes wandered down for a second before they snapped back to my face and down again at least three times before she opened her mouth, but no words came out. In my haste to answer the incessant banging, I had forgotten to put on some clothes. I was therefore still buck naked, with the water from the bath still dripping off my body.
"I was still having a bath. Let me dry off and come down so we can talk."
Mercy remained speechless, her mouth having seized its flailing, opting to remain agape with what I assumed was shock. Although my naked state could have undoubtedly been a surprise, Mercy's over-the-top reaction had me doubting the reason for her surprise. We were both women, which should have lessened the shock a little. Looking back, Mercy had previously gone out of her way to avoid dressing or bathing together with Claire and me. I did not think anything of it at that time and chalked it up to shyness. Another explanation slowly rose to the forefront of my mind, but was quickly blown away with a wave of doubt. While I had enough confidence to admit that I was attractive by general standards, I doubt I could attract the interest of three different women.
Before I could close the door, Sunshine came into view, dropping the rag she was carrying as soon as she caught sight of my wet and naked body. While I had no qualms about being naked in front of Mercy, something about the hungry look that shadowed Sunshine's face had me backtracking in my room and shutting the door in seconds. If I were a white person, my entire body would have been a deep shade of red, given how hot I was feeling from the few seconds of interaction.
While I could confidently say that I was by no means falling in love with Sunshine, without meaning to, I had become painfully aware of her presence. Her confession had me second-guessing her intentions and allotting meaning to probably meaningless gestures. I did not want to hurt her with my indifference, but at the same time, I did not want to offer any false hopes of having a future together when I doubted my ability to even fall in love.
After throwing on an oversized T-shirt, I made my way to the kitchen, a trickle of anxiety slithering into my stomach. The table was set with an impressive spread that had me throwing a thankful glance at Sunshine, which happened to be a big mistake. Sunshine, who was already seated at her usual place, and Mercy, who had opted to sit right next to Sunshine, had an identical look on their faces. There was a hunger that could not be denied. I faltered where I stood, my knees going weak in a matter of seconds under the heated gazes directed towards me. The sliver of anxiety blossomed into a full-blown zoo that had me using all my calming techniques to prevent myself from simply running out the door.
Instead of addressing their stares, I piled food onto my plate and took a seat, which placed me opposite them. I lowered my head, focusing on shoving the delicious food into my mouth. After three minutes, my discomfort was forgotten as I tore into the flesh of the well-marinated chicken, letting out satisfied moans as the food hit all the right spots. I had a second helping, filling my stomach, which had been growling at me since early that morning. I ignored the presence of the two women sitting opposite me, although I noticed that their plates had been barely touched.
I wanted to leave the table as soon as the last crumb of food touched my lips, but I knew it would not be that simple. I took in a deep breath after a huge gulp of water and finally faced them. The hunger was still there, painted for all who cared enough to look to see. I prayed that the fact that they were willing to sit next to each other meant that they had reached some sort of compromise. For all their stubbornness, both women had shown me a lot of empathy, although it lacked in every other aspect of their lives.
"Have you guys ever considered therapy? I know I have a shit ton of issues, if I ever stepped into a therapist's office I would legally not be allowed to leave if I told a morsel of how I truly feel. I know I am hopeless, but I know that you guys may still have hope. You know I am terrible at this whole emotions thing." I meant to say something else, but those were the words that flew out of my mouth
Mercy let out a chuckle, "Babe, I have been there, and the verdict was antisocial personality disorder. They told me I was a psychopath, but not because I was born one, but because the trauma I had experienced led to my mental illness. With proper care you can learn to feel everything again she said like I wanted to feel anything after the shit I went through. If I went to a therapist, they would be legally obligated to lock me up, and with good reason, too."
"Deaf friendly therapists are only hard to find, but I don't need help to know I am a deeply troubled individual, possibly a psychopath, but who is judging?". Sunshine signed when my inquisitive gaze roamed to her. "Don't worry about the little spat earlier, we reached a compromise and we will work out our problems like sensible adults."
"Is it true that you guys managed to work things out?" I asked Mercy
"Of course, babe," she said, throwing her arm behind Sunshine's neck, pulling her in for a quick hug, and releasing her. "Don't worry about us, we are big girls. We can talk this out, and we already have actually."
Her rushed words depicted a different story, but I would not be the one to challenge results that I literally prayed for. With their dispute out of the way, I detailed how my day went and the new course of action. Mercy had no objections to accompany me to my brother's office, as it gave her the chance to get the documents she could not obtain given the previous time constraint. Sunshine's had yet to finish refurbishing the basement for our next visitor. My brother had exquisite taste and I would be damned if I failed to deliver. With our duties laid out, I quickly excused myself and made my way back to my bedroom.
After helping the girl calm down, I repeated my inquiry in a firm but soft tone, not wanting to add to her anxiety. However, the sooner she let us know, the sooner I could punish whoever had been unlucky enough to lay their hands on her. When she finally calmed down, she gave in to our probing and told us her story. As she described, the ordeal she had gone through at the hands of one of our agents, my blood slowly boiled so that by the time she finished describing her experience, I was ready to kill someone.
"Name at least three bones you want broken?" I asked as soon as she came to the end of her story
"Also, let me know how much you feel is proper monetary compensation for the ordeal. I'll hack into his bank account and wire the amount you mention to his bank account." My baby added.
"Both hands and both feet, and a million dollars," she said, surprising us all.
I, however, was not one to back down. The man I questioned was by no means an easy target, but I welcomed the challenge with a lot of enthusiasm. It was not about taking a man down; the intention was about empowering a woman by standing up for her. As luck would have I quickly found the man in question asleep after taking out his frustrations on his girlfriends. I had the utmost respect for anyone who had the power to stand up for themselves and those around them, and a hatred for those in power who went out of their way to oppress the weak.
Another person would have had qualms about attacking a sleeping man, but my job was to kill people. I used a bat to send a blow to the sleeping man's calf. He woke ready for a fight, but did not have enough to respond as the bat came down again on his other foot. He fell to the floor groaning in pain, but I didn't give him time to recover before I yanked on his arm back so hard it popped out of his socket. He tried to grab me with his remaining arm, but the combined pain of his other injuries had slowed him down. The fact that he was still conscious enough to attempt to grab me was honestly a testament to his strength. I grabbed his flailing arm and took it through the same path, feeling satisfied once all his limbs were in disarray. His legs were not broken, at most fractured, and his shoulders would feel better once they were popped back into their socket. As luck would have it, we had a lovely nurse on hand.
I got in trouble for attacking the agent once the matter was brought forward. I was slapped with a two-week suspension, which in my line of work meant absolutely nothing. He had attacked a nurse, and medical practitioners of any qualification were pretty hard to find in our line of work. The nurse who was more than qualified for her work had been a great find and had only agreed to work with us to pay the huge loan that her dead father had left in her name as a result of a long and tortuous chemotherapy journey. I was grateful for the rest period I got and was out of the compound as soon as the doctor cleared my Baby.